Chili

Ingredients
2 lbs lean ground beef or ground turkey
2 cans of pinto beans, drained (optional)
2 cans of dark red kidney beans, drained (optional)
1 medium size yellow onion
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
1-2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 small can of tomato paste
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 large can of tomato sauce
1 clove of garlic or 1 tsp. minced garlic from a jar
3-4 T of chili powder
3/4 T salt
1/2 c salsa
garlic salt to taste
pepper to taste
oregano to taste

Directions
Stove top
Cook meat in skillet until brown. Saute vegetables and then add remaining ingredients. Simmer on stove until ready to serve.

Slow cooker
Cook meat in skillet until brown. Add remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 8 hours of high for 6 hours.

Gram's Apple Cake

Every Christmas morning for my entire life, I've had this apple cake. Its the only time of the year we have it and it is such a special treat.  Notice, that this is the second breakfast cake recipe from my Gram...welcome to the Henkelman house where we aren't afraid to eat cake for breakfast. :) This is one of those recipes that our grandchildren will make one day...its a classic.


Ingredients
2 c. white sugar
1½ c. oil
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
3 c. peeled, chopped Granny Smith apples
1½ c. chopped nuts
2 T. lemon juice
1 tsp salt
3 c. flour
1 tsp soda
2 tsp cinnamon

Directions
Combine sugar, oil, vanilla, lemon juice, eggs. Mix well. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Then add fruit and nuts. Batter will be very thick, but mix thoroughly. Pour into prepared bundt pan. (spray with Baker’s Joy or Pam)

Bake at 325 for 1 ¼ hours. Let cool before turning onto cake plate.

Gram's Coffee Cake

In our family, this is possibly the most requested recipe of all time. Simply put, its amazing. My Gram made it and then my Mom made it and now my brother, my husband and I make it. Did I mention its amazing?

Ingredients
1 Duncan Hines yellow cake mix (My Gram said Duncan Hines was the best and we believe her.)
4 eggs
1/2 c sugar
1 c sour cream
3/4 c oil
4 T brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c nuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray 9x13 or bundt pan with Pam or Baker's Joy.

Mix first 5 ingredients together in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, mix the last three ingredients together.

Pour 1/2 of batter into pan.
Sprinkle 1/2 of the nut mixture, then the remaining cake batter, and lastly the remaining nut mixture.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cake plate or pedestal.
Sprinkle with white sugar or powdered sugar, if desired.

Easy Cinnamon Rolls

My friend Emily Horner made these for one of my wedding showers and they were amazing. They are perfect for company because you can mix up everything and put them in a pan to rise overnight and all you do is pop them in the oven in the morning. People always think the dough is homemade - ha!

20 - unbaked frozen dinner rolls (Rhodes)
1 c brown sugar
1/4 c instant vanilla or butterscotch pudding
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 c butter, melted
3/4 c raisins (optional)
3/4 c chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

The night before
1) Grease 10 inch bundt or monkey bread pan.
2) Place 10 rolls in pan and sprinkle 1/2 of dry mix over.  (Dry mix = brown sugar, pudding mix, cinnamon)
3) Place remaining 10 rolls on top sprinkle remaining 1/2 of dry mix on top.
4) Pour melted butter over rolls.
5) Cover with clean, damp cloth and leave overnight at room temperature (When its cold outside, I put it in the oven (turned off obviously) so the rolls will rise.)

In the morning
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Bake rolls for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. (Sometimes the rolls on top will brown faster so I put foil on top for the last half of the baking time.)
3) Turn rolls out onto a serving plate or cake pedestal.

Egg Casserole

There are two of my Mom's recipes that are the most requested by friends and family, and this is one of them. (The other is my Gram's coffee cake - to be posted later.)  This is a fabulous, "make ahead" dish for weekend company so you can spend time with your company in the morning instead of cooking.  I'm not sure we've ever served this without someone asking for the recipe.  Its everything you love about breakfast in one dish! I've tried making other egg casserole recipes, some with biscuit crusts, and they don't come close to this recipe.

Step 1
1/2 cup melted butter
1 package shredded potatoes
Mix together and press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes.

Step 2
Brown 1 or 2 pounds of hot sausage; drain the grease off.
Crumble sausage over the potatoes.
On top of the sausage layer 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese.
Beat 9 eggs with 1 cup of milk and pour over the cheese.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Easy Brisket

My friend Katie Sheedy gave me this recipe and it seemed too good to be true. Four ingredients. Crock pot for 8 hours. Too good to be true? No - this is one of those recipes you come along once in a life time and you hold on to it...or you post it on your blog. :)

Ingredients
Brisket (I use a trimmed brisket and then trim the rest of the fat myself)
1 package of taco seasoning (I use the low sodium version and it is still wonderful)
1 can of hot Rotel
1 can of original Rotel
1 or 2 onions (optional, but a great addition if you are making brisket tacos or quesadillas with the meat)

Directions
Put the whole brisket in the crock pot. Add the taco seasoning and two cans of Rotel. I mix the ingredients around a little but I don't think you have to. Then you can cook it for 8 hours on low or 4 on high.

Its that simple and its amazing!

Sourdough French Toast with Strawberry Syrup

A couple of months ago, we woke up on a Saturday morning and I wondered what to cook for breakfast. I don't believe in eating cereal, oatmeal, or yogurt on Saturday mornings since we eat them every other day of the week. We had sourdough bread and I thought french toast made with sourdough bread just had to be wonderful...and it was. I found this recipe online and have made it at least 4 times (for us and for company) in the last 6 weeks.

Sourdough French Toast

Ingredients
6 to 8 large slices wholegrain sourdough bread (about 1/2-inch thick), preferably day-old or stale
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup whole milk
up to 2 tablespoons grade B maple syrup, if desired
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash unrefined sea salt
Directions
1. Line a large baking dish with six to eight slices whole grain sourdough bread cut 1/2-inch thick.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk beaten eggs, whole milk and maple syrup together with cinnamon, vanilla extract and a dash unrefined sea salt until thoroughly combined.
3. Pour the egg mixture over the sourdough bread and allow the slices to soak for about five to ten minutes.
4. In the meantime, heat a skillet or griddle to medium-high geat. Spray with Pam just before putting the french toast on.
5. Cook the french toast until golden brown.
6. Plate and serve hot with the Simple Strawberry Syrup below.


Simple Strawberry Syrup
While this may seem like an optional part of the recipe, it is actually the best part of the meal. I've made it with raspberries too and it was wonderful.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups strawberries, cut into pieces or mashed
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Directions

1.  In a saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil.

2. Gradually add strawberries; return to a boil.

3. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

It seems fitting that the first recipe on the blog would be chocolate chip cookies. And not just any chocolate chip cookies. My Mom grinds oats to make oat flour for these...and it makes such an incredible difference. We've made a lot (and eaten a lot!) of chocolate chip cookies and this is the only recipe you will ever need for chocolate chip cookies. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 c. Old fashioned rolled oats
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1 c. light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 c. all purpose flour (you can substitute whole wheat flour if you want)
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
12 oz. chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375.

In food processor grind oats until they turn into a fine powder.

Cream the butter and sugars together in a large bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.

In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Then gradually beat the flour mix into the butter mix. Next work oat flour into mix either with your hands or a heavy-duty stand mixer.

Work chocolate chips into the dough with your hands.

Bake for 9-11 minutes.

Welcome!

For a while now, my brother and I have been urging my Mom to start a blog with her recipes. She spends a lot of time reading recipes to us over the phone or typing them for us...and for our friends. Mom's egg casserole and my Gram's coffee cake have become legendary. Now, I'm a stay at home mom for the first time in my life and am trying to see if my Mom's incredible cooking skills were passed to me in her DNA. My friend Katie bought me a subscription to Everyday Food magazine for my birthday this year and I find I'm tearing out half the magazine to save recipes I want to try. So this blog has multiple purposes...To share my Mom's recipes with people...To prevent my Mom from having to tell my brother and I the same recipes over and over again...To keep track of new recipes we find and like (this is a request of my husband since I lose everything).  Enjoy!