Oatmeal Raisin Scones

It's the day before Super Bowl. I have my wings defrosting in the frig and a few other things we are going to see if we can pick up tomorrow. We aren't having a party just the 2 of us. Wings and bacon wrapped tater tots and these scones for desert. I wanted something sweet. I have been making a really nice coffee cake which isnt too sweet. I will post the recipe for that another time. But these scones we can also have in the morning with coffee..hmmmm...coffee..and my favorite cookie is actually oatmeal raisin. WHich I am still searching for a really good. chewy one. Scones are not that hard to make and actually to me taste better the next day.

                                                           Oatmeal Raisin Scones

• 3 cups of all purpose flour, plus more for the counter
• 2 1/2 cups of rolled oats
• 3/4 cup of white sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 12 ounces sweet cold butter cold and diced small
• 1 cup golden or regular raisins or even both
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine everything except the half-and-half until just combined. Do not over mix. (Mixture will not be creamed, just mixed together.)

Quickly pour in 1 1/4 cups of the butter milk while mixing quickly. If the dough appears at all dry add the remaining 1/4 cups of half & half until just combined. Again, do not over mix.

Turn the dough out onto a very well floured surface. If the dough is very sticky, flour the top of the dough also. Pat the mixture into a layer 3/4 to 1-inch thick. Using a 2-inch diameter round cutter, cut out the scones, dipping the cutter into flour each time between cuts. Place each scone, as cut, onto a parchment paper covered sheet pan leaving 2 to 3 inches between each scone. This should make 12 round scones (You can also form dough into rectangular shape and cut with a knife into 12 square or triangle scones.)

Bake for about 18 minutes or until golden brown on both the top and bottom of scones.

Corn Nuggets

As I am writing this my tummy is growling. I spent the day going through my old laptop and finding recipes I had collected. Being that I am originally from up north I had never eaten these before. Then I had moved to Jacksonville. Oh the foods I ate and loved! One BBQ place we went to alot had these as their appetizer. Oh so good with ranch dressing. Yes you have to freeze these. DO NOT skip this step!! That's how they stay together when you fry them. Gives these a try and tell me how they came out.

CORN NUGGETS
Ingredients:
1 (11 ounce) can creamed corn
1 (11 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg white
2 tablespoons milk
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups vegetable oil for deep frying
Directions:
In a medium bowl, stir together the creamed corn and drained whole kernel corn. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and coat with vegetable oil or cooking spray. Drop spoonfuls of the corn mixture onto the sheet, and freeze until firm, about 3 hours. Heat one inch of oil to 350 degrees F in a large deep skillet, or fill a deep-fryer with oil as directed by the manufacturer. Mix together the cornmeal, flour, egg white, milk, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Dip frozen corn nuggets in the batter, and quickly fry in hot oil until golden brown. Remove to paper towels to drain.

Asian Noodle Salad

I was looking for a quick noodle dish and had a hankering for some Chinese noodles. Yes I said hankering. It was the first word that popped in my silly brain. I have found that during the hot summer days I do not want to heat up the kitchen. I am envy of those people that have summer kitchens. Looking through the grocery aisle I found some Hokkien stir fry noodles. Like the Uncle Ben's rice that you microwave for 90 seconds these noodles were the same. That means no turning on the stove! Here is the recipe:

1 pkg of Hokkien Stir-Fry Noodles
1/3 cup of rice vinegar
1/3 cup of stir-fry oil
1/2 bottle of Sweet Chili Sauce
1 bag of sliced red cabbage
1 bag of baby kale or spinach chopped
1 red onion sliced
1 yellow pepper sliced
1 bag of bean sprouts ( you can use canned but drain them )
3 carrots shredded
chopped cilantro for garnish
chopped cashews for garnish

Microwave the noodles for 90 seconds and set aside. In a large mixing bowl add and stir the vinegar, stir-fry oil, and chili sauce together. Add the rest of the ingredients leaving the noodles till last. Add noodles and stir. Let sit for about 15 minutes till all the flavors marry.

ENJOY!

Easy Sloppy Joes

I grew up on the stuff that came in a can and sometimes I just didn't like it. This recipe is my go to for Sloppy Joes and after making it you might not ever buy the canned stuff again. This recipes uses ingredients you should already have on hand. And instead of buns you could serve with slices of white bread or even on biscuits. It just depends on what you have on hand.


Easy Sloppy Joes

1 pound of ground meat
1/4 cup of chopped onion
1/4 cup of chopped green pepper
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of prepared mustard
3/4 cup of ketchup
3 teaspoons of brown sugar
salt and black pepper to taste

In a medium sauce pan brown the meat, onions and green peppers. Drain off the liquids. Reduce the heat and add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 20 mins. Serve on any kind of bread you have on hand.

Homemade Biscuit mix

Whenever we had biscuits in our family they were usually made out of a box. You know the kind. We even had chicken and dumplings with these biscuits on top. Then when I came down here to Florida I learned to make southern buttermilk biscuits. I thought my goodness these are the best. I even learned to made my own buttermilk. Now money has gotten tight and I have become very frugal. I make my own boxed biscuit recipe and it easily gets stored in the frig. I not only can make biscuits when I want but also by just adding some milk I can also make pancakes. Also my other half has had terrible digestive problems so much so he had to go the a doctor and I really don't think they know what's wrong. After many different medications I decided to try a different diet. Making as many processed foods from scratch including these biscuits and even my own rice mixes. I have stopped buying margarine and regular veggie oil and went back to old school with shortenings and butter. So far so good. We have found foods like hotdogs and certain processed meats are a no-no. Poor thing is sick for days not able to keep anything down. The heartburn is mostly gone and he isnt running to the bathroom all the time. Over eating also makes him sick like during the holidays he had a little bit of everything and was sick for the next 3 days after that. So now back to the biscuits. Sorry got a little sidetracked there but here is the recipe I go by. And I store it in a huge empty family size jar of mayo.

 Biscuit Mix
 6 Cups of all purpose flour
3 Tablespoons of baking powder
 1 Tablespoon of salt
1 Cup of shortening ( I don't use the creamed or pre-creamed )

 Add the first 3 ingredients to a mixing bowl. Then whisk together till combined. Then with a pastry cutter add your shortening and put it in till the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Put in an air tight container and store in your frig up to 4 months. Use this whenever you need to use "Bisquick" mix. If I have time before the holidays I will post some recipes you can use.

Country Fried Steaks

I think we are going to be ok. Job hunting has been terrible. Amazing how many companies want you to apply online now. Then 40% of those jobs are scams. We got our unemployment check finally so we were able to get our phone back on and get some food. Been getting some meat and veggies from family. We are truly blessed and I have been blanching veggies like crazy and our freezer I can now say is full. We think of this as just a bump in the road. We will pull through. This blog, just to let people know, makes no money whatsoever for us. I just enjoy sharing my recipes from family and friends. I just dried out a bunch of corn for seeds next year and planted 2 kernels just to make sure and they are sprouting all ready! I have some black eyed peas too. Well enough about our little problems right now. On to the recipe!

We got the cubed steak from family. I really don't have measurements but can tell you how I cooked them. I marinated the steaks with apple cider vinegar and a sprinkling of meat tenderizer on one side. After 6 or more hours i rinsed them off and dusted them with flour. Then dipped them in beaten egg then in a mix of 1 sleeve of crushed saltine crackers and 2 big tablespoons of self rising flour. Spices were dried parsley, onion powder and seasoned salt and black pepper. Fried these up in canola oil. They were so tender and really good. Next time I will write the measurements. You know sometimes you have recipes that are in your head that you don't put on paper. Hope you try these!

Sweet Tea..the nector of the south

Being from up north I never drank brewed tea unless I was sick or was dining at a fancy chinese restaurant. Then I moved to Florida. Hot Florida. Drinking soda just didnt quench my thirst anymore and water was flavorless. Going and eating out I would have unsweeten tea and that quenched my thirst. Until I moved in with Tim. He introduced me to sweet tea. Oh I didnt like it too much at first because it was too sweet. But it grew on me and then I just had to try and make it myself. With his approval I am posting this recipe for sweet tea.

                                            Sweet Tea

Ingredients:
 3 Family sized tea bags
a pinch baking soda* ( a very small pinch )
1 to 1 1/3 cups of sugar

Directions:
Bring 3-4 cups of water to a boil. Add a pinch of baking soda to the water and add 3 family sized tea bags. Remove from heat and cover. Allow to sit for at least 10-15 minutes. Pour into gallon pitcher and add sugar. Then fill with cold water. Refrigerate.
*the soda takes out the bitterness and darkens the tea....this small amount doesnt change the taste. But you know if you have added too much when you can taste the baking soda.