Biscuit Tips

With the weather turning cooler, my oven is coming back into use.  We love biscuits, but always seem to have leftovers, so I use tip number five a lot.

Biscuit Tips:

1. To create a rich golden brown color when you make biscuits or rolls, add a teaspoon of sugar to the dry ingredients.  It helps the crust caramelize.

2. Dip your biscuit cutter in flour, before you use it to cut biscuits from the dough.  This will keep the cutter from  sticking to the dough.

3. When you cut the biscuits out, don't twist the cutter.  If you twist the cutter, it will seal the edges of the biscuits, keeping them from rising high.

4. Don't over stir your dough, it will make the biscuits tough.

5. To reheat biscuits or rolls, sprinkle them lightly with water and wrap them in aluminum foil.  Place them in a preheated 350 degree oven for 5 minutes. 

On Friday, I will be posting my,

Heartwarming Oat Biscuits.

Don't forget to leave a comment on the

Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway post for your chance to win

Tate's Cookbook & Cookies!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Lynn's Rockin' Roast

Lynn's Rockin' Roast

3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pound roast
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (1 ounce) packet dry onion soup mix
1 1/2 cups (12 ounce can) cherry cola or regular cola
1 onion, sliced thick

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.  Place roast in slow cooker.  In medium bowl, combine mushroom soup, onion soup mix, and cherry cola.  Mix well.

Pour soup mixture over roast.  Pepper to taste.  

Arrange onion over top.  Cover with lid.  

Cook on low 8 to 10 hours. 

This recipe came from a listener of my "Fast Food Friday" show on the Passion Radio Network.  Lynn, email me 9 delicious recipes.  My husband loves roast, so I picked her "Lynn's Rockin' Roast" to prepare first.  All of Lynn's delectable recipes are posted under the "Share Your Recipes" tab. 

Lynn said, she always uses Cherry Coke when she makes this recipe, so that is what I did.  Not only was this roast super easy to prepare, but the Cherry Coke added an interesting twist.  It was a huge hit at my house!  The cola made the roast so tender you could cut it with a fork and the onion gravy was a savory delight.

Lynn, my husband Stan says, "Your roast really is rockin'!"  And he wants to know what can you do with a chicken?

Stop back by on Tuesday, for my 

Tuesday's Tips & Tricks post!

 Don't forget to leave a comment on the
Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway post for your chance to win
Tate's Cookbook & Cookies!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway!

Tate's Bake Shop is giving away three packages of their Tate's Bake Shop award winning Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Cookies and a Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook autographed by Kathleen King!

The Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Cookies won GOLD in the Cookie Category in the 2011 sofi Awards, presented at the Fancy Food Show (known as the Oscars for the specialty food industry) in Washington, DC. 

The cookies are crisp and buttery, rich but not overwhelming, they simpley melt in your mouth.  And just one is never enough!  

The cookbook has 125 of their very best recipes from the Southampton's favorite bakeshop.  There are incredible cookies, cakes, pies, muffins, and bread recipes.  It's a cookbook you can't put down.  You will have a hard time trying to decide which tasty recipe to make first. 

 

There are several ways to enter the Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway.  I recommend using all of them, for more chances to win. 

1. Leave me a comment telling me that you follow my blog, through Google Friend Connect (there is a box on my sidebar that says, Followers). 

2. Become a Fan of My Kind of Cooking Facebook page ( there is a box on my sidebar), and leave a comment telling me you "Like" the My Kind of Cooking facebook page. 

3. Become a fan of Tate's Bake Shop Facebook Fan page, and leave me a separate comment telling me you have done that. 

4. Follow Tate's Bake Shop on Twitter, and leave a separate comment telling me you have done that.

 You have until midnight, MST, on October 29th, to enter the Giveaway.  The winner will be picked by random.org and announced on October 30th.

Tate's is offering the readers of, "My Kind of Cooking," 15% off of any order placed during the month of October.  

Go to their website: www.tatesbakeshop.com

Enter the discount code: COOKIE  

Last Christmas I ordered cookies from the Tate's Bake Shop website.  It not only made Christmas shopping easier for me, but everyone who received the cookies were thrilled with their gift!  This year, I already have 3 cookbooks and 2 gift packs on my list. 

 

On Friday, I will be posting a 

Rockin' Roast slow cooker recipe.

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Cottage Cheese Cake

Cottage Cheese Cake

1 (18 1/4 ounce) package yellow cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare
4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 pounds cottage cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In large bowl, prepare cake mix according to package directions.  Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x13 inch baking pan.

 In a medium bowl, combine eggs, sugar, and vanilla.  Mix well.  

Add cottage cheese.  Mix well.  

Spoon cottage cheese mixture over cake batter.  Do not mix.  Bake 1 hour.

Cool before serving.  

Dust with powdered sugar if desired. 

Refrigerate cake until time to serve. 

This cake is a delicious combination of custard and cake.  Don't let the cottage cheese scare you.  It adds a wonderful taste and texture to the dessert.   It is not an overly sweet cake; which is why it is one of my husband Stan's favorite desserts.

Custard is one of those things you either love it or hate it.  We fell in love with custard on our first trip to South Africa.  Everyday of our stay, we had tea and a custard like dessert called, Milk Tart.

My husband had mentioned that he loved Milk Tart, so everywhere we went friends had a Milk Tart waiting for him.  We ate so much of it that I am surprised we still love it.

Don't forget to leave a comment on Tuesday's post for your chance to 

Win a $20 Amazon Voucher!

Stop back by on Tuesday, for my 

Tuesday's Tips & Tricks post!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

My Favorite Uses for Cooking Spray and a $20 Amazon Voucher

I love Pam Cooking Spray!  There is always a can in my cupboard.  It is an amazing product.  You can not only use it in the kitchen, but also around the house.  Below are a few of my favorite uses for the cooking spray.

Cooking Spray Uses

1. Spray the inside of your slow cooker for easier clean up.


2. Spray the bowl and plastic wrap with cooking spray before proofing yeast dough.  It makes it easier to remove the dough from the bowl and prevents the plastic wrap from sticking to the dough.

3. Spray your measuring cups before you measure honey and other sticky foods.

4. Spray your cheese grater with Pam to make clean up easier.

5. Spray cookie cutters so the dough won't stick.

6. Use it to take gum out of hair.  Spray the gum and hair around it with cooking spay.  With a little work, the gum will come right out.

7. Clean paint and grease from your hands.  Spray hands liberally with cooking spray, work in, rinse.  Wash with soap and water.

8. Coat the shower door with a thin layer of cooking spray. Wait a few minutes and wash off with soap and water. The oil in the cooking spray dissolves the soap scum buildup and lime deposits.

9. Spray squeaky door hinges with cooking spray.

10. Spray a bike chain with cooking spray.

11. Spray both sides of your snow shovel with cooking spay to keep the snow from sticking to it.

12. Spray your satellite dish with cooking spray to keep snow from building up in it.

What are your favorite uses for cooking spray?

How would you like a $20 Amazon Voucher?

I am so excited!  I was visited by the Appliances Online Fairy Hobmother, and she gave me a $20 Amazon Voucher!  

For your chance to be visited by the Appliances Online Fairy Hobmother, and your own $20 Amazon Voucher, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post!

Spot by and visit the Appliances Online site!

On Friday, I will be posting my 

Cottage Cheese Cake recipe!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Slow Cooker Chicken Casserole

Slow Cooker Chicken Casserole

3 to 4 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 (15 ounce) can evaporated milk
2 cups macaroni, uncooked
3/4 cup sour cream

Spray the inside of the slow cooker with cooking spray for easy clean up.  In slow cooker, combine chicken, cream of mushroom soup, evaporated milk, and macaroni.  Mix well.  Cover with lid.  Cook on low 6 to 8 hours.  Add in sour cream.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Mix well.  Makes 6 servings.

When I opened the door after being gone all day, I was met with the a delicious aroma of a home cooked meal.  This recipe tastes like chicken stroganoff.  It is creamy and hardy and was waiting for me when I got home.    

I love slow cooker recipes that are quick to prepare.  For this recipe, I cut up the chicken the night before, and  place it back in the refrigerator.  I gathered all the ingredients needed for the recipe (that don't need to be refrigerated) and put them on the counter, along with the slow cooker and all of the utensils that are needed to prepare it.   By doing this, it takes only five minutes of prep time in the morning, to create a tasty family pleasing meal.

Stop back by on Tuesday, for my 

Tuesday's Tips & Tricks post!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Tostones and Nicaragua

Tostones AKA Flattened Fried Plantains

2 plantains
Oil for frying
Salt

Slice plantains into 1 inch pieces.  

Pour 1/2 inch of oil into a large skillet.  Heat over medium high heat.  When oil is heated, add plantain pieces.  Fry 2 minutes on each side.  Remove plantain pieces to paper towel.

Place plantain pieces on a cutting board.  Flatted plantains with the bottom of a glass or ramekin.

Place the plantains back in the hot oil.  Fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Salt to taste.

I just returned from a mission trip with, Passion Play Ministries International, to Nicaragua.  While we were there, we ate Tostones with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and for the occasional snack.  I think the Tostones are a little bland by themselves, so we would spoon a little salsa on them to add some flavor.

Have you ever seen the movie, "Romancing the Stone"?  Nicaragua reminded me of that movie. 

 We traveled on roads that were steep and narrow.  We even drove through a stream that was around 80 feet wide.  

On the way back down the mountain, just as we crossed this stream, it began to rain.  I have never seen it rain so hard, for so long.  If we hadn't crossed the stream before the rain hit, we would have been stuck sleeping in the van all night on that steep narrow road.  The stream becomes too high to cross when it rains.

The food in Nicaragua was delicious!  

We went to a restaurant one day for fresh fish.  The server showed you the fish before it was cooked.

The fish was served with sauteed onions and tomatoes on it.

It was also served with the head on it.

It was one scary looking fish when it was cooked!  Everyone who ordered the fresh fish, loved it.  I tried a bite of the fish off of my friend's plate.  It was tasty, but I just don't like to eat a fish with it's head still attached.  It creeps me out!  The glassy eyes staring at you as you munch away at it... YUCK!

This was not our first mission trip,

so my husband Stan and I

ordered our fish breaded

and fried.

 

One night for dinner, we ate beef skewers that were cooked on a grill made from a tire rim. 

The beef had been marinated in fruit juice and spices.  It was tender and full of flavor.  I think we all went back for seconds, and a few went back for thirds.

On Friday, I will be posting my 
Slow Cooker Chicken Casserole recipe.

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!