Ham and Cheese Sliders!

We had a few friends over to watch the Super Bowl this year.

I only like to make the food and watch the commercials.

The kid peeing in the pool was my favorite this year.

These Ham and Cheese Sliders were gone quickly!  They are ooey, gooey goodness. 

Here you go:

Ingredients

2 packages of Pepperige Farm Rolls - Split in half

(I have had a hard time finding these over the years.  This year I used a package of Bunny Bread dinner rolls.  They do not contain milk.)

Swiss Cheese singles

American Cheese singles

Oscar Mayer Smoked Sliced ham - 2 packs

2 sticks melted butter (I used Flieshman's unsalted since it does not contain milk)

4 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 Tablespoons prepared mustard

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions

After splitting the rolls, (I have found it easiest to use an electric knife to split the rolls) place the bottom portion in a 9x13 pan.   Place 1 layer of Swiss cheese on top of the rolls.  Next, place 2 layers of ham.  Add a layer of the American Cheese. 

Put the top half of the rolls back on. 

Combine the butter, brown sugar, prepared mustard, and Worcestershire sauce.  Pour over the rolls.  Cut between the rolls with a sharp knife. 

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or 2 hours. 

Bake at 350 degrees for, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted.


These are SO good!  They are always a crowd pleaser. 

When I was assembling these, I broke off four of the rolls and put in a smaller Pyrex dish and made some for String Beane without cheese. 

We all love them.  They are especially good with soup on a cold night.

I am linking up with Metamorphosis Monday, Allergy Friendly Friday and these other Awesome Parties!

Lemonade Cake

I finally made a winner!  My little Sting beane is so hard to cook for.  First, he has a sever food allergy to milk.  That, in and of itself, is very hard to work with.  The second reason he is hard to cook for is that he does not care about food at all. 

This is something I dont' get.  I love food.  Everything I do revolves around food.  Where we will eat.  What I will cook.  What do they have for dessert.  All the key questions.  None of this matters to String beane.  He is totally unimpressed with food.  So it is pretty much a bummer to cook for him. 

Monday we had some family come visit so I made a new cake recipe.  Lemonade cake!  What do you know?  String beane liked it so much, he asked for seconds and then actually asked for a piece of Lemonade Cake for the next day!  This is a bonanza! 

Here is the magic cake recipe.  It is adapted from two different recipes I found online.  I made them milk free for our family.  Feel free to use regular cow milk in the recipe.  I am sure it would be wonderful.



Lemonade Cake



Ingredients

1 Lemon boxed cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)

4 eggs

1 1/4 cup milk (I used Almond Milk)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 Tbsp Lemonade from concentrate 

Glaze: 

2 Tbsp Lemonade from concentrate

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp water



Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Spray 2 8″ round cake pans generously with cooking/baking spray.

In mixer beat all your ingredients on low for 30 seconds and then on medium for 2 minutes.

Keep the remaining frozen lemonade concentrate in the freezer…you will need it again.

Bake according to package directions (I baked for approx 30 minutes) until cake is set and toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool in pan…about an hour. Do not remove.

When the cakes are cooled level them off so they are flat on top.

Poke holes in the cake with a fork.  Make your glaze.  In a bowl, mix the Lemonade concentrate, powdered sugar, and water.  Pour the glaze equally over the cakes, still in the pans.  Wrap with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator overnight. 

Frosting Ingredients

1 lb confectioners sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened (I used Fleishman's Unsalted Margarine -Milk Free)
3 tablespoon frozen lemonade concentrate

To make the frosting, beat together sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in the remaining ingredients until combined.

Transfer one cake to a cake stand or large platter. Using an offset spatula, spread the top of the cake with a layer of frosting. Place the second cake on top of the first. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of both layers. Slice and serve.

I could not believe how good this cake was!  It was so refreshing and cool tasting.  It did not make me feel like I was already breaking my resolution.  Oh, Well!

I am so happy the my String Beane liked it so much.    Make yourself some.  You won't regret it!

I adapted this recipe from Cookies and Cups and also the Deen Bros. recipes.

I am linking up at Metamorphasis Monday and theses other Awsome Parties!

 

Friday Favorites

 Check out my Giveaway of a great eBook package from Modern Alternative Mom.  Leave a comment to enter!



The Beanes are officially nuts!  String Beane passed his in office food challenge for peanuts last week!  Woo to the Hoo!

I have not been this excited about food since he got the go ahead to eat shrimp.  After his allergy appointment, we went to Target and I bought every peanut/nut item I could find that did not contain milk/dairy. 

We have added alot of new snacks! 

I have had the most fun looking on Pinterest for some new recipes that contain peanuts or peanut butter.  My Friday Favorites this week are all recipes that have peanut butter in them! 

Here they are:

Fluffernutter Cupcakes

I am pretty excited about this whole Fluffernutter thing.  I have the ingredients on hand.

Peanut Butter Cups

I have dreams of these.

Warm Gooey Peanut Butter Marshmallow Treats

These are at the top of the list!

Nutter Butter and Chocolate Cupcakes

These look so good!

Peanut butter Sheet Cake

I used to love peanut butter cake.  I can't wait to eat it again.

Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars

I wonder if these taste like the ones from Jonesboro Elementary?

Peanut Butter Popcorn

I am looking forward to trying some of these peanut butter recipes.  It has been 6 years since I have bought peanut butter! 

I am linking up again at Finding Joy in My Kitchen.  Go by and check out what everyone else has bookmarked.



Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

I love casseroles.  They are just comfort food.  Casseroles are warm and yummy and delicious.  My favorite casserole is this Chicken and Wild Rice. 

It has a warm and creamy inside and a crunchy top.  It is full of yummy goodness.  And, believe it or not, I can make it milk/dairy free for my sweet String Beane.  We all love eating this meal.  All the little beanes eat it up and, like I said, it is my favorite casserole.  That lands it a spot in the family favorite recipe section! 

I originally found this recipe in a copy of Southern Living.  I will list the recipe the original way and put in parenthesis how I made it milk free.

Ingredients

1 (3lbs) whole chicken

1/2 c water

1/2 dry sherry (I have always just used chicken broth because I don't have dry sherry)

1 celery stalk

1/2 onion quartered

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1 (6oz) package Uncle Ben's long grain and wild rice mix

1/4 c butter (Flieshmann's unsalted margarine)

1 (8oz) package sliced mushrooms

1/2 c green onions chopped

1/2 c sour cream (Toufutti "sour cream")

half can of cream of mushroom soup (homemade concoction of faux cream of chicken soup)

1/2 sleeve Ritz crackers

1/2 of a 6 oz can of French's Fried onions

2 T butter melted (Flieshmann's unsalted margarine)

1/8 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon garlic salt

Directions

Bring the first nine ingredients to a boil in a large Dutch Oven.  Reduce heat and cover.  Simmer for 1 hour or until chicken is done.  Remove chicken, reserving broth.  Strain broth into a 4 cup measuring cup.  Discard solids.  Cook rice according to package directions, substituting 2 1/8 cup reserved chicken broth for water and omitting butter. 

Bone and chop the chicken (remove skin). 

Melt 1/4 cup of butter in dutch oven and add mushrooms and green onions.  Saute` 10 minutes.  Stir in rice, chicken, sour cream, and soup.  Spoon into casserole dish. 

Stir together crushed crackers and fried onions.  Stir in 2 T melted butter, paprika, and garlic powder. Sprinkle over casserole mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  Uncover and bake 5-10 minutes or until bubbly.

 It comes out looking like this.

Spoon it onto the plates and serve it up with some broccoli. 

This is such a good dish for cold nights.  Or any night for that matter. 

I am linking up with Metamorphasis Monday
and these other awesome parties!

Fall Party Food - Allergy Friendly

String Beane is in kindergarten this year.  He is my first born and off to school he went.  It was traumatic for me to say the least.  

He goes to a Christian school and there are only 11 children in his class. 

3 of them have food allergies.  The total breakdown is:  No peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, or milk!  That is a tall order, my friends.  Also, since it is a Christian school, nothing too "Halloweenish".  All of these demands makes throwing a party difficult.  But, I am hear to tell you, it can be done.

I found most of my inspiration on Pinterest.  Here is what went down.

I had three stations set up.  One was a counting game.

Candy Corn counting

The second station was a craft station.

Pumpkin Patch Art

The third station they made their own cake push pops.



Push Pops

We did not use the ghost peeps, only the pumpkin ones.  I did not want to push the envelope first party of the year.

The candy corns for the counting game met our allergy needs.  I made mini cakes from a gluten free cake mix that happened to be milk and peanut/tree nut free too.  I made up yellow, white, and orange frosting from Crisco and powdered sugar to squirt in the cake pops. 

Everyone seemed to have a great time rotating through the stations and making things. 

Then they all sat down at their desks for the food.  We started out with:

Pumpkin Juice

These were water bottles with some orange flavored "on the go" drink packs.  I tied them with green ribbon and a straw.  The kids seemed to think this was some sort of a magic trick!

Pumpkin Patch Brownies

I used a gluten free brownie mix and used dairy free margarine for the brownies.  The marshmallow was okay for our allergies and I used a can of Pillsbury vanilla frosting and orange food coloring.  The pumpkin stem is a green gum drop that I cut down to size.

Popcorn Cake

This was made with popcorn, marshmallows, candy corns, and dairy free chocolate chips.  It was very cute when I cut it into slices.

They also had bags of chips. 

While they were eating I carved a Jack-O- Lantern using the Pumpkin Prayer.

As I carve my pumpkin, help me pray this prayer:

Open my mind so I can learn about You

(Cut the top off the pumpkin)

Take all my sin and forgive the wrong that I do

(clean out the inside)

Open my eyes so Your love  will see
(cut eyes shaped like hearts)

I'm sorry for times I've turned up my nose at what You've given to me

(Cut a noes in the shape of a cross)

Open my ears so Your Word I will hear

(cut ears shaped like the Bible)

Open my mouth to tell others You're near

(cut the mouth in the shape of a fish)

Let Your light shine in all I say and do!

Amen

(place candle inside and light it)

The pumpkin carving seemed to be the favorite part.  It was really amazing how still they were while I was trying to hack into the pumpkin!

All I have wanted for String Beane, was for him to be able to do what the other children are doing.  I don't want to have to worry about food.  I guess since he is in a class where 3 of 11 have severe food allergies, he would be considered "normal".  Funny how God chooses to answer our prayers. 

Special diets and situations are certainly more difficult to deal with than what we may be used to, but it can be done!  I am here to tell the tale. 

I am linking up with Metamorphasis Monday
and these Awesome Parties!

Copycat Krispy Kreme Doughnuts ~ Adapted

I am linking up at Metamorphasis Monday
and these other Awesome Parties!

I used to love to buy doughnuts in the grocery store.  I was single and lived alone so there wasn't even a need to hide them. 

Then I met  Mr. Homegrown.  He grew up in Winston Salem, home of the Krispy Kreme.  He changed my life.  He introduced me to the Hot Now doughnut at Krispy Kreme.  Nothing has been the same since.  I no longer buy doughnuts in the grocery store.  Why bother?  They are nothing like a good Hot Now doughnut from Krispy Kreme.  There are no words to really describe how yummy and heavenly a Hot Now doughnut is from Krispy Kreme.  If you have not tried one, go get one.  Sit in the parking lot and wait for the big red "Hot Now" sign to light up and run in there and get you some.  You will be forever changed.

Since String Beane was diagnosed with severe a milk allergy when he was 7 months old, I think I have read every ingredient label there is!  I have not found a doughnut yet that does not contain milk.  It is sad really.  Poor guy does not know what he is missing.  I ran across this recipe for copycat Krispy Kreme doughnuts and knew I wanted to give it a try.  I modified the recipe to milk free ingredients so it would be safe for my little beane.  I will list the recipe in the original state and just tell you what I substituted.  They really were delish.  They will not put Krispy Kreme out of buisness or anything, but they are worth your time to make.

Ingredients

2 pkgs. regular or rapid rise yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk (I used Vanilla Soy Milk)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1/3 cup shortening

5 cups all-purpose flour

Vegetable oil

Creamy glaze (or chocolate glaze) - recipe below

Directions

Dissolve yeast in the warm water.  Add milk, salt, eggs, shortening, sugar and 2 cups flour. Beat on a low speed for 30 seconds, scrape the sides! Then beat on medium for 2 minutes, making sure to scrape occasionally.  Stir in remaining flour until smooth.
Cover and let rise for 50 to 60 minutes or until doubled.
Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch thickness.  

Cut into donuts. Cover and let rise for 30 to 40 minutes.  Heat oil (I used a skillet) to 350. Add donuts in batches and fry until golden brown on both sides.  

Remove and drain on a paper towel.   Then dip into glaze (if you do chocolate, let them cool after the creamy glaze and spread chocolate glaze on top).  

Creamy Glaze Recipe

Ingredients

1/3 cup butter (I used Fleishman's Unsalted Margarine)

2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

4-6 tbsp. hot water

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a saucepan, then remove from heat.
2. Stir in sugar and vanilla.
3. Then add water, a tablespoon at a time, until you get the consistency you want. (If you do chocolate glaze, you add in melted chocolate as well).

This makes a ton of doughnuts!  Next time I will cut the recipe in half.  The glaze on these doughnuts is wonderful.  I am trying to think of what else I can use that on!  If you can think of something let me know.

All the little Beanes like the doughnuts.  None of them were overly impressed though.  I blame it on the fact that they have never really eaten doughnuts before and were just in some sort of shock.  Whatever.

Caramel Apples ~ Dairy Free

Today I am so excited to be participating in The Improv Cooking Challenge with The Lady Behind the Curtain.  The challenge was to come up with any recipe that included caramel and apples! 

Fall is a fun time of the year to cook with caramel and apples.  In honor of our recent visit to the State Fair, I am posting my recipe for Milk Free Caramel Apples.  You can modify this recipe to suit your likings.  Just change the toppings around and Viola` you have a masterful creation!

I adapted a few of the caramel recipes I found on the web to make it safe for String Beane.  My version of Caramel Apples does not contain milk.  Whilst this is very important to me to make sure all the super cool things I covet and figure out how to make are safe for String Beane, it does not seem to be important to him.  When he gets home from school today, he is likely to look at the totally wonderful looking Caramel Apples and remind me that he does not like apples.  I don't think liking apples is the point of a yummy Caramel Apple.  The apple is just sort of the vessel necessary to hold the caramel and yummy toppings. 

  These Caramel Apples could have been a lot cuter if I had taken my time and gone to Wal mart to get some Halloween sprinkles and the little bottles that you can squirt melted chocolate out of.  I just used what I had here and made the caramel apples that I had been inspired to make.  Feel free to plan ahead and use really cool toppings for your Caramel Apples. 



I made three Caramel Apples because I had three apples.  Duh. 

Ingredients

Apples

1/2 cup butter (I used Fleishman's unsalted Margarine)

1 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons Karo Syrup (I used dark because that was what I had here)

Toppings can be anything you want!  I used Semi Sweet chocolate chips, sprinkles, and marshmallows.

Directions

Heat the margarine, brown sugar and Karo syrup in a sauce pan until boiling.  Stir constantly.  Boil for 1-3 minutes. 

Dip and twist the apples around in the caramel until they are coated.  Roll the caramel dipped apple in the toppings. Place them on a plate lined with wax paper.  I found it the easiest to do one apple at a time so the caramel does not set too much for the toppings to stick. 



Chocolate Carmel with Marshmallows



Caramel with Semi Sweet chocolate Chips



Caramel with Sprinkles


I had a great time making these.  A few things to note:  I think I would have been happier with the end result if I had used a Green apple.  But it is hard to be impulsive if you go to the store and buy the proper ingredients.  I had red so I used red.  I also would have liked to have gotten some of the little squirt bottles and drizzled melted chocolate and butter scotch all over these.  As it stands, you can see with the chocolate caramel apple with marshmallows, I used a spoon and accidental dumped drizzled the chocolate caramel over the apple.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder right? 

I can't wait to see String Beane's reaction when he sees them. 

Honey and Spice Pork Kabobs

 

I cannot begin to tell you how delicious this meal is.  It is a pork loin  marinated in a honey-citrus marinade.  It looks impressive to company.  My whole family, even all the little beanes, eat it and love it.  And, most importantly, it is a make ahead freezer meal!  This is a home run of a recipe.

Ingredients

1 1/2 - 2 pounds pork loin

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup honey

 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon minced garlic

a 1 gallon freezer bag

Directions

Rinse and trim loin as desired.  Cut pork into 1 inch cubes.  Put in freezer bag.  

Whisk together the orange juice, honey, pumpkin pie spice, salt and minced garlic in a bowl.  Pour marinade over pork.  Seal and Freeze!  This is genius people! 

When you are ready to make this wonderful meal, completely thaw the pork in the refrigerator.  If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes.

Prepare a medium - low fire in a gas or charcoal grill.  

Thread the pork on the skewers.

Grill, turning occasionally, and basting as desired with the marinade.  

Grill for 15-18 minutes until thoroughly cooked.  Do not baste the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Discard remaining marinade.

If you do not want to make this a fix ahead freezer meal, just follow the above directions and let the pork marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.  

I just steamed some white and brown rice together and served the pork kabobs over the rice.

I sprinkled some green onions over the pork just for garnish. 

We love this meal.  I hope you can enjoy it too.

Linking up at these awesome parties and Metamorphasis Monday

Homemade English Muffins

I ran across this recipe for vegan English Muffins a few months ago.  It sounded so good to me because I try to make everything safe for String Beane and he is REALLY allergic to milk.  He has no trouble eating beef, it is just an issue with cow's milk.  So we call him the meat eating vegan. 

Any the who, I tried this recipe and it is fantastic!  There is no way to tell that you are not using dairy in the making of these beautiful things.  I assume that you could substitute dairy products for the dairy-free products and it would be great too.  If you try that let me know.  I have hope that one day String beane will outgrow his allergy and I will be cooking with milk again.  Until then, I am all over these vegan english muffins.

This is the beautiful finished product with some margarine and strawberry jelly.  Yum!

Ingredients

1 cup dairy free milk (I used soy)

1 Tablespoons white sugar

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)

1/4 cup margarine 

4 1/2 - 6 Cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a sauce pan, combine the milk, sugar, salt, and margarine.  Warm the mixture over low heat until the margarine melts and sugar and salt dissolves.  Remove from heat.  In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water for about 5-10 minutes.  Add the milk mixture and 4 cups of the flour to the yeast and water.  Mix, adding additional flour 1/2 cup at a time as needed until a soft dough forms.  Knead dough for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hour.

Punch down the dough.  Roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick.  Cut large rounds with a biscuit cutter.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Sprinkle paper with cornmeal and set the rounds on this to rise.  Sprinkle the tops of muffins with cornmeal.  Cover and let rise for 45 minutes.

Heat a greased griddle over medium heat.  Cook the muffins on the griddle until lightly browned.  About 5-7 minutes each side.

 

I cooked five at a time for 5 minutes.  Then I flipped them.

And I cooked them for 5 minutes on this side.

Then I split it open and toasted it.

I slathered it with margarine and strawberry jelly.  I got hungry taking pictures so I took a bite.  Delish!

Mr. Homegrown and I love to eat these for breakfast or a late night snack with our coffee.  The little beanes don't like it like that so much.  I split them open and made lunch for Butter beane and Jelly beane today.

They ate pizza and thought I was cool.

I packaged these up to give to a friend tomorrow.  I hope she likes them.  I hope you will try these and love them too.  Vegan or not, which I am not, these are great English Muffins!  

Linking up at Between Naps On the Porch and these awesome parties!

Friday Favorites

I am linking up again with Finding Joy in my Kitchen to see what everyone has bookmarked this week.  I have found some goodies that I can't wait to try one of these days.  Here are the top 5 that made my list.

Peanut Butter Cup Popcorn

That just sounds like a good idea!

Mom's Taco Salad With Fritos

I think this is one salad that the Little Beanes might eat.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

String Beane has a milk allergy.  Shockingly, Oreos do not have milk.  It doesn't look like that would be true but it is.  It has made me love the Oreo company. 

Taco Spring Rolls

Yummy!

Chocolate Chip Graham Cracker Blondies

The picture says it all!

Cinnamon Bun!

Mr. Homegrown has a sweet tooth.  That is probably why I married him.  It is hard to hide a sweet tooth forever.  So I married someone who has one too!  That was genius.

Cinnamon Buns or Monkey Bread is probably his favorite breakfast in the world.  This recipe for Cinnamon Buns is his favorite.  It is also probably the easiest breakfast to make.  What a happy marriage. 

All the Beanes love this cinnamon bun.  It is so gooey and yummy!  There is buttery cinnamon love everywhere.   I love that you assemble it the night before and just pop it in the oven in the morning.  I always make it for Christmas morning when there is no time to cook with all the wrapping paper flying.

I hope you love this as much as we do.  It is a busy moms dream of a recipe and a Sweet Tooth's BFF.

Ingredients

20 frozen dough rolls (I use Rhodes)

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup vanilla instant pudding

1-2 Tbsp cinnamon

3/4 cup raisins -optional (I do not use them)

1/2 cup melted butter (dairy free margarine is what we use)

Directions

Grease a 10" bundt pan and add frozen rolls.  Sprimkle with brown sugar, pudding powder, cinnamon and raisins.  Pour melted butter over all.  Cover with a clean, damp cloth.  Leave out at room temperature.  Turn out the lights and go to bed!

When you wake up you will see this waiting for you

In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Let sit for 5 minutes and then turn out on a serving plate.  Your family will thank you!

Recipe was adapted from Land of Nod Cinnamon Bun.

I am linking this to Melt in your Mouth Monday,
Jam Hands

Friday Favorites Finds

I am linking up again this week at www.joyinmykitchen.com.
I look so forward to fridays.  I love to see what everyone else has bookmarked and pinned.  Everything always looks so good!  Here are my top picks for this week!

Peanut Buttercup Chocolate Cake

I am having a hard time typing while this picture is in front of me.  This is about the best looking thing I have ever seen.

Lemonade Layer Cake

I am pretty sure I can make this one milk free.  I think String Beane might like it.  He loves lemon.

Race car Sloppy Joes

Butter Beane is really into Cars right now.  Maybe he will eat dinner if it is in Lightning Mc Queen.

Rainbow Pudding Pops

I have had a lot of sucess making pudding for String Beane with Coconut milk.  I think I will try this recipe and make rainbow pudding pops.