These muffins are great for when your on the go and a great make-ahead meal for your kids for a snack or lunch that can easily be frozen-Homemade Corn Dog Muffins.

As much as we all like the smell and taste of a corn dog, I’ve never actual attempted to make them at home because of all the oil that’s required to cook them. I’m not a big fan of deep frying foods. This recipe is a great alternative to deep frying your corn dogs and the kids love them. You can use your favorite cornmeal recipe or if you can find Jiffy cornbread mix on sale like I did, that will work too.

Homemade Corn Dog Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 boxes Jiffy Cornbread mix, plus ingredients to make muffins according to package instructions
• 1 package hot dogs
• 24 muffins paper cups to line muffin pan

Directions:

1. Make muffin mix according to package instructions. (Your using two boxes so remember to double ingredients.)
2. Line muffin pan with muffin cups.
3. Fill each muffin cup with cornbread batter.
4. Cut hots dogs in 1/2 or in 1/3 depending on the size hot dogs you have on hand.
5. Place hot dog in center of cornbread batter and lightly press in. (Batter will slightly raise over hot dog.)
6. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees until lightly golden brown.
7. Serve right away or let cool and freeze.

An easy lunch or snack idea that you can make ahead and your kids will love!

Yes, it’s true I said Homemade Crock Pot Greek Yogurt. I  never would have thought making your own yogurt could be so easy and not to mention using simple everyday kitchen tools and appliances to make it.

Our house goes through yogurt pretty fast. We eat it plain, with fresh fruit or jam, for breakfast with granola, make yogurt pops or use it in a multitude of recipes. When I saw the recipe from Shannon’s Kitchen Creations, I couldn’t wait to try it!

There are so many benefits to making your own. I love the taste and creaminess of greek yogurt but it can be expensive if it’s not on sale or you don’t have grocery store coupons. When I was first introduced to Chobani Greek yogurt, I was in heaven. But paying over a $1 for one single yogurt on a family’s budget to me is unacceptable. Especially now that I can make my own for less…$0.30. How’s that for starters?

You can throw it in the crock pot overnight and when you wake up in the morning, you have a delicious and creamy yogurt. My kids said the kitchen smelled like homemade bread and yogurt. It will also have a lot less sugar. Flavoring yogurt yourself, allows you to control how much sugar you add. You can flavor it with fresh fruit, honey, Agave syrup, Maple syrup, cinnamon, add granola or simply eat it plain. Try adding it to your favorite fruit smoothie recipe.

My first attempt at making it, the milk looked like I just poured it into the crock pot. It’s wasn’t the thick consistency that I had hoped for. That didn’t get me discouraged. I’ve had my crock pot for over 10 years and I realized that the low setting isn’t bringing foods to the right temperature. So the next batch I tried, I turned it on the high setting then down to low after an hour. The second batch turned out perfect!

Crock Pot Greek Yogurt

Servings: 4 cups

Ingredients:

• 8 cups milk 
• 1/2 cup store-bought natural plain yogurt (you can use Dannon, Chobani, Fage etc. Once you have made your own, you can use that as a starter)

Note:  (whole, 1%, 2% or skim Pasteurized Milk, but do NOT use ultra-pasteurized it won’t work.) You can also use 1 gallon of milk and 1 cup of yogurt, just heat the milk for 3 hours instead of 2 1/2  on step 2. The rest of the steps are the same.

Cooking Tools:

• 4 quart Crock pot
• Wisk
• Measuring cup
• Paper towels or cheese cloth ( I agree with Shannon and prefer the paper towel method.)
• Ladle
• Containers to put yogurt in
• thick bath towel
• a timer

Directions:

1. Make your yogurt on a weekend day when you are home to monitor. (After the 3 hour mark, you can go to bed.)

2. Plug in your crock pot and turn to low. Add a half gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.

3. Unplug your crock pot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours.

4. When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warmish milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt. Then dump the bowl contents back into the crock pot. Wisk to combine.

5. Put the lid back on your crock pot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.

6. Go to bed or let it sit for 8 hours.

7. In the morning, the yogurt will have thickened to the consistency of low-fat plain yogurt.

8. Place Cheese cloth or paper towels into a colander and ladle the yogurt into it, place the colander into a big bowl or in the sink.

9. Let it sit for 1 hr until thick and creamy.

10. Chill in a plastic container(s) in the refrigerator. Your fresh yogurt will last 7-10 days. Save 1/2 cup as a starter to make a new batch.
11. Flavor to fit your taste, you can also use this in place of sour cream.

A family dinner on a summer evening wouldn’t be the same without ending it with a yummy Homemade Banana Pudding dessert. I normally shy away from homemade puddings and custards with homemade meringue but I was pleasantly surprised at how good this dessert turned out. The kids helped with the layering of the cookies and spreading of the pudding and I did the meringue topping.

After making my own pudding, I don’t think I’ll go back to making it from the box. The texture is a bit thicker like custard and seems to set faster. I’m going to try making it again but this time changing up the ingredients to make a lemon, lime and chocolate pudding. This recipe will definitely have your family asking for more.

Homemade Banana Pudding Dessert

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Dash salt
3 eggs, separated
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 box Nilla wafers, divided (regular size or mini)
5 ripe bananas, sliced and divided
Additional Nilla wafers and banana slices for garnish

Directions:

• Mix 1/2 cup sugar, flour and salt in top of double boiler.
• Blend in 3 egg yolks, set the egg whites aside to use in the meringue topping.
•  Add the milk. Cook, uncovered, over boiling water, stirring constantly for 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened.
• Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Reserve 10 wafers for garnish.
• Spread small amount of custard on bottom of 1 1/2-quart casserole; cover with a layer of wafers and a layer of sliced bananas.
• Pour about 1/3 of custard over bananas. Continue to layer wafers, bananas and custard to make a total of 3 layers of each, ending with custard.
• Beat egg whites until soft peaks form; gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff but not dry. Spoon on top of pudding, spreading evenly to cover entire surface and sealing well to edges.
• Bake at 350°F in top half of oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned.
• Cool slightly or refrigerate. Garnish with additional wafers and banana slices just before serving.

Do you ever have trouble estimating the amout of spaghetti noodles to cook? If you find that you’ve cooked too much,do not throw away the leftovers. I have found this recipe to be a tasty dish for leftovers and it is ready in 30 minutes.

Spicy Peanut Noodles

Ingredients:

1 pound (16-oz) spaghetti noodles
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1 Tablespoon Rice vivegar
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove pressed
3/4 cup hot chicken broth
2 Tablespoon chili sauce
1 medium carrot, shredded
1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

1. In a stock pot, bring enough water to boil over high heat. Add spaghetti noodles and cook according to package instructions. Drain. Return noodles to pot.
2. Meanwhile, combine peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, sesame oil, cayenne, garlic and chicken broth in a blender. Blend until well smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
3. To the sauce, slowly add the chili sauce, blending until your desired taste, adding a Tablespoon at a time. (I mention this step after the sauce is already blended because some people prefer less spicy. Remember to taste as you go, you may find you don’t want it that spicy.) With this amount of chili sauce, I find it doesn’t overpower the taste of the sauce or noodles.
4. Pour sauce over noodles in pot. Stir until well coated and sauce is evenly distributed.
5. Place noodles in a serving bowl. Top with carrot and sesame seeds. I mixed the carrot in with the noodles shown in picture.

Shopping List:

Sesame seeds
Carrot
Ginger

Pantry Items On Hand:

Vinegar
Brown Sugar
Garlic
Cayenne Pepper
Spaghetti noodles
Creamy Peanut Butter
Soy Sauce
Chicken Broth
Sesame oil

There are some things I enjoy baking and biscuits is one of them. They are the easiest to make and the ingredients needed to make them are always in my pantry.  I try and make recipes that will work well by making ahead of time and frozen. These biscuits can be made ahead of time and frozen. This biscuit recipe is a first for me. It started off as a regular cheese biscuit then I started thinking about breakfast and lunches for the kids.  They can be turned into mini egg sandwiches. I just defrost, reheat in a warm oven for 10 minutes and fill with warm scrambled eggs and bacon. You can make this recipe with or without cheese. They come out lightly brown on the outside and nice and soft in the middle. Just like a biscuit should.

How’s that for a fast breakfast?

When I made the recipe, I mentioned heaping Tablespoons. I used my medium scoop to make the ones pictured below. If I wanted to fill them with eggs and bacon, I would use my large scoop to make them. (It’s amazing how versatile some kitchen tools are, an ice cream scoop will help with cookies, biscuits, meatballs, rice, ice cream and more. If you don’t have one, you should invest in one.)

Quick Turkey and Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar or Colby Jack cheese
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup diced turkey meat (ham would work too)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450°F. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in cheese.
• Cut in butter using a pastry blender or 2 knives until coarse crumbs form.
• Using a fork, stir milk into the flour mixture until a soft dough forms. It will be slightly sticky. Do not overmix or overwork dough.
• Drop dough in heaping Tablespoons, 1 inch apart, onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until biscuits are firm to the touch and lightly brown, about 15 minutes.

Shopping List:

Cheddar or Colby Jack Cheese (Remember when buying cheese, block cheese is less expensive than the already bagged shredded cheese.)

Pantry Items On Hand:

Milk
Butter
Flour
Baking Powder
Salt

Saving Money In The Kitchen:

If you have leftover ham or turkey, instead of tossing it out, dice into small cubes and add it to biscuits, or toss it with broccoli to make a quiche. You can double this recipe to be sure you have enough for seconds or freeze until ready to use.