Warm German Potato Salad

I had some authentic warm German potato salad at Oktoberfest many years ago, and ever since, I've been on the hunt for another recipe that hits the spot. I haven't been successful. Until now. Most of the ones I try have mayo or sour cream, and the one I had didn't. It was gooey and sweet, but had a vinegry bite.

I discovered a recipe on Allrecipes.com and tweaked it a bit. Here's what I did.

Warm German Potato Salad
6-9 small/medium red potatoes
6 slices of bacon
2 tbsp flour
3 tbsp white sugar
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup cider vinegar
salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped green onions

Boil the potatoes whole in a pot of salted water. Drain and cool. Unless you have bionic fingers. These are some hot potatoes (pun intended.. har har)!


Slice them into rounds. Or chunks. Whatever makes you happy!


Slice the bacon into small pieces. If it gives you trouble, stick it in the freezer for a few minutes. I do this with raw chicken breasts and steak if I need to slice it thinly. It keeps the meat solid so you can slice it easier. Sprinkle it in a frying pan. Render out the fat. Scoop out the crumbles with a slotted spoon, but leave the grease in the pan. (You're smelling it in your head right now, aren't you?)


Sprinkle the flour, sugar, water and vinegar into the bubbly bacon grease. Stir with a spoon or whisk (if your pan allows such metal concoctions) until blended and thick.


Toss in the potatoes. Okay, don't toss them. Gently lay them in the pan. You don't want broken spuds. They are delicate creatures, you know! Slowly stir the potatoes to coat. Add the bacon. Sprinkle the green onions on top.


Serve warm or room temperature. Which my mom always calls "BT" (body temp). That kinda grosses me out though. Do you really want to think about body temp while you're trying to eat? No.

My next recipe will be the summer salad I ripped off from Panera Bread Co. :-O
Stay tuned!!

Banana Walnut Bread

Mmmmm, is there anything better than the smell of bread baking? It's defintely on my list of top 5 smells!
I had some bananas that were too ripe to eat, so the best thing to do with them is make bread!
*side note*: If you have over-ripe bananas, you can do many things with them. Peel them, chunk them, and stick the chunks in a ziplock and freeze. Use frozen in smoothies to help make them thick. Or you can thaw the chunks and use them for bread in the future.

This is my favorite banana bread recipe. It's really good. If you don't have buttermilk, you can use regular milk. You can make sour milk by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar in a 1 cup measuring glass. Add milk to make the total volume 1 cup. I didn't have vinegar either, so I just used regular old 2% milk. I also subsituted mini chocolate chips for the nuts before and it was delicious.



Banana Walnut Bread

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil (applesauce can be substituted to cut down on the fat)
2 tbsp buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 ripe medium-large bananas (mashed)
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325. Spray a large loaf pan with baking spray (it has flour added). Stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the egg and add the sugar and oil. Add the flour to the mix. It will be very thick and gloppy at this point. Trust me, it will smooth out once you add the rest.
Add the buttermilk, vanilla, and mashed bananas. Stir until smooth.
Pour 1/3 of the mix into the loaf pan. Sprinkle on the first 1/2 cup of nuts. Then pour the rest of the banana bread into the pan. Sprinkle the rest of the nuts on the top. Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife inserted comes clean. I find it takes closer to an hour. Take it out of the oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan. Slides out perfectly if you use the baking Pam spray.

My notes: This bread gets lovely and dark brown on the outside, making for a crunchy, delicious crust on the outside. The inside is moist and very flavorful, despite the short ingredient list.
I also ran out of white flour after measuring 1 1/2 cups, and used 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, and it came out just fine.
I also leave the nuts out of the middle because the boys eat this and Charlie doesn't care for the nuts. It's easier to pick them off the top!

I plan to make small loaves as Christmas gifts, along with my strawberry freezer jam.

Slather on some buttery spread and enjoy!! The boys are desroying a piece right now as we speak.

Chicken Club Pasta Salad

I promised I would include pictures when I started this blog, but I made this for a party, and by the time I remembered about the pictures, I was about 4 beers into the night and trying not to catch the chicken wings that were on the grill on fire.

So, trust me, this looks like a pasta salad. My husband, who usually doesn't care for pasta salad, was very interested in all the toppings for this, and was caught many times digging into the bacon and cheese chunks and retreating sheepishly into the other room when I called him out.
The ingredients look like the most delicious baked potato toppings of all time.

Chicken Club Pasta Salad

8oz rotini pasta (I used whole wheat because it doesn't taste any different).. any other shape you like is just fine, too.
2 cups diced chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken, but leftover chicken would be awesome in here, too. And a good way to use leftovers)
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup cubed cheddar cheese
1/2 cup diced green onion
6 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 avocado, diced
1/4 cup mayo
3/4 cup Italian dressing (I used creamy Italian)

Cook pasta per the directions on the box. Drain and cool! COOL!!! Seriously. You want it cold. You can run water on top of it, throw in some ice cubes. But if it's not cool, it will absorb all of the dressing and the salad will be dry.
Assemble all of the ingredients, exept for the mayo and salad dressing. Mix those together in a separate bowl. Pour the dressing on the salad and toss. Refrigerate.

If you're going to make this in advance, like I did, leave the avocado out until just before you serve it. It will get all brown and mushy if you don't. And that's not yummy-looking.

This salad is a great alternative to the generic pasta salads you usually see. It's really good, and I had many people ask me what was in it. I will certainly make this again!!

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies of All Time

I'm not kidding. These babies really are the shizzzzz. I think it's the combo of all brown sugar and a little milk. They stay soft in the middle and crunchy around the edges. The perfect cookie, in my opinion. I got this recipe, funnily enough, on the inside package of the Crisco sticks. I really prefer those to butter. They make for fluffier cookies. I've used this recipe to make a bunch of different combos: 1/2 chocolate chip, 1/2 Peanut butter chips; chocolate chip and walnuts; chocolate chip and pecans; just chocolate chip; mini chocolate chip.. you get the picture.

3/4 cup Crisco butter-flavored shortening
1 1/4 cup of packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (use the good stuff!)
1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream Crisco and sugar. I've made these with a hand mixer and a stand mixer. Either is just fine. Add egg, beat until just blended. Add the milk and the vanilla extract.
Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add slowly into the wet mix, so's not to cover your entire kitchen in flour. Mix until JUST done (don't want tough cookies... at least not in your cookie jar). Blend in chocolate and nuts.

I use an ice cream scoop to measure out the dough. 2 tablespoon size works for me. I get 16 on a cookie sheet, which makes exactly 2 batches.
Cook for about 12 miutes, or until your desired crispiness. The husband prefers them done more than I do. I like a softer cookie, and he likes 'em crunchy. Whatever you like!

See, I'm making them for you!!

All of the ingredients are mixed together. So fluffy!


You could stop right here and grab a spoon....


Please don't judge me for my cookie sheet that is a million years old. It's the only decent cookie sheet I own.


Ta-da!! Get yourself a glass of milk and go to town!


Try these bad boys out and tell me they aren't the best, easiest chocolate chip cookies ever.
This recipe is very easily doubled (or even tripled). I nested hardcore before Van was born, and in addition to the mountain of frozen meals I made, I made a triple batch of cookie dough and it froze beautifully. Shape it in a log, wrap it in plastic (wax paper would be best, but I don't ever have that)... keep it in the freezer to use when you're craving cookies. Just thaw them in the fridge and then slice and put in your mouth-er a cookie sheet and bake. Yeah, bake them.

My Mission, Should I Choose to Accept It

Hi!
This blog has been created with love for those of you out there who are looking for new recipes, honest reviews of meals and every day products. I'll be adding pictures of the things I make and review. My goal is to make easy, delicious meals, and finding those little every day things that make my life as a mom and wife easier. I get stuck in a cooking rut sometimes, so having this blog will help me to continue to try new recipes and revamp our old stand-bys.

From time to time, I may ask friends to guest review... which I think is really fun!

I love to cook. LOVE it. I'm always looking for the simple meals that my family will love that don't include 30 ingredients and 10 pots and pans.

I hope you enjoy, and maybe even try a recipe or two. Please feel free to comment with your yays and nays; things you have done or would have done differently.