Bread Crumbs

My friend Nikki just gave me a great idea, and I wanted to pass it on:

What do you do with old bread?

As a kid growing up my mom made French Toast on Saturday mornings with the old stale bread. We were a family of 5 so it was an easy way to use up any bread that was left, and have a tasty cheap meal. Now that I am the mom and only have 1 toddler running around I could make French Toast and still have bread left over. We eat sandwiches almost everyday, but we never finish a whole loaf of bread.

I came across a blog by a fellow etsian called Lost Button Studio. She had a post on homemade bread crumbs, and I thought it was genius. I'm sure many of you make your own bread crumbs, but it never really occurred to me that it was so simple. Be sure to read her post because she gives some great examples of ways to use them.

I had planned on making a new recipe for Meatloaf Muffins that called for bread crumbs, so this was a perfect opportunity to make them. I broke the bread into pieces and put them in the oven at 200 degrees while I ate lunch. I could have left them on the counter to dry out, but I was in a pinch for time. After lunch I put them in my mini food processor and it did all of the work.
I now have plenty of bread crumbs for meatloaf and chicken parmigiana, these are regular meals around here. You can also freeze them so that they last longer.

Bisquick Chicken Fingers

This comes from Jenny, a friend of mine who I recently reconnected with. Here's how to prepare it:

INGREDIENTS:
3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips (sometimes you can find prepackaged chicken fingers for less than the regular packaged ones, and it's less work!)
2/3 cup Original Bisquick mix
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt or garlic salt (I like the garlic salt)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 tablespoons butter or margarine melted (I actually don't use this...I think it makes them more crispy if you don't).

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Line cookie sheet with foil.
Spray with cooking spray.
In 1-gallon resealable plastic food-storage bag, mix Bisquick mix, cheese, salt and paprika.
Dip half the chicken strips into egg.
Place in bag of Bisquick mixture.
Seal bag; shake to coat.
Place chicken on cookie sheet.
Repeat with remaining chicken.
Drizzle butter over chicken (again, optional).
Bake 12 to 14 minutes, turning halfway through the time, until no longer pink in center (I usually go the 14 mins if they are bigger, just to be safe).

These are a good alternative if you can't fry/don't like to fry, want something a little healthier, and love chicken fingers (i.e. me)! This seriously is one of my favorite things to make - takes less than 20 mins. I would have it every week if it were my choice!

CVS Cheesecake

The manager at my favorite CVS made this & shared a piece with me when I visited the store on the 4th of July.


1/2 lb goat cheese
1 block of Philly cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar
2 - 8oz. whipped cream (frozen)
3 1/2 tbsp sour cream (to taste)

Mix in bowl & pour into graham cracker pie crust. Then freeze.
Add any topping before serving.

You can also add Peach & Mango sherbet for flavor & color. Use 1/2 cup.

Betty's Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

Yesterday, my mom made her infamous homemade chocolate ice cream and, as usual, we could not get enough!! It tastes to me like an new and improved frosty at Wendy's!

Here is what you will need:

5 eggs
2 - 2 1/2 c. sugar (mom uses Sugar in the Raw)
4-5 quarts Barber's chocolate milk (Mom uses the dark chocolate)
vanilla to taste
3 c. of white whole milk [OR] evaporated milk (for a richer flavor)
2 bags of ice
rock salt
ice cream maker

First, create the base.

Combine sugar, vanilla, while or evaporated milk, and eggs in a sauce pan.
Stir continuously until sugar is completely dissolved.

Next, take you base and pour it into your ice cream maker container.

Then, pour the chocolate milk on top of it and put the top on. You don't have to stir it... that's what the paddle inside it is for! :)

Place the container into the ice cream maker bucket.

Put ice around the container and turn it on! Pour rock salt on top of the ice to get the freezing started!

As the ice melts, add more ice to fill it, then follow it up with rock salt.

The ice cream maker will slow down and stop once the ice cream gets thick!

Then dish it up and enjoy!!

How Do I Cook This?

I bought some cube steak for my family the other day. I was looking for different things to cook, and thought I might be able to turn these into country fried steak?? But I need help!! How do you cook cube steak?