Honey Molasses Oatmeal Bread

Supper

Be jealous of my mad photography skillz. :/ Okay, not. It turned out rather dark, which worried me at first - I thought I had burnt it (the bread, not the photo). But this stuff was pretty good. It was deemed less good than the original which came straight out of my breadmaker's manufacturer's manual. The original also turned out half size, which is why I was trying to tweak it. And I ran out of honey. So though it got down-voted compared to the orig, I don't know what made it slightly less than heavenly. It could have been the egg that I added (**BREADMAKER TIP** Add one egg and subtract 1/4 cup liquid to make your AP flour rise higher). I was working on the theory that the orig smaller loaf could have a higher rise with no flavor impact, so I used the egg tip. Even though I was using bread flour both times. It could have been that I only managed to scrape out a scant 1 Tablespoon of honey, and that only after I nuked the container to get a few more drops into the spoon. I thought molasses sounded good, and I knew I had an unopened bottle in my cupboard, so I made up for the honey with it. I figured molasses isn't as sweet as honey so I added another half Tablespoon plain granulated sugar. And though it mentions in the manual that salt inhibits the yeast growth, it's still recommended to add as the last two ingredients. So I put in the oatmeal, then the salt, covered with flour and ended with yeast. Inventive? Check. Creative? Sure! Mad Scientist? Surely not, there's no science here, just theories! Go ahead, make it your own!

Honey Molasses Oatmeal Bread (for 1.5 loaf breadmaker)

1/2 Cup + 3 Tbs. Milk (75-85° F)
1 Large Egg
1 Tbs. Honey
2 Tbs. Molasses
2 Tbs. Butter
1/2 Tbs. Sugar
1 Cup Oatmeal
2 Tbs. Dry Milk
1 1/4 tsp. Salt
1 Cup Bread Flour (AP probably works fine)
2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast
  OR 1 1/2 tsp. Fast Rise/Bread Machine Yeast

Add to breadmaker in the order listed. Push the buttons for light or normal crust, the molasses has tendancy to carmalize the loaf. Start your motor! Wait. Wait some more. Probably there's a really load beep when it's done. Don't burn your fingers when you again thumb your nose at the manual by eating it before it cools!

This week in groceries

All that is left in my wallet is receipts. I can only hope that this means it was money well spent. Still. Being broke is depressing. Well I know for sure I spent more than I wanted to on apples and oranges at Aldi because I read the ad for the previous week. Oops! Also, there were some specialty items that made it onto my list for the boy's birthday. Happy birthday sweetie! Without further ado, here is this week's tally.

ALDI
Olives $0.99/can x 6 = $5.94
Black Beans $0.59/15oz. can x 3 = $1.77
Tangelos $2.49/4 Lbs.
Apples (Red Delicious) $3.49/3 Lbs.
Whipped Topping $0.89/8oz. x 3 = $2.67
Instant Chocolate Pudding $0.55/4oz x 2 = $1.10
TOTAL (no tax) $17.46

HYVEE
Unsalted Butter $1.99/Lb.
Yoplait Greek Yogurt $2.99/4 (6oz)
Heath Bits $2.99/12oz.
Dark Red Kidney Beans $1.00/2 (15oz) cans
Light Red Kidney Beans $1.00/2 (15oz) cans
Purex Free & Clear Laundry Detergent $2.50/50oz.
Hamburger (80%) $7.47/3 Lbs. x 2 = $14.94
Shredded Cheese (various) $4.00/3 (8oz.)
TOTAL (no tax) $31.41

Obviously I wasn't as prepared as I'd like to have been: I ended up running out of cocoa in the middle of making from scratch brownies, and when it came time to make the pudding for the boy's birthday cake, the kids had drunk the last half gallon of milk in a single afternoon. Grr! The boy also requested hamburgers for supper (his favorite!) and I didn't know if my breadmaker would make enough dough to turn out buns for supper, so I just bought some. Add another $7.58 to this weeks grocery bill for those.

I scored big time at Goodwill finally. I have been scouting the store every couple weeks for another breadmaker to give to my sister. $12.38 (plus tax) for a Black & Decker B1560 1.5 loaf. I could NOT find a manual anywhere for it, but a close model is pretty much the same (B1561). I hope she likes it, I made one loaf with it to test out how it works in case it needed to be returned. The loaf was okay, but fell a little. What I didn't really like was how long it took before it started cooking. It does a preheat kind of thing before it does all it's proofing/baking, it said in the book only an extra 15 minutes, but it was much closer to an extra hour I think. My West Bend machine takes exactly as long as it says on the timer with no waiting. Hopefully that is not a huge problem for her. Maybe I'll keep scouting to see if a better one comes along. Wish me luck!

Black Bean Chicken Enchilada Casserole, Beef Enchiladas and Enchilada Sauce

Not a fan of casseroles that feature "cream of..." Many recipes call for two cans of the stuff, and it is so salty and unhealthy. Plus DH is lactose intolerant so he doesn't really appreciate that type of casserole very much. Well we can't always cater to him (and more often don't want to skip the dairy) - anyway, that is what those pills are for. Still, besides not being good to him, there's alot he just doesn't like. It's never fun to make something only to have him whine "I don't like this!" We are SO not going there with this casserole. I have made it often enough that I almost have it memorized. Almost. My recipe cards are looking very worn - the way I wish all of them were. That makes them keepers. I never kept canned enchilada sauce on hand before I found this recipe. So the first time I made it I cannibalized the sauce out of another recipe. The sauce recipe makes a ton, so I usually make a double batch of casserole (no fun to in-half the sauce - plus we love it). DH cannot gracefully eat it with the sour cream cooked in, so I wait until after the whole thing is cooked and add it to individual portions. The beef enchiladas are excellent as well. Once I didn't read my card very well and made it like the chicken casserole version - layered everything instead of making individual enchiladas in a row in the pan. That turned out great too, so probably you could do it either way with either recipe. Options! Love having options!
I have also done it make-ahead with excellent success. An entire casserole takes a long time to thaw, and though I'm sure that would work perfectly, I make the recipe up to the point of having a seasoned chicken-bean-green chili mixture and throw that in the freezer. I also make the sauce (or make sure I have canned sauce). The sauce keeps for a long time in the refrigerator - more than a week at least. So then when I want to make the casserole I whip the filling out of the freezer, thaw it in the microwave, grab my sauce, assemble and bake. That's one of those 15 minute meals (plus baking time which doesn't count since you don't even need to check it) - providing you did the prep work beforehand. So there you have it, enchilada sauce that can be used for chicken or beef enchiladas. Plus freezer meals for next time, or at least supper will be happy tonight!

From a Pinterest Pin, as best I can guess the original came from here.

Black Bean Chicken Enchilada Casserole

2 Cups Chicken, Cubed
1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1/2 tsp. Ground Coriander
1/2 tsp. Minced Garlic
1 (4 oz.) Can Green Chilis, Drained
2 Tbs. Cilantro
1 (15 oz.) Can Black Beans, Rinsed
1 (10 oz.) Can Red Enchilada Sauce  OR half recipe Enchilada Sauce
8 oz. Sour Cream
8 (6 inch) Corn Tortillas
2 Cups Mexicheese or Colby Jack or Cheddar or a combo of these

Preheat oven to 375. Saute chicken with garlic, cumin, and coriander, till no longer pink. Add cilantro, beans, and peppers. Heat through. Spread half the enchilada sauce in a greased 9x13 pan. Place 4 tortillas over top. Spread half the chicken mixture over tortillas, then half the cheese and half the sour cream. Repeat layers: enchilada sauce, tortillas, chicken mix, but reserve the remaining cheese and sour cream. Cover the casserole, bake 30 minutes. Remove the cover, and the cheese and sour cream, bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.


I have no idea where this came from any more. It was written out by me a long time ago from some internet search or other and I didn't write down the source. This is a nice pic, and the recipe is pretty much the same except for the sauce.

Beef Enchiladas

Enchiladas:
1 Lb. Hamburger
1 Medium Onion
2 Tbs. Flour
1 Tbs. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Minced Garlic
1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1/4 tsp. Ground Sage
1 (14.5 oz.) Can Stewed Tomatoes
Tortillas
Cheese

Red Enchilada Sauce:
6 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1/3 Cup Butter Or Margarine
1/2 Cup Flour
1 (14.5 oz.) Can Beef Broth
1 (15 oz.) Can Tomato Sauce
2 Tbs. Chili Powder
2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1 tsp. Ground Sage
1/2 tsp. Salt

Brown beef and onion together. Add flour and seasonings. Stir in tomatoes, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes. To make sauce: sauté garlic in butter. Stir in flour, then broth. Bring to boil, cooking 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Add tomato sauce and seasonings. Heat through. Pour 1 & 1/2 cups sauce in a 9x13. Spread 1/4 cup beef mixture down the center of a tortilla. Top with cheese. Roll up tight, place seam side down in prepared pan. Repeat until pan is full. If desired, may pour additional sauce over enchiladas. Cover with foil, bake 350 for 30 to 35 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, bake another 5-10 minutes till cheese is melted.