Bisquick Cheese Bread

Most of my family food traditions revolve around a box of Bisquick. Not the healthiest thing in the world, but sometimes there's nothing better.

When I was kid, my mom would make cheese bread with Bisquick. I used to loooove that bread. I asked her for the recipe a while ago, but I had never made it myself. She wrote a post-it note that said:

3 1/2 cups Bisquick
2 1/2 cup cheese
2 eggs
1 1/3 c. milk
350 55 minutes

I filled in the blanks to this:

Bisquick Cheese Bread

3 1/2 cups Bisquick
2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan, set aside (I used Pam for Baking).

In a large bowl mix all ingredients until well blended. Spread into loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes until golden brown.

To be perfectly honest, the only thing I remembered about the bread was that 1. I loved it as a kid, and 2. the cheese was marbled throughout. So I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed the marbling of the cheese. I was also pleased with the almost crunchy crust that had an intense cheddar flavor. I am usually a middle-of-the-pan type of girl (no corners for me!) but this is an exception. I love the soft, cheesy middle of this bread, but the best part is the crust. Next time, I'm trying muffins so I've got that flavor in every bite.

I made it for breakfast with scrambled eggs and fake sausage.

Offensive Whole Grain Waffles

First of all, I would like to apologize for the amount of typos I always have in my postings. I am good about catching typing mistakes and wrong usage of words in someone else's writing, but not my own. I do re-read them before I post, but I don't do any major editing, and if I catch them after I post, I'm not likely to re-post. I hope it doesn't offend too many people.

Now, this kind of offends me: Whole Grain Waffles. Why? Because I did something I thought I would never do - I substituted applesauce for oil. Not all of the oil, but a big chunk of it. I am soooo glad I didn't make these for Brian, because they started out icky. I ended up making them a little better in the end.

Now, no offense to the author of this recipe because in all honesty, I didn't follow the recipe. Here's what I did:

2 eggs, beaten
1 3/4 cups skim milk
2 TBSP canola oil
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Basically I didn't have wheat germ or flax meal, so I substituted oats and whole flax seeds, and I halved the oil and added more applesauce (I wanted to keep just a little oil).

The batter ended up really runny. I tried it for 2 batches in my Belgian waffler, but there was a lot of run off and they just weren't very dense. They were bitter to the taste (probably from all that baking powder!). Just. Not. Good. At. Aaaaallllll.

I ended up adding extra oats, about another 1/4 cup to the remaining batter. The batter ended up thicker, no run off, and a much better consistency. Still, no where near as good as Amazing Overnight Waffles, but the point is to have something healthier to pop in the freezer for a quick breakfast on the go in the mornings. They need more tweaking, but they'll work for right now.

Whole Grain Waffles

2 eggs, beaten
1 3/4 cups skim milk
2 TBSP canola oil
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup flax seeds
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Spray the hot waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray and rub on a little butter with a paper towel or a piece of bread. Add just enough batter to cover the cooking surface, about 1 1/3 cups for a Belgian waffle, 2/3 cup for a standard waffle.
Cook the waffles until crisp and browned but not too dark, 2 to 3 minutes each.

By the way, Flax Seeds are really good for you!

Banana Nut Pancakes

In the search for something different to make for a special labor day brunch, I thought Banana Nut Pancakes would be awesome. I have made banana nut pancakes before where I layered banana slices and pancakes sprinkled with nuts. I wanted true banana nut pancakes this time though. I found this recipe: Banana - Nut Pancakes at Cooks.com. I changed them up a bit, and they ended up pretty amazing. Brian said you could taste all the ingredients, rather than a mix where all the flavors get muddled.

Banana Nut Pancakes

2 c. Bisquick
1 c. regular or quick-cooking oats
1 egg
1/4 c. sour cream
1 1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 banana, thinly sliced
1/4 c. walnuts, finely chopped

Combine Bisquick, oats, egg, sour cream, milk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon with wire whisk or hand beater until smooth. Add up to 1/4 cup milk if needed. Pour scant 1/4 cupfuls onto hot griddle. Arrange banana slices on top. Sprinkle with nuts. Drizzle batter over bananas just to cover them. Cook until edges are dry. Turn; cook until golden brown. Makes about 12 pancakes. Dust with powdered sugar and extra walnuts, and drizzle with melted butter and maple syrup.