Good Morning Apple Bacon Delights

What You Need:

 

2 bacon strips

2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
2 C 1% milk
2 C  all-purpose flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 large  sweet apple, coarsely grated
1 TBSP butter or margarine, melted

How to Make It:

 

Place the bacon strips in a large skillet over medium heat. 

Cook until crisp.

Drain on a paper towel and allow cooling.

Place the eggs and egg whites in a mixing bowl.

Beat together until well mixed.

Add the milk and beat until thoroughly mixed in.

Place the flour, sugar and salt in a separate bowl.

Toss to combine.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg mixture stirring constantly as you add.

Continue stirring until the dry mixture is completely moist.

Allow batter to set 30 minutes.

Bring the oven temperature to 450 degrees.

After the batter has stood for 30 minutes crumble in the bacon.

Add the grated apple and melted butter.

Stir until well combined.

Spray a muffin pan with a non stick cooking spray.

Fill each cup 2/3 full of the batter.

Bake 15 minutes. 

Reduce the oven heat to 325 degrees.

Continue baking 12 minutes or until a golden brown.

Remove and allow cooling slightly before serving.

 

Serves 12

 

These make a great breakfast muffin, especially for children.  Serve them with a little apple butter on the side for a special breakfast treat. 

Tomato Pick Me Up

What You Need:

 

1 (6 oz) can tomato juice, chilled

¼ C lemonade

 

How to Make It:

 

Place the chilled tomato juice in a large microwave safe mug.

Add the lemonade and stir to combine.

Cook on high about 2 minutes or until as hot as you like.

 

This is a great pick me up drink when the kids come home from a tough practice.  It can also be served over ice for a cool drink on a hot summer day. 

Stretch That Chicken to Make It Go Further

Chicken is routinely eaten at evening mealtime in American households. We each have our favorite ways of preparing it. When cooking a whole chicken, you can do wonders with what you don’t eat for dinner. Here are some ways to make that roasted chicken appealing to the family.

Learn to slice a whole chicken. Slicing one properly makes it easier to remove the rest of the meat from the bone. The skeleton can be used to create broth. Boil it in some water until the rest of the meat falls off.

You can season the broth with herbs and spices. After it cools, pour it into jars for storage. You’ll be able to keep the broth for a few weeks. Use it to flavor soups and casseroles.

Do your kids carry their lunches to school? Instead of buying lunch meat, slice leftover chicken breast for sandwiches. It will be a nice change from the usual lunch fare.

On the weekends, instead of ordering a pizza or going to McDonald’s, use that chicken. Cube a few pieces to toss on top of a salad with some cheese and croutons. Combine with peppers and onions in a skillet to make filling for fajitas or soft tacos.

Does your family like chicken pot pie? Add some of that chicken, along with vegetables (canned or frozen) and a can of creamed soup to a pie crust and you’ve got an instant dinner that takes less than an hour to prepare. It is a quick meal idea perfect for busy families. A salad on the side will make a complete and healthy dinner.

Chicken based casseroles can be made and frozen for future meals. The family may be all “chickened out” for the week, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make the most of the chicken you have left for future weeks.

Do you still have more chicken? Well let’s keep going with more ideas. Hey, our mothers and grandmothers learned to use chicken in many ways and so can we. What tastes the best when you have a cold and are feeling under the weather? Why, chicken noodle soup of course.

Don’t settle for canned soup with small noodles. Make your own soup with juicy chicken pieces and wide egg noodles. That broth you jarred up will serve as a nice base and best of all it is already seasoned.

Add wide egg noodles and sliced vegetables like carrots, celery, and onions to your soup. When the noodles are tender, add the chicken. Since it is already cooked it just needs to warn up. Ladle up a bowl for the sick and the healthy as a light weekend lunch.

What are you doing with your chicken after dinner tonight? Try some of these ideas to make that chicken do double and triple duty to save on your family’s grocery bill. The best part is that the new meals are just as tasty as the original dish.