Baked Oatmeal

This recipe is one of our absolute favorite breakfast foods, thanks to my friend Candace for sharing it with me!  She told me about it before we moved to Peru, but I didn't try it until we got here.  I make it at least once a week, mostly because I have to cook something almost every day for breakfast.  Here, cereal is really expensive unless you buy a sugary kind, and there aren't quick breakfasts to buy - no muffin mixes, bisquick mix, canned biscuits, frozen biscuits, no Sister Schuberts, instant oatmeal, etc.  So, I've learned to plan ahead to cook something, or at the very least get up and fix toast and eggs.  Maybe we are starting our days a little healthier not having processed foods, although some days I do miss convenience!


Baked Oatmeal (from AllRecipes.com)

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
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• -Preheat oven to 350 degrees F 
• -In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Beat in milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• -Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.

The original recipe says to had craisins, but we don't add them.  Enjoy!

Banana Pudding

• Thinking about what to cook for a Father's Day dessert, I decided to try banana pudding. This recipe is from my friend Ginger, but it also makes me think of our friends the Sara and Brad when we have this, because Brad likes his banana pudding without the bananas.  Then it makes me think of Candace, who uses the Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding recipe from Paula Deen, and it is mighty good, too!  

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• 1 box vanilla pudding
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup milk
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 1 container cool whip
• 1 box vanilla wafers
• bananas
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• Mix the milk and pudding mix.
• Mix the sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, and cool whip.
• Stir together with the pudding. 
• Layer with vanilla wafers and bananas.
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•  Now, I've made banana pudding plenty of times in Mississippi, but I have not made it in Peru.  Sometimes finding ingredients here is not easy, but I thought surely I could make this work.  And I think it worked - but this is how:  I had to make my pudding homemade.  They do sell packets of vanilla pudding here, but, evidently there is a problem right now with the pudding company and there was NO vanilla pudding mix in Plaza Vea (our store sort of like Wal-Mart - except the check out line takes ten times longer, I PROMISE).  The homemade pudding was not difficult and turned out just fine, and was easier than going to the other grocery store to look for the pudding mix.  We don't have a car - so a quick trip to the grocery store really isn't possible.  Then I had to make my own sour cream, because they don't sell sour cream in Peru.  To do this, you mix heavy cream with vinegar and let it sit for a long time and do something scientific.  Then, there is no cool whip, so I whipped heavy cream to make the whipped cream.  They do sell some little packets of "chantilly" that you can make sort of like cool whip, but the cream is better.  And they don't have vanilla wafers either, but I used a similar cookie that is very pretty too.  And actually, I didn't have to be the one to make the sour cream or the whipped cream, because we have sweet Taylor living with us this summer, and I taught her how to do that part.  I'll write about her later!  Just a little info on how I cook here!

Southwest Salad

I just made this salad for lunch tomorrow, and it's one of my favorites that I found several years ago in Southern Living.  It's great with any mexican food, but it's also good with grilled chicken or steak as a meal.  It serves a crowd - as a side this recipe is enough for about 12 people.

Southwest Salad

• ⅓ cup cilantro
• ½ cup lime juice
• ½ cup olive oil
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 tsp. sugar
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. pepper
• 1 head romaine
• 5 plum tomatoes
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 small purple onion, chopped
• 1 8 oz pkg mexican cheese blend
• 1 can mexicorn
• 1 6 oz can black olives
• 2 cups crushed tortilla chips
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     Dressing:
Process the first 7 ingredients in a blender.

Salad:
Layer the ingredients in a large bowl.

Pour the dressing over the salad just before serving.  If you don't like cilantro, you can serve this with ranch dressing instead.

Southern Pork Roast

This pork roast is honestly the first one I've ever used that I really love, and it will be a "keeper" in our family for many years, I think.  I've now made this several times, before we moved to Peru and three times since we have been here.  Everyone seems to love it, and it's great to serve a crowd or for a weeknight family meal.

• 1 5-6 lb pork loin
• 1 tsp. onion salt
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• ½ tsp. pepper
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 10 ounce jar plum jam or jelly
• ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• ⅓ cup soy sauce
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-For roast, preheat oven to 325.
-Rub pork loin with salts and pepper and place in roasting pan.
-Bake for 2 1/2 hours. Remove from oven, baste with half of sauce, and continue cooking until internal temperature reaches 160, 30-60 min.
-Serve the remaining sauce with pork.

-For sauce, in a heavy medium skillet over med-high heat, saute the onion in butter until translucent.
-Add jelly, brown sugar, water, balsamic vinegar, and soy sauce.
-Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 2-3 min.

I think you could do this in a crockpot easily for 8 hours on low heat, but here I use a pressure cooker and cook for about 1 1/2 hours but add extra water to the sauce.   I usually serve this with mashed potatoes and green beans, but this past Easter Sunday I served it with roasted tomatoes and roasted asparagus and red bell pepper.  Also, I used blackberry jam instead of plum because I can't buy plum jam in Peru.

Apple Muffins

These apple muffins are the yummiest ever - a great gift for a new neighbor or stick one or two in a little bag to send to your child's teacher for a snack.  This is a easy and great recipe - but this is what happens if you are talking to your friends when you make them and forget to add all the flour.

This is what the pan looked like after we scooped out the little bit of muffin part and ate it in bowls.  Not pretty, but tasty.

 As long as you follow the directions, they are great!  Doesn't my photo want you to start making these muffins now?? Ha!

Apple Muffins:

• 1 ¼ cups veg oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cups apples, chopped (Macintosh)
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 cup coconut
• Mix the oil and sugar well, then add the flour with the baking soda and salt.  Then add the eggs and vanilla.  Stir in the apples, pecans and coconut until mixed well.  Pour into greased muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 30 min.  
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