Why I love Bisquick

March 9th, 2011 Posted in Appetizers, Baking
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Honestly, I LOVE bisquick. Its the lazy cook’s ultimately mixture of flour-y goodness. It can be used for pancakes, waffles, tea biscuits, pies, etc. One box of bisquick on hand is a lifesaver when you are looking for a quick, easy meal to make in a JIFF.

Here are some of my favourite Bisquick Recipes:

Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie

  • 1 lb. cooked ground beef
  • 1 1/2 c. chopped onion
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper
  • 1 c. shredded cheese
  • 1 1/2 c. milk
  • 3/4 c. Bisquick
  • 3 eggs

Mix all the ingredients together and pour in a 9 x 11 baking pan (sprayed with nonstick oil). Bake at 400 degrees 30 to 40 minutes.

Bisquick Waffles:

  • 2 cups Bisquick mix
  • 1 1/3 cups milk
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
  • bowl
  • measuring cup
  • mixing spoon
  • waffle iron
  1. In a medium-sized bowl, measure 1 egg, 1 1/3 cup milk, 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, and 2 cups Bisquick mix.
  2. Mix the batter with a spoon just until mixed.
  3. Pour into waffle iron and follow the settings on your iron to ensure its fully cooked.

Red Lobster Rip Off Garlic Biscuits:

  • 2 c Bisquick Baking Mix
  • 1/4 c butter, melted
  • 2/3 c Milk 1/4 ts Garlic powder
  • 2 oz Shredded cheddar cheese
  • Heat oven to 450 degrees

Mix baking mix, milk and cheese until soft dough forms; beat for about 30 seconds. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Mix margarine and garlic
powder; brush over warm biscuits before removing from cookie sheet.

No one needs to know it was made with Bisquick ;)

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Easiest Hawaiian-Pineapple Angel Food Cake You’ll Ever Make. Ever.

January 25th, 2011 Posted in Desserts
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This is a very easy and healthy twist to Angel food cake, because your not adding oil or eggs or anything but pineapple, its healthier than the traditional boxed version.

Ingredients:

1 box store bought angel food cake mix

1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the angel food cake mix and the crushed pineapple. Note: Do not mix the cake mix as directed on the box first, just the dry mix and pineapple only. Pour the batter into a prepared pan and bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until cake is fluffy and cooked through completely. A good way to test this is to stick a toothpick in, if it comes out clean, its done.

Variations:

I like to frost this cake with a mix of cool whip and one pack of vanilla pudding mix. I also add some cool oven roasted sweetened coconut around the cake to give it a nice golden brown look. This recipe is super easy, delicious and about as low cal as you can go considering its cake :P

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Berries In A Basket Cake

January 16th, 2011 Posted in Baking, Desserts
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This is one of my favourite ways to dress up a cake in a super cute way. Its also one of the easiest ways to dress up a cake in a super cute way. EASY= good choice every time.

I’m a big cheater, and I used store bought cake mix in a box. For the cake in the pictures below, it was a Betty Crocker SuperMoist Chocolate Fudge cake mix. I’m not going to go step by step into how to bake the cake, because the directions are on the box, and because any cake recipe will do for this cake, I just prefer  chocolate in every situation :D

The night before you plan on serving the cake, bake your cake how you wish. For the cake down below, I used two small circular cake pans, but I’ve also made this cake using a heart shaped cake pan or a square cake pan. I like sitting my cake in the fridge when its done right in the cake pan you used to bake it in, because its easier to deal with and less likely to break apart if its cool.

For putting the cake together you will need:

  • 2 cans Presidents choice Dark Chocolate or Hazelnut flavored rolled wafers. I used almost 2 400g cans for this cake, so you would need to double or triple that for a square or a rectangular cake. If you don’t live in Canada, any rolled wafer cookies will do, so long as they are rolled :P
  • 1 container Cool Whip
  • 1 batch of your favorite icing (the flavour honestly doesnt matter, so pick something that compliments the flavour of your cake
  • 2 containers fresh strawberries
  • 1 container fresh blueberries

Putting the Cake Together:

  1. Shave away the excess cake on the surface of your cake to make it flat (its easier to decorate this way)
  2. If your cake is two layers, add your filling and put the top layer on.
  3. Smear your frosting around the side of the cake only. This will just be the glue to hold your basket together and shouldn’t be visible when the cake is done.
  4. Cut your wafers so that they are approx the height of your cake, and start sticking them around the parameter of the cake. You could make them exactly the same size, but personally I like the look a bit better when they are just slightly uneven.
  5. After the whole parameter of the cake is done, you can wrap the basket together with ribbon if you wish. I usually do just to make sure it stays together better.
  6. Generously spread the cool whip over the top of the cake.
  7. Trim your berries and top the cake with as many as you like.

Keep it in the fridge til your ready to serve :D

 

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Easy-As-Pizza-Pie , Home Made Pizza Dough

January 1st, 2011 Posted in Baking
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This is a really awesome, easy recipe for homemade pizza dough that doesn’t require a bread maker to make :) I have made this recipe multiple times and it really is a no fail recipe.

Easy Pizza Dough

  • 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon white sugar
  • 1 cup warm water (should be warmer than room temperature, but not “hot”)
  • 2 1/2 cups bread flour
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Method

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until the yeast has become frothy. Avoid stirring the yeast/sugar mixture (it really does not make the process go faster :P )
  2. Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth. Knead with hands until nice and smooth.
  3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Grease pizza pan. Roll out the dough onto the pan.
  4. Add your pizza sauce, and whatever ingredients you desire. Pop into the over and bake for 15-20 minutes.
  5. Nom like you’ve never nom’d before.

Before I finish this post, I’d just like to point out, this is my first post of 2011 :) What a delicious way to start out the new year!

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Fruit Pizza Recipe

December 28th, 2010 Posted in Desserts
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This is one of my favourite recipes :) It always turns out perfect. Its great to bring to any kind of social event, and I NEVER bring home leftovers!

Ingredients-

Filling:

  • 1 (18 ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
  • 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Toppings:

  • Any fruit you’d prefer to use. Typically I use strawberries, blueberries, canned peaches, kiwi and banana.

Glaze:

  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 teaspoon orange zest

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Press cookie dough flat into pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Allow to cool. (I usually do this part the night before)
  2. In a large bowl, soften cream cheese, and beat in whipped cream. Spread over the crust.
  3. Arrange your neatly sliced fruit on the pizza in a way that looks appealing to you. Tip: If you are going to use bananas on your pizza, let them soak in lemon juice for about ten minutes before placing them on your pizza so that they don’t darken as quickly.
  4. In a saucepan, combine sugar, salt, corn starch, orange juice, lemon juice and water. Cook and stir over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat, and add grated orange rind. Allow to cool, but not set up. Spoon over fruit. Chill for two hours, then cut like a pizza, and serve.
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Holiday Cheese Balls

December 19th, 2010 Posted in Appetizers
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Yesterday I made cheese balls for the holidays! I LOVE LOVE LOVE me a good cheese ball. This post is a basic way to make Cheese balls, but really Cheese balls can be really diverse and you can make almost any kind of flavour of Cheese ball that you desire by adding in your favourite spices and seasoning’s.

Basic Cheese Ball Starter:

  • 4 1 cup packages of cream cheese – softened
  • 2 cups sour cream
  • 1 bundle of green onions chopped up really small
  • Lots of grated cheese to make the Cheese balls really thick and more for rolling the finished balls in after. (I grated up about 2 750 gram bars for the amount of cream cheese. I usually use cheddar cheese.

Method- Beat cream cheese, sour cream and green onions. Add in any seasonings or spices you desire. Use your hands to work in enough cheese that the cheese ball is firm and can be rolled into a large ball with your hands. One batch of this recipe should get you approximately six large cheese balls. Roll the ball through grated cheese and nuts if you are putting them in.

Variations- You can use a lot of different seasonings and spices to give your cheese balls flavour. These are examples of Cheese ball flavours I’ve made in the past and what goes well together.

Spicey Cheese Balls- Yesterday I added two tbs of Epicures Jalapeno and Cheese Seasoning, and 1 tbs of Epicures Nacho Cheese Seasoning, and 1/2 tbs of grated red pepper flakes into my cheese balls. I also added red pepper flakes to the cheese that the finished ball would be rolled into to give the Cheese ball a bit of colour. I used regular cheddar cheese for the cheese inside of the cheese ball and on the outside, but i think jalapeno havarti or monterey jack cheese would have made a lovely substitute or add in

Bacon, Cheddar and Chives Cheese Balls- I added three tbs of Epicures Bacon, Cheese and Chive seasoning to my cheese ball for flavour and i found that these balls had a really lovely smokey flavour. Next time I might add a little bit of smokey paprika to it as well to amplify the smokey taste. If you dont have that specific flavour of seasoning, you might want to try just chopping up some cooked bacon, and lots of chives and adding it right in to achieve the same flavour. I used marble cheddar cheese for the cheese inside these balls.

Herb and Garlic Cheese Balls- I added Epicures Herb and Garlic Seasoning to this (about 3tbs). I find with this particular seasoning you really do need to let it sit in the fridge for about an hour to maximize the delicious garlic taste. If you don’t have  this seasoning, grate in maybe 3 cloves of garlic and add a little bit of thyme, sage, and parsley. I used marble cheddar for this Cheese Ball as well. Goat cheese or Canadian Brie might be a nice substitute for the marble cheddar.

Another Add On- If you like nuts, some people like to roll there cheese balls in walnuts or other nuts.

Be creative, Cheese Balls really are easy to make and can’t really be screwed up. If its too wet, add in more shredded cheese or cream cheese to thicken it up. If you find it too thick, add in more sour cream. Get some nice crackers, and enjoy!

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