Hot Diggity Dog Corn Muffins (a.k.a. corn dog muffins!)

So I live in a household of males who are hot dog eating machines!  I blame our German heritage, you put any sort of grounded meat in a casing and I bet my boys will eat them!  My big boy (husband) wants a snack, he reaches for a hot dog, whenever lil man (Jasper) won't eat, I cut up a hot dog and he is licking the plate clean.  Well, this mommy gets sick of eating just regular plain hot dogs all the time.  (Don't get me wrong, I do love me some hot dogs, but just need a break!) Tonight though I think I found a recipe to help with the boring hot dog meals we eat.  I am calling them Hot Diggity Dog Corn Muffins, because my lil man starting doing "The Hot Dog Dance" while eating them.  Those with a toddler in their lives will know what I am talking about!!! These would be great for a birthday party or even an adult party (make them in a mini muffin tin).  Tonight I served them with strawberries (another staple in our household!) and LaLa (what my son calls chocolate milk!).


Hot Diggity Dog Corn Muffins (6 regular sized muffins)

1- package of Jiffy Corn muffin Mix ~or if you have a favorite corn bread recipe, use it!  I don't have one :(
1/3-cup of milk  ~if using Jiffy~
1- egg ~if using Jiffy~
3- hot dogs, sliced ~I use Oscar Meyer Bun Length dogs and cut them lengthwise then slice them into bite       size pieces!

1.  Preheat oven as to the directions for your muffin recipe.  Mine was 400 degrees and spray your muffin tin!

2.  Mix muffin mix and let it sit for 5 minutes.  I do this will all my corn bread recipes, it helps re-hydrate the corn in the mix!

3.  Slice up your hot dogs.

4.  Put some mix in tin, put hot dog slices in, then top with rest of mixture.

5.  Cook for 14-17 minutes (also depending on your muffin recipe), Cool for 5 minutes and serve with ketchup and mustard and ENJOY!!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

This has been a very interesting day for weather here in Dillon!  Woke up to almost black, cloudy sky, then it all cleared away to beautiful blue skies, so we took the lil man out for a bike ride and and then the wind nearly blew us away.  Now, after dinner we have the perfect spring evening!

This was a very productive weekend for the Johnson household.  I spring cleaned the kitchen and living room and started on the laundry room, then I hurt my back again :(.  I am hoping this week I can finish unpacking our house (it has been since January) and sort through lil man's clothes (again!).  I have one more assignment along with my final for this class then I am down to two more classes then I graduate with my Master's in Library Media Sciences from the University of West Alabama! Go Tigers!

Anywho!  Tonight for dinner we have found another yummy recipe.  I cannot remember where I found and I am sorry.  It is a great Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe.  It is one of my favorite takeout meals and this recipe is easy, inexpensive, and delish!  I had everything except for the chicken in my pantry!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

3- Chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces (I only used two because they were HUGE!)
2- teaspoon Kosher Salt
1- teaspoon Black Pepper
1-cup Corn Starch
2- Large eggs beaten

1.  Mix salt and pepper with the corn starch.  Dip chicken in the corn starch to coat then dip in egg.

2.  Place chicken in fry pan with heated oil.  Cook chicken thoroughly.  Place on paper towels to drain the oil.


Sweet and Sour Sauce

3/4- cup white sugar
4 - Tablespoons of Ketchup
1/2- cup Distilled White Vinegar
1- Tablespoon of Soy Sauce
1- Teaspoon Salt
1/2- Teaspoon Garlic Salt

1.  Mix everything together in small sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and let boil for 10 minutes.

2.  You can toss the chicken and sauce together or just drizzled the sauce over the chicken!!! Enjoy!

** The recipe calls for the chicken and sauce be cooked together in a 350 degree oven for an hour.  I did not want the sauce in every piece of chicken since I have the Lil Man eating with us, but I think it would taste good and will be a thicker sauce! Let me know how it goes if you go it this way!!**

Enjoy!!!

Nice and Fluffy Pancakes with Blackberry Syrup

This beautiful Sunday morning, I woke up and made my little guy and big guy some homemade pancakes with freshly made blackberry syrup!  They gobbled it all up!  It was such a great Sunday morning breakfast! These pancakes are fluffy and have a great taste. I did not take pictures before they were all gone!

Pancakes (makes about 8 pancakes):

3/4 cup  Milk
2 tablespoons White Vinegar
1 cup AP Flour
2 tablespoons White Sugar (I add an extra teaspoon)
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons Melted Butter (make sure it is cooled before mixing)

1.  Combine the milk and vinegar together and let set for 5 minutes to make a sour milk

2.  Combine the flour, sugar, powder, soda and salt.

3.  Add egg and melted better to soured milk, add to dry ingredients ad whisk until all the lumps are gone!

4.  Heat large skillet over medium heat, spray with cooking spray.  Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto skillet and cook until the top is bubbly.  Flip and brown other side.  Serve warm and Enjoy!!!

Blackberry syrup:

1 pint Fresh Blackberries
1/3 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of water

1. Combine ALL ingredients and bring to a boil on the stove.

2.  Boil for 10 minutes, until it forms a nice syrup.  Let cool and serve over the above pancake recipe or ice cream!

7-up Biscuits

7-up Biscuits

So as most of you know, I am no longer in the south! We moved to Dillon, Montana over Christmas.  I love seeing my mountains every morning and being closer to family and friends!  Also, I am two classes away from graduating with my Master's in Library Media Sciences from the University of West Alabama!  Also, Jasper is getting so big!  It's been a while since I have posted, so hopefully someone will read this post.

Well, I made a New Year resolution this year to try at least one new recipe a week.  Lately, Facebook has be flooded with amazing looking recipes.  Most of them are very simple and this biscuit recipe is one of those easy ones!!!  One night for dinner I had a craving for biscuits and gravy, so I found this recipe and tried it! They came out beautiful and not a single one was left at the end of the night!  I was looking forward to having one with some scrambled eggs in the morning!  But this is a recipe keeper!!!

7-Up Biscuits

2 cups Bisquick
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup 7-up
1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 450.
Cut sour cream into biscuit mix, add 7-Up. Makes a very soft dough.
Sprinkle additional biscuit mix on board or table and pat dough out. Cut in to 9 biscuits. 
Melt 1/4 cup butter in a 9 inch square pan. 
Place cut biscuits in pan and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Happy Cooking Y'all!!!

Tiff J.