Bread Pudding

Before you feed your moldy bread to the ducks outside, STOP. Back up the truck. Don't let your bread go moldy. If you're looking for a way to use up a buncha bread, then just know that you can eat it before your mold does. Last week at Break the Fast, Sister Heiss made bread pudding and posted her recipe on the ward facebook page. When she said she used hot dog buns for the bread, I thought GENIUS! I, too, had some hot dog buns leftover from the ward party and I needed to use them fast. Hot dog buns probably taste better as bread pudding than anything else. If you disagree, I'd love to hear a better way to use old (but not yet moldy) hot dog buns. But here's my adaption of Sister Heiss's bread pudding recipe.

Prep time: 10 minutes. Maybe less.

Sitting time: However long you prefer. It can sit anywhere from 10 minutes to 24 hours (in a fridge, of course)

Cooking time: 35-45 minutes

6 slices of day old bread (or 5 hot dog buns)

2 Tbsp butter, melted

3 eggs, beaten

2 cups milk (or 1.5 cups milk + 1/2 cup heavy cream)

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp butter softened (but not melted)

Pecans (if desired)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Break bread into pieces into a lightly greased 8 x 8 cooking pan.

Drizzle bread with melted butter. Sprinkle with pecans (if desired).

In mixing bowl, combine milk, eggs, white sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture. Let it soak for (at least) 10 minutes. Unless you're SUPER rushed. Then just stick it in the oven. But not before you do this:

Mix and crumble together brown sugar, softened butter, and pecans. Sprinkle over bread/egg mixture.

THEN stick it in the oven for 35-45 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

And while it's cooking, you can make the sauce of your choice.

Caramel Sauce (a.k.a. Kneader's Syrup)

1/3 cup light corn syrup

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Combine in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let boil for one minute, then remove from heat. Drizzle over bread pudding (or french toast or waffles or anything you want, really).

Tomato Basil Soup

Zupas is almost the equivalent of love. But butter already took that title. Butter=love. Zupas=infatuation? Maybe. Either way, I REALLY like their tomato basil soup, and I've tried to find a recipe for it for the longest time. Zupas posted this one on their blog (http://www.zupas.com/2009/09/recipe-roasted-tomato-soup/ ), and I'm not sure if it's the real deal...but it's super delicious. (I think the "real deal" is prepackaged and not actually made fresh at Zupas. But it tastes so great, so I don't mind.) I found this recipe like almost a year ago, but it's taken me forever to make because I didn't want to buy flippin 4 lb of tomatoes. But now that everyone's garden is exploding with tomatoes and they can't use them up fast enough, I got flippin 4 lb of tomatoes for free. Except for some of them went moldy. So I threw them away. And only made a half batch. But here you have it: my adapted recipe of Zupas' soup.

Prep Time: Maybe like 15 minutes, depending on how fast you move. Maybe more like 30 if we're counting the blending in here too. But once again, it depends on how fast you move.

Cook time: About 90 minutes total.

Makes 8 servings

This recipe does take a long time (mostly just for the tomatoes and garlic to roast) and you'll need a blender (for sure) and a sieve (unless you're lazy).

Ingredients:

4 lb tomatoes, halved lengthwise (1 lb = 2 large tomatoes. Or 3 medium tomatoes. Or 8 small plum tomatoes. Take your pick.)

6-8 garlic cloves, left unpeeled

3 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 tsp fresh oregano, minced (or use 1/2 tsp dried)

2 Tbsp fresh basil, minced (or use 1 tsp dried)

2 tsp sugar (unless, of course, you want to add more)

2 Tbsp love (a.k.a. butter)

3 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth

2 Tbsp cream cheese (optional. Just makes it more creamy)

3/4 cup heavy cream (give or take. I'm a giver.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Arrange tomatoes, cut sides up, in 1 layer in a large shallow baking pan and add garlic to pan. Drizzle tomatoes with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast tomatoes and garlic 1 hour, then cook in a pan on a rack. Peel garlic.

Cook onion, oregano, basil, and sugar in butter in a 6-to 8-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until onion if softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, and stock and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Mix in cream cheese (doesn't have to be mixed in super well. You're putting it all in the blender anyway.) and continue to simmer, covered, for another 10 minutes.

Puree soup in batches in a blender (be careful - you're blending hot liquids), then force through a sieve into cleaned pot, discarding solids. Stir in cream and salt and pepper to taste and simmer 2 minutes.

Divide soup among 8 bowls. Unless you're really hungry. Then get bigger bowls and divide it however you please.

Enjoy!

Chicken Chimichangas

These require a little work but they are definitely worth it. I really can't take any credit for this though - I got it from Pinterest, and Pinterest got it from here: http://blogchef.net/chicken-chimichangasrecipe/

Thank you blogchef.net for making my life a little better.

Prep time: Plan at least 30 minutes. Maybe like an hour.

Cooking time: 5-10 minutes

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups chicken broth

1 cup uncooked long grain white rice

½ cup red enchilada sauce

1 ½ onion (diced, divided)

6 (12 inch) flour tortillas

4 cups shredded cooked chicken breast

1 pound Monterey jack cheese (shredded)

1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives (I didn't use these)

4 cups refried beans

¼ cup vegetable oil

Avocado topping-

½ cup cilantro (finely chopped)

3 avocados (peeled and pitted)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 green onions (diced)

¼ cup jalapeno chile peppers

1 tomato (diced)

2 cups shredded lettuce

1 cup sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a medium saucepan combine chicken broth, rice, enchilada sauce, and diced onion. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low and let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until the rice is tender. Stir in shredded cooked chicken and mix well.

Step 2: Heat refried beans in a saucepan over low heat until they stir easily. Heat tortillas in a large skillet or in the microwave so that they fold easily.

Step 3: Spoon equal amounts of refried beans onto each tortillas followed by equal amounts of the chicken/rice mixture, Monterey jack cheese, and black olives. Roll up the tortillas¸while tucking in the sides. Secure the wrapped tortillas with a toothpick.

Step 4: Heat oil in a large

skillet and fry the filled tortillas, turning once, until browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

Step 5: To make guacamole- in a medium bowl mash together avocados an

d lemon juice. Stir in cilantro, green onions, jalapeño peppers, and tomatoes. Top chimichangas with cheddar cheese, guacamole and sour cream.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

This one's easiest with a wife-oh sorry I mean crock pot.

Prep time: Depends on how long it takes you to cut onions and peppers.  For me?  A long time. And I usually take crying breaks while cutting the onion.

Cook time:  In a crock pot? 6-8 hours or 3-4 hours.  Or like 30 minutes on the stove.

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 10-ounce package frozen whole kernel corn (I used a can. Still tasted good.)

(I also added green chilies because I had them and I like them.)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped yellow, green, or red bell pepper

1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce (if you don't have a can of enchilada sauce you can make some. it's not hard)

1 10.75-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup shredded Pepper jack cheese

2 chicken breasts (if you want to do it in a crock pot.

In a 3 1/2 to 5 quart slow cooker (or a big pot for soup), combine drained beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, and bell pepper. Place 2 chicken breasts on top of mixture (if you're not making it in a crock pot, cook the chicken separately, then add it in later where it says "add chicken back into soup"). In a large bowl, whisk together enchilada sauce and soup. Gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Pour sauce mixture over ingredients in cooker.Cover; cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours (or on the stove until until the vegetables are the texture you would like them to be). Remove chicken and cut or shred into bite sized pieces. Add chicken back into soup. Top with pepper jack cheese and serve. Can also be topped with avocado, sour cream, or crushed tortilla chips. Note: if the soup is too thick for you, just add a little more milk after it’s all cooked.