Italian Dipping Oil

This dipping oil is just to die for. There is so much flavor in this oil and is the perfect side to go with your pasta. This recipe does make a lot, so you can bottle up the extra and save it for next time!

Ingredients
1 cup Olive Oil
2/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons Basil, dried
1 tablespoon Oregano, dried
1 teaspoon Thyme, dried
1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper, freshly ground

Directions
Mix all ingredients together. Serve with italian bread to dip in.

Put the remaining dipping oil in a bottle and store in the fridge.

Potato Wedges

Potato wedges are a nice side dish to just about anything. Pair them with hot dogs, hamburgers, mexican food, or anything you can think of!

Ingredients
4 medium Russet Potatoes
1 cup AP Flour
2 teaspoons Garlic Salt
2 teaspoons Seasoning Salt
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1 teaspoon Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
2 large Eggs, lightly beaten

Directions
Wash your potatoes well. Slice them in half length wise, and then each half into 3 wedges; giving you 6 wedges per potato. Dry each potato wedge. Set aside.

Pour your eggs into a bowl and lightly beat them. In a second bowl combine your flour and all of your seasonings.

Dip one of your potato wedges into the bowl with the egg mixture. Then stick the egg covered wedge into the bowl with your dry ingredients. Coat fully with flour mixture. Place in a 9x13 dish. Continue with remaining wedges.

Place the dish with the potato wedges in the fridge for 30 minutes.

In a large pan, heat up some oil deep enough for frying to 350 degrees (not any higher). Stick your potato wedges in the hot oil and fry them until they are golden and are soft inside. You do not want a hard inside to the potato wedge.

Take the wedges out of the oil and place them on a plate. Sprinkle with some salt and serve.

Texas Cheese Fries

This is such a simple yummy appetizer, and it is super easy! There is really no cooking involved...it's great! We had these tonight with chili cheese dogs, and it was a nice quick dinner.

Ingredients
French Fries
Cheese
Bacon Bits
Jalapenos
Ranch Dressing

Directions
Cook your french fries. Once they are cooked fully, put them on a oven safe plate or oven safe dish. Top them with cheese and bacon. Place them in the oven until the cheese is fully melted. Top with cold jalapeno slices.

Serve with a side or ranch dressing for dipping the fries in.

Mexican Rice

Mexican food is my absolute favorite food ever! You can't serve Mexican food without some rice. I love this rice. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Ingredients
3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 cup uncooked Long-grain Rice
1 teaspoon Garlic Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Taco Seasoning
1/4 cup White Onion, chopped
1/2 cup Tomato Sauce
2 cups Chicken Broth
2 oz Water
Cilantro, chopped

Directions
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add rice. Cook, stirring constantly, until it just starts to brown. On top of the rice, sprinkle with salt, cumin, and taco seasoning.

Stir in onions and cook until they become clear. Stir in tomato sauce, chicken broth, and water; bring to a boil. Add your chopped cilantro. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Mini Loaves

Instead of making rolls for dinner, make some mini loaves of bread. How fun would that be for everyone to have their own little loaf of bread? Let me tell you...it's WAY fun. Now you don't want to eat it like a roll...you eat it like bread would be...in slices. So give everyone their own loaf and as they want some, they slice off a piece of bread and put on butter and jam. SO FUN!

(Just like my other bread recipes, you'll need a small and large scale to weigh your ingredients)

Ingredients:
24 ounces Warm Water
1 ounce Yeast
40 ounces Bread Flour
1 ounce Salt
1 1/2 ounces Sugar
2 ounces Non Fat Milk Powder
1 1/2 ounces Shortening

Directions:
Dissolve Yeast in water. Then add your Salt, Sugar, Non Fat Milk Powder, and Shortening. (When I make bread I personally like to use Kosher salt because it adds an extra kick. Try it out) Slowly add in the Bread Flour. Knead until fully incorporated.

Spray a bowl with cooking spray and set your dough inside and then flip it. This gives it a nice coating on top so that it will keep your dough moist and not get a crusty coating while rising. Cover your bowl and let the dough rise for an hour.

After it is finished rising, pull off a section of your dough and roll it out. Roll it up (like you would cinnamon rolls) and put it into your sprayed bread pan. Do this for every loaf. Make sure not to fill the pan to the top with your dough because it needs room to rise and then will rise more in the oven. If you have extra dough let over you can put it in a bag and throw it in the freezer for next time.

Once you filled every spot in your loaf pan, cover it up and let it rise for another 30 minutes or so.

Bake them at 350 for about 15 minutes or until done. While still hot, rub the top of the loaves with butter. This will not only add a nice butter flavor, but also keep the top of the bread nice and soft and not be crusty.

Seasoned Baked Potatoes

If you are making baked potatoes, take the extra step and season the skin. It tastes so delicious and is sure to impress your guests!

Ingredients:
Potatoes
Vegetable Oil
Sea Salt (grinder)
Peppercorn (grinder)

Directions:
Wash your potatoes well to remove all of the dirt. Poke them with a knife a few times. Put a few tablespoons of oil in a bowl. Dip your hand in the bowl of oil and rub it over the potato. This not only will make the seasonings stick to the potato, but also give some moisture to the skin.

Take your sea salt grinder, and peppercorn medley grinder and grind them over the potatoes on all sides.

Bake your potatoes in the oven at 375 for about an hour or until the are fully cooked.

Mozarella Sticks

Who doesn't like warm mozarella sticks? I know I do! These just taste so amazing and are so simple to make. Skip on making garlic bread with your pasta dish and make a side of these instead. You wont regret it!

Ingredients:
1 lb Mozzarella Cheese (cut into strips)
3 Eggs, well beaten
1 cup AP Flour
1/4 cup Cornstarch
1 cup Italian Bread Crumbs
1 tsp Garlic Salt

Directions:
1. Mix flour and cornstarch in a bowl. Mix bread crumbs and garlic salt in a separate bowl

2. Dip each mozarella stick in egg, then roll in flour mixture. Dip in egg again then roll in bread crumbs

3. Place in a dish and chill for about an hour.

4. In a large pan or skillet, heat oil to about 375 degrees (you can also use a deep fryer).

5. Fry chilled cheese sticks in oil until they turn a nice golden brown color. Drain on paper towels. Serve with pizza sauce.

OLIVE GARDEN BREAD STICKS

Who doesn't love the bread sticks and salad from The Olive Garden. I love these because they don't have an overwhelming flavor of garlic, and are nice and salty. I love to dip these in either left over salad dressing or left over sauce from your pasta. Very delicious, and easy to make.

Ingredients:
For the Dough
1 package Yeast
4 1/4 cups AP Flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons Butter, softened
2 tablespoons Sugar
1 tablespoon Fine Salt

For the Topping
3 tablespoons Butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
Pinch of dried oregano

Directions:
1. Make the dough: Place 1/4 cup warm water in the bowl of a mixer. Sprinkle in the yeast and set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the butter, sugar, fine salt, 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons warm water, and flour. Mix with the dough hook until a slightly sticky dough forms, 5 minutes.

2. Knead the dough by hand on a floured surface until very smooth and soft, 3 minutes. Roll into a 2-foot long log and then cut into 16 1 1/2 inch long pieces. Knead each piece slightly and shape into a 7-inch long bread stick. Arrange 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm spot until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 350. Make the topping: Brush the breadsticks with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoons of the kosher salt. Bake until lightly golden, about 12-15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt with the garlic powder and oregano. Brush the warm breadsticks with the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle with the flavored salt.

GARLIC RED POTATOES

These potatoes are pretty good. Feel free to add more garlic if you find it needs it. You can either keep the skins on the potatoes or peel them off. This time I peeled half the potatoes so there wasn't too much skin (as you can see in the picture).

Ingredients:
2 pounds Red Potatoes, cubed (skins on)
3 teaspoons Garlic, minced
1/2 cup Butter or Margarine
1/4 cup Milk
1/4 teaspoon Steak Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
1. Place the potatoes into a large pot, and fill with enough water to cover. Add 1 teaspoon of the minced garlic to the water for flavor. Bring to a boil, and cook until easily pierced with a fork.

2. Drain the potatoes, and add the butter. Mash until the butter is melted. Mix in the milk, steak seasoning, garlic powder and remaining garlic. Mix potatoes with an electric mixer until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.

(If you want more of a garlic flavor, just add more Garlic.)

POPOVERS

Allen and I went to one of our friend house a few weeks ago for dinner and they hooked me on these. They are so wonderful. I get sick of having the same bread over and over again at dinner, so it is nice to change things up a bit. These are so cool because you don't have to knead dough and wait for it to rise. It is a liquid that you pour into these nifty pans (click here to see where you can buy some) and put them in the oven. They pop up and are hallow inside. It's almost like the outside part of a cream puff. You break them in half length wise and spread butter and jam inside. What a yummy side dish and a nice change from regular dinner rolls. Thanks Lauren!

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons Butter, melted
3 large Eggs
1 cup Milk
1 cup AP Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
Butter
Jam

Directions:
1. Have a standard 6-cup or miniature 12-cup popover pan. Lightly grease the pan or dishes with 2 tbsp of the melted butter.

2. In a blender, mix together the eggs, milk, and the remaining 1 tbsp of melted butter until foamy. Mix in the flour and salt until smooth. Do not over-mix. The batter should be thin. Fill each prepared cup two-thirds full with the batter.

3. Place the pan on the center rack of a cold oven and immediately turn the temperature to 375 degrees. Bake the popovers until they are puffed high and deep golden brown. Bake 35-45 minutes for standard-sized popovers and about 25 for miniature popovers. Do not open the oven door for the first 30 minutes of baking, or the popovers may not rise fully.

4. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately pierce the side of each popover with the tip of a sharp knife to allow steam to escape. Let stand for 5 minutes. Serve with butter and jam.

FRENCH BREAD

This recipe is my mother in laws. I love french bread and never knew how to make it. Well one time when I was at her house she made it to go with some lasagne, and immediately I wanted the recipe. It is so yummy. I always figured that it was cheaper just to buy a loaf of french bread at the store for $1.50 then to make it...but that is not the case. It hardly takes any ingredients to make this recipe and you get TWO loaves. What a deal. Try it out and make it for dinner...everyone will be impressed!

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Yeast

2 Cups Warm Water

3 Tablespoons Sugar

1 Tablespoon Salt

5 Tablespoons Oil

5 Cups Flour

Directions:
1. In a bowl mix together your yeast and 1/2 cup of your warm water. Set your yeast and water aside and let it proof.

2. In another mixing bowl, mix together your sugar, salt, oil, and the remaining warm water. Mix this well.

3. Add in 3 of the cups of flour. Once that is mixed in, add your yeast mixture that has been proofing.

4. Once everything is mixed well, add your remaining 2 cups of flour. Knead this until your dough is smooth and pulling away from the sides of your bowl. Your dough should be somewhat stiff and sticky.

5. Let you dough sit for 10 minutes and then knead for 1 minute.

6. Repeat step 5 five times.

7. Once you have done this, cut your dough in half and roll each half into a long loaf.

8. Put your 2 loaves onto your greased french bread pan and slash each one three times at a diagonal.

*You can find french bread pans at most kitchen stores. I got mine at the Bosch Kitchen store in Orem, Utah. You can also purchase them online. I found some cheap ones HERE

9. This step is optional. If you want, lather the loaf with egg whites and then sprinkle with sesame seeds.

10. Let your dough rise for about 45 minutes.

11. Bake your bread at 350 for about 35 minutes. When your dough comes out the top will be really hard. Do not freak out, as it will become very soft as it cools.

12. Let your bread cool for 30 minutes and then serve.