Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles

Recipe and Photo from: Life as a Lofthouse

For the Bacon:
8 slices bacon
1/4 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with heavy-duty tinfoil. Arrange bacon in a single layer on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the bacon evenly with the brown sugar. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until bacon is crispy and sugar is caramelized. Remove from oven. Immediately remove bacon, using a pair of tongs, and place onto a cutting board. (DON'T USE PAPER TOWELS, the bacon will stick to them!!) Let bacon cool, and then chop into bite-size pieces. Set aside.

For the Waffles:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cups canola oil
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups buttermilk


Directions: Preheat waffle iron.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar. Whisk together to blend. In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, vanilla and buttermilk. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold in. Once mixture is almost fully incorporated, add bacon bites. Stir. Try not to over-mix the batter, it can make the waffles tough. The batter will be lumpy!

Cook waffles according to your waffle iron instructions. Serve with maple syrup and strawberries.


Rate It!
Jen: 7.5
Kile: not home
Kiley: 7
Madee: 7
Destrie: 10

Bacon Cheddar and Ranch Potato Salad

Recipe and photo from Jamie Cooks It Up!

8 large russet potatoes
1 (16 ounce) package bacon
1 C mayonnaise
1 C sour cream
2 (1 ounce) packages Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix
1 C celery, chopped
1/4 C green onions
1 C cheddar cheese

1. Grab 8 large russet potatoes. Wash and peel them.
2. Chop them up into pieces that are relatively similar and toss them into a large pot. Run cold water over the potatoes and then drain the water off. Fill the pot with hot water and set it on the stove top.
3. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. When you have a nice rolling boil, lower the temperature to medium high and cook the potatoes until they are fork tender.
4. Cook the bacon, either on the stove top or in your oven.
5. Dump the potatoes and hot water into a colander you have placed in your sink. Run cold water over the top to cool the potatoes down, then pour them into a large mixing bowl.
6. Into a small mixing bowl place 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 cup of sour cream and 2 packages Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix. Stir everything around to combine well.
7. Wash and chop about 1 cup of celery. Add it to the potatoes.
8. Chop up a little more than 1/4 cup of green onions. Add 1/4 to the potatoes and reserve some to sprinkle on top.
9. Take  bacon and crumble it up into small pieces. Save a handful to sprinkle on the top of the salad before you serve. Put the rest of the bacon along with 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese into the mixing bowl.
10. Pour the Ranch/Mayo mixture over the top and stir it all in, making sure everything is well coated. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
11. Just before serving add a few chopped green onions, a bit of bacon and a little cheddar cheese over the top.

* This was really good!  I loved the "Ranch" taste.  My kids don't love potato salad, so I didn't ask for ratings from them.  Kile liked it, but wanted the green onions left out- he's weird like that....just kidding!  I highly recommend it for a different twist on Potato Salad.

Quick and Easy Breadsticks

Recipe and photo from: Jamie Cooks It Up!

1 1/2 C warm water
2 T sugar
1 T yeast
1/2 t salt
3 1/2- 4 C flour
1/4 C butter (not that nasty margarine crap)
3/4 C grated Parmesan or mozzarella cheese
Johnny's Garlic Seasoning

1. Mix the water, sugar and yeast together in a measuring cup or in the bottom of your mixer. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
2. Add the salt and the flour, one cup at a time, until it is well incorporated. Mix on high for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
3. Melt the butter and pour half of it into a  large cookie sheet.
4. Place the dough in the center of the pan. Let it sit for 2 or 3 minutes. Letting the dough rest makes it MUCH easier to shape.
5. Spread the dough out flat onto the pan until it reaches all of the edges. 
6. Pour the other half of the butter onto the dough. Spread it around. Sprinkle the Johnny's Garlic Seasoning all over the dough, and then the Parmesan cheese.
7. With a pizza cutter cut the dough into three rows lengthwise, and then into about 12 little height wise rows.
8. Put the pan into a 170 degree oven for about 7-10 minutes. The breadsticks should rise about 1 inch.
9. Turn you oven up to 350 and bake for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
10. When they come out of the oven let them sit and rest again for about 5 minutes. Then redefine your cutting lines with the pizza cutter.

Bacon in the Oven

My new favorite way to cook bacon.....

1.   Line a baking sheet with foil. This will make cleanup easier later.
2. Arrange bacon slices on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack of a cold oven. Close oven door. Turn oven on to 400°F.
3. Come back 17 to 20 minutes later. As soon as the bacon is golden brown, but not excessively crisp, it's done. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the bacon slices, and also on how quickly your oven reaches the target temperature.
4. Remove the pan from the oven. Transfer the bacon to another sheet pan lined with paper towels to absorb the fat.