Rice Pudding

Rice pudding is one of our favorite breakfasts. Grandma Knight's grandmother, Kristina Johnson, immigrated to America from Sweden. She passed down many of her traditions and Swedish culture to her children. Things that I grew up with that seemed normal were actually unique to our family. Other people had never had rice pudding, or Swedish pancakes, and didn't have gingerbread cookies just as frequently as chocolate chip.

Everyone in mom's family has a recipe for rice pudding, but each household, (Grandma, Kara, mom) does it a little differently. Grandma uses eggnog, Kara uses cornstarch, Mom uses cream cheese. They're all delicious, but this is the version I grew up with.

Dad taught us to spread it out on plates to cool it faster so it wouldn't burn our tongues. That was something he learned from his mom.

Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

• 4 cups water
• 2 cups rice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 cups milk
• 2/3 cup sugar, or honey to taste
• 1/2 cube cream cheese (really 3 oz, not 4), softened
• 2 eggs
• vanilla

Directions:

1. Cook the rice (water, salt, rice) for 15-20 minutes, or until done in a big pot. 
2. Add milk and sugar. Continue to cook on medium high heat. 
3. Combine cream cheese, eggs, and a few tablespoons of milk in a separate bowl. Temper with some of the rice milk mixture. Pour into the pot and stir. 
4. Cook for 3 minutes or until it is thick enough to your liking. Add eggnog, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins, raspberries, whatever you want. Serve on plates to get it to cool faster.  

Water Brownies

Water Brownies. Uuugh, they've got to be on of the best desserts ever. Our family, including extended family, loves this dessert. It is one of Jacob's favorite things to make. I remember making it and reading the directions off of the handwritten recipe card. Grandma made this and passed the recipe down to all of her children, so we often have it at Grandma's or Kara's house. 

Aunt Kara tells the story of how the brownies got their name 

"I got this wonderful recipe for hot fudge cake from my mom. It was a favorite dessert at our house and I remember having it often as a child. We all love it! One year when my mom asked my little brother Matt what treat he wanted for family night, he told her “Water Brownies”. None of us had any idea what the heck he was talking about. We couldn’t figure it out, so she just made something else. A few weeks later, she made this dessert. When Matt saw her pull this out of the oven, he exclaimed excitedly, “Yay, you made water brownies!!!” I have called it that ever since."

When I was cleaning out old papers of mine I stumbled upon one that said something like, 20 best desserts ever, and it listed about 20 variations of water brownies, water brownies with ice cream, with caramel, etc. This is a beloved family favorite! Plus the way it cooks is like magic. You put the dry ingredients on the bottom of the pan, pour on hot water, and as it bakes it becomes brownies with it's own caramel hot fudge sauce!

Water Brownies

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 2 cup flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 Tbsp cocoa
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 Tbsp oil

Topping:

• 2 cup brown sugar
• 6 Tbsp cocoa
• 3 1/2 cups hot water

Directions:

1. Stir together dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. 
2. Add milk, vanilla, and oil. Stir till well blended and spread in a greased 9x 13 pan. 
3. Mix brown sugar and cocoa and sprinkle over the top. Pour hot water on top- do not mix in! Bake for 40 min at 350. 

Grandma's Caramel Pear Pudding

This recipe came from Grandma Knight. She discovered it a few years ago and has shared it with us. She's made it every pear season. It is one of my favorite desserts EVER. There's a cinnamon cake batter with chunks of pears, and as it bakes the cake part rises to the top with a delicious layer of caramel pear sauce on the bottom. It's kind of like water brownies, but with fall flavors instead of chocolate. I like it better than water brownies.

Grandma's Caramel Pear Pudding

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of cloves
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 medium pears cut in 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Topping:

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soft butter
• 3/4 cup boiling water

Directions:

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices
2. Stir in milk, pears, and nuts. 
3. Spread into a 9x13 pan. 
4. In a small bowl combine brown sugar, butter, and boiling water. Stir till butter melts. Pour over the top of the batter. Don't stir! 
5. Bake at 375 for 50 minutes. Let it cool or you'll burn your mouth really bad. 

Buttermilk Pancakes

These buttermilk pancakes are fluffy, tender, buttery, sweet, and delicious. We didn't have buttermilk pancakes, or normal pancakes, often. They often came second to our beloved swedish pancakes. But on the occasions mom made them, they were very good. These pancakes are absolutely delicious and downright addictive. If you need a basic pancake recipe, this is here for ya!

Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Blend eggs, milk, and vanilla. 
2. Whisk in dry ingredients until just moistened. Don't overmix or the pancakes will be tough. It's okay if there's a few lumps.
3. Let sit for ten minutes, then cook in a medium hot griddle. 

Taco Soup

This is a dinner staple at our house. Mom actually gets sick of it because we have it so often. The reason it's always on repeat is because it's super easy and can be done in 5 minutes. It's super healthy, and SO delicious.

This is a classic comfort food for me. In middle school I remember coming home and reading the Goose Girl series by Shannon Hale in the winter and eating taco soup (and sometimes wheat rolls and melted honey butter). It was warm and comforting during the chilly winter.

This is easily doubled.

Taco Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 can diced tomatoes (10ish oz)
• 1 can corn
• 1 can tomato sauce (small, like 3 ish oz)
• 1 cup cooked black/pinto beans
• 1/2 lb ground beef (like a cup or more)
• 1 tbsp taco seasoning, other seasonings like garlic/onion
• 1/2 tsp salt
• water if you want it like soup, no water if you like it like chili

Directions:

1. Put everything in a large pot, don't drain the cans of their juice. 
2. Stir it until combined, simmer as long as you like. You can eat as soon as it's warm, but the longer it cooks the better it gets. 
3. Serve with cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, etc.

Chicken with Rice Dinner

This dinner is delicious, classic comfort food. Brown rice, roasted chicken, mushrooms, creamy sauce. This was a classic dinner growing up, but wasn't a regular. I remember how it would sit in the oven with foil on top and how it was always served with broccoli.

Absolutely delicious, relatively healthy, and a family favorite.

Chicken with Rice Dinner

Ingredients:

• 10 chicken breasts dipped in flour and browned
• 1 1/4 cup raw rice (brown rice is best)
• 1 pkg lipton dry onion soup mix
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can cream of celery soup.
• 2 cups water
• minced mushrooms (brown ones like cremini), optional

Directions:

1. Butter baking dish and put rice in bottom. 
2. Combine onion soup mix, soups, water, and mushrooms if desired. Pour over rice in baking dish. 
3. Place browned breasts on top.
4. Cover with foil. Bake @ 325 for 2 1/2 hours. 
5. Serve with broccoli. 

Beef and Cheese Enchiladas

Beef and cheese enchiladas are a popular meal at our house. Everyone (including picky kids) loves them, they're healthy, and are incredibly fast. They can be done within fifteen minutes. They're super easy, just throw everything in a pot, wrap in tortillas, and sprinkle on cheese. They hold up well in the fridge, so leftovers can be for lunch the next day.

The recipe is easily customisable, the ingredients are just tortillas, beef, tomato sauce, beans, cheese, taco seasoning, spinach. Add more or less beef, more or less tortillas, cheese, beans, spinach, based on what you want and how many people you want to feed.

Beef and Cheese Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 1 lb cooked ground beef (like a cup or two, less meat = cheaper)
• 8 soft tortillas (more tortillas = more servings)
• 3 cups grated cheese (less cheese = healthier)
• 1 small can tomato sauce (like 1 oz?)
• 1 Tbsp taco seasoning, plus any other spices like garlic, onion, etc.
• 1 cup black beans (beans are cheap)
• 2 cups raw spinach (about 3 leaves per tortilla)

Directions:

1. Over high heat (high heat = faster) combine tomato sauce, taco seasoning, 1 cup of cheese (or less), beef, and beans, until combined and warm. 
2. Scoop mixture into cooked tortillas, place in some spinach, roll up, place in 9x13 pan. Repeat until the filling is gone. Sprinkle on cheese over the top. 
3. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until the tops are crunchy and toasty brown. (you can pull them out sooner if you're in a hurry)

Swedish Pancakes

Our family loves Swedish pancakes. They're our go-to meal for birthday breakfasts and special occasions. Daniel makes them almost every Sunday. They're kind of like crepes, but a teeny bit thicker and a little bit sweeter, perfect for breakfast, or even for dinner. It's heavenly with buttermilk caramel syrup, but I like it best with whipped cream and strawberries.

This recipe is pretty simple. We always whip it up in our blender so it's even quicker. This is the best Swedish pancake recipe I've ever had. It makes thin buttery delicious foolproof pancakes.

Swedish Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups milk
• 2 cups flour
• 1 stick melted butter

Directions:

1. Beat eggs, add sugar and salt, then milk.
2. Sift in flour and mix. 
3. Add in melted butter. Should be the consistency of heavy cream. 
4. Heat and lightly grease a skillet. Pour pancakes in thin layer. Brown both sides lightly