Bread Pudding

We frequently scout the Walmart bargain rack when we go shopping - and usually, if there is French bread, we get it! The problem with French bread is that it gets stale really fast - that is just the nature of the stuff.

A couple weeks ago, we tried out this recipe for bread pudding, using the remainder of a loaf of French bread we had in our fridge. The original recipe can be found here; we altered it a bit so we could use ingredients we had on hand.

Bread Pudding
2 cups milk (the original recipe calls for whole milk)
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups bread, torn up into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Tear bread and place in a lightly greased baking dish (I used a 9*9 square pan). If you like raisins, put them in the baking dish as well. You might need to hand-mix them so they are evenly distributed.
2. Heat milk and butter in a medium saucepan, stirring so it does not scorch. Let butter melt completely. Cool to lukewarm.
3. Combine sugar, eggs, spices, and vanilla and mix with an electric mixer. Add milk/butter mixture; combine well.
4. Pour this mixture on the bread and raisins in the baking dish. Try to get all of the bread wet with the batter.
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until set.

We enjoyed it warm, with ice cream!!

Homemade Bran Muffins

With two full days on campus each week for both of us, it gets challenging to try to come up with at least somewhat healthy food to take with us. Sandwiches get soggy; we do not have a spare moment to microwave leftovers. One food item that holds up pretty well, tastes good, and sustains us is the bran muffin.

I found the following recipe online a while back and decided to try it. You can find it in its original form here.

It was not as easy as I thought it would be to find wheat bran. Apparently they do not carry it at Walmart, which is where we do a lot of our shopping. We finally found some at Smith's, in the cereal aisle. I found it in a display with other "Bob's Mill" special mixes and cereals (which is where I was looking at Walmart, but to no avail). It is helpful to know that it looks like sawdust :o)

Bran Muffins
1 1/2 c wheat bran
1 c buttermilk (or 1 c milk plus 1 Tbsp lemon juice or 1 3/4 Tbsp cream of tartar)
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 egg
2/3 c brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c raisins (the next time I make these, I think I may try adding Craisins for a twist)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F and prepare muffin tin by placing liners or greasing cups.
2. Mix wheat bran and buttermilk (or substitution) and let stand 10 minutes.
3. Mix wet ingredients in another bowl.
4. Mix dry ingredients in a third bowl. Then, combine everything and add raisins.
5. Pour into muffin tin, filling cups about 2/3 full. You should be able to fit all of the batter into 12 regular-sized muffin tin wells.
6. Bake 15-20 minutes.

Curried Rice Mix

 This is a good quick recipe that can be made in dry bulk for future use, at about 1.5 C mix for every 2 1/4 C water. Thomas' sister provided it to us.

Curried Rice Mix
1 C long grain rice
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 T minced onion (we used a little less dehydrated onion)
1/4 C raisins
1/2 t curry powder

1. Mix all dry ingredients.
2. Bring 2 1/4 C water to boiling.
3. Add mix, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes.