Yes, I enjoy cooking and baking with recipes and ideas from Gourmet, Bon Appetit, and interesting cookbooks. However, a few of my favorite recipes are derived from the packaging of common grocery items.
For instance, I love using a recipe that I call Roasted Seasoned Potatoes. I have served this side dish to small and large crowds alike for years. It is a favorite with both children and adults. Aside from chopping millions of potatoes into bite-size pieces, it is quite easy to make. I stumbled upon this recipe on the back of a Lipton’s Onion Recipe Soup and Dip Mix years ago.
Another box-top favorite of mine is One-Bowl Brownies. I discovered this recipe on the back of Baker’s Unsweetened Baking Chocolate Squares. I have customized it with various toppings over the years, but the integrity of the original recipe remains the same. This is an easy dessert to prepare and receives rave reviews.
Baker’s One Bowl Brownies (with my twists)
4 squares Baker’s unsweetened baking chocolate
1 1/2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with foil and butter the foil. Make certain that the ends of the foil extend over the sides of the dish.
Place the chocolate and the butter into a microwavable bowl and microwave on high for 2 minutes or until the butter is melted. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Add the sugar. Blend in the eggs, milk and vanilla. Mix in the flour. Spread the brownies into the prepared pan.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Do not overbake. A toothpick inserted into the middle should have fudgy crumbs on it. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Remove the brownies from the pan utilizing the foil “handles”. Cut into squares.
Toppings:
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Immediately after removing the brownies from the oven, sprinkle chocolate chips over the hot brownies and spread them with a spatula as the chips melt.
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Sift powdered sugar over the hot brownies
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Serve topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate drizzles, and strawberries
”A hundred times a day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depends on the labor of other [people], living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. I am strongly drawn to the simple life and am often oppressed by the feeling that I am engrossing an unnecessary amount of the labor of my fellow [people].” - Albert Einstein
Me too! The oatmeal cookies on the box of Quaker Oats is a classic!
Or how about that same box of Lipton Onion soup mix sprinkled over a pot roast? Yum.
Mmm…these sound wonderful. Thank you for posting this recipe.
Happy New Year to you and your family.
Cindy, I haven’t made the Quaker Oats cookies in years - thanks for the reminder!
O.K. I’m glad there are a few “quickie” recipes that you DO make. I buy the Aldi brownies in a box and doll them up a little with choc. chips and such. They aren’t bad.
I would like you to expound upon this:
We have never been fans of the Ezzo method/technique. My feeling has always been that they sugar coat the post modern parenting ideas (hedonistic/nacissistic) with Christian principles.
could you please??
When you expound to Jena, I’d love to know, too. I think I know what you meant, but if you have more detailed thoughts, I’d be very interested in hearing them.
And I’m very relieved to see that you also do simple recipes. I was just telling my mom about you today and marveling about how a homeschooling mom of nine has time to make such incredibly complicated recipes all the time.
I love brownies. Yet another one of your recipes for me to file away!