Home Smells Like Cooking: Week 1 Sunday: Banana Nut Waffles and Bacon, Chicken Rollups & Scalloped Potatoes with Asparagus and Strawberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

It's Sunday morning of Week One.

We love a big Sunday breakfast at our house and waffles are a favorite! Flavored waffles or syrups can add fun. Some years ago I found a recipe how to convert muffin mix into waffles - which I love to do. There are so many varieties of muffin mix out there that make great waffles. Banana nut is one of my favorites. So I'm looking forward to eating banana nut waffles with warm syrup and side of crisp bacon before heading off to church with the kids.

Up on the menu for dinner tonight is my husband's absolute favorite meal. This was one my mom made. And the first time I made it for my husband he fell in love with it. He made me make it every day for a week when we were first married. I got bored making the same thing so often - I ended up showing him how to make it himself. So now he's a pro at making these and always helps me.

For dessert tonight - I'm trying a coffee cake recipe that I haven't tried before - Strawberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake. We all love strawberries and with brown sugar and sour cream - it sounds fantastic. I still have some leftover whipped cream from Monday night that I stored. That will go perfect on top of the warm cake. I can't wait!

Banana Nut Waffles and Bacon

Chicken Rollups & Scalloped Potatoes with Asparagus and Strawberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

BREAKFAST:

I love how easy it is to make flavored waffles using muffin mix. Today's menu calls for banana nut waffles. These pair really well with a buttered pecan or vanilla spice syrup or just a standard maple syrup.
But waffles made this way don't crisp as easily as a normal waffle during cooking - so it's really important to let them cool on a cooling rack where all the moisture coming off as steam can escape without sogging the waffle. But the easiest way I do this is by using the oven racks as my cooling rack - with the oven set to warm. This keeps the waffles warm while they crisp up.

1. Plug in your waffle maker so it can heat while you mix up the batter.
(I have 2 waffle makers - so I use both to make cooking go faster.) Then put the 2 eggs in a bowl of warm water to let them come to room temperature. Measure the 1 1/3 cup milk and put it in the microwave and cook just long enough to take the chill off. Then add 1 Tablespoon of vinegar to sour it - or if you have buttermilk you can just use that.

2. After the milk has soured, add the cup of oats and muffin mix. I usually use a box that makes 12 muffins, but these pouches that make 6 muffins were on sale so I used 2 of them instead.

3. Add the eggs and oil. Mix well.

4. Spray the waffle maker - top and bottom - well so the waffle doesn't stick. Pour batter onto the hot waffle maker and use the back of a spoon or measuring cup to spread it around. My waffle makers take about 1/2 cup of batter per waffle.

5. Close the waffle maker and cook until the waffle maker indicates that the waffle is done. These will be slightly darker in color than a plain waffle - dark like banana bread. Take them out carefully - they tend to crisp less than a normal waffle. So transfer carefully to a cooling rack or I put them on an oven rack with the oven on warm.

6. Serve with butter and warm syrup with bacon on the side. ENJOY!

DINNER:

Chicken Rollups

1. Defrost chicken breasts and cut into serving size pieces - enough for one per person.

2. With a meat mallet, using the short and flat sides, pound each piece of chicken until it is about 1/8 inch thick or so. They should all be evenly flat.

3. Cut a piece of butter for each chicken breast. I am making six breasts, so I cut 3 Tbsp of butter and then cut each piece in half so I had six pieces of butter.

4. Pour out the cheese next to the butter. Roll each piece of butter into the cheese - to make a sort of "cheese ball." Try to gather as much cheese as possible into each piece of butter.

5. You should have one small cheese ball for each breast. Place them on the center of each of the flattened breasts.

6. Set aside for a moment. Meanwhile, crush the cornflakes in a medium-small bowl or dish. I use the bottom of a cup to crush them in the bowl. Then add the taco seasoning and mix well.

7. Melt a half a cube of butter in a small dish. Grease a 9x13 pan. Arrange the crushed corn flake / taco seasoning mix and butter between the chicken breasts and the greased pan.

8. Bring the edges of the flattened chicken breast up over the cheese ball and roll it up, tucking the sides into each other to form a ball.

9. Roll the rolled up chicken in the melted butter and then in the corn flake / taco seasoning mix - coating it well before placing it in the greased pan. Do this for each one.

10. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done. You can cut into one to see if the chicken is white. ENJOY!

Scalloped Potatoes

1. Melt a cube of butter in a casserole dish. Then pour in a can of cream of mushroom soup and a small carton of sour cream.

2. Salt and pepper the mixture then mix well.

3. Dump the cheese on top and mix well.

4. Pour in a bag of frozen Potatoes O'Brien. mix well.

5. Crush some corn flakes and sprinkle on top. I just use the last of a box of corn flakes for this type of thing. I take the bag out of the boxes and crush it with my hand with the corn flakes still inside the bag and then just sprinkle them over.

6. Bake for about an hour at 375 degrees or 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees. It should be warm through and bubbling on the sides. ENJOY!

DESSERT:

1. Put the egg in a bowl of warm water to bring it to room temperature. Measure 1/4 cup of milk and add about a teaspoon of vinegar to let it sour.

2. Mix the 2 Tbsp cornstarch and 1/4 cup of sugar in a small bowl.

3. Cut the hulls off the strawberries and then slice them.

4. Put the strawberries in a medium size saucepan with the 1/4 cup of water. Heat on medium heat.

5. Meanwhile, add the 1 1/2 cup flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon into a mixing bowl and mix well.

6. Add in the 1/4 cup of butter, mix well until crumbled, scraping the sides with a rubber spatula to make sure the mixture is well-mixed.

7. Make a well in the center. Break the egg into the well, then pour in the sour cream, soured milk and vanilla. Beat until just moistened - it may be a bit lumpy but that's fine.

8. Let that sit a minute. The strawberries should be simmering now. Add the cornstarch / sugar mixture into the juices. Stir, being careful not to mash the strawberries too much. Let it cook until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat.