Granola

This is supposed to be a ‘light’ recipe. It makes A LOT so you may want to cut recipe in half. Also, I find it a tad too sweet so I reduce the brown sugar just a bit.


1 cup brown sugar (I shoot for a little over ¾ cup)
1/4  cup water
4 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
8 cups old fashioned oats (not quick cooking)
2 cups nuts and/or dried fruit (if desired)

Preheat oven to 275. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Mix sugar & water in glass measure cup & microwave 5 minutes til sugar dissolves. Mix well. Add vanilla and salt to mixture. Combine all with oats & nuts (if using) in large bowl. Spread out on the cookie sheets as thinly as possible. Cook 45 minutes to 1 hour, til golden & crunchy but still pliable. Let cook, add dry fruit if desired. Store in tightly sealed glass jars. This is excellent on yogurt.

*you can use just about any nut or fruit you wish but remember, this adds alot to the cost of the granola.I generally let everyone add IF they want at the time of eating, not at the time of baking, then it becomes more like a topping.
*Try almond instead of vanilla, IF you like the flavor of almond

Donut Muffins

These have been circulating the internet for years but really, you have to try them, which is why I’ve put them up here. I go for months without making them and then when I do it’s like, why do you wait so long?

1 ¾ cup flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1/3 cup oil
¾ sugar
¾ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
Melted butter
Cinnamon and sugar mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix first 5 ingredients in a bowl. Mix remaining ingredients in separate bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry, stir til just combine, lumpy is good. Grease, or use muffin liners, muffin tin, and fill each 2/3 full with batter.
Bake 25 minutes or til done.
When muffins are done, remove from pan, dip in melted butter and then roll in sugar cinnamon mixture while hot. I’ve found that just dipping the tops in butter and then the tops in the cinnamon mix is just easier to deal with, mess wise.

Thin Crust Pizza Dough

Here was a perfect example of how a typo error really is a big deal! My original recipe said to drizzle the OIL in at the end til dough is combined, and well, it just made a HUGE mess and about fried the food processor!

2 to 2 ½ cups of flour
½ tsp fast acting yeast
½ tsp honey
½ tsp salt
¾ cup water (more or less)
¼ cup olive or canola oil

Mix all except the water and oil in food processor. Pour in oil and process til combined. With motor running, slowly add water til a ball forms and the dough has come together. May need less water, may need more. Allow to go around a few times til all in one ball.

Place on a lightly floured surface and knead til smooth and elastic. Place in Ziploc, and toss in fridge til ready to use, up to 48 hours.

Once ready to use, preheat oven to 425 with a pizza stone on the lower rack. Allow dough to lose chill before attempting to roll out. Divide dough in half. My original recipe says to roll out on parchment paper and trim paper around the crust, decorate and place on stone, cook for 10 to 12 minutes BUT I have not done it that way. Rather, I put mine on a pizza pan & bake on top of the stone. Could be why I never get a super crispy crust.

*I like this dough recipe to use with the pepperoni Stromboli

Light and Fluffy Cheese Cake

Really fluffy, not dense like some. And can be made lighter, as I did, with reduced fat items. I have NOT tried with splenda in place of sugar yet but will.

1 8oz cream cheese, 1/3 less fat (I use the tub, not the block), room temp
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream, 50% less fat
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups of cool whip or store brand non dairy topping, thawed
1 prepared graham cracker crust (or make your own by crushing 1 1/2 cups worth of graham crackers, mix 1/3 cup sugar and 6 tbs melted butter and press into bottom and up sides pie pan.

Beat cream cheese til fluffy. Add sugar, sour cream and vanilla, beat til combined. Fold in the cool whip. Spread evenly into pie crust. Chill for several hours before serving.

*this can be changed up in so many ways to suit your personal taste, such as changing vanilla to lemon or almond, you can pick a flavored whip topping, like strawberry or chocolate.

I am giving this, along with cinnamon rolls, to my neighbors for Christmas today.

Macaroni and Cheese

There are so many recipes out there for mac & cheese. I just wanted one that would make The Boy happy and hubby and I too. Honestly, we normally would just buy the big family size Stouffer frozen tray, cook it, put it in the crockpot & serve that at the parties. And then of course, everyone would want the recipe, because afterall, this is the house that cooks great food! Ha. I had this recipe. Then I lost it. For like, months. I was frantic. Couldn’t find it again anywhere on the internet (that’s how I know there is a gazillion recipes out there). Then this morning, pulled out a stack of recipes to go through and purge and ta da!!! So here you go. Enjoy. NOTE: this recipe is doubled here as I didn’t think it made much halved.


4 cups of dry macaroni
6 tbs margarine
6 tbs flour
2 cans of evaporated milk
6 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp dry mustard
Grated parmesan cheese
Cook pasta. Drain and put back in the pot. In separate large pot, melt margarine. Add flour and stir constantly til absorbed. Gradually add the milk, stir until mixture is thick and coasts the back of a wooden spoon. Add about half the cheese and all the spices, stir til cheese is melted. Add pasta and mix til all is coated. Divide mixture into two 9 x 13 pans and sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese. Place under broiler and broil til cheese is melted and lightly browned. Be sure to keep an eye on it though as brown to burnt happens within seconds.

Italian Beef sandwiches

Sometimes the easiest recipe is sort of tossed together, right?  This is one of them. Just go with the flow of things, but remember that the pepperoncinis will continue to add heat to this dish the longer its around :)

4-5 lb roast (cheapest you can find)
jar of pepperoncinis - if you can find them sliced, great, if not, just chop the top off to remove the stem
garlic (to taste)
A little beef broth

Toss all in crockpot on high for 6 hours or low for 8 to 10. Shred meat. Serve over toasted Italian bread loaves that have been drizzled with a bit of olive oil and layer with smoked provolone cheese. This last time, hubby also sliced up onions super thin and then fried them (unbreaded) to top the sandwiches with…delicious. *note* if you do not like your food super spicy, then do not put in the juice from the pepperoncinis!

Garlicky Chicken

This is another super easy recipe. Just serve with buttered egg noodles (don’t forget to top that with fresh parsley!) or rice if preferred. NOTE: I generally double the sauce recipe just because it seems more satisfying to me and it’s easy to do.

½ cup mayo
½ cup Italian dressing
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp browning seasoning (like kitchen bouquet)
4 b/s chicken breast (smaller, not the whole ones)
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Mix all but chicken and parsley in a medium size bowl (or just do it directly in baking dish if preferred). Place chicken in marinade, toss to coat and let sit for 30 minutes or so in fridge.
Preheat oven to 350, bake chicken for 30 to 40 minutes til no longer pink. Sprinkle with parsley before serving.
You can also choose to take the chicken OUT of the marinade and bake on sheet sprayed with non stick spray or grill.

Chicken Marsala

I have lots and lots of different recipes for chicken Marsala, but this is by far, the easiest to do. Serve with pasta, rice or just veggies

 ½ cup flour
1 ¼ tsp salt, divided
6 b/s chicken breast (smaller ones)
¼ cup veggie oil
¼ cup margarine (1/2 stick)
½ cup Marsala wine
1 cup chicken stock/broth
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tbs parsley flakes
1 cup sliced mushrooms (can be canned if that’s all you have on hand)

Mix flour and 1 tsp salt in shallow dish (or paper plate) or just use seasoned bread crumbs on panko! Dredge chicken in this. In large skillet, heat oil over med high heat. Saute chicken til brown on both sides. Remove chicken from skillet. Add margarine, wine, chicken broth, ¼ tsp salt, pepper, garlic and parsley. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Return chicken to skillet, add mushrooms, cover and let simmer for 10 minutes more or til chicken is done and no longer pink.

When serving, be sure to add some sauce over the top of the chicknen.  Sometimes hubby will request that I thicken the sauce up a bit, just do that by adding a bit of Wondra (a flour that is super fine therefore, blends and dissolves quickly in hot liquid) and cook down a bit.

Welcome to The Florida Kitchen!

First off, this will primarily be a cooking blog with recipes, ideas and such.  But once in a while I may stray off the path and take a hard turn left, but don't worry, I promise I won't get lost along the way!

So the recipes will be all recipes that we've prepared in this house.

The ideas will be things that we've done or at least plan on trying.

The shopping tips will be things that we use to get the most bang for our buck.

We consider ourselves to be very fortunate to live in such a great area. We've lived in the same home since the mid 1980's with an extensive remodel in the late 90's. This will be the place we live and die in. If we hadn't obtained the house when we did, there is no doubt in our mind that we could not afford it nowdays.  I mean, heck, we live off the main intracoastal. There is a constant boat parade every weekend off the back patio. What a life!

If you have any suggestions, comments or anything that you would like to see, feel free to email me at floridakitchen@gmail.com. Thank you and I hope you enjoy the upcoming posts!