I don’t know about where you live, but here in the Midwest people often express their love through food. Having a gathering of some sort? The number one question you’ll get after the date is, “What can I bring?” Did a loved one pass? Best clean out your fridge because you’ll get enough casseroles to last a few weeks. Have a new baby? Congrats! Here’s a full three-course meal so you don’t have to worry about cooking.

It’s truly awesome, and one of the things I love most about the people that live here. It also completely confused my husband and in-laws when they first moved to the U.S. Things work the exact opposite in The Netherlands; the people hosting, having the baby, etc. are the ones that also supply all of the food. It’s kind of a reverse mindset…instead of “Hey, I’m happy/sad for you, let me feed you to make things easier!,” it’s “Hey, I’m happy/sad and want to celebrate/commemorate by feeding my friends and neighbors!” Both are great in their own ways.

This Baked Blueberry Oatmeal was a case of a Midwesterner showing us their love. After our youngest VandeLittle made her earlier-than-planned appearance, or sweet neighbor dropped off enough food to get us through a whole day (bless her!), and this oatmeal was our breakfast. We ended up sticking it in the freezer for a couple of weeks, and man was I happy to have it when I needed it! All of us (well…at least all of us that were eating solids anyway…) absolutely loved it, and I’ve made it many times since!

Looking for more great breakfast or brunch ideas? Try one of these!
–Smoked Salmon Flatbread
–Fruit and Yogurt Dream
–Ham and Cheese Quiche from The Farmwife Cooks
–Blueberry French Toast Casserole from The Farmwife Cooks

Ingredients Needed for Baked Blueberry Oatmeal

• Eggs
• Oil – I use vegetable oil because that’s what I’ve always got on hand. Use whatever you prefer, as long as it’s very mild in flavor. In other words, no olive oil!
• Granulated Sugar
• Chopped Nuts – Use what you like. I usually use pecans and almonds.
• Milk
• Brown Sugar
• Salt
• Baking Powder
• Butter
• Vanilla
• Almond Extract – Optional. I usually leave this out.
• Sliced Almonds
• Old Fashioned Oats – Do not use instant here!
• Blueberries

Tips for Making Baked Blueberry Oatmeal

-Don’t like almonds? No worries! Leave them out and use a nut you do like. I personally prefer to top this oatmeal with chopped pecans.

-If you don’t use almonds, leave out the almond extract. I like to add 1 tsp of cinnamon instead.

-Change up the fruit if you want. Try apples or maybe raspberries!

-We like this Baked Blueberry Oatmeal topped with maple syrup. You could also try it topped with honey, or even with a side of vanilla yogurt!

-This oatmeal freezes really well. Use a foil pan for easy clean-up. Prepare all of your ingredients as directed, but freeze before baking. Then pull it out of the freezer the night before you want it to let it thaw, and bake as directed!

How to Make Baked Blueberry Oatmeal

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9×13 baking pan.

In small skillet, melt the butter and toast the almonds until they are lightly browned, being careful not to burn them. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, oil, and granulated sugar. Stir in the oatmeal, baking powder, salt, vanilla, almond extract, milk, and nuts. Gently stir in the blueberries.

Pour the mixture into the greased pan. Top with the toasted almonds then the brown sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden.

Serve topped with maple syrup!

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Baked Blueberry Oatmeal

This easy, healthy Baked Blueberry Oatmeal is a great make-ahead breakfast idea! It even works well as a freezer meal!

Course Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine American

Keyword almonds, blueberries, freezer food, healthy breakfast, Make Ahead, oatmeal

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6 people

Author Meagan – The Crossroads Cook

Ingredients

• 1/2 C Sliced Almonds
• 2 Tbsp Butter
• 2 Eggs
• 2/3 C Oil, such as vegetable
• 2/3 C Granulated Sugar
• 1 C Chopped Nuts
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
• 1 C Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp Almond Extract
• 4 C Old Fashioned Oats
• 1.2 C Brown Sugar

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 baking pan.
• In a small skillet, melt the butter. Add the sliced almonds and toast them until they are lightly browned, being careful not to burn them. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, oil, and granulated sugar. Stir in the oatmeal, baking powder, salt, milk, vanilla, and almond extract. Add the chopped nuts. Carefully stir in the blueberries.
• Pour the oatmeal mixture into the greased baking pan. Top with the toasted sliced almonds and the brown sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
• If desired, serve topped with maple syrup, honey, or vanilla yogurt.

The post Baked Blueberry Oatmeal appeared first on The Crossroads Cook.

If you ever visit The Netherlands, I highly recommend checking out one of their snack bars. Snack bars are kind of like the Dutch version of a classic American drive-through restaurants, except without the waitresses on roller skates. And you don’t drive through; most all snack bars are eat-in. Instead of chili dogs and root beer floats, you’ll find frikandel special, bitterballen, bami ballen, kroketten, and so much more.

Basically you walk up to the counter, look into the freezer case (similar to an ice cream display case, but with savory treats instead of sweet!), pick what you want, and the helpful person behind the counter will put it in the fryer for you while you go have a seat. No, folks, snack bars are not about health food. Make sure you get an order of frietjes (fries) with mayonnaise and curry ketchup to go with your other goodies!

One of the other great Dutch snack food items are saucijzenbroodjes, or sausage rolls. These are seasoned meat (usually ground beef, despite the name sausage…) wrapped in flaky puff pastry and baked to delicious, golden perfection. They make a perfect after school snack or lunch on the go! The great thing about these sausage rolls is that they are SO easy to make at home and put in the freezer…even the kids can get involved!! Have them help mix up the meat mixture, roll it into fat logs, and put it on the pastry. Then, have them help put the egg wash on.

Tips for Making Saucijzenbroodjes:

-Feel free to make the puff pastry from scratch if you want. Or, take the easy way out, and buy the packaged stuff at the store. It’s just as good, I promise!

-A leaner ground beef is going to be less greasy and there will be less of a risk of your pastry getting a little soggy.

-Saucijzenbroodjes are traditionally larger than mine are. If you would like a bigger one, just make two less cuts in the pastry to make longer rolls.

-To freeze: bake as directed, let cool, then flash freeze and put into baggies. When you want one, just take it out and stick it in the oven for about 20 minutes until heated through.

-Serve these bad boys with your favorite mustard. I recommend a good German style.

How to Make Saucijzenbroodjes:

Take your packaged puff pastry out of the freezer and lay it on the counter to defrost slightly. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, spices and seasonings, egg, and breadcrumbs. Mix thoroughly (hands are the best tools here). Set aside.

Lay the the puff pastry out flat in “landscape orientation”. In other words, so the rectangles long sides are on the top and bottom. Make a cut horizontally down the middle. Make another cut down the center vertically, then cut those two vertical sections in half again, so there is a total of 8 pieces of puff pastry.

At this point, I like to go ahead and lay the pieces of puff pastry on the baking sheet spaced evenly apart. Take the meat mixture and roll into 8 evenly sized log shapes, laying each towards the top of each piece of pastry but giving yourself at least an inch of room at the top. The ends of the log should very slightly be over the edge of the puff pastry as they will shrink slightly with baking.

Beat an egg in a bowl, and with a pastry brush or your finger, put some egg wash on the top space left on the puff pastry. Then fold the rest of the pastry over the meat, matching the edges as well as you can and sealing tightly with a fork. It’s fine if they aren’t perfect! Paint each roll with egg wash, then bake for about 20 minutes, or until they are a deep golden brown. Let cool slightly and serve with mustard for dipping!

This post was sponsored by The Glass Barn, Indiana’s Corn and Soybean Growers, but all thoughts and opinions are my own…ya dig?

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Saucijzenbroodjes - Dutch Sausage Rolls

Dutch Sausage Rolls, or Saucijzenbroodjes, are a classic Dutch snack food that is easy to make at home with some store-bought puff pastry!

Course Appetizer, lunch, Snack

Cuisine Dutch

Keyword Pigs in Blanket, Puff Pastry, Sausage Rolls

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Author Meagan - The Crossroads Cook

Ingredients

• 1 Sheet Puff Pastry
• 1 lb Ground Beef Or 50/50 beef/pork blend
• 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp Gehakt Seasoning Optional
• 1/4 tsp Nutmeg 1/2 tsp if not using gehakt seasoning
• 1 tsp Parsley Dried or Fresh
• 2 Eggs, divided
• 2 Tbsp Bread Crumbs

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Set out puff pastry to thaw/warm slightly.
• In a large bowl, combine the ground meat, 1 egg, bread crumbs, and spices. Using either your hands or a spoon, mix until everything is combined. Set aside.
• Lay puff pastry sheet out flat. Using a knife, cut pastry sheet horizontally across the middle, then make three evenly spaced vertical cuts, so that the pastry is divided into 8 evenly sized rectangles.
• Divide the meat mixture evenly between the 8 puff pastry rectangles. Roll meat portions into log shapes that are the same length as the puff pastry portion. Place the meat about 1/2 inch from the top of each puff pastry rectangle.
• Beat 1 egg in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush or your finger, paint the puff pastry above the meat with the egg wash to act as a glue. Then, take the bottom of each puff pastry rectangle and fold it tightly over the meat. Seal the edge by pressing with a fork.
• Paint each sausage roll with the egg wash.
• Bake sausage rolls on a parchment paper lined baking sheet for 20 minutes, or until deep golden brown.
• These can be eaten right way, or can be allowed to cool. They also freeze well! Serve with mustard of your choice.

The post Saucijzenbroodjes – Dutch Sausage Rolls appeared first on The Crossroads Cook.

I’ve found that there are two schools of thought when it comes to fall flavors. Either you love apple, or you love pumpkin. Of course, there’s a small number of folks that happily float between the two (I personally belong to this camp), but most prefer one or the other.

For those of you that fall into the “pumpkin obsessed” category, these pancakes are for you! And for those that don’t?….well…these pancakes are for you, too! These pumpkin pancake are decadent, just sweet enough, and slightly addicting. They are spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger and make your kitchen smell like heaven when they’re cooking.

Now, let’s be real here: I only cook a ‘real’ breakfast once a week if my family is lucky. I love breakfast, don’t get me wrong, but I am NOT a morning person (despite my dairy farming roots/life…go figure). So for me, getting up every morning and making a big breakfast just isn’t in the cards. That’s another thing that’s great about these pancakes though; you can make a batch and freeze whatever you don’t eat! Then, on a busy week morning when you want something satisfying, just pop one or two in the toaster and in no time you’ve got delicious pumpkin pancakes on your ho-hum Tuesday morning!

Many of the pumpkin pancake recipes that I’ve tried are really thick and stodgy. These are slightly denser than a regular pancake, but something about the vinegar reacting to the baking soda and powder helps lighten them up. The lighter the pancake, the more you can eat…right?

They really are super easy to make. First, whisk together your wet ingredients (milk, pumpkin, vegetable oil, vinegar, vanilla, and egg) in a bowl until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Then stir in the brown sugar. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring until just combined. Don’t overmix here or your pancakes will be tough! Just make sure everything is evenly combined.

Heat a little oil in a nonstick pan. Use 1/4 measuring cup to portion the batter into the pan. The pancakes are ready to flip when the edges are slightly cooked and the surface is bubbly, just like a normal pancake. Keep in mind that these guys will brown pretty quickly due to the sugar content, so make sure your heat isn’t too high.

Top with butter (or cinnamon butter if you’ve got it!), maple syrup, and pecans. Add a little whip cream if you’re into that sort of thing. Yum.

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Pumpkin Pancakes

Calling all pumpkin lovers! Breakfast (or brunch!) is the perfect time to celebrate fall's favorite flavor with these yummy Pumpkin Pancakes!

Course Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine American

Keyword Easy Breakfast, Easy Brunch, freezer food, Make Ahead, Pancakes, Pumpkin

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 6 people

Author Meagan - The Crossroads Cook

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups Milk
• 1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
• 2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 2 Tbsp White Vinegar
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Egg
• 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
• 1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Instructions

• In a large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (milk, pumpkin, vegetable oil, vinegar, vanilla, and egg) until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt). Stir in the brown sugar.
• Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture, stirring until the ingredients are just combined.
• Heat a small amount of oil (I use a spray of Pam) in a gridle or large skillet over medium-low heat. Use 1/4 measuring cup to scoop pancake batter on to the griddle/skillet. Cook until the surface becomes bubbly, then carefully flip. Cook on other side for a minute or two.
• Serve topped with maple syrup, butter or cinnamon butter, chopped nuts (such as pecans), and/or whipped cream.

The post Pumpkin Pancakes appeared first on The Crossroads Cook.

With businesses opening back up, schools being back in session, and harvest season starting, busy is about to be the name of the game again. When life gets crazy, keep dinner easy and tasty with this Slow Cooker No Bean Taco Chili!

Well, friends, harvest season in Northeastern Indiana has officially begun. JW is spending long hours working in the fields and in the semi, while I’m holding down the fort at home as well as I can. Oh, and in case you missed it, VandeLittle the Second decided to enter the world a few weeks before we were expecting him. So in other words…life just got all kinds of cray cray.

Photo Credit to Mallarie Ranae Photography

Spring planting and fall harvest are generally the busiest time of year on the farm. There is a window of time that farmers have to get crops planted and harvested. Though modern technology allows us to cover much more ground in much less time, planters and combines can still only cover so many acres in a day. The push to get all of those acres taken care of means that meals with the family around the table just aren’t on the agenda, so a lot of meals end up being eaten in the field.

Even during a normal year (you know, a year when we aren’t throwing a new baby into the mix), freezer meals, slow cookers, and my Instant Pot are my best friends when harvest rolls around. Freezer meals and the Instant Pot are great because I don’t always get a lot of notice when JW needs me to bring food. He works for an amazing family that feeds the entire crew a few nights a week, but there are always some meals that he’s on his own for. On those days I need something that is basically already ready to go or has a short cook time. The slow cooker is my BFF on those days when I know ahead of time what’s happening, but also know that I’m going to want something to be ready without much fuss when dinner time rolls around.

This Slow Cooker No Bean Taco Chili is the perfect meal for when life decides to go off the rails. It can be made in the crock pot, on the stove, in the Instant Pot, and even freezes really well. In fact, I almost always freeze the leftovers any time I make a batch. Then all I have to do is pull it out of the freezer, put it in the crock pot for a few hours, and dinner is ready when we are ready for it!

If you’re making this Taco Chili in the slow cooker, you’ll want to brown your hamburger first. I also like to go ahead and put my onions and cumin in with the hamburger while it’s browning. Then all that’s left to do is dump all of the ingredients in your crock pot, and cook it all on low for 5 hours or high for 3. Serve with your favorite chili fixings. I love Fritos or tortilla chips, lots of shredded cheese, sour cream, and a little diced onion.

Another great idea would be to use your Instant Pot so you’re not getting an extra pan dirty. Just turn it on saute mode for your hamburger and onions, then add everything else and turn on slow cooker mode. If you prefer to make this recipe on the stove top, start off by browning your hamburger with the onions in a large skillet. Drain any fat, then add everything else. Simmer on medium to medium high for at least 20 minutes to give all of the flavors time to combine.

Cooking this one from frozen? No need to defrost any more than to be able to get in in your crock pot! Put it in frozen, and increase cook time by about 1-2 hours.

This recipe is sponsored by the Glass Barn, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Slow Cooker No Bean Taco Chili

When life gets crazy, keep dinner easy and tasty with this Slow Cooker No Bean Taco Chili!

Course Main, Soup

Cuisine American, Mexican

Keyword bean free, easy dinner, freezer food, Instant Pot, slow cooker

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 hours hours

Servings 6 people

Author Meagan - The Crossroads Cook

Ingredients

• 1 lb Ground Beef
• 1 Medium Onion, Diced
• 1 Can Corn, Drained
• 1 Can Diced Green Chilies or Jalapenos
• 2 14 oz Cans Diced Tomatoes
• 1 Can Tomato Sauce
• 3 tsp Ground Cumin
• 1 tsp Chili Powder
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1 tsp Black Pepper
• Shredded Cheese, Sour Cream, Fritos Corn Chips, Diced Onion for Serving

Instructions

• In a large skillet, brown the ground beef along with the diced onion.
• Combined the browned beef and onion with the rest of the ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2 hours.

Notes

I

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