Country Hearth Breads
Holly Hearth

Welcome to Holly's Blog!

Holly Hearth here and I want to welcome you to my blog. I think I’ll start out by telling you a little about myself. First off, Holly Hearth isn’t my real name. It’s a fun pseudonym I picked to write about my favorite bread products baked by Country Hearth and Village Hearth. See where the name starts to make sense? This part is true of me. I’m a mother of three, I work full-time, I love to experiment with recipes and find new twists to familiar foods. I obsess about a few things, including finding ways to save time and stretch our family’s budget.

I’m going to be sharing recipes and tips that I’ve discovered either in books, online or through my own invention. I'll also share new products introduced by Country Hearth and Village Hearth and any promotions, sweepstakes and coupon offers.

If you have a favorite recipe that uses Country Hearth or Village Hearth bread products, or would like to share a money saving tip, please email me at Holly@CountryHearthBreads.com

From leftover dinner rolls to tasty little sliders

Thanksgiving is over, but the leftovers go on. Turkey sandwiches are great, but how about a slider? Years ago I found this recipe from a copycat cookbook for White Castle® hamburgers. Their recipe used a hot dog bun cut in thirds, but I think using  leftover dinner rolls make the little fellas more authentic. Here’s the recipe:

Copycat White Castle® Burgers
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup dry minced onions
3 ounce jar of beef baby food
1 pound lean ground beef
2/3 cup beef broth
Dill pickle slices
Mustard
Ketchup
Village Hearth dinner rolls

Directions:
Combine water and onion in small bowl and soak for about 10 minutes. Knead together baby food, beef and broth. Form meat mixture into 2.5″ inch patties (or to fit the size of dinner roll). Poke 5 holes in each patty. Spray a skillet with non-stick cooking spray and heat to medium. Spread onions evenly in pan and top with the beef patties. Cover and cook until no longer pink. Place bun tops on burgers, cover and steam for about 30 seconds. Place on bun bottoms, add a pickle slice and few squirts of ketchup and mustard.

 

 

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Nana Bess’s Dressing

My grandmother, aka “Nana Bess”, made the best dressing ever. She would finely grate the produce, crush the dried bread cubes into crumbs and mix in uncooked, lean ground beef. I know, this sounds a little strange, but it’s delicious! It’s the only stuffing (back when it wasn’t thought unsafe to cook the dressing in the bird) I had ever tasted until I was about 10 years old. The first time I tried traditional bread dressing, I thought it was horrible! Here’s the recipe with slight variations; there are exact measurements (feel free to fudge and add more or less or something else you think would be good) and it’s baked separate from the bird.

Nana’s Ground Beef Stuffing

1 package Country Hearth Herb Seasoned Stuffing, crushed into crumbs

1 pound lean ground beef

½ stick butter

1 cup celery, finely chopped

1 medium yellow onion, grated

1 medium apple, unpeeled, grated

1 medium carrot, grated

2 teaspoons (or more to taste) poultry seasoning or sage

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Chicken broth

Melt the butter and sauté celery until translucent. Using your hands, mix together bread cubes, raw ground beef, onion, apple and carrot mixture, the sautéed celery and seasonings. Add broth just to moisten. Don’t add too much or the mixture will get soggy. Place in a lightly greased casserole dish, cover and cook with turkey at 325 degrees. Stir mixture after 60 minutes. Remove cover and continue cooking until internal temperature reaches 160.

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Lunchbox safety

Nowadays when packing lunches for school, most everyone knows which foods are better and healthier for kids (and adults) to eat. But not everyone knows how to keep foods fresh. According to recent research, almost 90% of the perishable foods in packed lunches had reached an unsafe temperature by lunchtime.

When packed correctly, homemade lunches are a great way to ensure your child is eating a healthful lunch. When you can, freeze it. Milk, juice boxes and water bottles are obvious, but did know you can also freeze sandwiches and pack the lettuce and tomatoes separately? Yogurts and some cheeses can be frozen too. Also, be sure and buy insulated lunch boxes and double up on the ice packs.

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