Cinnamon Rolls Instead of Donuts

This morning it was my hubby's turn to take donuts (or some such sweet things) to a meeting.  I knew about this a few days ago and so began thinking of some yummy and different creation that I could bake for him to take, since I had the time.  I chose cinnamon rolls.  I have a "quickie" version that I make using BIsquick, but I thought these should be of the yeast variety.  I had visions of the huge, cream-cheese frosted rolls from Campus by the Sea or the Gourmet Pie Shop or my donut shop across the street.   And so, I set out to make them.

Since we are having cold, rainy weather, I chose to use pre-made bread dough, although it might have been faster after all to use my bread maker as I still had to help the dough along with added heat.  My favorite frozen dough is made by Bridgford.  I purchased a package containing 3 loaves from the freezer section at the grocery store.  These were placed in a greased 9" x 13" pan and allowed to thaw for many hours.

Gather these supplies:
flour
rolling pin
sharp knife
butter, to soften
brown sugar (about 1 cup)
cinnamon, ground, about 1 T per loaf
large pans
no-stick spray

Once the loaves were defrosted enough to work with the dough, I began to roll them out, one at a time on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle.

Using my hand, I spread a generous layer of butter all over the dough.

 Sprinkle about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of brown sugar over the butter.

Sprinkle this with 1 T ground cinnamon.

Begin rolling the dough from a short edge until you have a log.  Slice into 10-12 pieces and lay on greased pan.  Allow to rise until double in size.  The final size is primarily determined by the size they grow to in this process.  If your house is not warm enough to allow for rising, you may want to place the pans in front of a warm oven or under some lights for added heat.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.
Cool and frost with Lyla's Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 - 8oz. package of cream cheese, very soft
1 tsp. vanilla
3 and 3/4 C or 1 lb. powdered sugar
1/3 C milk

Beat cream cheese.  Add other ingredients and continue mixing until smooth.  Gently frost rolls.

Post-Thanksgiving Crock-pot Dish (Slow-Cooked Chicken and Stuffing)

I tried a new recipe for the crock-pot yesterday and my family loved it!  I loved the ease with which it could be prepared both earlier in the month and frozen and yesterday as our meal.  I served it with our favorite mashed potatoes (see another blog post) and roasted green beans and mushrooms.  It looked great on the plate and tasted great, too!

Originally submitted by A. Marquart to the Fix-it and Forget It Cookbook , I've made a few tweaks to fit my OAM cooking style.

Cook 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Cool.  Dice to make 5-6 cups of chicken.  Place in a Ziploc bag labelled for this recipe and freeze.

In a 9-cup freezer container labelled for this recipe, mix the following ingredients:
1/2 C chopped onion
1/2 C chopped celery
1/4 C dried parsley flakes
1 1/2 tsp. rubbed sage
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
12 C day-old bread cubes (1/2 inch pieces)
1 4-oz. can mushroom pieces, drained (or you can add this on the day you cook the meal.)


Save in your pantry or on a shelf (mark them for this recipe - masking tape and a pen works just fine):
1 10 and 3/4 oz. can cream of chicken soup
2 1/2 C (20 ounces) chicken broth

You will also need:
2 eggs
1 C butter


On the day you cook the meal:
Melt the butter and mix in the soup and chicken broth along with 2 eggs.  Set aside.
In a 5-quart crock-pot layer stuffing mix with chicken alternately, for 4 total layers.  Pour liquid over the layers.  Cover and cook for 4-5 hours until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F.

Quick and Easy Cabbage Rolls

This morning my hubby told me he finished off the leftovers of the cabbage rolls.  Yeah!  More room in the fridge, but what I really liked was his comment that they reminded him of the ones his mom used to make.  How many times have you attempted to make something "just like his mom made?" Granted, he was forced to eat them as a kid and had little appreciation for mom's effort to fill and roll the cabbage leaves, but the flavor of mine created a sweet reminisence for him. 

My recipe does not require the rolling of cabbage leaves.  In fact, it couldn't be easier!  Simply buy a package of shredded cabbage in the produce section of your favorite store to cook in a crock-pot with a few other ingredients.

This recipe also freezes well until cooking day as seen in the photo below.

Cook the following together:
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
1 medium onion chopped, (I used a red onion this time.)

Mix with the following in a 9-cup freezer container
1/2 C uncooked instant rice
1/4 C water
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 - 15 oz. can chunky Italian style tomato sauce

5 cups coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage (do not freeze the cabbage)

To enjoy later:  Cool and freeze.  When ready to serve, defrost and place all ingredients and cabbage in crock-pot for 4-6 hours.

To enjoy tonight:  Place all ingredients and cabbage in a crock-pot on low for 4-6 hours, until cabbage is tender.

I'm Dreaming of Some Christmas Bliss (White Chocolate Cranberry Bars)

Years ago, my taste buds fell in love with those delicious white chocolate cranberry creations at Starbuck's known as Christmas Bliss Bars.  The treat only appears in the window during the holiday season.  That meant too many months without this tasty pleasure and drove me to the kitchen to re-create this winter treat so that I could enjoy it year round.

Cream together:

1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar, gently packed
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 C butter, completely melted

Add the following dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix well.

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 1/2 C flour

Add:
1 C mini white chocolate chips or 1 12-oz. bag of same
1 C chopped, dried cranberries (Craisins area my favorites)

Mix well and spread on an ungreased jelly roll pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. 

While still warm, frost with 1 tub purchased white frosting. Sprinkle with 1C chopped, dried cranberries. Let dry.

Cut Into 12 large squares, and then into small triangles by cutting diagonally.

 

Makes 24 triangles.

 

 

Tips:

Chop the cranberries as noted above.

Use the regular canned frosting, not the whipped variety.

 

Just for fun:

Drizzle melted white chocolate over the bars.

Add chopped pistachios for an extra Christmasy look of red and green. (Thanks, Tiff!)

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Roasted Potatoes and Breakfast, too!

An oft-served side dish at our house is roasted potatoes.  Sometimes I even throw in asparagus stalks, whole green beans, and sliced mushrooms, or any combination thereof.  My thanks goes to Doug Smith, formerly of the Campus by the Sea kitchen. for this recipe.

It's very simple to prepare.

• Preheat oven to broil.
• Wash the veggies (I like to use red potatoes and thin stalks of asparagus.)
• Quarter the potatoes such that they are more the shape of an apple slice than a chunk.
• Place on a jelly roll or other cookie sheet with sides.
• Generously drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with McCormick Grill Mates Vegetable Spice.
• Toss gently, but thoroughly so that all the veggies are covered.

Roast on the middle rack of your oven for 15 minutes.  Gently toss and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes more roasting until fork tender.  When doing just the green veggies, you can roast them in a 400 degrees F oven for about 15-20 minutes.

When I have leftover potatoes, I usually turn them into breakfast by dicing them and warming them in a well-greased frying pan.  Add a good handful of crumbled bacon, and stir together until the bacon is warm also.  To this mixture, pour in about 8-10 beaten eggs.  Stir quickly and continuously until the eggs are completely cooked.  Serve with toast or as the filling in a tortilla.   Shredded cheese is a nice addition, too.

Creamed Corn for Thanksgiving

I am blessed to have a sister-in-law who loves to host Thanksgiving, and so we split the menu with me usually bringing the veggie side dishes.  This year the gathering includes so many families that I'll just be bringing the standard Campbell's Green Bean Casserole and homemade Creamed Corn.  I have to thank Sheli Jones for sharing this recipe with me over a decade ago.  It is still a family favorite and almost better the second day.

Sheli's Creamed Corn

2-16 oz. packages frozen corn (I like white corn best in this recipe)
3 C heavy whipping cream
3 T butter
3 T flour
4 T sugar
2 tsp. salt

Par-boil or steam the corn first while you are warming the cream in a large pot on the stove.   Add the corn to the cream and continue cooking until it boils, about 5 minutes.  Drain the cream, but save.  Set aside both. 

I melt the butter in a smaller saucepan while the corn is cooking in the cream.  Then add the flour, stirring quickly to prevent lumps.  Add the cream slowly whisking to keep it smooth.  Add sugar and salt.  Cook until thick.  Add corn and bring to a boil.

Now, if you've been reading my blog you just may have caught that I love to tweak things.  And so, here are my tweaks.

• First of all was the steaming of the corn before cooking it in the warmed cream.  It used to be that I'd get a frozen mass of corn when adding it directly to cold cream and then it took forever to cook.
• Secondly, I made the "white sauce" in a separate pan while the corn was cooking by melting the butter and adding the flour, sugar and salt.  Then I took about 3/4 C of cream from the pot and added it to the butter mixture.  I let it sit until the corn was done.
• Once the corn was done, I drained most of the cream in to the smaller saucepan and mixed it well.  It immediately thickened and I was able to return it to the pot of corn mixing it into the remaining cream.

This is the best it's ever been!  And, yes it takes several pots and utensils but it is well worth the effort and the mess.  Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Using steamed, whole green beans was a nice change to this standard Thanksgiving fare.

Holiday Breakfast (Swedish Pancakes)

Holidays usually offer us an opportunity to spend more time preparing breakfast than a school or work day.  Here's one of our family favorites that was one of my very favorite breakfast meals when I was a child, Swedish Pancakes.  My Dutch dad made them the best, and it was always a treat to have some of the thin, crepe-like pancakes for breakfast, often on a Saturday morning.  He, like my Swedish grandmother, used an iron skillet for cooking these treasures, but I use two Teflon-coated frying pans.  These pans are never used for grilling onions or other strong flavors.

Serve these pancakes hot with butter and syrup or roll them up with fruit and cream inside or simply sprinkle them with powdered sugar.  Anyway you serve them, they are delicious.  The Swedes usually serve them with Lingonberries which can be purchased at IKEA stores.

Nana's Recipe for Swedish Pancakes
2 C milk (I use fat-free and add a bit extra flour, whole or lowfat milk works best)
2 eggs
1 C flour
1-2 T sugar

Mix well, but not frothy.

Heat the frying pans over medium to low heat.  Generously butter a frying pan with about 3/4 tsp. butter taking care not to burn the butter.

Pour about 1/2 C batter into the pan.

 If it's too hot the batter will sizzle and your pancakes will have a lattice look to them. 

Allow them to cook until the top is set.  Using a large-headed pancake turner, flip the pancakes and cook for a bit longer.  Repeat the process.

The perfect Swedish Pancake.

One recipe yields about 7 pancakes which feeds 2-4 people depending on how hungry they are and how much they love these pancakes.  To feed my family of 6, I usually use:
3 C milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 C flour
1/8 C sugar