Sweet Potato Biscuits

This is one of my favorite flavor combinations. I've been searching for a while for a good sweet potato biscuit recipe. I have found it! 

One of my favorite places for sweet potato biscuits closed a few years ago. It was an old family run business. I did a random search online for their recipe and surprise surprise, they had published it in the newspaper years ago (people used to do things like that a long time ago). 

I found it on Pinterest, where I don't have an account. So, I took a screenshot and zoomed in on the photo to read the recipe. 

I cut the sugar down by half a cup and cut the butter in half, but they still taste pretty spot on. The recipe made 36. 

We are eating them with ham tonight!! Ham was on sale for $0.77/lb. you can't beat that price for meat. I am proud of myself. I sliced and trimmed the whole ham today. Hams have a way of sitting in my refrigerator and not being used up because it seems so daunting to slice pieces off. But that is all finished now! I have a container of nice slices of ham and the bone is boiling on the stove. Hopefully, I will have time to turn the broth into some baked cheesy grits.   

The baby loves them. He's had three. Martin isn't quite sure what he thinks. 

1000 almonds...

I just finished making 200 cookies for a sweet friend's wedding this weekend. That would have been super quick, but they each required 5 almonds placed in a circle. 1000 almonds later... One thousand almonds... I am exhausted, but so happy to have been able to contribute to the wedding. :) 

Sorry, the pictures aren't great. It is a gray day. They are supposed to look like sand dollars. 

Here they are, all 100 packages. Martin helped me put two cookies in each bag and handed me twist ties. Yes, it took longer that way, but at least he wasn't sitting on the baby or breaking bowls. Breaking bowls? 

While I was rolling out cookie dough he started saying, "mommy, bowl saaaaad. Bowl saaaaad." 

I said, "why is the bowl sad?" And then looked and he had somehow managed to crack my giant green plastic bowl which I use to make granola and caramel corn. I guess I'll be looking for something new to mix large portions. I could use my 10 quart pot. It has been a good run plastic bowls. There are 2 of 5 left. I gave away two of the smaller ones because I never used them. I kept the largest two and the smallest one. They are good baby toys most of the time...

Challah and Calvinball

Hello, amazingly, delicious bread!! Why have I never made you before? 

I will post the recipe soon. It is really just bread with extra eggs and butter in the dough. I threw it in the KitchenAid, let it rise for 2 hours, punched it down, let it rise 1 hour, rolled it out and braided it, let it rise 30 minutes, and baked it. ATK says it makes the best French toast, but who would let it get old enough for French toast? It is too good. 

Martin decided to play a game with the baby. They wore special hats, hit the stuffed lion with a feather duster, and carried a basketball around. My sister said it looked like Calvinball. Ha ha. 

English Muffins

Have you made English muffins yet? They are so easy and delicious!! I was feeling like one for breakfast this morning. So, I threw a batch together and had them warm for lunch. They are pretty incredible. I make mine all whole wheat, but you can use white flour or a mixture. Plus, they cook in a pan on the stove. 

Our favorite ways to eat them:

Toasted with butter (and honey or jam)

Mini pizzas (slice in half, top with tomato sauce, cheese, and other toppings - broil for a few minutes)

As sandwich bread

As hamburger rolls

Enjoy! 

Cupcakes

I am baking cupcakes. The Wilton cupcake boxes say they hold 48, but that is if you want them to be squashed into oval shapes. I opted to only put 40 in each box. I am so glad I bought an extra box in case of problems. 

The total:

48 chocolate peanut butter

50 boston cream

48 vanilla buttercream

Photo Friday

I will just post a few pictures on this rainy day. 

I finished one of Jared's runners. I sewed the binding on last night while he was at class. We both aren't a huge fan of the colors of this runner, but overall I think it turned out pretty well. 

Today I made blueberry almond muffins for a friend that just had a baby. The blueberries are frozen from last summer. Yum.  

And I kept some for me... 

When I cook, I always take me eggs out in a pattern. It makes me happy when they are in some sort of order. I might rearrange them sometimes if Jared takes them from the wrong place. I know, I am weird. 

Martin was helping me put my quilt layers together yesterday. I have quilted all of it but the boarder. 

Here is a close up of some of the quilting. I have been practicing different quilting designs and I like the way it looks, but it takes five times longer. I just noticed my quilting gloves in the corner if this picture - they are really dirty and need to be washed. 

Here is what the back looks like. I can't make plain backing anymore. I just can't do it.  I made a pieced backing for one of my quilts and now I am stuck designing a front and back to my quilts. 

While I am in the bathroom getting ready in the morning I put the gate on Martin's door so he doesn't get into trouble. He plays quietly with his toys while I am in the shower. Once he hears that I am out if the shower he starts to pull on the gate and talk to me. So I peak my head out the door and he makes this face at me. Then I duck my head back in and pop out again.  He thinks it is a great game. 

Enjoy your rainy Friday!!  Are you working on any fun projects? Cindy gave me a new magazine to flip through yesterday and now I am dreaming up all sorts of ideas. 

Peanut Butter Cookies

I watched an episode of America's Test Kitchen that featured these cookies a few weeks ago. I have really been wanting to try them, but just had so many other things to do. I finally made them yesterday to take to a friends house. They invited us over spur of the moment (which makes me happy that they feel like they can just call us and invite us over whenever). My Dad talks about when he was little how people would just stop in for dinner or coffee.  I love that. I wish I could invite people to stop by anytime and sit on my from porch and eat these cookies with a tall glass of milk.  Alas, I have no front porch... Maybe someday.  But you can stop in for tea and coffee and probably some sort of bread or cookies. 

Anyhow, I love these cookies.  They would be even more amazing dipped in chocolate! Ha ha.  Peanut butter chocolate is maybe my favorite flavor combination. It is probably tied with mini chocolate chip. I made mine much bigger than the recipe calls for, but they still turned out well. 

ATK Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes 48 cookies (24 sandwiches)

Ingredients

1-1/4 c. Peanuts toasted, cooled, ground

3/4 c. Flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2c peanut butter

1/2 c. Sugar

1/2 c. Brown sugar

3 T. Melted butter

3 T. Milk

1 egg

3/4 c. Peanu butter

3 T. Butter

1 c. Powdered sugar

1. Roast peanuts in oven for 8 - 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool. Grind to corse crumbs in food processed or blender. 

2. Whisk dry ingredients together : flour, salt, baking soda. 

3. Mix wet ingredients together: peanut butter, sugars, butter, milk, and egg. 

4. Add dry to wet. Fold in peanuts. 

5. Scoop out 1 T. Of dough onto tray. Press into 2 inch rounds with wet fingers. 

6. Bake 15-18 minutes to golden and crunchy. Since these are sandwich cookies they need to be more firm than regular cookies. 

7. While they are baking melt the peanut butter and butter in the microwave for about 40 seconds. Whisk in the powdered sugar. 

8. Once cookies are cool, scoop about a tablespoon of the icing on one cookie and top it with another cookie. Pres down gently.  I found twisting it back and forth worked well to even out the icing in the middle. 

9. Set aside for an hour. Enjoy. I thought these were better the second day. 

I also made our favorite oatmeal cinnamon raisin bread. I took a picture and will add it to the recipe. 

http://gthfaith.blogspot.com/2012/09/favorite-oatmeal-cinnamon-whole-wheat.html?m=1

Whole Wheat No-Knead Bread

This is for dinner tonight. I just took it out of the oven and it smells amazing!!! Thank you to Sarah for the recipe. It was so easy.

I made mine half whole wheat and half bread flour. I definitely recommend bread flour; it has a higher glutton mixture and thus, produces a more crewy texture.

Bread recipe

Homemade chicken stock

I am a big fan of homemade chicken stock (because it tastes better, is easy to make, and is free - free stuff always makes me happy). I started buying the bone in chicken breasts and thighs. If I need them boneless for a recipe, I debone them myself and throw the bones and skin in a pot to make stock. Most of the time though I simply boil my chicken and then pull the meat off.  

Stock recipe: Just throw in some onion, celery, pepper, salt, garlic, and carrots (or some combination of those - I throw in the tops of my celery bunch and onion skins that I have saved sometimes).  Boil all of that for one to three hours depending on how much chicken you are cooking. Sometimes I throw a whole chicken in the pot. Pour the stock into containers (I use mason jars) and refrigerate. Once they have cooled completely the fat will gather at the top. You can scrape this off and throw it away or use it for dumplings or biscuits or chicken pot pie crust. Yum!! 

I included a picture of some homemade stock, yogurt, and granola that I made last week. Mr. B. loves yogurt. It costs less than half the price to make your own yogurt. Homemade granola is also less than half the cost of store bought granola and so much healthier without the extra oils and sugar and additives.  

So there are some frugal tips for the week. :) Do you have any simple ways you cut costs in your grocery bill? Does anyone use vinegar and baking soda to clean? I am thinking about starting and would love some tips. 

P.s. Happy birthday to my mother!! We love you and are so blessed to have you as a mom and grandma. Thanks for loving us so much. 

~This recipe is based on several recipes that I have combined and tweaked over the years to create a simple, easy, but delicious cornbread recipe.  The real revelation came when I started making my own corn totillas (and bought corn masa – which is simply corn flour). I thought, why not replace the flour with corn flour? I guess this is also gluten free...

Ingredients:

¾ c. cornmeal
¾ c. corn masa
2-1/2 tsp. Baking powder
½ tsp NaCl
1 14oz can of creamed corn
2 eggs
3 T grease

Directions

1.                  Preheat over to 400 degrees F.
2.                  Place either a cast iron skillet or a square glass baking dish in the oven with the grease. Let the grease melt and become hot.
3.                  Mix together dry ingredients.
4.                  Pour in creamed corn and eggs. Mix gently until just combined. Pour about half the hot grease in the batter and mix a 10 – 15 times (batter should make a sizzling sound if the grease is hot enough, it will still turn out even if it doesn't sizzle – I usually have it hot enough 50% of the time).
5.                  Pour into hot skillet or pan.  Bake for 10 – 15 minutes. Outer edges should be brown and the middle should not jiggle when the pan is slide back and forth.
6.                  Turn out on plate and serve immediately.

I like the cornbread plain, however, if you would like it to be sweeter, try eating a piece with honey or molassas poured over the top.  Yum!!!

Banana Pudding

Banana Pudding

(A really quick and delicious) dessert

 

I always keep vanilla wafers and bananas around for this simple recipe (and because I enjoy snaking on both of them).  Sometimes, when I am craving pudding, I whip the pudding part of this recipe together and eat it.

 

Ingredients:

¾ cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

dash salt

4 egg yolks

2 cups milk

1 tsp vanilla

6 to 8 ripe bananas

3 dozen vanilla wafers

 

4 egg whites

6 T sugar

¼ tsp cream of tartar

½ tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 

In a saucepan, mix sugar, flour, salt, egg yolks, and milk.  Mix well.  Cook until mixture thickens.  Stir frequently (if you are not going to stir frequently, I suggest using a double boiler, I find it takes longer and is more work to clean).  Once the mixture thickens, remove from heat and add vanilla.

 

In a loaf pan, make layers of cooked custard, sliced bananas, and finally vanilla wafers.  Create three layers of each or more if your pan and ingredients permit (I have done 2 layers before when I was low on vanilla wafers).

 

Beat egg whites until frothy and then add the cream of tartar.  Beat until the whites stand in soft peaks that fall over when the beater is removed.  Continue to beat the egg whites, added one T of sugar at a time (I just measure each tablespoon and throw it in, I don't wait between scoops). Lastly, add the vanilla.

Spread the meringue over the pudding.  Make sure to cover the edges of the pan.  Bake for 15 minute or until meringue is slightly brown.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Caramel Corn

Note: The original recipe called for 16 cups of popped popcorn. I used 30 or 32 cups because the popcorn looked way too sugary when I started to make it. If you like your popcorn super drenched in syrup, then cut the popcorn back to the original 16 cups. It will be amazing either way.

Other note: Fisher's popcorn has the corn syrup listed higher in the ingredient list than the butter. I am guessing they use more corn syrup and bring the sugar mixture to a hard ball stage. This would eliminate the need to bake it. However, I like how the baking step of this recipe dries the popcorn out further and gives it an extra crunch.

Ingredients:

30 cups popped popcorn (1-1/2 cups unpopped corn)

1 c. butter (2 sticks)

1-2/3 cups brown sugar, packed (is there ever a recipe that calls for unpacked brown sugar?)

½ cup corn syrup

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. Vanilla

peanuts (optional)

* Pop popcorn. I have an old air popper that my parents were going to throw away that I saved for my children to enjoy someday (I remember being so amazed as a child watching the popcorn pop). Martin wasn't quite as excited as I had hoped, but he still has some time to appreciate how cool it is.

* Grease two rimmed baking sheets (13x9 baking pans would work in a pinch and might be easier to stir). I used fake PAM, but you could easily use butter or fake crisco.

* Melt butter in pan. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to boil over medium-high heat (this is for an electric over, for gas I would cook at a lower temperature). Stop stirring when it comes to a boil and let it boil for 5 minutes. I boiled mine a bit longer because I was testing to see what stage the sugar was. It seemed to be about soft ball or a bit before.

* Take off the heat and add in the baking soda and vanilla.

* I had a super large bowl that held all the popped popcorn and a regular large bowl that I stirred small batches of the popcorn around in. I poured in about 5 cups of popcorn and 1/6^th of the sugary mixture into the bowl. I stired it until it was well coated and then dumped it onto the cookie sheets.

* Bake at 250 degrees F for 60 minutes. Stir at the 30, 45, and 60 minute marks. I left my batches on the trays to cool on wire racks. The original recipe says to pour on parchment paper and let cool. As my brother says, “whatever is clever”.

Last note: If you want to add peanuts, I found that dumping the sugary mixture directly on top of them helped stick them to the popcorn a little bit better. However, still most of the peanuts fell to the bottom. I haven't solved this problem yet. If any of you have suggestions or find a way to make them stick better, let me know!!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal (Banana and/or Peach) Pancakes

I do not remember where I first found the recipes that I based this recipe on.  The orignial recipe calls for oil and white flour and is a plain and boring recipe for oatmeal pancakes.  I use the original recipe as a base for much goodness for Jared and my (and someday Mr. Baby's) breakfasts. 

I started by replacing the oil with applesauce. One day my bananas were going bad (anything past yellow is bad for me) and so I mashed them up and added them instead of the applesauce.  A warning, the first time I added way too many bananas and the dough never really cooked and stayed slimy in the middle. Also, the banana needed another egg (or two) to stabilize the dough and support the banana chunks.

Often I sprinkle on chocolate chips or blueberries once I have poured on the batter (chocolate chips find their way into way more pancakes than blueberries). Last week I didn't have enough bananas for a full recipe, but I had some peaches that needed to be used up, so I smashed the peaches up and added them with the 1 banana I had to the recipe.  That was Jared and my favorite so far.  I have also added vanilla, cinnamon, and pecans sometimes to the recipe.  There are all sorts of wonderful combinations and I would love to hear about any improvements or new flavor combinations you try. It might become my new favorite.

For now, I just give you my sort-of-recipe for the banana pancakes.      

Ingredients

Group 1
* 1-1/2 c. old fashion or quick oats (blended to a corse flour)
* 1-1/2 c. flour (I use whole wheat)
* 2 tsp. Baking soda
* 1 tsp. Baking powder
* ½ tsp. Salt
* 1/3 c. sugar (I use 1 – 2 T. sometimes... I put syrup on them, so they don't need to be super sweet and the bananas make them more sweet).

Group 2

* 1-1/2 c. buttermilk (confession, I have never made this recipe with buttermilk.  I always use milk and add lemon juice (see note below) and let it sit on my counter while I mix the dry ingredients. I bet buttermilk would make these pancakes even more incredible).
* 1 c. milk
* ¼ c. applesauce (or 2 – 3 bananas – I use 2.5 or 3)
* 1 egg (or 2 – 3 if using bananas – I use 2 or 3 depending on the size of the bananas)
 

1. Mix group one together in a medium bowl. Wisk to combine.

2. Mash banana. Mix until the chunks of banana are the size you want. Add the eggs, milk, and buttermilk.

3. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix to combine.

4. Sometimes I butter the pan. Most of the time they don't stick without butter. It depends on the pan I use.  Cook 2 – 4 minutes per side.  Make sure to spread the batter out after you have poured it in the pan!!

Notes:

* Always spread the batter out in the pan.  If the batter is especially thick, spread the batter out a lot.  Otherwise, the middle will puff up and not cook and the middle of you pancake will be soupy.  It is gross. Avoid this problem and spread the batter out with a spoon or the edge of your measuring cup, when you dump the batter in the pan. The batter will thicken as it sits because the oatmeal absorbs some of the liquid.

** Jared and I make the entire recipe (or a double batch) and refrigerate or freeze the extras.  I try to undercook slightly the ones that I freeze.  That way they don't brown too much when I warm them up.  I put my pancakes in the toaster for a few minutes. While I was pregnant, I would warm up four pancakes and put them and syrup in a tupperware container and eat them on my way to work.  They were delicious.

*** I normally sprinkle the chocolate chips on after I have poured the batter in the pan.  That way I have all my chocolate chips evenly spread out and well balanced between pancakes. 

**** I buy a large container of quick oats (or old fashion oats – I have used both) and grind the entire container in my blender.  I have a plastic container with a lid that I store my oatmeal flour in.  When it is almost gone, I grind up another container.  I find it is easier to do it all at once and have it around.  It makes me make pancakes more often because the hardest step is finished.  :)

***** I sometimes throw my bananas in the kitchen-aid, with the wisk attachment, and let it mash up the bananas for me.  Often I buy bananas on sale at Harris Market and freeze them already mashed in quantities for pancakes and banana bread.

****** Don't just use milk.  You have to use buttermilk or the buttermilk substitution.  The acidity in the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to help the batter rise.

******* 1 c. buttermilk = 1.c milk + 1 T. lemon juice

Let the mixture sit on the counter for a few minutes until it is sort of lumpy

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

When I had to give up dairy, because Martin is allergic to the protien in it, I started drinking Almond Milk.  I buy the unsweetened kind because the ingredient list is much shorter.  Sometimes they are out of the plain almond milk and instead I purchase almond & coconut milk.  It is great on my homemade granola (LINK TO RECIPE). However, every once in a while, usually when I come home from the gym, I want a glass of milk. Since I am used to creamy, delicious cow's milk, almond milk just lacks that omph when it is consumed plain. Thus, why I remember and started to make this simple recipe.  I keep a jar in my refrigerator almost all the time.

Chocolate Syrup

Makes 1 pint (I half the recipe for me and keep it in a jelly jar)

½ cup cocoa (often I add more or add some of the dark chocolate cocoa)

1 cup water

2 cups sugar

1/8 tsp salt (I never measure, I just throw some in)

¼ tsp vanilla (again, I never measure, I just splash some in)

Heat everything, but the vanilla, on the stove.  Bring to a boil. Whisk every so often. Boil 3 – 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add vanilla.  Pour into a jar. Keeps several months in the frig.

***Note: to be especially frugal, after pouring the syrup in the jar, pour some milk in the pan to use up all remaining chocolate that is stuck to the sides.  Warm up and drink as hot chocolate. Yum.   

Chocolate Pecan Pie

The history behind this pie … a few months ago, back in the late fall or early winter, one of Jared's co-worker's wife had a birthday.  Her husband (who works with Jared) asked me to make her a chocolate pecan pie for her birthday.  Since I had never made one before, I printed off several different recipes from online and scoured my cookbooks. I halved or quartered each recipe and then made mini pies (one of my favorite kitchen tools – whenever you have extra pie filling you can use these to make an extra pie or two so that you can try your creation before you bring it somewhere). I tried some goofy recipes.  One of the recipes called for chocolate chips to be sprinkled over the top.  That one tasted like a pecan pie with chocolate chips sprinkled over the top. Some recipes called for as little as one cup of pecans and you couldn't even taste the pecans.  The worst recipes were ones that called for over 1 cup of sugar.  BLEH.  They were way too sweet.  I would send samples with Jared to work and they would tell me which recipes they liked and why.

After a few tries, we ended up settling on a recipe from my southern cookbook, with the addition of unsweetened chocolate squares and removing some of the sugar (both ideas from other recipes).  It was also one of the only recipes that called for vanilla, which I thought added to the flavor. 

I hope you enjoy this as much as Jared and his co-workers.  Oh, and the wife said this was one of the best birthday presents she had ever received.  :)

Ingredients

4 large eggs

2/3 cup sugar (recipe calls for 1 cup)

1 cup corn syrup

1-1/2 tsp flour

tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

cup (½ stick) butter

2 cup pecans (I buy the broken pieces at Sams because they are cheaper than the whole ones and that way I don't have to chop them up for cookies, pies, or oatmeal)

1 pie crust (uncooked)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat eggs until foamy (2 – 4 minutes on med or high speed).

Mix sugar, corn syrup, flour, salt, and vanilla.

Melt butter and chocolate (I melt it in the microwave in a Pyrex measuring cup). Mix into rest of ingredients.

Stir in pecans.

Pour into pie crust.

Bake 40 – 60 minutes until filling is just soft in the middle when the pie is shaken and the crust is golden brown.

Cool on wire rack or chill.  

Favorite Oatmeal Cinnamon Whole Wheat Bread

This is one of Jared and my favorite recipes!!  I am sure it would be even better if I didn't substitute applesauce for the shortning.  :)

Ingredients:
4-1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 c. warm water
1-1/2 c. quick cooking oats
1-2/3 c. warm milk
1/2 c. applesauce (or shortning)
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp salt
5 - 5-1/2 c. flour (whole wheat or white - I use whole wheat)

Swirl ingredients:
2/3 c. sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
handfuls of raisins (optional)

1. Dissove yeast in water.  Add oats, milk, applesauce, 1/2 cup sugar, eggs, salt, and 2 cups flour.  Mix 3 minutes.  Add enough flour to make a soft dough.  Again, I do air on the side of softer doughs so that they rise properly.  Also, I don't knead my dough or use the bread hook.  I just use the paddle attachment on the kitchenaid and let it run a little longer.  I also do not put in a greased bowl.  I leave it in the kitchenaid bowl and cover with a wet dishcloth.

2. Rise 1 hour.

3. Punch down.  Divide in half.  Roll 16x8.  I use a cookie sheet with a lip for this part so that I do not get flour all over my counter.  Sprinkle with water.  Sprinkle half the swirl mixture.  I also add raisins at this point.  I just sprinkle a bunch on top of the sugar mixture.  

4.  Roll jelly roll style.  Pinch to seal (I sort of do this).  Make sure to place the seam at the bottom of the pan.   Place rolled up dough, seam down, in a greased bread pan. 

5. Cover and let rise for 30 - 45 minutes. 

6. Bake at 350 for 35 - 45 minutes. 

7. Leave in pan for a few minutes when it comes out of the oven.  

8.  Cool on wire rack. 

9. Slice and enjoy.  

I love the way a cut loaf looks. 

Jared and I love to toast this with butter.  Since this recipe makes two loaves, we usually slice both loaves and freeze most of the slices.  They are easy to pull out of the freezer and throw in the toaster to heat up.  Yum yum yum.

 

English Muffins

I originally found this recipe here:
The Frugal Girl (includes lots of pictures with each step)

These are so simple (and in the summer you don't have to even warm up the oven).  I try to keep a bag of them in my freezer to grab on my way to work.  I love them fork-split and toasted with honey and butter.  Yum!!  I keep meaning to make the cinnamon raisin version, but I stick with the whole wheat each time. Someday.

Ingredients:

1 c. warm water
2-1/2 tsp yeast
1 c. warm milk
2 T. sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt
3 T butter
5 cups flour (white or whole wheat, I use whole wheat)

I put everything in the kitchen aid mixer and stir it up. I am not a fan of multiple dirty bowls.

1. First, I add the yeast and water.

2. Then I mix in the milk, sugar, salt, and butter.  The water and milk are somewhere between 100 - 115 degrees.

3. I don't hand knead my dough, I just mix it in the mixer for a little bit longer. Add the flour until the dough is still a bit wet. Dry dough is the enemy of rising.  Thus, I usually air on the side of softer, stickier dough and add flour when I roll it out to prevent sticking.

4. Rise 1 hour.

5. Punch down let rest 10 min. on surface sprinkled with corn meal.

6. Roll out dough to 1/2" thichness

7. Cut out with 3" biscuit cutter and place on ungreased baking sheet.

8. Cover with dry towel. Let rise 30 min - 1 hour

9. Warm up griddle or pan to medium (I use 4 on my stove) heat.   I have also cooked these on a pizza stone in the oven so that I can cook more at one time.

10. Gently place each muffin in pan.

11. Cook 5 -10 minutes on each side, depending on heat (I find they cook faster and the second side takes a much shorter time).

12. Cool on wire rack.

13. Split with fork, enjoy with honey!! (my favorite)

Or homemade blueberry jam...

BBQ Chicken Taquitos

I was hopping from food blog to food blog last night and I came accross this recipe.  It looked so good and I knew I had all the ingredients so this morning I made these.  They were delicious and super easy!!

Baked BBQ Pork (or Chicken) Taquitos
Based on this recipe (with my own twist):
http://www.pink-parsley.com/2012/05/baked-bbq-pork-taquitos.html

3 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature (reduced-fat is fine)

1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chile powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder (or 1 garlic clove, minced)
1/2 tsp mustard powder (I never have mustard powder and used mustard instead)
1/2 tsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup diced onion
3 green onions, diced
2 cups shredded cooked pork or chicken (I already had BBQ shredded chicken in my frig, so I cut out the BBQ sauce the recipe called for and just added my already made chicken)
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
8-10 (6-inch) corn or flour tortillas
cooking spray

The original recipe also calls for:
2 Tbs minced fresh cilantro or parsley

hot sauce (optional)
liquid smoke
red pepper flakes
BBQ sauce
Ranch Dressing and/or BBQ Sauce, for serving


The original recipe called for these to be made in the oven, but it is over 100 degrees outside.  Turning on the oven is crazy.  I turned on my grill instead. I find that the grill ends of making things crispier and with a better flavor in the long run.  I grill my pizza all year long, even in the winter.


Chop the onion and green onions. 

In a bowl, combine everything but the chicken and shredded cheese.  Mix the cream cheese mixture until it softens up a bit.  Mix in the shredded cheese and chicken. Set aside.

Put 4 or 5 tortillas on a plate, cover with a damp dish towel, and microwave for 30 - 40 seconds.  The tortillas should be easy to roll after being microwaved.  I used corn tortillas.

Spoon mixture (2 - 4 TBS) onto the lower third of the tortilla and roll tightly.  Place seam side-down on a plate that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Spray the top of each tortilla with cooking spray and sprinkle with a bit of salt.  Repeat until all the mixture is gone.
Place seam side down on the grill (med - low heat) and cook for 5 or 6 minutes.  Rotate.  Cook for 5 or 6 more minutes.  It will really depend on your grill for how long you will cook them.  Also, watch for the cheese to drip down and cause flames to come up and burn the tortillas.  This happened to my last batch that I cooked, but it ended up being okay because I caught it in time. 
 
The recipe calls to serve these with BBQ sauce or ranch dressing as a dip, but I just ate them plain.  I will definitely make these again!!  Yum.  It is a great way to use up shredded pork or chicken that you have as leftovers.  :)

Cinnamon Buns & Cream Cheese Frosting

This is a recipe that is modified from Taste of Home's annual best recipe cookbook (that Hannah gave me at my wedding shower - and remains one of my favorite cookbooks). If you all have never read a TOH cookbook or magazine, you are missing out.  It is probably the greatest cooking magazine because all the recipes are sent in from the readers and they are all tested out.  Sure, there are some duds in the mix, but for the most part, I usually like the majority of the recipes.

cinnamon buns (makes a lot - I usually half or quarter this recipe - what do I mean by a lot? It can fill 4ish 13x9 pans, if you make the rolls big: 12 x 4 = 48, if you make them smaller, like me: 24 x 4 = 96)

11 to 12 c flour
3/4 c sugar
7 tsp yeast
3 tsp salt
3-1/2 c warm (105 - 115) water
1 cup oil or applesauce
3 eggs

Combine 8 cups of flour and the next 3 ingredients. Mix a few times in your mixer. Add the warm water while still mixing.  Most of the time I add the applesauce to the water before I add it because I heat the water too much and the applesauce will cool it down a bit. Lastly, add the egg. Mix well with paddle.  Add another 2 - 4 cups of flour.  Tend towards the side of caution with yeast dough, leave it a bit wet if you have any doubts. Cover with wet towel; let rise 1 hour (funny comment here: I had always let this rise for 45 minutes to an hour. Well, I just read the directions and it only tells you to let it rest for 15 min).

Punch the dough down.  Divide into 4 sections (or 1 or 2 if you are halfing or quartering this). Let rest a few minutes. Roll each section out (one at a time).  I have this big cookie sheet with edges that I like to use (it is about 24 x 16).  It contains the flour so that I don't have the scrap and bunch of flour off my counter after I am finished.

Filling:
1/2 c. melted butter
1 c sugar
2 T cinnamon
optional: 1 c pecans
optional: 1 c raisins

Spread 2T of melted butter on each of the rolled out sections. Mix 1/4 c sugar and 1.5 tsp cinnamon together.  Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the melted butter.  Sprinkle with raisins and nuts, if desired. 

Roll the dough up (make the roll shorter if you want fewer, but bigger rolls, roll it up the long side if you want more, smaller rolls). Slice the rolls. I think I make them about an inch thick... maybe more... maybe less depending on how I am feeling.  They all taste good.  You just have to watch how long you cook them depending on how you cut them.  Place in a pan with edges. Cover with damp towel.  Let rise 15 - 30 minutes or so.  Or you can place them in the frig and let them rise overnight... If you are planning on doing this I suggest decreasing the yeast by at least half.

Place in preheated oven at 425 for 10 - 18 minutes (depending on the size).  Cool slightly.  Frost.

Frosting:
I eat this icing by the spoonful with a nice tall glass of milk.  This is how much I make for a half batch.  I would double this recipe if you are going to make the whole batch.  I have never made the whole batch.
1 package cream cheese
1/4 c. butter
3 - 3-1/2 c powdered sugar
1.5 tsp vanilla
2 - 5 T cream, milk, half and half, water...etc.

Enjoy.

Favorite dip from my favorite 1st grade Sunday School teacher

This is a recipe from Mrs. Render, with a few of my additions and subtractions.

Bottom layer:
1 can refried beans
1 can pinto or black beans or (not a can) of ground hamburger
1 lime juiced
2 - 3 T of taco powder
1 can mexican lime and cilantro rotel (brand) tomatoes 
optional: 1 can corn

Middle layer:
grated cheese
optional: guac (I usually leave this out because I eat this over several days)

Top layer:
diced green onions
diced green, red, or yellow peppers
optional: diced tomatoes (I am indifferent)
optional: cilantro (jared doesn't like)
optional: diced olives (I don't like)

I eat this for lunch and dinner many days. It is very easy to throw together. Eat it with some good chips or on a pile of lettuce or spinach. Yum.