Cinnamon rolls

My kids LOVE cinnamon rolls.  I don't make them that often, so it is an extra special treat!!!

I take the slightly easy route here.  I make the dough in my bread maker, on the dough setting.  I find this cuts out a lot of headache for me.  If you have it, why not use it?!!

In the order listed, place in the bread maker.  I will say, if you dump eggs into warm milk and melted butter, the eggs may scramble.  I whisk my eggs in a bowl, add a little warm milk at a time, then dump it all in the bread maker.

Ingredients

1 cup warm milk

2 eggs

1/3 cup butter, melted

4 1/2 cups fresh milled soft wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp yeast

I set my bread maker on the dough setting, it mixes and rises for about an hour and a half total.

Remove dough and turn out onto a floured surface.  Roll it into the closest thing to a rectangle you can get.  I trimmed mine (with a pizza cutter) into a 'neater rectangle' but I don't always do this.  I actually rarely do this.

(This part is where I eye ball it.)  Soften a 1/4 cup of butter, and spread a thin layer over the dough.  Mix a cup of brown sugar with 3 tablespoons of cinnamon.

I just generously spread brown sugar over the butter, then sprinkle the cinnamon down.

Start at one end, and roll into a log.  Slice every 2-3 inches.  Place into a baking dish.  I personally split mine into 2 batches.  I find that the rolls keep well unbaked and are much better fresh.  (versus cooking them all and reheating)

I place about 9 in a square dish.  They start out pretty far apart, but I promise they will rise again.

Cover with plastic wrap, and let them sit and rise for an hour.  I generally place a dish cloth over the plastic wrap and let them sit out for hours.

Bake 400º for 15 minutes.

Icing

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

mix all ingredients until smooth, spread over warm rolls

A sweet (healthier) treat...

Ok, I wish I were kidding... but here goes.

A homemade brownie has around 325 calories.  And who eats just one?  I needed quick chocolate fix, and this is what I came up with.

In a microwaveable coffee mug mix:
1tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp non-fat plain greek yogurt
1 tbsp soy milk.


Microwave for 2 minutes.


Ta-da!

I will say that the plain greek yogurt is not sweet, so you have to add a little extra sugar.  I like using Greek Yogurt instead of regular Yogurt because of it's higher protein content.

Nutrition facts

Calories 155

Total fat 1.1g

Fiber 2.9g

Protein 5g

Quinoa

Ever heard of it?  What is it?  How do you use it?

Quinoa is a grain-like crop grown primarily for it's edible seeds.  It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal or grain.

Below are the basic nutrition facts for 1 cup of cooked quinoa.




But do you know how to use it?  I personally LOVE quinoa.  It is higher in protein than rice, and super easy to cook.

Here is the low down;  I cook it 2:1 (water/stock to quinoa)  So, bring 1 cup uncooked quinoa with 2 cups water/chicken stock to boil and then let simmer for 18-20 min.



Last night I had a conversation with my son that went something like this:

H:What's for dinner?
Me:  Turkey and Quinoa stuffed peppers.
H:  I HATE quinoa.  It tastes like water.
Me:  Water?  Seriously?  Mine is amazing.
H:  I don't like it.


I made a thick homemade spaghetti sauce, with ground turkey.  I then added cooked quinoa a little at a time, until I got the "right mix."  It isn't exact... it rarely is with me.  I stuffed the quinoa/turkey mix into halved red bell peppers and baked for 30 min.  It was amazing.  As for Hayden, he ate 2 helpings so I guess it passed the test!

I plan on trying some new things with quinoa this week.  Stay tuned.

Slow Cooker SW Chicken Chili

School, dance, football, gymnastics, Church, work... the list goes on.  I really enjoy cooking.  But sometimes, it is nice to just have dinner done.  You know what is AMAZING for that?  A Crock-Pot!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Crock-Pot!  I literally use it all the time.

When making a meal in my Crock-Pot/slow cooker, I usually assemble it the night before and put it back in the fridge.  On the way out the door, I turn take it out and turn it on.  There is nothing like coming home to dinner that is waiting on me!

Slow Cooker SW Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

4 raw, boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 (15oz) can pinto beans

1 (15oz) can black beans

1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes

1 pound frozen corn

1 (12oz) jar salsa

Place chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker.  Season lightly with Salt.

 Then, pour the salsa over it and dump everything else on top of that.  (Added about cup of chicken stock as well, mainly to pull that last little bit of salsa and tomatoes out of the cans!)

Cook on low 6-7 hours.  Stir and serve!

Bread box

At one point in my life, I really wanted a bread box.  I mean, I could place my bread in it and no one would see it.  You know the problem with that?  Mold.  I make fresh, preservative-free bread frequently and with that, it goes bad quickly.  But I'll take that over putting junk into my kids any day.
With that said, want to know what is in my bread box?  I personally think it is genius. 
Coffee.  We are totally addicted to coffee, and I like keeping it right next to the coffee pot.  So, I no longer have a bread box.  I have a coffee box.  A junky looking one at that.  :)

Rustic Loaf

I totally stole this from Pinterest.  But OH MY GOODNESS, you have to try this.  Anyone can make this, all you need is a little down time.  (like over night!)


Rustic Loaf
3 cups all purpose flour (I used 2 1/2 cups all purpose, 1/2 cup fresh milled hard wheat, it's just what I had on hand)
1 3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/2 cups water


Stir all ingredients together, place clear wrap over bowl and let sit on counter 12–18 hours.  Mine sat about 20 hours.

Pre-heat oven to 450° and place a pot in it.  I used a cast iron Dutch oven.  Turn dough out on a well floured surface and form into a ball.  Cover and let sit for 30 minutes.

Bake in pot, for 30 minutes with the lid on.  Remove lid, bake another 15 minutes.

I was pleasantly surprised at this recipe.  It definitely tasted like a lot of work when into it!  Shhh, my little secret!

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

This is my 'no-fail' bread recipe.  I make this 2-3 times per week for my family.  It's great, I do not buy 'grocery store' bread.  I can only imagine what all is in it.  After all, Lord knows how long it sits on the shelf.  This is a yummy, easy alternative.

I have to give credit to my GF-Lorie.  I got this fabulous recipe from her a while back.

First let me say, I have a bread maker.  I LOVE my bread maker.  I literally throw everything in, press start, and it does it's thing.  I wouldn't even know how to tell you to make this without one.

In my bread maker (in order)

1 cup room temp water
1tsp salt
2 tbls oil (Olive Oil, Sunflower, Safflower)
1/4 cup fresh, local honey
3 1/2 cups of fresh milled hard wheat  (You could use store bought, I just don't)
2 1/4 tsp Yeast
I turn my bread maker to 1.5lb loaf on a light crust.  It mixes, rises, and cooks and in 3 hours, we have amazing HEALTHY bread.

And we're off!

So many people ask me for recipes and the truth is, I RARELY use them.  When I do use them, they are not my own.

This year I am going to be diligent on sharing MY recipes.  I love to cook and share my food with others.  I feel that many of the things I make are easy and anyone can successfully do it.  Enjoy!