Cinnamon rolls

I've recently fallen in love with my bread machine. Is there nothing it can't do? Yes, actually, there is - making non-bread machine-sized loaves. But fortunately there's the dough setting, which has allowed me to make the AWESOMEST cinnamon rolls ever. They were really easy and really delicious. James and I ate half a pan as soon as they were out of the oven, and I got Jax some extra love from his teachers by sending a pan to school.

Cinnamon Rolls
(Used this recipe) In your bread machine, combine the following: 1 c milk, 1/4 c softened butter, 1 egg, 3 c flour (I threw in some gluten too because I didn't use bread flour), 1/2 c sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp cinnamon, and 2 tsp yeast. Set to dough setting.

After the dough is done, combine 3/4 c brown sugar, 1/4 c flour, 1 tbsp cinnamon, and 1/3 c chopped cold butter until it resembles course crumbs. Divide the dough in half and on a floured surface roll out to a 12"x8" rectangle. Sprinkle half the brown sugar mixture on each and roll up, starting with a long edge. Cut into 12 pieces and arrange in a greased 9" cake pan. Cover both pans and allow to rise for 30 minutes in a warm place. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

To make the glaze, combine powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 tbsp softened butter, and 3-4 tbsp milk. Pour on top.

January craft night

January's craft night theme was bar food: mozzarella sticks with marinara dipping sauce, potato skins, and mini cheesecakes. The mozzarella sticks didn't turn out stick like at all (we dipped cheese sticks in the egg and rolled them in the mixture, then fried them, and they became a huge gooey mess), so we put them in a pan and baked them. Yum!

Mozzarella Sticks
Chop up half a bag of croutons in a blender or food processor. Mix with 1/2 c cornstarch, salt and pepper, and 1/2 c flour. Mix in 1 beaten egg. Spread half on the bottom of a pie pan or square casserole dish. Top with a cup or two of shredded mozzarella (depending on how cheesy you want them to be). Top with the rest of the crouton mixture. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Marinara Sauce
Heat 2 8-oz cans tomato sauce in a saucepan. Mix in some dried onions, garlic, and Italian herbs, to taste. Simmer for 20 min-2 hours.

Potato Skins
Wash 10-12 small potatoes at bake at 350 until soft. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix 3 tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp paprika, salt and pepper, and 1 tbsp parmesan cheese. Remove potatoes from oven and let cool. Heat oven to 400. Slice in half lenghwise, then scoop out the innards leaving about a 1 cm shell. Brush the olive oil mixture onto the potatoes, then top with diced chives, bacon bits, and shredded cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes, until crispy. Top with sour cream.

More freezer food

My freezer is looking kind of empty, so I'm replenishing it with more frozen casseroles. This weekend: baked spaghetti and enchiladas.

Baked Spaghetti
Tomato sauce (I made some with tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, some spicy chili seasoning, vegetable flakes, Italian seasoning, and Italian sausage)
1 box spaghetti or other pasta, cooked
Mozzarella cheese

Mix the sauce, pasta, and a handful of cheese together in a 9x13 or 2-9x9 pans. Top with generous amount of more cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-60 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and it's heated through. One of the easiest recipes ever.

Enchiladas
12 flour or corn tortillas
1 can black beans, drained
1 cup corn
2 cups white rice, cooked with 1 packet taco seasoning added while cooking
1 large jar salsa
1 bag Mexican-blend cheese

Mix together the beans, corn, and seasoned rice. Spread a layer of tortillas on the bottom of a 9x13 or 2-9x9 baking dishes. Spread 1/4 the bean mixture on top, followed by a layer of salsa and cheese. Repeat, then top with a final layer of tortillas, salsa, and cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-60 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and it's heated through. Another very easy recipe.

Thanksgiving!

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner this year. Here's the menu:

1. Turkey, of course - 14 lbs in a bag with some poultry seasoning and flour sprinkled on top and a can of Coke over that.
2. Stuffing - made from bread, onions, celery, sage, poultry seasoning, and chicken broth (I'll post the recipe soon)
3. Gravy - made from the turkey drippings and some flour
4. Mashed potatoes
5. Honey-glazed peas and carrots - cooked carrots and sugar snap peas in the crockpot with a little water, then made a glaze of butter, salt, and honey to pour over them
6. Rolls
7. Apple rolls - chopped apples spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, etc, rolled up in a piece of fillo. I'm going to have to play around with this some more.

And then for leftovers:

1. Individual turkey pot pies using the chicken and biscuts recipe
2. Broccoli and turkey cheddar risotto (also made ham and cheddar risotto and herbed mushroom risotto with sage, rosemary, basil, and monteray jack cheese, just because I was in the risotto mood)
3. Turkey chili (recipe below)
4. Apple sauce - cook chopped apples in a little water until soft, put into food processor, add in a little butter, and add sugar to taste. Yum! This will further be recycled into pumpkin applesauce cookies.

Turkey chili
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can light red kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can ro*tel
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
1 can chopped chilis
1 onion, chopped
a bunch of turkey
4 bay leaves
generous amount of chili powder

Combine all ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low all day. Great with tomato chili cheese bread (made by throwing all those ingredients into basic bread machine bread).

Potato soup

Winter has hit NC early this year, so I decided what we needed was a big pot of soup. And when I say big, I mean big - this recipe completely filled my crockpot.

Potato Soup
6-8 potatoes, peeled and cubed
5 c water
5 tsp/cubes chicken bouillon
dried parsley
salt and pepper
2 tbsp butter
1-2 c ham, chopped
2 c milk
1 c velveeta, cubed
1/2 loaf queso blanco, cubed

Put the potatoes, water, bouillon, seasonings, butter, and ham in the crockpot and cook all day on low. 30-45 minutes before eating, stir in the milk and cheese.

ETA: I made this again in February '09. I used whipped cream and sour cream instead of milk, and 1/2 loaf of regular Velvetta. It was creamily delicious!

Jax's Birthday

We threw a small party for Jax's second birthday last week.

Menu:
Chicken nuggets (because what two year old doesn't like chicken nuggets)
Fruit salad - canteloupe, strawberries, pineapple, grapes
Pizza rolls
Taquitos and queso blanco con chilis sauce
Airplane cake!

The cake was marbled chocolate fudge cake, made by marbling Better Homes and Gardens' white cake with their chocolate cake. It didn't marble as clearly as I wanted, but it still combined really well for a dense, fudgy cake that was lighter fudginess in some parts compared to others. It didn't last past the day of the party.

Pizza Rolls
Pizza sauce (I made my own with some tomato sauce, onions, garlic, and Italian seasoning)
Sausage, cooked
Pizza dough (I broke down and used the bagged mix instead of making my own)
Mozzarella cheese

Mix the sausage into the sauce. Roll out the pizza dough and cut it into squares. Put a spoonful of sauce onto each square, as well as a pinch of cheese. Fold the dough over. Bake at 450 10 minutes or so, until crust is golden. Note: DON'T sprinkle the cheese over the entire sheet. The crust won't stay closed and it'll ooze out all over!

Apple night

I hosted craft night again this month, and the theme this time was apples. Here's the menu:

1. Apple cheddar puffs, half with chicken and half with bacon (made the same way as the spinach artichoke puffs but with shredded chicken or crumbled bacon, grated apple, and cheddar cheese)
2. Apple and red Leicester risotto
3. Apple cranberry crumbcake
4. Baked apples

At the end of the night the only thing left was some baked apples, which I think I'll make into apple enchiladas.