Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Caramel nut PB cinnamon rolls

I've been craving sweets all day so I decided to make cinnamon rolls. I think they turned out pretty good!

Ingredients

Dough
About 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 packet instant yeast
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup margarine/ butter
1/4 c water
1/4 cup sugar
1tsp salt

Filling
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/4 c cinnamon
1 cup Reese's peanut butter baking chips

Topping
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp cream cheese softened
Caramel & nuts (optional)

Directions
Mix all 2 cups flour and all dry dough ingredients in a medium/large bowl. Bring milk to a boil in a saucepan, remove from heat add margarine and stir until melted.
Add egg, water, and milk mixture to dry ingredients. mix well adding flour as needed. Then knead for 5 minutes then set in a oiled bowl covered with damp cloth for 10 minutes. then remove cloth and place dough on flat surface
. Roll out into a rectangle or the closest to a rectangle you can get lol. Because clearly mines didn't remotely resemble a rectangle :-D. And spread with filling ( mix all filling ingredients well) this is when you would sprinkle the peanut butter chips over the filling mix. (not shown)
. Roll like a jelly roll and cut into 12- 16 cinnamon rolls. I place in a pan with caramel and nuts at the bottom which made that batch more like sticky buns/rolls. i used the honey roasted almonds cashews and peanuts i had on hand.
. Bake in 375 degree oven for 20 minutes then top with icing topping which is made by mixing all topping ingredients well. Let cool and serve :-) they were delish! “If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment .As always,Don’t forget to Subscribe :-)


after baking before drizzled with icing.


caramel i used.


this is the roll upsidedown with the caramel side up :)





when made in muffin tins rather than a pan the edges come out more crisp.. Enjoy soft and fluffy or crisp and gooey! :)

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Whole wheat pizza/calzone

So i made calzone for the first time yesterday, yay me! :-D if you can't tell I love pizza! Whole wheat pizza dough can be just as good if not better than white dough. I didn't take detailed pictures this time around but the recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

Dough
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 pkt yeast
1tbsp garlic salt
1tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1tsp basil
2/3 C warm water
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp oil

Sauce
One can tomato paste
1 tbsp honey
1tbsp sugar
2 tbsp shredded Italian 5 cheese blend
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1tbsp each of garlic and onion powder
1tbsp cayenne pepper
About 1/2 c warm water (more or less depending on consistency desired)

Toppings
Shredded cheese
Mini turkey pepperonis
mushrooms slices
Sliced black olives
Sliced onions
JalapeƱo slices
Fresh spinach chopped

Directions
I used flieshmans pizza yeast so the yeast doesn't need to proof.
Mix all dry ingredients for Dough, then add in oil and warm water until well incorporated. Then knead dough for about 5 minutes adding dough as needed. Roll out into 3 small pizzas, one large pizza or 3 calzones. Add sauce and toppings and bake in a 425 degree oven for 10-20 minutes until all cheese is melted and crust is browned. For a calzone roll dough into a square and cut each side into strips. Leaving the center in tact Fill with sauce and toppings and fold over strips to resemble a lattice and bake .

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Long day

Whew what a day! Been busy running errands and enrolling for school. Then I rushed home to do the outside Christmas decorations. So I decided to make oxtails for the first time! I know they don't have much meat so I added a pack of turkey necks to the crock pot with every seasoning but the kitchen sink lol. Also added a pack of dry Lima beans, onions, garlic, a can of stewed tomatoes and threw in a few carrots and celery. Yes alot I know, but I love flavorful dishes and it's gonna be super hot just like I like it because I added 3 habernero peppers and some of my homemade habernero hot sauce. I'll let you all know how it turns out tommorow as I'm gonna let it slow cook overnight. Here's a before pic.



Oh and I also made my first wreath today, turned out pretty darned good if I say so myself :-). And I Stenciled my windows for the first time too. And the supplies came from the dollar tree how awesome is that! If anyone wants to know how I made the wreath just let me know and I can post a tutorial. Well im going to call it a night for now... TTY soon :-)

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Stuffed chicken burgers w/ spicy parmesan fries

Ok, so I'm a bargain shopper and I shop for the best deals and use coupons etc. and lately I've noticed that the cheapest ground meat at my grocery store is ground chicken so I've been buying that in the place of lean ground beef or turkey. So after making the typical ground beef recipes, sans meatloaf (my hubby dosent care for it to much :-/ don't ask me why lol) I decided to try something new. Stuffed chicken burgers! And man they turned out great!  I started with a lb of ground chicken. Dumped it into a bowl and added about a half cup of fresh finely chopped spinach. About a tablespoon each of finely chopped green and red onion, dill pickle, avocado and one mushroom finely chopped. I seasoned the meat with a tbsp of liquid smoke onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, hot adobo seasoning, roasted cumin, cayenne proper, low sodium seasoning salt and dried basil leaves ( didn't measure but all about a teaspoon+ each). Then I added an egg and a cup of breadcrumbs to the bowl and mixed well with my hands. Scoured it with my hand into four equal portions then set it to the side while I cut 4 equal tablespoons out of the block of low fat cream cheese. Ok divide each section of meat into two flat patties, flatten the cream cheese and place in the center then place other patty atop the cheese and seal edges. I seared each side of the patty for about 5 minutes each then transferred the skillet in a preheated oven for and additional 15-20 since the patties are pretty thick and you want them to get cooked through. When removed from oven add cheese so it can melt.

Next I toast my whole wheat buns in the same skillet that the meat was cooked in with a little added butter ( I use smart balance). Then add some of my homemade habernero mustard, pickle, Avacado slices and pickled JalapeƱos.

There you have it! Awesomeness in a bun lol.

The fries were peeled, sliced and rinsed until water runs clear, then I let them soak in ice water for 30 minutes before patting dry and frying in 350 degree canola oil. After letting them drain on Towel I mixed them in my spicy Parm seasoning blend which consists of parmesan cheese, garlic salt, cayenne pepper, onion powder, seasoning salt, chipolte chilli powder and smoked paprika. I served them with hot and spicy ketchup.








Tuesday, December 13, 2011

A little bit About me

Hi! Im a housewife to a wonderful husband and a SAHM to my amazing now 4 yr old son. I enjoy cooking and crafting im always posting pictures of food that i've cooked on facebook and i think that my friends are getting tired of me posting food lol. so i decided to start a blog with recipes pictures and craft projects along with the happenings of my everyday life. Im new to blogging, so bear with me and hope you enjoy :-)