Cinnamon Rolls

Not to pat myself on the back, but these cinnamon rolls are absolutely AMAZING!!!  I had promised them to my young women for their presidency meeting Sunday, so I'm posting the recipe to share with all the rest of you cinnamon roll lovers.

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve the yeast and the sugar in the milk.  Wait about five minutes to be sure it proofs.  I have found from sharing this recipe in the past it is really easy to overheat the milk, and you don't want to kill the yeast...it's easier to redo the yeast than the entire batch of dough.

Add butter, eggs, flour and salt.  Knead together until you have a smooth ball of dough.

Place dough in a bowl and cover with a warm damp towel. Allow the dough to rise until it is double.  This is a heavier dough, so it may take a while.

Mix together the filling while the dough is rising:
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons cinnamon

On a floured surface roll it out to about 1/4" thick. The idea is to get 1 dozen good size rolls from this dough. we make them a little smaller, so my kids feel as though they were able to eat more.
Spread evenly 1/3 cup butter or margarine across the surface of the dough.  Sprinkle the filling over the butter.  Roll from the widest side of the dough to make a roll. Cut into even pieces, approximately 1-1/2" for smaller rolls and 2" for larger rolls.

Place the rolls onto a greased baking sheet and cover with a warm damp cloth. Allow them to rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400.
Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.

Icing
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup cream cheese softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Beat together while the rolls are baking.

Chicken and Potatoes...on the lighter side.

The weather is warming, and it's time to face the reality a swimsuit may have to worn this summer.  In an effort to do so, I tried to find some new recipes that were a little less on the calorie count.  I found this amazing website, Skinnytaste, that I am now in love with.  We tried her recipe for Baked Chicken with Dijon and Lime tonight.  It was absolutely amazing.  Because I have a family of seven, I did increase the chicken from 8 pieces to 12.  The younger kids only ate one piece each, so it was plenty and the hubby even has two pieces for lunch tomorrow.  I was worried about the salt generously part, so I used about a half tablespoon of sea salt.  I also forgot to press the garlic clove into the sauce before I tossed the chicken, so I pressed garlic and spread it around on top of the chicken thighs in the pan.  It worked great.

As a side I roasted potatoes.  My kids love the onion soup mix roasted potatoes, but again, there's a ton of sodium in the package, and it calls for three tablespoons of oil.  This was our homemade lighter version:




Oven Roasted Potatoes
4 pounds red potatoes, washed and cut into 1 - 2" pieces
4 teaspoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons dry minced onion
2 teaspoons garlic
1 teaspoon salt



Preheat oven to 400
Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.


Mix together dry ingredients.
Toss the potato pieces in the olive oil.
Add dry ingredients and toss until coated.
Spread evenly in greased pan.
Bake 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender when poked with a fork.  To brown the potatoes, after the 40 minutes I turned to broiler on high, leaving the pan on the center rack, and left them in the oven about five more minutes. DELICIOUS!!!



Okay, this is where I made my fatal mistake.  I have garlic, fresh garlic, I don't know why I opted for the granulated, but I did.  I will make it next time with the fresh garlic and let you know how things go.


Using a recipe calculator online I came up with the following nutritional information.  Please remember this is and online tool, not a science lab...



Serves 10 (I think we got closer to twelve even servings from the pan, but I didn't measure exactly so I'm erring high on the calorie count)

Calories	151.9
Total Fat	2.1 g
Saturated Fat	0.3 g
Sodium	243.8 mg
Carbohydrates	29.9 g
Fiber	3.2 g
Protein	3.6 g

To top the meal off we served steamed broccoli. It was wonderful, and I'm excited to see if we can make the chicken as a freezer meal!  Wish us luck.

Soft Pretzels

We made these last night to test on my family, then made then tonight for Young Womens.  They were delicious!  The recipe I had was a little too dry to work with, so I ended up with the following.  Not one left at the activity, and the family was certainly eager to eat what wouldn't fit on the tray for Young Womens!

In a small bowl combine:
1 1/2 cups warm water
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
Dissolve the yeast mixture and set it aside for about ten minutes.

In your mixing bowl mix together:
4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add:
1 Tablespoon oil
and the yeast mixture.

Mix together and knead for about ten minutes.  Remember soft pretzels are a little heavier than traditional bread so kneading the dough may give you a workout.  I like to start mine in the Kitchen-Aid, then knead the last four or five minutes by hand.
Set aside in a greased bowl until the dough is double, about one hour.

Once the dough has risen, divide into 16 equal parts.  Make a long rope from the dough and shape into a pretzel.  Bake on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 450 for 8 minutes.

If serving right away, brush generously with melted butter and top with salt or cinnamon and sugar.  If you will be serving these later, reheat in the microwave for about fifteen seconds, then top with melter butter and salt or cinnamon sugar.

Glazed Carrots

Yes, this is a spaghetti dinner and I figure most everyone can work that one out on their own.  But, the carrots are a great addition to many meals in my home.  As far as I'm concerned any vegetable they ask for is worth sharing.

2 cups baby carrots
1 Tablespoon butter
1 1/2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar

Combine all ingredients in a frying pan and heat on medium heat until the carrots are tender stirring frequently.

Stir Fry, home cooking made easy

Okay, so this is not a recipe post, but to show that even we have our nights of cheating.  They sell a bag of stir fry veggies at Sam's Club.  Everything in one bag, it comes with two sauce packets, and my kids like bits and pieces of what's included...Craig and I like the whole thing.  We knew yesterday was a cook dinner as fast as you can night, which in our house means stir fry night.  Now, I do like to add a little protein in the mix, so we customize ours.



We take the bag of veggies, divide it into two gallon size ziploc freezer bags.  Add one of the sauce packets to the bag.  Then, when we are cooking chicken for the rest of the freezer meals, Craig cuts a couple chicken breasts for stir fry, throws them in their own quart size freezer bag and we put it inside the gallon size ziploc with the veggies and sauce.



Yesterday the bag was thawed and two cups of rice later...dinner was on the table.  Now, in case you have never cooked stir fry before, you want to cook the chicken first, we use a little sesame seed oil, or a small amount of olive oil and a little soy sauce.  After the chicken is done, remove from the pan and cook the veggies.  They will cook for three - five minutes.  Return the chicken to the pan and add the sauce. 

The moral of the story....A home cooked meal doesn't always have to be fancy.  Freezer meal cooking doesn't mean it always has to be cooked by you.  And the most important thing is you have a plan.  All your family really cares about is that you are at the dinner table together.

Taco Soup

I can't take credit for this recipe in any way shape or form.  I know it's been circulating around for years, but it is a go to in our home.  I do something a little different from the original recipe I was given in that I season the meat a little before adding it to the soup because this is a hybrid freezer meal for us.

Taco Soup
1 pound ground beef or turkey, cooked and crumbled
1 can pinto beans, drained
1 can kindney beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
2 Tbs cumin
1 1/2 Tbs chili powder
1 1/2 Tbs minced onion
1 Tbs garlic
1 tsp salt
5 cups water

Combine all ingredients in a large pot.  Heat to boil then reduce heat and simmer approximately 20 minutes. Add or reduce water according to personal preference. Serve with shredded cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream.

***1 package of taco seasoning can be substituted for the seasonings.

If you are really ambitious you can make this meal from dried beans.  We've done it successfully a few times.  The biggest problem is remembering to start the beans early enough that they cook properly.  I count on about 3/4 cup of dried beans in place of each can.  Again, they do need to be drained, so when we have cooked it with dried beans I usually cook the beans, then add them to the soup.

Hybrid freezer meal details: We cook all our taco meat for the month at once, and I do season the meat together.  I usually use lean ground turkey in place of ground beef.  Because there is minimal fat, I do throw my seasonings in at the beginning of browning the meat instead of at the end after the fat has been drained.

For every pound of meat we mix together:
1/2 Tbs chili powder
1 Tbs cumin
1/2 Tbs onion salt
1/2 Tbs garlic

After the meat has cooled it is packaged in quart size freezer bags, approximately one pound per bag for the taco soup and about a pound and a half for taco nights. (Remember, I have five kids)

Coconut Lime Cupcakes

I adapted this from a White Cupcake recipe posted on Beantown Baker.  I changed the ingredients a little to make a coconut cupcake, but followed the mixing of the ingredients as in the original recipe.  I have to agree with the author, Jen, that I was a little intrigued by the assembly order of ingredients in the recipe which is why I tried it in the first place.  I've added a tangy lime frosting to make what I consider coconut lime heaven.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Coconut Cupcakes
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut milk
6 large egg whites, room temperature
1 tablespoon coconut extract
1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare cupcake pans.
Whisk together coconut milk, egg whites, and coconut extract.  Set aside.
In your mixing bowl mix together cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt at a slow speed.  Add butter.  Continue beating on low until the mixture resembles moist crumbs.
Add all but 1/2 cup of the milk mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes.  Add the remaining milk and beat 30 seconds more.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat an additional 20 seconds.
Fold in the shredded coconut.
Pour batter into cupcake liners.  Bake 15 - 17 minutes or until a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean.
Cool on cooling racks.

*** I usually use a 1/4 - 1/3 cup scoop to fill the cupcake liners and have never yet baked them for more than 15 minutes.
Don't try to skimp on the cake flour.  The reality is a box of cake flour can make this recipe at least three times so it is well worth the investment, and you will not get the same results from regular flour because of the higher protein content in other flours.  Just splurge and do it right.

Lime Frosting
4 tablespoons butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons lime juice
5 cups powdered sugar
8 - 10 drops florescent green food coloring or 5 - 6 drops yellow and 3 - 4 drops green

Blend butter and cream cheese together until smooth.
Add lime juice and half the food coloring.  Blend until smooth.
Add 4 cups of powdered sugar and blend together until smooth.  Add additional powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time until desired consistency is reached.  (I like the frosting thick so it will keep it's form)
Add additional food coloring if desired.
To add a finishing touch, top with zest of lime.

This recipe makes enough to generously frost the batch of cupcakes with a little frosting left over.  If you don't plan to frost as generously I would recommend halving the recipe.