Cinnamon Rolls or Orange Rolls

This is the best recipe we have found for cinnamon rolls and even better orange rolls. The dough is really easy to work with and it tastes great. We make the dough in the bread machine which takes a lot of the work out of it.

Dough:
1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten (use eggs that are room temp.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
5 cups flour
3 tsp yeast

To bread machine: add milk, water, vanilla, butter, eggs, salt, and sugar then flour, place
yeast on top of flour. Set on dough cycle. When cycle is complete remove dough and let
stand 10 min.
(To make without bread machine: Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Mix in the sugar, margarine, salt, and eggs. Add flour and mix well. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.)

Roll out dough into 15 x 24 inch rectangle. Brush on melted butter then sprinkle on filling (orange or cinnamon depending on what you are making). with the long edge of the rectangle, roll up the dough and pinch the seam to seal. (be careful not to roll the dough too tight). Cut into 1-1/2 inch rolls and place in pan. Let them rise for 45 min or until they double in size. Cook at 350 degrees for 20-25 min or until golden brown. Remove from oven, spread cream cheese frosting over rolls.

Yield: 15 rolls. (I use 13 x19 x1 inch cookie sheet to bake them, if you use a 9 x 13 do not cook more than 12 rolls at a time) If you prefer the rolls to have a more crunchy edge put 9 to a 13 x 19 inch sheet.

Orange Filling:
1/2 cup melted butter
zest from 2 oranges
1/2 cup sugar

Orange Roll Frosting:
2 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp orange juice (from oranges used for the zest)

Cinnamon Filling:
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Cinnamon Roll Frosting:
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Candy Bar Salad

This is yum, yum, yum; although it really shouldn't be called a salad, that makes it sound healthy. I made it for a ward party and have had many requests for the recipe.

Candy Bar Salad

2 small (3.4 oz) boxes White Chocolate instant pudding mix

2 cups milk
1 12 oz. container Cool Whip

4 large apples, cut into small pieces

4 regular size snickers bars, chopped into small pieces.

Prepare pudding using 2 cups of milk. Gently fold Cool Whip into pudding. Fold apples then candy bar pieces.

Refrigerate until chilled.

Alfredo Sauce

Alfredo Sauce (serves 6)

1 cup butter
1 cup whipping (heavy) cream
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in medium sauce pan over low heat. Add cream and increase heat to medium, stirring frequently, until mixture starts to bubble. Reduce heat to low, simmer 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened. Stir in cheese until melted. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper. (The cheese is salty and if you used salted butter you may not need to add any salt. I like to use a little bit of garlic salt to add garlic flavor)

I like to add chicken to the sauce. I cut a few chicken breasts into small pieces then saute them in a frying pan with a little bit of oil, garlic salt and pepper.

Brooke's Best Bombshell Brownies

I'm typing this recipe as I lick the spatula and beaters clean from their heavenly gooey-ness. Anyway, I found these brownies on All Recipes.com and BOY are they awesome?! The perfect blend of fudgey chewyness and the perfect level of succulent richness. Top with a scoop of Bryer's Natural Vanilla Ice Cream, and you'll wonder if you've died and gone to heaven!!!

• 1 cup butter, melted
• 3 cups white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. reheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Combine the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.
3. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until blended. Stir in the chocolate morsels. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.
4. Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove, and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.

Happy baking!! Gotta run - the timer is about to go off!!! :)

Enchiladas

I didn't like enchiladas when I still lived at home--now I love them. I found this in Mom's recipes and now it is one of my staples! Chili powder can differ in potency by brand and age so you may want to adjust by taste. The recipe makes enough sauce for two batches--I usually half it so I've included those measurements in parenthesis.

Enchiladas

Sauce
1/3 cup salad oil (1/6 cup)
1/4 cup (or less) chili powder (2 tsp.)
1 cup flour (½ cup)
1 Tbsp. cumin (½ Tbsp.)
1 Tbsp. garlic salt (½ Tbsp.)
2 8-oz. cans tomato sauce (1 can)
5 cups water, approx. (~3 cups)

Put oil and chili powder in pan and simmer. Stir in flour. Add other spices, tomato sauce, and water to make a gravy (not too thick).

1 lb. ground beef
chopped onion
cheddar cheese, grated
tortillas

Brown ground beef and onion. Drain and season with onion salt and pepper. Use half the sauce. Dip tortillas in sauce and fill with ground beef and cheese. Roll very tight and place in a baking dish. Cover with remaining sauce and sprinkle with more grated cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes. Makes 1-1½ dozen enchiladas.

French Dip Sandwiches

This is one of my favorite meals. And it is so easy! If we have leftovers, I use it the second day to make a sort of Philly Cheese Sandwich with sauteed peppers, mushrooms and onions. I usually butter the rolls and toast them under the broiler before I put the meat and cheese on and then again afterward. This recipe came from Taste of Home magazine--July/Aug 1999.

French Dip Sandwiches

2 large onions, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup butter
1 boneless bottom round roast (3-4 lbs.)
5 cups water
1/2 cup soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 1/2 tsp. browning sauce, optional (I don't use this)
1 garlic clove, minced
12-14 French rolls, split
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded swiss cheese (I usually use sliced)

In a skillet, saute onions in butter until tender; transfer to a slow cooker. Cut the roast in half; place over onions. Combine water, soy sauce, soup mix, browning sauce if desired and garlic; pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours or until the meat is tender.

Remove roast with a slotted spoon and let stand for 15 minutes. Thinly slice meat across the grain. Place on rolls; sprinkle with Swiss cheese. Broil 3-4 in. from the heat for 1 minute or until the cheese is melted. Skim fat from the cooking juices; strain and serve as a dipping sauce.

Makes 12-14 servings.

A Recipe and a Request

I have a request for some good recipes that are yummy, quick and don't use the oven. Any suggestions? Here is one that I like to make when I want to whip up something quick. My kids love rice and I love Mexican food.

Taco Rice Skillet
1 lb hamburger
1 medium onion chopped (or 1/3 cup onion flakes)
1 pkg taco seasoning
2 cups water
2 cups instant rice (we usually use brown)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Brown hamburger and onion in large skillet, add seasoning and water, bring to a boil. Stir in rice, sprinkle with cheese, cover and cook on low for 5 minutes.

Garnish with tomatoes, sour cream and tortilla chips.

Meatloaf

I love meatloaf. Good meatloaf that is. I think my favorite lunch is a leftover meatloaf sandwich. The first recipe is a new one that I tried last night for dinner, and that I loved. It came from Allrecipes.com. The second recipe is the meatloaf I have been making for a long time. It originally came from a Real Lemon cookbook.

Bacon Mushroom Swiss Meatloaf

12 oz. chopped raw bacon
1 small white onion, chopped
5 button mushrooms, chopped
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup evaporated milk
6 oz. shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 cup corn flake crumbs

Preheat oven to 350.

Place bacon in a skillet and cook over medium heat until the pieces are browned. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels. Discard all but 1 Tbsp. of bacon grease. Stir in onions and mushrooms, and cook until soft. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, stir together beef, egg, and milk. Stir in the onion and mushrooms. Mix in about 4 oz. Swiss cheese, and all but 1 Tbsp. bacon. Stir in cornflake crumbs, and mix until well blended. Shape into a loaf, and place in a meatloaf pan.

Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour. Drain fat, and sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon. Return to oven, and bake until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

Glazed Meatloaf

1/2 cup catsup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs (about 2 1/2 slices)
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp. beef bouillon

Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, combine catsup, sugar, 1 Tbsp. lemon juice and mustard; set aside. In large bowl, combine remaining ingredients and 1/3 cup sauce; mix well. In shallow dish, shape into loaf. Bake 1 hour; pour off fat. Pour remaining sauce over top of loaf; bake 10 minutes longer.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes

I only found and started using this recipe a few days ago, but already I've made three loaves of bread and some pizza with it, and it's very good and super convenient. It's originally from a book (and its corresponding website), but I found it via an Instructable.

6 c. water
3 T. salt
3 T. yeast
13 c. flour

1. In a large container with a loose-fitting lid (I use a 9 qt. Tupperware) mix ingredients until incorporated (but don't worry about kneading the dough or getting it super-smooth). The resulting dough will be very soft and loose--that's exactly the way it's supposed to be (the high-hydration is what allows it to keep well in the refrigerator).
2. Put lid on container (leaving a small gap for air to escape) and allow dough to sit on the counter for a couple of hours, then put container in the fridge.

After at least three hours in the refrigerator, and at any time for the next two weeks or so, you can use a portion of the dough as desired.

For fantastic "artisan" bread, do this:

1. Put a pizza stone in the oven, with a roasting pan underneath it, and preheat the oven to 450°
2. On a pizza peel (wooden board with a long handle) or something similar (back of a cookie sheet, cutting board, etc.) sprinkle some cornmeal or a liberal helping of flour
3. Remove dough from the fridge, dust a portion of the surface with flour, flour your hands, and reach in and grab a handful of dough (approximately grapefruit-sized for a 1 lb. loaf), using a serrated knife to cut the dough from the main mass.
4. Gently (trying not to deflate the dough any more than you have to) stretch the surface of the dough (which was exposed in the container in the fridge) around the ball, forming a "gluten cloak", pinching it together at the bottom, then place the ball of dough on the prepared (cornmeal-dusted) peel and let it rest for 30 minutes (while your oven--and the pizza stone--heats).
5. After 30 minutes, dust the top of the ball of dough liberally with flour then slash two or three times in each direction (in a tic-tac-toe pattern) with a serrated knife.
6. Fill a measuring cup with around 1 c. hot water. Open the oven door, and gently slide the dough from the peel onto the hot pizza stone (the cornmeal will act like "ball bearings", allowing it to slide easily, though this may take some practice). Pour the water into the roasting pan (stand back! it will produce lots of steam!) and immediately shut the oven door.
   
7. Bake bread for 20-30 minutes, until it is dark golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
8. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing--if you can manage to wait that long! :) The crust will be perfectly crackly and crisp and the inside as soft and flavorful as the best french bread you've ever had.

Altogether it'll be about an hour from the time you turn the oven on until you take the bread out of the oven, but the amount of time you'll actually spend working on the bread will be less than five minutes (thus the name of the recipe). You can get eight 1 lb. loaves out of the recipe as it's given, and the dough will remain fresh in the refrigerator for up to two weeks (though it may not rise quite as well by the end of that period, from what I understand).

The dough also makes a wonderful pizza crust--just cut off a hunk, roll it out, put it on a cornmeal-dusted peel, top it, slide it onto a hot stone, and yum. :)

Of course the dough could also be shaped into baguettes, rolls, etc.

I understand that over the course of a week or two the dough will also "sour" slightly, so later breads will have more of a sourdough flavor. I think I've noticed that in my most recent loaf, though it wasn't incredibly strong. Hopefully it will continue to develop as the dough ages. I've read that many people will mix new batches of dough without washing the container between batches, so as to preserve the sour flavor that develops.

My next batch will probably contain some percentage of wheat flour. I've read that this method of breadmaking lends itself very well to wheat breads. Typically wheat breads are denser than white because the bran tends to cut the threads of gluten, limiting the dough's ability to rise. Since this method includes virtually no kneading or working of the dough, there is much less opportunity for the developed gluten to be damaged by the bran, so wheat breads (should) be lighter.

Anyway... So far we've all loved being able to have fresh bread with very little work and much less advance notice than would normally be required. Hope you all enjoy it too! :)

Bumbleberry Pie

This is a recipe from Allrecipes.com. It is one of my family's favorite pies. Come on over--we are having it for dessert tonight!

Bumbleberry Pie

2 (9-inch) unbaked pie crusts
1 1/3 cups white sugar
1/3 cup flour
2 cups thinly sliced apples
1 cup raspberries
1 cup fresh blackberries
1 cup fresh rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces

Stir sugar and flour together in large bowl. Add apples, raspberries, blackberries, and rhubarb.
Toss together, and turn into pie shell. Cover with pastry top. Trim and seal edges. Cut vents in top. Bake at 350° for approximately 45 minutes, until crust is brown and apple is cooked.

Bret's Tom Kha Gai

This soup is so yummy. Bret tries Tom Kha Gai every time he goes to a Thai restaurant and it is always different. He took his favorites ingredients and made his own variation. He usually makes a double batch because it is even yummier as leftovers.

Bret's Tom Kha Gai (Coconut Chicken Soup)
(4-6 servings)

2 qt chicken bouillon
3-4 carrots, sliced
1-2 red Thai chili peppers, split in half*
3 limes
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium sweet onions, sliced and quartered
1-2 tbsp olive oil
3 large chicken breasts, cut in thin strips
3 tbsp minced garlic
3 tbsp minced ginger root**
1 tsp black pepper
2 cans (~14 oz each) 100% coconut milk
salt to taste
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup chives or chopped green onions (optional)
dry crushed red pepper to taste



In a large stockpot, lightly boil Thai pepper(s) and carrots in chicken bouillon until the carrots begin to soften, reduce heat and simmer. Remove pulp and juice from limes and add to bouillon. In a large fry pan, sauté onions, until tender and brown, then add to bouillon. In the same fry pan, brown chicken in olive oil, together with garlic, ginger, and black pepper, being careful not to overcook the chicken, then add to soup and remove from heat.

Add coconut milk and salt (if desired) and stir until fully mixed. Do not boil after adding coconut milk. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves, chives/green onions, and crushed red pepper just before serving.

* If Thai peppers are not available, dry crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper can be used as a substitute (season to taste)
** When mincing ginger root, be sure to cut into slices first to prevent long root fibers

Variation: substitute chicken with medium to large cocktail shrimp

Wheat Bread

This is one of my favorite bread recipes. Scott's mom got this recipe from a woman who works at the Bishop's Storehouse in Omaha, NE. The great thing about it is that it is so quick to make. Once it is kneaded, it is done in an hour. I use flour made from the white wheat sold by the Church. It has very mild wheat taste.

Wheat Bread

2 cups warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp. yeast
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup gluten
1/2 Tbsp. salt
4-5 cups whole wheat flour

Mix all ingredients together and add enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the bowl. You want a thicker dough. Knead for 9 minutes in the mixer.Form into loaves and put in 2 regular loaf pans. Let rise 30 minutes.Put into a cold oven and turn on oven to 350. Bake for 30-35 minutes. (Bread will rise more as the oven heats up.)

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

This is one of my very favorite cookie recipes. I got it from Allrecipes.com. Whenever I think of these cookies I think of a term used in England. They are very "moreish." This word is used to describe something you always want more of! This is another cookie recipe Marsha uses all the time. I think they are Dad's favorites.

I use a scale to weigh shortening and peanut butter. It saves the effort of cleaning out the measuring cups. I've included the weight measurements in case anyone else uses a scale.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup shortening (96 g)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup peanut butter (256 g)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup quick-cooking oats

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream together shortening, butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the oats until just combined. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until just light brown.

Spinach Strawberry Salad

I have had many requests to make this salad for family dinners so I thought it would be the perfect one for me to post first on this blog.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

About 8 years ago I was involved with a Youth Conference in Nauvoo. For one of the meals they served these cookies. I liked them so much that I requested the recipe. They are one of my family's favorites. I'm sure all of you have had them because Marsha makes these all the time. These are Bekah's favorite cookies to make.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

2¼ cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
1 pkg (4 serving size) vanilla instant pudding
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
½ pkg chocolate chips (2 cups)
½ cup nuts (optional)

Mix flour with baking soda. Combine butter, pudding mix, sugars and vanilla in large mixer. Beat until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes.

This recipe is also great with chocolate pudding instead of vanilla and vanilla or peanut butter chips instead of chocolate.