Skillet Rolls

These little beauties were inspired by these gems. Since I don't have a mixer, (I know, it makes me sad too). I have to make my bread with my bread machine. I think I love it. I used this sweet bread recipes for bread machines.

• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Then I made the rest following the original recipe. Oh my. So yummy.

Lasagna Roll up

• 
  
• 1 (16 ounce) package uncooked lasagna noodles
• 1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 1 pound firm tofu
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach - thawed, drained and squeezed dry
• 2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 (28 ounce) jar pasta sauce

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles for 5 to 8 minutes, or until just slightly underdone; drain and rinse.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together grated cheese, ricotta cheese, tofu, frozen spinach, and 1 cup Parmesan cheese.
3. Lay out a noodle. Spread a layer of the cheese mixture on the noodle, then add a thin layer of sauce. Roll the noodle up, and place seam side down in a 13x9 pan. Repeat for other noodles. Top with remaining sauce and Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F (175 degree C) oven for 30 min, or until hot and bubbly.

--from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lasagna-Roll-Ups/Detail.aspx

Yummy Salad Recipe

I got this from my Aunt Anna-Lisa and I tell you what! I am suddenly on cloud 9 when I see this on the table.

1 head shredded cabbage (or bagged coleslaw)
2-1/2 oz pk sliced almonds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2-3 green onions, chopped
1 pkg. chicken Ramen noodles (Chicken or Oriental)
optional: add cooked chicken, cubed
 
Brown almonds and sesame seeds in butter and cool. Mix cabbage, onions and cooled ingredients.
 
Dressing:
1/2 c. oil
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar
salt/pepper to taste
flavor pkg from noodles
 
Shake. Just before serving, break up ramen noodles. Add noodles and dressing to salad then toss.


NOTE: Add chicken to make it a main dish 

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

I made this for dinner with friends and after my first bite I wished we had the whole pan to ourselves. I know, it has bacon in it. But give it a try. I paid $1 extra to get beef bacon and made sure it had mostly meat rather than fat in it.  I also used fresh Basil instead of Sage. My mouth just waters thinking about it. I got the recipe from AllYou. 

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 46 minutes
Yield: Serves 8
Cost per Serving: $1.29

Ingredients

• 8  boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, trimmed (this means 4 because they cut the breasts in half to make 8)
• Salt
• 8  Basil leaves
• 8  slices thick-cut bacon
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 1/2  cup  low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4  cup  fresh lemon juice
• Favorite Seasonings

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Lightly mist a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Sprinkle chicken lightly with salt and favorite seasonings (I used Uncle Chris Steak Seasoning and Ginger) and place 2 Basil leaves on each chicken breast half. Wrap a slice of bacon around each piece of chicken and place chicken pieces in baking dish. Bake until chicken is cooked through and interior registers 165ºF on an instant-read thermometer, about 40 minutes.

3. Transfer chicken to a platter and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Skim fat from juices in baking dish and pour them into a small saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and whisk in flour until a paste forms, 1 minute. Whisk in broth and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, whisking constantly, until sauce is smooth and thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk any juices that have accumulated on platter into sauce. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

225

Fat:

7g (sat 2g)

Protein:

37g

Carbohydrate:

3g

Fiber:

1g

Cholesterol:

92mg

Sodium:

502mg

All You, OCTOBER 2010

Hi Hat Cupcakes!

I did it. I made these. I saw it on Bakerella.Basic sour cream yellow cake

1 pkg. (18.25 oz.) yellow cake mix
1 cup sour cream 
1/3 cup vegetable oil, crisco, canola, etc.
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract  It was for Ward FHE tonight. I was famous. For the night at least.

I used the recipe from here to make the cake box mix yummy.


Cake Mix reloaded

1 pkg. (18.25 oz.) yellow cake mix
1 cup sour cream 
1/3 cup vegetable oil, crisco, canola, etc.
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

FOR THE FROSTING

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

FOR THE CHOCOLATE COATING

2 cups chopped (about 12 ounces) semisweet chocolate

3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. Fill each liner with enough batter to come 1/8 inch from top, about 1/3 cup. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Use a small knife to loosen any tops stuck to the pan. Carefully invert cupcakes onto the wire rack. Turn cupcakes right side up, and let cool completely.

Prepare the frosting: In a large heatproof bowl, combine sugar, 1/4 cup water, egg whites, and cream of tartar. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat on high speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Set bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Beat on high speed until frosting forms stiff peaks, about 12 minutes; frosting should register 160 degrees.on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and almond extracts, and beat for 2 minutes more until frosting thickens.

Transfer frosting to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain pastry tip. Leaving a 1/8-inch border on each cupcake, pipe a spiral of frosting into a 2-inch-high cone shape, using about 1/2 cup of frosting per cupcake. Transfer cupcakes to a baking sheet, and refrigerate while preparing the chocolate coating.

Prepare the chocolate coating: Combine chocolate and oil in a medium heat-proof bowl set over a medium saucepan of barely simmering water; stir until melted and smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, and let cool about 15 minutes.

Holding each cupcake by its bottom, dip cupcake in the chocolate to coat frosting, allowing excess to drip off. Transfer to a baking sheet fitted with a wire rack. Spoon more coating around edge of cupcake and any exposed frosting; none of the frosting should show. Let cupcakes stand at room temperature 15 minutes.

Carefully remove paper liners from cupcakes, and discard. Place cupcakes on a serving platter, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to let coating set. Cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours more. Serve cold. Cupcakes can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Hi-Hat Cupcakes - Martha Stewart Recipes 

Chicken Parmesan

by Cassidy

3 chicken breasts

1/8t pepper

1 T butter

1/2c oil ( i never use that much)

1/2 c parmesan

1t basil

2 beaten eggs

1t salt

1/8t garlic powder

3/4 c ritz crackers or bread crumbs

2 8oz tomato sauce

8 oz mozzarella

Mix ritz crackers or bread crumbs with 1/2 of parmesan cheese. Dredge chicken in egg, salt, peper. Dip in bread crumb mixture. brown chicken in oil./ In pot, mix tomato sauce, basil and garlic. Boil for 10 minutes. Take off heat. Add butter. Pour tomato sauce over chicken in 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese bake 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and top with mozzarella. cook 10 additional minutes.

Penne Pasta Salad

by Cassidy

1 box penne pasta

1 jar pesto sauce

1 tub grape tomatoes

1 can olives(sliced)

1 tub feta cheese (tomato/basil kind)

spinach

1/3 c. butter milk ranch dressing-mix according to lavel

Cook pasta according to lave. when cool, pour half jar of pesto and put in fridge. When ready to serve put all other ingredients in and res of pesto and mix.

(I sometimes just squeeze some ranch out of the fridge instead of mixing up the buttermilk dressing. And sometimes I don't add ranch at all!)

White chicken Chili

By Cassidy

6 can great northern beans

4 c. chicken broth

1 1/2 t chopped garlic

2 small onions, chopped

Mix ingredients together and simmer for 15 minutes

Then add:

4 c. diced chicken

1/4t cayenne pepper

2 cans diced green chiles

1/2twhite pepper

2t cumin

24 oz sour cream

1 1/2t oregano

2t salt

Add ingredients and simmer 2 hours ( you can also put it all in the crock pot)

Too much chocolate cake

This is the cake my sister made for both McKay and my now birthday. I recently made it for a dessert contest. It is really yummy and SUPER chocolaty. Now it is my go-to chocolate cake recipe. Enjoy!

The recipe is originally from Make it and love it

Cake Recipe

1      (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix

2      1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix

3      1 cup sour cream

4      1 cup vegetable oil

5      4 eggs

6      1/2 cup water

7      1.5 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mix, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into 2 well greased 8 inch pans

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least half an hour before putting on a cooling rack. 

While that is cooking make the buttercream recipe from Cooks.com 

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
6 tbsp. butter 1 cup powdered sugar 4 tbsp. cocoa 2 to 3 tbsp. milk 1. Cream butter.2. Combine sugar and cocoa. 3. Add sugar and cocoa mixture to butter 4. Add milk to and butter mixture. I would start with 2 tbsp. of milk and if it's too thick add another tbsp. of milk.

 

After the cake is cooled, fill the middle layer with buttercream frosting. 

 Fourth, make ganache

Recipe

2 tablespoons corn syrup

6 ounces heavy cream

12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small bowl on top of a double boiler, combine the corn syrup, chocolate and heavy cream. Let melt and combine while whisking often. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Let the ganache cool for a few minutes.

Fifth, pour the ganache over the top of the cake letting it drip down the sides. Take a spatula and spread the ganache over the parts not covered.

Pipe buttercream stars on the rim of the top.

Add Almonds. Take raw sliced almonds and place them over medium heat in a sautee pan. Keep them moving by wiggling the pan until they get lightly golden. Remove from heat and alow to cool. Sprinkle them on top of your cake.           

Picture from Makeitandlove

Apple crockpot treat??

Core four apples

blend sugar, cinnamon, and raisins (but I hate raisins. They are gross. I used cranberries. They are yumm)

spoon mixed mixture into in apples

I have no idea what to call it actually. Maybe Inside Apple Crisp?

Put four apples into the crockpot. Add some water. I added 2 cups and that was too much. Top with a dopple of butter. Cook on low for 6 hours or until tender. Unless you want it mushy. Then cook it longer.