Growing up we really only had dinner rolls for holidays or special occasion dinners (ie company); and they were almost always store bought.  When I got married I learned how much my husband LOVES dinner rolls.  His mom made them often and they never lasted long in a house with five children.  She served them anytime we came to visit and they are really soft, buttery rolls- very good!  Within my first year of marriage I asked my Mother-in-Law for her roll recipe and went to work trying to make them.  The recipe yielded A LOT of rolls and I remember it took FOREVER to make (start them mid morning if you want them for dinner type of rolls) and it called for boxed mashed potatoes (something I never seemed to have on hand).

Every few months I would try again to make them and they never turned out like my MIL’s despite all my practice.  A few years later we moved to Arizona and I met my dear friend Sara.  She invited us over for dinner and made the best dinner rolls!  I asked her for the recipe- thinking I’d give dinner rolls another try.  She told me the recipe came from her aunt and they had adapted it and altered it together to create what she now used.  The recipe was called Moments Notice Rolls.  They take about an hour and a half start to finish- yup, you read that right-and yes, they are yeast rolls.

I’ve been making Sara’s recipe for years now and I have shared this recipe with countless friends.  This is the recipe that I adapted to create my Soft Cinnamon Rolls (that is all over pinterest now!)  This recipe yields about a dozen and a half rolls and can easily be doubled.

Moments Notice Rolls
1 1/4c WARM water
1/3c oil
1/4c. white sugar
2 Tablespoons yeast (I use rapid rise)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 egg
3 1/4c white flour

Mix warm water, oil, sugar and yeast together and let sit for 15 min. This should be long enough for the yeast to activate.  FYI if you (like me) keep your yeast in the freezer, bring it to room temperature before you use it in this recipe.  Yeast should be bubbly like this after the 15min.

With a wooden spoon mix in salt, egg, and flour.  This dough will not be soft and smooth like bread dough, it will be sticky.  You may add a Tablespoon or two of extra flour to make it easier to handle.  It should stick to the spoon but not be runny.  Let rise in a warm place for 10min.

Lay dough on a floured surface and roll into a rectangle about 8″ x 12″, dough should be 1/4″ – 1/2″ thick.  Cut your dough into 2″x4″ rectangles.  Roll the rectangles up (like a jelly roll) and then fold them in half, creating a smooth dome on one side.  (all measurements are approximate, if your rectangles are bigger or smaller that’s fine- do what works!)  Place the dome side up on a cookie sheet or baking pan.

Create a proofer in your own oven.  Preheat your oven to 170, when the oven reaches 170 turn it off.  Place a bowl of hot steamy water (be sure to remove the bowl before baking!) on the bottom rack of your oven and place the rolls on the top rack.  Close the oven door and let them rise for a minimum of 20min, longer if you have the time.  Bake at 425 for 12-18min- you don’t want them too brown or too doughy.  If you are so inclined (i usually don’t) brush the tops with butter before you serve.

They are perfect for Sunday dinner, chicken salad and my favorite  lunch of a slice of tillamook cheese and mesquite smoked turkey!

p.s. all temperatures are measured in Fahrenheit

I made my first ever Bundt Cake this weekend.  I used this MS recipe for Almond Bundt Cake.  Here are some tips I would pass along to anyone who wants to try it.

1. Bundt Cake batter is thick, much more like muffin batter than cake batter.

2. Use a pastry brush and really coat your pan well with miracle cake release

3. This recipe should be doubled for a full sized bundt cake

4. Mix the brown sugar spice stuff in AFTER you have filled the Bundt pan, and gently fold it in using the handle end of a wooden spoon.

5. Way too much icing, you could half the icing recipe and be just fine.

Years ago I read a MSL piece about Baked Beans, Martha was reminiscing on the way her mother would prepare baked beans in the wood stove.  Being highly susceptible to literary food suggestions (it really is a problem for me!), I sought out the recipe and made it.  It did not turn out near as wonderful as Martha made it sound.  Since then I have been searching for just the right recipe.

I think I may have found success!  This recipe comes for my great grandmother’s recipe book and it was perfect for a simple Sunday dinner.

2 15oz cans of white beans
1lb bacon (cut into 1″ pieces)
2 meduim onions, diced
2 large bell peppers, diced
1c Ketchup
1/2c brown sugar
2T Molasses

Combine all ingredients into slow cooker, cook on low for 4 hours.  Uncover, skim fat off the top and continue cooking on high (uncovered) for 2 more hours.  Serves 12-15 as a side dish or 6-8 as a main dish.

We served ours over cornbread and it was just right (even the kids ate it!).

We returned last night after a seven-day family road trip to Wyoming and back.  We had a great time (minus the back seat driving and fighting from the kids!), and ate some great food along the way.  While I certainly appreciate the break from cooking for my family every night, after seven days I was itching to get back into the kitchen and make something!

Today I pulled out all the stops and made my family an truly delicious Sunday dinner.  Chicken Parsinne, roasted root vegetables, spinach and blue cheese salad (from a bag- the only way I make salad)- all finished off with a mouth watering strawberry pie!  I found the pie recipe on pinterest, it was super easy to make and everyone had two slices!

Thanks Lauren for a new summer staple!

I admit it, I eat lean cuisine frozen meals for lunch; they taste good and require very minimal effort on my part.

Recently I tried the Butternut Squash Ravioli and really liked it!  I don’t typically like squash at all (can’t even stand pumpkin pie), something about the sweetness of the squash with the creamy sauce was really appealing.  I decided to try making it myself for dinner tonight.  It turned out so good I thought I would share the recipe I whipped up.

2pkgs of Butternut Squash Ravioli or Triangoli
1/2c or so of snap peas
1 bell pepper (color of your choice), cut into thin matchsticks
1 large carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
1tsp minced garlic
3T salted butter
1/4c chopped walnuts
salt and pepper
1 1/2c chicken stock
flour
Parmesan cheese

I was able to find fresh triangoli at my local Trader Joe’s for something like $2.99 a pack.  This recipe will serve a family of 4 good eaters, so you may want to do more or less for your needs.

Directions:
(Cook Triangoli according to package directions)
Melt 1T butter in a large skillet over med heat, add garlic and cook for a few min, until garlic is aromatic (but not brown).  Add carrots, peas  and bell pepper- cover and cook on low for 5-10min until vegetables are crisp tender.    Take veggies and garlic out of pan and set aside.  Add 2T of butter to skillet, when melted stir in 2-3T of flour then add chicken stock.  Bring to a boil and simmer until thickened, you may need to add a bit more flour.  Add salt and pepper to taste, mix in pasta and veggies.  Top with walnuts and Parmesan cheese before serving.

Let me know if you try it…

I made cookies today. I love these cookies, they are delicious and soft just like those ones from the grocery store with the neon frosting.  My kids love them too, and ask for them far more often than I have the inclination to make them.  I posted the recipe before, you can find it here.  I originally did an online search for cookies like those ones from the store and ran across the recipe in an online forum.  I adapted it a bit (I mentioned what I changed) and have been using it every since.

Enjoy!

Winter is in full force across most of the US, but here in the desert it is starting to peter out.  Wanting to squeeze Winter to the very last itty bitty squeezable drop, I made a thick and rich beef stew for dinner last night.  As we ate, I kept remarking to my husband that this was the best pot of beef stew I think I have ever made!  Funny thing is, I didn’t follow a recipe this time, I just started dumping things into the crock pot and hoping it all worked out.

Since it was so good I decided I had to write down what I did in hopes that I (and you!) can recreate its creamy, beefy goodness!

1.5-2lbs of cubed beef
salt & pepper
4 diced red potatoes
3 diced carrots
14oz can of diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
1t dried oregano
1t dried basil
1/2t garlic powder
2c beef stock
1/2c water
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Heat a skillet up on high heat, sprinkle meat with salt and pepper and then brown in skillet (be sure to use some olive oil or butter, so your meat doesn’t stick to the pan).  You don’t want to thoroughly cook the meat, you just want to make sure that you brown all sides of the meat- this helps to keep the meat moist while it’s cooking.  Once the meat is done add it to the crock pot with all remaining ingredients EXCEPT the Cream of Mushroom Soup.

Cook on high for 3 hours (my crock pot is really hot and cooks fast, you may have to adjust the time for your crock pot).  About 10min before serving mix in the cream of mushroom soup.  That’s the trick for making the stew nice and thick with a hint of mushroom flavor.

I suggest serving it with a nice Cesar Salad, Crusty Bread and finished off by a nice bowl of Apple Crisp and Vanilla ice-cream!

Every year I get the email about participating in the cookies exchange, and I think to myself,  “oh fun!  I can bake holiday cookies, decorate them up pretty and then share them with others (I’m so altruistic like that).”  But as the day of the cookie exchange gets closer and closer I find myself avoiding the kitchen and the thought of cookies with the same intensity as I used to avoid those asinine English papers dissecting long forgotten tales of whoa.

The day of the cookie exchange arrives and I pour over my cookbooks and click my way through pinterest looking for cookie recipes that are both super easy but look like they took a lot of time and effort and present well.  Then I realize there is no such thing and I start wondering if it would be lame to show up with chocolate chip cookies (because it doesn’t get much easier than that).  This morning I decided that chocolate crinkles cookies would work (but- Oh the hand rolling of every blasted cookie!).  I find myself once again….hours before the event quickly baking and preparing for a trip to Wal Mart because where else can you find cute cookie containers on short notice?  Let’s face it, the cookies that look the nicest get eaten instead of left to dry out on the counter.  And, by golly, if I took days to procrastinate and hours to actually bake the dang cookie, somebody better eat them!

I think a cookie recipe exchange would be better, I’ll bring six copies of a yummy looking cookie recipe (no baking involved)….but oh then I’d have to design up a cute recipe card and remember to have them professionally printed DAYS in advance.  That to seems like too much work. sigh.  Wonder if anyone will invite me to participate in their cookie exchange next year….and what the heck am I going to do with 2+ dozen cookies this weekend? Gain 10lbs is what!

I first heard about Mad Hungry: Feeding Men & Boys on Erin’s blog…ages ago.  I have hungry men and boys at my house I thought, so I added the recipe book to my Amazon wish list and mostly forgot about it.

I ventured to the Downtown (ie big main branch) Library over the weekend and guess what I found on an end cap?  I promptly checked it out, went home and poured over it!  I pulled out about 3 recipes to try this week, tonight we had Savory Chicken Pocket Pies.  Stars Above! How did I live this long without knowing the joys of CREAM CHEESE added to pastry dough?!  I will never go back!

Lucinda Scala Quinn (the author) does fancy pants food stuff over there for Ms. Martha Stewart…who was kind enough to republish the recipe.  You don’t have to take my word for it -that these are delish- you can make them yourselves!  I tinkered a little bit with the recipe- I used half the onion, added 3 cloves of garlic and used ground chicken instead of boiled chicken.

My kids really liked them, enough that they said I could send one to school tomorrow in their lunch boxes (gasp!!).   I think they’d be good with a sauce too…a cucumber yogurt sauce maybe??  The accompanying vegetables though?  Hmmm, not so much.  The downside to making these is they take just shy of forever…or maybe it just felt like that to me because Aaron was working late and I had to help with homework,  an almost 2 year old  tugging at my pant leg asking me to read to her and cook dinner!  I should have started making the pastry BEFORE the kids got home from school, but instead I spent 3 hours on the computer working on stuff for the school fundraiser next week.

Anyhoo, all I’m really trying to say is THESE ARE GOOD, YOU SHOULD MAKE THEM TOO.

Are forever doing things that make me laugh.  My son is much more serious, he is always making me think.  But, my girls?  The make me laugh!

I am always sticking notes on the fridge with a list of dinners so I have an idea of what to make each week.  Notice the spelling and handwriting change at the bottom?

My 6 yo loves Hawaiian Haystacks (without the pineapple!), which we call “chicken, cheese and rice”.  It cracks me up that she went to the trouble to use the same marker I did to make it appear like it was meant to be on the list this week.  I think I’ll surprise her and make it tonight!

If you are wondering, the spaghetti is an old recipe from 1953 (complete with canned tomato soup), called Irish Italian Spaghetti, I make it a few times a year…its not bad.

While cleaning the house today, my youngest daughter was messing in my ribbon drawer (which is now a DISASTER!).

I found her with it draped all over her walking around the house- dragging the ends and spool behind her.

My girls, they just make me smile!