Cinnabon Rolls

Recipe found from cdkitchen.com

I remember going to the Supermall in Auburn and while I was walking around always smelling the aroma of Cinnabons.  Come to think of it I don't ever remember trying a Cinnabon Roll.  No big deal just make your own.  These are VERY time consuming but so worth it.

Cinnabon Rolls


Ready in: 2-5 hrs
Serves/Makes: 12


INGREDIENTS:


1/2 cup warm water
2 packages active dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 package (3.5 ounce size) instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
8 cups flour
1/2 cup butter, melted

TOPPING

2 cups brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons cinnamon

FROSTING

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk


DIRECTIONS:


In small bowl, combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside. Yeast should bubble. In large bowl, make pudding mix according to package directions. Mix until slightly thickened. Add butter, eggs, salt; mix well. Add yeast. Blend. Gradually add flour and knead until smooth.


Place in large greased bowl. Cover and let rise in warm draft free place until double in size, about 1 hour. Punch down and let rise again, about 45 minutes. On lightly floured surface, roll out to 34" x 21" rectangle. Spread 1/2 c melted butter over surface.


In small bowl, mix topping (brown sugar and cinnamon). Sprinkle over top of dough. Starting at the long edge of the dough, roll up very tightly. With a knife, put a notch every 2 inches. With string or thread place under roll by notch and cross cross over to cut roll.


Place 4 rolls each into 8 or 9-inch square baking pans, 2" apart. Cover and let rise in warm draft free place until double. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, remove when golden brown.


Combine all frosting ingredients and mix until smooth. Spread on warm rolls. Serve warm.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

photo by Tami N.

Recipe from Great-Grandpa's Cookbook

I think any baker is always looking for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I have 3 different recipes that I rely on depending on what ingredients I have on hand.  This first one I have works great in moist climates.  It was passed down through our family.  When I was living in Seattle these always turned out perfect.  For some reason they set up differently since I moved to Utah but still good none the less.  My cookie tip is I reduced the number of minutes to 10 to cook then I let them sit on the baking pan for a few minutes and they stay nice and chewy.  Also, use this for white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies just omit the chocolate and walnuts.  I love almond extract switch it out for the vanilla...it tastes fabulous!!!!  And if it's been a few days and you don't like a hard cookie just nuke it in the microwave for a few seconds...it will soften up great.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/8 c. sifted flour
1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. shortening (butter shortening works great)
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 egg beaten
1 t. vanilla
8 oz chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (opt.)

Sift flour, soda and salt and set aside.  Cream shortening and sugars together.  Add egg and vanilla.  Blend thoroughly.  Add sifted ingredients.  Drop by teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake 350 degrees about 10 minutes.

update:  BIG thank you to Carrie who caught a typo on my recipe.  The shortening amount is changed now.  That could've been really tragic.  Guess I better double check better my typing skills.  Also, I always double this recipe...I guess I should just rewrite to be doubled.  For a family you definitely want more.

Dee's Health Bread

Recipe found on allrecipes.com

There are a few changes to this recipe that I would like to share but before I do know that the recipe is great how it is.  My friend Cathy Rhodes gave me this recipe after she gave me some bread after having my first baby and I fell in love with it.  If you can freshly grind your wheat flour I HIGHLY recommend doing it.  My bread will never be like hers because of this one simple step.  I'll include the changes after the recipe.

Dee's Health Bread

Servings: 72

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 cup warm water
3 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tablespoons lemon juice
7 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup flax seed
1/4 cup cracked wheat
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
4 teaspoons salt
4 cups bread flour

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup warm water. In a large bowl, mix remaining 3 1/2 cups warm water, honey, molasses, oil, eggs and lemon juice. Mix well. Add yeast mixture and stir.
2. Gradually add 5 cups whole wheat flour beating well after each addition. Add the flax, cracked wheat and sunflower seeds, stir well.
3. Let stand for 20 minutes, until mixture is very light. Stir in salt and the rest of the flours until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Knead 10 to 15 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Put into a greased bowl and cover, let rise in the oven with light on until doubled, about 1 hour.
5. Punch down and shape into 6 round balls. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
6. Form into loaves and let rise covered in oven until doubled. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) 25-35 minutes.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2012 Allrecipes.com

Changes as follows:

Omit the molasses and increase honey to 1/2 cup

Omit the bread flour and increase the whole wheat flour to 11 cups

Omit the cracked wheat and increase flax seed and sunflower seeds to 1/3 each.

Chicken and Bows

Recipe from Simple and Delicious Taste of Home Magazine
Sept/Oct 2007

This has become popular among my kids.  You can substitute cream of mushroom for the cream of chicken if you don't have it on hand.  And I have used egg noodles if you don't have bow ties but it's fun to have the bow ties for the kids sake.

Chicken and Bows

Ingredients
1 package (16 ounces) bow tie pasta
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 cup chopped sweet red pepper
1/4 cup butter, cubed
2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 cups frozen peas
1-1/2 cups 2% milk
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a Dutch
oven, cook chicken and red pepper in butter over medium heat for 5-6
minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.

Stir in the soup, peas, milk, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bring
to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 1-2 minutes or until
heated through. Stir in cheese. Drain pasta; add to chicken mixture
and toss to coat.

Serve half of the mixture immediately. Cool remaining mixture;
transfer to a freezer container. Cover and freeze for up to 3
months.

© Taste of Home 2012

And the Winner is...

So, today Maryn sat down and read through twice each of the entries.  She narrowed it down to 3 favorites and she had a tough time but her favorite story that made her laugh was Carrie and Drew's Brownie Story. I'll repost it if you missed it.  This was without any help from me also.  She said what she thought was funny was Drew thought the whole time he thought he was trying to stir out big lumps of powder when it was nuts the whole time.   Thanks for everyone who entered I had a good laugh on all of them.  Carrie your chocolate will soon arrive!

Reposted Comment that won:

since my cooking disasters are pretty lame, i decided to share one of drew's disasters. i told him one night how nice it would be if when i came back from visit teaching the apartment smelled like brownies. so he got a box of brownies and proceded to make them. when i came home my apartment did not smell like brownies and drew was still in the kitchen mixing them, there was mix all over the stove top. i asked drew why it was taking him so long to make them and he said he was trying to get all the lumps out, i looked at the box and the mix he chose contained nuts, so the lumps he was trying to get out were walnuts. he hasn't attempted brownie making since.

Chicken Wild Rice Chowder

Recipe from Taste of Home

I usually double this recipe because we never have enough.  Instead of slicing the carrots I like to dice them.  And when I double the recipe I usually only use one package of the wild rice.  I've never been able to find the ready to serve rice so I just make the boxed rice according to the instructions then add it at the end of the recipe like your supposed to.  Cornbread served on the side accompanies this main dish well.

Chicken Wild Rice Chowder

4 Servings
Prep/Total Time: 25 min.

Ingredients
2 cups sliced fresh carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
2-2/3 cups cubed cooked chicken breasts
1 package (8.8 ounces) ready-to-serve long grain and wild rice
1/4 cup half-and-half cream
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions
In a large saucepan, saute the carrots, onion and celery in butter
until tender. Stir in flour until blended; gradually add broth.
Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
Stir in the chicken, rice, cream and pepper; heat through.

Yield: 4 servings
© Taste of Home 2012

Hawaiian Haystacks

Recipe from The Pratt Family Cookbook

I use this recipe for my Hawaiian Haystacks.  For those of you who have never had this your base is rice that you put a chicken gravy on top then you pile it with a whole bunch of different toppings.  I have another substitute for the cream of chicken soup.  It's a food storage mix that replaces canned soup and works just lovely.  I'll dig that out and put it up here.  I  really don't like runny gravy on my Haystacks.  If you want to thicken your gravy up pour a little bit of milk in a bowl and whisk in 1 Tbl of cornstarch or potato starch then mix it in the sauce over medium heat.  It will give you the more heartier thick sauce.  Also, I rarely use sour cream anymore.  My go to is plain yogurt.  If you want a little bit more flavor put a couple shakes of Mrs. Dash salt free garlic blend.

If you need ideas of what to put on your Haystack here is what our family has tried:  slivered almonds, peas, craisins, shredded cheese, tomatoes, chow mein noodles, coconut, pineapple, olives, celery.  I know I've probably left some things out.  If you're family has any other toppings they like throw them in the comments.

Chicken, Turkey, or Ham a la King

2 cups cooked cubed chicken, turkey, ham or other type of meat
1 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
1 can cream of chicken soup or other cream soup
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
3 1/2 cups frozen or fresh vegetables
(Omit vegetables if using for Hawaiian Haystacks.)

Cook rice. Cook frozen or fresh vegetables. Drain excess liquid off of cooked vegetables.
Heat up sour cream, milk, soup, and vegetables in medium size sauce pan. Put meat in
cream mixture. Serve over rice.
Copyright 2000-2001 Barbara Pratt. All rights reserved.