Sunday, January 22, 2012

Quick and Easy Cinnamon Rolls

I usually use my mother's recipe for cinnamon rolls, but in my recent move I am not sure where I put my recipe book. Don't worry mother, I know I wrote the recipe in my actual recipe book. I sware I won't be calling you for the 50th time for the recipe. :)

Anyways, today I went on one of my favorite sites, foodgawker.com , and found a very easy recipe, no yeast, for cinnamon rolls.


Recipe: Quick and Easy Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients:

For the Dough:
2 3/4 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup buttermilk (I used soymilk)
6 Tbsp. melted butter

For the Filling:
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon

For the Glaze:
1-2 Tbsp water
3/4 to 1 cup powder sugar

1. Preheat oven to degrees F
2. First, mix all of the dry injgredients for the dough. Then add the melted butter and milk. It will initially look like a wet mess. Continue to mix and knead for a couple minutes and it should be a little sticky, but not wet. If it seems too wet add flour.
3. Once it is mixed and in a ball shape, roll it out into a 12"x9" rectangle. Be sure to flour the surface you are working on and whatever you are using as a rolling pin.
 4. Once it is rolled out, spread the 2 Tbsp melted butter over it. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle mixture over the dough and butter.


5. Roll the rectangle up. Roll hotdog style.
6. Now that it is rolled it needs to be cut. The recipe I used gave a great tip. Use dental floss to cut your pieces. Take a piece of floss and slide it under your roll. Find the size you would like (1-2 in) and pull the floss around the top of the roll and continue until it cuts your dough. Perfecto!
 7. Place rolls onto a greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F.

 8. While the cinnamon rolls are baking, prepare the glaze. Simply mix powder sugar and water until you reach your desired consistancy for the glaze. I like thicker glazes so I used less water. Drizzle the glaze on your rolls while they are hot.

For the single person, drizzle the rolls with the glaze and allow to cool. Once they have cooled, place an individual roll in seran wrap and wrap. Place in the freezer and you have breakfast all weel long. Just throw it in a microwave for 30-45 sec and it'll be nice and warm.



ENJOY!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

DIY Decrorative Push Pins

Thanks to my friend Pam and her friend Christine(?), I got this idea. This is one of the simplest things to create and I think anyone can do it.

What you will need:
Fabric or paper with fun design
Deco-Page glue
Small Sponge
hot glue gun
flat head push pins
Clear, glass rocks, with flat side


Directions:
1. First cut small round circles out of your fabric or paper. Make then about nickle sized pieces.
2. Apply Deco-page glue with small sponge to the flat side of a glass rock. Set aside. Apply deco-page glue to the colored side of your fabric or paper cut out.
3. Place the glue side of the rock and the glue side of the fabric together. Allow to dry.
4. While it is drying heat up your glue gun.
5. Apply a small amount of hot glue to the head of the push pin.
6. Press push pin with glue against the flat side of the rock, that now has fabric/paper on it.
7. Allow to dry and you have decorative push pins.


Titi's Cake de Naranja

So my friend Robin has been very supportive of me blogging. She shared with me a few recipes from a Cuban Book of Recipes that she got for Christmas. Because of Robin's suggestion I made Titi's Cake de Naranja.

For those who don't know that means it's Titi's Orange Cake. According to the recipe, Titi is the aunt of the author. "(Cake) flavored with fresh orange juice and grated orange peel, it is frosted with a light, fluffy, lime-and-orange butter cream."



Recipe: Titi's Cake de Naranja
Ingredients:
Cake:
  3 large eggs
  12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, at room Temperature
  1 1/2 cups sugar
  1 tsp grated orange peel
  3 cups flour
  2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
  1/2 tsp salt
  1/4 tsp baking soda
  1 cup fresh orange juice

Frosting:
  1/4 lb. (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
  1 Tbsp grated orange peel
  3 cups confectioners' sugar
  1 large egg yolk (optional)
  1/4 cup fresh orange juice (modified from original recipe calling for 1/2 cup)
  1 tsp fresh lime juice
  1 can mandarin orange sections (drained), for decorating the cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. For Cake: Beat eggs in a medium bowl on high speed for 5 minutes. (I do not have an electric mixer, so i just whipped the hell out of the eggs for 4 minutes. That's as long as I could stand it. :) Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter, then gradually add sugar and orange peel. Add the eggs, beat/mix for 2 minutes to combine well, and add dry ingredients, alternating with the orange juice, until smooth and well blended.
4. Pour the batter into a greased Bundt "Boondt" pan. (original recipe called for two round cake pans, I didn't have those) Bake on middle rack for 45-50 minutes until cakes tester inserted comes out clean (original recipes says  minutes for round pans). Allow to cool at room temperature in pan, then remove from pan. For the Bundt cake, find a plate/sheet place over top of bunk pan and then flip the pan and sheet together.

5. For Frosting: Cream butter, then add grated orange peel, a small amount of sugar, and the egg yolk, and continue beating. Add the remaining sugar, alternating with the orange and lime juices, until the frosting is a spreading consistency.
6. When cake is cool, spread frosting on top (if using round pans, spread approx. 1/3 of the frosting between the cake layers.)
7. Use the mandarin oranges to decorate your cake.
8. Devour.


Here is who I played with while waiting for the cake to bake. Isn't he cute?!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Veggie Enchilada Bake

I figured since it was a Holiday I would take my dog for a walk, do laundry, clean, bake, and cook. Here's what I made for dinner.

I know it looks somewhat like my last posting of a dinner meal, but I am trying to use up my ingredients.

I think this was actually pretty tasty. I had seconds.

Rating 7.5

Recipe: Veggie Enchilada Bake
Ingredients:
6-8 corn tortillas
1 can (14.5 oz) refried beans (vegetarian)
1 can green enchilada sauce (or any enchilada sauce of your liking)
1 small can sliced black olives
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese ( or any that you choose)
1-2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 small head broccoli, chopped to small pieces
1/2 poblano pepper, chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 large leaf swiss chard, chopped
1/2 cup fresh spinach or 1/4 cup frozen
cilantro, chopped for garnish
avocado, sliced for garnish
salsa of your choice for topping
1/4 cup crumbled queso fresco for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Saute Broccoli, Poblano and oil over medium heat, 5-7 minutes. Add onion and mushrooms, saute 5 more minutes. Add Chard and Spinach, saute till swiss chard is wilted. Set aside.

Take a small baking dish and spread a thin layer of enchilada sauce on bottom of pan. Place 3-4 tortillas on top of sauce, covering bottom of dish.

Place a layer of refried beans on top of tortillas. Place veggies as a layer on top of beans. Sprinkle half of the shredded cheese on top of veggies. Drizzle a small amount of enchilada sauce on top of veggies.

On top of cheese and veggies place 3-4 tortillas on top, to cover. Cover the tortillas with remaining enchilada sauce. Sprinkle the remaining half of shredded cheese over sauce. Sprinkle sliced olives on top.

Cover with foil and bake 25 min. Remove foil and increase oven heat to 400 degrees F. Cook and additional 20 minutes. Remove and allow to cool 3 minutes.

Garnish each serving with sliced avocado, chopped cilantro, salsa, and queso fresco. Enjoy!

Mini Lemony Blueberry Muffins

I had some christmasy/holiday mini muffin liners I've been wanting to use with my mini muffins tin. Yesterday I tried to make mini brownies, aka brownie bites. I has forgotten that I'd tried this before and it doesn't work. The brownies puff up and then fall, leaving a crater in the middle. Ugh!

So today I decided to make mini blueberry muffins. I found a recipe with lemon and blueberry and thought I'd give it a try. Recipe was adapted from www.heatherdish.com

Rating (6)

Recipe: Mini Lemony Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 egg
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup yogurt
4 Tbsp veggie oil
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
zest of one lemon
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine sugar, lemon juice, egg, sour cream, yogurt, and oil. Mix until combined.

Add dry ingredients, mixing until well combined.

Fold in lemon zest and blueberries. Do not over mix, blueberries will bleed.

Line mini muffin cups with liners. Fill liners until nearly full. Batter does not rise very much, so fill nearly to the top.

Bake for 15-17 minutes. Remove from oven and remove muffins from tin to cool.

Enjoy.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Curry Butternut Squash Soup (Vegan)

This is easy and the total prep time is 10-15 minutes. Some timid cooks may think that curry sounds weird, but if you have ever had a curry squash mix you know how great the mix is. Enjoy.


Recipe: Curry Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients:
1 Butternut Squash
1-2 Tbsp Olive oil
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup soy milk
1-2 cups water
Basil, chopped for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut squash lengthwise and then cut each side in half across. Place squash skin side up onto a rimmed baking sheet, coated with olive oil. Cook for 1 hr at 400 degrees F.

Remove Squash  from oven and allow to cool 10-15 minutes or until you can hold the pieces in your hand comfortably.

Spoon out in-erds, or the meat of the squash, into a medium saucepan. Pour 1 cup soymilk into saucepan with squash. Mix with a hand blender/processor. If you don't have one, mash the squash before adding the milk.

Slowly add 1-2 cups water to the mix as you continue to blend. Add water until you reach a desired consistency.

Mix in 1/2 tsp curry powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic salt, and salt and pepper to taste.

Pour into bowl and garnish with chopped basil.

Servings: 2-3

Sweet Potato and Bean Tacos with Swiss Chard Pesto

Not your everyday taco, but quite good really. It's a healthy option and can easily be vegan, just don't top them with Queso Fresco.

Recipe: Sweet Potato and Bean Tacos with Swiss Chard Pesto
Ingredients:
Pesto:
6 leaves swiss chard, stem removed
1 cup spinach leaves
1/2 jalapeno, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp hot sauce of your choice
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup olive oil
coarse salt and frshly ground pepper

Tacos:
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 sweet potato, cut into medium pieces, diced
1 can beans of your choice, drained
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 white corn tortillas
1/2 cup tomato, diced
1/2 avocado, diced
lime and cilantro for garnish
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup queso freso, crumbled (optional)

Preheat over to 400 degrees F.

On a rimmed baking sheet toss the diced sweet potato with oil, 1 tsp. chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Roast for 30 min, turning twice.

While the potato roasts, blend Swiss chard, jalapeno, garlic, hot sauce and pine nuts in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper. Pulse. While pulsing add 1/4 cup olive oil. Set aside.

Place beans into a small saucepan and heat over medium/low.

On a small skillet, toast tortillas until you get browning.

Layer ingredients into tortilla; beans, sweet potato, tomatoes, pesto, avocado, cilantro, fresh squeezed lime juice, and queso freso (optional). Enjoy!

Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

I LOVE peanut butter, but I don't like the crunchiness of almost all peanut butter cookies I've had. Growing up my mother always loved crunchy cookies. Sorry Mom, I don't care for it. I love me some soft and chewy cookies. I'll never forget Debbie Carlman's chocolate chip cookies; always so moist.

I am happy to say I have mastered the Chocolate Chip cookies and until this recipe I had yet to master peanut butter, but I think I finally have. These are soft and tasty. Enjoy!

Recipe: Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Beat together butter and peanut butter until well combined. Add sugars and beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix just until blended. Roll balls of dough in white sugar before placing on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 min. Do not over bake. Cookies will not look quite done, but take them out. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 3 min before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes 4 1/2 dozen.

Adapted from theeverydaycook.com