Cinnamon Rolls -PW style

These are Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. They look amazing. I'll be making them tonight, letting the dough rise in the fridge and rolling them out and baking tomorrow.

This is her receipe from her website, but everything is halved

2 C whole milk
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/2 C sugar
1 tbsp active dry yeast
4 C flour
1/2 C flour
1/2 heaping tsp baking powder
1/2 scant tsp baking soda
1/2 tbsp salt

Filling:
1 C melted butter
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C cinnamon (or more depending on preference)

Frosting:
1/2 bag powdered sugar
1/4 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp melted butter
pinch of salt

Mix whole milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald to 150 degrees. Let cool until lukewarm. Sprinkle in yeast and let sit. Then add 4 C flour, stir mixture together. Cover and let sit for one hour. Add 1/2 C flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir mixture together.At this point you can put in fridge overnight or proceed...
Sprinkle surface generously with flour and form into a rectangle, roll the dough thin, maintaining a rectangular shape. Drizzle melted butter over dough. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll the dough toward you. Pinch the seam to seal it. Grease foil cake or pie pans. Cut rolls 3/4 to 1 inch thick and lay in greased pans. Cover the rolls and let sit for 30 minutes. Bake at 400 for 15 to 18 minutes.
Combine all frosting ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Generously drizzle frosting over warm mrolls after they come out of the oven.

Play Dough

What a cool thing to be able to make your own play dough for the kids. As much as my kids play with play dough and then leave it out so it gets dried up this makes it easy on the pocketbook. At Kate's preschool a parent is in charge of making a new batch each month. We've signed up for February. Here's the recipe the preschool is having us use.

2 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1 cup salt
2TB of vegetable oil
1 TB cream of tarter

10-15 drops of food coloring

Mix all ingredients except the food coloring into a pan. Cook them on a low heat until the mixture thickens and pulls away from the sides of the pan. If it is too sticky let it cook longer. Remove from the pan and cool.

Divide into balls, make divots in the top and add coloring in the middle. Mix by kneading.

food coloring will stain your hands before it has mixed into the dough. You can use plastic wrap on hands or around dough to protect your hands.

Cajun Shrimp and Andouille with Alfredo Sauce

This recipe comes from Southern Living. I've made it several times now and it's so yummy but the cream does make it a bit on the heavy side. I have only one printed copy of the recipe and I keep losing it and every time I wanted to make this I had to hunt for this one copy. I recently found it but I'm not allowed to make it until I get it typed up here in case the recipe goes missing again. This recipe is a bit more on the time consuming time and has a few more ingredients than I like to use but it's worth it. Also it can be made with chicken instead of shrimp, and I usually get that sausage that looks like a big hot dog shaped like a U. The recipe says to serve on pasta but I'm sure it would be great on rice as well which is probably a bit more Cajun.

• 1 pound unpeeled, medium-size fresh shrimp

  Click to see savings

• 1 (12-ounce) package fettuccine
• 1/2 pound Andouille sausage, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 celery ribs, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt-free Cajun seasoning
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 6 ounces pasteurized prepared cheese product, cubed (this means velvetta I've always used shredded Monterrey Jack cheese)
• 3/4 cup chopped green onions

  Click to see savings

• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (or I've used dried)

Preparation

1. Peel shrimp, and devein, if desired. Set aside.
2. Prepare fettuccine according to package directions; drain pasta, and set aside.
3. Cook sausage in a large Dutch oven over medium heat 10 minutes or until browned; remove sausage, and drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings in Dutch oven. Set sausage aside.
4. Melt butter in drippings in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add shrimp, and cook 5 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Remove shrimp, and keep warm.
5. Add onion and next 3 ingredients; cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat 10 minutes. Stir in Cajun seasoning and flour. Cook over medium heat, 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in chicken broth. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Boil 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low, and stir in heavy cream; cook over medium-low heat 8 minutes or until mixture simmers. Add pasteurized cheese cubes, sausage, and shrimp, stirring until cheese melts.
6. Stir in chopped green onions, Parmesan cheese, and chopped fresh parsley. Serve over hot cooked fettuccine.
7. Note from Sourthern Living: For testing purposes only, we used Velveeta for pasteurized prepared cheese product. Freeze shrimp and andouille pasta in 3 (8 1/4- x 5 1/4- x 1-inch) disposable foil pans covered with aluminum foil. Place in zip-top plastic freezer bags. Freeze up to 1 month, if desired. Remove from freezer bag, and bake, covered, at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Or thaw in refrigerator overnight, and bake, covered, at 350° for 45 minutes. Each pan contains about two servings.

Note:

Substitute 3 cups chopped cooked chicken for shrimp. While the fettuccine cooks, start the sausage.

Chicken Florentine Style

This is a great chicken recipe. A friend made this for dinner one night for a girl's night out and I was amazed with how great it turned out, I couldn't wait to make it for my family. The recipe comes from Giada De Laurentiis. It tastes like something you would order at a restaurant, but the great thing about it is you probably have most of the stuff in your pantry, you might have to grab a few things from the grocery store but overall there aren't a lot of ingredients. I made a few changes from the original. Oh and the funny thing about this is I don't include spinach at all in the recipe, which is what makes chicken Florentine..well chicken Florentine. You are welcomed to do what the original recipe calls for and serve it on a bed of buttered up spinach or like me just serve it with a veggie, you'll also want to serve mashed potatoes or rice because you have enough sauce left over it makes a yummy gravy.

4 boneless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
all-purpose flour, for dredging
4 TBSP butter
2TBSP shallot, sliced
1 TBSP garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cups dry white wine (or I used chicken broth)
1 cup whipping/heavy cream
1 TBSP fresh Italian parsley, chopped (or I used dried)

Directions:
Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in flour to coat lightly. Shake off any excess flour. Melt 2 TBSP butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until brown, about 5 minutes each side. Transfer chicken to a plate and cover with foil to keep it warm.

Melt 2 TBSP of butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and saute until the shallots are translucent, stirring to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet, about 1 minute. Add the wine. Increase the heat to medium-high and boil until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the cream and boil until the sauce reduces by half, stirring often. Stir in the parsley. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices to the sauce, and turn the chicken to coat in the sauce.

Serve immediately.

Spinach poppy seed salad

I got this recipe from ourbestbites, It's my absolute favorite all time salad. I love the blending of all these interesting flavors, sweet, salty, baconie, crunchy. It is only semi-healthy I would say. But still worth it.
8oz. (1/2 bag) of baby spinach

1/2-1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped

1/2 thinly sliced medium red onion

1 large avocado, cubed

8 oz. mozzarella or Swiss cheese, shredded

1 12-oz. package bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 large can Mandarin oranges, drained

Poppy seed dressing (see below) to taste

Combine all ingredients except dressing in a large bowl. When ready to serve, toss with desired amount of salad dressing and serve immediately. If you anticipate leftovers, just let your eaters dress their own salads because the dressing will make the greens wilt.


Poppy Seed Dressing
Poppy Seed Dressing
Recipe from Our Best Bites


1/3 c. white vinegar
1 tsp. Kosher salt
A few turns of freshly ground black pepper
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. mustard
1 green onion, ends removed (both the "hairy" end and where the green part starts to get floppy)
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. poppy seeds

In a blender, combine vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar, and mustard. While the blender is running, add the green onion. Continue running the blender and add the oil in a steady stream and is fully incorporated into the dressing.

Pour the dressing into a serving or storage container and whisk in poppy seeds. Serve over leafy greens.

Pad Thai

This is the closest version of Pad Thai that I've had that I really really like. I absolutely LOVE this stuff. It's easy to make and it's pretty healthy for you. If you use whole wheat noodles it's actually gameon friendly. It's from Ourbestbites....LOVE THIS WEBSITE. I've changed like 1 thing, (making it not so hot)

In a sauce pan over low heat mix together the following until it's all melted together and saucy. Remove from heat when done.
1 c. chicken broth
6 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. Sriracha chili sauce (1 is mild with a bite, 1.5 is medium, 2 is hot)
3 Tbsp. honey
6 Tbsp. soy sauce
3 Tbsp. fresh minced ginger
3-4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

Bring water to a boil and right before you are ready to serve add the noodles (the Udon cook in just 3minutes)
12 oz. Udon or linguine noodles

Have these ready and on the side to garnish your dish
Chopped green onions
Chopped cilantro
2 limes, cut into quarters
Chopped peanuts

That's it, the only change I make is I'll cook a couple of pieces of chicken breast and slice it up and add it to the meal.

C: pasta
P: Chicken
HF: peanut

Easy Cheesy Pasta Bake

A women from my Gameon diet posted this recipe, it's one of those recipes where you are like "this is diet food" it's so good. It's comfort food, it's super easy to make, my kids love it...well kid, Kate doesn't like anything these days except cheese and crackers, but one time I did make it and she did gobble it down.

8oz macaroni
1 can of tomato sauce
3/4 c. cheese any kind will do
1/4 c. Parmesan (optional or just use 1c. cheese)
2 eggs
1TBSP Italian seasoning
1/2 salt
1/2 lbs ground beef or turkey, already cooked (optional, I usually leave it out)

Preheat oven to 375.
Bring water to a boil, and cook half a box of macaroni for 7minutes. I use whole wheat since I can't tell the difference.
While that is cooking in a mixing bowl mix together eggs, tomato sauce, Italian seasonings, cheeses and meat.
Drain noodles, mix into the cheese sauce poor into a casserole dish (I sprayed with Pam first) and bake 15-20minutes.