Basic Dinner Rolls/Hamburger buns/breadsticks Bread-maker

I made these AMAZING hamburger buns tonight for our cheddar bacon burgers. (Only out of necessity) I had bought the store bought whole wheat "healthy" buns. However, when I went to get them out for our dinner tonight, they were moldy... :( yuck! Therefore, I had to do some quick thinking about what to do for our dinner tonight if I didn't have buns. I had made in my bread-maker yesturday some quick easy dinner rolls. (out of the recipe book included with my bread-maker, over 12 years ago...) Yes, I still have the recipe/instruction booklet from my bread-maker. It goes with me everywhere. It is also the only pizza dough recipe I use too. I can post it later. :) now these ingredients are to be added to my bread-maker in the order the ingredients are listed. Luckily for me, practically fool proof. Now just a little back ground for me, my husbands mother gave the bread-maker to me as a bridal shower gift. She knew how much her son loved fresh baked bread, so this was her way of helping me get to his heart through his stomach. ;) It has been a blessing to our family. :)

Ingredients add to bread-maker in order of listing if your bread-maker is a liquid first then dry.

8 oz (1 cup) water, 80F

3 Tablespoons Butter or Margarine

3 cups Bread Flour (I only use Lehi roller mills unbleached flour)

3 1/2 Tablespoons Sugar

2 Tablespoons Dry Milk (I use the LDS food storage non-fat dry milk)

1 tsp salt

2 tsp Active Dry Yeast or 1 1/2 tsp breadmachine/fast rise yeast.

1)Add water and butter to pan (cutting up the butter into small pieces)

2) Add bread flour, sugar, dry milk, and salt to pan. Tap pan to settle dry ingredients, then level ingredients, pushing some of the mixture into the corners.

3) Make a well in center of dry ingredients; add yeast. Lock pan into bread-maker.

*4) Program for dough. Program time delay if being used. Start bread-maker. When done, unlock pan from bread-maker. Place dough onto floured surface. Let rest 15 minutes.

5) Finish as desired. Place on greased baking pan or sheets, cover and let rise in warm, draft free place until double in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Brush with butter or slightly beaten egg white and bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

* for my hamburger buns at step 4 I just removed dough from bread maker after it sat in the bread-maker for 15 minutes after it was done. Then I divided the dough in half and then each half into 4 halves. Then formed into flat rounds. And then I placed on a cookie sheet I had prepped with PAM, covered with plastic wrap and placed on the stove to double in size, almost triple in size. Then placed in a preheated 350F oven for 18 minutes.

Half Veggie, Half Meat - Meatballs

I have been trying to think of a way to infuse my kids food with more veggies then they normally eat every day. Since it's pulling teeth to get some of them to eat 2TBSP of green beans. I know ridiculous. So since last night I had to pull teeth to get the green beans eaten. Today I thought i'd hide the veggies. Of course, they eat spaghetti sauce, but not usually the diced tomatoes. So here is what I did. Also, I tried a meat ball before I put it in the spaghetti sauce and it was fabulous!

Ingredients:

2 veggie pucks (see recipe for veggie pucks)

1 onion minced

1 bell pepper minced

1/2 cup potato flakes

1/2 cup italian bread crumbs

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground sausage - bulk

3 eggs

3 TBSP ketchup

1 pkg italian dressing dry mix

1 pkg au ju dry mix

2 Tbsp salt

1 Tbsp fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400F. In a large mixing bowl, add all ingredients. blend well using hands, until all ingredients are incorporated. Spray a jelly roll pan with PAM. Then, using a scoop, take a scoop full of the mixture and place it on a jelly roll pan. Repeat until all the mixture are in balls on the jelly roll pan in a single layer. This made 47 meatballs for me. They can be touching that's fine. They shrink slightly as they cook. Place jelly roll pan with the meatballs in the 400F oven for 45 minutes. Then cool and remove. Add to spaghetti sauce and eat with pasta or on a hoagie roll.

These are so delicious and good for you, full of vitamins and veggies. It's a great way to get the veggies into those picky eaters, whether they be your husband or your kids or both.

I also, added to my 2 cans HUNTS traditional spaghetti sauce 2 veggie pucks, and two cans of diced tomatoes. To give further veggie factor. This is so yummy! Enjoy! The sauce and meatballs are simmering in the crock pot for a nice easy dinner tonight. The meatballs can be made a head of time cooled and placed in a ziploc freezer bag and used at a later time. They freeze well too!

Slow Cooker Smothered Pork Chops #2

Ok, Ok,... OK... I know I have another pork chop recipe for the crock pot. BUT.... this one is easy and just as yummy. Again, I'm using what I have in the house, and not necessarily following any directions or recipes. My brain is crazy that way. But I love it! So here's to another YUMMY dish my brain made up all by it's self! Now you know, it's good when my kids eat it all up, even the sauce! And yes, they did, even my husband said it was WAY YUMMY! Another GREAT compliment! So hold on to your hats ladies and Gents! It's so easy and delicious... you'll want it at least one night a week... I know I do :)

Ingredients

8 boneless pork chops

1 can progresso french onion soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 stick of butter - unsalted

6 oz of cream cheese

2 tbsp corn starch mixed with cold water

1 pkg dry onion soup

Directions:

In a 4 Qt slow cooker, add the french onion soup, the cream of mushroom soup, the stick of butter and the pork chops. After that cooks on low all day... about 30 minutes before serving, add the cream cheese, dry onion soup mix and corn starch mixture... stir and let the cream cheese dissolve... if it doesn't dissolve take out the pork chops, and use your immersible blender and blend til smooth. Should thicken a little.

Then spoon over the pork chops and serve with rice or orzo.

DIG IN!

This was so yummy! We ate it all up, so fast that I couldn't get pictures... I thought about taking pictures when I was half way done and then thought you wouldn't want to see it half demolished and so I saved you from my partially eaten food. If you make it send me your picture... It's so YUMMY!

French Bread, Cinnamon rolls and Focaccia Bread

I have this amazing friend! Her and I make bread about once a week together. This week I have made bread three times. Once with her and twice on my own. My family can not get enough of this amazing bread. My dear friend got this recipe from a friend of her's who served an LDS Mission in France. She got this recipe from a group of French Monks. They believed that the oil, and salt killed the yeast. This is how to make their bread.

This is my favorite bread recipe. My friend who I lovingly borrowed this recipe from, makes pizza crust and bread loafs out of it. I decided today that I wanted to use this for a few different things, so I decided to make cinnamon rolls and focaccia bread out of it after I made three bread loafs... So here is the recipe. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Ingredients

13-14 cups of Lehi Roller Mills unbleached flour (or other unbleached flour high quality)- in utah can be found at Costco.

2/3 cup oil

2 Tbsp Salt

2 Tbsp dry active yeast (Red Star or SAF)

1/2 cup LDS church Dry Milk or 1 cup regular dry milk

6 cups Hot Water

1 cup sugar

Follow the steps exactly -

Directions:

This is what we call the science experiment stage.

1. In a large bowl add 6 cups of hot water, dry milk, sugar and yeast. Using a wire whisk, mix the ingredients until the dry milk completely dissolves. Then add in 6 cups of flour whisking until paper mache' consistency. Then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise aprox 1 hour.

Next...

2. After risen, sprinkle the salt, and pore the oil on the risen yeast mixture. Then mix incorporating the salt and oil. Then gradually work the mixture adding 2 cups of flour at a time until dough starts to form and gets slightly less sticky... remove dough from the bowl onto floured surface, then continue kneeding the dough adding flour until nice light non sticky dough is formed.

then clean the large bowl from earlier, spray with non stick cooking spray, place dough in prepared bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise an hour. punch down... turn over

cover again with plastic wrap and let rise another hour, then punch done, turn over.. recover

then let rise another hour... punch down and then

Shape into bread loafs, rolls, cinnamon rolls, focaccia bread or what ever... cover with plastic wrap,

Let rise until double in size. Then bake in an oven 350F for 27 min for loafs, 18 min for rolls.

Remove from oven, spread melted butter on the tops and enjoy!

Cinnamon rolls

After I had three loafs of bread in the pan, I then divided the remaining dough in half. From one half I rolled out the dough to rectangle and spread melted butter cinnamon, a few dashes of cloves, and brown sugar on it, rolled it up along the length of the dough, then cut it with string into aprox. 1 inch wide rolls. Then I let rise until aprox double in size. Then Baked in the oven 350 for 19 minutes. They came out golden brown, Next I got a premade cream cheese icing, thined it out with milk, and drizzled on top. Will serve these cold tomorrow morning. But will be good warmed. Enjoy! :)

Focaccia Bread

With the other half of the dough I tried to flatten out as best I could on a cookie sheet, that had been drizzled generously with olive oil. As I was flattening the dough, I dug my fingers in to rip the dough with my fingers. Then I let rise til puffy and double in size. I sprinkled with rosemary and garlic seasoning, salt and another drizzling of olive oil. Then Baking in the oven 350F for 20 minutes. Until golden brown.

This should be light and fluffy, and full of yummy flavor. Enjoy warm or cold.

Smokehouse Maple Flat Iron Steak with oven roasted onions and potatoes

Tonight is not too much like any other Sunday night, except for the fact that I am feeling quite under the weather and really would have liked someone else to make dinner for me. My stomach feels a little weird. And I'm completely exhausted. I was up until 3:30 am Saturday night and got up at 7:30am to get ready for church and then home to try to work on school work, just to get sidetracked into wrapping christmas presents to be shipped off tomorrow, along with christmas cards and a strong desire to make some christmas cookies. Needless to say, no homework done and very ADHD on everything else. So I didn't want to cook... alas,... I did anyways. :)

Tonight is a very EASY and I stress EASY! not a lot of prep and just easy peasy...

Ingredients

Smokehouse maple seasoning by McCormick

1.5 to 2 lb Flat Iron Steak

2 onions large sliced

4 potatoes (medium to large) cut into chunks with skins on

1/3 cup oil

1 pkg onion soup mix

For the potatoes you cut the potatoes in to chunks place in a 13X9 pan coat with the oil and onion soup mix. Place in a preheated 425 preheated oven for 25-35 min tossing occasionally until golden brown. While that is baking in the oven. Pull out the Flat Iron Steak and cut on the diagonal, then turn and cut on the opposite diagonal only about 2-3 cm into the meat. Do this on both sides of the flat iron steak. Then with the onions sliced place on a foil lined cookie sheet/jelly roll pan. Next you will want to sprinkle generously the seasoning on both sides of the flat iron and rub in. This will give it a nice crust and flavor to the meat. If you have a separate broiler then broil for 5-8 min each side for medium rare. let rest for 5 min. and then slice against the grain into slices. Serve with the roasted potatoes and the slices of onion along with a fresh leafy green for a yummy, EASY Meal :)

Red Velvet Cookies

As I was making the Pumpkin Chocolate Butterscotch cookies, I also wanted to make red velvet cookies. I have never made even cupcakes that were red velvet. I looked on allrecipes.com as to how to make these. I was surprised that there was actually cocoa in red velvet, as well as sour cream. Luckily I had just enough sour cream. :) I also happened to have two bags of the betty crocker sugar cookie mix in my food storage. :) Double score! :) So I decided to make them.

Ingredients:

1 (1 pound 1.5 ounce) pouch Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon red food color

1 egg

3/4 cup Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy cream cheese frosting

1/4 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

Mix cookie mix, cocoa, butter, sour cream, food color and egg in bowl until soft dough forms.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 8 to 9 minutes or until set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

Frost cooled cookies with frosting. Sprinkle with nuts. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

I didn't have any nuts, so I skipped that option. Other than that I followed the recipe. Braeden said they were yummy and he couldn't even taste the sour cream. (mind you he HATES sour cream). so that was a GREAT thing :) They are light and airy. Pretty tasty :) Enjoy!

Pumpkin chocolate butterscotch cookies

I love baking cookies! Don't you? Doesn't everyone?! I can't see why not. I love the joy of eating the cookie dough, the smell of the cookies baking in the oven, and the warm cookie with a cold glass of milk... ah... the good stuff, that's the joy of life... isn't it... I think so...

Well, enough about me and my obsession with cookies, well, baking in general. I believe that cookies make the world a little brighter place. Today's recipe came about because at first I was going to make some pumpkin chocolate chip bread. Then i thought, I know a scary thing... Can I make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I liked the recipe that used oil instead of butter, since I'm out of butter... I know another travesty... So, I decided I would double the recipe so I have enough for my kids to have some and for me to give some away. (I love sharing food with others :)) So, in doing that, I realized that I had 1/2 a bag or 1 cup of butterscotch chips that needed used, and I wasn't wanting to put them in regular chocolate chip cookies. I thought (I know I need to stop that) these would be good in my pumpkin cookies.... So here is what ingredients I used :) Enjoy!

And yes, I've already had some of the dough and a fresh warm cookie... mmmmm tasty... I think I will eat another one soon... now I'm craving them! Darn them!!!

Ingredients:

2 cups canned pumpkin

2 cups white sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 egg

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons milk

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips*

Directions:

Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

Add vanilla, chocolate chips and butterscotch chips*.

Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

Makes at least 4 dozen cookies

Recipe from Allrecipe.com