Orange Rolls

I've never made homemade orange rolls before...that could be why I've never liked them. This year I couldn't afford to buy orange rolls (I know they are like $1.64 or something, but I'm trying to save money, so if I can make it at home, then I do), so I tried out a new recipe. It seems a little involved, but no more so than making cinnamon rolls. I found this recipe on a blog called getoffyourbuttandbake.blogspot.com

Orange Rolls-

1 cup milk (scald & cool until lukewarm)

3 TBSP Butter

1 Cup flour

3 eggs beaten

1/2 Cup sugar

1 TBSP Yeast

Beat the above mixture together

Then add:

3 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

Mix together well, kneading slightly. Form a nice ball of dough, that is soft,but doesn't stick to your fingers. Add additional flour if needed. Grease a large bowl with butter, place dough in bowl, and cover with tight lid.

Rise dough until doubled in size.

Tip: Place 2 large clean bath towels inside your dryer.Turn your dryer on, and heat those towels, until they are very warm. Open dryer, and nest your bowl of dough in the warm towels. Close your dryer door.........DO NOT TURN ON YOUR DRYER!!!!

The dough will raise in no time at all. Trust me it works wonders.

GLAZE:

6 TBSP melted butter

1/2 C. Sugar

Grated rind of 1 orange

FROSTING:

1 bag of powdered sugar

All the freshly squeezed juice from your orange

2 TBSP Vanilla

1 cube softened butter

Enough milk to make frosting the right consistency

Mix together until fluffy with your hand mixer.

Cut frosting ingredients in half if you are not doubling recipe.

When the dough has doubled in size, you are ready to roll!

Sprinkle a generous amount of flour across your counter.

Roll out dough, in an oblong shape, about 1/2 to 3/4 " thick. Spread dough with glaze mixture. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon. Roll up your dough into a long log and pinch and seal the edges. Cut 1" slices with a long piece of sewing thread or floss.

Put in sheet pans. Rise again.....until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Frost while they are warm.

I don't know why it posted like this, but enjoy anyway. And MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Connie's Chicken and Pasta Salad

This stuff is fantastic! I LOVE it! Maybe because it has so much Miracle Whip (which I'm sure you can substitute with Mayo for all you purists).

Connie's Chicken and Pasta Salad

2 cups cooked chicken cup up

2 cup jack cheese cubed

2 cups diced celery

1 bunch green onions

5 cups uncooked small shell macaroni

2 cups diced granny smith apples

Cook macaroni and mix 3 cups miracle whip (can not use mayo) plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice add salt and pepper and mrs. dash. Mix everything ltogether put in the fridge over night.

Before serving add 8oz pkg cashews, a can mandarin oranges, can pineapple tidbits, and purple grapes (sliced in half)

Jennifer, I like to add a couple cans of mandarin oranges and a pineapple. add as much as you would like. (same with the grapes)

Love Connie

Connie's Artichoke Dip

I had this at the RS Christmas Party last week. It is SO good! And really easy. I'm gonna make it for a New Year's Party and I can hardly wait to eat it again!

Connie’s Artichoke dip

2 (8oz) pkgs cream cheese
2 small jars artichoke hearts, marinated and drained
1 cup mayonnaise
¾ cup Parmesan cheese

Mix altogether and bake 350 for 30-40 mins. serve with crackers or veggies

Bacon-Cliantro Fried Rice

This is by FAR the best fried rice I have EVER eaten!  Brian was watching a show called Simply Ming and decided to make the recipe.  It's easy and delicious.  We ended up taking about half of the bacon grease out of the pan because we had such fatty bacon.  

Bacon-Cilantro Fried Rice

4 eggs
8 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 bunch scallions sliced thinly, separate white and green (we used green onions)
8 cups cooked jasmin rice, day old
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Canola oil for cooking

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs together until well-combined. In a large sauté pan over high heat coated with 1/4-inch of oil, gently lower the eggs in and season. Eggs will puff up and cook through very quickly; transfer eggs and oil to a paper towel-lined plate. In the same pan, cook the bacon. When bacon is almost fully cooked, add the garlic, ginger and scallion whites and stir-fry for 1 minute, until softened and fragrant. Add the rice, soy sauce and eggs and stir to heat through and break up the eggs. Check for flavor and season if necessary.  Toss in the cilantro and scallion greens and serve.

Butternut Squash Soup

So, Brian requested some butternut squash the other day.  Those are some big squash, so I thought I'd just make a meal out of it instead of serving it just as a side dish.  I found a recipe from the Gourmet Magazine and got to work.  I think the soup turned out beautifully, fantastic color, savory flavor...baby food-like consistency...ew.  That was the only problem, the texture was just like baby food (and I know that because, despite having no baby at home, we played "baby food roulette" at the EQ activity last week).  I don't know how I could have blended it any smoother.  Anyway, that was the main complaint.  If any of you try it out, tell me if you are able to obtain a silky smooth texture.  

Butternut Squash Soup

1 medium butternut squash

1 medium onion

1 Tbs. freshly grated ginger (optional)

3 Tbs. butter

3 cups chicken broth

1-2 cups water as needed (for thinning out the soup, although I used half cream and half water)

salt and pepper

sour cream for garnish

Cut squash in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Arrange the halves cut side down in roasting pan that has been sprayed with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Bake squash in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until very tender at 350-425. Set aside to cool. When the squash is completely cool, scoop the flesh from the skin. 

While the squash is baking, cook the onion and the ginger in the butter in a saucepan, over moderately low heat, for 5 minutes or until the onion is softened, Add the broth and simmer the mixture for 10 minutes, covered. Add the squash to the sauce pan. 

Transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor, in batches, and puree until smooth. Add enough water to achieve the desired consistency, and salt and pepper to taste. Return the soup to the sauce pan and cook over moderate heat until it is hot. Garnish each portion.

Okay, I didn't use the ginger.  And I used about a cup of heavy whipping cream as a replacement for some of the water.  And it took about an hour and a half for my squash to roast...at 400.  Of course, my oven sucks, so maybe for you people who have a good oven, it would be less time.  Anyway, all in all, it had a great flavor.  

Raspberry Cream Bars

I first tried this dessert at Richard's aunt's house, who by the way is an AMAZING cook. She never gives recipes out though so I did a search on the Internet for it. I finally found it and now it's one of my favorites! Enjoy!

Crust:
1 cup graham crackers, crushed
1 cup pretzels, crushed
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 tablespoons sugar

Cream Layer:
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
8 ounces cool whip

Raspberry Layer:
1 six ounce package raspberry jello
2 cups boiling water
20 ounces frozen raspberries, partially thawed and undrained (is that a word?)

Dissolve the jello in boiling water, add raspberries. Put in the refrigerator to thicken slightly. Mix crust ingredients and press firmly into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 9 minutes. Cool completely. Cream the sugar and cream cheese, fold in cool whip. Spread over cooled crust. Pour raspberry jello mix over cream layer and chill.

Green Beans with Bacon

This is my favorite way to eat green beans. I'm not sure where I got the recipe but I've been making it for years and everyone in the family loves them.

1 pkg (16 oz) frozen green beans (whole, cut, French, whatever)
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chicken bouillon granules
bacon bits - a spoonful or two

Put everything in a saucepan or pot except for the bacon. Cook over medium heat until beans are tender-crisp (or really soggy, because they taste really good that way too). Right before serving add the bacon bits and give it a good stir so the bacon can warm up a bit.

The Best Chocolate Cake Ever

or at least that's what my husband thinks. I make it every year for his birthday at his request, and about 10 other times in the year, too. This makes a fairly dense cake and tastes very old-fashioned. It's not the fluffy, airy kind of chocolate cake you get from a box. One great thing about this is that it doesn't use eggs or any type of refrigerated foods - only stuff from your food storage!

3 c. flour
2 c. sugar
6 tbsp. baking cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 c water
2/3 c vegetable oil
2 tsp white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract

In a mixing bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. Add water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Beat on low for 1 minute. Beat on medium for 1 minute. Pour into a greased (or sprayed) 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

We typically don't frost this, just dust with powdered sugar or whipped cream.

Banana Crumble Muffins

I like banana bread, but I haven't found a REALLY good recipe yet, until this one. Technically it's supposed to be muffins, but I stuck it in a 9x9 and it turned out marvelously!! I love it!! Of course, you have to bake it MUCH longer. Like and hour and a half or so. Just poke it in the middle with a tooth pick or something. Take it out of the oven when the toothpick comes out clean. And I don't see why you can't put it in a bread pan to make actual bread. I got the recipe off allrecipes.com

Banana Muffins

3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
6 bananas, mashed
1½ cups sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup butter, melted

Topping:
2/3 cup brown sugar
¼ cup flour
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 Tbs. butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 20 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Enjoy!!

Falafel Wraps

I sort of made this up, so quantities are guesses. Sorry. I hate recipes like that! But this is so very yummy that you'll want to try it.

Falafel mix - 1 or 2 boxes depending on your family
1 bag of broccoli slaw
tortillas or flatbread or pitas
any combination of mayo, sour cream or yogurt
curry or garam masala seasoning
oil for frying

Make the falafel mix according to package directions. Usually you mix it with water and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. While it's sitting, mix the sauce. I took 2 or 3 large spoonfuls each of mayo and sour cream and mixed them together then added a tsp or so of curry and tasted it. I added another bit of garam masala and some salt then tasted. I LOVE curry so I ended up using a few tsps but taste it as you go until you find the level you're comfortable with. Throw it in the fridge to chill.

Once the falafel mix is done "resting" (lazy falafel, get back to work) fry it in oil. I just blobbed a medium scoop into the oil so they were about the size of an egg, only flatter because I squished them.

To assemble the wrap, put some sauce down the middle of a tortilla or bread of choice then add a falafel nugget or 2 or 3, then broccoli slaw then a bit more sauce. Eat.

These were so dang good. We pretty much ate them all and didn't have leftovers. The first time I used flour tortillas and this week we'll be trying whole grain tortillas. We'll also be trying it with yogurt mixed in. I loved that this was fast, vegetarian, and mostly healthy. And that the kids ate it!