Refrigerator Butter Crescent Rolls & cinnamon rolls

Happy post Thanksgiving. I hope each of you had a great time!! For the first time it was just us this year. No other family around. It was really quiet!!
We had a yummy dinner and some super yummy rolls. My mom made these every year as I was growing up. They always came out perfect and so yummy that if she ever didn't make them, there was mutiny within the ranks. So I decided to make them this year and they didn't disappoint! To make them even better, you can also make cinnamon rolls out of part of the dough. Super Yum!!

Refrigerator Butter Crescent Rolls
2 tbsp yeast
2 C lukewarm water
1 C butter or margarine, melted
1 C + 2 tbsp sugar
6 beaten eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
9 C flour

Mix yeast with 2 tbsp sugar and warm water. Let proof for about 5 minutes.
Add melted butter, sugar and eggs. Mix well. Sift flour and salt. Mix well and let rise for 2 hours.
Stir down and put in fridge overnight. Keep a damp cloth over dough. Keep it damp. If dough rises too much, punch it down. Dough will be sticky.

The next morning, divide dough into 4ths (this is where I keep one of the quarters out for cinnamon rolls) . DOUGH DOES NOT NEED TO BE KNEADED. Roll into circle size of pie and spread butter on it. Cut into 12 pieces. Roll up starting with wide edge. Place on buttered cookie sheet. Let rolls rise 1 1/2 hours. Bake 10 min. at 400 degrees.
These come out so super yummy!! You can place the cooked rolls in the freezer if you have too many leftovers. Otherwise you'll be eating these for days! But I don't think you'll mind! If you don't make cinnamon rolls this recipe will make 4 dozen rolls.

As I mentioned earlier, this also makes superb homemade cinnamon rolls. At the point where you have rolled out the dough, spread butter on it. Then top with sugar and cinnamon. Use whatever you like. I didn't measure when I made these. Then roll up. Cut and place in a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Then let sit for 1 1/2 hours to rise. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes, checking them after 15 minutes. Once cooked top with a glaze made with powdered sugar and milk.

HAPPY EATING!!!!

Pudding Cake

When the hubbie and I were dating I asked him if there was something that his mom made that he really liked. I was feeling crafty and wanted to impress him. He said it was his mom's pudding cake. So I called her and I got the recipe. That was 8 years ago and it's still just as good now as it was then.
It's really good and I have to warn you, it's RICH!!!

Pudding Cake

The cake:
1 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp shortening (melted)

Pudding:
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C baking cocoa

Mix ingredients for cake together and put in a greased 8X8 pan.

Then mix pudding ingredients and sprinkle on top.

Pour 1 3/4 C boiling water over mixture DO NOT STIR

Put into preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.


This is best served warm right out of the oven topped with whipped cream. It is just as good the next day, but it's really good all steamy and warm with all of it's chocolaty goodness!!
Like I said, a little goes a long way! Enjoy!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I hope each of you have a great day!!!

Glazed Carrots & A Chowda Mac

Happy Sunday. It's been a busy weekend for sure. Friday night we had pack meeting for scouts and it was a pot luck dinner for Thanksgiving (can you believe it's already here?!?!?!?!). So I grabbed Stephanie's glazed carrots recipe and did it. They were so yummy and got eaten all up! Thanks for the great idea!



Maple-Glazed Carrots
2 bags mini peeled carrots
2 tbsp. cornstarch
2/3 cup orange juice
5 tbsp. maple syrup
5 tbsp. melted butter or margarine
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt

In a large saucepan, bring 1 inch or water and carrots to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes or until tender crisp.

Meanwhile, in another saucepan, combine the cornstarch and orange juice until smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. This got VERY thick for me.

Drain carrots; transfer to a serving bowl. Pour glaze over carrots; gently stir to coat, eat and enjoy!



Then tonight I decided to try another recipe from a Rachael Ray cookbook. I've made this before but it's been a while. It was a lot better this time that last time. If my stomach was bigger I probably could have eaten the whole thing! I hope you enjoy it too!!




Crab and Corn Chowda Mac
10 oz small shell pasta
1 tbsp olive oil (I used veg. oil since that's what I had)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bell peppers, seeded and chopped
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 C chicken stock
1 C milk (or you could use heavy cream to make it really rich!)
3/4 package imitation crab (or 6 oz tub of the real thing)
1 1/2 C frozen corn
2 C shredded cheddar cheese (I used Velveeta and ohhhhh boy!)
2 tbsp fresh thyme (I used dried oregano)
2 pinches cayenne pepper (I used chili powder)
chives or parsley for garnish

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook the pasta until al dente.

In another pan, add veg oil and heat. Add onions and peppers and cook until tender-crisp, about 3-5 minutes. Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and heat through. Add the milk. When milk bubbles add crab, corn, cheese and seasonings.
Drain pasta and add to crab mixture. Adjust seasonings to taste. Put in bowls and top with garnish.

This was filling and really creamy, cheesy and ooohhh sooooo good.

Hope you have a great week up ahead with Thanksgiving. Have a great one! and of course....

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!1

Winners!

Congrats to Stephanie, MaryBeth and Colleen. The winners of the contest.
Send me your mailing address (they will NOT be kept, used or stored in any way, shape or fashion!) to REBEKAHSKITCHEN@LIVE.COM and the prizes will be sent out soon!

Thanks again!!!!!!!

Cheesy Kielbasa Pasta & a Giveaway!

Happy Wednesday! It's been busy at our house today. We have little friends over and it's been a riot here all afternoon. I love watching kids using their imaginations and just playing all over the place!
Now on to tonight's dinner. Unfortunately it was not a hit in my house. The husband is gone so I have yet to receive his input. He's doing field exercises with his military training class. So I'll get his input tomorrow. Anyway I hope you guys like it, I thought it was good, but the kids had different opinions. Bummer. Oh well. At least we tried!!

Cheesy Kielbasa & Pasta
16 oz ditalini pasta (or whatever short pasta you like)
1 bag frozen broccoli
1 can cheddar cheese soup
3/4 C milk (I just filled the soup can with the milk)
2 pkg pre-cooked kielbasa, sliced
8oz shredded cheddar cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. In large saucepan add soup, milk and broccoli. Cook until heated through and add the pasta and kielbasa. Cook for about 10 minutes until broccoli and kielbasa are heated through.

We also served these with breadsticks topped with cheese.

CONTEST HAS ENDED! THANKS!

And now for the best part! A fun give away from Progresso. I'm really excited about this. They have started to make broth now instead of just the soup. Their soup is already so yummy! The gift baskets (see attached image) include a free coupon for Progresso Broth, a recipe card holder, recipe box and wicker basket, as well as a set of serving spoons and a spoon rest.I'm excited to hear about how you use broth. Let me know your favorite holiday recipe that includes broth of some kind for your chance to win and GOOD LUCK there will be 3 winners!!!!


Also until the winners are announced here is a link that will give you a coupon for the new broth! It's good until December 17.
http://bricks.coupons.com/bstart.asp?o=54519&ci=1&c=GM&p=kIsElz3U

CONTEST WILL END SUNDAY AT NOON AZ MST. GOOD LUCK!!! and of course!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!!

Tagged! and an award!

No recipe tonight....it was just a simple fried chicken tenders and peas night. Nothing to write home about. Unless you consider using homemade wheat bread crumbs for the coating on the chicken fascinating (not really.....). But I was tagged and didn't want to wait another minute to do it and pass it along. Stephanie at Fun Foods on A Budget tagged me so here goes:

It's the Seven Random Things tag.

So here are The Rules:

• Link the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.

• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links.

• Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I've been playing the violin for over 20 years and was part of a symphony orchestra. I really wanted to play with Orchestra at Temple Square but since I don't live in Utah anymore it's unlikely that will happen.

2. I want to learn to play the banjo and be in a blue grass band.

3. I love watching the same movie over and over again. Especially sappy movies or Jane Austin movies. This usually happens when my hubbie isn't around or is playing video games.

4. I know all there is to know about Scooby Doo.

5. my favorite movies of all time are star wars and can quote them.

6. I love playing board games with friends and family and when both computers work, my hubbie and I link up and play computer games together after the kiddos go to bed.

7. My favorite holidays are Halloween and Christmas because of all the great food and fun stuff to bake. I'm sssoooo looking forward to Christmas this year and the secret santas that we get to do!! Plus I just love to decorate and there are so many ideas floating around for those holidays!

I would like to tag:
Picky Palate
Bake Shop
Not So Perfect Housewife
Deciously Delicious
This Week For Dinner
Bake or Break
A Year of Crockpotting

And I also got an award from Stephanie so I am passing it on to all those I tagged. Thanks for making the world taste that much better!!!!

HAPPY EATING!!!

Chicken Florentine

Good Sunday evening. Hope your day was restful (it is supposed to be a day of rest right?) and wonderful. My day has been anything but restful. The hubbie is out in the field this week (army lingo for camping...pppfffftttt) so it was just me most of the day. This means trying to get myself and 3 kiddos fed, bathed and ready for church. Good times! Plus my cute little sunbeams were off the wall with the wiggles, so it made for a long day (in fact I think all the kids were off the wall with the wiggles, it sure was noisy today!

So here's what's for dinner. It was really comforting -as in comfort food. It was creamy and gooey and just down right good. I saw this recipe originally on Paula's Home Cooking. I love that show. One of my favorites. So here it is, in all it's glory:

Chicken Florentine
2 10oz pkg frozen spinach (I used fresh spinach and it tasted just fine)
6 boneless chicken breasts (I used thighs) cooked, and shredded
2 103/4 oz cans cream of mushroom soup
1 C mayo (I omitted this)
1C sour cream
2 C shredded cheddar
2 tbsp lemon (or 1 lemon juiced)
1 tsp curry powder
1/2C chicken stock
1/2C bread crumbs
2 tbsp butter (I omitted this as well)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put spinach and chicken in large bowl. Add soup, mayo sour cream, cheddar, lemon, curry, salt and pepper. Mix well, making sure all ingredients are well combined.

Pour into a greased 9X13 pan. Sprinkle top with bread crumbs and dot with butter. I also added a little extra cheese to the top.

Bake uncovered for 30 min.


This is also great for make ahead. Just get ingredients into pan and wrap in plastic wrap. Then cover with foil. Place in freezer. Allow to thaw for 24 hours in the refrigerator before baking.

Vanilla Stuffed Cinnamon Pancakes

Good Sunday morning everyone. Hope you are rested and relaxed and enjoying the day. We have a while until it's time for us to go to church (afternoon church, not my favorite time). So this morning we decided we wanted pancakes for breakfast. I had found a yummy stuffed version and decided to try it out. I hope you enjoy it! It was really good!!

Vanilla Stuffed Cinnamon Pancakes
Pancake Mix - enough to feed your family
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

3 oz cream cheese
1 small box of french vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 C milk
1/4 C powdered sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp sugar

Mix pancake mix and add cinnamon and vanilla to the mix until creamy. Make pancakes in preheated pan.

Mix together cream cheese, pudding and milk until creamy in consistency. Add sugar and cinnamon. Mix to combine. Add nutmeg.



Add to pancakes as they come off pan while still warm. This will allow the mixture to melt slightly. Top with more powdered sugar, fresh fruit, pie filling or plain ole' maple syrup.

These were really good and filling. Very sweet too. I hope you enjoy these and have a yummy breakfast!!

HAPPY EATING!!

Flautas

Have I mentioned that I love Mexican food. Actually I just love food. But I do enjoy some good Mexican on occasion. Lately I've been craving it. So tonight for dinner we decided on flautas. I first saw a recipe for them in the Pillsbury 2008 cookbook. I decided to change it up a bit (cause that just what I do). So enjoy! These are quick and super easy. It took about 30 minutes from start to finish. Not too bad for a late Saturday night supper.

Bean and Cheese Flautas
1 can refried beans
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
1 C salsa
10-6in whole wheat flour tortillas
veg oil for cooking

Make sure tortillas are pliable. Don't want our tortillas breaking in the middle of trying to assemble them. That would be bad! :O)

Heat pan on med. low heat.

Mix the cheese, beans and salsa. Place a spoonful of the mixture in the center of tortilla. Roll up and put a toothpick in to keep it closed (make sure they are wooden as the plastic ones will melt once they hit the pan). Brush tortilla with oil.


Place flautas in pan and cook until brown on both sides. About 3 - 5 minutes on each side. Once browned and warmed through, remove from pan to a plate and remove toothpick. At this point they will stay closed.

Serve with more salsa, sour cream, gaucamole, ranch dressing, whatever your family likes.



We had this with chips and a queso dip. It was filling and really yummy.

HAPPY EATING!!!

Halloween Candy Cookies

I love Halloween candy but there comes a time when you've had enough. So to help get rid of some of it I decided to put the candy into cookies. So the rest of the candy that we had purchased went into the cookies. Chocolate peanut butter and rice krispie treats candy. Yummy!!


Candy Cookies
2 sticks butter
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 3/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 C of your favorite chocolate Halloween candy, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla until well combined, scraping sides of bowl often. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
Add candy. Fold into mixture.

Scoop onto baking sheets and bake for 9-11 minutes. I baked mine at 10 minutes and they were good. This will make approximately 4 dozen depending on how big of a scoop you use.




My husband even thought they were some of the best cookies I'd ever made. So I guess I did ok. Chocolate Chip cookies are not my forte' so I was grateful for the compliment. Since making them, there are only a few left!

Canadian Benny's

Happy Monday! Hope you are having a good start to the week. The hubbie had the day off as part of Veteran's day (and tomorrow too! Yippee!). Working for the military has it's perks!
Anyway for dinner I wanted something simple and fun. I have EXPRESS LANE MEALS by Rachael Ray and found this masterpiece. Uber yummy!! Of course in my usual fashion I did tweak it with what we had and what the family prefers.

Canadian Benny's
4 tbsp butter
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 scallions, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp parsley
3/4 C heavy cream
bread (1-2 slices per person, adults got 2 slices, kiddies got 1 each)
canadian bacon
10 med eggs
8 ounces cheese of choice, shredded (we used asiago-because I had some leftover from last
nights dinner)

Melt 2 tbsp butter over medium heat. Add tomatoes and scallions. Season with salt, pepper, garlic and parsley. Saute for 2 minutes. Add heavy cream and reduce for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick to the pan.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place bread on cookie sheet and toast in oven for about 8 minutes.

In large pan, melt 2 tbsp butter. Beat eggs together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour eggs into pan and scramble them.

To assemble sandwiches: place toast on plate. Top with eggs, then canadian bacon, then cheese and top with sauce. The heat from the sauce will melt the cheese.



This sauce would also be sssssooooo good over some pasta. Really versatile. I hope you enjoy it. This is perfect for breakfast, lunch, brunch, or dinner, or really whenever you are hungry!

We also got a brief Polish lesson from the hubbie so I will end my post with

SMACHNEGO!!!! HAPPY EATING!!!!

Crock Pot Gyros

I really enjoy Greek food. Some more than others. So when I stumbled across this recipe I knew I had to try it. Here is my tweaked version.

Crock Pot Gyros
1 pound ground beef (hey i'm cheap and lamb is expensive)
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp paprika
1 small onion sliced
3 cloves of garlic chopped
juice from 1 lemon

Tzatziki Sauce
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 C plain yogurt
3 tbsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped (my store did not have mint so I omitted this)
juice and zest from 1 lemon

fixin's
shredded cabbage (odd but it was really good-this was our choice you could leave it out)
red onion, chopped
feta cheese (I used asiago since I'm not a feta fan....)
cucumber slices
tomato slices

Place chopped onion and garlic in the bottom of a crock pot. Mix the meat and spices together and form a loaf. Place loaf on top of onions and garlic. Juice a lemon over the meat.



Cook on low for 3-4 hours or high for 2 hours. (I cooked in on low for the 4 hours and it turned out perfect).



Meanwhile make the tzatziki sauce and leave in the fridge.
Serve on whole wheat tortillas (if you don't want to use pitas). top with sauce and fixin's.

The result was yummy. The hubby said this was good enough to sell in a Greek place. I thought it was yummy and it's super filing. If you do happen to have big eaters, I might suggest using 2 pounds of meat since it shrinks once it's cooked. But we had enough for our family with no leftovers.

HAPPY EATING!!!!

Fish Tacos

Yeah I know.....Fish tacos??? The first time I heard of these they didn't sound too appetizing to me either, but I decided to give them a try and I tell ya if I could have eaten every single one of them I would have. They were really good!! So I hope you try them and enjoy them as much as we did!!

Fish Tacos
8 frozen battered fish portions (more or less depending on how many you'll eat)
1/2 C mayo
1/2 C plain yogurt
1 lime, zested and juiced
1/2 tsp oregano
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
2 C finely shredded cabbage
1 bell pepper chopped
8 flour tortillas
salt and pepper to taste

Heat and cook fish according to package directions.
* you can always buy fresh fish and batter and fry them yourself, but this tasted just fine with frozen already prepared fish, and that means less dishes to do!*

For sauce: mix together mayo and yogurt. Add lime zest and juice until slightly runny. Add spices, salt and pepper.



Place cooked fish in tortilla with diced peppers and cabbage. Top with white sauce. Roll, eat and enjoy!!!

HAPPY EATING!!!

Beef Chimichitos with Brown Rice

Hello! I hope everyone is having a good start to their week.
Tonight's dinner is something that's easy, hearty and yummy!! It's a cross between a chimichanga and a burrito. Anyone who has seen JUST COOK THIS on Discovery Health Channel will have seen Sam the cooking guy make this. The original idea is his. I tweaked it a bit with stuff I happened to have on hand. It was really yummy. I also paired it with some brown rice I cooked in beef stock. I am currently stuffed so I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!

Beef Chimichito's
1 pound hamburger, browned and drained
1 onion, diced
1 can refried beans (I found
1 -4 oz can green chiles, drained
1/2 C enchilada sauce
salsa
flour tortillas
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
cilantro



Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine hamburger, onion, enchilada sauce, green chiles, and refried beans and cook until heated through.

Heat tortillas in microwave for about 30 seconds until pliable.

Spoon some of the mixture onto the tortilla and fold like a burrito. Place on a greased baking sheet and lightly rub with veg. oil. This will give it a crispy texture in the oven.

Bake until golden brown about 15-20 minutes.

Top with extra sauce, sour cream, and cilantro.

Since I'm not a huge fan of sour cream I used Ranch dressing on mine. I also just happened to have a zucchini in the fridge so I sauteed that up as well. Also if you have any limes, squeeze lime over the chimichitos right as they come out of the oven. Gives them that little something extra.

This really was as good as it looks!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!!

Krab Rolls and Broccoli Pasta Salad

Wow-November is upon us! I can't believe that this year is already mostly gone. Oh my!!!!! Hope everyone's year has been good. Ours has been interesting for sure! There's never a dull moment in this house for sure!!!

Tonight I made a meal that would hopefully counteract all the sugar we've had the past few days. I didn't want anything to time consuming or something that required turning the oven on. I have to say that Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten) was the inspiration for this meal. I just love her show.

Bon Appetite!

Krab Rolls
1 bag imitation krab meat -hey if it's cheap where you are use the real thing, otherwise this was a great substitute
1/2 C red onion, finely chopped
1/2 C mayo
1/4C light House Italian dressing
1/2 small lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 C shredded cabbage (optional)
parsley

Mix mayo and dressing in small bowl. Add onions, lemon juice and zest to krab in medium bowl. Add mayo mixture and combine trying not to break up the krab too much. Top with parsley.
Refrigerate, the longer the better on this one. Serve on hot dog buns with cabbage. The cabbage gives it a nice crunch and is a great alternative to lettuce.

Yummy!!!



Broccoli Pasta Salad
2 C frozen broccoli, steamed
1 C cheddar cheese, cut into chunks
1/2 C red onion, chopped finely
8 oz short pasta, cooked and drained (I used ditalini that I had leftover from another meal)
1/2C fat free house Caesar dressing

Place all ingredients into medium bowl, stir to combine. Chill and serve.

This is a good one to make early in the day and let it sit until ready to eat it. Even my really picky eater ate this-I was amazed! I hope you enjoy it!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!