Cinnamon Rolls

I've started making a batch of these every Saturday night so we can have them for breakfast Sunday morning. My mom did the same thing every week for years and years. This is her recipe. I half this recipe for our family and it is plenty. In fact we always have enough extra to share with someone in our neighborhood.

Dissolve 3 Tbsp. yeast in 3/4 cup warm water. Sprinkle with about 2 Tbsp. white sugar to help it along. Allow to set while mixing dough.

Heat in m icrowave (about 3 minutes):
2 cubes (1 cup) butter
2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. salt

Pour into mixing bowl and add:
4 cups flour
3 eggs
yeast mixture
about 4 more cups flour

Knead about 5 minutes in mixer

Remove dough hook, cover with damp towel and allow to raise until double - about 1 hour, or more.

Spray counter, thoroughly (flouring it will dry out dough). Remove dough from bowl; pat or roll out into rectangle -about 1/2 inch thick. spread with melted butter, sprinkle lightly with white sugar, then brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll up from long side and pinch clsoed at the end. The wider your rectangle, the bigger the rolls will be. Slice into about 1 - 1 1/2 inch slices and place on greased cookie sheet. Allow to raise again about an hour or so. Bake in preheated oven 375-400 about 10-15 minutes. Watch them closely the first time until you see how you want them and how your oven bakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting: (I make a whole batch of this, but only use half and freeze the rest for the next week.)
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2-3 tsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2-4 cups powdered sugar.

Mix well.

Rainbow Cake

So, I've been seeing this "rainbow cake" around the blogosphere, and I decided I wanted to try and make it. So, I googled it and found a bunch of different sites on how to make it. None of them were very clear though, so I thought I would post how I made this cake.

First, I bought a regular white cake mix. After you make the batter, divide it into 6 equal parts (about 1/2 cup + a couple tbsp.) You can use food coloring to color the batter, but for brighter colors, I decided to use the Wilton gel. If you use food coloring, it will turn out more pastel. And yes, you have to dirty every dish in the house, but it's worth it!

This recipe works best if you have 2 round pans. Mine are 9". Make sure you pour each color right into the middle of the pan. It will spread out on its own. First, I poured in purple, blue and green. Then I did red, orange and yellow. Normally you would do yellow, orange, then red, but I turn my top half upside-down, does that make sense. Basically, when you have both halves of the cake on top of eachother, you want the color scheme to go in rainbow order.

Then bake as directed.

You can decorate it however you like. This was for my daughter's 3rd birthday. She wanted a unicorn cake, so I thought the rainbow would make it fun.

And her you have it! Delicious, and fun for kids!

Homemade Pasta Sauce

1 quart stewed tomatoes
1/2 c. torn, fresh basil leaves
2 tsp. chopped garlic
2 TBSP. white balsamic or red wine vinegar
1 tsp. sea salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning

Mix altogether in saucepan on medium-high heat until well mixed. Pour over pasta!

Cream Cheese WonTons

This isn't really a recipe because it's SO simple to make, but here are the instructions:

Put a spoonful of cream cheese inside a wonton wrapper. Get the edges wet and seal together. Fry in oil on stove until they are light brown and crispy. Enjoy!

This is one of my favorite treats. I used to fork out $5 to buy 10 of them at a Chinese restaurant! I didn't do it often-just when I was really craving them. So I just figured I could make them myself. They were really easy and tasted even better! You could add other things to the cream cheese if you wanted, (i.e. crab, chicken, onion, etc.) I like them best plain. Oh, here is the last one:

Fruit Pizza

CRUST
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. cream of tartar

Beat butters and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. In separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add to egg mixture. Roll out on jelly roll pan and bake 10 minutes at 375.

FILLING
1 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar
Mix together then fold in:
4 oz. Cool Whip (about half of a container.)

Spread on top of crust and add your favorite fruit slices on top. Refrigerate.

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches

1 lb. Steak, cut into strips
1/2 Onion, sliced
1/2 Green Pepper, sliced
1/2 Red Pepper, sliced
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt & Pepper
4 Hoagie Buns
2 Cups Shredded Mozzerella Cheese
Miracle Whip

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown beef in large non-stick skillet for about 5 minutes or until almost fully cooked. Add sliced onion and green pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Sautee until veggies are crisp-tender and meat is fully cooked.
Season mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Open up hoagie buns on a cookie sheet and spoon meat mixture evenly onto each sub. Top with slice of cheese.
Bake in oven for about 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bun is toasted. Remove from oven, add Miracle Whip to other side of sub bun. Close sub, and enjoy!

Baked Potato Topping

3/4 cup Sour Cream
1/4 cup Mayo
Grated Cheddar Cheese (and plenty of it!)
Chopped Green Onion
Bacon, crumbled

Mix all together and let refrigerate for 3+ hours. Smother on baked potatoes :)

Chicken Romaine Salad

Romaine Lettuce
Cucumber, sliced
Green Onions, chopped
Won Tons (fried)
Chicken (grilled with cayenne pepper, black pepper & Italian seasoning)
Shredded Mozzerella Cheese

You can add however much of the things above into your salad. Just make it your own.

Dressing:
1/2 Cup Oil
2 Tbsp. Vinegar
4 Tbsp. Sugar
2 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
Chill Overnight

Toss onto Salad right before serving. Enjoy!

Jalepeno Cream Cheese Dip

1 8oz. package Cream Cheese
1/4 cup (or so) of sliced jalapenos
milk

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor. You can put more jalapenos in if you like it really spicy. You will just have to taste it as you go along to see how much you like. Add the milk to make it as creamy as you like. I just put in a dash~however much that is :)

Serve cold with tortilla chips. It is SO good!

Can't-Leave-Alone-Bars

1 white cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil

Mix together into a dough. Spread 2/3 of dough onto the bottom of a greased 9x13" pan. Set aside.

In microwave safe bowl, put:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter

Microwave together for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Pour over dough.

Take the remaining dough and crumble little pieces onto chocolate mixture. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Crepes

1 cup flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1/8 tsp. salt

Mix together in bowl. Take about 1/3 cup batter and pour in skillet. On medium heat, cook until crepe changes color to dark yellow, then flip. Put toppings on: we like to spread some butter and then sprinkle sugar on them and then roll them up. You could do a cream cheese filling or fresh fruit, or whatever you want.

Twice Baked Potatoes

This is one of my favorite potatoe recipes.

4-6 red potatoes
sour cream
1/4 c. butter
salt
milk
grated cheddar cheese

Bake potatoes in the microwave until they are soft. Cut in half lengthwise and hollow out with a spoon. Put the middles in a large bowl. (Do NOT discard shells.) When all the potatoes are hollowed out, add the following to them in the bowl. 1/4 c. butter, salt, milk, and sour cream. You will just have to eyeball the measurements and add to taste. Mash all together until well mixed. Spoon potatoe mixture back into the hollow shells. Cover with grated cheese and microwave (or bake in oven) until cheese is melted. Enjoy!