Ducky Dinner Rolls

Aren't these just the cutest things? I saw this idea over at the Rhodes Bake and Serve website. These would be perfect at an Easter dinner, or any Springtime get-together!

Ducky Dinner Rolls

16 Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold
1 egg, beaten
sliced almonds

Directions:

Slightly flatten 12 rolls and form them each into a teardrop shape. Place on a sprayed baking sheet. Pinch the pointed ends to make tails and press your finger into the rounded end of each teardrop to make a deep hole. Cut the remaining 4 rolls into thirds. Shape each third into a ball with a pointed end. Dip pointed ends in water and insert into the finger hole on the body for the head. Brush well with beaten egg. Cover with sprayed plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. Remove wrap and pinch tails again. Bake at 350°F 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven. Make a small slit with a sharp knife and insert a sliced almond for the duck bill.

Serves 12.

Pumpkin Cookies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rebekah reminded me that I haven't posted this recipe here yet. This one is a favorite at my house.  I'm already a big fan of pumpkin cookies, but this recipe makes me sing! Fast, easy, take the ingredients right out of the pantry, and yummy!  But, best of all - a ONE point treat!!

 

Pumpkin Cookies

1 box spice cake mix
1 (15 oz. ) can pumpkin
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Combine together. Drop by spoonful on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 18-20 minutes. Makes 3 dozen cookies. 1 point each. (woo-hoo!)

*Hints:

I have found that using name-brand ingredients counts here. I made these once using generic brands, and I'm sorry...they just weren't as good! Here's what I use:

♦  Libby's canned pumpkin
♦  Guittard milk chocolate chips
♦  Duncan Hines (or any of the other name-brands) cake mix

Easy Witch Hat Cookies

Aren't these little witch hat cookies the cutest? They are my new favorite Halloween treat. Saw this idea over at No Fuss Fabulous. We made them last night for family night -- it was our turn to be the "neighborhood spook" (where you leave a treat on one of our neighbor's doorsteps, ring the doorbell, and run like heck and disappear like a phantom into the night....).

These witch hat cookies are easy enough to make that your kids could do it, but still cute enough that you can bring them to your grown up Halloween party...

Here's how to make them: buy a package of Keebler Fudge Stripe Cookies, and Hershey's Chocolate Kisses. Put a little dollop of orange icing on the bottom of a Kiss, and stick it to the chocolate side of the Keebler cookie. As you can see, I used ready-made orange frosting. I know, hate me. I'm Martha...
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That's all there is to it!
Okay... we're ready for spooking!

Pork Chops with Caramelized Onions

I haven't posted a recipe in a month of Sundays! It's time. And this one's a favorite. And it's a yummy, healthy, low-fast dish... score! This one's a perfect fit for October and Halloween -- complete with its own trick and treat. The finished product would delight any little ghoul on All Hallow's Eve...

The trick to this recipe? Instead of cooking the onions for a long time in butter and oil to bring out their sweetness (and all those calories!), we'll cover the pan and add balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. The treat is...it's ready in half the time!
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Pork Chops with Caramelized Onions
5 points
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4 (4 ounce) boneless center-cut pork loin chops
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 large onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced (2 cups)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar

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1. Place pork chops between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and pound slightly to an even thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add chops and cook 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove chops from pan, and keep warm.

3. Add onion to pan. Cover and cook over medium-high heat 6 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add vinegar; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Sprinkle with brown sugar; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Spoon onion mixture over pork chops.

Yield: 4 servings (1 chop and about 1/2 cup onion mixture)
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** Hint: Even though the recipe doesn't call for it, we cover the chops while cooking, keeping a close eye on them. They cook faster this way. We always use a meat thermometer to check the chops for safety and doneness. We ignore the recipe's overall cooking time and go by the chops' temperature to tell us when they're done.
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C'mon -- tell me -- served like this -- that it isn't a perfect candidate for the main dish of a Halloween meal! Bwahahahahaha! Enjoy...

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recipe credit: Weight Watchers 5 Ingredient, 15 Minute Cookbook, Winter 2008, p. 53

Red, White and Blues

These were a big hit at our recent family reunion; I brought these treats for our 4th of July BBQ. The recipe comes from my friend, Elena. All the credit (and I say all the calories, LOL) go to her!

Red, White, & Blues

1 1/2 c melted butter (real, salted butter)
2 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar

Cream together then add:
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix until light and fluffy.

Add:
4 c. flour (this is a fairly soft dough, but if it seems really wet, add a little more.)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Mix together then add:
1 package white chocolate chips
1/2 package dried blueberries (add more berries if you like)
1/2 package dried cranberries

Bake at 325 degrees for 12-14 minutes, let cool on pan before removing. (Helps keep them soft.)

True Love Chocolate Cake

Has there ever been a cake more perfectly named? I doubt it! This is the dessert we had for our Valentine's Day dinner.... Oh. my. gosh. it was good.

This cake is my go-to chocolate cake from now on. Better than the mixes! It's not just for Valentine's Day, either. Replace the hearts with any other colored hard candy or sprinkles to match the occasion or holiday.

You know, I miss chocolate cake. A regular piece of cake with frosting is a whopping 13 points -- this one is FIVE -- with the frosting, peeps! Woo-hoo!

It was rich and dense and chocolaty. John and I kept looking at each other and saying... 'Five points? Are you sure?' Yep, I'm sure. I had the nutritional info right there. Chocolate + cake + low-cal = hurry and cut me a piece! LOL

True Love Chocolate Cake
(5 points per piece)
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1/4 cup butter, softened
1 2/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup baking cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (we used milk chocolate chips)

Frosting:
1 package (8 oz.) reduced fat cream cheese
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 carton (8 oz.) frozen reduced fat whipped topping, thawed
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Topping:
3/4 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup candy hearts

1. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until crumbly, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at time, beating well after each addition. Beat in applesauce.

2. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture alternately with water, beating well after each addition. Fold in chips. Pour into a 9 X 13 baking pan coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 350° F for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

4. For frosting: in a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Fold in whipped topping. Frost cake. Refrigerate until serving. Just before serving, sprinkle with coconut and candy.

Yield: 24 servings

Healthy Cooking magazine, February/March 2009, p. 44

Heart Pancakes

♥♥♥ Happy Valentine's Day! ♥♥♥

Here's what we did for breakfast. Valentine pancakes! They were SO easy. All you need is regular ol' pancakes, a heart-shaped cookie cutter, your favorite red jam (strawberry's our favorite here), and powdered sugar in a shaker. Lay the first pancake on the plate, and spread jam on it. Take your cookie-cuttered pancake and lay it on the top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Done! (I think next time, I'm going to sprinkle the top pancake separately and then lay it on top...)

Think of the possibilities -- cookie cutters with any theme: holiday, birthday, stars, a favorite animal, etc., could turn any boring pancake breakfast into something special and fun. Love it!

Heart Shaped Cinnamon Rolls

How about a little "lovin' from the oven"? ♥ It's Valentine's Day this week, and I made a little treat for John and Katie this weekend to start things off. These are pretty easy to make and a fun way to show your sweeties you love 'em. The original idea is found here; complete with a recipe, frostings, and a how-to that includes a little video tutorial. Check it out. Here's how I did it at my house...

Heart Shaped Cinnamon Rolls

1 egg plus enough water to equal 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon (yes, put the egg in the measuring cup)
1/4 cup margarine or butter, softened
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
2 tablespoons margarine or butter, softened

Measure carefully, placing all ingredients except the 2 tablespoons margarine in the breadmaker, in the order the manufacturer recommends. (I always put wet ingredients in first.) Select the dough cycle.

Remove the dough from the pan, using lightly floured hands. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface.

Grease a cookie sheet. You'll want a cookie sheet, so the heart shape of the rolls is not ruined when the rolls rise. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle. Spread the 2 tablespoons of margarine over the dough. Sprinkle generously with a cinnamon-sugar mixture. Start rolling the dough from the long side -- but this time roll from BOTH long sides, meeting in the middle. You can pinch the seam shut on the top. We didn't (forgot to) and you can see how our rolls turned out in the picture above. Go here to see how they'd turn out if you did.

Cut into 1 1/2 inch rolls. (easiest way is using dental floss -- see the little video here on how to do that) Place slightly apart in pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 40 minutes, or double in size.

Heat oven to 375°. Bake 20-28 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to wire rack. Frost with Light Cream Cheese Frosting (see below). Serve warm.

Light Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. light cream cheese (Neufchâtel cheese)
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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Put all ingredients into a bowl. Beat on low speed with an electric mixer until just combined, then increase speed to high and beat until smooth.

Enjoy! Happy Valentine's Day! ♥

Cinnamon Roll recipe: Gold Medal "Best Bread Machine Recipes", p. 82

Recipe Labels

For those of you new to blogging, this post will give you some hints on labeling your recipes. After you type in your recipe to share (hint! hint!), look down at the bottom of the box. You'll see "Labels for this post:". If you click on "Show all", a list will pop up and you can choose from there to classify your recipe. The blog will organize our recipes for us. Easy peasy.

Here are some that Rebekah and I came up with:

Allergy Friendly, Appetizer, Bread, Breadmaker, Breakfast/Brunch, Canning, Cooking Basics, Desserts, Dips/Sauces, Drinks, Gluten-Free, Heritage/Family Recipe, Holiday, Main Dish Beef, Main Dish Chicken, Main Dish Pork, Main Dish Seafood, Main Dish Turkey, Pasta, Salads, Side Dishes, Soup, Snacks, Vegetables

Can you come up with any more that we missed?