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.

Lemon Glazed Butter Cookies

So, these are the cookies that my friend and RS President, Holly, brought to a recent RS event. They are melt-in-your-mouth good, and perfect for Spring! Enjoy!

Lemon-Glazed Butter Cookies

1 c unsalted butter, softened
1/3 c confectioners' sugar
1 c flour
2/3 c cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350. Beat together butter and confectioners sugar with electric mixer on medium speed for 1 minute. Sift together flour and cornstarch. Add to butter and sugar mixture. Blend until dough is soft, about 1 minute. Drop by teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes or until very lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire rack.

Glaze (make half a recipe)

2 1/2 c confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 c butter, melted
2 T fresh lemon juice

Combine 2 1/2 c confectioners' sugar, melted butter, and lemon juice. While cookies are still warm, mound 1/2 t icing on each. Icing will melt. Cool cookies. Makes 3 dozen 

image credit

Roasted Cabbage Wedges

I made this recipe for St. Patrick's Day. I was a little worried that the little boys wouldn't like it. Boy was I wrong! Matthew has asked me to never make red cabbage again. He wants Green Cabbage Wedges from now on. He wants it today, tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. I found this recipe on line-- see the link at the bottom.

Ingredients

1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 medium head green cabbage
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Put the oven rack to the upper middle position. Place a cookie sheet on the rack and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine salt, pepper, and sugar in a small bowl. Quarter the cabbage through the core and cut each quarter into 1 inch wedges, leaving the core intact. (There will be about 16 wedges.) Brush the cabbage wedges all over with the oil and then sprinkle them with the salt mixture.

Arrange the cabbage wedges on the hot cookie sheet. Roast until the cabbage is tender and lightly browned around the edges-- about 20-25 minutes. Drizzle the cabbage with the balsamic vinegar. And then enjoy!



http://www.grouprecipes.com/101842/roasted-cabbage-wedges.html/print

I ♥ E-mealz

So, I've gone and whined to John (more than once -- right, Honey?) how time-consuming and tedious menu planning and grocery shopping are for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm always really glad when it's done and my pantry's full, and my family knows what's for dinner. But it comes at a cost. And, that's IF I can find time to bite the bullet and do it! Oh, how I wish I could hire a personal chef...

Here were my criteria --

• Please come up with healthy meal ideas for my family.
• Quick, easy recipes. I'm busy.
• Oh, and we're a small family -- so not a lot of servings.
• AND -- I have picky eaters at my house, so no "foofy" food, please.
• Oh -- and I'm a Weight Watchers gal, so I need points figured out.
• Yeah...and I'm not doing the new points system they just came up with, so...could you please do the old point system?
• Oh, and I'll need a prepared shopping list, so I can just take it and go.
• Please organize that shopping list by section, k?
• Um, would it be too much to ask if you tally up the cost of the shopping list before I go, too? I'm a Dave Ramsey girl, too and budgets are big with me.
• Oh, one final thing. I really do like to cook, so you let me do that part and you do all the other tedious work.
• Oh yeah, one more final thing. I don't really want to pay you a big, honkin' salary for doing this.

Yeah, anyone looking at a list like that would say, "See ya, lady!"

But I did find someone that would do ALL of that for me. I was messing around on Dave Ramsey's site and saw link to E-mealz and clicked on it. I looked around and starting hearing angels singing in my head!  This is a group who believe in Dave Ramsey principles-- they believe in saving families money and time; truly helping them.

They have specific, prepared lists for anybody. They can be diet specific and use current grocery sales. (be still my heart!) Here are some examples they offer:

• Point-System Meal Plans
• Low-Carb Meal Plans
• Vegetarian Meal Plans
• Couples-Only Meal Plans
• Low Fat Meal Plans
• Gluten-Free Meal Plans

• Kroger Meal Plans
• Publix Meal Plans
• Wal-Mart Meal Plans
• ALDI Meal Plans
• RALPHS Meal Plans
• Any-Store Meal Plans

Healthy, family friendly recipes with sides already figured out. Cost of food tallied. Big family, small family and just couples, whatever -- it's figured out for you.  Love it!

John and I have been trying it out this week, and we're in love! The recipes have been great, the pantry's full and dinner's figured out for the week. Not a lot of money, time or effort on my part, and no guilt. I'm a good mom, feeding my family healthy, yummy foods.

The best part? I pay $1.25 a week for this. I put it as part of my grocery budget.

I GOT MY PERSONAL CHEF!!! He works for 1.25 a week! Bwahahaha!

Sorry if I sound like a commercial in this post. We really love this service; it's made our life easier, and I wanted to let you know about it.

I put an E-mealz button in the sidebar if you want to take a look at their website...tell me what you think!

P.S  If you decide to sign on, you can find coupon codes on line. :-)

Death By Chocolate

(Yeah, I'm all over the name of this recipe. What a way to go!)  This recipe got raves at a recent RS Christmas Dinner here. I am now sharing it with you. Because I refuse to be the only one with a big butt.

Death By Chocolate

1 Devils Food cake mix (bake per directions)
2 small boxes Jello instant pudding
1 12 ounce carton Cool Whip
6 Skor candy bars - crushed (Heath bars can be substituted)
1 Hershey chocolate bar - grated

This is enough to make three layers in your container.

♥  Make the cake - let it cool
♥  Mix the pudding.
♥  Crumble part of the cake into the bottom of the bowl.
♥  Pour a layer of pudding over the top
♥  Put a layer of Cool Whip on top - sprinkle some of the Skor candy bits.
♥  Repeat these layers 2 or 3 times - depending on the size of the dish.
♥  Sprinkle crushed Skor bar and grated chocolate on top.
♥  Refrigerate.

It looks pretty in a clear glass dish where you can see the layers. Use a trifle bowl if you have one.

picture credit

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

Cookies and Cream Dessert

WARNING: This dessert may contain substances of an addictive nature. Eat responsibly.

This is the dessert my friend, Katie K. brought to Isaac's Baby Blessing. The whole family stood around the bowl, taking a spoonful and smacking it on their tongues to determine the ingredients. "Hmmm...there's a hint of vanilla....and yet the creamy texture would suggest...." I actually saw someone drinking a cupful! Well, here's the recipe. Thanks Katie!

Cookies and Cream Dessert

2 small (3.4 oz) packages vanilla pudding
2 cups milk
2 (8 oz) containers extra creamy whipping cream or 1 lb. whipped cream frosting from the supermarket bakery
1 pkg Oreo cookies, crushed

Wisk vanilla pudding and milk together. Stir in whipping cream then add crushed oreos and stir. Refrigerate.

If you let it sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight, the cookies get nice and soft.

Homemade Playdough

I recently taught a class about inexpensive family fun; I sent everyone home with a homemade playdough recipe and samples to play with at home.  This recipe comes from Mom, and it's the playdough we kids played with all those years.

I've tried several different recipes for homemade playdough, and many of them leave your hands salty and the dough dries out quickly. This recipe doesn't do that; it's still the best.  Enjoy!

Homemade Playdough

2  1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
2 Tablespoons alum (find this in the spice section)
3 Tablespoons of oil
2 cups boiling water 
food coloring

Mix flour, salt, alum and oil. Add water and knead to desired consistency.  Add food coloring.  Add more flour if dough is sticky (between 2-4 Tablespoons). Store in a sealed container, in the fridge.

Applesauce Cake

I was looking for something quick and easy to make and found this recipe. Chris doesn't care much for cakes (which is why we had cheesecake at our wedding instead of the traditional wedding cake), but he likes this cake...and volunteered to go to the store at a horrendous hour to buy more ingredients...

1 yellow cake mix
2 c. applesauce
3 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle in greased Bundt pan, coating pan well. Save unused cinnamon-sugar mixture. Combine cake mix, applesauce, and eggs. Pour half of the batter into Bundt pan. Add the rest of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of batter. Add the rest of the batter on top of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for about 38 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes and turn out. Serve with a little whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on top.

Tastes good hot or cold. Enjoy!

Recipes to Remember: Rogers Arkansas Stake RS Cookbook 2001, p. 176

Peanut Butter and Apple Sandwiches

If you are looking for a healthy sandwich to put in kids' lunchboxes. This recipe from Williams Sonoma is a great one!! (This makes 1 sandwich, so be sure to make more if you are needing more sandwiches)


2 Tbsp whipped plain cream cheese
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp honey
1 granny smith or your favorite apple
2 Tbsp Peanut Butter
2 slices of Bread

Put the cream cheese, honey and vanilla extract in a bowl. Stir to combine. Spread Peanut butter on one slice of bread, and the cream cheese mixture on the other. Place slices of apple (that has been cored) on the cream cheese mixure and top with the slice of bread with peanut butter.

Strawberry Cream Crepes

Back in high school, I took a gourmet cooking class -- funnest class ever! I still  make some of the recipes from that class; here's one of them... Perfect for Spring. Perfect for strawberry season. Perfect for breakfast or a fancy dessert! This is an easy recipe that gets me lots of 'yums!' Enjoy.

 Strawberry Cream Crepes

12 crepes

2 pints sliced strawberries

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1   3 oz. package of cream cheese

1 cup whipping cream

sugar to taste

Prepare crepes using your favorite recipe. Toss the strawberries with the 1/4 cup of sugar and set aside. With a hand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Slowly beat in whipping cream until smooth and thick, but not stiff. Add sugar to desired sweetness.

Place a some cream in each crepe and roll up. Chill. Serve strawberries over the crepes.

Hints:

♦  I double this recipe, especially if company's coming over.

♦ Use a *hand* mixer, not a stand mixer for this recipe.

♦  Sometimes we like strawberries inside the crepes, too.

♦  I've seen this recipe done with chocolate crepes. 
    Oo-la-la! Try it!

picture credit

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Imagine a great baked potato with all the toppings, but in a creamy soup. This recipe is a simple and yet so good. It is also from the Cooking Light Cookbook, so you don't have to feel bad about eating it!

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Loaded Baked Potato Soup

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4 large baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 lbs.)

2/3 cup all purpose flour

6 cups 2% milk

1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup reduced fat sour cream

3/4 cup green onions

6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

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Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Clean potatoes, pierce with a fork. Bake for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coursely mash. Discard the skins.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; leve with a knife. Place flour in a large soup pan, gradually add milk; stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 min). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt and pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup green onions. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Garnish with sprinkles of cheese, green onion and bacon. Serves 8 (1 1/2 cup) servings. Fat 10.8 g; calories 329.

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*I find that it is a little easier to make the soup thicker if a typical roux is made using a little bit of butter and the flour (about 1/4 cup of butter). I always add more salt and pepper and cheese, but I wanted to do it the way it was published first so that the people who have kept their New Year's Resolution to eat healthier will know "the numbers." Another way to keep the numbers down is to use Turkey Bacon instead of pork bacon. I hope you enjoy this on a cold day!

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Recipe credits: The Best of Cooking Light Cookbook, Baked Potato Soup, pg. 329

Salsa

Just in time for the Big Game in a week! This salsa is so fast and easy to make, and the happy thing is, people will never know you did it in 5 minutes!!!

Salsa

1 lg can of Hunt's whole tomatoes
1 Serrano or jalapeno pepper
1/2 of a small onion, cut into chunks
1/4 tsp garlic salt
pepper to taste
chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Drain the juice from the tomatoes into a blender. Add the Serrano or jalapeno (for a milder flavor, remove the seeds) and the onion and salt. Blend well. Then add the tomatoes and pulse 2-3 times. Add pepper to taste and chopped cilantro if desired.

*Note* If you get a spicy pepper and would like to make the salsa more mild, you can add 1 can of tomato sauce. This is really good with the Tostitos Lime Chips!
Also, we like the Hunts brand of tomatoes. This is one thing that I buy name brand on. We bought the Kroger brand once and there was literally a lot of juice and 3 tomatoes out of that whole can.

Recipe courtesy of Debbie B.

Crispy French Toast

 

Hey -- here's one of the recipes from the breakfast calendar I won in the WCGL giveaway! (Thanks, Deb!) This calendar is filled with delightful, delicious, decadent breakfast recipes. We tried Crispy French  Toast the other night.

Think State Fair meets breakfast: there's a crispy coating and some deep-frying involved. Yummy -- and  a fun change from regular, ol' boring french toast. Give it a try...
 

Crispy French Toast

8 cups vegetable oil for deep frying
6 thick slices of white bread (Texas toast)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 cups cornflakes

Preheat deep-fryer to 375° F. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar. Beat well. Place cornflakes in separate bowl. Dip bread slices in egg mixture and press into cornflakes.

Carefully slide coated bread slices into hot oil. Fry on each side until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

 Hints:

► It doesn't say to crush up the cornflakes in the original recipe. Do it. Smaller cornflake pieces make for a more uniform, crispy coating.

►  More eggs, a little less milk -- the coating will stick better.

 original recipe: Beyond Oatmeal, 2010 calendar from Carlene Duda

Baked Blueberry Stuffed French Toast

Baked Blueberry Stuffed French Toast

14 slices of Texas Toast, with the crusts removed, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup fresh or frozen (then thawed) blueberries, picked over and rinsed
12 larges eggs
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 cups milk

For the sauce:
2 cups sugar
4 Tbsp cornstarch
2 cups water
2 cups fresh or frozen (then thawed) bluerries
Zest of 1 lemon (optional, it just makes the flavor pop a little more)
1 Tbsp unsalted butter

Cut the crusts off the bread, then cut into 1 inch cubes

Arrange half the bread in a buttered 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Scatter the cream cheese over the bread, and sprinkle the blueberries over the cream cheese.

Arrange the remaining bread pieces over the blueberries and cream cheese. In a large mixing bowl combine the eggs, maple syrup and milk. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread mixture.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Bake the French Toast, covered with foil in the middle of a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes until it is puffed and golden.

To make the sauce:

In a saucepan stir together the sugar, the cornstarch, and the water and cook the mixture over medium high heat, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, or until it is thickened. Stir in the blueberries and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes, or until the berries have burst. Add the lemon zest if you want it then add the butter and stir the sauce until the butter is melted. Served topped with freshly whipped whipping cream if desired.

Recipe was slightly adapted from a recipe from Emory Creek Victorian Bed and Breakfast.

Happy Anniversary!

Thirteen years ago today, Cory and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple. I am so in love with this good man of mine. Together we have been through sicknesses, pregnancies, loss of loved ones, as well as laughter and fun memories. With Jason being only 1, we couldn't go and escape the world this year, so I tried to recreate the breakfast we had at the B&B we stayed at. Here is a recipe that is amazingly yummy! (The B&B we stayed at closed it's doors, so I couldn't get their exact recipe, but maybe that was a good thing, because this recipe for Baked Blueberry French Toast is even better!!) Cory said it was the best breakfast he has ever had!! See the recipe above and enjoy!

Easy Herb Chicken

I love this easy, fall-off-the-bone-tender-goodness crockpot recipe.

Easy Herb Chicken

1 whole chicken (giblets removed)
poultry seasoning
salt

1. Rinse the chicken.

2. "Blacken" the chicken with poultry seasoning and sprinkle salt on the chicken.

3. Put the chicken in the crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Stuffed Manicotti

I can never get a picture of this one-- we eat it too quickly!

This is Aunt Liz's recipe (see p.108 of the the family cookbook) and I've been making it since I was a newlywed. It's so good and so easy. I haven't been able to tolerate toast or crackers for the past 3 months (morning sickness, bleh)-- but I could eat this!

Stuffed Manicotti

8 uncooked Manicotti noodles
1/2 lb mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup cottage cheese
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 jar Prego spaghetti sauce
2 Tbsp Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated (and some extra to sprinkle on top)

Combine mozzarella, cottage cheese, beaten eggs, 2 Tbsp parmesan or romano cheese, soft butter, salt and pepper. Stuff uncooked noodles with the sauce and place in a 9 x 13 baking pan.

Heat spaghetti sauce to boiling and pour over the noodles. Sprinkle generously with extra parmesan or romano cheese.

Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Noodles will be a little firm, but not mushy.

(Adding hamburger or sausage is optional)

Jen's Soft Italian Bread Dough

Matthew won't eat Mac and Cheese. He won't eat Spaghetti-O's. He doesn't even like pizza. BUT, he will eat pizza if I make the dough using this recipe. I call it "Jen's Bread Pizza." (You can also use it to make breadsticks.) Jen found this recipe on "Taste of Home." See bottom for credits.

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Jen's Soft Italian Bread Dough

1 cup water (70 to 80 degrees)

3 Tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 cups bread flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Topping (if making Breadsticks)

1 Tablespoon butter, melted

1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

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Directions:

1. Put water, butter, salt, flour, sugar, Italian seasoning, garlic powder and yeast in the bread machine pan.

2. Select the dough setting (after a few minutes, check your dough. Add 1 to 2 Tablespoons of water or flour if needed to get the right consistency).

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For Pizza:

Once the dough cycle is complete, roll the dough onto a cookie sheet (cut in half if desired) and add pizza sauce and toppings. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

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For Breadsticks:

1. Roll on a floured surface. Cut in half. Then cut each portion into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a 4 to 6 inch rope. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 20 minutes).

2. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Immediately brush with butter and sprinkle on the parmesan cheese. Serve warm.

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"Soft Italian Breadsticks." Christy Eichelberger. Taste of Home. http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Soft-Italian-Breadsticks.

Give-a-Way!!!!

First Prize is a $20 gift card to Target and a 2010 Calendar by Carlene Duda called Beyond Oatmeal. Each month has a new recipe for a breakfast or a dessert, including Smooth Cream Cheese Pancakes, Lemon Almond Pull-aparts, and Blueberry Peach Cake. What better way to start those New Year's Resolutions than with a calendar with beautiful pictures of food!!

Second Prize is a 2010 Michael VaughAn Calendar of Black and White pictures of Temples, which include the Oquirrh Mountain, Nauvoo, Provo, Mt. Timpanogos, Salt Lake, Bountiful, Rexburg, Manti, Draper, St. George, Jordan River and Logan Temples.

I know that this isn't a food related prize, but I saw it and loved it and thought that it might make your day too!

To enter, add a comment to this entry of the blog and a winner will be chosen on Friday morning (January 8th 2010). Your entry can be a note about a recipe that you tried on the blog and liked. It can be an entry on what your favorite entry was on this blog. It can even be your favorite food related Holiday Tradition (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Halloween, etc.) You can do as many entries per day that you want.

Thank you so much for checking in with our blog! We truly treasure our friends and love to sit and chat while cooking and eating great food!