Old Fashioned Rolls

Want those rolls that Mom always made during holiday get togethers but don't want the hassle of kneading that dang dough. Boy, do I have a treat for you!  Super easy to make rolls that come out perfect and there is no kneading needed. (I just wanted to say no kneading needed.)

2 1/4 tsp yeast (or one package)
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup scalded milk
1/4 cup butter
2 beaten eggs
1/3 cup sugar
4 1/2 cups flour

Dissolve the yeast in water in a big bowl. 

Scald your milk - this means warm it in a pot until it almost wants to boil. I pull it as soon as I see the first bubbles. Set aside to cool slightly while you measure the butter and sugar. Add butter and sugar to the milk. Once milk is warm rather than hot add it slowly to the yeast.  If it's too hot you've just murdered your yeast (don't murder your yeast). Blend together.

Add the beaten eggs and mix well.

Stir in flour and place in greased bowl. Cover and let rise in warm spot for about an hour (about doubled). Punch dough and form into rolls of your desired shape. I do either two or three balls. Place in greased muffin tin. Cover and let rise another hour or until they double once again.

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.

Perfection! Enjoy!

Banana Nut Crumble

Looking for an alternative to banana bread or banana muffins for proper disposal of your elderly bananas?  Love butter and sugar?  Well, you're in the right spot!

Ingredients
Cake mix
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
3 ripe bananas
1 stick (1/2 cup) room temperature butter
2 cups (white) sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk

Crumb mix
2 sticks (1 cup) cold butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup nuts, your choice and option

Preheat oven to 350. Spray your 9x13 pan generously.

Start by mixing your cake mix bananas, room temperature butter, white sugar, eggs and vanilla until lumpy but relatively smooth. You are supposed to mix the flour and powder well but I always mix in my powder now - until well mixed. Then gradually and alternately mix in your flour and milk.  Set aside while you make the crumb mix.

Use a pastry knife to cut your butter, brown sugar and flour together. Tip: if you don't have enough brown sugar use 2 Tbsp molasses for every cup of white sugar as substitute. I used 1 cup brown sugar, 2 Tbsp molasses and 1 cup white sugar for mine. Apparently you can substitute white sugar directly for brown but it might be crispier than if you add the molasses or use brown sugar as you are supposed to.  Also, cut your cold butter in before you add the nuts - makes things easier.  Once you have the butter cut in well add the nuts and stir until well mixed.

Now the fun part! 

Add half of the cake mixture to the pan. Then 1/3 of the crumb mix followed by the rest of the cake mix and topped off with the remaining crumb mix.  If you have problems getting the cake mix to cover the first crumb topping let it set for a minute and then smooth it over. If it doesn't work just know that it worked well for me and that's what matters. :)

Bake for 50 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes and then you are ready to cut and enjoy!

Good stuff.

16 Bean and Ham Soup

Homemade 16 Bean and Ham Soup

With football season starting and the trees starting to change color I decided it was time to learn to make soup! I used a bag of 16 bean soup starter (which is a bag of beans, no seasonings or anything else in it).  Simply followed the directions (for the most part).

Ingredients:
1 bag 16 bean starter (the one I got had no need to soak the beans)
8 cups chicken broth
1 16 oz bag of baby carrots chopped up
1 normal sized red onion chopped up
2 Tbsp no salt tomato paste
2 tsp Italian seasoning

Set aside for later
1.5 pound ham chopped up
1 14.5 oz can no salt diced tomatoes (undrained)

Combine all the first ingredients in a big slow cooker (it will fill it!)
Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
Stir in the ham and tomatoes and cook for 15 more minutes before serving.

It made a LOT but luckily it's tasty! :)

Blueberry Delights

Blueberry Delights

1 cup softened butter
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 can blueberry pie filling
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Preheat your over to 350. 

Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time mixing thoroughly after each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Mix with the flour and baking powder until completely mixed.

Fill the 9x13 baking pan with half of the batter. It will be a somewhat sticky mess but you should be able to flatten it with your hands to coat the bottom of the pan.

Pour the filling over the crust and spread evenly. Sprinkle the nutmeg over the filling.

Plop the remaining crust mixture over the filling.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

You can drizzle a glaze over top: made of 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp lemon and 1 Tbsp melted butter.

It was a giant hit at work. And seems healthy what with the antioxidants in there. :)  Ideally you'd use real fresh blueberries but they can be super expensive so I went with the filling in this case.

Cheesecake Delights

Cheesecake Delights

Simple and delicious!

What you will need:
2 boxes of cream cheese of your choosing - full fat, partial or fat free - you choose; I go with Neufchatel
One package of Oreo cookies
Greek yogurt
Sugar
Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
Muffin Tin
Muffin Papers
350 degree pre-heated oven
A little bit of time
Desire for cheesecake goodness

How to make:
16 oz cream cheese (2 boxes)
2/3 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
Mix well, until smooth

1/2 tsp vanilla
Mix

2 eggs
Mix one at a time and mix well, until completely combined.

Put muffin papers in regular sized muffin tins and add one Oreo cookie as the crust.  Plop some cheesecake filling on top of the Oreo - keeping in mind that it is not going to grow much so fill close to the top.  Bake for 20 minutes or so. Not until brown but it shouldn't jiggle either - find the sweet spot. I take them out just before I think they are perfect as they sit in the muffin tins and will cook slightly until they are cool enough to take out and place on a cooling rack.

Super tasty and fun and quick to make. I received numerous comments about just how tasty these were - that they had a great flavor to them.  Then you say it's make with Greek yogurt and you get to go back and have another because that must mean they are good for you.... ;)

Variations I haven't tried yet would be to use lemon extract instead of vanilla and adding fruit to the top.

One variation I have tried that I highly recommend is to use any leftover Oreos and make a cheesecake sandwich. Yum.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

1 pound uncooked chicken, cubed
1 cup lower fat sour cream
1 jar taco sauce or enchilada sauce
12 corn tortillas or tostadas
1cup sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine chicken and sour cream.

Pour 1/2 of jar of sauce in bottom of 9x13 nonstick pan. Top with 4 tortillas, then 1/2 the chicken mix, and 1/2 of the cheese.  Top with 4 tortillas, the last chicken mix, and the other half of the cheese. Top it off with the 4 remaining tortillas and pour the other 1/2 jar of sauce on top.

Bake 35 minutes.

I topped it all with some extra cheese because cheese is gooooooood. :) Another recipe from my low fat cooking class that is pretty remarkable. How can it be so tasty with hardly any ingredients in it!? Yummers.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

Looking for an amazingly easy and quick homemade tomato sauce?  Look no further.  This was part of my low fat cooking class with my slight modification.

1/2 red onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
15 oz diced tomatoes (no salt added)
8 oz tomato sauce (no salt added)
6 oz tomato paste (no salt added)
1/4 cup fresh basil (or slightly less of basil paste)

If you'd like it to be a beef sauce - add another 8 oz of tomato sauce and a pound of cooked ground beef.

Cook the onion and garlic to your liking.  Add everything else and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  If you want it a bit sweeter add a bit of sugar (Tbsp or so).

Done.
Yum.