Easy Cinnamon Rolls

Hi everyone, I just copied this recipe from my other blog, so sorry if you've already seen it!

I love cinnamon rolls, but I've never been that great at making them. Sure, they've always turned out pretty good, but the process... not good.

Let's just say there have been tears shed over the making of cinnamon rolls at my house, and they were mine. I don't have a fancy mixer or anything, so I've always mixed them by hand, and ended up with sticky dough that stuck to everything when I was trying to roll it up. Kinda drove me crazy.

But last week one day, I was making scrambled eggs with ham for dinner, and just had the idea "I should see if I can find a cinnamon roll recipe that will work in the breadmaker.", you know...to beef up my breakfast for dinner. Well, I found one! So we ended up having breakfast for dinner/dessert!

I love using my bread machine to make pizza dough (because let's just face it, I don't love handling dough). It's so easy to throw the ingredients on and turn it on the dough cycle. Granted, you do have to do that step an hour in advance of when you might have started making it by hand, but to me it is SO worth it to have the bread machine do all the work. I don't know why I didn't think of doing cinnamon rolls in there sooner!

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com.

The website calls them "Clone of a Cinnabon". I call them Delicious. And Easy. Or maybe... So Delicious and Easy That I've Already Made Them Twice in the Last Four Days. But whatever you choose to call them, I hope you try it and enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup margarine, melted
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
  

**I just used the leftover portion of the stick of butter from the first part of the recipe, which ends up being less than 1/3 cup, but it is more than enough. I also didn't measure the cinnamon and sugar, i just sprinkled it on till it looked good.

• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
  
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

**I didn't have any cream cheese, so I just made some standard powdered sugar icing, and they were still delicious! Normally I'm all for cream cheese frosting, but you could easily save yourself the calories and they will still be so delicious!

Directions

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
2. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
3. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Kale Crisps

Okay, I had never even heard of kale before a facebook friend posted the link to this recipe on her facebook page. I rather like it now. It is kind of time consuming as I don't have a salad spinner, but I think it is worth the time it takes. It is a great way to eat your greens and enjoy them in bulk (I ate almost the entire bunch in one sitting).

Kale Crisps
1 bunch of kale (about 1 lb)
a drizzle of olive oil (no more than 1 tbsp)
sea salt (you will just sprinkle it on, so not much)

Wash the kale. Remove the leaves from the stems (tear into large bite size pieces as it will shrink as it is cooked). Dry the kale thoroughly (spin or pat dry, air dry doesn't work too well). Drizzle olive oil on kale pieces and massage gently to coat all peices of kale with oil. Spread kale onto a large cookie sheet (I actually had to use 2 large cookies sheets to get it only one layer deep). Sprinkle with sea salt to taste (whatever looks good). Bake in preheated oven (325 degrees) for 10 - 12 minutes until leaves look dark forest green and take on a translucent look. Remove from oven, allow to cool, and enjoy your snacking!

I hope you all enjoy this lovely recipe. I have only made it once, but I sure liked it. If you would like picutes and such check out the blog from which I obtained the recipe at http://www.threetastes.com/blog/blog_files/kalecrisps.php

P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps!

I found this super yummy recipe online for these lettuce wraps, and the filling even tastes delicious on rice (in fact, Drew likes it better just on rice).

Stir fry cubed chicken, chopped mushrooms, water chestnuts, onions, and a little garlic until chicken is cooked. Add sauce and cook until chicken is juicy and smells delicious!

Sauce: 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar

Serve in iceberg lettuce leaves like a burrito!

At P.F. Chang's, these are served with two sauces. One sauce is 1 Tablespoon hot mustard and 2 teaspoons hot water just mixed together (you can also add a chili paste). The other sauce is as follows:

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons ketchup
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

When I made this, I boiled the chicken then cubed it, rather than frying it, and it turned out just fine. The website I got this from even says that you can use ground chicken, too. I doubled this recipe and it was plenty for dinner, along with some rice. And it's a lot easier than it seems. Delicious!

Elizabeth's recipes...

Elizabeth has a new blog called That's {FAM}tastic! She has all kinds of cool stuff on there including recipes she has not posted here.

I can't wait to try her tex-mex-cheese-enchiladas, and her famous salsa! Maybe I can eat Mexican again in a few weeks when the baby is born and I don't have to worry about salt and swelling anymore :)

Tortilla Soup

This is easily one of my favorite meals, not only to eat, but to make. It is so easy and yummy. The kids even love to eat it and ask for seconds.

Ingredients:
1 lb. cooked chicken or browned hamburger (I usually use one can of canned chicken)
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can chicken broth
1 can corn
1 can Ranch Style Beans
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can Ro-Tel

Combine all of the above ingredients and simmer on medium heat to a boil. Pour over chips and sprinkle cheese on top.

Mom's Corn Chowder

Here's your picture Mom, so add the recipe :)

Sticky Chicken

I heard this recipe on Oprah the other day, and when I tried it, it was easy and delicious! Drew even liked it, and he said that he thought it sounded gross. All you do is marinate chicken breasts in this combination:
soy sauce (good amount)
honey (lots)
mustard (little bit)
then coat the chicken in sesame seeds. Cook under the broiler for 12 minutes. It's really good!