Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Annie's Winger's Sticky Finger Salad

 



INGREDIENTS:
  • Lettuce
  • Tomatoes
  • Avocado
  • Cilantro
  • Black beans
  • Corn
  • Peppers
  • 1-2 c marinated, cooked chicken OR *1 bag Tyson breaded chicken tenders (1.5 lbs)
  • Sticky Finger Dressing (recipe below)
  • Ranch Dressing
  • Nacho Cheese Doritos, opt
STICKY FINGER DRESSING:
  • 3 Tbs Frank's buffalo hot sauce                       
  • 3/4 c brown sugar                                        
  • 1/4 c water                                                    
DIRECTIONS:
  1. Mix dressing ingredients together in small pan and heat on stove until dissolved.  
  2. Put salad ingredients together in large bowl.
  3. When ready to serve, drizzle sticky finger dressing and ranch over salad.
  4. Crumble chips on top, if desired
Notes:
Instead of ranch dressing on top, I add cilantro ranch from the Cafe Rio dressing, soooo good!

Monday, December 14, 2020

Perfect Cinnamon Rolls

KASHINA LINNE DO NOT DOUBLE THIS RECIPE!!! 
IT DOES NOT FIT IN YOUR BOSCH, HA HA!



INGREDIENTS

ROLLS:
 4 cups scalded milk 
 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
 1 cup sugar
 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
 1 3/4 tablespoons instant yeast *
 4 large eggs
 11-13 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

FILLING:
 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
 2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

FROSTING:
 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
 2 teaspoon vanilla
 Pinch of salt
 2 pounds powdered sugar
 Cream or milk for consistency

INSTRUCTIONS
For the dough, heat the milk in a medium saucepan until the milk is scalded (which is basically heating it until right before it simmers - it will start steaming and little bubbles will form around the edge of the pan). Pour the milk into the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (or you can do this by hand with a large bowl, wooden spoon and lots of elbow grease).
Add the butter, sugar and salt. Mix until the butter is melted and let the mixture cool until warm but not hot.
Add the yeast and eggs and mix until combined.
Gradually add the flour until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. The exact amount will depend on the temperature, humidity and how you measure flour. I usually end up adding just under 13 cups of flour. The dough should be soft and just slightly sticky without leaving a lot of residue on your fingers. Let it knead for 2-3 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a large, lightly greased bowl. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled.
Divide the dough in half. Roll each portion of dough (it's soft enough to be patted and stretched with your hands) into an 18-inch by 12-inch rectangle. Spread one stick of softened butter over each rectangle.
Stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle half of it over each rectangle. Pat it in slightly with the palms of your hands. Starting with one long end, roll up the cinnamon rolls as tightly as possible, pinching the seam lightly to seal.
Working with one long log of cinnamon roll at a time, using a serrated knife, cut it in half. Then cut each half in half again (forming four equal portions). Cut each of the four portions into three rolls - twelve cinnamon rolls total. Repeat this with the other roll - you'll have 24 cinnamon rolls total.
Place the rolls evenly spaced on a parchment-lined large, rimmed baking sheet about 11X17-inches (or 12X18-inches). I space the rolls 3 across, 4 down. If the ends have come free, carefully tuck them under the cinnamon roll.
Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap and let the rolls rise until double. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake the rolls for about 18-22 minutes until only very slightly golden on top. Let the rolls cool almost completely in the pan before frosting.
For the frosting, in a large bowl, whip together the cream cheese and butter. Add the vanilla, maple and salt and mix until combined.
Gradually add the powdered sugar (if you add it all at once, be prepared for a huge snowstorm in your kitchen) and mix until thick and creamy. Add cream or milk a tablespoon at a time until the frosting is smooth and spreadable to your liking.
Spread the cinnamon rolls with frosting.
To freeze, once the cinnamon rolls are completely cooled, use a spatula to carefully transfer a single cinnamon roll to a quart-sized ziploc bag. Seal the bag with as little air inside as possible and freeze for up to a month. To reheat, remove the roll from the bag (it's easier than it seems - it will pop right out!) and warm on a plate in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. Start at 45 seconds 

NOTES
Milk: these rolls turn out better with whole milk 

*Yeast: also, if you don't have instant yeast and want to use active dry, up the amount to 2 1/2 tablespoons and dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup water with a pinch of sugar. If doing this, you'll need to add a bit more flour than if following the recipe using instant yeast.

Chicken Cordon Blue Casserole

 



Ingredients 
10oz cooked Bowtie Pasta
1 pkg frozen broccoli (or 3 C cooked fresh)
4 oz cooked cubed Ham

1-1 1/2 lbs cooked cubed Chicken

For the Rue:
3 TBsp Butter
4 TBsp Flour
1/2 TBsp Garlic Salt 
1 1/2 C low fat Milk
1 1/2 Chicken Broth
1 C low fat Sour Cream 
2-3 TB Dijon mustard (I added 1 TB of regular mustard)
1 tsp Paprika (I only added a few shakes)

6 slices of lite Baby Swiss Cheese

Method:
{reheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Be sure your chicken, ham, pasta, and broccoli are cooked/ prepared as per instructions.*

To make your rue melt butter, add flour until they form a paste, after they form a paste slowly add the milk followed by the chicken broth. The liquid should be a thicker consistency. Then add your garlic salt, sour cream,** mustard and paprika. 

Add chicken, ham, bowtie pasta, broccoli, to a casserole dish*** pour rue liquid over, add baby Swiss cheese to the top, cover with tinfoil and bake for 15-20 minutes, then remove foil and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is slightly browned and bubbly. Enjoy! 

Notes:
*I cooked the pasta and the broccoli together
** I think next time I will skip the sour cream and see what it tastes like without it. 
***I used a 9x13 dish 

Melissa Morgan’s Bread



The directions for this bread are a little vague sometimes, but the bread is amazing!

Ingredients 
3 C Warm Water 205-215 degrees F
3 C Warm Apple Juice 205-215 degrees F*
2 TBsp Yeast (slightly rounded)
2 TBsp Brown Sugar (rounded)
3 TBsp High Gluten Flour (heaping)
1 Container 6oz Orange Yoplait Yogurt**
10 C Whole Wheat Flour

4 C White Flour
1 C Honey
2 TBsp Salt

2-3 TBsp Dough Enhancer 

Method:
Pour warm apple juice and warm water into a large mixing bowl (Bosch). Add yeast, sugar, high gluten flour, yogurt, and whole wheat flour and mix for about 15 seconds. Let it sit (to sponge or proof) until it reaches the top of the bowl. 

Add white flour, honey and salt, begin a 13 minute knead. At six minute mark add dough enhancer. *** At the end of the kneading dough should pull from sides and be moist and silky. 

Place dough on an oiled surface (Olive oil works). Using a food scale divide the dough into 5 separate loaves. Mostly my loaves end up weighing 1 lb 11 oz.

Press them or roll them into a rectangle, then roll up the rectangle, fairly tightly and shaping the ends, then place loaf in bread pan. Spray the tops with Pam, water or something similar, then cover with a cloth and put them somewhere warm to proof or rise until doubled in size. 

Once loaves have doubled in size, place them in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. 

Turn out the first loaf, if the bottom is a rich brown color take the other loaves out. Let bread ‘rest’ in the pans for 3-5 minutes then take them out and let them cool completely on a cooling rack. Let cool 20 minutes before slicing, for best results. 

I would read the image at the end if you want all of the notes that she/ or rather her Dad has. I haven’t ever done the water in the oven trick. 



Notes:
*Melissa makes her own apple juice, I just find one that says ‘not from concentrate’
** I think it can be any flavor, I don’t notice a difference between vanilla, orange, or peach, really whatever I have on hand, Melissa said she has even used sour cream before
*** If dough is really sticky I add more white bread flour at this point, a few tablespoons at a time



Sunday, June 14, 2020

Gran's Cinna-Bon Cake

With a name like "Cinna-bon" this had a lot to live up to... and it totally came through! This cake is heaven on earth and really easy too! 

Base
3 C Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1 C Sugar
4 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/3 C Milk
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 C Butter (melted) - add last

Topping 
1 C Butter -softened 
1 C Brown Sugar
2 TBsp Flour
1 TBsp Cinnamon

Glaze
2 C Icing Sugar
5 TBsp Milk
1 tsp Vanilla 

Directions
Base
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients except melted butter. Mix in melted butter last (I am not sure why the melted butter is called for last, but I followed instructions and this cake was bomb🤷🏼‍♀️) Pour batter into a 9x13 baking dish. 

Topping
Mix all ingredients. Should be a very thick sugary mixture. Drop by spoonfuls into batter, then take a knife and swirl the cinnamon mixture into the cake batter.

Bake cake for 28-30 minutes. (I am not sure if my oven bakes cooler but I needed to bake mine for an additional 15 minutes)

As soon as cake comes out of the oven mix up your glaze. Glaze should be a thin soup consistency, pour over warm cake.

This is good warm, but it’s really good when the glaze has sat on the cake for an hour or so. Todd, went back for thirds... something that never happens. So good!

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Bath Bombs

Super easy, and way fun!

Ingredients:
1/4 C Citric Acid*
1/4 C Cornstarch
1/2 C Baking Soda
1/4 C Coconut Oil

Essential Oils
Food Coloring

Mix ingredients and form into balls using hands or molds. 

* I found citric acid online

Annie's Stir-fry

This was SO good!

Place 10 chicken thighs in 9x13 glass dish. (Or about six small-med chicken breasts) I used a cookie sheet

Combine sauce ingredients in quart saucepan and simmer until slightly thickened: (just a few minutes)
1 1/2 T cornstarch
1 1/2 T cold water
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c soy sauce
1/4 c + 2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 garlic clove, finely minced
3/4 t ginger
1/4 t + 1/8 t pepper

Pour sauce over chicken thighs and cover pan with foil. 

Bake at 425 degrees for a total of 1 hour.  

I used a frozen stir-fry mix. 
Stir-Fry veggies to serve with:  1 Onion, 4 carrots, 1 pepper, 2 large bunches broccoli, 1 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, asparagus, etc.

After chicken is done.  Serve over rice and veggies

Brittany Mitchell's Cornbread

...or should I say Corn CAKE! Let's be real, ANYTHING Brittany makes is gold... do yourself a favor and make this, you will not be disappointed.


Bread:
2/3 C Soft Butter
3/4 C Sugar
1/2 C packed Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
1 2/3 C Milk
2 1/3 C Flour
1 C Cornmeal
4 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt

Topping:
1/2 C Butter
1/4 C Honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix 'bread' ingredients together and bake in a 9x13 greased pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Poke with a fork and pour topping mixture over hot bread.

SO GOOD! I am seriously thinking about this for my birthday cake next year!

Notes:
*When I made the topping I didn't have enough to go over the whole cake, but when Kaleen made it, she had way too much. It could be due to our type honey, but just fyi
** I melted my topping together and it flowed better




Thursday, April 2, 2020

Salsa Verde Crispy Carnitas




2-3 lbs Pork
Season Salt
1-2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 White Onion
1 16oz Jar Salsa Verde ( we use the Herdez brand)

Method:

1. Cut pork into fourths, and lightly season with season salt 

2. Sear all sides of the pork on a pan or in the Instant Pot 

3. Cover meat with garlic, onion, and jar of salsa verde. Set Instant Pot on manual pressure for 60 minutes.

4. It tends to be a bit more tender if you wait for the Instant Pot to depressurize on it's own however we have done a QR and it is fine too. 

5. Shred your pork and enjoy *sometimes we will 'crisp' it up a bit on the stove ** we eat this meat as a salad topper, on buns, and as taco meat

Chicken Bacon Cesar Wraps

My friend Niki and I went to lunch a couple of months ago, and I ordered the 'Chicken Bacon Cesar Wrap'. It was amazing! So of course I wanted it everyday for a week. I decided Todd probably wouldn't appreciate me spending a small fortune on lunch for a week, so I made my own recipe. My favorite part of this recipe is the 'crunch' in the croutons, so be sure to add them last/right before you wrap up your deliciousness.



Ingredients:
1-2 Cooked Chicken Breast, Cubed
6-10 Slices of cooked bacon, crumble
1-2 Bags of shredded lettuce/shredded romaine lettuce
Cesar dressing
1-2 Cups Croutons

6-10 Flour tortilla wraps

Method:
Mix everything but the croutons together. Add about 1/3 C of the mixture to a tortilla, then top with croutons. Wrap up and enjoy!

Friday, March 27, 2020

Niki Jackson's Instant Pot Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup



The first time I had this, it was at a Fall Party, and I begged Niki to give me the recipe, and like the awesome person she is, she sent it within minutes. I made it three times the next month! It's easy and so stinken good!

Ingredients:
1 Small Onion
3T Butter
2 lbs Cauliflower (about two heads)
1 1/2 C Chicken Broth
1 1/2 C Water
1 tp Mustard
1 C Heavy Cream
1 3/4 C Sharp Cheddar
3/4 C Pepper Jack or Monterrey Jack
1 1/2 tsp Salt

Method:
Saute Onion in butter. Once translucent add cauliflower and cover with water and chicken broth. Manual pressure for 4 minutes followed by a quick pressure release. Use an immersion blender to puree ingredients until smooth. Whisk in heavy cream and add cheese, salt, and mustard. Stir until well blended. 

Soooo good! 


Momma Roe's Spaghetti Sauce

The joy of getting a recipe from an Italian is there are rarely exact measurements and each time you make the dish, it turns out different. Kaleen and I had mom tell us what she puts in her sauce. Her sauce is still always better than anything I have ever made, but my kids will eat it when I make it her way so I consider that a win.

Ingredients:
1 lbs Ground Beef
1/4 Onion chopped (optional, I don't put this in as my kids don't like the sauce when I do)
1 Can TRADITIONAL HUNTS Tomato Sauce
1/2 Cup Water (more as needed)
1 tsp Sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste


Method:
* Brown ground beef and onion together, drain
* Empty can of tomato sauce and water into medium size pot, add ground beef mixture
* add sugar and salt and pepper to taste, I am a pretty firm believer in people seasoning their own food, because I like my food pretty bland and Todd likes it really flavorful. So I add two or three shakes of the salt and pepper and then I let Todd add his own spices (aka hot sauce)
* Cook it all day on the stove OR
* Put it in the Instant Pot for 15 minutes

Homemade Croutons



This is a pretty easy 'recipe'. Really you can add whatever spices you are craving, or want to add to your dish that the croutons will be on. We have made these a few times for the Cesar Salad Wraps that we make, and they are so good!

Ingredients:
1 loaf of French bread (I get the super thin sliced French in the bakery section of Walmart)
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
2-8 TBsp Butter


Method:
Preheat oven 375. Using a very sharp bread knife cut the bread into tiny squares. I tend to be meticulous, but you could just as easily shred the bread with your fingers. Lay the bread cubes on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle the butter over the bread, then season with as much or as little seasoning as you would like. I liked a fair bit of onion seasoning and a little bit less garlic. Place in oven for 10-20 minutes stirring half way through. Take out of the oven when pieces are golden brown... try not to eat them all before using them!