Monkey Bread

For some reason I just wanted to make some cinnamon rolls and of course my husband wasn't opposed, but he told me he could really go for monkey bread.  I love a challenge so I started combing web posts for monkey bread.  I was surprised that I had to add "from scratch" to my search! Most recipes you find online start with pre-made plain biscuit dough, which just doesn't cut it! Monkey bread needs a slightly sweet dough base for me.  I found 2 different recipes and just picked the easier one (http://www.food.com/recipe/cinnamon-pull-apart-bread-from-scratch-476343).  I really didn't want to wait overnight for my sweet treat! I changed a few things and it turned out great!!! I know some people put a glaze on top or dip in butter before eating but I promise this does not need anything! Here is what I came up with:

Monkey Bread
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/3 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
1 teaspoon sugar or honey
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1-2 Tablespoons milk

1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons water

Mix yeast, water, and 1 tsp sugar together and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Combine melted butter, salt, 2 Tbsp sugar and flour using a dough hook.  Add milk as needed to form a cohesive dough ball and then mix 5 minutes on low.

Leave dough in bowl and place in a warm area, covered with a towel, for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

1. Once dough is risen, punch down. Make small balls of dough about 2-3cm in diameter. Coat in sugar-cinnamon mixture, placing in a bundt pan, and repeat til all your dough is gone. Pour any remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture over dough balls.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Place 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar and water in a microwave safe bowl and heat until butter is melted.  Stir until mixture is smooth. Pour heated mixture over dough balls, bake for 25-30 min. 
4. Let it cool for 10 minutes and then tip onto a plate and wait 3-5 more minutes so all the gooiness and run down onto the plate and you don't lose any in the pan. Remove pan and enjoy! 

Rice pudding for the Little Man

Yesterday we made a double batch of rice for the week and it made me think that rice pudding would be great for my little man.  There are so  many different varieties it was hard to choose but I went with raisin and cinnamon flavored.  My LM can't have regular milk yet so I chose to use yogurt instead. I went with greek yogurt because that is what I have in my fridge but I am sure it would work with regular yogurt as long as it is plain.  There is enough natural sugar in this dish without adding more! The good news is that the yogurt gives it a little protein and the fruit is actually full of potassium :) My LM does not like the texture of rice normally but this is really creamy so it is not necessary.


Cinnamon Raisin Rice Pudding
1/3 cup raisins
2 dates*
1 cup water
1/2 cup day old cooked rice
1/3 cup greek yogurt
A few sprinkles of nutmeg and cinnamon

Put raisins, dates and water in a small pot. Cook for 5-10 minutes on medium high heat to soften. Add the rice. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for another 10 minutes or until liquid is almost all the way absorbed. Add the yogurt and spices. Mix until creamy then remove from heat.  Puree if desired.


*If you are going to puree the pudding then you can leave them whole.  If you are not going to puree then it is best to chop prior to cooking.

One-Pot Tomato Basil Pasta

I was looking for something I could make that was easy and didn't use too many dishes...I don't know about you but I am so tired of cleaning right now! I always feel like I am a non-stop cleaning machine around the holidays because you never know who is going to stop by and when! Anyway, I looked back at my pinterest board and found a recipe for one pot tomato basil pasta.  Here is the link: http://www.yankeekitchenninja.com/2014/06/one-pot-tomato-basil-pasta.html

I made it as is and thought it was a little bland so here are my changes:

One-Pot Tomato Basil Pasta

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 13.25-ounce box linguine
1 can diced tomatoes, drained ( I use no salt added tomatoes)
handful of basil, chopped
handful of parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons salt (not needed if using chicken broth/cubes that have salt included)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes
5 cups chicken broth
parmesan cheese for serving

Directions:
Heat oil in a large pot and then saute the onions and garlic. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally to submerge the pasta as it softens. Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring and tossing continually (tongs are great for this) for about 8 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and the pasta is cooked. Serve immediately topped with parmesan cheese. 


TIP
The ration of fresh to dry herbs is 3:1.  This means for every Tablespoon of fresh herbs you would use 1 teaspoon of dried to substitute.

Using Pureed Vegetables

I really need to go shopping! I am so bad about keeping vegetables in the house lately because as soon as I have some I make it into baby food.  I am still working on shopping for 3 people since the baby started eating real food a few months ago. Luckily I have found a few recipes that work great with pureed veggies!

Our favorite is Rachel Ray's butternut squash mac n cheese recipe which you can find here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/butternut-squash-mac-and-cheese-recipe.html

Another one I have used is mashed potatoes. Now that may seem like a cop out, but they aren't plain mashed potatoes.  I make as I normally would and then add a few cubes of thawed parsnip puree which gives the potatoes a peppery kick.

A few weeks ago I made potato & leek soup and added a few cubes of pureed broccoli instead of the fresh broccoli I would normally use.

I also recently found a recipe for and made a delicious butternut squash risotto, but of course now I can't find it!!  I will continue to search and will post it as soon as I find the one I made.  Until then you will have to search for one that sounds good to you!

Quick Enchilada Soup

Yesterday I was in need of an easy to make dinner.  I looked in the pantry and saw a can of pork and a can of chicken.  I remembered a soup I had made before using a can of green enchilada sauce and thought that would go perfect with the canned meat because it really improves the flavor.  (Lets face it - canned meat is a little weird tasting if you don't season the heck out of it. I have it as part of my food storage.) I used a crockpot just to allow the maximum amount of time for the meat to take on the flavor of the enchilada sauce, but you definitely don't have to.  It works just as well in a pot on the stove. I would have used 2 can of the same meat if I had it, but I only had one of each and it turned out just fine. Because there is salt added to canned meat I did not add salt to my soup.

Easy Enchilada Soup

2 cans cooked chicken or pork, drained
1 can green enchilada sauce
2 tablespoons dried onions
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 red potatoes, cubed

Put all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil for 15 min or until potatoes are tender.

I topped with cheese and ate with tortilla chips.  It would also be delicious with some fresh cilantro and dollop of sour cream. My preference is a little thicker soup.  If you want a thinner soup you can add chicken stock or water.

Printable Recipe

Flat cookies

Sometimes I don't make sure I have all the ingredients together before I start making something. That was the case today! I started making chocolate chip cookies and realized I did not have enough AP flour or even bread flour. The recipe calls for ground oats so I just increased that a little and hoped for the best. It didn't work. Somehow I got the idea to try a smaller scoop and to my surprise I ended up with beautiful cookies! They are more the size of chippers from Paradise Bakery, but who cares about the size as long as they taste good?

****Cookie Tip****

If your cookies are too flat for your liking try scooping them smaller!

For the cookie on the left I used a cookie scoop about 1 5/8 inches in diameter. For the cookie on the right I used a cookie scoop about 1 1/4 inches in diameter. These came from the same batter.

Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

For the past few years I have been using Alton Brown's chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-chewy-recipe.html) because it was our favorite. For some reason I decided to try a different recipe and with a few tweaks (thanks to Alton for teaching me how to alter cookie recipe for preferences) it has become our new favorite!

Chocolate chip cookies

1 C unsalted butter

1 ¼  C white sugar

¾ C brown sugar

2 eggs

1 Tbsp vanilla

2 ½ C bread flour

¾ c oats

⅓ C shredded unsweetened coconut, ground to coarse powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 C chocolate chips

Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time mixing well in between. Add vanilla.

Slowly add dry ingredients until well combined.

Scoop by tablespoon full onto cookie sheet.

Bake at 325-350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Notes:

These freeze well once scooped into balls if you make a big batch like I do!

You can substitute 2 C all purpose flour plus 1 C ground oats for bread flour and oats above

You don't have to grind up the coconut. I do because I don't like it in my teeth.