Pinterest Recipe: Heart Cinnamon Rolls

This was genius and so easy.

Thanks to Pinterest.

I just unrolled each cinnamon roll and re-rolled them like you see here.

Baked according to package directions and poured on that wonderful fake-sweet white icing!

Boys and girl loved them and only after eating a few bites did one actually notice that they were in the shape of hearts.  Once it was noticed and pointed out, the whole crew scrambled to get a glimpse of the two left in the pan before fighting over who would eat the rest of them.

My Man was out feeding cows and came home to find an empty pan and my offerings of cereal.

Pinterest Recipe: Baked Oatmeal

I really really really enjoyed this recipe!

Super yummy!

Apple cinnamon baked oatmeal

Ingredients:

• 2 cups uncooked rolled oats
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• salt, to taste (1/4 – 1/2 tsp)
• 2 cups vanilla soy milk or other vanilla nut milk
• 1 tbs oil
• 1 tbs ground flax, mixed in 3 tbs warm water
• Cooking spray

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine oats, sugar, apple, cinnamon, walnuts, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add soymilk and oil; stir to combine.
4. Stir in flax mixture.
5. Pour into a greased 8″ x 8″ pan. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until mixture is set. 
   

Cooking My Way Through: Sliders

Back to my cooking my way through ground beef magazine.

These were teriyaki beef sliders topped with bacon, pineapple and spinach.

I found little slider sized buns at the grocery store so that made it even more fun!

The night I was going to make these, the weather was nasty and I didn't feel like getting out and messing around with the grill so I just used my George Foreman.

They were still really good...just missing that charcoal taste.

I'm trying to offer salad at dinner these days.

This is easy when you have a great dressing to put on top.

My momma recently brought me some of the dressing from Applebees oriental chicken salad.

Oh heaven!

I could eat it off a spoon!

Carnitas!

The other day at the grocery store, I was in the aisle that has the little seasoning packets and they now have this entire section of Crock Pot seasonings.  I found one for Carnitas.  I've always wanted to try Carnitas at the Mexican restaurant but never have.  I know it's make with pork and this particular packet said to use a pork roast in the crock pot.  In tiny print it said you could also use beef.  Well, we've got the beef.

I sautéed some red peppers and onion and threw those into the crock pot about 2 hours before we ate dinner.  The result was amazing.

Using corn tortillas, it really tasted good enough to be from a restaurant.

Hodge Podge

Along with those pork chops I made green bean casserole.

I adore green bean casserole!

Along with those pork chops, I made P-dub mashed potatoes!

Crab Bisque

I was cleaning out the pantry the other day and found two cans of lump crab meat.

I searched for an easy recipe for crab bisque.

I found one that called for all ingredients I already had.

Win!

LOBSTER OR CRAB BISQUE  

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 can tomato bisque soup

2/3 c. dry sherry

1 c. light cream

2 c. milk

1 (7 oz.) can lobster or crab with liquid (I use crab because lobster is so expensive; lobster tastes better)

Blend sherry, milk, and cream into soups in saucepan. Add lobster/crab and heat gently, stirring often, until hot. Do not boil. 

So easy and so good, surprisingly since it wasn't from a nice restaurant and consisted of very basic ingredients.

Pan Fried Pork Chops

Have you ever had to make a hodgepodge meal?

The other night I realized I didn't have the ingredients I thought I did for a recipe I was wanting to make so...I scrummaged through the deep freeze and found some Schwan's pork chops.

Fried them up and served with mashed potatoes and gravy.

Can't beat that!

Skillet Biscuits

These tasted close, really close, to my favorite Hardees biscuits.

And crazy easy!

ation Instructions

Preheat oven to 500 F.

Cut the stick of butter into small pats and lay them out on a cookie sheet that you’ve lined with wax paper. Stick the pan in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Prepare a cast iron skillet by brushing the bottom of it with a tiny amount of bacon grease, if available. (I didn’t have any bacon on hand so I just melted a 1 inch thick pat of butter and brushed the skillet with that).

Combine all of the dry ingredients using a stand mixer. Add in the frozen pats of butter and mix on medium speed until the butter is about the size of peas. Add the buttermilk, 1/4 cup at a time until you have added just enough so the dough separates from the sides of the bowl. Stir until just combined.

Then put the dough onto a well-floured surface and cover dough with a sprinkling of additional flour. Knead a couple of times and roll out to about 3/4″ to 1″ thickness. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits.

Place biscuits into your prepared cast-iron skillet and be sure the biscuits are touching.

Bake for 6 minutes. Take the skillet out of the oven, brush biscuits with melted butter, and put back in the oven. Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes. Every oven is different so watch the biscuits closely at this point.

Adapted from See.Try.Eat.

Ingredients

• 1 stick Chilled Butter
• 2 cups All-purpose Flour Plus Extra For Sprinkling On Your Work Surface
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• ¾ cups Buttermilk
• Melted Butter, For Your Skillet And For Brushing The Top Of Your Biscuits

Valentine Cake Pops

Were you an awesome mom on Valentine's Day?

I was!

Pinterest Recipe: Baked Smores

One of the best sweets I've ever made, hands down.

Baked S'mores
recipe courtesy Baked Perfection


Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla 
1 1/3 cups flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 7 full graham crackers)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 or 3 super-sized (5 oz.) chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)


Directions


Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom of **8 by 8 or 11 by 7. 

**Note, I have only made these in an 11 by 7 and a reader who made them in an 8 by 8 said she thought the marshmallow was too thick in that size pan. I personally loved the thinner bar in the 11 by 7, but you can do whichever you prefer, the only difference is adding an additional large Hershey's bar as seen in my pictures above. 

In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt.

Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. 

Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Two 5 oz. Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly [for 8 by 8] side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer. [use 3 Hershey's for 11 by 7 pan]

Spread marshmallow fluff evenly over the chocolate layer.

Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the creme. This is most easily done by putting the second half of the dough in a gallon size freezer bag. Use your palms or rolling pin to flatten it out, and then use scissors to cut down both long sides of the bag, so it will open up book-style. Open it up carefully, and the dough will stick on one side of the bag. Then place the bag, dough side down, on the other three layers. From there peel the bag up and carefully spread the dough where it is uneven.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely or almost completely for the melty factor before cutting into bars. 

Enjoy!

Strawberry Footballs: Pinterest Recipe

Super Bowl goodie!

I saw this idea on Pinterest but didn't really go by the recipe.

However, they ended up looking "not too shabby."

I used chocolate almond bark and white for the laces.

I think the recipe called for making a white royal icing and then piping it out.

However, I was a bit crunched for time (remember it was my birthday) and we'd been at a Wrestling tournament for the half the day.

So, instead I just melted some white almond bark and put it in a little squeeze bottle.

It was a tad hard to control, but the boys thought I was a-mazing!

Black Magic Cake: Pinterest Recipe

Oh heaven.  This was soooo good.  #2 asked that it be his birthday cake!

BLACK MAGIC CAKE (BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE EVER!)
Added by Lisa Glass [Sqrlmama] on Apr 7, 2011

Lisa from Englewood, OH (pop. 21,757) says:
When my mother passed away, a close family friend made us two wonderful cakes. One was the Kentucky Apple cake, which was a hit with the big guys, and the other was this moist, dense chocolate cake, which was a hit with my three sons and their friends. My twin boys requested this for their birthday with one stipulation - they each wanted their own cake, just for them! Oh, and don't be thrown off by the inclusion of coffee in the recipe. You would never know it's there. Matter of fact, if my boys knew it was in there, they would freak out since they hate coffee!

Cook time:	40 Min		Difficulty:
Prep time:	15 Min		Serves:

INGREDIENTS

- 1 3/4 c all purpose flour - 2 c sugar - 3/4 c cocoa powder - 2 tsp baking soda - 1 tsp baking powder - 1 tsp salt - 2 eggs - 1 c strong black coffee, cooled - 1 c buttermilk

- 1/2 c vegetable oil - 1 tsp real vanilla extract CHOCOLATE FROSTING - 1/2 c margarine, softened - 2 oz melted unsweetened chocolate, cooled - 3 c powdered sugar - 3 Tbsp milk - 2 tsp real vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1.   Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer.

2.   Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.

3.   Beat at medium speed for two minutes. Batter will be thin.

4.   Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x13 pan or two 9 inch cake pans.

5.   Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes for a 9x13, or 30-35 minutes for layer pans.

6.   Combine frosting ingredients and mix with a hand or stand mixer. Spread frosting on cooled cakes.