Food Friday - It's Eat Your Veggies Day!!

from Tracey G.

This week's recipes just kind of happened when Kris and I were talking food. I'd just sent her a text saying I seemed to be on a broccoli kick - which isn't a stretch since it's one of my all-time favorite vegetables. There really isn't a vegetable I don't like - the one exception that comes to mind is okra. I just can't do okra. Nope. Don't care, not my thing, I know lots of people who do like it and that's ok! I do not harbor any okra-eating prejudices at all!! It's just not for me...

But anyway, we got talking about broccoli, because I was going on how I like it because it's a great side dish to make in these days of watching what I'm eating, and it's one thing I don't have to worry about watching! Granted, my from-childhood way to eat it is (warm or cold, no matter to me) with red wine vinegar, olive oil and some salt. Bar none, that is my go-to way to eat it and cauliflower actually. (And it makes canned spinach and canned asparagus pretty yummy as well, I LOVED both as a kid because of it!) It even works in my mindful eating plan, since extra virgin olive oil packs a lot flavor even in the teensiest drizzle to give me that "comfort food" feel! 

But I was wanting something a little different for the heck of it. I'd made a yummy new recipe a couple weeks ago, "Asian Orange Beef". The sauce included fresh ginger, orange juice, hoisin sauce and soy sauce. I'd made broccoli to go along with it and discovered my broccoli tasted pretty darn good dipped in the extra sauce. That led me to today's recipe.  I found one to use as a jumping off point and then put my own spin on it. I also wanted a recipe I could use frozen broccoli with because it's certainly NOT broccoli season around here, and even when it is - the stuff in my stores is always terrible looking, so I depend a LOT on frozen broccoli florets, and that's what I wanted to work with!

Asian Inspired Broccoli

Serves 2 (feel free to double or triple etc)

3-4 cups frozen broccoli, thawed

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp minced fresh ginger

1 tsp canola oil

1/4 cup water + 2 tbsp, divided

3 tsp hoisin sauce

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp grated lemon peel

1/8 - 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the broccoli, ginger and garlic, add the 1/4 cup water. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the broccoli is crisp tender and water cooks down to about half. Add the hoisin sauce and extra 2 tbsp water if needed. Cook and stir until broccoli is evenly coated. Before serving, toss with the 1 tsp of lemon juice (or you can add more to your taste, I just liked the "hint" of lemon flavor). Garnish with the lemon peel and red pepper flakes. 

from Kris B.

Broccoli!  I love broccoli!  Therefore writing a recipe with broccoli should be easy because it is my favorite green vegetable and we eat it all the time.  The problem is that when 
I make it as a dinner side, all I do is coat it in a little olive oil, sprinkle it with pepper and maybe a little salt or garlic salt and throw it in the oven to roast for 15-20 minutes.  If we are being fancy, I may grate a little fresh Parmesan cheese on the top right before serving.  That’s it.  And I feel like I could eat broccoli in ad infinitum prepared just like this.  The problem here is that basic roasted broccoli doesn’t seem like enough “recipe” for today’s post.  So, for my contribution this week, I actually turned to a searching for a new recipe, a new way to enjoy my favorite green vegetable.

I discovered lots of variations on the broccoli slaw theme.  I make and enjoy a few such recipes, but almost everyone has a favorite along these lines.  I also found a good number of recipes with broccoli and pasta or grains.  Again, they sounded good, but were nothing substantially different than I do myself.  And then I found today;s recipe.

I already said that I love broccoli.  Sweet potatoes are also a personal favorite.  And we all know how I feel about bread.  And a few nuts and a little spice and it should be good.  Nonetheless, I found myself hearing a mantra that I used to say to my children, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”  Just because I can make a spiced sweet potato spread, spread it on a piece of toast, and then top all of that with broccoli doesn’t necessarily mean that I should do that, or expect it to be good.  The clincher to me giving in and trying this recipe was that it calls for fresh basil. Last week Weber said to me that we needed to find something to do with basil because the basil plants in our garden are getting huge.  I considered that a sign and committed to giving this seemingly strange but potentially good combination a try.  The original recipe is from the February 2014 bon appetit.

The Spiced Sweet Potato and Roasted Broccoli Toast is relatively easy to make, especially because both the sweet potatoes and broccoli can be made up to three days in advance of serving, leaving just the toasting of the bread and assembling to be done at the point that you are ready to serve these.

We ate these as an afternoon snack.  They also make a would make a great appetizer or perhaps even lunch.  Weber said that they are quite filling.

I won’t deny that the combination is a little odd, but it is a good kind of odd.  And, these are a reasonably healthy food choice whether eaten as a snack, appetizer or as a meal.

INGREDIENTS

For the Mashed Sweet Potatoes

1 large sweet potato (approx. 12 oz.) peeled and cut into  1” cubes

1 red Thai chile (optional), halved, some seeds removed

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

For the Broccoli

1 Large head of broccoli, stems removed  and cut into large florets

6 TBS olive oil

2 TBS chopped raw pistachios

1 TBS (or more) lemon juice

1 TBS fresh basil, divided

1 TBS fresh mint, divided

4 slices of crusty  bread

Olive oil to coat bread

Flaky sea salt

Combine the sweet potato, chile, orange juice and 1 cup of water in a small saucepan; season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and then simmer until the sweet potato is very soft and the liquid has evaporated (20-25 minutes).  Remove from heat and mash.  Let cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Toss broccoli and 2 TBS olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet; season with salt and pepper.  Roast until tender (15-20 minutes).  Let cool and then coarsely chop.

Meanwhile, brush both sides of the bread with olive oil.  Toast on a baking sheet until golden brown (6-8 minutes).  Toss broccoli, nuts, lemon juice, half of the basil and mint, and 4 TBS olive oil in a large bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.

Spread toasts with sweet potato, top with broccoli mixture and remaining basil and mint, and sprinkle with sea salt.  

Cut into pieces.

That is the recipe as it originally appeared.  Here are the changes that I made:

• I used sliced almonds instead of pistachios.
• I did not toss the broccoli with the extra 2 TBS of olive oil when combining it with the basil and mint.
• I added all of the basil and mint to the broccoli rather than saving some for garnish.  I still could have used more in the broccoli.
• I did not garnish with the salt or use as much salt during the preparation.
• If you want a little hot but don't have a Thai chile, toss a few red pepper flakes in with the broccoli rather than the sweet potatoes.

If you try this recipe, I'd love to know your thoughts - good, bad , or otherwise.

Food Friday - Breakfast, Lunch or Dessert!

From: Tracey G.

I'll admit it, I'd rather drink my breakfast in the form of coffee, rather than eat it in form of food. I've never been one to eat breakfast, it's always the last thing I want to do when I get up. And honestly, it still takes a backseat to my first cup of coffee, I can't jump out of bed and eat. And I've never been one for "traditional" breakfast foods AT breakfast, give me cold pizza over a bowl of cereal any day! But, if there is one thing I've always liked and that would be the warm cereal varieties. I love Cream of Wheat, that was my first love. Then when oatmeal went "instant" with yummy flavors (the fruit and cream varieties!) that one became acceptable as well.

Now that I'm trying to eat mindfully, breakfast at a some point is a must. And for me it needs to be super easy and quick or I'll skip it and drink more coffee. Lately I've been seriously enjoying the little instant oatmeal cups - they have such lovely varieties for a fairly reasonable cost, and they are so fast a simple to make. But then I remembered the recipe in my favorite-make-it-homemade-cookbook, The Homemade Pantry by Alana Chernila for homemade instant oatmeal! I was intrigued! I went to Pinterest (I've come to love that site!) to see if there were other recipes for it as well, and I found a few that also sounded pretty good and very very close in method/ingredients etc. So, I pulled from a couple recipes and adapted the one from my cookbook - and was super pleased with the results and how easily it came together. Was not time consuming whatsoever. Actually, chopping the almonds I toasted so they could be added to my portions if I so choose, took the longest I think! Now, you can of course mix all of your add-ins right into the base mix, but since Harry doesn't care for nuts in his oatmeal, I left the base as is and we can add in the extras at the time of making it. You're only limited to your imagination - I always have dried berry mix on hand, dried cranberries, raisins (even though I don't like them in anything other than Raisin Bran cereal, Harry and Jeremy do) and generally an assorted variety of frozen fruit in the freezer to choose from.

A lot of recipes use powdered milk in the mix, but I read somewhere that supposedly that can cause mold to grow over time, so I followed the suggestion of using powdered non-dairy coffee creamer. I chose to use Coffee Mate Fat Free French Vanilla. When I was actually adding it in though, I discovered that it might be a bit too overpowering, so I went half regular powdered non-dairy creamer (Coffee Mate brand) and half of the Fat Free French Vanilla. I think that worked out just right!

As usual, this recipe of course can be modified to your tastes. Leave out the cinnamon or add more if you want. You can use just the 1/2 cup of brown sugar as I did or more - one recipe gave a span of 1-2 cups for the amount. I discovered the 1/2 cup was just right - and wouldn't be too sweet if I wanted to add a little extra brown sugar or maple syrup on the finished product before I eat it.

There are also many possibilities for packaging - I have it in a screw-top canister, but it can also be portioned out into snack-sized bags for individual packets or even put into a canning jar with a lid for travel or even the hot coffee cups with lids you can buy in the grocery store. There are so many possibilities, I know I will likely get portioning some out into the snack-sized bags so that it's easy for Harry to fix himself a bowl when he wants.

I am having so much fun finding recipes to help me stay on track of mindful eating - and oatmeal is a super source of all kinds of goodness!

I chose to use Quick Oats - the 1 Minute variety, for speed's sake and easy preparation in the microwave. The original recipe from the book (and some I ran across out there) use the regular old-fashioned oats. You could prepare them with boiling water poured over and then cover the bowl. If using the regular old-fashioned, I believe it's a sit time of 5 minutes while covered. If you chose to prepare the quick oats this way, of course sit time would be less. You could microwave prepare the regular old-fashioned oats too, just again, adjusting the time accordingly.

And now, on to the recipe...

Homemade Instant Oatmeal

Makes 16 half cup servings

8 cups of quick-cooking oatmeal (the 1 minute variety is what I used)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup fat-free French Vanilla powdered coffee creamer

1/4 regular powdered coffee creamer

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp cinnamon

Add-ins of choice - dried cranberries, raisins, toasted nuts etc.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread oats on cookie sheets and bake for about 20 minutes. Cool slightly then, in a blender or food processor, blend 4 cups of the oats, brown sugar and salt until powdered. In a large bowl combined the rest of the oats, the blended oat-mixture and the coffee creamers. Stir well to combine. Store in a covered container for 4 weeks, in the fridge in a covered container 3 months or in the freezer for 6 months.

To prepare: Combine 1/2 cup of the oatmeal mixture and add-ins of choice if desired and 3/4 to 1 cup water and microwave 1-2 minutes or as long as necessary to desired doneness, stir and serve with  toppings of choice.

Nutritional Information for 1/2 cup of dry mix, prepared with water, with no additions (courtesy of plugging in my ingredients in the SparkPeople Recipes app):

Calories 194, Total Fat 3.4g (saturated fat .9g, polyunsaturated fat 1g, monounsaturated fat 1g) Cholesterol 0g, Sodium 151mg, Potassium 26mg, Total Carbohydrates 39.3g, Dietary Fiber 4.2g, Sugars 11.3g, Protein 5g. 

from Kris B.

Before you continue reading, there are a few things you must know.

• Breakfast is my favorite meal
• I love peanut butter.
• My idea of diet food probably differs from that of most.

Now we can continue..

One thing I know about myself is that if I am going to be successful with losing weight, it has to be done somewhat on my terms.  What that means is that I need to control my caloric intake by adjusting my portion size rather than depriving myself of certain foods.  All in all, I am a healthy eater in terms of the types of food that I like and enjoy eating; I just tend to eat more than I should for a serving.  That said, I also don’t want to be overly hungry.  That will lead me to failure as well.

The SparkPeople app is more bound by routine than I am.  Every day by 12:30 it is probing me as to why I have not logged my lunch.  Simple answer.  I have not had lunch yet.  If I have a designated lunchtime, it is not until 1:30 in the afternoon.  Several of those days, breakfast happens at 6:15 am.  That makes for a long haul to lunch.  Therefore, I need to eat a breakfast that will carry me through that seven hour stretch.  That means that my breakfast generally needs to be a high protein meal and is therefore a higher calorie meal.  Enter the Peanut Butter French Toast.

This recipe came into being from the fact that I could not decide what I wanted for breakfast.  Oatmeal?  An egg sandwich?  Toast with peanut butter?  Because I could not make up my mind, I had a little bit of everything.  Oat bread spread with peanut butter, topped with bananas, and dipped in a French toast egg batter and cooked on a griddle.  With a bit of sweetness from powdered sugar and a little light butter for cooking, this recipe totals 397 calories.  Based on my schedule and eating patterns, that works for me.

MY INGREDIENTS

1 egg  (78 calories)

1 TBS light almond milk  (3 calories)

1 1/2 tsp powdered sugar, divided  (15 calories)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 slices Orowheat Healthful steel cut oat and honey bread  (160 calories)

1 TBS Jif creamy peanut butter  (95 calories)

1/2 banana  (55 calories)

1 tsp Land o Lakes light butter  (17 calories)

In a bowl big enough to dip the bread, beat the egg.  Add the almond milk,  1 tsp powdered sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.  Beat until thoroughly combined.

Divide the peanut butter and spread half on each slice of bread.  Then layer one side of the bread with banana cut into slices 1/2” thick.  Top with the other slice making a peanut butter and banana sandwich.  You could stop here and life would still be good!  lol.

Dip the sandwich into the egg mixture making sure to cover both sides.

Over medium high heat, melt the butter in an appropriately sized skillet for your sandwich.  Place sandwich in skillet until the bottom is  golden brown and slightly crispy.  Turn and repeat for the other side.

Remove from heat.  Slice in half and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 tsp of powdered sugar over the top.  Serve immediately.

Half a serving of this makes a nice dessert or snack as well!

There are many ways that the calorie count of this recipe could easily be reduced.  

• Use egg substitute instead of a real egg.
• Skip the powdered sugar.  (But why?  It adds much more than 15 calories of goodness to the taste)
• Use a light or low calorie bread.  There are some brands available that have only 40 calories per slice.)
• Use a whipped peanut butter.  
• Skip the butter.  You can spray your pan with a non-stick cookie spray and that will keep your French toast from sticking.  The butter, however, does help it to crisp and brown with the desired golden color.

Calories 398, Total Fat 17g (saturated fat 2.9g, polyunsaturated fat 1g, monounsaturated fat 1.9g) Cholesterol 192.6mg, Sodium 499.2mg, Potassium 215.7mg, Total Carbohydrates 50.3g, Dietary Fiber 10.1g, Sugars 14.9g, Protein 20.3g. 

Food Friday - Almond Joy

from Tracey G

Kris had informed me that her new favorite snack was cocoa covered peanuts. This intrigued me, so on my next shopping trip, I just had to look for them - and came up lacking. But I did see cocoa covered almonds. I passed on them this trip, because darn it, I wanted cocoa covered peanuts! That then led me to a idea. I wonder if I could make them at home. And I discovered lots of recipes for cocoa covered ALMONDS. None for peanuts, which I took as a sign I was to try cocoa covered almonds this time around.

There is a funny story too about my acquisition of said almonds to cover in cocoa powder! Instead of heading out just to buy almonds, I sent a text to my husband, Jeremy, to see if he'd pick some up on his way home. Sure, no problem. In the exchange he asked how much I needed and I gave him an approximate amount and so forth. When he gets home with them and I see that he bought about 7-8 smaller snack sized bags because the market he stopped at didn't have the larger bulk sized bag. He thought I had to have them that day so did whatever he could to make sure I had the amount I needed, even if it cost probably twice the amount of a bulk sized bag - I felt bad informing him that I could've waited until the next day when a larger grocery store would have been accessible! You can be sure I said thank you for all his trouble!

Almonds have lots of great benefits besides being yummy. Here's a link to the Almond Board of California's information sheet Almonds.com Health and Nutritional Info which also has a link to a neat PDF with even more information.

And here's an overview of almonds benefits:

Heart Health

•High in monounsaturated fat (good fat)
•No cholesterol or sodium
•Top food source of vitamin E, an important antioxidant

Energy

•6 grams of protein per ounce
•12 vitamins and minerals
•Rich in magnesium

Weight management

•6 grams protein, helps keep you going with less snacking
•3.5 grams fiber, good for helping to keep you fuller feeling longer
•Only 160 calories per ounce

There's also a lot of good benefits to cocoa powder too, so this is a pretty good choice for snacking that feels like an indulgence!

There's really not a "recipe" for it, more of method. This is the method I used:

1 1/2 - 2 cups whole almonds

1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/2 tbsp powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for about 5 minutes, remove tray shake it back and forth to "stir" up the almonds and then continue to bake for about another 5-8 minutes or until they are lightly fragrant and toasty.

While the almonds are baking, mix about 1 1/2 tablespoons each cocoa powder and powdered sugar. I actually sifted the two together in a mesh strainer to get rid of lumps and help facilitate the combining of the two.

When you remove the almonds from the oven, let them cool a minute or two on the baking sheet, then carefully pour them into a medium sized bowl. Add the cocoa powder/powdered sugar mixture to the still-warm almonds and toss gently with a spoon to coat. Spread them back onto the baking sheet in a single layer to cool.

And that's it. It's super simple to create these yummy treats at home. I have to admit that I was skeptical of the coating sticking with nothing added to make it stick, but it did and it did so beautifully! And after trying them with the just the cocoa powder and powdered sugar, I decided to dust them with cinnamon and wow, it knocked an already great tasting treat out of the park!! 

From Kris B.

It has been a crazy week at our house!  My husband has been a sick boy.  When he went back to school, he actually took on additional responsibilities as the school librarian, and then we had a quick out of town trip this weekend.  Needless to say, all of these things contributed to our weekly routine being extremely disrupted.  It seems like such "blips" in our life have the greatest effect on our eating habits.  We found ourselves snacking through the week rather than making intentional and healthy meal choices.

These Brown Sugar and Almond English Muffins are one of my "go-to" snacks or, as was the case this week, go-to lunches lunches.  A little protein, a little sweetness, and a few carbs and I'm ready to go.   If you have a toaster oven, these are even easier to make when life is moving a quick pace.

INGREDIENTS
English muffin
Butter
Brown sugar
Sliced almonds

Split the English muffin and generously spread with butter.  Sprinkle the top with brown sugar and top with the sliced almonds.  If you are using a toaster oven, set the rack open its lowest setting.  In a standard oven, use the middle rack.  Place the muffins on a cookie sheet.  Using the broiler setting, cook until the brown sugar has melted, 5 minutes or so.  WATCH CAREFULLY!  These will go from perfect to burned very quickly!

Enjoy any time of day as a meal with a side of fruit, or as a snack.

Sugar and Spice and Cinnamon are Nice!

Morning, noon, and night, coffee is the number one drink at our house.  The common question in the morning is not, "Do your want coffee with your breakfast?" but, "What do your want to eat with your coffee?"  I just love the stuff; my husband needs it!  He is one of those people that you don't want to encounter in the morning until he has had at least his first cup of coffee.  That is why he gets the job of packing lunches in the morning; this gets him to the kitchen coffee pot first.  Once the coffee is poured, the food that accompanies it really doesn't matter.

We also drink coffee at night, often with a late night snack.  (Yes, we can both drink lots of coffee and go right to sleep with no problem.)  This is where the coffee cake comes in.  I'm not much for wanting to eat sweets with my morning coffee, but with the night time cup it's a different story!  The evening is when my sweet tooth is ramped up and ready to go.  Coffee cake loaded with cinnamon is the perfect complement to a nice bold cup of coffee.

I have used King Arthur flour as well as their recipes for a long time.  I don't think that I have ever tried one of that didn't meet or exceed my expectations.  And, I am a bit nostalgic where King Arthur  baking products are concerned.  Weber and I visited the King Arthur campus when we were in Vermont on our honeymoon.  It was definitely a baker's, and eater's paradise!

The King Arthur Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake is pure deliciousness!  It is loaded with cinnamon in that it has a filling as well as a streusel topping.  The cake itself is dense, but not overly sweet, allowing the filling to take the flavor center stage.  This coffee cake is a little labor intensive, but it is more than worth the time that it takes to make it!

Because I make this recipe exactly as directed by King Arthur, I am copying the recipe exactly as they have it printed on their own web page and inserting my own photos.

INGREDIENTS

Streusel topping

• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt (if you use unsalted butter)
• 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling

• 1 cup brown sugar, light or dark
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder 

Cake

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon salt (1 ¼ teaspoons if you use unsalted butter)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
• 1 1/4 cups milk (anything from skim to whole)
• 3 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Directions

1. 1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, or two 9" round cake pans.
2. 2) Make the topping by whisking together the sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. 

1. Add the melted butter, stirring till well combined. Set the topping aside.

1. 3) Make the filling by mixing together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Note that the cocoa powder is used strictly for color, not flavor; leave it out if you like. Set it aside.

1. 4) To make the cake: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, salt, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth.
2. 5) Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

1. 6) In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream or yogurt and milk till well combined. You don't need to whisk out all the lumps.
2. 7) Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk/sour cream mixture, beating gently to combine.

1. 8) Pour/spread half the batter (a scant 3 cups) into the prepared pan(s), spreading all the way to the edges. If you're using two 9" round pans, spread 1 1/3 cups batter in each pan.

1. 9) Sprinkle the filling evenly atop the batter.

1. 10) Spread the remaining batter atop the filling. Use a table knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter, as though you were making a marble cake. Don't combine filling and batter thoroughly; just swirl the filling through the batter. 

1. 11) Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan.

1. 12) Bake the cake until it's a dark golden brown around the edges; medium-golden with no light patches showing on top, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes for the 9" x 13" pan, 50 to 55 minutes for the 9" round pans. When pressed gently in the middle, the cake should spring back. 
2. 13) Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving. Serve cake right from the pan.

Tips from our bakers

• Since butter and sour cream are both key ingredients in this cake, we encourage you to use the best quality you can get. We highly recommend Cabot, a superb Vermont brand available nationally.
• It's easy to spread half the batter in the pan when you know how much it weighs. If you have a kitchen scale, half the batter weighs about 28 ounces.
• Want to prepare this coffeecake the night before, then bake in the morning? It's easy; simply cover the unbaked cake with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. Next morning, bake the cake as directed. Start testing for doneness at the end of the suggested baking time; you'll probably have to add 5 minutes or so to the total time, to account for the batter being chilled.
• Dress it up for guests: Make a glaze with ½ cup confectioners' or glazing sugar and 1 tablespoon milk; drizzle glaze over the cooled coffeecake.

by Tracey G

Another thing Kris and I have in common or share in likes/loves, is, the love of coffee!!! I have been drinking the stuff since I was like 4, lol. Well, not a full cup to myself, but a sip or two from Mom and Dad's cup - and that's where I learned to be able drink mine with either cream and sugar, or just black, lol. Preferably with cream and sugar, but in a pinch - black works just as well, lol.

Which reminds me of a funny story from my childhood coffee-drinking days... My father was concerned with my taking sips off their coffees, so he asked the pediatrician about it - whether or not it was ok for me and the pediatrician answered, with a straight face according to my Mom's retelling, "well, how does she drink it? Black or with cream and sugar?" And my dad thought he actually had to answer that not realizing the doctor was just messing with him, lol. It didn't matter -  the small amounts I was imbibing were ok - no growth stunting or whatever other horrible things could befall me according to coffee drinking lore, lol. ;-)

I also discovered one more thing in the "share column" of likes/loves of Kris and I - our use of King Arthur Flour! I don't remember when I started using it, but once I did I never looked back - any time I buy anything else it's because the store was out of it, lol. It was their gluten-free brownie mix I tried a few posts back and it was yummy! I do have a gluten-free yellow cake mix by King Arthur Flour that I plan on testing some time in near future here on the blog. :-)

Now, on to the Cinnamon Rolls. I found this recipe in my Taste Of Home magazine. (see a theme here? LOL ToH is my all-time favorite food magazine, I've been a subscriber for at least 25 years, which is hard to believe considering I'm only 29, lol;-) )

I found it awhile ago and have been wanting to make it for ages, I love cinnamon rolls and it's very close to the usual recipe I use, only this adds vanilla pudding mix to the dough, and it intrigued me. And what better excuse to make them then to make them for the food aspect of the blog? :-) I didn't realize though, that this endeavor was going to be an all day undertaking - and it really wouldn't be, lol, but when you stop to photograph every little step, it ends up being that way! LOL And I discovered that it seems like a lot steps! But really it wasn't that many and it wouldn't take very long while not taking photos, lol. And in the end, they were super yummy so was worth it! I still don't advise trying to do this on a busy weeknight or anything, that might just prove frustrating, lol

And they go smashingly with coffee ;-)

Of course I forgot to include a few ingredients in the photo, but it wouldn't be right if I didn't, lol. Good grief, someday I'll get everyone in the shot! Anyway, here's the "not pictured": Water, butter, milk and salt. And here's the pictured: flour, yeast, egg, sugar and pudding mix. 

I had to deviate from the combining method a little bit because I use Rapid Rise yeast and it gets combined with the dry ingredients, and not dissolved in the warm water as directed in the recipe. But I will describe it as per the recipe...

In a bowl dissolve the yeast and the sugar in warm water. In another bowl you mix the pudding mix and milk until well blended for 1 minute. Then you let that stand for about a minute more. To the pudding mixture you then add the egg, butter, salt, yeast mixture and about 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth, then add enough flour to make a soft dough.

Here's another place I diverge from the recipe - I use my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook to replace hand kneading, it's easier and takes less time. But again, the recipe's directions state to turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, approximately 6-8 minutes.  

You then place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top.

Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour (or less using Rapid Rise yeast)

While the dough is rising, mix the filling ingredients - sugar and cinnamon. It calls for 1 tbsp cinnamon - but I used a bit more because Harry asked if I could make them extra cinnamon-y, lol.

Once dough has risen, punch down....

... and divide in half.

Roll each half into a 18x10-in. rectangle.

Brush each half with 2 tablespoons of butter each, and then sprinkle each with half of the sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Roll up from the long side, pinch seams to seal. Cut into 12 rolls. I got out the ruler to make sure I had them fairly even, and each piece was about 1 1/2-in. wide.

Place all the pieces in a greased 9x13-in. baking pan. 

Cover and let rise until doubled. Preheat oven to 350° F. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden.

 While they are baking, mix up the frosting ingredients - softened butter, vanilla and powdered sugar.

When the rolls are done, spread the still-warm rolls with frosting mixture. Then, eat! LOL

Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

Originally called "Can't-Eat-Just-One Cinnamon Rolls"

courtesy of Taste Of Home

Makes 12

Dough:

I pkg (1/4 oz) active dry yeast

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 c water (110° F)

1 c milk

1/3 c instant vanilla pudding mix (it's about 1/2 of a 3.4-oz pkg)

1 egg

1/4 c butter, melted

1 tsp salt

3 - 3 1/2 c flour

Filling:

3/4 c sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/4 c butter, melted

Frosting:

11/2 c powdered sugar

1/2 c butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp water

1) In a bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tbsp sugar in warm water. In a large bowl, beat milk and pudding mix on low speed for 1 minute. Let stand 1 minute. Add egg, butter, salt, yeast mixture and 2 cups flour; beat on medium until smooth. Stir in enough flour to form a soft dough.

2) Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top of the dough. Cover, let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

3) For filling, in a bowl mix sugar and cinnamon. Punch down dough; divide in half. Roll each half into an 18x10-in. rectangle. Brush each with 2 tbsp butter; sprinkle with half of the sugar mixture. Roll up, starting with long side; pinch seam to seal. Cut each into 12 pieces.

4) Place in a greased 9x13-in. baking pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 350° F.

5) Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown. In a bowl, beat frosting ingredients until creamy. Spread over warm rolls.