Molly's Rolls

So...I love bread any bread!! I can eat an entire loaf when it is warm right out of the oven! I have been blessed with a fast metabolism, but I am sure that when I am no longer chasing 4 boys around all day, everyone is going to KNOW how much I LOVE bread:) Actually now that I am getting older and after recently having baby #4, you can already see that I love my carbs:)

I have never had much success with baking my own bread and rolls. I never seem to get it to rise very well and end up with a roll that is too heavy and just not good!! Anyone that knows me may wonder why I can't make bread when my mother makes such WONDERFUL bread and rolls! Guess I was too busy with other things in high school to really sit down and learn.

I have really been working on my bread making skills and made some bread last night that was SO yummy! Wonderful texture too! I did have one major problem with it though....I put my bread pans too close together to rise and the dough stuck together, so when I pulled them apart and put them in the oven to cook the tops fell. The bread is delicious though, so I will try it again this week and try to get a good picture to share with the recipe.

I got the recipe for these rolls from my friend, Molly, a couple of years ago and have adapted it so that it is a small enough batch that I can make it using my Kitchen-Aid. These rolls are wonderful and believe me when I say that if I can make them.....than anyone can!!

Molly's Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 package yeast(2 1/4 teaspoon)
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/2 T salt
• 1 egg
• flour

Directions: In mixer combine yeast, sugar, and warm water; let grow until bubbly(about 5 minutes). Add milk and mix. Mix in oil and egg. Slowly add 2 cups flour, mix and then add salt. Add 1/2 cup flour at a time until it comes away from side of bowl. Let rise in mixing bowl for about 30 minutes. Form rolls as desired and place on a greased cookie sheet. Let rise and additional 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. (Rotate pans after 7 minutes.) Brush hot rolls with melted butter.

Have a GREAT evening! I'm off to get kids fed and dressed for Cub Scouts Pack meeting:)

Mississippi Mud Cake

I needed to take a dessert to the Scouting Roundtable Opening Social the other night and thought, who doesn't LOVE marshmallows, brownies and chocolate frosting? These brownies are SO yummy!! Unfortunately my camera battery was low and my pictures just don't do justice to this dish!! I got this recipe from a 'free recipe card' that I got in the mail from Gooseberry Patch Country Cooking Recipe Collection. You've got to try this one:)


I like to put the brownies under the broiler after topping them with the marshmallows until they start to toast up a bit. Gives them a roasted marshmallow look and taste. I make them both ways, toasted and not. If you do put them under the broiler, watch them very carefully they toast up REALLY fast and you'd hate to burn them!!

Mississippi Mud Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. baking cocoa
• 1 c. butter or margarine, melted
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 2 c. mini marshmallows
• 1/4 c. butter or margarine
• 1/3 c. baking cocoa
• 2/3 milk
• 16 oz. box powdered sugar, sifted

Directions: Stir together first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add melted butter, eggs and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Spread batter into a greased 13"x9" pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle hot cake with mini marshmallows.

Combine 1/4 cup butter, 1/3 cup baking cocoa and milk in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wire whisk, and boil one minute. Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar. Immediately pour chocolate mixture over marshmallows. Let cake cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into squares. Makes 15 servings.

You can substitute a 19.8 oz package of brownie mix for the cake batter. Prepare mix according to package directions and spoon into 13" x 9" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes and proceed as directed in recipe.

I usually have extra frosting that I save for a treat with crackers for the kiddos:)

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

I don't have a lot of time today, but I wanted to post this yummy recipe!! We love to have these for a quick healthy breakfast. I have a lot of whole wheat kernels that I have been storing and this is a great way to use/rotate my storage. My husband usually just grabs a few on his way out the door and eats them plain. The rest of us drown them in syrup and a couple hours later my 2 year old comes asking to eat some like a cookie(plain). I have seen several versions of this pancake and this one is our favorite and seems to work best for us.

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

Blend on high in blender for 2 minutes:

• 1 cup whole wheat kernels
• 1 cup milk

Add the following and blend for 2 more minutes:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 t salt
• 1 T honey or sugar

Just before frying on hot griddle, add:

• 1 T baking powder
• additional liquid to desired consistency(if needed)

Fresh Peach Jam

I LOVE any homemade jam, bottled for frozen! I usually like to wait for the fresh Utah peaches to come around to make jam, but our local Basha's had them on sale for 78 cents a pound last week. These were some yummy peaches and I wish I would have bought more before the sale ended. Oh well, shouldn't be too long until I get a call asking if I want to buy a case of Utah peaches. This recipe is easy and simple ingredients. It is SO yummy too, I couldn't even wait for it to cool down in the jar before I had to taste it.

Fresh Peach Jam

Ingredients:

• 5 cups chopped peaches (approx. 5 peaches)
• 2 cups sugar
• juice of one lime
• 1/4 cup water

Directions: Mix all ingredients in a large pan. Bring everything to a boil. Cook for 10-15 minutes. I like my jam smooth, w/out many chunks, so I poured everything into my food processor after it had cooked for about 10 minutes and chopped very fine. Then I added it back to the pan to continue cooking. While the jam was cooking I boiled and dried my lids. I also put my jars in the microwave for a minute so that they would be warm when I added the jam. I added the jam and put the lids on.

In less than an hour I hear the popping sound of jars sealing!! Isn't' that a wonderful sound?!! I have to tell you though, I added a little more than 1/4 c water:) My little 2 almost 3 year old was helping me out. I turned my back for literally a second until I heard him say, "there that is enough." He had gotten some water out of the fridge and poured it in the jam in the pan:) Not sure how much he added, but it must not have been much:)

This little guy is a BIG help in the kitchen. Earlier in the day he was eating a piece of wheat bread that I made a few days ago and I hear him tell the cat, "you can't have any, this is homemade wheat."

Have a great day!!

Caramelized Beef Skewers

This is a quick and easy summer dinner. I served these skewers with some yellow summer squash sauteed with a little butter, garlic salt and a lot of fresh cracked black pepper. I also sliced up some fresh garden tomatoes, cucumbers and some homemade wheat bread w/butter. Yummy and light meal.

Caramelized Beef Skewers

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. beef sirloin, thinly sliced
• 1/4 c A1 Steak Sauce, divided
• 1/4 c. BBQ sauce
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• veggies(I used gr. bell pepper and zucchini)

TOSS steak with 2 Tbsp. of the steak sauce; let stand 10 min. to marinate. Meanwhile, combine remaining 2 Tbsp. steak sauce, the barbecue sauce and mustard; set aside.

PREHEAT grill to medium-high heat. Thread steak(and any veggies you have on hand) onto eight long soaked wooden or metal skewers.

GRILL skewers 6 min. or until steak is cooked through, turning after 3 min. and brushing generously with the barbecue sauce mixture.

(recipe from Kraft Foods)

Zucchini, Zucchini, Zucchini.....bread and cake

One of my husband's clients brought him this load of veggies. Check out that zucchini on top! I started shredding the zucchini and got 10, yes 10 cups of shredded zucchini from the one LARGE zucchini and that is after I took the center seeds out. This zucchini was quite mature so I took the seeds and spongy center out. I still have 5 cups of the shredded zucchini in my freezer:) I found both of these recipes at allrecipes.com. I followed the chocolate cake recipe as written and made minor changes to the zucchini bread. I was very surprised by the chocolate cake. It is very moist and delicious. At first my 8 year old didn't want to even taste it because it had zucchini in it. When he finally decided he could try a bite, he loved it!!

Oatmeal Cinnamon Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/3 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup cinnamon chips

Directions: Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans(I used 4 mini loaf pans). Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Stir together dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and cinnamon until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Original recipe

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 3 cups grated zucchini
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan(I used a bundt pan). In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the eggs and oil, mix well. Fold in the nuts(I left the nuts out because I didn't have any on hand) and zucchini until they are evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake completely before frosting with your favorite frosting(I just dusted with some powdered sugar).

Original Recipe

Taco Salad

It sure seems like we eat A LOT of Mexican food!! We love tacos! They are fast, easy and cheap.

Taco Salad

For the shell: Place a flour tortilla over a large(empty and clean) can. Spray the tortilla with cooking spray and bake at 375 for ~10 minutes. Keep an eye on it and when it just starts to turn brown and is crispy. After you take it out of the oven it will crisp a little more, so if it is still a little pliable when you take it out, that's okay.

Taco Meat: Cook 1 pound of hamburger. Drain off grease. While taco meat is cooking mix together the following(or you can just use a package of your favorite taco seasoning). 2 t. chili powder, 1 1/2 t. salt, 1 t. garlic powder, 1 t. corn starch, 1 t. ground cumin, 1 t. cayenne pepper(more or less according to taste). Add the seasoning to the meat and add approx. 1/4 cup water. Cook until hot.

Assemble: Use whatever you like and have on hand. I serve mine with lettuce, meat, beans(if I have them), cheese, sour cream and LOTS of salsa. This would be great with some of Amber's Pico!

We are finally starting to get a lot of tomatoes off our garden plants!! I am so excited to get making salsa, marinara, and spicy vegtable juice!! I have also been given a lot of zucchini! Tomorrow I will share 2 sweet and tasty zucchini dishes! This picture makes it look like I have more cheese than anythings else. Ha, Ha, maybe I do:)