Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls!

Wow, these are amazing. Don't make these if you are on a diet. Just make them and don't count how many sticks of butter it calls for.

1/2 c warm water

2 packs dry yeast

2 TB sugar

3 1/2 oz instant vanilla pudding mix

1/2 c butter, melted

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

6 c flour

Combine water, yeast, & sugar. Stir until dissolved; set aside. In a large bowl prepare puding according to the box directions. Add butter, eggs, and salt to pudding. Mix well. Add yeast mixture: blend together. Gradually add flour and knead until smooth. Place in greased bowl; let rise until doubled. Punch down; rise again. Roll out on floured board (34" x 21"). Spread on 1 cup softened butter (I only did 3/4 cup). Combine 2 c brown sugar & 4 tsp cinnamon. Sprinkle over butter. Roll tightly and cut about 1 1/2" slices. Place about 2" apart on greased cookie sheet. Lightly press down. Cover and let rise until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 20 large rolls. Frost while still warm.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, soft

1/2 c butter, soft

1 tsp vanilla

3 c powdered sugar

1 TB milk

Beat until smooth.

Enjoy. Seriously these are heaven.

Cheesy Chicken Lasagana

I have been wanting to try this for a long time. I found the recipe at realmomkitchen.com and it was AMAZING!! The chicken/ranch mixture would have been great by itself, add pasta and cheese and it is incredible.

Cheesy Chicken Lasagna

2 cans (12 oz) evaporated milk (not fat-free)
1 (1 oz) pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix
3 C. cubed, cooked, chicken
1/8 tsp pepper
1 (16oz) lasagna noodles, cooked
1 1/2 to  2 C cheddar cheese, grated
1 1/2 to  2 C mozzarella cheese, grated

Cook the chicken and noodles first at the same time. Once noodles are done–rinse in cold water and set aside (it keeps them from sticking together). Combine evaporated milk (don’t use fat-free version) and Ranch dressing in a 3 quart heavy saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring frequently until dry ingredients are dissolved. Stir in chicken and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes (don’t do any less), stirring frequently. Layer half of lasagna noodles, poultry sauce, and cheese in well-buttered 9×13 pan. Repeat layers again. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Banana Muffins

In college I had several roommates that varied from the slightly delusional to the super crazy along the friends for life type. During my last semester I lived with a set of cousins that I LOVED. For my wedding gift they shared with me their family cookbook. Tucked inside was a recipe for the most delicious banana muffins. I love, love, love them. (the kids really only like the glazed tops – crazy!) The recipe is made with Bisquick. I am not usually a fan and actually only buy the stuff to make these muffins, I prefer the heart healthy version.

 
Glazed Banana Muffins

2 c. Bisquick
3 T. butter
1/4 c. sugar
1 c. mashed bananas
1 egg

Combine the Bisquick and sugar, add butter and cut in with a pastry blender. Add bananas and egg.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. Just until the tops are a tiny bit brown. Place hot muffins on plate and glaze with a mixture of powdered sugar and milk with a drop of vanilla.

Yum, Yum, Yummy!

Peppermint Bark

After reading LOTS of peppermint bark recipes I finally combined a couple and made some. Much to my surprise it worked and it tastes good! So if you like chocolate and peppermint - you need to try this Christmas candy!

1 12 ounce package chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk) I used milk chocolate
1 pound white chocolate or almond bark - I used almond bark
1/2 cup crushed candy canes or peppermint candy - I used a bit more

You can buy flavored bark or real chocolate. If you want your layers to stick to each other,
atleast one of the layers needs to be real chocolate. However, bark is a bit easier to melt and
not ruin...so I went with one of each. The bottom layer is the easiest so I used the bottom layer
as the real chocolate. You can do it however you want.

Line a 9x11 pan with aluminum foil. Spray. Spread your chocolate chips evenly on the bottom of
the pan. Slightly melt in the oven until you can spread them. Maybe 5 minutes on low heat. Using a spatula spread the chocolate evenly over the pan. Put in the refrigerator. It needs about 20 minutes to set up. Take it out of the refrigerator and let it warm up for 1-2 minutes
before you spread the next layer on so the layers bond together better.

Crush your candy canes. I recommend using a freezer bag (a sandwich bag is not durable enough) and crush them with a hammer, meat tenderizer, whatever you have that is heavy.

Melt the white layer. If you use real white chocolate you need a double boiler or use a metal bowl on top of a pan of water (don't let the bowl touch the water). If you use almond bark you can do it in the microwave or on the stove, follow the directions on the package it came in.

Mix some of the crushed candy cane (I used the real fine powder) into the melted white layer.
Spread on top of the chocolate layer. Then spread the rest of the crushed candy cane on top of
the white chocolate. Let it set in the refrigerator until completely hard. Then take the foil out
and break the candy into pieces.

Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. I think it's easier to eat and tastes better if
it has set out on the counter for just a couple of minutes and warmed up just a bit - so I 'warm up' a couple of pieces every day!

The almond bark comes in a 1.2 pound package (or something like that). I bought a candy mold at Michaels for $2. I melted the left over almond bark and some extra crushed candy canes to make peppermint candy for the kids. They love them. They were so easy and set up really fast (5-10 minutes) in the fridge and popped out so easy. The kids like the shapes. It was easy and fun.

Enjoy!

Made-up Soup

So I made this soup up one day and thought it turned out pretty good. Since I made it up I don't have exact measurements for all of the seasonings so just add until it's to your liking.

1 can of black beans rinsed and drained
1 can of garbanzo beans rinsed and drained

1/4-1/2 lb of spicy Italian sausage (I really like the Jimmy Dean hot Italian sausage)

1 can of diced tomatoes (If you have mom's pint size tomato use those and just blend them)

1 can of chicken broth

2 small potatoes (I use red so I don't have to peel)

1 carrot or 1/2 cup of corn

handful of dehydrated onion

1-2 bay leaves

1/2-1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/4-1/2 tsp chili powder

salt

pepper

1/8-1/4 tsp garlic powder

Combine all of this in the crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours or high for 2 to 4 hours. Serve with french bread or mom's cornbread.