Monday, December 30, 2013

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls



Ingredients:
Rolls:
1/3 cup warm almond milk (regular milk works too)
1 package or 2 1/4 teaspoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon wheat gluten
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 medium sweet potato, mashed (about 2/3 cup)
1 egg
3 tablespoons applesauce

Filling:
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey

Frosting:
1/2 cup light whipped cream cheese
1-2 tablespoons honey (until desired sweetness)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:
Mix warm milk, yeast and sugar together and set aside.  Chop and boil the sweet potato until fork tender. In a large bowl combine flour, wheat gluten and salt.  In a medium bowl combine mashed sweet potato, egg and applesauce.  Add yeast mixture to sweet potato mixture. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  

First mix with a wooden spoon, then transfer to a flat, floured surface and knead with hands for about 10 minutes.  Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm area and rise for an hour, or until dough has doubled in size.  

Transfer dough to a flat, floured surface and punch down. Roll out to a rectangle. Spread butter over entire surface. Sprinkle cinnamon over the butter. Sprinkle brown sugar. Lightly drizzle with honey. Roll the dough up and pinch both ends. Slice to desired thickness. The easiest way to slice dough is with string (or dental floss).

Transfer each roll to a lightly greased pan. A 9"x13" works great or 2 pie dishes. Cover with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise for another 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 18-22 minutes, or until golden brown. Keep in mind, smaller rolls will need less cook time and larger rolls will need a longer cook time. 

While the rolls are baking, mix together cream cheese, honey and vanilla. Add more or less honey depending on you desired sweetness. Spread frosting over cinnamon rolls, serve and enjoy!

*If you plan on freezing the cinnamon rolls, cook until almost done, but not golden. Freeze without frosting. When ready to fully cook them, remove while oven is preheating and bake until golden brown. Top with frosting at the end.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Cinnamon Swirl French Toast



Ingredients:
Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Eggs (1 for every 3 slices of bread)
Milk (1 Tablespoon for each egg)
Toppings of choice: powdered sugar, jam, syrup, fresh fruit etc.

Instructions:
Crack open eggs and place in a small, flat dish. Add a tablespoon of milk for each egg used and whisk together. Heat a medium pan to medium-medium high heat and lightly spray with oil. Dip each piece of bread in the egg mixture, flipping over to coat both sides. Cook for a few minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Serve with toppings of choice and enjoy!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Balsamic Glazed Asparagus


Ingredients:
Asparagus
Garlic salt 
Pepper 
Balsamic glaze
Ice
Water

Instructions:
Heat a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and bring to a boil. Add asparagus and cook for a few minutes or until desired texture. Directly place in an ice bath of water and ice. Let chill a few minutes. Remove from the water and toss in garlic salt and pepper. Drizzle balsamic glaze on top.

Works perfectly with refrigerated, leftover asparagus as well. 




Roasted Chicken Drumsticks & Thighs



Ingredients:
3 chicken drumsticks
3 chicken thighs
2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
salt & pepper

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat a dutch oven to medium-medium high heat. Lightly coat the chicken in salt & pepper. Add a few tablespoons of oil to the dutch oven and add the chicken, skin side down first. Cook for 2-3 minutes then flip. Add the garlic and continue to cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken broth and deglaze the bottom of the pan with a flat, wooden spoon. Bring the broth to a boil then add the rosemary & thyme. Cover and bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked.

To use the remaining broth for a gravy start by removing all the broth from the pot. Bring the pot to a medium-medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of broth and 2 tablespoons of flour and whisk. Slowly add more and more broth and continue to whisk. Only add more broth when there are no chunks of flour left. Once all the broth is added, continue to simmer and whisk until thick.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Chocolate Mint Cookies



Ingredients:
1 box of devil's food cake
1 10 oz package of mint chips
2 eggs
2/3 cup plain greek yogurt

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix cake mix, yogurt and eggs until fully combined. Add chips. Drop tablespoon full amount of dough onto a cookie sheet. Cookies will spread when baking, place 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 minutes. Enjoy!

Rum Balls


I got this recipe from The Joy of Baking.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup crushed vanilla wafers
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons honey
1/4 rum

Instructions:
Finely crush vanilla wafers in a food processor or blender. Chop nuts. Combine vanilla wafers, nuts, powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Add honey and rum and mix until fully combined. Chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Roll the dough into balls and roll in topping of your choice (powdered sugar, cocoa powder, chopped nuts, sprinkles, etc). Place each ball in a mini muffin liner or a cookie sheet. Place the rum balls back into the fridge until serving.

Ginger Molasses Cookies


I got this recipe from a vegan blog called Lunch Box Bunch.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon ginger powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped candied ginger
1/3 cup softened butter
1/3 cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup water

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, ginger powder, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt). In a separate bowl mix candied ginger, butter, molasses, vanilla and water together. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until combined. You may need to add a Tablespoon or 2 more of water. Dough will be difficult to mix, may be easier to use hands.

Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in a cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Gently press down with a spatula after done baking to get a flatter cookie.

Turtle Pretzels



Ingredients:
1 12 oz bag rolos
About 40 pretzels (they need to be either the circle or square ones)
About 40 pecan halves

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Unwrap the entire bag of rolos and set aside. Place about 40 pretzels onto a cookie sheet. Top each pretzel with a rolo. Place cookie sheet in the oven for 2-4 minutes, make sure to keep an eye on them so not to completely melt them. You just want the rolos to be soft. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and gently squish a pecan half down onto each rolo. Let cool and enjoy!

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Pad Thai



Ingredients:
1/2 pound firm tofu
1 package rice noodles (serves 2)
1 egg
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
Sriracha or other hot sauce to taste
pinch of salt and pepper
sesame seeds & green onions to garnish

Instructions: 
Strain and chop tofu into small cubes.  Marinate in soy sauce and sriracha (to taste) for at least 30 minutes.

Combine peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, lime juice and hot sauce to taste. Set aside.

Saute tofu in a lightly greased frying pan over medium-high for 5-10 minutes, or until desired doneness.  Reduce heat to medium and add scrambled egg.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil.  Remove from heat and add rice noodles. Cook according to package instructions. I used fresh rice noodles and only soaked them for 30 seconds to a minute. You want to undercook them by about a minute. Strain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking.

Add the noodles and peanut sauce to tofu. Toss all ingredients together for about a minute. Top with sesame seeds & green onions.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Baked Root Vegetables






Ingredients:
5 medium potatoes
2 medium sweet potatoes
2 medium parsnips
2 medium carrots (or handful of baby carrots)
6 cloves of garlic quartered
2 shallots
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 Tablespoons honey
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Chop all vegetables into large pieces. Place all vegetable in a large bowl. Add soy sauce, honey, salt and pepper and mix until vegetables are evenly coated. Spread onto a foil lined or lightly greased baking dish. Bake for 50 minutes.

Serve with Tzatziki Sauce. You can buy this or make it by mixing together plain Greek yogurt, grated cucumber, lemon juice, grated garlic and salt.

You can also add chicken to this dish. Simply cut 2 chicken breasts into large chunks and coat in soy sauce and honey mixture. Add to the baking dish during the last 20-30 minutes. If you cook them the entire 50 minutes, they'll come out dry.

You can add whatever root vegetables you'd like...
-Onions
-Turnips
-Radish
-Beets
-Garlic
-Shallots
-Carrots
-Potatoes
-Sweet potatoes
-Parsnips

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Cranberry Muffins







Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour (wheat, oat, almond, etc)
1 cup old fashioned oats
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup cranberry sauce
1/2 cup milk (almond milk works great as well)
1/3 cup applesauce
1 egg

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a large bowl whisk together all dry ingredients: flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  In a separate bowl mix together all wet ingredients: cranberry sauce, milk, applesauce and egg.  Mix wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Spray or line a muffin pan and fill 3/4 of the way full.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool for a few minutes, the cranberries will be very hot.