Amish Cinnamon Rolls

The only cinnamon rolls I've ever made were out of a can. 

I am not very good with dough. I never know how long to knead it, it's always too sticky or too dry or I just can't roll it out. 

So I was apprehensive to try homemade Amish cinnamon rolls.

Well, it turns out that the dough was quite sticky, I added a bunch more flour while mixing.  It wasn't too hard to roll out though.  Though, when I cut them, they didn't exactly turn out like pretty cinnamon rolls.  More like cinnamon glops.

Turns out that cinnamon glops are just as good as cinnamon rolls!  They were a little dry, I don't think I put much butter on the rolled out dough though.  All in all, they were very good. 

Amish Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

2 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup milk, 1 cup amish batter.  Combine and let set at room temperature overnight or 10 - 12 hours. Stir down.

Combine 1 tbsp. sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 cup shortening, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. baking powder.  Add into small bowl all at once to stir down.  Pour dough out onto well floured board.  Knead until no longer sticky.  Roll out into 1/2" thickness in a rectangle shape.  Brush dough with soft butter. 

Combine: 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tbsp. cinnamon, 1/2 cup crushed nuts.  Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture over dough.  Beginning at wide side, roll up and seal seam.  Cut 1 in. slices.  Place on well greased cookie sheet.  Let rise 30 minutes.   Bake at 350 degrees 30 - 35 minutes. 

One Year Ago...

Creamy Tomato Soup

Macaroni & Cheese

Comfort food at it's finest.

This stuff is amazing. I seriously had to control myself.  Granted, it is a light version of mac and cheese but still, it's pasta and cheese. 

I loved the onion, garlic puree as a thickener.  It added perfect flavor.  I don't think I'll make mac and cheese any other way.  The only thing I might do is mix up the cheeses. I do think that cheddar is my favorite but there are so many different kinds of cheese that it's fun to mix it up sometimes. 

I chose to leave bread crumbs off of it.  I just sprinkled the top with some parmesan cheese and it browned up nicely.

Mac and Cheese Lite Recipe
Adapted from Now Eat This - Rocco DiSpirito

8 oz. elbow noodles, whole wheat
1 cup onion/garlic puree (see below)
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. cayenne
5 oz. cheddar cheese
1 - 6 oz. nonfat greek yogurt
1/2 cup grated parmesan (divided)

**Garlic/Onion Puree
Combine 1 large sweet onion, 9 garlic cloves, (rough chopped) and 1/2 cup water in a microwave safe bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and microwave for 10 minutes.  Pour the mixture into a blender and blend until smooth.  Can be stored in the fridge for several days.

Mac and cheese:
Cook macaroni according to directions, drain and set aside.

Bring 1 cup of onion/garlic puree, mustard and cayenne to a simmer, stirring often.  Whisk in the cheddar until melted.  Remove from heat and whisk in yogurt.  Toss with the macaroni and season with salt and pepper.  Mix in 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese.  Pour the mixture into n 8 x 8 in. pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Sprinkle the top with 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese.  Bake in oven at 425 about 10 - 13 minutes until heated through and top is slightly golden. 

Total calories = 2062 calories
6 servings = 344 calories per serving

One Year Ago...

Cilantro Egg Salad Sandwiches

This is my submission to Presto Pasta Nights hosted this week by Chez Cayenne.  Link up your favorite pasta dishes!

This is linked with:
Tasty Traditions at Coupon Cookin'
Things I Love Thursday at The Diaper Diaries
Recipe Swap Thursday at Prairie Story
Tip Day Thursday at Around My Family Table
Foodie Friday at Designs By Gollum
Vegetarian Foodie Fridays at Breastfeeding Moms Unite
Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home
Friday Firsts at Dinner at Christinas
Recipe Swap at The Grocery Cart Challenge
I'm Lovin It at Tidy Mom
What's Cookin in the Kitchen at Katies Cucina
Friday Potluck at EKat's Kitchen
My Meatless Mondays at My Sweet & Savory
Just Another Meatless Monday at Hey, What's For Dinner Mom?
Midnitght Maniac Meatless Monday at Midnight Maniac




Calories calculated from calorieking.com. Some numbers are approximate and rounded.

BBQ Potato Chips

I love chips.  Actually. I LOOOOOOOOVE chips.  They are my weakness.  I don't allow bags of them in the house.  At all.

So when I saw this delicious recipe I had to try it. 

They were quite good.  They did have the same flavor as BBQ chips in a bag but weren't as crispy.  I didn't really expect that.  They were delicious and I can't wait to have them again!!

Homemade Barbecue Chips
Recipe from Casual Dish



3 russet potatoes - about 1 1b to 1-1/2 lbs.
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper


Heat oven to 450 degrees and combine spices. Slice the potatoes very thin or let your food processor do it for you. 

We ate this with a delicious 40 Clove Garlic Chicken in the Slow Cooker!



One Year Ago...

















Fiesta Corn Chowder

This is linked with:
No Whine Wednesday at Food on the Table
Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family
Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
What's On Your Plate? at Good Cheap Eats

Calories calculated from calorieking.com. Some numbers are approximate and rounded.

Bean & Sausage Cassoulet

I've already made this twice.  It was that good. It's on the higher side of calories per portion but it was super filling.  It was wonderful to have this is the refrigerator for lunches all week. 

I don't cook with sausage too often but I happened to have 2 packages of sausages.  Which is why I ended up making this twice.  I could probably drop the calories by adding chicken instead but the sausage was SOOOO good!  I also loved the slight tang from the red wine.  You could use beef broth but I encourage the red wine as it tasted wonderful!

Bean and Sausage Cassoulet Recipe

1 (15 oz) can of black beans
1 (15 oz) can of white beans
1 (15 oz) can of red kidney beans
1 lb. turkey sausage, diagonally sliced
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1 large onion, sliced into rings
1/2 cup dry red wine or beef broth
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. thyme
3 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients in an ungreased 3 qt. casserole dish. Cover and bake until carrots are tender, about 1 hour or until hot and bubbly. 


Total calories = 3320 calories
8 servings = 415 calories per serving


One Year Ago...

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dip

This is linked with: 
Mouthwatering Mondays at A Southern Fairytale
Menu Inspiration Monday at The Big Red Pot
Delicious Dishes at It's A Blog Party
Tuesdays at the Table at All The Small Stuff
Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Hearth n Soul at Girlichef
Tasty Tuesdays at A Beautiful Mess
Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple
Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed with Grace
Ingredient Spotlight: Wine at Eat at Home


Calories calculated from calorieking.com. Some numbers are approximate and rounded.

Menu Plan Monday - December 27 - January 2, 2011

Everything I made last week lasted longer than I thought, so we didn't get to the BLT Hummus Wraps or the Apple Cider Stew.  Hopefully we'll get to them this week.


Monday - Butternut Squash Black Bean Rancheros, & chicken pasta salad for the family

Tuesday - BLT Hummus Wraps

Wednesday - Spaghetti & garlic bread, leftover BLT's for me

Thursday - Mini pizza burgers & Oven Roasted Potatoes


Friday - Oatmeal Pancakes

Saturday - Leftovers

Sunday - Apple Cider Beef Stew


This is linked with Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organized Junkie

Spiced Pumpkin Waffles

We have a new toy!  I finally got a waffle maker!

I was married about 14 years ago.  I remember registering for gifts and didn't have any clue what to ask for. I do remember registering for a waffle maker. I had never had one and thought it would have been fun. I think that was the only thing that I really wanted. 

I didn't get one.  I never bought one. For some reason they seemed indulgent to me. It seemed like a want and not a need so we just never did.  Plus my kitchen is tiny and there just isn't room for any more gadgets.

Well, now I have 3 kids and pancakes and frozen waffles are their favorite.  So we finally bought one. I'm still looking for the perfect spot to PUT it, but meanwhile, it's here and being used quite often. 

My oldest son is loving to cook and he loves coming up with new things to put in waffles.  He loves pumpkin so we did pumpkin waffles.  It took us awhile to get the cooking time just right but once we did, they turned out perfect and delicious!

Spiced Pumpkin Waffles Recipe

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 2/3 cups milk
4 tbsp. butter, melted

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.  Mix wet ingredients in another bowl.  Fold the wet into the dry ingredients, mix to combine.  Cook according to your waffle iron directions. We found these to cook for at least a minute or 2 longer than other waffles. 

Total calories = 1955 calories
6 waffles = 326 calories per waffle
This will vary depending on the size of your waffle maker. We got about 6 out of our belgian waffle maker. 

One Year Ago...

Tropical Turkey Salad

This is linked with My Meatless Mondays at My Sweet & Savory
Just Another Meatless Monday at Hey, What's for Dinner, Mom?
This Weeks Cravings at Delightful Country Cooking

40 Clove Garlic Chicken in the Slow Cooker

I bought a humongous bag of garlic at Costco. I like garlic but what was I thinking?   That's a lot of garlic.

I don't buy whole chickens too often.  We usually go for the boneless or maybe the split breasts.  But, I needed a chicken wing for my daughters science experiment.  She had to disect and write up a lab for a chicken wing.  Ewwwww.  I don't like dealing with raw meat let alone cutting and disecting it!  

So, we just bought a whole cut up chicken, did the experiment with the wings and ate the rest.  So - whole bag of garlic + chicken = garlic chicken.   

This turned out delicious. The garlic pieces were sweet and tasty.  The chicken was super tender and practically fell off the bone. 

Of course, I still have a ton of garlic left...

40 Clove Garlic Chicken Recipe
Adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking

1 whole chicken, cut up

1 large onion, cut up
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon pepper
20-40 garlic cloves, peeled, but intact

Toss the chicken in the slow cooker, sprinkle with spices, add the onions and garlic. Cook on low for about 7 - 8 hours.

One Year Ago...

Turkey Cordon Bleu Crisp 

Crustless Tex Mex Meatloaf Cheddar Pie

This is linked with:
Tasty Traditions at Coupon Cookin'
Cooking Thursday at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
Things I Love Thursday at The Diaper Diaries
Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
Friday Favorites at Simple Sweet Home
Friday Firsts at Dinner at Christinas
Ingerdient Spotlight:Garlic at Eat at Home

Cuban Quesadillas

I first had (and heard of) a cuban when I was out with the girls.  We were talking, lauging and having a good time and I completely forgot to even open my menu.  When the waitress came to take our order, I was scrambling.  On the top of the list was A CUBAN SANDWICH. 

I said "What's a Cuban?"

My friend next to me said, it's good, you should get it.  So I did. 

When I got my sandwich, I was at first disappointed. It had mustard and while I don't hate it, I'm not much of a mustard fan. Then I saw it had pickle. Again, pickles have their place, but not on a sandwich in my book.

The rest looked good so I went ahead and dove in.

Oh my oh my!!  This was GOOD!  I couldn't believe how the flavors went so well together. 

When I got home, I told my mustard and pickle loving husband how awesome this sandwich was. He of course called me an idiot for not even knowing what a cuban was! 

We of course put everything on a tortilla around her so of course, I had to make a cuban quesadilla.  It is seriously awesome.  Again, the flavors go SO well together and it just WORKS!  Yea!

We ate this with a fantastic Summer Squash Corn Chowder that I posted on Our Krazy Kitchen.  

Cuban Quesadilla Recipe
Adapted from Taste and Tell


1 1/2 pound boneless pork chops
1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper
8 tablespoons spicy brown mustard, plus more for serving
8 whole wheat 100 calorie tortillas
8 ounces thinly sliced baked ham
3 to 4 dill pickles, chopped
4 ounces shredded cheese, I had cheddar

Cut pork chops into thin strips.  Cook pork, onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper in cooking spray until pork is done and onions are soft. 


Assemble quesadillas.  Toast on tortilla on both sides on a pan.  Place mustard, pickles, 2 tbsp. cheese, pork, onions and 1 slice of ham on 1/2 of the tortilla.  Fold in half and cut into thirds. 


Total calories = 2485 calories
311 calories per quesadilla


Cuban Quesadilla + Squash & Corn Chowder Soup = 509 calorie dinner

One Year Ago...

Chicken, Bacon and Cheese Wraps


This is linked with:
No Whine Wednesday at Food on the Table
Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly The Kitchen Kop
Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family
What's on your Plate? at Good Cheap Eats
Whatcha Makin'? at Scrap Addict 4 Sure
Ingredient Spotlight: Ham at Eat at Home


Calories calculated from calorieking.com. Some numbers are approximate and rounded.

Pizza Soup in the Slow Cooker

This is a family favorite.  I've been making it ever since Stephanie first posted it!  We've adapted it quite a lot to suit our family.  My little one loves pasta but isn't too much of a soup fan. 

I add a LOT of noodles to this and it ends up more like a casserole than it does a soup.  It resembles a soup the first day but the leftovers are completely like a casserole. 

So if you're looking for more of a soup, go ahead and add less noodles. It would be a much lighter soup that way too.  Meanwhile, I'll make the kids happy and continue making it casserole style. Either way, I get to make it in my slow cooker which always works for me!

Pizza Soup Recipe

Adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking

2 cans (15 oz) pizza sauce
4 empty cans of water
2 green peppers, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 pt. baby tomatoes, cut in quarters
1 lb. mild Italian sausage
2 - 3 cups pepperoni, sliced in quarters (6 oz)
1 tbsp. basil
2 tbsp. oregano
14.5 oz box of rotini, (use about 1/2 of this if you want it soupier)
Mozzarella cheese (optional, not included in calorie count)


Total calories = 4305 calories
14 cups = 308 calories per serving

One Year Ago...

Ham, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Burritos

Sweet Slow Cooker Baked Beans

This is linked with:
Delicious Dishes at It's A Blog Party
Tuesday at the Table at All The Small Stuff
Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Tasty Tuesdays at A Beautiful Mess
Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple
Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed With Grace
Dr. Laura's Tasty Tuesday at Dr. Lauras Adventures

This is also my submission to Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Ruth at Once Upon A Feast.
Also to Souper Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen.




Calories calculated from calorieking.com. Some numbers are approximate and rounded.

Menu Plan Monday - December 20th - December 26th, 2010

Once again, looking forward to a long weekend to relax. We don't celebrate Christmas so for us, Saturday will be mostly a nice relaxing day at home.  I have a feeling I won't be doing much cooking.  I might bake something but we'll probably just munch on sandwiches and whatever is in the refrigerator. 

Monday: Pumpkin Bacon Pasta

Tuesday:  Chickpea Chicken Soup, + Tilapia, potatoes and coleslaw for the rest of the family

Wednesday:   Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato Hummus Wraps


Thursday: Pumpkin Chili & cornbread muffins

Friday: Turkey Broccoli Wraps, Spaghetti for the kids


Saturday:  Apple Cider Beef Stew

Sunday: Chow Mein

This is linked with Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie

Apple Butter Spice Amish Cake

Funny with this Amish bread. I look at a cake or a bread now and think, "Could I make this with Amish starter?"

When I saw this recipe, I knew it would be perfect with the Amish starter.

It turned out wonderful and delicious! I'm beginning to think there isn't anything I can't make out of this! 

Check out more of my Amish Bread Recipes! 

Apple Butter Spice Amish Cake

Adapted from Butteryum

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup apple butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup amish starter


Crumb mixture:
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 ground nutmeg
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare pan by spraying with a non-stick baking spray.


In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the crumb mixture together; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.


In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and white sugar together for a couple of minutes. Add eggs and beat well. Add apple butter, vanilla, and wheat germ; beat well. Combine with sour cream and amish starter.


Combine flour mixture and apple butter mixture, beat until combined.


Pour about 1/2 the batter into the prepared bundt pan (9x13 direction below). Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture on and top with the remaining batter. Bake for 40-50 minutes.


Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Pour half the batter into the pan, add half the crumb mixture, top with the remaining cake batter, and lastly, sprinkle the other half of the crumb mixture on top. Bake for about 45 - 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

One Year Ago...

Ham & Pineapple with Tomato Peach Chutney

Slow Cooker 13 Bean & Ham Soup

This is linked with:
Not Baaad Sundays at Lamb Around


Calories calculated from calorieking.com. Some numbers are approximate and rounded.

Southwest Roast with Baked Potatoes

Slow cookers are the greatest.  I think that I first really learned how to cook in a slow cooker.  I tend to burn things or over cook them. The slow cooker is fairly dummy proof so I learned a lot of things when I started cooking in there.  Then it was just a matter of figuring out what flavors work and what doesn't.

This is one of those super simple dump and go recipes.  I used frozen corn, onions and peppers but Stephanie used a can of mexicorn.  That would make it even more simple.

We ate this over baked potatoes the first night.  I continued to eat if for lunch for several days. It made a LOT of food!  My brother ate some on a tortilla and I ate it as like a stew for lunch with some homemade tortilla chips. 

Southwest Roast with Baked Potatoes Recipe
Adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking

2 1/2 lb chuck roast
1 tsp. chipotle chile powder
1 can chili beans, undrained
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 small/medium onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 can rotel with green chiles, undrained

Trim off any visible nasty fat off the roast. Throw it in the crock pot.  Chuck in the rest of the ingredients. Cook on low for about 8 - 10 hours.  Shred meat, stir to combine and serve over baked potatoes.

*Instead of the corn, onion and red pepper, you could use a can of mexicorn.

One Year Ago...

Sweet & Spicy Chicken with Broccoli

This is linked with:
Tasty Traditions at Coupon Cookin'
Cooking Thursday at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
Things I Love Thursdays at The Diaper Diaries
Recipe Swap at Prairie Story
Tip Day Thursday at Around My Family Table
Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
Recipe Swap at The Grocery Cart Challenge
What's Cookin' in the Kitchen at Katie's Cucina
Friday Potluck at EKat's Kitchen
Fabulous Friday Finds at Frou Frou Decor
Crockpot Wednesdays at Dining with Debbie




Calories calculated from calorieking.com. Some numbers are approximate and rounded.

Turkey Salad Wraps with Cherries

I bought some dried cherries at Costco.  They are delicious. I knew if I didn't make something with them, I'd eat the whole bag.  So what better to do than to make my favorite.  Chicken salad! 

In this case, turkey salad.  I still had a ton of 10 oz. bags of turkey leftover from the last turkey that went into the oven.  So turkey salad it was. 

My turkey was a bit dry so I think I ended up throwing in a couple of tablespoons of sour cream to moisten it more. I like goopy chicken salad anyways so that worked out well and it tasted awesome.

The cherries gave it a nice tart twist and the apple added to the crunch. It was delicious!

Turkey Salad Wraps with Cherries Recipe

10 oz. shredded cooked turkey breast

1 cup chopped apple

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped cucumbers

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

1/4 cup dried cherries

1 (6 oz) plain greek yogurt

2 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. hot pepper sauce (to taste)

Salt and pepper

In a large bowl, combine turkey, apple, celery, cucumber, onions, walnuts and cherries.  In a small bowl, stir together yogurt, lemon juice, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper. Add the yogurt mixture to the turkey mixture and stir until well mixed. 

Serve on whole wheat tortillas or lettuce as lettuce wraps.

I didn't write down how many tortilla wraps I got out of this. I think I got 5.  They were very hearty and low calorie! 

One Year Ago...

Caramel Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Casserole

This is linked with:
No Whine Wednesday at Food on the Table
Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family
Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly The Kitchen Kop
What's on Your Plate? at Good Cheap Eats
Whatcha Makin' at Scrap Addict 4 Sure
Tip Day at Around My Family Table
Ingredient Spotlight: Cherries at Eat at Home


Calories calculated from calorieking.com. Some numbers are approximate and rounded.