Kamae Sandgren

My good friend is one of the best bakers I know.  Everything she does is fabulous.  I haven’t made these yet because I’m scared but I’ve had them a few times and they are to die for.  Here’s the recipe.  Enjoy eating heaven!

Yeast:
½ cup warm water
2 pkgs. yeast
1 tsp. sugar

Dough:

1 stick margarine
1 tsp. salt
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
½ cup orange juice (fresh is best)
grated orange rind
6-7 cups flour

Frosting

¼ cup margarine
powdered sugar
orange juice (fresh is best)
grated orange rind

Dough:  Combine yeast, warm water, and tsp. sugar and set aside.  Let yeast rise about 10 min.  Scald the 1 cup of whole milk in a medium size saucepan.  In large bowl, combine margarine, sugar, and salt.  Once milk has been scalded, add it to the mixture.  (The milk will help melt the butter.)  Add orange juice and grated orange rind.  Add the eggs to cool down mixture before adding yeast.  (If the mixture is too hot it will kill the yeast.)  Once mixture has cooled down a little, add yeast and flour.  The last cup of flour you may have to knead in by hand.  Place dough on floured surface and knead for about 5 min.  Place back in bowl, cover with towel and let raise for 1 hour.  (I put a little bit of oil in the bowl so the dough doesn’t stick to the bowl.)  Punch down dough.  Pinch off a handful of  dough and roll out on a floured surface.  I cut the dough into strips and tie each strip in a knot, but you can really make them into any shape you’d like.  Let raise on cookie sheet another 10 min., bake for 8-10 min. at 350.

Frosting:  Combine all ingredients and frost while rolls are still warm.  One tip, cream the margarine and a little powdered sugar together until creamy, before adding any liquid.  I find that if I don’t do this, the frosting is lumpy.

 

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Corn Pudding

Myhoa Baird

Okay okay, this doesn’t sound good but let me tell you…IT IS AMAZING!!!  My good friend made this for Easter and I was a little hesitant at first but it seriously is so yummy!!

One box Jiffy cornbread mix

One can corn

One can creamed corn

One stick of butter

One cup cream (half cup sour cream will do in a pinch)

Bake at 350 for about 25 mins. You can bake till firm or cook less for a more pudding consistency. Either way it’s tasty!

Cheesy Quinoa Bites

(soveryblessed.com)

This was another family favorite.  ALL family members gobbled these up.  Both my children, myself and hubby thought they were fabulous.  I used ranch and peppercorn ranch to dip them in.  The original recipe used honey dijon ranch so you can mix it up and dip them in whatever you like.

Cheesy Quinoa Bites
Makes ~28 bites (small muffins)

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup shredded carrot (I did about 1/2 cup and 1/2 cup mushrooms)
• 2 stalks green onion, diced (I did about half this)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Mix together quinoa, carrot, egg, green onion, garlic, cilantro, cheese, flour, salt and pepper.
3.  Distribute mixture into a greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup to the top (1 heaping Tbs each).
4.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Ginger and Cilantro Tilapia

 thekitchn.com

I love me some fish…and so did my 1 year old.  This was SOOO delicious.  So easy and yummy.  A definite re-make.  My little girl LOVED this so much.  I made 6 fillets and they were all eaten up!

Ginger and Cilantro Baked Tilapia
serves 2, or 1 with lunch leftovers

2 large tilapia fillets (or similar thin white fish) – about 3/4 pound
1 jalapeno pepper (optional, I omitted this)
3 garlic cloves ( I put one clove)
1 inch grated ginger (1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine (I actually didn’t have white wine so I used a little rice/white vinegar and prob used an 1/8 cup)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Scallions, chopped for garnish
Extra cilantro, to garnish

Heat the oven to 475ºF. Pat the fish dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Place in a glass baking dish.

Chop the pepper and garlic, and grate the ginger. Put in a small food processor with the soy sauce, white wine, sesame oil, and cilantro. Whir until blended. Pour the sauce over the fish, rubbing it in a little. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily and is cooked through. It will be very moist and gelatinous, still.

Serve immediately over brown rice, garnished with scallions and cilantro.

Chinese Chicken Salad

Jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com

Who doesn’t love chinese chicken salad.  It’s one of my favorite things to make during the summer.  This one was a little more work than the one that I usually make but it was worth it.  Super tasty!

2-2 1/2 pounds nappa cabbage (I just used a regular head of cabbage)

5 green onions (I omitted these because my husband doesn’t like onions)

2 packages ramen noodles

1/2 C butter

1/4 C sliced almonds

1/4 C sesame seeds

3-4 chicken breasts (I added these to make it more a meal than just a salad)

Dressing:

3/4 C peanut oil (or 3 T peanut butter + canola oil to equal 3/4 C)

1/2 C sugar

1/4 C rice vinegar

2 T soy sauce

Thinly slice your cabbage and place in a bowl.  If you choose to use the onions place with the cabbage.  Crush your Top Ramon.  Heat the butter in a saucepan and add top ramon, sesame seeds and almonds.  Cook the mixture stirring frequently until everything turns a nice toasty brown.  Set the crunchy mixture aside to cool.   IF YOU CANNOT FIND PEANUT OIL DO THIS……..Place 3 T of peanut butter into a glass measuring cup.

pour Canola Oil into the cup, right over the top of the peanut butter. Your total measurement with the peanut butter and oil should be 3/4 C.

Put the peanut butter/oil mixture into the microwave and heat it for 30 seconds.  Stir it all around until the peanut butter dissolves.

In medium saucepan pour sugar, oil, rice vinegar and soy sauce.  Bring the mixture to a rolling boil over medium high heat. Let it boil hard for one minute. Then set it aside to cool.  When you are ready to serve toss the cabbage and green onions with the crunchy ramen mixture and pour the dressing over the top to  coat. Serve immediately.   Enjoy!

Bean and Cheese Chimichangas

liluna.com

We’ve had some good recipes lately.  Here’s one we had tonight. These were seriously SOOOOOO easy and the best part was is that I usually have all these ingredients so I’m sure we’ll be making these again, and my husband LOVED them and gobbled them down in a matter of minutes.

INGREDIENTS

• 12 tortillas
• 2 egg whites
• 1 can refried beans
• this recipe called for 1/2 block 16 oz. pkg. Velveeta but I used shredded cheese and it was great!
• it also called for 1/2 can RO*TEL® Diced Tomatoes & Chiles, but I just used half a can of diced tomatoes and about 3/4 can of diced green chiles
• 2 TB vegetable oil
• Monterey Jack cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place beans, RO*TEL®, and VELVEETA® in a pot and heat until cheese is all melted.
2. Then warm up your tortillas so they are easier to work with.
3. You will then add egg whites to a bowl and mix with whisk. You will add beans to the middle of your tortilla, sprinkle with cheese and then add egg whites all around your beans and fold up. To fold start with one side and fold up an inch and then fold sides and then add more egg white where you make the last fold.
4. Flash-fry chimis by placing in a pan of 2 TB Vegetable oil on medium heat. Heat on both sides for a minute or so. Place fried chimis back onto a pan seam-side down.
5. After finishing flash-frying your chimis, back at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Feliz come!!

Autumn Chopped Salad

This is super yummy and for a warm day it’s absolutely perfect.  Even for a not so warm day it’s perfect.  With some yummy bread it’s a delicious meal.

 

Autumn Chopped Salad

Ingredients
*6 to 8 cups chopped romaine lettuce
*2 medium pears, chopped (I omitted the pears just because I didn’t have any)
*1 cup dried cranberries
*1 cup chopped pecans (I even sugared my pecans)
*8 slices thick-cut bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled (canned bacon bits, the real bacon works great)
*4 to 6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
*Poppy seed Salad Dressing
*Balsamic Vinaigrette (I like Newman’s Own Light Balsamic Vinaigrette)

Instructions
*On a large platter, combine the lettuce, pears, cranberries, pecans, bacon and feta cheese. Drizzle generously with poppy seed dressing, followed by some of the balsamic vinaigrette.

 

I don’t like to add the dressing directly to the salad because everyone likes their salad a certain way, and also if you have left overs it won’t get soggy.  (I would estimate that I used about a cup of dressing: 70 percent poppy seed dressing and 30 percent balsamic vinaigrette) If you prefer your salad to have more dressing, feel free to experiment with the combination.

Honey Pecan Pork Chops

I’ve made this a few times and just remembered it yesterday.  I haven’t made it in a while and it just sounded so yummy.  It’s one of the easiest recipes.

• 1 1/4 pounds boneless pork loin, pounded thin
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour for coating
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. In a shallow dish, mix together flour, salt and pepper. Dredge pork cutlets in the flour mixture.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add chops, and brown both sides. Transfer to a warm plate.
3. Mix honey and pecans into the pan drippings. Heat through, stirring constantly. Pour sauce over cutlets.

Fish Tacos

I love tilapia and I love making these.   I’ve made them so many times that I have the recipe memorized.  I make this for two and a half people so the recipe doesn’t make very much.  If you have a bigger family or eat more you’ll want to double the recipe.

4-5 tilapia fillets (I buy the single packed frozen fillets)
1 TBl olive oil
Cajon Seasoning

In medium saucepan  put the oil on, cover tilapia with seasoning and fry.  I break mine up into  shredded pieces.

In the meantime combine and mix in a small bowl:

1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
chopped cilantro (to your taste)
1-2 tsp cumin
juice from 1/2 lime

Now it’s time to eat:

Sometimes I use corn tortillas fried and other times I just use flour.  I combine the tilapia, the mayo/sour cream mixture and the top with shredded cabbage, and usually cheese (but we are cheese mongers at our house).

Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Victoria Matthews

My neighbor has made these for us a few times and they are SO yummy!  I tried to make them and mine didn’t turn out because I used milk chocolate chips so make sure you use Semi Sweet.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
12 ozs nestles SEMI SWEET chocolate chips (I use 16 ozs)
1 teaspoon vanilla (I usually add more)
2 eggs
optional:  1/2 cup pecans (if I use nuts I use more)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a small bowl combine flour, soda, salt and set aside (I never do this step).  In a saucepan combine butter, sugar and water and bring to a boil (I usually melt the butter with the water before I add the sugar).  Remove from heat and add 6 ozs of chocolate chips (I add 8 ozs) and vanilla.  Stir until morsels melt and mixture is smooth (sometimes I need to put it back on the stove).  Transfer to a large bowl.  Add eggs one at a time. Blend in flour mixture.  Stir in remaining chocolate chips  (and nuts if you’d like).  Spread into a greased 9 inch square baking pan.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.