SWEET KNOTS WITH RHODES ROLLS

Remember I said in a few posts back that I signed up for a recipe of the week from Rhodes Rolls, but didn't usually think the recipes sounded good?  I have to take back what I said.  I came home from teaching today and this was in my inbox.  It looked and sounded good and easy and I was hungry. I pulled out some frozen rolls and made these. Wow-they are so good. And easy.  So thanks, Rhodes and my apologies.

Ingredients

12 Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar

Instructions

Roll each roll into a 9-inch rope. Place butter in a shallow bowl and sugar in a separate shallow bowl.  Mix the melted butter and sugar together. Dip the rolls in butter/sugar mixture and tie into a knot and place on cookie sheet 2-3 inches apart. Repeat with the rest of the rolls. Cover with sprayed plastic wrap and let rise until double in size. Remove wrap and bake at 350°F 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Do not overbake.Remove from pan immediately and place on cooling rack.

Spinach Fiesta Salad

I just sat here for 5 minutes staring at this picture, trying to come up with a name for this salad.  I try not to list all of the ingredients of a recipe in the name of the recipe, so "fiesta" is the best I could come up with.  Anyway...

I found this recipe on Pinterest but really it was just a picture with all the ingredients listed under it.  No measurements or detailed directions, but you can't really go wrong when you're dealing with delicious things like avocado and cilantro.  It's going to taste good no matter how you throw it together.

spinach
black beans, drained and rinsed
tomatoes, diced
cucumber, diced
avocado, diced
cilantro, cut into pieces
lime juice
olive oil
salt/pepper

*Fill a bowl with spinach and add as much of the rest of the ingredients as you would like.  Drizzle on some lime juice and a little olive oil and toss the salad.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

FREEZING FRESH HERBS

I know this photo looks really strange... but you will thank me, I  promise.
Those of you who live in a nicer, cooler climate than I live in and can grow stuff without it literally frying in the sun will appreciate this post.  The last time I went to the grocery to buy fresh basil (not really a fan of dried) I had to buy a HUUUUUGE package of it. I used what I needed in my recipe--which was all of 2 tablespoons full and couldn't bear to throw the rest away. I Googled (is that a word--if not it should be) how to freeze fresh herbs. What did we ever do without Google?  Anyway--here are the directions and I'm sure you can use it for any fresh herbs.  I now have 2 Ziplock bags in my freezer of frozen basil cubes.

Wash and thoroughly dry whatever herbs you will be using i.e., basil, mint, thyme, rosemary, dill, etc.  Chop them to whatever desired size you want. Fill ice cube trays with approximately 2 t. full of chopped herbs and fill trays with water.  Freeze until frozen solid. Remove from ice cube trays and place in Zip lock bags. Store in the freezer. Don't forget to label the bags.  These will keep for 4-5 months.  When ready to use, remove one or two cubes from freezer.  If using in a cooked dish, just place the frozen cube in the dish and the water will quickly evaporate.  You will have the flavor and convenience of whatever fresh herb you use!!  I used a enough basil that was frozen to make pesto and it was delicious.  I just put the cubes in a strainer and let them thaw.  The water drained out and the basil was ready to use.  I don't think these would work as a garnish, as the herbs turn dark and don't look that pleasant, but the flavor is GREAT!!

Orange Cakes

Why has nobody ever told me that you can bake a cake inside of an orange?!  Seriously, I've lived 35 years without this knowledge.

This idea is brilliant.  Not to mention perfect for camping.  Which is why I came across this idea...because I am going to Girls' Camp with our church in a few weeks and we had to certify the girls in outdoor cooking last night.

We made Dutch oven pizzas (thanks to our amazingly-talented-camp-cook, Tylene) and then we made these little cakes.  You bake them in the campfire!  How much easier could this be?  I love everything about this.

Here's what you need:

medium-large navel oranges
yellow cake mix
1 cup water
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
heavy duty foil

*Mix cake mix with water, eggs and oil and stir well until the lumps are gone.  Set aside.  Wash your oranges.  Cut the top off (about 1/2 inch).  Scoop out all the middle like a pumpkin.  Now you have a hollow orange-bowl.  Spoon cake mix into the orange until it's 3/4 full.  Put the top back on and wrap tightly in the heavy duty foil.  Make sure you know where the top is.  Place in the hot coals of a campfire (not the flames).  Let cook for 15-20 minutes.  Remove from fire with tongs and let cool for a minute before unwrapping and enjoying with a spoon.  The cake is really moist and yummy with a hint of orange flavor.

*I'm dying to try this with different flavored cake mixes and different citrus.  Endless possibilities. 

Brownie Stoplights

I am a Wolf den leader in cub scouts and tonight is the Pinewood Derby.

If you are involved in scouts, or you have a cub scout, then you know that this is a big deal.

This year, two of our sons are participating, so it is pretty exciting around here with two cars being made and two brothers each hoping to beat the other.

I leave the car-making up to BC and I just worry about the fun stuff...the treats!  The other den leader is my good friend and last night we put together these cute brownie stoplights that I saw on Pinterest.  So easy.  A big jelly roll pan of brownies, cut into rectangles, with red, yellow and green m&m's pushed into them to look like stoplights.  Super cute and super tasty.

This is the brownie recipe that I used.  Minus the frosting.

Honey Mustard Chicken

 

pic from internet

 Yesterday i needed something for dinner with ingredients I already had and something easy. I searched on allrecipes.com and found this very easy and yummy chicken recipe. It turned out tender and moist and had a delicious flavor. Next time you don't know what to make or don't want to go to the store... check this out. 

 4-6 breasts

1/2 C melted butter

1/2 C honey

1/4 C dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon curry powder 

Brush sauce over chicken before baking. Continue to baste chicken with sauce from pan every 15 minutes as it bakes.

*I left out the curry powder. I also used chicken breasts and sliced them vertically to get thinner pieces. I only used a couple of breasts and cooked it at 350 for 45 minutes. I paired the chicken with this rice and a simple salad.

Mini Chip Chippers

I made these for a baby shower today.  The theme was "tiny" and all the food was little and bite-size.  Don't you love when things are miniature?  Everything looks cute when it's tiny.  And when you're eating little food, you can eat more, right?  Exactly.

1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened to room temp
2 eggs
1 Tbs. vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
2 cups oats
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 bag mini chocolate chips

*Mix sugars.  Add butter and mix well until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix together.  Add dry ingredients and mix until it's all blended.  Scoop with a small cookie scoop or make little dough balls about the size of a nickel.  Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes.  Mine were a little doughy at 8 minutes so I took them out and let them cool on the cookie sheet for another 5 minutes.  Perfection.