Red Velvet Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls

Red Velvet Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

1 box Duncan Hines Signature Red Velvet Cake Mix

2 envelopes of Active Dry Yeast

2 ½ cups warm water

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

5 cups of all-purpose flour

Cinnamon Filling

1 stick of softened butter – you can add another stick of butter if you want them really gooey

1 cup of packed dark brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

Cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 sticks of softened butter

3 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of kosher salt

2 packages of softened cream cheese – 8 ounces

Preparation

Combine two packages of active dry yeast with warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Stir until dissolved.  Add cake mix, flour, vanilla and salt.  Use dough hook attachment to knead dough together, ust for a minute or two.  Move to larger bowl, and let rise for about an hour.  Punch dogh down after an hour, and let rise again for another hour.

Use plenty of flour on a clean surface and turn dough out.  Shape into a ball, then roll into a rectangle shape, mine measured about 28x17.  Spread softened butter over dough. Sprinkle with brown sugar, white granulated sugar and cinnamon.  Start from farthest edge and roll dough tightly into a long skinny log shape.  Slice into 24 rolls. 

Place rolls in two 9x13 pans that have been greased with butter or sprayed with non stick cooking spray.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

While the rolls are baking, prepare cream cheese frosting.  With paddle attachment on the stand mixer, combine room temp butter with powdered sugar.  Beat until well combined, then add vanilla and pinch of salt.  Mix again, then while mixer is going, drop cubes of softened cream cheese in the bowl one at a time until frosting is well mixed. 

Spread on warm rolls and enjoy.

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Sweet Potato Biscuit and Letting Go

I’m not sure there is anything harder than coming to the realization that no matter what you do you can’t save someone from themselves.  I firmly believe that family, friends and loved ones should be loved unconditionally…up to a point.  I do have a condition when it comes to watching someone destroy themselves.  It is just hard to know what that line really is and when is the right time to be the better friend by walking away from the situation.   All you can really do is hope that one day they will truly want to change.  The joy and pride in seeing someone you care about finally figure out that they are the only person in charge of their own happiness is immeasurable.  It just can be difficult when you can’t help them see what you already know to be true. 

On a lighter note, this morning we had sweet potato biscuits.  I highly recommend trying it!

Paula Deen’s Sweet Potato Biscuits

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour

2 heaping tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup mashed cooked sweet potatoes

¼ cup softened butter

2 to 4 tablespoons milk (depending on the moisture of the potatoes)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  In a separate, large bowl, mix the sweet potatoes and butter.  Add the flour mixture to the potato mixture and mix to make a soft dough.  Then add milk a tablespoon at a time to mixture and continue to cut in.  Turn the dough out onto a floured board and toss lightly until the outside of the dough looks smooth.  Roll the dough out to ½ inch thick and cut with a biscuit cutter.  Place the biscuits on a greased pan and coat tops with melted butter.  Bake for about 15 minutes.  (Watch your oven:  if the biscuits are browning too fast, lower the temperature.)

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Cleaning versus Beer Drinking

I've had a busy morning.  I’ve already gone to the grocery store, did billing and gathered supplies for my camps, changed the sheets and cleaned the bird cages.  I decided to take a break and have some lunch.  I’m embracing my new healthy lifestyle…which means that I’m still not drinking diet cokes.  I’m on about six weeks of no diet cokes.  So, in keeping true to my new healthy ways, I had a Totinos pizza and beer for lunch.  Taking my lunch break made me think that I really didn’t want to clean today because I have more beer and a couple of things left to do in Skyrim.  An important part of housewifery is the art of the illusion.  If you don’t feel like cleaning, it is imperative that you redirect your spouse’s attention to a delicious meal.  Done right, this can completely mask the filth that you failed to clean that day.  Here’s a recipe for a super easy breakfast sandwich.  Delicious doesn’t have to mean time consuming.  After all, there is beer to be consumed.

Bacon, Egg, Sharp Cheddar Bagel Sandwich

Ingredients

Bagel thin, toasted

1 egg, cooked over hard

Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Two slices of bacon, cooked

Mayonnaise

Preparation

Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat. Once it is crisp, remove from the pan and place on a paper towel to drain.

Heat the skillet over medium heat then crack an egg into the pan. Poke the yolk to break up then season the egg with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Once the white has set, flip the egg with a spatula, add the cheese to the top of the egg, and cook for 30 seconds.

Toast the bagel and spread with mayonnaise. Add the egg to a bagel half, top with bacon, then add the remaining bagel half. Serve immediately. Enjoy.

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Breakfast Enchiladas - WTF and WOW Recipe Wednesday

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Quichiladas - Breakfast Enchiladas

Ingredients

2 cups ham, cubed
1/4 cup chopped geen onions
1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup diced green pepper
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
10 flour tortillas
2 cups half and half
6 eggs
1 Tbsp flour

Preparation
Assemble this casserole the night before and bake it in the morning.

Spray a 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray. Set aside. Mix together ham, green onions, mushrooms, green pepper and 2 cups of cheese. Divide meat and cheese mixture between tortillas. Roll up each tortilla and place seam side down in baking dish.

Whisk together half and half, eggs and flour. Pour over tortillas. Cover and let sit overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove and sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of cheese over enchiladas. Bake for 5-10 more minutes, until cheese is melted.

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Brown Sugar and Honey Sausage Stuffed Waffles - "True" History Tuesday

Turns out…falling bears have been happening throughout history.  I was looking through some photos on Shorpy and discovered something odd.

Here is the last recipe I am submitting to the Johnsonville Sausage Recipe Contest.  These waffles were so good I actually turned a cartwheel in the kitchen.  I broke some things, including my little toe, but it was so worth it.  Best. Waffles. Ever.

Johnsonville Brown Sugar and Honey Sausage Stuffed Waffles

Ingredients

6 oz Johnsonville Brown Sugar and Honey Sausage, cooked and drained on paper towel

1 ¾ cup of flour

2 tbs sugar

1 tbs baking powder

2 large eggs

1 ½ cup milk

¼ cup of melted butter

2 tsp vanilla

Preparation

In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder, eggs, milk, butter and vanilla.  Crumble sausage and add to the batter and stir.  Spray waffle iron with butter cooking spray, cook waffles and enjoy!

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Johnsonville Sausage and Gruyere Quiche and Newspaper Flower Pots

Have I mentioned that I love Lucille Ball?  I think I have, but let me just say again…love her.

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I spent the morning dealing with a migraine.  I used to have them quite a bit from work stress and too much caffeine.  Since I used to have them a lot, I have a strategy that works decently for me.  When I feel the nausea and headache coming on I drink some water, take some ibuprofen,  lie down with a cold washcloth on my face (it has to cover my eyes) and then go to sleep for a few hours (if possible).  It seems to help.   Migraines suck and I hope I don’t have another for a very long time…meaning forever.

I’m continuing on my quest to add a few more recipes to the Johnsonville Sausage Recipe Contest.  Click here for my first entry.  I plan to submit two more recipes.  I made a Johnsonville Sausage and Gruyere Quiche yesterday. It was adapted from a Plain Chicken recipe and it was delicious.

Johnsonville Sausage and Gruyere Quiche

Ingredients

1 9-inch deep dish pie crust

6 oz Johnsonville Sausage, cooked and drained on paper towel

6 oz Gruyere cheese, grated

3 large eggs

½ cup milk

½ cup sour cream

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place Johnsonville Sausage in bottom of pie crust and top with Gruyere.  In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, sour cream, parsley, salt and pepper.  Pour over sausage and cheese.  Bake for 50 minutes, or until center is lightly brown.  Allow to cool for a few minutes and serve!

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I found this craft on pinterest (click here).  The kids and I are going to plant cherry tomato seeds today and talk about recycling.  These pots are super easy to make and perfect for growing seeds.

GD Poison Plants and Johnsonville Sausage Quiche Cups

I’ve been battling a combo of poison ivy and poison sumac for a few weeks.  I’m ridiculously allergic and apparently deep in my backyard there is a poison ivy and poison sumac party that I was invited to attend.  I’ve been to the doctor and gone through two rounds of steroids.  I’ve got creams and calamine lotion.  Now I’m putting oatmeal on my skin.  I boiled up the oatmeal this morning, let it cool slightly and then started slathering it on my legs.  When thinking through this particular treatment regimen, I failed to include my four dogs in the equation.  I guess I didn’t so much figure they would view oatmeal in the same way a crackhead views crack cocaine.  They began circling immediately.  If I told one no, another would come in and grab a bite of oatmeal.  I’m thinking my dogs will have some cement like bowel movements later. I have to say that the oatmeal I got on my legs did feel really really good.  I think I’ll do it again tomorrow…with the dogs locked outside the house.

I’ve entered another recipe contest.  This one is for Johnsonville Sausage.  I’m testing out two recipe ideas I have.  I made the first one this morning.  I built this one off the Bacon Quiche Cups I posted earlier this year.  Give this one a try, too.  It is well worth it!  Even though it will make cooking difficult, keep your fingers crossed for me to win a year’s supply of Johnsonville Sausage and a set of professional cookware.

Johnsonville Sausage Quiche Cups

Ingredients

3 Johnsonville Sausage Patties

1 package (8 oz) 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons milk

2 egg

½ cup shredded Emmentaler or Swiss cheese (2 oz)

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 (4.5 oz) cans biscuits

Preparation

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray 12 regular size muffin cups with butter no-stick cooking spray.  In skillet, cook and break up Johnsonville sausage patties.  Drain on paper towel.  Crumble and set aside.  In a small bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth.  Gradually add milk and eggs, beating at a low speed until smooth.  Stir in cheese and parsley.  Set aside.  Separate biscuit dough and press in bottom of muffin cup, forming ¼ inch rim.  Place half of the Johnsonville sausage in bottom of dough-lined pan cups.  Spoon cheese mixture evenly into the cups.  Sprinkle top with remaining bacon.  Bake about 25 minutes.  Remove biscuit cups from pan and enjoy!

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Banana Bread Pancakes with Vanilla Maple Glaze - WTF and WOW Recipe Wednesday

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Banana Bread Pancakes with Vanilla Maple Glaze

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

2/3 cup milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 large ripe bananas, mashed

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preparation

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl.  Measure out the milk and add the vanilla extract to it.  Whisk together the dry ingredients and add in milk and vanilla, stirring to combine.  The mixture will still be dry.  Add in mashed bananas and mix.  Add in melted butter and stir until batter is somewhat smooth.

Heat a skillet or grill on medium heat.  Using a 1/3 cup measure, spoon batter into rounds and cook until bubbles form on top- about 2 to 3 minutes.  Flip and cook for a minute or two more.  Repeat with remaining batter.  Serve hot with butter and syrup, or the vanilla maple glaze.

Note:  if you don’t have/can’t find whole wheat pastry flour, use 1 cup of regular whole wheat and 1 cup of all purpose or just 2 cups of all purpose.

Vanilla Maple Glaze

Ingredients

½ cup maple syrup

¾ cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth.  Pour over pancakes.

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Mini Frittatas - WTF and WOW Recipe Wednesday

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Mini Frittatas

Ingredients

Eggs (2 to 3 per person)

Vegetables of your choice

Shredded cheese

Non-stick cooking spray

Salt and pepper

Preparation

Preheat oven 350 degrees.  Thoroughly coat a mini muffin pan with non-stick spray.  Distribute your veggies into the muffin cups and top with shredded cheese (leave enough room for egg).  In a bowl, whisk together 2-3 eggs per person.  Season the eggs with salt and pepper and pour them into the muffin tins.  Bake for 12 minutes or until the eggs are puffed and fully cooked.  Let cool, pop out of the pans and enjoy!

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Smitten Kitchen Jacked Up Banana Bread - WTF and WOW Recipe Wednesday

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Smitten Kitchen Jacked Up Banana Bread

Ingredients

3 to 4 ripe bananas, smashed

1/3 cup melted salted butter

¾ to 1 cup light brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon bourbon (optional)

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

Pinch of ground cloves

1 ½ cup of flour

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.  Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla and bourbon, then the spices.  Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.  Add the flour last, mix.  Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan.  Bake for 50 minutes to one hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a rack.  Remove from pan and slice to serve.

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Bacon, Egg and Cheese Waffle Sandwich and An Easy Science Activity

In an effort to compound my calories in-take, I made bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches this morning, but instead of bread or biscuits, I used waffles as the carbs to encase my proteins.  This changes everything.  Enjoy.

Looney Balloons

What You Need:

12 inch balloon
Small water balloon

What You Do:

Fill the water balloon with a little bit of water.  Put the water balloon inside the larger balloon (this takes time, but it is possible!).  Blow up the larger balloon and tie it.  Toss in the air.

What is Happening:

The balloon wobbles as the water-filled balloon rolls around inside.  An inflated balloon has little mass compared to the water-filled balloon inside it.  When the water-filled balloon inside the inflated balloon is put into motion, the inertia (the tendency to keep moving in the same direction and the reason we wear seatbelts) of the water-filled balloon overpowers the balloon’s motion and causes erratic behavior.  The erratic behavior of the balloon can also be linked to the changing center of gravity of the balloon.  The center of gravity is the average location of the weight of an object.  As the inner balloon moves, so does the average weight, which causes the balloons to loop.  Gravity also pulls the water-filled balloon, which causes it to travel downward at an unexpected speed.

Not exactly sure why the video is sideways…but you get the idea.  You can also tell the dogs did not appreciate the looney balloon.

7 French Bread Recipes

Saving money is also about not wasting food.  I bought a loaf of French bread the other day and I’m working my way through how to use every last bit of it.  Here’s what I came up with on my French bread frenzy.

Grilled cheese

 

I use gruyere or white cheddar – butter one side of each piece of bread, put cheese on non-buttered side and grill until golden brown.

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Croutons

Cut French bread into small cubes.  Combine some olive oil, melted butter, garlic, parmesan cheese, parsley, basil, oregano and pinch of salt in a bowl.  Toss in bread crumbs and gently stir to coat bread cubes.  Arrange cubes on cookie sheet and bake at 300 degress 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.  The smell alone is worth making homemade croutons.

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French Toast

Cut French bread in desired slice sizes.  In a bowl whisk a couple of eggs, milk and cinnamon.  Melt butter in skillet.  Dredge bread slices in egg mixture and fry until golden brown.  Top with powdered sugar and syrup.  

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Eggs in a Nest

Cut a slice of French bread.  Crack the egg into a bowl, add a pinch of salt and pepper and set aside.  Use a cookie cutter or small glass to cut a hole in the piece of bread.  Melt some butter in a frying pan.  Place the bread in the pan and fry it lightly on one side.  Flip the bread over and reduce the heat.  Carefully pour the egg into the cut out hole.  Cover the pan for about 3 minutes.

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Bread Pudding

Cut 4 or 5 slices of French bread and tear in small cubes.  Combine 3 eggs, 2 cups of milk, bread cubes and ½ pound brown sugar into a 1 quart baking dish.  Dot with butter and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until firm and brown.

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Stuffed French Bread

Cut off one end of French bread loaf (about ¼ of loaf) and scoop out the middle, leaving about an inch inside all around (you can use the scooped out middle for crutons or bread pudding btw).  Take about ½ pound of hamburger or ground steak, add desired amount of canned tomatoes, diced onion and salt and pepper and brown in a skillet.  If consistency is watery add some bread crumbs.  When browned, stuff in bread shell.  Using butter, butter the sides and top of loaf and bake in 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

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Bruschetta

In a bowl, combine a couple seeded and diced medium tomatoes, about ½ of a diced onion, a clove of minced garlic, salt, pepper and extra-virgin olive oil to taste.  Place bowl in fridge.  Cut French bread into desired bruschetta size and broil in oven.  Once bread is browned to your liking remove from oven and to with tomato mixture from fridge and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.