Molly's Rolls

We all love The Lion House Rolls. Who doesn't love a light fluffy, buttery roll hot out of the oven. The one thing we don't love, is the time it takes to make them. In my search of a quicker, but just as yummy dinner roll, I found this one. Give it a try and tell me what you think. Molly's Dinner Rolls (and no, I don't know who Molly is, just got this off another blog)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 package yeast(2 1/4 teaspoon)
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/2 T salt
• 1 egg
• flour

Directions: In mixer combine yeast, sugar, and warm water; let grow until bubbly(about 5 minutes). Add milk and mix. Mix in oil and egg. Slowly add 2 cups flour, mix and then add salt. Add 1/2 cup flour at a time until it comes away from side of bowl. Let rise in mixing bowl for about 30 minutes. Form rolls as desired and place on a greased cookie sheet. Let rise and additional 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. (Rotate pans after 7 minutes.) Brush hot rolls with melted butter.

I used bread flour, don't know if that made any difference, but they turned out wonderful. In shaphing them I just divided my dough into 2, rolled one half into a circle, brushed with butter, then using my pizza cutter, cut pizza shaped slices. I rolled from the bigger outside edge to the smaller end making a crescent shaped roll.

The blog's I got these off of wasThe Sister's Dish and Real Mom Kitchen.

Bacon Maple Cupcakes

I know, it sounds weird. We have been watching cupcake wars on The Food Networ, and my 15 year old daughter had to try them. You know what, we actually liked them.

You have to be prepared, and know that you are biting into a bacon maple cupcake or it might throw you, and you will not like them. But if you are open to new ideas and flavors, give it a try. I would definitely make them again.

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 tablespoons of butter room temperature
• 1/2 tablespoon of bacon drippings (left in the fridge to become solid)
• 1 egg
• 5 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 1/4 cup of self rising flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• tiny tiny pinch of kosher salt
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1/4 cup of minced bacon cooked and drained

Maple Syrup Frosting

• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• turbinado sugar (optional but recommended) - this is a raw sugar, found mine at Safeway
• coarse grain sea salt (optional but recommended) - definitely worth adding

Directions

• Cook some bacon in a fry pan (about 6 thick strips). Reserve the drippings and place in the fridge to solidify. Mince 1/4 a cup of the bacon. Save the rest for garnish on top of cupcakes.
• Beat the crud out of the butter and solidified bacon fat 'till light and creamy. Add the brown sugar and maple syrup and beat well until combined.
• Add the egg and beat until incorporated.
• Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and powder together.
• Add some of the flour and mix, then some of the milk, then continue to alternate the dry and wet ingredients, ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in the bacon. Taste and add more maple syrup, flour, or milk if needed for desired taste. Keep in mind the maple frosting is very sweet, and to add in very small increments for alterations as maple syrup in large amounts can break a cake batter.
• Scoop into cupcake papers and bake at 350 F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I likes that these weren't real sweet. We sprinkles the turbinado sugar on top with the sea salt, then sprinkles reserved bacon cut into bits on top of the frosting. They didn't last that long in our house. Which is saying a lot, since we don't eat a ton of sweets. Even my husband was asking if there were any left. Be brave and give it a try. Or else get out the same old same old cake mix and make your boooorrrrriiiinnngggg regular cupcakes.

Molten Lava Chocolate Cakes

Someone posted this recipe on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen and we LOVE it! We first had something like this on our cruise many years ago and we have been looking for a good copycat recipe ever since. This one is so good and really easy. When you cut into the cake, the gooey chocolate middle oozes out. Yum! Give it a try! You will not regret it.

Molten Chocolate Cake Prep Time 15 Minutes Cook Time 13 Minutes Servings 4 Difficulty Easy Ingredients 4 pieces (squares) Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate ½ cups Butter 1 cup Powdered Sugar 2 whole Eggs 2 whole Egg Yolks 6 Tablespoons Flour 2 cups Real Whipping Cream (seriously It's So Much Better!!!) 2 Tablespoons Sugar Preparation Instructions Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray 4 custard cups with Pam and place on cookie sheet. Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted. whisk until chocolate is also melted. Stir in sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour. Divide between cups. Bake 13-14 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft. Let stand 1 minute. Combine sugar and heavy cream and whip until stiff. Invert cakes on dishes and top with whipped cream. We skipped the whip cream and ate these with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. I would highly recommend it this way!

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

I was quickly trying to find something to make for dinner the other night, when I ran across this. I wasn't 100% convinced it would be good, but thought that we like pasta and we like enchiladas, so let's give it a go. It was easier than rolling and make enchiladas and tasted really good. Got compliments from my husband, but my 7 year old thought it might be a tad on the spicey side. We just put a little more sour cream on hers. I think if you were concerned, you could cut out 1 of the cans of green enchilada sauce and substitute with cream of chicken soup. This recipe made enough for dinner and then I put the rest in a covered dish to heat again in a couple of days. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Chicken Enchilada Pasta Serves 6-8 *Plan Ahead: the recipe calls for cooked chicken so use leftovers or plan enough time to cook the chicken beforehand. 2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed or shredded 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 garlic cloves, finely minced 1 medium onion, diced 1 red pepper, diced 4-ounce can diced green chilies 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons chili powder 1 teaspoon cumin 2 (10-oz) cans green chili enchilada sauce (I used mild) 2/3 cup red enchilada sauce (I used mild) 1 can large black olives, cut in half 1 cup sour cream 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar) 16-20 oz. penne pasta (Depending on how "saucy" you want the pasta) Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta until tender. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet and add the onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes until onion is translucent. Add the garlic and red pepper and cook for another 2 minutes, until pepper is barely tender. Add the cooked chicken, green chilies, spices, enchilada sauces and olives. Let the sauce simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Add the sour cream and cheese and heat through, until the cheese is melted (but don't boil!). Pour the sauce over the hot pasta. Garnish with extra sour cream, cheese, diced tomatoes, green onions or crushed tortilla chips. BTW, I got this from My Kitchen Cafe. Hope it was okay that I used her picture

Sugared Bacon

Is it good for you? No. Is it tastey... absolutely!

I heard from a wife a church that this was one of her husband's favorites. So of course we had to give it a go. It is really delicious.

Sugared Bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a cookie sheet with sides, place a sheet of foil. Trust me, this will make clean up a snap. Lay each piece of bacon out on the cookie sheet, then sprinkle brown sugar over the top. Once you have done it a time or two, you will get a feel for how much brown sugar to put on the bacon. Here are a few pictures below of mine.





Place cookie sheet in the oven for approximately 30-45 minutes. Check a couple of times at the end until bacon is to your desired doneness. We like ours a little crispy.

This is cooked perfectly. It might look burnt, but that is just the brown sugar goodness carmelized on your bacon.


Remove bacon and put on a plate with a paper towel or on a brown paper bag so that the grease can drain off. Then try it... mmmmmm. You will thank me forever (even though no one ever comments, I know you are out there enjoying all the wonderful recipes on this blog and deep in your hearts is appreciation of the sincerest kind).

Pickles, Cream Cheese & Ham Appetizer

Even though these are very simple sounding, they are yummy! In fact my daughter decided to take some to school today because she liked them so much. Plus it is something you can get your kids to help with.

Pickles, Cream Cheese & Ham Appetizer

Small whole dill pickles
1 package of cream cheese
Ham slices

Measure the pickle on the ham slice and fold in edge of ham until the same length of pickle.Take a ham slice and spread a thin layer of cream cheese over it. Place pickle at one end of the ham and roll up. Cut pickle into 1/2 inch slices and put a toothpick in the top.

Okay, I stole this image from another website because I think it helps to understand how to assemble the whole thing. You can also do this with pickled asparagus instead of a regular pickle.

Dip in a Bread Bowl (very rich)

This was another appetizer that I made. It also got a thumbs up from my nephew, so it must be good. My mother found this recipe and was so kind to share and make us all plump.

Dip in a Bread Bowl

1 1/2 cup sour cream
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded (I used the prepackage mexian cheese)
1 small can green chilies, diced
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
1 cup ham, choppped
1 round loaf of bread

Cream sour cream, cream cheese with worcestershire sauce. Mix in cheese, green chilies, green onions and ham. Cut top off of bread, scoop out and spoon ingredients into the bread bowl. Replace top and wrap with two layers of foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes. Serve with crackers and left over bread taken out of middle of bread round.