Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Pumpkin Cake Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

I enjoyed this dessert at my sister-in-law's this last weekend and promptly asked for the recipe. So delicious!! The guys were sneaking extra pieces while she was out of the room. :)

Pumpkin Cake Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

Cake:
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves*
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup pure pumpkin

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 15 x 10 pan, line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle clean tea towel with icing sugar. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, salt. Beat eggs and sugar in large bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Bake 13-15 minutes or until it springs back when touched lightly. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting at the narrow end.

Filling:

  • 1 pkg cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 6 tbsp margarine
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Beat cream cheese, icing sugar, margarine and vanilla until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refridgerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

*I didn't include the ground cloves. If you want an extra tasty dessert, try adding a tsp or so of Epicure's pumpkin spice. Divine!!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Chicken Supreme

This is one of my favorite ways to do chicken. Absolutely delicious and a perfect match to dirty rice. This is also one of my top picks when bringing a meal to someone else. Nothing too spicy to upset the newborn of a nursing mother (although you may want to opt for a white rice instead of the dirty rice). Also a very tender chicken which means it's easy to eat for all ages. From the MacGregor Bergthaler Mennonite Church cookbook, submitted by Sharon T.

Chicken Supreme
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 4 chicken breasts
  • 4 tbsp butter of margarine
  • 10 oz can cream of mushroom soup
  • 10 oz can mushroom pieces (drained)*
  • 1/4 cup apple juice
  • 1 medium carrot (cut into thin strips)**

Combine flour, salt, pepper and paprika in bag. Shake to mix well. Add damp chicken breasts, one at a time. Shake to coat. Melt butter in frying pan. Add chicken and brown well. Transfer to casserole. Empty soup into bowl and add drained mushrooms and apple juice. Stir well. Pour over chicken. Cover. Bake in 350 oven for one hour. Peel carrot and cut into 2 or 3 inch lengths. Cut into very thin strips. Add to chicken. Continue to cook, covered, for 15 minutes or until chicken is tender. Serve with brown rice. Serves 4.

* I prefer mushroom pieces, but my mushroom loving husband prefers whole mushrooms. I make it according to what I have on hand.

**I often add more carrots, just to get in some vegetables. I slice them as it's easier for my three year old to eat.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Buffalo Chicken Nachos (www.franksredhot.com)

This recipe is credit of http://www.franksredhot.com/

I made these nachos the other day, so fantastic! If you have leftover roast chicken, or just want to use grilled chicken breast, delicious! Cut chicken in small diced cubes, gives more chicken pieces over the nachos, I did 2 layers of: taco, chicken, veggies, cheese - all baked on a stone.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups diced cooked chicken or turkey

1/2 cup any flavor FRANK'S® REDHOT® Cayenne Pepper Sauce (I used Frank's RedHot Buffalo Sauce)

1 (10 oz.) bag tortilla chips

2 cups shredded Cheddar or Jack cheese

DIRECTIONS:
1.TOSS chicken with Frank's RedHot Sauce. (again, stressing cut chicken is small diced cubes, then mix with hot sauce)

2.Layer chicken mixture with chips and cheese in baking dish or on pizza pan. (veggies too)

3.BAKE at 350°F for 5 min. until hot and cheese melts. (I baked hotter and for 10-12 mins, depends on your oven I guess and if you like the chips a little crispier)


Tips

1.Variations: Add 1/2 cup of the following to nachos along with chicken: chopped bell peppers, sliced green onion, sliced black peppers or diced jalapeno peppers.

2.For a change of pace, substitute 2 cups diced shrimp.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Habanero Gold Pepper Jelly

This a sweet, yet somewhat hot jelly that is so delicious! Can be served with cheese or melt it onto grilled or sauteed dishes to add sparkling flavor highlights. I've never tried it any other way than on crackers with cream cheese. So good! Tasted it at my mother-in-laws and promptly asked for the recipe. :)

Habanero Gold Pepper Jelly
  • 1/3 cup finely sliced apricots (dried)
  • 3/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup each: finely chopped red onion, red bell pepper & seeded habanero or jalapeno peppers
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1 pouch liquid pectin

In large stainless steel saucepan, combine apricots and vinegar. Cover, let sit for at least 4 hours. Add red onion, red and habanero peppers and sugar. Over high heat, stirring constantly, bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Stir in pectin. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for one minute. Remove from heat, skim off foam and stir to disperse peppers. Ladle jelly into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Heat process. Boil filled jars in boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

Makes 6 x 125ml or 3 x 250 ml jars.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Laundry Detergent


You may not "Wanna Lick the Spoon" on this recipe, but it's a good one. A friend of mine shared this recipe with me a few months ago. It's a homemade laundry detergent with ingredients that you can easily buy at Wal-mart (although I never knew they existed until now!). The ingredients cost about $12 and will make you multiple recipes worth. Definately cheaper than the liquid Gain detergent I'd beenusing until now. I've been using this detergent to wash laundry during potty training and it's been great. And I think if there's ever a true test to a laundry soap, this would be it! ;)
Laundry Detergent
  • 1/3 cup washing soda
  • 1/3 cup borax
  • 1/2 sunlight laundry bar
  • 6L water

Grate 1/2 laundry bar into 1L of boiling water. Stir until no lumps remain. Remove from heat. Stir in washing soda and borax. Mix until well combined. Add remaining 5L of water. Mix well.

Makes almost 2 ice cream pails full. Add 1/4 cup detergent for each wash load.

*This is a rather gelatenous detergent once it's cooled. But hey, we're washing laundry, not entering a beauty pagent. :) :)

Friday, August 28, 2009

Sliced Sweet Pickles

On Monday I, along with a couple friends, started off the canning season. It was a fun, but oh so tiring day! However, these pickles are so worth the work. Another great recipe from my sister-in-law Christina. :)

Sliced Sweet Pickle

In each jar, put one clove of peeled garlic and one head of dill. Slice cucs and pack into jars. They will shrink when processed, so be sure to pack it tightly. Make one recipe of brine for each quart jar (or 2 pints).

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup vinegar
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 2 tsp pickling salt

Bring to a boil. Pour into jars, leaving an inch of headspace. Wipe rims of jars clean with a damp cloth. Place lid and screw ring on jar. Steam for 15 minutes in 3 inches of water. (I put a cookie sheet in the oven, fill about half way with water and set jars in for about 15 minutes @ 325).

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

White Buns












3 cups warm water
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
2 TBSP fast rising yeast
8 + cups of white flour
Mix oil, sugar, eggs, salt together, add the warm water and then add your yeast, continue mixing and slowly add flour until dough is only slighly sticky ( sometimes i find depending on brand as well as humidity i can add up to another 2 cups of flour). Place in a large bowl and let rise 35 min. in a warm oven or in the sunshine covered with lid or clean tea towel & plastic.
grease 4 baking sheets and then roll out dough cutting off aprox. a sm. handfull and rolling into a ball. Place 3 buns across and 4 down if making regular buns or pan buns 4 across and 6 down. when all the dough has been cut and rolled. cover with a clean tea towel and plastic bag, and let rise aprox an hour, this also depends on humidity sometimes i find they'll be ready 45 min after letting rise. Bake 350 for 10 -12 min. this will also depend on your oven.