Confetti Salad

I love a salad of any kind, and am always looking for something new and different.  I came across this recipe while looking for veggie side dishes.  It is a refreshing new treat.  Thanks The Original Simple Mom for the recipe.  Instead of using cans of beans, I have been buying them in bags, cooking them and freezing them.  You can get the equivilant of 4 cans of beans from one pound of dry beans. 

Ingredients

3 cups cooked rice, cooled (your choice of white, basmati or brown)

1 can (16-oz) red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)

1 can (16-oz) black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 can (16-oz) corn (drained)

4 green onions, sliced

1 small or half a large green or red pepper (finely diced)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro (if available)

Dressing

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
• 1 Tbsp sugar (or your choice of sweetener)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp coriander (optional)
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Place first set of ingredients into a large mixing bowl. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients. Pour over salad in large bowl. Toss to coat. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
This goes together really fast once the rice is made. And if you have leftover rice from a previous meal, so much the better (and faster!). This is an easy dish to play around with … add a can of garbanzos … chop up a cucumber … use different beans … add a little freshly squeezed lime juice. Maybe some diced avocado! 

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

If you know me, you know that I do not like Oreos at all.  Everyone makes fun of me, but that is okay.  I am who I am.  I was looking for a recipe to make treats for others for Christmas, and I came across this recipe from Our Best Bites.  Their recipe was for a peppermint middle (I wanted it peppermint but my family did not) but I made it vanilla by adding extra vanilla instead of peppermint extract.  They were very easy to make, and were delicious!!  They were way better than the mass produced Oreos.  I hope you enjoy them like my family and friends did.  These are sort of like a whoopie pie cookie, and you can choose to make them small or big.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled (don’t scoop!)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons real butter
1 tablespoon water
1 large egg lightly beaten

Frosting Ingredients

1/2 cup real butter (1 stick)
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 - 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
milk, as needed for consistency
optional: red or green food coloring and sprinkles or crushed candycanes


Directions
To make cookies, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. heat chocolate chips, brown sugar, 5 tablespoons butter and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted and smooth (there will still be grains of sugar though). Transfer mixture to a large bowl and beat in egg. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Don’t overmix.

If dough is too soft to work with, let it sit at room temp for a few minutes to firm up, or place in the fridge for a few minutes. Gently roll balls, either 1 tablespoon full for large cookies, or about 1/2 inch balls for silver dollar sized cookies. Place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake cookies until just puffed in teh middle and edges are set but centers are still soft. About 8-9 minutes for large cookies, and about 5 minutes for small ones. If using 2 cookie sheets, rotate them half way through baking. Cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheets and then transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

To make filling, beat all frosting ingredients together, adding peppermint extract to taste. Add milk by the teaspoonful until a spreadable, but not too soft consistency is reached. Add food coloring if desired. Place frosting in a zip-top bag and cut off a corner. Pipe onto one side of cookie and place another on top. Roll edges in sprinkles or crushed candycanes if desired.

Yield: If you use a tablespoon of dough, it will yield 1 1/2 dozen large sandwiches. If you use a quarter of a standard cookie scoop (about a rounded teaspoon) it will yield 4-5 dozen.

Honey Wheat Jumbo Dinner Rolls

I always do all dinners for any special occasions at my house for our families.  I always make some sort of bread.  As you know by now, I love wheat anything.  I tried these rolls for Christmas dinner, and I really liked the texture and taste.  So I want to share them with you.  Thank you Bread World for the recipe.  This recipe is easily doubled.

Ingredients:

1 cup King Arthur® Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1-3/4 to 2 cups King Arthur® Premium 100% Whole Wheat Flour
1 envelope Fleischmann's® RapidRise Yeast2/3 cup instant mashed potato flakes
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup butter OR margarine, cut into 6 pieces
3 tablespoons honey
1 (8 x 8-inch) pan


Directions
Combine all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, undissolved yeast, potato flakes, nonfat dry milk and salt in a large mixer bowl. Heat water, orange juice, butter and honey until very warm (120° to 130°F). Add to flour mixture. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in enough remaining whole wheat flour to make a soft dough.
Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 5 to 7 minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.
Divide dough into 12 equal pieces; shape into balls. Place in 8 x 8-inch pan. Cover; let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until rolls are puffy and touching each other.

Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 15 minutes and then tent with aluminum foil. Continue to bake for 10 to 13 minutes until well browned. Remove from pan and transfer to wire rack. Serve warm.

Cinnamon Rolls

I am not a fan of cinnamon rolls but I LOVE these!  My family loves them too!  They are so awesome and easy to make, I give them away as gifts.  Thanks Paula Deen for the recipe.

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1/4-ounce package yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup scalded milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter or shortening
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

• 1/2 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
• 3/4 cup sugar, plus more for pan
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup raisins, walnuts, or pecans, optional

Glaze:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 to 6 tablespoons hot water

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices.

Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.

Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls. 

Honey Whole Wheat Sandwich Loaf

Yet another easy bread recipe to add to my list of growing bread recipes.  These recipes help me to move to making fresher, healthier and better tasting bread for my family.  Once again, thanks to The Well Floured Kitchen for this recipe.

 

 

Ingredients

• 6 cups (1 lb 8 oz)White Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 Cups (16oz) Water
• 4 tsp Instant Yeast
• 3 Tbsp. (1.5 oz) Coconut Oil or Butter, Softened
• 3 Tbsp. (2.75 oz) Honey
• 1 Tbsp. Salt

Instructions

• All all ingredients to mixer fitted with the dough hook and stir until combined. Allow dough to rest for 15 minutes.
• Continue mixing for approximately 5 minutes, the dough will start to come together and become smooth (in bakers speak, the gluten will develop). Please note you can make this recipe without a mixer. In fact I recommend you make your first few loafs by hand. It is important to learn how the dough should feel , which is only something that can be learned by trial and error. You knead dough by pushing it away with the heel of your hand, then folding over and starting again. (There are some youtube videos on kneading if you are a visual learner) Your ultimate goal is a dough that is smooth , not sticky or dry. If you knead your dough by hand, it will take a little longer, about 10 minutes. If your dough is dry, add some water 1 tbsp. at a time, if it is too sticky, add flour 1 tbsp. at a time.
• At this point place the dough in a greased covered bowl to rise until doubled in volume, approximately 1-2 hours.
• Punch down the dough and split in half. Shape each half into a loaf: Gently flatten, fold in the sides slightly, then bring the top down, bottom up, pinch the seams and give it a gentle roll to smooth. Place shaped loaf into a greased 8x4 bread pan and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until the dough has doubled again and is about an inch above the pan.
• Place your loaves into a preheated 350° oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the bread has reached a 190° internal temperature. Allow to cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then take them out of the pan to finish cooling on cooling rack.

Notes

You can use sugar or sucanat in place of the honey.

If you are new to whole wheat bread, you can use any ratio of white flour in this recipe, slowly adjust the recipe until you are eventually using all whole wheat.

Remember if your kitchen is very cold you may need an ounce or two more water, if it is very warm, you may need an ounce or two less water.

This bread freezes beautifully, I recommend slicing it first.

Don't throw away stale bread! Grind it in the food processor and store it in the freezer for homemade bread crumbs.

Crusty Whole Wheat Artisan Bread

I am always looking for new and easy bread recipes.  I want to move farther away from mass produced bread and move more toward making my own.  This is a recipe I found from The Well Floured Kitchen.  This recipe does make two loaves of bread.

Ingredients

• 6 Cups (1lb, 8oz) White Whole Wheat Flour (I used 4 cups of whole wheat and 2 cups of unbleached all purpose)
• 1 Tbsp. Instant Yeast (or 1 packet active dry yeast)
• 1 Tbsp. Salt
• 1 Tbsp. Sugar or Honey
• 2 Cups (16 oz) Water

Instructions

• Mix all ingredients together by hand or with a heavy duty stand mixer. If you are using active dry yeast you will need to proof it first with 1/4 cup of the water and 1 tsp. of the sugar. Allow dough to rest for 15 minutes. If the dough seems too dry or wet, adjust now with a bit more flour or water. Knead for 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes by mixer.
• Cover and allow to rise approximately 1 hour, dough should double in size.
• Punch down the dough, and shape into a circle or oblong loaf.
• Cover and allow to rise again, approximately 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400°.
• Bake for 30 minutes until nicely golden brown, or an internal temperature of 200°

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was trying to find something slightly health that was easy to fix, and my family would like.  I did some searching and found this great recipe.  This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies but can easily be doubled to make more.  I hope you enjoy them as much as my family enjoys them!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup softened butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 can of 15 oz pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Beat butter, brown sugar and white sugar together in a bowl until creamy.  Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla; mix until smooth.

Add flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt; stir until combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Drop 1 - 2 tablespoons of batter onto a parchment lined baking pan and bake until the edges are lightly browned, about 10 - 12 minutes.