It's Ime-tay Oo-tay Eak-Spay Ig-pay Atin-lay

     I'm in trouble.  I discovered that I can no longer get away with spelling things in my house when I don't want Monkey to know what I'm talking about.  I should have seen this coming.  I mean, she's known several small words for a while now, but she has come to that point where she is sounding words out and actively reading, so she's gotten even better at deciphering J's and my secret code.  Sunday we decided we would surprise her by taking her to see Big Hero 6, and when I asked J what time the m-o-v-i-e started, she perked up and said, "I wanna watch a movie!"  I guess it's time to break out the Pig Latin...

     Speaking of Monkey, I know it's only Tuesday, but I have never appreciated Kindergarten so much as I did yesterday afternoon by about 12:30.  I love my daughter, and I have been looking forward to spending extra time with her for weeks, but I forgot how much work it is to keep her busy all day.  I commend all you stay-at-home moms out there.  It's a full time job.  As I mentioned in my last post, we're working on a few projects to learn about properties of water, and yesterday we focused on reversible change, or more simply put, freezing and melting.  After breakfast, I let her watch this episode of Sid the Science Kid while I set up our experimenting station (aka while I cleared off the table).  After the show was over we talked about how water can change to ice and back to water again, and that's why it's called a reversible change.  Then we pulled out our frozen "Sink or Float" experiment, and she recorded her findings.  Next I asked her how she thought she could get her toys out of the ice, and she came up with some excellent ideas ranging from lighting a fire under them, to using the microwave, to sticking the whole thing in the oven to melt the water.  I gently steered her towards using hot water to melt the ice, after all it seemed the safest route.  

     After this experiment she decided clothes were over rated, declared it Pajama Day, and then came back downstairs for more experiments.  I was ready for her.  The night before I had filled three balloons with water.  I made them different sizes, one small, one medium, and one large.  I took them out and instructed Monkey to peel the balloon off and use the frozen balls to create a snowman.  Of course, I had to start singing "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" while she worked.

     I had Monkey sprinkle a bit of salt between each ball to help them hold together.

     Next, she decorated her snowman using some construction paper cut-outs and salt to help them stick.

     With the snowman finally assembled, I asked Monkey to hypothesize how long she thought it would take our snowman to melt.  She said until the next next, so I had her record her hypothesis of 24 hours and draw the experiment.  I set an alarm to sound every hour so we could record the progress, and every hour Monkey drew a picture of what was going on with our science snowman.  Her hypothesis was incorrect; it only took 7 hours and 26 minutes for our snowman to melt completely.  She recorded these results too before helping me clean him up.

    Now, this experiment was loosely based off of this experiment I found on Pinterest, but I just looked at the picture without reading the instructions (shame on me) so I didn't realize they made two snowmen, putting one outside and one inside to see which would melt faster.  I froze six more water-filled balloons so that we could do that version of the experiment today.  

    I realize that lately most of my blogs focus on kid crafts or kid lunches, and some of you are only here for the recipes (I'm onto you), so it's only fair that I give you what you came for, right?  Well here you go!  This is my favorite hamburger recipe from Paula Deen, and believe or not, no butter was harmed in the making of these burgers. ;-)

Paula Deen's Loaded Juicy Beef Burgers
3 lbs ground beef
1 (8 oz) package baby bella mushrooms, finely chopped
2 TBS prepared horseradish
2 TBS Worcestershire sauce
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.  Gently shape into 10 patties.  Spray grill rack with nonstick nonflammable cooking spray.  Preheat grill to medium-high heat (350-400 degrees).  Grill burgers, covered with grill lid, for 5-6 minutes per side or until thermometer inserted into the thickest portion reads 165 degrees.  Serve with homemade buns (recipe to follow), pickles, sliced tomatoes, slice onions, lettuce, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, cheddar cheese, or any of your favorite hamburger toppings.

Homemade Hamburger Buns
from Taste of Home
2 TBS active dry yeast
1 cup plus 2 TBS warm water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl dissolve yeast in water.  Add oil and sugar.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Add egg, salt and flour to form a soft dough.  Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes.  Do not let rise; immediately divide into 12 pieces (for bigger rolls, divide into fewer pieces).  Shape each piece into a ball.  Place 3 inches apart on a greased baking sheet.  Cover and let rise for 10 minutes.  Bake at 425 for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool on wire racks.

Enjoy!

I can be Lazy and Productive

      I have a problem.  I've been on break from nursing school for about a week now, and I feel like I've accomplished nothing.  And I'm okay with that.  I've been super lazy; spending my days relaxing with my husband.  Okay, maybe I haven't been completely lazy.  I have been bringing Monkey to Kindergarten.  Joel has me on a new workout schedule that's left me sore every day.  And I've been trying to be creative in the kitchen.  Today I'm making English Muffins.  They're currently rising, so I'll let y'all know how they turn out.  I'm hoping they're good.  I've also been trying to make Monkey's lunches more fun by packing colorful, cute food that make her want to eat healthy.  Today's lunch was no exception.

     Today for lunch I packed her three kabobs, made up of cubed ham, cubed mozzarella cheese, and cherry tomatoes.  To that I added a bit of Veggie Chips, half of a banana, green beans, cucumbers cut into stars, and a bit of Ranch for dipping.   I'm always worried she's not getting enough to eat, even though she typically comes home with a lunchbox that is rarely empty.  

     Well the English muffins are officially finished.  The verdict is in, and they are good!  J has already chowed down on a few.  The batch made 27, though, so they should hold him over for a bit.  (Hopefully.)  I got the recipe from AllRecipes, and there were a few commentors who claimed these weren't "real" English muffins, whatever that means.  But they're good, whatever they are, so I'll share the recipe anyway.

English Muffins

1 cup milk

1/4 cup melted shortening

2 TBS white sugar

6 cups all-purpose flour

1 (.25 oz) package active dry yeast OR 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1 tsp salt

1 cup warm water

Cornmeal for sprinkling

Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it starts to bubble, but don't let it boil.  Remove it from heat. Whisk in sugar until dissolved, and set aside. Let cool to lukewarm.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water.  let stand about 10 minutes, or until creamy.

In a large bowl (or the bowl of your KitchenAid if you have one) combine the milk mixture, yeast mixture, melted shortening, and 3 cups of the flour.  Beat until smooth.  Add salt and remaining 3 cups of flour.  Knead (or if you're using your KitchenAid simply change out the mixing paddle for you dough hook).  Place in a grease bowl, and let rise about 30-45 minutes, or until doubled in size. 

Sprinkle a fine layer of flour over your work surface, and turn out dough.  Roll out until about 1/2" thick.  Line a baking sheet with waxed paper, and sprinkle with cornmeal.  Using a cup or a round cookie cutter, cut out rounds of dough.  

Set them on the wax paper, and sprinkle the tops with cornmeal.  Continue until all the dough is used up.  Allow to rise for 30 minutes.

Grease your griddle, and heat to about 300 degrees.  Cook 5-10 minutes per side, or until light brown per side.  Allow to cool, and place in plastic bags for storage.  To use, slice in half, and toast.  Serve with butter, jam and cream cheese, etc.  There are so many options for these yummy little things!  

Breaking in my Christmas Gifts

     I hope everyone here had a wonderful Christmas.  I know we certainly did.  We spent 3 days back home, and it was just enough for Monkey to stock up on what looked like a year's worth of toys and clothes.  As much as I enjoy my visits home, I always look forward to being back in my own house, and especially in my own kitchen.  This year for Christmas my amazing husband surprised me with a bread machine under the tree!  He joked that with this I could make bread, and still be able to use the oven to cook him dinner.  I know I may sound like someone out of the dark ages, but I was amazed how easy it was to dump the ingredients in the pan and let it do it's thing.  I kept running back to it to make sure it was all okay.  I'll admit, I was a little hesitant to believe that the bread would come out as good as my hand-kneaded with love recipe, but much to my amazement, it was better!  So here's the recipe I used for my bread machine to make a 1.5 lb loaf of white bread:

1 cup warm water
3 TBS vegetable oil
3 TBS white sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Dump your liquid ingredients into the pan first.  Next add the dry ingredients, saving the yeast for last.  You don't want your yeast to touch the liquid ingredients.  Place the pan into your machine and set it to Basic (or White Bread, depending on your machine).  Let cool on wire rack before slicing.

    You have no idea how excited I was that the bread just did its own thing while I was able to scurry around the house, putting away all our other holiday goodies!  Another present I was excited to try out was my first ever cast iron skillet!  I've been wanting one for a long time now, so when I opened the present from my Grandma, I couldn't wait to get it home to break it in.  After the initial breaking in of the skillet, per my step daddy's directions, I decided to try it out on breakfast.  We always have grits and eggs for breakfast on the weekend, and I always have leftover grits.  Instead of throwing them out, I made these yummy grits cakes: (The following comes from Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible)

When you make grits, pour your leftovers into a widemouth mason jar or another cylinder container.

Let them sit in the fridge overnight.  When you're ready to make breakfast, pull them out and run an offset spatula or thin knife around the edge to loosen them from the container.

Slice the grits "log" into 1/2" slices.

 

Heat some butter (I used 3 TBS per batch) in a skillet, and add grit cakes.  Cook 3-4 minutes per side or until golden brown and heated through.

Enjoy :-)

And now I'm off to break in yet another Christmas present: The Big Bang DVDs

Happy Fall Y'all

     You know what time of year is my absolute favorite?  Fall!  I know many of you will agree with me that there's something about Fall that just makes you feel more alive.  The air gets cooler; the leaves start changing.  People start gearing up for the holidays. We Southerners come out of our summer hibernation.  We may even get a couple of days where we can open the windows and let a breeze blow through.  Yeah, this is my favorite time of the year.  Too bad it's still hotter than Hades here in Gulfport, MS and every tree I've passed is still as green as it was in July!  That is, unless it's brown from being scorched in the sun.  Oh well, in order to compensate for the lack of Fall in the weather, I'm making up for it in my cooking with these:

Pumpkin Cheesecake Parfaits

from the September/October 2011 issue of Cooking With Paula Deen

Here's what you'll need:

3 TBS butter

1/2 (1 lb) package gingersnap cookies, coarsely crushed *I used Murray's brand*

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup plus 2 TBS sugar, divided

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Garnish with pumpkin pie spice and/or gingersnap cookies (optional)

In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Add crushed gingersnaps, and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes or until lightly toasted.  Remove from skillet immediately, and cool.  

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese at medium speed with a mixer until smooth; add pumpkin puree, 1/2 cup sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla, beating just until combined.  In parfait glasses (or mason jars) layer crushed gingersnaps and cream cheese mixture as desired, starting with gingersnaps.  Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.  

In a small bowl, beat whipping cream and remaining sugar at medium-high speed with a mixer until soft peaks form.  Dollop whipped cream over parfaits.  Sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice, if desired.  Serve with gingersnap cookies.

Enjoy!

     In the spirit of Fall, I've begun working on Monkey's costume, and I'm super excited about it.  I just hope it comes out right, because I'm not following a pattern this time.  I'm nervous, but if all else fails, we'll just head over to Spirit Halloween and hope they have a Wolverine costume for a little girl.....  

I guess I can't fail.  :-/

    The imminent weather changes also mean my cooking will be getting a bit heartier.  I mean, who doesn't associate Fall and Winter with big bowls of chili or homemade stews with lots of warm bread for dipping?  Hmmm....sounds good.  And I think I've finally found the perfect bread recipe for my collection.  It's perfect for slicing to make sandwiches, or it's good to slather butter over and dunk in your favorite soup or stew.  Here it is:

Homemade Sandwich Bread

from Daily Dish Recipes

2 cups warm water

2 TBS sugar

1 TBS dry active yeast

1 tsp salt

5 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 TBS butter, softened

In a bowl, pour water and sugar.  Mix until dissolved; add yeast.  Mix until dissolved.  Let sit 10 minutes.  Add flour and salt.  Slice butter into smaller pieces, and add it to your bowl.  Knead ingredient for 10 minutes by hand, or 5 minutes with mixer.  It's done when it feels elastic, smooth and isn't sticking to anything.  Knead into a ball and place in a clean bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap that you've sprayed with cooking spray or rubbed with oil.  Set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.  After it's risen punch it down once or twice.  Knead again 1-2 minutes, forming a ball.  Cut ball into 2 equal pieces.  Knead once piece at a time, shaping each into an oval shape.  Place each in a lightly greased loaf dish.  Put both pans in a warm spot, uncovered, to rise for another hour.  Preheat oven to 350.  Bake for 35-40 minutes; they should be nicely golden on top.  Remove from oven, and let them cool in their pans for 5 minutes.  Next turn them out onto a cooling rack, and let them cool completely before slicing.  This prevents excess crumbling.  Store at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to 4 days.  (They won't last that long.)

Enjoy!

Handy Housewife

     I don't know if y'all realize this, but it's hot here in the South.  I know, right!?  Who would've thought!  Seriously, though, even with the breezes we've been enjoying lately, it's hot, which makes running that much more of a chore.  I enjoy running, but I have a problem getting out there.  I come up with excuses, and the heat doesn't help.  What also doesn't help is the fact that my baby girl is no longer the tiny toddler that I could strap into her stroller, knowing that she'd take a nap while I ran.  No; she's a big girl now, and I feel like such a bad mommy for strapping her in the stroller, knowing how bored she gets.  That's why I came up with this awesome Listening Scavenger Hunt to keep her entertained.  I found the idea here, but the original poster's list didn't have pictures, so I made my own.  Monkey was so excited about using her super listener ears to find the things listed that she didn't even put up a fight when I went to buckle her in.  Unfortunately we heard all of the things listed before my warm up finished, but she kept checking things off the list, some more than once.  I think I'll make another one soon with a few more items, but if you want to use this for your little one (even if they're not strapped into a stroller) feel free to click the link above and print it out.

     I've also been feeling a little adventurous in the kitchen, and that's why I decided to make my own bread.  I used this recipe as a guideline, but I tweaked it and made it mine.    I'm rather proud of how it came out, so here it is:

Bacon Jalapeño Cheesy Bread
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups shredded Colby Jack and Monterey cheese + extra to sprinkle on top
11 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
2 1/2 TBS olive oil
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
chopped pickled jalapeño peppers

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a bread pan.  In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add bacon, reserving one slice, and cheese, mix well.  If desired add a handful of pickled jalapeño peppers.  In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, oil and buttermilk.  Combine liquid with dry ingredients, using a wooden spoon to mix.  Pour dough into bread pan.  Sprinkle jalapeños, reserved crumbled bacon, and extra cheese over the top.  Bake 50-55 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes away clean.

Before

After

     This makes a great breakfast bread.  It's perfect for J to grab a slice, heat it up for 30 seconds and chow down on his way to work.

    My adventures didn't just stop with awesome bread.  Oh no!  This wild child even made her own laundry detergent.  That's right, getting crazy in here.  :-P   My friend was talking about how she makes her own laundry detergent.  My ears perked up when she told me it cost her about $28 for supplies, and that the detergent lasted about seven months.  That's $4 a month, y'all!  I pay about $16 every two weeks for Gain, which is $32 a month!  Then she told me that it is even safe to use on delicates, but it would be powerful enough to get rid of the man funk in my hubby's uniforms.  She was even sweet enough to give me a couple samples of the batch she'd made.   I was sold, so today I headed to Wal-Mart and gathered my supplies to make my first batch.  Here's what you'll need to make your own:

1 (4 lb 12 oz) box of Borax

1 (3 lb 7 oz) box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
1 (3 lb) container of Oxyclean
2 (14.1 oz) bars of Zote OR 3 bars of Fels-Naptha
1 (4 lb) box of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda
55 oz of Purex Crystals (about 2 containers)
A container to put everything into (I used a 5-gallon plastic storage container I got at Walmart for $4)
cheese grater
gloves, if desired

Hand mix all ingredients, except Fels-Naptha or Zote. Grate Fels-Naptha and Zote, add to mix. Use 2-4 tablespoons per load. Or keep the Oxi-Clean scoop, and use about a half scoop for small-regular loads, and a full scoop for large/extra stinking loads. :-)

Here are a few helpful hints from my awesome frined:

-Fels-Naptha can be hard to grate and may cause irritation (so wear gloves); Zote is easier to grate and is easier on your skin

-2 containers of Downy Unstoppables can be substituted for the 2 containers of Purex Crystals

Ta-Da

   I was actually excited to do laundry this afternoon.  I know, I need my head examined, but my laundry room smells so good!  My grand total after tax, including the cheese grater, plastic tub, and gloves was $36.60.  Even if I only get 6 months worth out of it, that's $6 a month vs my usual $32 a month.  Yeah, I'm feeling like quite the handy housewife right about now.  I hope y'all find this as useful as I did :-)

When I Get Bored, I Stop Being Bored and Get Awesome Instead

     Today I learned something about myself, and that is that I shouldn't be left to my own devices.  That goes double if I have access to internet and Pinterest.  Earlier while Monkey was watching a movie, I was perusing Pinterest, and I came across this:

     Of course I took advantage of the fact that Monkey was occupied and raced upstairs with yarn, scissors and tape in hand.  The plan was to surprise her and make if fun by asking her to rescue one of her "X-men" from her room.  (She's recently renamed all her toys to either Avengers or X-Men characters.)  Needless to say, I'm winning the Awesome Mom Award this year :-)

     I didn't stop there, though.  You see, last night J had the 0-400 watch (midnight to 4 am), so today he slept until about 1:00 pm.  That gave me plenty of time to have this waiting outside our bedroom door for him :-)

His initial, "WTH?" moment.

Shortly followed by, "Let's get down to business".

If you want to see J's trip through the lasers, here you go:
  

(Warning: I have an obnoxious laugh, and I provide the background music.)

     Not all of my day was spent being awesome yet unproductive; part of it was spent being awesome and productive.  :-)  I got to try out a new recipe from one of the cookbooks my Grandma sent to me a while back.  This one is called The Best of Country Cooking.  I have liked everything I've sampled from this book, but what I made today was too good not to share.

Ta-da!

 Cinnamon Raisin Bread
(Makes two loaves)
For the bread:
1 (1/4 oz) package active dry yeast (or 2 1/2 tsp)
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups warm milk
1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar, divided
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp salt
5 3/4- 6 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups raisins
1 TBS cinnamon
1 TBS water

For the glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 TBS milk

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a mixing bowl.  Add milk, 1/3 cup sugar, oil, salt, and 2 cups flour.  Beat until smooth.  Add raisins and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.  Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/4 hours.

Punch down dough.  On a lightly floured surface, divide in half.  Roll each into 15"x7" rectangle.  Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar; sprinkle over dough.  Sprinkle with water.  Starting with a short side, roll up tightly, jelly-roll style.  Pinch seams and ends to seal.  Place seam side down in two greased 9"x5"x3" loaf pans.  Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.  Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.  Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over loaves.

Enjoy! :-)

Fried Green Tomatoes

     This weekend my baby girl had her first ever dance recital!  I was so excited to see her up there, having a great time with all the little friends she made this year.  She loved it, and she's asked me if she can do dance again next year, and I'm more than happy to oblige her.

My little diva!

      She's so funny.  She goes from ^ (diva, prissy, sassy, and little Miss Thing) to down-in-the-dirt tomboy who can hold her own against any little boy out there.  I love her versatility.  It must be her southern raisin'.

     Speaking of Southern raisin', any true Southerner should be familiar with the recipe I'm about to share.  A few weeks ago when we went up to the Pick-Your-Own farm up in Lucedale, we came back with a basket full of yummy tomatoes, both red and green, and I knew just what I wanted to do with the green ones.

Make Fried Green Tomatoes, of course!  The recipe I'm about to share is from All Recipes, and it's a pretty good one, but depending on the size of your tomatoes, you may need to double the amount of batter required.

4 green tomatoes
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
oil for frying

Slice tomatoes 1/2" thick; discard the ends.  Whisk the eggs and milk together in a medium sized bowl. Pour flour into a shallow dish.  Mix corn meal, bread crumbs, salt and pepper in another shallow dish.  Dip the tomatoes in the flour, then in the egg mixture, then in the corn meal mix.  Meanwhile, pour about 1/2" oil into a large pan, and heat.    Fry tomatoes in batches of 4-5 (depending on size) about 4 minutes per side, or until browned on each side.  Enjoy!




     This next recipe I had never heard of, but I'm glad I gave it a try.  It's for Green Tomato Bread, which, according to the original poster, tastes like Zucchini Bread.  Having never tried Zucchini Bread, I'll just take her word for it.  I do know that it's really yummy, and you don't even taste the actual tomato in it.  It just tastes like cinnamon.  So here's the recipe:

Green Tomato Bread
from All-Recipes

2 cups finely diced green tomatoes
2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 TBS vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 TBS ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour 2- 9x5" loaf pans.  Mix tomatoes, sugar, walnuts, oil, eggs, vanilla, and salt together in a large bowl.  Mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder together in a separate bowl.  Combine flour mixture with tomato mixture.  Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.  Bake about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes away clean.  Let cool in pans for about 10 minutes.  Turn out onto a wire rack and let cool completely.  Enjoy!

Rainy Day Donuts

     It's a rainy day here in South Mississippi, which means we are stuck inside when I was planning to bring Monkey to the pool.  Oh well, I guess that's what I get for not checking the weather.  Instead we improvised by making a fort in the living room where my little Monkey is currently enjoying a batch of homemade donuts.  I've been saying all week that I wanted to try this recipe for homemade donuts, but I've been indulging in the late mornings, so the donuts kept getting pushed off until tomorrow.  Finally last night, Monkey told me, "Mommy, you need to make me donuts for breakfast this weekend."  "This weekend" is her new catch-all phrase that means anything from "tomorrow" to "now".  I took it to mean "in the morning", and I agreed to wake up early to make them for her.
     The plan was to get up at 6 am when my hubby gets up for work.  That didn't happen since I stayed up all night reading "The Blindside".  Instead I woke up at 8 to a medley of thunder and trumpets blaring the Star Spangled Banner (courtesy of living on a military base) and realize this was going to  end up being a donut brunch.  They were worth the wait, though, and they really weren't hard to make.  It was just a lot of waiting for the dough to rise.  

Here's what you'll need:

For the Dough

3/4 cups Warm Milk

1 packet Active Dry Yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

1 TBS Unsalted Butter

1/3 cup Sugar

1 Egg

2 ½ cup All Purpose Flour

Pinch of Nutmeg

½ tsp Salt

For the Glaze

* Enough to glaze all the doughnuts

¼ cup Milk

1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

2 cups Confectioners Sugar

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping

*Enough to cover all of the doughnuts

½ cup Unsalted Butter

1 cup Sugar

1 TBS Cinnamon

To make the dough:

Place ¼ cups of the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Sprinkle the yeast over the milk.  Let sit for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup of milk with the sugar and butter.  Add it to the yeast mixture.  Stir to combine.  Add the egg and stir until incorporated.  Add the flour, nutmeg, and salt and stir until the dough starts to form.  Change to the dough hook and knead for until the dough starts to become smooth.  If the dough is too sticky, slowly add more flour until it is no longer sticky. 

Transfer to the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and has formed a ball.  Place the dough ball in a large lightly greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap.  Let sit in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size. 

Once the dough has risen, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until ½ thick.  Using a doughnut cutter (if you don’t have a doughnut cutter, you can use 2 biscuit cutters – 1 that is about 3 inches, and the other that is about 2 inches for the inner circle) cut out the doughnuts until you have no dough left.  Gather up the scraps and roll out again.  Cut out the doughnuts again until there's no dough left. (Just remember, the more you gather up the scraps and roll them out again, the tougher the dough will get.)

Place the doughnuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 2 inches apart.  Cover with a clean towel and let sit for about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven 375 degrees F. 

Place the baking sheets in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 7 minutes, until lightly golden brown.  Be careful to not overbake; you want them to be light and doughy inside.  Let cool for about 5 minutes until ready to top with either the glaze or cinnamon sugar topping.

While the doughnuts are cooling make the glaze and/or cinnamon sugar glaze.  Each recipe makes enough to cover all the doughnuts.  I made a half recipe of each and topped half of the doughnuts with each topping.  Or you can choose to just do one of topping for all the doughnuts. (I suggest making the cinnamon sugar topping while the donuts are baking and making the glaze while they're cooling because the glaze harden quickly.)

To make the glaze:

Combine the milk and the vanilla in a small saucepan.  Heat over low heat until just warmed.  Slowly add in the confectioners sugar and whisk until the mixture is smooth.  Remove the glaze from the heat and place over a bowl of warm water.

To glaze the doughnuts, dip them halfway into the glaze and place on a draining/cooling rack set over a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired.  Let set for about 10 minutes.

To make the cinnamon sugar topping:

Melt the butter, and place in a small bowl.  Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a separate medium sized bowl. 

To top the doughnuts with cinnamon sugar, dip the halfway into the melted butter.  Then dip them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Set on a draining/cooling rack to set, about 5 minutes.

      
     Monkey and J devoured these so quickly I had to steal J's plate in order to get a picture.  Monkey hid in her fort with her donuts, and at first refused to let me take her picture.  We both knew she's too much of a ham in order for that to last long, though.

"My donut!"

     

My 3-Year-Old Should Come with a Spoiler Alert!

      Good evening all,  I hope everyone enjoyed Cheap Candy Day.  I know I certainly did!  I finished off a box of Ferrero Rocher before realizing that it's been about a week since my last run, and it's been two weeks since my last trip to the gym.  That certainly motivated me to hit the street for a 4.4 mile run this afternoon.  Not that it helped; according to my app I only burned about half that box of candy.  Oh well; I guess that just means I need to get back on the wagon.

     Of course, I also had a good Valentine's Day.  It was nice to have J home for it this year, since last year he missed it because of training exercises.  As y'all have probably surmised from previous posts, J is not very smooth.  He's sweet, but not smooth at all.  Not that I can fault him; I'm a pretty good sleuth when it comes to holidays and gifts.  I'm very rarely taken by surprise, and I have years of experience lifting, shaking, tapping, and feeling presents to determine what's on the inside.  This year, I didn't even have to bother thanks to my adorably talkative 3 year old.

     Tuesday, J got a little shifty when he told me he needed to go somewhere.  When I asked him where he was off to, he said he couldn't tell me that.  When I pressed him, he said to leave him alone because he couldn't say where he was headed.  At that point I told him I knew it had to do with Valentine's Day, and his silence was my confirmation.  He and Monkey left on their mysterious adventure as I left to run a few errands.  When they returned, I asked no questions, and simply continued to work on my homework and they milled around the room.  After they had settled in around me, Monkey turned to me and said, "Mommy, the pet store was closed."  J immediately perked up, but to his credit he said nothing.  Confused, I asked her why they were at the pet store.  Monkey proudly announced, "To get your kitty cat."  I threw my head back and laughed as J did a face palm in the background.  I turned to him, completely surprised, and he just shrugged.  He said the plan was to adopt a cat I had seen at Pet Smart the previous weekend, and see if they could hold him until Valentine's Day.  J had planned on wrapping the adoption papers up for me to open that day, but Monkey spilled the beans.  Monkey was so cute and proud of herself for delivering such funny news that I couldn't even be disappointed.  J was comforted when I told him that was the last thing I had expected, and we agreed to go Thursday to pick the cat up together.

     Valentine's Day came, and I honestly was too distracted by thinking up Louisiana-themed names for my new kitty to really focus in my Computer Concepts class, but when I got to the Humane Society, the cat I wanted was gone.  We browsed the rest of the animals, but I didn't really "click" with any of them.  Monkey was overly excited, too, which made every cat hate her off the bat, so we agreed give it a week before we go back.  Now we're toying with the idea of fostering a litter when breeding season hits, that way we can see how a few different kittens do with Roux and Monkey before we decide on one.  Who knows, though.  I may be back on here in a week showing off pictures of a new fur-baby.

     At any rate, Valentine's Day wound up being a good day, new kitty or no.  J and I brought Monkey home, and we enjoyed a nice dinner at home before tucking her in, and snuggling down to watch Pitch Perfect, which was a really good way to end the evening.

     Of course, I have a recipe to share before I hop off of here.  This is a recipe for stuffed, cheesy, garlic bread like the ones Peeta makes for Katniss in the Hunger Games trilogy.  They are so yummy, and they're the perfect side to any pasta dish, from lasagna to spaghetti.

Yummy cheese, oregano, and garlic on the outside

More gooey cheese on the inside

Peeta's Stuffed Cheese Buns
1 cup warm water
2 TBS yeast
2 TBS sugar
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
at least 8 oz of cheese (I followed along with what the original poster said and used chunks of mozzarella for the inside, but I used shredded cheddar for the outside.)
Parmesan Cheese
3-4 TBS melted butter mixed with 1/2 tsp garlic powder and fresh herbs (oregano, basil, etc) if you have any

Mix yeast and water.  Let sit for a couple of minutes.  Add sugar, garlic powder, melted butter, and oil. Add flour a little at a time, mixing with a dough hook.  Add salt.  Knead for 10 minutes.  (I did this by hand or you could use a stand mixer if you have one.)  Let the dough rise in a greased bowl covered with a wet cloth for about 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375.  Divide dough into about 20 pieces. (The amount you make depends on how big you want your buns).  Place a 3/4 inch chunk of cheese in the middle of each, and pinch the edges up tightly.  Bake for 11-15 minutes until bread is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.  Brush with melted butter, and serve warm.

Enjoy :-)

   

And that was before they doped me up...

     You know what is awesome about having all of your sinuses filled with fluid at one time?  Absolutely nothing!  Except, you can say virtually anything you want and not be held accountable for it.  Which probably means I shouldn't be blogging right now, but my head's more than a little fuzzy, so I'm going with the impulse.

     This morning I woke up and went to school in a fog.  I can't tell you anything about my Human Growth and Development class other than babies are super cute when they're not yours, and when all you're expected to do is sit back and watch them in their natural habitat.  In my Computer concepts course I took my first test, and I kid you not, the man asked us what a zombie is.  Unfortunately, "an undead being who craves flesh" was not listed as a possible answer.  I really had hope that maybe my teacher had a sense of humor and was just messing with me, but no such luck.  Apparently the correct answer had something to do with hacking computers.  Who knew?

     In my Public Speaking class, I managed to perk up, but only because my instructor is the Jillian Michaels of speech, and there's no sleeping on her watch.  You can cry, vomit, or pass out, but you will deliver an excellent speech.  (We literally had one girl cry....no, it wasn't me.) I was rewarded for my attention, because when the class finally ended, she handed back the grades for our introductory speech, and I received a 97.

    After school I drove, in my fog-induced state, out to the orthodontist only to discover that not only are my wisdom teeth impacted, the bottom ones have grown over a few of the nerves in my jaw.  They have to come out soon.  The doctor must have noticed a bit of my hesitation, because he looked at me with a kind expression and asked, "So what's bothering you?"  I admitted that I've never had surgery before, or had anesthesia, and I'm a bit frightened by the prospect.  That was actually putting it mildly.  The night before I was crying to J that I was afraid of the anesthesia because people can be allergic to it and can die.  He laughed, but it's a real thing!  I know.  I've seen it on Grey's Anatomy.  Apparently he didn't think that was a valid point in this particular argument, but Wikipedia backed me up!  At any rate, the doctor told me I should be fine, and that it isn't even like sleeping.  One minute they'll put me out, and the next I'll be wondering why they're telling me to leave.  Maybe it was his kind face, or perhaps it was his LSU skull cap, but regardless, I felt like I was in good hands.  Then on the ride home, still fuzzy, I began to wonder where my mind would go.  He said it wasn't even like sleeping, so if my mind doesn't go to dreamland, where does it go?  I don't know why, but my mind pulled up the story of the little boy who was given anesthesia for surgery, and he went to Heaven.  I started thinking that would be nice, but then another thought hit me.  What if by some mistake I didn't go to Heaven?  What if I went to Hell, and no one knew because they were too busy taking my teeth out?  That's when I realized I was home and needed to go lie down for a bit.

     I thought I was going to make a good point with this when I started, but as it turns out, I don't have one at all.  Don't drive when loopy.  Also, if your husband tells you to go take a nap, you should probably listen before he changes his mind and makes you get behind the wheel of a vehicle again, even though he knows you're not to be trusted driving with all that mess in your head.

     OH, I remember my point!  I told J he has permission to video me after the surgery, but only because if I'm this crazy with a little sinus pressure, I'm sure I'll be a barrel full of monkeys while on pain meds.  He's not allowed to share it, though.  Unless of course it's awesome.  In which case, I'll post it for y'all.

     It hurts too much to think of a segue.  I'm on a horse.

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Muffins:

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

3 cups flour (plus extra for dusting)

Filling:

2 TBS butter, room temp.

2/3 cups brown sugar

3/4 tsp cinnamon

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 TBS milk

Preheat oven to 375.  Combine brown sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla, and egg in a large mixing bowl.   Add the buttermilk, stirring to combine.  Add the flour, and stir just until thoroughly mixed, but don't over-mix.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two.  Roll dough into a 12"x24" rectangle.  Spread butter over dough.  Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.  Roll the dough into a log and stretch slightly.  Cut into 2" pieces, and place the pieces into a greased muffin tin, or a muffin tin lined with cupcake liners.  Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.  Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, mix together the powdered sugar and milk for the icing.  Remove muffins from tins, and drizzle with icing.   Enjoy!

Waiting patiently

Nom!

Oh, and for those of you who didn't get the "I'm on a horse reference", here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

What Ha' Happen Was...

     You know, I just want to set the record straight.  When I said the other night that Dachshunds were little shits, I didn't mean it.  What I meant to say was that Dachshunds are little shit-stirrers.  Yeah, they get the drama started, and then sit back looking all cute and innocent while someone else takes the heat for it.  As most of you know through Facebook, my "good dog", Roux dug out of the backyard the other day and was picked up by on-base police.  What y'all don't know is exactly what ha' happened.  To be fair to my little instigator, this is all speculation.  I was not home, but I've seen him do this before so I'm going out on a limb here and assuming this is how things went down.

     Roux, as I said is my good dog.  She is very well-trained.  She comes when you call her; she's well-mannered, and she can even be trusted to stay near your side when she's off her leash.  Aside from the usual puppy antics, we've only ever had one problem with her, and that was digging.  After her first few digging escapes, I began kenneling her throughout the day.  After a while I gave her another shot, and she left her digging behind.  Then we adopted Andouille.  He, being the instigator,  will dig a little, enough to get Roux's attention, and then walk away once Roux takes over and transforms his tiny hole into a crater.  The best part is that Andouille will walk to the door, and begin barking to come inside so that I come to the door just in time to fuss a Roux before she gets out of the yard.  The plan backfired on him the other day because I was in school, so he couldn't tattle-tell, and he's too big to fit through Roux's holes.  Therefore Roux got a few hours of freedom and joyriding with the base police, and Andouille got time-out in his kennel.

     Sadly, when getting Roux in trouble stopped being fun, he moved onto a new set of shenanigans.  Monkey is allowed to have her toys out, but before bed she has to bring them back to her room.  Lately, I've been finding her toys strewn along the stairs.  My first thought was that she was simply dropping them on the way to her room.  Then I began watching her go up the stairs with her toys, and discovered that she was able to make it up to her room without dropping a single thing.  So next I thought she was being rebellious and throwing her toys down the stairs.  After all, she went through that stage just a few months ago.  I started fussing at her to pick up her toys.  Come to find out, Andouille was going to Monkey's room, gently carrying toys to the stairs, and placing them there before disappearing to watch Monkey get in trouble.  At this rate I would trade my mother's "gremlins" for my vindictive diva-dog.

     I promise this is the last post about him, though.  Mainly because I'm afraid for my safety.  Who knows if he's logging into my computer at night a reading these, and I'll soon be paying the price for calling him a diva on the internet.  Or maybe he'll be seeking vengeance because I refused to share these with him.

Hmm....muffins

Mmmmhhmmmm....Nutella

Nutella-Stuffed Cinnamon Sugar Muffins
1/3 cup (5 TBS) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
8 tsp Nutella

Cinnamon-Sugar Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
3 TBS butter

Preheat oven to 425F.  Spray muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric or stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed.  Mix in the egg, vanilla extract, and milk. Gently stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  DO NOT overmix – stir until *just* combined.

Spoon 1 heaping Tablespoon of batter into muffin cavity.  Layer with 1 tsp Nutella in the center and spoon another heaping Tablespoon of batter on top.  If the muffin tins are completely full, that is ok.  They will not overflow.  Repeat layering batter + Nutella into each muffin tin.  I got exactly 8 muffins.

Bake at 425F for 5 minutes.  Reduce oven to 350F and bake for an additional 13-17 minutes until batter is set. Allow muffins to cool for about 5 minutes.

While the muffins are cooling, make the cinnamon-sugar topping.  Melt the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave.  Stir and stick back in microwave if not fully melted.  In a separate small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon.  Dip the top of each muffin into the melted butter and dip into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Swirl them around in the cinnamon-sugar a bit to make sure you get a thick coating. Set upright on cooling rack.  

Enjoy!