Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

I mentioned making PW's cinnamon rolls on Facebook a few weeks ago and some of you asked me for the recipe.  Here is my modified version (I halve her recipe and roll them differently).

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls
Original Recipe HERE

• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 package Active Dry Yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
• 4 cups (Plus 1/2 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
• 1/2 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
• Plenty Of Melted Butter
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon

• MAPLE FROSTING:
• 1/2 bag Powdered Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Maple Flavoring
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 1/8 cup Melted Butter
• 1/8 cup Brewed Coffee
• dash of salt

Preparation Instructions (takes about 3 hours from start to finish)

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. “Scald” the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in the Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.
After rising for at least an hour, add 1/2 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).
When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1/2 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.
Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.
Spread 1-2 tbsp butter in a 9x13 cake pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately 1 1/2 - 2  inches thick (dental floss works great for cutting the rolls, just slide it under the roll and cross it on the top to pinch off the rolls) and lay them in the buttered pan.
Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.
For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.

For those who aren't coffee drinkers, you can substitute milk for the coffee and they still come out yummy!  If you have a husband like mine, skip PW's frosting recipe and make cream cheese frosting for the top :)

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

Fridays are pizza nights around here.  I was looking for a way to mix things up.  This recipe was perfect and the kids loved them!

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs (from Rachael Ray magazine)
Serves 4

3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
4 oz pepperoni, diced (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup pizza sauce (see below for homemade recipe)
2 tbsp finely chopped basil

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder; whisk in the milk and egg.  Stir in the mozzarella and pepperoni.  Let stand for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375 and grease a 24 cup mini-muffin pan.

Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups.  Bake until puffed and golden, 20-25 minutes.  Sprinkle the puffs with the basil (I left this out since I didn't have any fresh basil).

Homemade pizza sauce - (adapted from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Pizza-Sauce-III/Detail.aspx )
1 10.75 oz can tomato sauce
1 tbsp flour
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp garlic salt
pepper to taste

Heat the ingredients in a saucepan, let simmer for 5-7 minutes.  You can also substitute tomato paste for the flour.
Use the pizza sauce for dipping sauce.

You can freeze these.  To reheat, bake them on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.

These were really good with buffalo chicken wings and carrots and ranch dressing on the side.

chicken masala

Sorry.  No picture.  This is one of those dishes that if you see a picture, it won't look appetizing.  You know what i mean?  And i forgot.  But i assure you it's good.  So good, we had it 3 times last week!

2-4 chicken breast - cubed
1 can diced tomato
1 small can tomato sauce
1 cup sour cream
2 cloves garlic - minced
1/2 onion - diced
1 heaping tablespoon curry powder
salt and pepper

Now for the hard part.  Put it in a crock pot and turn it on for a few hours! 
I serve this with white rice and Naan bread that can be found at the grocery store.

French Dip Sandwiches!

I got this recipe from a mom on baby center (addyj'smomma) and LOVE it. I forgot to take pics...but will the next time I make it.

Beef roast
2 cans of beef broth
2 packages of dry onion soup mix (1 oz)
Extra water (if needed, I never put extra water in mine)
I brown the roast, add it and everything else in the crock pot. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Shred with fork. Use extra juice in crock pot for au jus.

After about 6-7 hours I shred the meat and put it back in the crock pot until we are ready to eat.

We've eaten them on crusty rolls and onion buns....both very delish. Leftovers are great too!

Chicken Pot Pie

 I'll warn you right now, the way I did it (below) was pretty labor intensive, but well worth it.  I'm in a very "from scratch" mode right now.  Feel free to use frozen pie crust to make your job a little easier.

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breasts, skinless
• 2 cups chicken broth (see below)
•  1 potato
• 1 yellow onion
• 3 stalks celery
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

1. Wash chicken breasts in water and then place in a pot with water just to cover the chicken add some salt and pepper and garlic powder. Bring to a boil, turn off heat and cover. Let cool in the pot. Save the broth.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Wash and cut potatoes into bite size pieces and boil till almost fork tender. Drain and set aside.
4. Wash celery and cut to bite-size pieces. Cut onion to bite-size pieces.
5. In a large heavy skillet, over medium heat, saute celery and onion with 2 tablespoons oil, for 5 to 8 minutes. Add the frozen vegetables and cook another 5 minutes. Add flour and cook about 30 seconds.
6. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. After it has become thick, add the potato.
7. Remove chicken from pot and cut into bite-size pieces and add to vegetable mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Pour mixture into a 9x13 pan and cover with pie shell. Make sure you crimp the edges of the pie shell to the plate so no juices spill in oven. 
9. Brush both sides of the pie shell with egg whites or butter.
10. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes or until pie shell is cooked and golden brown.

Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening, chilled
• 1/2 cup cube butter, chilled
•  1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons ice water

Directions

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a medium size bowl.  Cut in the cold shortening & butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (since the shortening and butter are chilled, you'll have to mix for a few minutes).  Drizzle the ice water ice water over the mixture until the dough comes together in a ball - add more water a few drops at at a time if needed..
2. Gently gather dough particles together into a ball.  Put it between two pieces of wax paper to make it easier to roll out.  At this point you can either divide the dough into two balls and use one crust on bottom and one on top, or leave it as is for one thick crust on top.

 Done this way, the filling doesn't have much juice or moisture.  I've also done this with a can of cream of chicken soup + 1 can milk in lieu of the chicken broth and flour. 

These are the two recipes I used as a basis for this one:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Pot-Pie-II-2/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Basic-Flaky-Pie-Crust/Detail.aspx