Cinnamon Roll Muffins

Here is the recipe Bessie used for her Cinnamon roll muffins. She got the recipe from here. These were pretty quick and easy to make and tasted, oh, so good with canned Cream Cheese frosting.

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

If you love cinnamon rolls but do not have the time or the inclination to make traditional cinnamon rolls with dough that has to raise twice before the cinnamon rolls are baked, try this easy variation.

1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar added to it
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
3 to 3 1/2 cups flour
soft butter
sugar cinnamon

Pour milk into a measuring cup and add the lemon juice or vinegar.
Measure the brown sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla and egg into a mixing bowl. Add the milk. Add the flour. Stir until thoroughly combined.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two.

Roll the dough into a 12-inch by 24-inch rectangle. Spread with butter. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Roll the dough into a log beginning at the wide side. Stretch the log slightly. Cut into two-inch pieces and put the pieces into greased muffin tins or muffin tins lined with cupcake papers. (I like to use the cupcake papers because the papers make cleaning the muffin tin that much easier!)

Bake at 375° Fahrenheit for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes and then remove them from the muffin tins.

Recipe makes 1 dozen cinnamon roll muffins.

Hearty Corn Chowder

Ingredients
1 1/2 C water
2 C frozen loose-pack diced hash brown potatoes
2 medium carrots-sliced
1 stalk celery-sliced
1 10.5 oz can condensed cheddar cheese or broccoli cheese soup
1 15 oz can cream-style corn
1 1/2 C milk
1 1/2 C diced cooked ham
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions
Add potatoes, carrots and celery to water in large pot.
Bring water to boil, then turn heat down and simmer, covered for 10 minutes or until carrots are tender.
Add corn and soup.
Stir well.
Add milk, ham and pepper.
Continue to simmer, covered until heated through. Do not let boil.

Notes: This was a big hit with our family and so easy to make. We doubled the recipe for our family of seven and had plenty with a bit left over for a serving or two for lunch the next day. We used the Cheddar soup. Highly recommend.

Butterscotch-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 C butter
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C firm packed brown sugar
1 tps vanilla
1/2 tps water
2 eggs
2 1/4 C flour
1 tps baking soda
1 tps salt
1 C chopped nuts (optional)-we didn't use
1 12 oz bag of butterscotch chips
2-3 handfuls of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Cream butter, sugars, vanilla, water and eggs.
Mix together flour, baking soda and salt.
Add to creamed butter mixture.
Fold in chips and nuts.
Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Remove to cooling racks.

Bessie's note: Even with eating lots of the dough, this recipe made just under six dozen cookies.

Egg Pie aka Quiche

Bessie made quiche for us this week. We learned that until WWII this was simply called Egg Pie in the US. We sort of like that name, less stuffy sounding, more down home country. Anyway, whatever you call it, we all loved it.

She made one with broccoli and mushrooms and one with broccoli and sweet sausage. Great job, Bess! Thanks.

Recipe

Ingredients:
Pie crust for two nine inch pies
3 C of shredded cheese-we used Mild Cheddar
8 tsp of flour
1 lb of cooked sweet sausage
1 package frozen Broccoli-thawed and drained
1 can of mushrooms or 1 C fresh
8 eggs-Farm Fresh!
2 1/2 C half and half
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 Degrees
Prepare pie crust and line two pie pans
Mix together cheese and flour and distribute evenly between the two pies
Add sausage to one pie and mushrooms to the other
Split broccoli evenly between two pies
In a bowl beat eggs, Half and Half, salt, and Dry Mustard
Distribute evenly into two pies
Bake at 400 degrees for 1 Hour or until knife comes out clean

Ready for the table...yum!

Oven Beef Stew

We had this yesterday and is a yummy, hearty meal for a cool day.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. beef cut into 1" cubes
2 large onions cut into chunks
3-4 carrots cut into chunks
3 potatoes cut into chunks
1 can (14.5 oz) tomatoes
celery - your choice on amount
green pepper - your choice on amount
3.5 Tbs. Minute Tapioca
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
1 bay leaf
Worceshire sauce to taste

Directions:
Brown beef on all sides. Put all ingredients in large casserole. Cover tightly. Cook for 5 hours at 250 degrees.

My notes:
I double this recipe for our family. I put all ingredients in the Crock Pot and cook on high for 6 hours. I also added frozen corn this time and everyone liked it. The recipe does not call for added liquid, but I like to add one 14.5 oz can of beef broth.

Fresh Corn Chowder

Today we had fresh corn chowder for dinner. Surprisingly, we are still getting corn out of our garden. This recipe called for fresh or frozen, but it was oh, so good with the fresh. We usually have a corn chowder with cheese, but this one did not use cheese. It was a big hit with most of the family. (We have a couple fussy eaters that don't seem to like much of anything except grilled cheese and cereal!)

Fresh Corn Chowder

Ingredients
1 Tbs. butter
1 small onion chopped
1/4 cup diced carrots
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped red and green peppers
2 Tbs. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 14 oz. can chicken broth
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
3/4 cup cream
1 cup milk

Directions
Melt butter in a heavy saucepan. Saute onion, carrots, celery, and red and green peppers. Set aside. Mix flour, salt, pepper and chicken broth together. Add to vegetables and bring to a boil. If using fresh corn, cook on the cob and drain. Slice off the cob. Add fresh or frozen corn, cream and milk to soup mixture. Heat thoroughly without boiling. Simmer until ready to serve. Makes about 6 servings.

My notes:
I doubled this recipe for our family of seven. It was enough, with a little to spare, but if you had seven or more good eaters, I would triple it. I added a bit more of the vegetables and used less salt. I only had green peppers and it tasted great, but would have been more colorful if I had added red.

Layered Salad

This is the salad I brought to the mother/daughter dinner. It is very yummy and looks so nice.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups uncooked small shell macaroni
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
3 cups shredded lettuce
3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 cup julienned fully cooked ham
1 cup julienned hard salami
1 package (10 oz) frozen peas, thawed
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 cup (4 oz) shredded Colby or Monterey Jack cheese
2 Tbs. minced fresh parsley

Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and rinse with cold water. Drizzle with oil; toss to coat. Place the lettuce in a 2 1/2 qt. glass serving bowl; top with macaroni and eggs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Layer with ham, salami and peas. Combine mayonnaise, sour cream , green onions and mustard. Spread over the top. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Just before serving, sprinkle with cheese and parsley.

Yield: 10 servings

Beef 'n' Noodle Casserole

This has become a family favorite. I got the basic recipe from a Reader's Digest Cookbook called "Like Grandma Used to Make". This book has some wonderful homestyle recipes. We have found several we enjoy.

Ingredients
6 ounces of wide noodles
1-2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 small sweet pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 tsps. chili powder
1/2 tsp. each salt and black pepper
2-14.5 oz. cans cream style corn
2-14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes (with juice)
2-14.5 cans of any vegetable or your choice (drained)
(I used cut green beans and peas and carrots)
2 Tbs. butter
2 cups dried bread cubes (I used stuffing cubes)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse.

2. Meanwhile in a large skillet, cook ground beef, onion, green pepper, and garlic over moderately high heat until meat is browned. Drain off fat. Stir in the chili power, salt and pepper.

3. In a large bowl, stir together the noodles, meat mixture and canned items. Spoon into lightly greased casserole. Bake, covered, for 35 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt the butter over moderate heat. Stir in the bread cubes until coated. Sprinkle over casserole (I use a 9x13 pan). Bake, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes more or until bread cubes are toasted and casserole is heated through.

Comments...
This makes a very full 9x13 pan of casserole, plenty for our family of seven, plus some left over. If your family is smaller, you could easily make two smaller pans and freeze one before putting it into bake.

Also, I'm sure fresh veggies would work just as well, but would need to be cooked before adding to the casserole. Using canned items is easier for me and I always have some on hand.