Thrice Baked Cinnamon Rolls

A couple of weeks ago I bought some frozen bread dough to try a couple of recipes. Yesterday I took it out to thaw, but it was too late to use for dinner. At 11 pm I realized I needed to do something with it. So I scoured the Internet (and, of course Pinterest) for ideas. I settled on cinnamon rolls. It would be perfect. I'd get up a little early and feed my family homemade cinnamon rolls.

Well, I'm determined to share my successes, as well as my failures, as I take this journey to learn to cook. Today's experience falls somewhere in the middle.

The rolling the dough and doing the butter, cinnamon and sugar was easy. Even cutting and putting into a pan went smoothly. I covered them and put them in the fridge to rise over night.

If you are a baker, you probably noticed the problem: too many rolls--too close together.

After baking about 20 minutes, they looked (and sounded--tap, tap) perfect. I covered them in homemade glaze (did you know the glaze is just powdered sugar and milk?!?!).  I did intentionally leave that left side unfrosted.

Unfortunately, the yummy goodness only went skin deep.  More than half of the dough was still raw (yuck!). After several make a few changes (separating some out, flipping all of the rolls) and 3 times in the oven, they looked like this:

They may not look as pretty as Cinnabons, but they tasted good.

TWFDS Challenge: Day 5 Kitchen Tools

Today's challenge is about our favorite kitchen tools.  Right now, my favorite is the crock pot.  Since I am still so new to home cooked meals, I like the idea of being able to throw ingredients in the crock pot and have a dinner waiting when I get home.

I'm looking forward to learning how to use other kitchen gadgets.  (I was surprised how much I enjoyed zesting the lemon with the microplane this week!)

Your turn:
What are your favorite kitchen gadgets.  Which ones would you grab if you had to leave in a hurry?

Remember, all comments on the challenge posts earn an entry into the drawing.

TWFDS Project: Day 4 Go-To Meals

Kathi Lipp talks about how every family has their go-to meals.  You know the ones...when all else fails, you make this.  I don't really have any of these--yet.  I used to make spaghetti about once a week.  I boiled noodles and heated up a can of Hunt's (or Wal-Mart brand) spaghetti sauce. Add a can of corn and a can of olives, and dinner is on the table in 20 minutes.

It was meals like this one (and ones with frozen chicken nuggets or corndogs) that made me decide I needed to expand my repertoire to offer my family better choices.

Your challenge:
Today, share you family's favorite recipe. What's the one (or two?) go to meal that you make almost every week?  Remember, comments on this series will get you an entry to win a copy of The What's For Dinner Solution.

For more ideas, Kathi has a newsletter filled with great recipes and tips for every area of your home. Plus when you sign up for the newsletter, your will receive The Ultimate Guide to Man Food an e-cookbook that will rock your husband’s culinary world. Head over to her website at KathiLipp.com

TWFDS Day 3: Kitchen Tips

I have been out of the habit of daily blogging, so some of my TWFDS Challenge posts are not on the right day.  But, I refuse to let my blog control my life, and I won't succomb to blogger guilt!  I'll post the final challenges today.

Today's theme is organizing your kitchen.  I didn't do much with this because I don't have my own kitchen.  My MIL has the kitchen set up the way she likes it.  My husband added his touches.  I think this may be a case of "too many cooks"....so I won't (yet) do anything to disrupt the status quo.  As I get more familiar with kitchen tools, I'll start leaving my mark.  For now, my birthday presents, are in a big Sam's Club bag on a shelf in my room.  But I'm okay with that. 

Some of the tools that have earned a space our kitchen counters are: coffee pot (FIL); toaster over, Kitchen Aide mixer, vacuum sealer, and can opener.  On a rolling island in the kitchen, we keep the large stock pot and the large crockpot.  We have lots of cabinets in the kitchen, plus a large alcove in the garage where less frequently used items are kept.  (My husband is a gadget collector!  Some work, some don't.)

For food storage, we have an inside cabinet with canisters (flour, sugar, etc) and a small pantry for open stuff (crackers, Ranch dressing mix) as well as small packaged items. We also have a closet sized pantry in the laundry room with shelves.  Our most recent addition is a shelf in the garage where we are buying bulk extras in case of hard(er) times.  We keep canned goods out there.

What are your favorite tips for keeping an organized kitchen?
Remember, share here to be entered in the drawing!

TWFDS Challenge: Day 2 LOOP meals

Yesterday I mentioned a LOOP meal on my menu plan for the week.  LOOP stands for Left Overs On Purpose.  Basically, the idea is that you make a meal early in the week and cook more meat than you need--on purpose.  But you don't just serve leftovers.  You use that item in a new meal later in the week.  Sandra Lee, on The Food Network, calls these Round Two Recipes.

My MIL has always been very good at LOOP meals.  I first tried Beef Stroganoff because she regularly cooked an extra steak or two and sliced it and used it the next night for Beef Stroganoff.  Recently, she made a pork roast, and intentionally made one twice the normal size to serve pork carnitas (crispy fried pork shredded pork that we eat like tacos).

For my LOOP meal this week, I saved some of the roast that I made (in the crockpot) for Sunday dinner with the family, and I made Beef Stroganoff on Sunday night for my small group.  Since I had gravy left over as well, it was really just a matter of boiling the noodles, crisping up the the meat a little bit, and throwing it all together.  (With some sour cream added at the last minute!)

 I forgot to take a picture of the Beef Stroganoff until I got to small group (notice the Glad Press N Seal?)

 For dinner tonight, I pulled out the frozen lasagna I made last week and put it in the crockpot.  It turned out pretty well, but it would have been better if I had been home and been able to turn the heat down sooner. (It was a bit dry).  Also, next time I freeze a lasagna, I need to figure out a better way to wrap it. My foil was a bit frozen onto the lasagna!

I didn't have ancontainer to match my crockpot, so I improvised. I covered a popcorn bucket with foil and layered!

Some of my layers



I also tried out the Lemon Garlic Shrimp recipe I found on Pinterest.  It turned out well! My 6 year old loved it.  My only complaint was it was a bit too oily (especially if I was actually trying to diet right now (which I should be!)

I used one of my my new birthday toys: a microplane!



Garlic Lemon Shrimp

I'll try to add some pictures from my phone later....Right now I'm exhausted!
I added some pictures!

Your challenge:
Share a way you have (or want to) make LeftOvers On Purpose in your meal planning.

Remember: All (relevant) comments on my TWFDS Challenge posts this week will be entered to win a copy of the book.  Share a tip, recipe, or answer to my challenge.  If you want to post on your own blog and share the link here, that is fine. Or you can just answer here.  No hoops to jump through! :)

TWFDS Challenge: Day 1, Menu Planning

Read to the end to find some freebies to print, as well as information about a giveaway!

Over the past few years, I 've been following an author named Kathi Lipp and her projects.  Kathi has "project" books focusing on Marriage, Husband, and Me. 

Her newest book is called The What's For Dinner Solution. (TWFDS) I've found some great ideas in Kathi's books, and I've enjoyed following her on Facebook as well as her blog. Last month, after commenting on one of her blog posts, Kathi checked out my blog and invited me to join the TWFDS Challenge. Since I am determined to learn to cook, I jumped at the chance.

Last week, I mentioned TWFDS in my post about getting organized as well the list of recipes in my recipe book.  Yesterday, I told you how I used tools like Ziplist to preplan my shopping.

Today is time to talk about menu planning.  Knowing what I'm going to fix makes getting dinner on the table much easier.  One reason I began this journey to learn to cook "on the other side of the hill", is I was tired of coming home from and struggling to find something to feed my kids.  I was tired of fast food runs, overprocessed quick foods (corndogs, Mac 'n cheese, etc), and tuna sandwiches. I wanted to be able to feed my kids (and myself) some real meals. 

My menu plan will look different than yours.  I don't cook every night.  Since we share a home with John's parents, and I work full time, my MIL cooks most of the weeknight meals.  My plan includes the nights I know I will cook, plus a couple of extras in case I need them.

Sunday Dinner (my big meal)           ----   3 Packet Pot Roast
Sunday Night (small group potluck) ----   Beef Stroganoff (LOOP)* From TWFDS
Tuesday Night (in-laws are out)       ----   Roasted Lemon Garlic Shrimp
Thursday Night                              ----   Cheesy Chicken Ranch Lasagna
Saturday Lunch                             ----    Pepperoni Roll
Sunday Dinner (planning ahead)     ----    Honey Butter Pork Loin

*Come back tomorrow to learn more about LOOP meals: Left Overs On Purpose*

Here are a couple of free printable Kathi provided to make your meal planning easier!
50 Dinners (a brainstorm list---try Google or Pintrest to find a recipe!)
Menu Plan (put it on paper!)

Giveaway information..... Kathi sent me an extra copy of her book The What's For Dinner Solution to share with one of my readers.  Every relevant comment will earn an entry. (By that I mean, don't just stuff my comment box with "me! me! me!" posts! lol).  Share a recipe or tip. Compliment me! (Hey! I'm a last born and my primary love language is Words of Affirmation!) Share your journey. Answer the challenge.

Today's Challenge:
Post your menu for the week. What are you going to serve your family?

Make ahead meals: first try

On Tuesday (I know...it's taken me a while to post!) I went grocery shopping. But this time, instead of trying to select groceries and hope I could make something, I went prepared.  I printed out a dozen or so recipes that I wanted to try, and I entered all the ingredients into my Ziplist app.  Ziplist will import recipes from many blogs and other sites, and when you tell it which recipes you want, it creates a shopping list.  I had not set up my recipes on the Ziplist, so I just typed the ingredients one at a time. Ziplist automatically put it in categories. (And it did a good job!)

Before I went to the store, I compared my shopping list to my cupboards and pantry. By doing this, I avoided picking up spices that were in the cupboard---and I didn't assume I had something and found out half way through the recipe that I was wrong.

At the store, I was able to quickly shop (well....as quickly as you can at Wal-Mart!).  I got everything on my list (and a few others).  But I knew when I got home that I had ingredients for several meals.

I fed the starving kiddos (frozen pizzas and mini corndogs).  Hey, it's gonna take some time to get rid of the processed stuff! And then I was ready for my cooking adventure to begin.

I cooked up 5 pounds of ground beef.  I lightly seasoned it (garlic, salt, pepper, onion powder) and drained.  I vacuum sealed a couple of pounds (one pound at a time); used about a pound and a half for sloppy joes (in the freezer); and the rest for a frozen crockpot lasagna.  (More on that later).

I put as many boneless skinless chicken breasts as I could fit into the crockpot with basic spices (garlic, salt, pepper, onion powder) and some water and let them cook all night.  In the morning, I shredded all the chicken and vacuum sealed the chicken into to 2 cup portions. I also vacuum sealed the broth.

I mixed up spices to make my own taco seasoning.  They are in a Ziploc bag with instructions on it.

I put the 3 packets for my 3 Packet Pot Roast in a Ziplock bag with instructions.

I mixed stew meat (uncooked) with ingredients for a crockpot stroganoff and put it in the freezer.

I bought ingredients for a Beef Broccoli Stir-Fry, Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Chicken, Lasagna roll ups,
Cheesy Chicken Ranch Lasagna, Roasted Lemon Garlic Shrimp, Honey Butter Pork Tenderloin, Pepperoni Roll, and Crescent Pepperoni Roll Ups.

I went to bed EXHAUSTED, but I felt good knowing how much I had accomplished!

Sunday Dinner Solo

Several weeks ago my MIL asked John and I to start cooking Sunday dinner. Since I work (and John is in school) Mom usually fixes weeknight dinners. I fix something on Tuesdays when she and Dad go out.
Due to sickness, holidays, and travel, I haven't done much. The weeks we were all here and well, I just finished plating the roast someone else started.

Today...I did the entire meal by myself! And (drum roll please......) everyone loved it! Cameron said it was very tender. Compliments all around and no complaints! (Cue "Hallelujah Chorus")

Menu:
3 Packet Roast* (recipe from Pinterest)
Potatoes (cooked in crock with roast
Gravy (drippings and Brown Gravy Mix)
Rice (boil-in-bag)
Corn
Olives
Biscuits (Grands--on sale for $1 at Albertson's this week!)

*Get three packets: Italian dressing, ranch dressing, and brown gravy.  Mix. Rub into roast. Place in crock pot and cover with a cup or so water. Cook on low for 6 hours.

I used Garlic and Herb dressing instead of Italian.  I also added potatoes to the crock.

Here's my plate:

My recipe book

I mentioned that I had started compiling a recipe book.  Below is my list of what I'm starting with. I'll add more to this list as I go.  If you don't find a link now, there will be one added later.

Make Ahead/Freezer Meals

• Taco Meat (to be used for a variety of dishes)
• Beef Broccoli Stir-Fry (Make Ahead method) from Momsbyheart.com
• Easy Make Ahead Sloppy Joes
• Spaghetti Casserole
• Crock Pot Shredded Chicken Breasts for Freezing

Oven

• Crockpot Egg Brunch Casserole
• Lasagna Rollups
• Roasted Italian Chicken
• Cheesy Chicken Ranch Lasagna
• Chicken ala King
• Lemon Garlic Herb Shrimp
• Honey Butter Pork Tenderloin
• Easy Garlic Chicken
• White Chicken Enchiladas
• Mini Meatloaves
• Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
• Parmigano Panko Herb Encrusted Chicken

Crock Pot

• Crock Pot Lasagna
• Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
• Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken
• Cafe Rio Chicken
• Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Chicken
• 3 Packet Crock Pot Pot Roast
• Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
• Crock Pot Pizza Pasta
• Cream Cheese Chicken

Stovetop/Fry

• Teriyaki Pork Chops
• Carmelized Pork Slices
• Chicken Fajitas Recipe
• Homemade Egg Noodles
• Hawaiian Crunch Halibut with Lemon Butter Sauce
• Sauteeing Chicken
• Crispy Coconut Shrimp
• Coconut Crusted Chicken
• Tosca's Keep-It-Tight Tilapia
• Bourbon Street Chicken

Grill

• Foil Packet Chicken
• Grilled Balsamic Flank Steak

Quick Fixes

• Mini Frittatas
• Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
• Pepperoni Roll
• Crescent Pepperoni Roll-Ups
• Pizza Biscuits

Sides

• Buttermilk Refrigerator Biscuits

Desserts

• Strawberry 2 Ingredient Fudge
• Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
• 
  

Getting organized

I know that if I want to learn to cook, I need to have some sort of organized system.  I've been reading Kathi Lipp's book The What's for Dinner? Solution.  (More on this next week, as I'm participating in a blog challenge next week....and I'll be giving away  copy!)

Anyway....I'm reading the book this week, and one of the things Kathi challenged me to do was to create a paper cookbook.  I've been collecting websites and recipes, but every time I want to try something I have to find it and print it out.  She also encouraged me to only include recipes that I might actually make.  (And if they don't work --- get rid of them!)

Last night I went through my Pinterest links and bookmarks and printed off about 3 dozen recipes that  I want to try.  Today I went to Target today and bought a binder with a pocket to put put my own title page; a set of 8 pocket dividers, and 50 page protectors.

I divided my cooking method rather than ingredient: Make Ahead (make one to eat and one or more to freeze); Oven/Bake; Stove top/fried; Crock Pot; Grill; Quick; Sides; and Desserts.

I put about 40 recipes in sheet protectors in the appropriate sections.

Then I picked some recipes and entered the items into my ZipList app.  Before I went to the store, I compared my list to the pantry and checked off the items I didn't need to buy.

My shopping trip was successful! But that is a post for another day....I'm tired.  

Crockpot chicken

Found this recipe on Pinterest too.  Originally from Crockin Girls

Cream Cheese Chicken

Ingredients:
Butter
Salad dressing packet
Chicken breasts
Cream of chicken soup
Cream cheese

Melt butter and mix in dressing packet.
Add chicken and coat in butter mixture.
Cook on high 2 hours.
Add soup and cream cheese. Cook some more. (recipe said 15-20 minutes. I gave it another hour.)
Serve over rice, potatoes, or noodles. (I used mashed potatoes).

My small group said it was a keeper recipe!
This is what it looked like when I stated cooking.

Soda Cupcakes

I think this is the easiest recipe I've found on Pinterest! (Originally from: Cookies & Cups)

Ingredients:
One can of soda--any flavor.
One box cake mix--any flavor

Directions:
Combine cake mix and soda (pop, coke, fizzy, etc) until most of the lumps are gone.

Spoon into cupcake liners and bake in a 350 oven for 18-20 minutes.

All done!

I used white cake with cola and funfetti cake with lemon lime. Also, I didn't have cans so I just measured 12 ounces.

My two little ones loved it. The teenager said it was too sweet (but he doesn't really care for cupcakes). My small group loved them! They were moist and soft.

Pizza Monkey Bread

Another Pinterest recipe idea!

Ingredients:
Canned biscuits (I used 4 cans)
Pepperoni slices
Mozzarella cubes (I used string cheese cut into about 6 pieces)
Melted butter
Garlic (I used dehydrated bits. Garlic salt or powder or fresh stuff)

Directions:
Rub sides of Bundt cake pan with garlic butter.
Separate biscuits and flatten one. Place a slice of pepperoni and a chunk of cheese int the center and close into a ball.
Dip in garlic butter and place in pan.
Continue until pan is full. Drizzle extra butter on top.
Bake until golden brown.

Invert pan. Mine came out easily (almost too easily!) I dumped mine in a bowl and served with canned spaghetti sauce. My small group liked it! (So did my daughter. The boys wouldn't try it.)
Another recipe I saw called for cutting biscuit dough in half or quarter. Others used biscuit or bread dough.

Cooking: BBQ Chicken

The holidays are over. It's time to get on with my quest to learn how to cook. I haven't had time to shop, so I found stuff in the freezer and pantry.

Menu:
BBQ chicken
Rice
Green beans

I started with frozen chicken breasts and covered them with a bottle of honey BBQ sauce. I cooked them in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. When I sliced the first one it was perfect. Unfortunately, the remaining 3 were still raw in places. So back in the oven for another half hour. (Which totally blew my timing!)

The rice was boil in the bag with butter added.

The final piece was green beans (fancy ones called "hairy covair" or something like that!) I cooked these in a microwave steamer with water and dehydrated garlic in the bottom. I added bacon bits and steamed.
I liked it. John said it was good. The kids, however all turned their noses up at it. :( Granted, they ate used to Mom feeding them anything that isn't processed. (And Daddy did make them apologize for their comments.

Julie Donahue
Sent from my iPhone

Creating a new blog....or maybe repurposing this one?

Earlier tonight I started a new blog: Learning to Cook After 40 to chronicle my journey as I learn to cook on the other side of the hill.  But I may just hi-jack this blog and repurpose it.  For now, I'll post on both blogs.

Confession: I am 42 years old and I don't know how to cook. I wouldn't stave if I had to feed myself, but I would eat a lot of pasta, frozen meals, and other convenience foods. When my kids are hungry, they tend to get tuna sandwiches, Top Ramen, or hotdogs. I recently decided that I WANT to learn to cook.

How did I get over the hill without learning to cook? I am the youngest of 7 kids. My mom graduated from nursing school the same year I graduated from kindergarten. She spent a few of my early elementary years working PMs. (3pm to 11 pm). During these days, my big sister Carmen did much of the cooking. Even when Mom switched to days (7am t0 3pm), she didn't have the time to teach me to cook. When she got home, it was a rush to get dinner on the table.

I married young (17) and fully expected to learn how to cook (as many new brides are forced to do). But, I married a man who was the oldest of 3 and LOVED to cook. So it was never necessary for me to learn. For the past 8 years, I've shared a home with my in-laws, and my mother-in-law is an excellent cook. Again it, was not necessary for me to learn to cook. As a full time working mom, learning to cook has not been a priority--until now.

Don't get me wrong... I can follow a recipe. And I have had compliments on my baked goods. But I want to walk into the kitchen and look in the fridge and pantry and come with with "something out of nothing".

So follow me as my journey begins.....