Gooey Delicious Whole Wheat Orange Rolls, updated

UPDATE: I've played with this recipe more since originally posting and have found that the more orange, the better. So below you'll find some additions and increases in the orange ingredients that make these rolls even yummier.

If I were a poet, I would write an ode to my sister Cayenne and dough enhancer. Together, you two have rocked my world.

If you will recall, a while back Cayenne posted a recipe for Gooey Delicious Cinnamon Rolls.
I'm a dietitian, so I've had a great food nerd dream of making them with whole wheat flour. Well I finally picked up some dough enhancer* and my dream has come to fruition. Sort of. I was out of brown sugar, so I made orange rolls instead. SO YUMMY! My husband actually thought I'd bought them somewhere. I want to play around a little more and see if maybe I can use honey instead of granulated sugar, but for now these are delicious just the way they are. They're not low cal or in any way better to eat more of than normal orange or cinnamon rolls, but it's great to know that I can get a couple of servings of whole grains while indulging myself.

Here is the modified recipe, changes are in italics:

Whole Wheat Orange Rolls
1 1/4 oz package active dry yeast (since I'm not sure exactly what that is I throw in about 2 TBS)
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup margarine (I like butter better) melted (Smart Balance)
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp dough enhancer 
1-2 tbsp orange zest (more never hurts)

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Throw in everything else but the flour and mix it well. Then slowly add the flour and start getting your elbows good and dirty kneading it (this is the best part, get out all those frustrations grrr)

Put the dough into a bowl, cover and let it rise for about an hour or until it is doubled in size. Once it is you can take it out, plop it on a floured surface and roll it out to about a quarter of an inch thick. Melt or soften some butter and spread it all over. Combine 3/4 cup sugar with 2 tbsp or more fresh orange zest then sprinkle on top of butter.

Roll it up and using some handy dandy floss cut it into about 1-2 inch chunks. place them on a pan and let them raise another 1/2 hour or so. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Just until thy are beautifully golden brown. mmmm, making myself hungry!




Now for the BEST part. The icing.

1/4 cup butter or margarine (Smart Balance)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar or thereabouts
1/4 cup (2 oz) cream cheese (fat free...we bought some by accident and while I usually find it inedible and gross, it was great in the frosting and I will definitely use it again)
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

Cream together softened butter and cream cheese. Beat in powdered sugar then add orange juice. Should make a nice thick glaze but not a stiff frosting. Once the little beauties are cooled, ice to taste.

*Dough enhancer is a specialty baking product that helps whole wheat flour behave more like white all-purpose flour. It's more than just wheat gluten. It has stabilizers that keep baked goods aloft rather than becoming dense and hard. You can buy dough enhancer or make your own. 

Rosemary

And yes, those are pictures of Cayenne's Cinnamon Rolls. I am terrible at remembering to take pictures.

Black Bean & Salmon Tostadas

I finally did it. I bought canned salmon. I've been meaning to do this for a while but just never get around to it. Canned salmon is an excellent way to incorporate more omega-3 rich fish into the diet and it is far less expensive than fresh or frozen salmon. But I've never played with canned salmon before so I wasn't sure exactly what I'd do with it. So I turned to my faithful eatingwell.com and found this recipe for Black Bean & Salmon Tostadas. I didn't have those exact ingredients, so this post is documenting my riff on their recipe since I think it turned out great.

Oh, and Thyme, my version is allergen-free for your little dude so long as your salsa and chili powder have been vetted.

Black Bean & Salmon Tostadas
8 6-inch corn tortillas
Canola Oil
1 15 ounce can boneless, skinless wild Alaskan salmon, drained
1 large avocado, diced
1/2 tsp chili powder or to taste
2 tsp lime juice or to taste (not sure exactly how much I put in)
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons prepared salsa
1/2 cup red onion, diced
2 cups thinly sliced lettuce

1. Position racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 375°F.
2. Brush tortillas on both sides with canola oil. Place on 2 baking sheets. Bake, turning once, until light brown, 12 to 14 minutes.
3. Combine salmon, avocado, chili powder and lime juice in a bowl. Process black beans, olive oil, salsa and red onions in a food processor until smooth. (I used an immersion blender.) Transfer to a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave on High until hot, about 2 minutes.
4. To assemble tostadas, spread each tortilla with some bean mixture and some salmon mixture and top with lettuce.

Rosemary

Chickpea & Cauliflower Curry

This recipe is brought to you by the letter C and this original recipe here.

We've found ourselves eating more curries rather than stir fries these days (a favorite stand-by until my son's soy allergies made recipes with soy sauce more difficult), and while I can only use the word curry in the vaguest sense and not in any way resembling authentic Indian cooking, I think they're turning out pretty good. This is basically how I make most of mine, but rotate out whatever vegetables/beans/meat I have on hand at the moment.

1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tsp cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans/chickpeas (I actually made some in the slow cooker, so I don't know exactly how many I used)
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk

Cook the onion and garlic in the oil until they are soft and on the verge of carmelization, add the spices and saute until you think you've almost burnt it (or in my case, until you're done chopping the cauliflower, which was close to the same amount of time).

Add the chickpeas, cauliflower, and bell pepper - cook for a few more minutes while your children distract you and you try to get the can of coconut milk open. Add the coconut milk, cover and simmer until the cauliflower is soft (10-15 minutes, I think - I actually lost track).

We ate it over brown rice, and the 2-year-old shoveled it in his mouth faster than I thought possible while the 3 year old almost completely ignored his entire plate. Overall, I considered it a success.

Chocolate Rice Krispies Treats

Here is my entry for the chocolate contest. I've been puzzling over what to enter since I'm not much of a chocolatier. Then today I came up with these on the fly and I thought, "Why not?" They're not very sophisticated, but simple and easy is good too. You can vary the recipe quite a bit and still get the idea. Not to mention, they should be easy to judge since most of you should be able to get the ingredients and have the time to make them.

Chocolate Rice Krispies Treats

1 can sweetened condensed milk
10 oz marshmallows
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (could do more or less; also could probably do unsweetened chocolate because of how sweet everything else is...bittersweet was the least sweet that I had)
1 cup dried cranberries
5 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1. Heat sweetened condensed milk and marshmallows on the stove in a large sauce pan. Stir until marshmallows are melted. Remove from heat.

2. Stir in chocolate chips completely. Then stir in cranberries and cereal.

3. Press mixture into a 9x13 baking dish that's been coated with cooking spray and allow to cool. Tip: Wet your hands first and they won't stick.

These are a fun way to get a chocolate fix. I went with the bittersweet chocolate and cranberries to cut through the sweetness of the marshmallows and sweetened condensed milk. You could add anything that you like to it really; especially if it's unsweetened. Things like coconut and nuts would be particularly good. Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas to improve it.

Rosemary

Love me some Baked Oatmeal

Amish baked oatmeal is one of my favorite breakfasts. It's warm, comforting, and tasty. It's a nice variation to the usual bowl of oatmeal. You can prep it the night before; the only down side is that you do need to wake up early enough to bake it before the kids get cranky. Here's my favorite recipe so far (thanks food.com) with my tweaks in parentheses.

Amish Baked Oatmeal

1/3 cup butter, melted (when I doubled this, I made almost half of it butternut squash puree; you can also use applesauce or some other fat substitute if you like and I'm sure you could completely replace the butter, I just haven't vetted that theory yet)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon or nutmeg (it says 1 tsp nutmeg but I'd use 1/4 to 1/2 if subbing for cinnamon)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup + 2 tbsp milk
3 cups oatmeal, regular or quick


1. Spray an 8"x8" baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Beat eggs well.
3. Add brown sugar, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt and mix well.
4. Whisk in butter, milk and then add oats.
5. Stir well, pour in pan and refrigerate overnight (or bake immediately if you didn't plan ahead).
6. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 35-45 min. or until set in the middle.
7. Serve hot with milk poured over (and fresh or dried fruit) (also good cold if you don't want to trouble with reheating the leftovers).

This feeds the kids and I for 2 or 3 days at least.

Rosemary

P.S. I made this with steel cut oats once. Turned out great, just chewier, which is fine as long as everyone at the table can chew well enough.

Slow Cookin' Tortilla Soup

I had some beans and ground beef to use and I really wanted to do a crock pot dinner tonight so it wouldn't take too much of my time. I glanced at a couple of recipes and improvised this version of tortilla soup. Please feel free to glance at this recipe before improvising your own!

Slow Cookin' Tortilla Soup

1 lb (2 cups) dried Anasazi beans (they're not too far off of pintos if you were wondering)
6 cups water
2 cubes bouillon or 1/2 tsp or so salt
1 lb or so uncooked ground beef
1 med/large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 snack bag of frozen green chiles, peeled, seeded, and chopped (more wouldn't hurt)
1 can diced tomatoes
3 cans broth
1 carton of grape tomatoes (I don't like them raw, so this is how I use them up)
1 can corn kernels (I would have preferred frozen)
2 tsp or so chili powder
1-2 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Top with your preference of:
tortillas cut into small strips
shredded cheddar cheese
reduced fat sour cream
chopped green onions
chopped avocado (sadly I used all mine up earlier in the day)

1. Sort and rinse beans. Put in the crock pot with 6 cups of water and 2 bouillon cubes or salt. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or until beans are tender. Drain most of the liquid off before adding other ingredients. (Also just a great way to cook beans for any application without the hassle of soaking).
2. Brown ground beef in a pan. Add onions and garlic and a dash of salt and cook until translucent. Add beef and onion mix to the slow cooker. (Drain beef before adding to pot if it's not lean or if that's just your preference.) (If you decide to go for chicken instead or a pre-cooked beef or pork or just go vegetarian, make sure you add some oil to cook your onions and garlic in.)
3. Add the rest of the ingredients (minus the toppings) to the slow cooker. Cook on high for 2 or so hours or until you're ready to eat and the tomatoes are cooked.
4. Serve topped with tortillas and other condiments that you desire.

Rosemary

P.S. My 3-year-old who has never seen a [non-jelly] bean that he liked said that he loved these beans. It's either a miracle, a con, or a really tasty soup. :-)

As Promised: Peanut/Cashew Butter Balls

So, we had a Linger Longer after church today in which we were supposed to bring easily prepared finger foods to share. I thought I would take the opportunity to make a few batches of experimental chocolate candies to take and see how they went over. Running the risk of sounding prideful, they were a big hit.

So, full disclosure, this recipe is modified from a version found in the red Better Homes and Gardens cook book under peanut butter balls. Their recipe is as follows:

1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tbsp butter or margarine (softened)
Chocolate for coating (I think the recipe calls for 6 ounces, but I might be wrong)

Cream the butter and peanut butter together until smooth. Add sugar and stir, forming a stiff dough. Roll into balls approximately 1 in diameter. Melt chocolate and dip balls in it.

Pretty simple. Now, since our youngest has allergies to peanuts, I've been experimenting somewhat with different nut butters. I've been interested in cashew butter for some time, but I had never tried it. However, I decided to try my hand at making it, since I've had some success with sunflower seed butter in the past. The cashew butter is, for lack of a better description, one of the easiest things I have ever made. Basically, you need cashews, a food processor, and maybe a little bit of oil. Put the cashews in the food processor, pulse it until they are pretty fine, then turn it on and let it go. It will start forming a solid ball of cashew goo within about a minute. Depending on how thin you want it, you can then add your oil, but don't overdo it. Since the cashews are pretty oily themselves, a little veggie oil (I think I used canola, whatever you want) goes a long way. Keep processing it until it gets to the consistency that you want. Easy peasy.

So, using this cashew butter, I modified the above recipe by substituting half of the peanut butter with cashew butter. Everything else remained the same.

Now, truth be told, I couldn't tell a whole lot of difference between the straight up peanut butter ball and my modified chocolates. Mine were a touch saltier and had a little bit more mellow of a finish, but not enough to really be sure why. However, I did also make a batch of normal peanut butter balls but then, before the chocolate could harden, Thyme and I rolled them in chopped cashews to give them a kind of Ferrer Rocher look. These I am quite proud of. I liked the crunch and salt that you got right off the bat, and then the sweet. I think I may have to start making them that way every now and then, at least as long as I have cashews.

-Mint