Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Some day, I just might be brave enough to cook with yeast. Until that day comes, I'm gonna just put this recipe here for safe keeping; these rolls were a big hit at Thanksgiving this year :) (Thanks, Mary!!! And Thanks, Geri, for the recipe!)

Ingredients:

2 tsps active dry yeast
1 1/2 C warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 1/4 C canned pumpkin
1/2 C butter or margarine, softened
1/3 C sugar (or Splenda)
2 eggs
2 tsps salt
1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
4 1/2 to 5 C all-purpose flour

These are delicious, a pretty color, and do not really taste much like pumpkin.

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add the pumpkin , butter, sugar, eggs, salt, and whole wheat flour; beat until smooth.  Stir in enough all-purpose flour to make a soft dough (I use 5 cups). Turn onto a lightly-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 hour).

Punch dough down. Turn onto lightly-floured surface; divide into 3 portions.  Roll each portion into a 12" circle; cut each circle into 12 wedges.  Roll up wedges from the wide end and place, pointed-side down, 2 inches aprart, on greased baking sheets.  Curve ends to form crescents.

Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Move to wire racks. Yield 3 dozen

Nutritional Analysis: 1 roll = 134 calories, 3 g fat (2 saturated), 19 mg cholesterol, 161 mg. sodium, 23 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 4 g protein.  Diabetic exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 1/2 fat. 3 Weight Watchers pts.

CSN Stores Giveaway!

Children's Luggage, pet products, cookware that would make Chef Ramsey kiss butt for; these are just a few of the many, many products you can find on the CSN Stores website. Seriously--The have 200+ stores!!  I'm excited to tell you that very soon, I will be offering you a chance to spend your very own CSN Stores gift certificate! Stay tuned for your chance to enter!

My Two New Favorite Kitchen Tools!

[note: Photos/Links originally included in this post have been removed by the CSNStores site, which was later purchased by WayFair]

Last summer, I bought a piece of crap B&D blender and have had to return it not once, but twice, because it can't handle the power demands required to blend a banana smoothie! It starts to blend and then has a cardiac arrest and cannot be revived. Very frustrating!!  It's back in it's box again, and I'm happy to say that I will be returning it permanently this time, because I have found a new friend in, surprisingly, my new Oster blender, which I got to pick as part of a CSNStores offer.

I don't really know why I've not bought the Oster brand before, but it was within the budget allowed to me by CSNStores, so I went for it, and I'm really happy I did--It's perfect! I especially noticed that the motor on my 12-speed Oster blender was relatively quiet; I made smoothie at 8am without waking Mr.4444, who slept peacefully just a room away. It effortlessly tore through frozen strawberries like a champ. The 5-cup pitcher  size is perfect for our smoothie making needs. For you gadget fans out there, this blender even has "clean" mode (which kind of cracked me up). I'm really happy with our new blender and look forward to using it often.

I also chose the West Bend Electronic Stopwatch for my holiday baking, and I'm thrilled with it.  Every year, I make Norwegian Krumkake (see my post, When Kaka Means Yummy!). When you make krumkake, you can only make two at a time, and they have to cook for about 80 seconds. As a multi-tasker, I often burn some, because I can't be bothered to stand there and watch them cook. My new timer is going to make burned krumkake a thing of the past :)

The timer is the perfect size (numbers show up nice and big) and it's a very basic, timer, which makes me very happy; I don't need all kinds of complicated buttons--just let me count up or down and I'm happy.  The West Bend timer that I got can be displayed three different ways--it's magnetized to put on your fridge, you can clip it to your belt, or stand it up with an easy flip of the stand on the back. It beeps loudly, which is perfect for me, because I can be doing things in the next room and still hear it.  I'm really looking forward to doing my holiday baking with my new timer.

My experience with CSN Stores has been wonderful. I've reviewed three of their products and very much look forward to having a CSN Store Giveaway very soon, so stay tuned!!

Spiced Apple Cider

CSN Stores has gifted me with a gift certificate to any one of their 200 stores on-line, where I look forward to shopping for whatever I want! I'm excited to choose from a bar stool, to a blender, to a blanket. Really, the choices are endless, but I think since I broke my crockpot this weekend, I'll be looking for one of those (which I could actually use tomorrow, when I take this wonderful cider to share at work)!

You know how, at work, people are expected to bring treats in on their birthdays? Well, I boycott that; it's against my principles to have a commitment on my birthday! That said, I do like to bring in a treat now and then during other times of the year, and when Kendall said she was in the mood for my mom's Spiced Apple Cider, I figured I'd make some. The recipe makes a ton, so I should have plenty to share all around.

Ingredients:

2 2-inch long cinnamon sticks

2 tablespoons whole cloves

1 1/2 quarts water

1 cup sugar(dang! just realized I could have used Splenda!)

1 gallon of apple cider of your choosing

1 12-oz can frozen orange juice (we buy it with pulp)

1 12-oz can frozen lemonade

I threw my 5-year old cinnamon sticks away and bought new ones. 

The cloves smelled wonderful.

 First, take the first four ingredients and simmer them on the stove for an hour.

Obviously, the water will be clear at first.

After a little while, it will look a little cloudy.

After an hour, it will be a beautiful, golden hue.

Strain it into a large pitcher...

...or, if you have a huge Tupperware bowl, strain it directly into that. 

The entire batch fits into the bowl, 

where you can gently stir it with the apple cider, lemonade, and orange juice.

Carefully fill the apple cider bottle, using a funnel.

The recipe makes a gallon and a half.

It also makes for a wonderfully-flavorful drink on a cool, autumn day.

For what it's worth, it also makes a fantastic accompaniment to leftover pumpkin and spice cake! 

(and can you imagine it with a shot of amaretto?!)

Yummmmmm.

Carol's Slow Cooker BBQ

Now I'm no Rachael Ray, but I definitely wouldn't call myself a "slow cooker," so let's assume that Carol here is referring to a crock pot in the title of her recipe for delicious barbecue. I got this recipe from SparkPeople, a website for helping people reach nutrition and fitness goals. So far, it's given me the structure and guidance that I needed to lose 6.5 pounds. I was looking for a recipe that had molasses in it (it's got lots of vitamins, People!) and found this and a recipe for low-carb homemade barbecue sauce. Both are relatively healthy but full of flavor. [If you'd like a more heart-hateful recipe that is sure to please, check out my Barbecued Beef for a Crowd.]

I'll warn you ahead of time that this is not a difficult recipe, though it will taste like you worked on it for hours (which, of course, you will, if you are the crock pot.) If you want to milk this for all it's worth, splash some water on your face, mess your hair up a bit, and smear a little sauce on your shirt. Then grab your favorite book and spend some time reading in the kitchen, but keep a cookbook handy, in case you have quickly switch. (Make sure it's right-side up, of course.)

Ingredients:

4lb boneless beef chuck, arm, rump or pot roast (yes, I know I forgot to photograph it. More on that later)

2 large onions, sliced into thin strips

4 stalks celery, sliced

4 cloves fresh garlic, minced

1.5 cup catsup (or ketchup, if you're a stickler!)

1 cup BBQ sauce (I made this!)

1/4 cup Grandma's Molasses

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar or your choice of other kind

2 tbsp prepared yellow mustard your choice of type

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

Confession Interjection: As you may have guessed, I was about out of molasses 

and turned it upside down to try and get every drop out.  

I ended up having to go borrow some from my sweet neighbor, Wendy.  

Also, because the barbecue sauce recipe reviews stated that it had a lot of kick,

I only used a sprinkle of the black pepper and chili powder this recipe calls for.

Anywho, all you have to do is whisk the sauce ingredients together til they are a nice, caramelly color... 

I followed this recipe backwards, mixing all of the "gravy" ingredients first, 

because I put off touching the meat until as late as possible; 

Mr.4444 usually cleans/cuts the meat for me, and he wasn't home. 

I don't know what it is about me and touching raw meat, but I find it quite disgusting.

I'm very proud of myself for preparing the meat all by myself; I didn't even gross out once!

(But don't tell Mr.4444, because I think he likes being my meat-prep hero :)

Put the veggies and meat into the crockpot..

The recipe said to put the meat in first, but you know what a rebel I am; 

I put it in second and mixed the stuff up a little.

Pour the sauce all over this culinary promise...

and fire up the crockpot on Low. Leave it alone for 8-10 hours.
Remove the meat from the sauce, and remove any fat you see.

Fork the meat apart, and return it to the sauce.
Refrigerate overnight or serve right away on your favorite rolls,

with some yummy potato salad and veggies, of course! :)

Per Carol: 
This recipe has so much flavor, no one will notice the Worcestershire sauce and the salt were deleted to reduce sodium (Shh! Don't tell Carol there's Worcestershire sauce in the barbecue sauce I made! It'll be our little secret!) Using molasses, instead of brown sugar and Worcestershire, gives a depth of flavor and authenticity, while reducing sugar and sodium.  (Don't worry--Mine didn't take fake at all.)
It is great to take to picnics, buffets, or tailgating. Freezes well. 

P.S. The potato salad was AWESOME and made with the following: red potatoes, pickled green beans, celery, hardboiled egg white, Miracle Whip, and mustard.  And BTW, that is a salad plate and a dinner roll, so don't go thinking I've been eating like a horse. This is just one of many healthy, reasonably-sized meals I've been eating since I turned over a new leaf (and lost six pounds!!)

Low-Carb BBQ Sauce

 I've been making healthier decisions lately, when it comes to eating and exercising, and I've found that using SparkPeople helps. I found this recipe there this week and decided to try it. It was great!

Ingredients

1 c tomato sauce
3 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T cider vinegar
6 packets Splenda
1 T chili powder
2 t Tabasco sauce
2 t garlic powder
1 t pepper
1 t liquid smoke

I happened to have some Splenda packets on hand, but I don't always, so I measured them out for you and found that 6 packets is about a teaspoon and a half.

I only used 1.5 tsps of Tabasco, since one of the reviewers said the recipe was not for the faint of tongue.

Simply mix the ingredients and "cook" them 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and turning the heat down when it starts to boil.

I made this sauce for Carol's Slow-Cooker Barbecued Beef, and it was wonderful.

Personalized Omelets for a Crowd

Saturday morning, at our family reunion, I'll be helping facilitate the making of breakfast, which is really fun!  I highly recommend it! (stay tuned for pics!)

Ingredients:
Eggs (2-3 per person)
Various diced ingredients: onions, green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, pre-cooked sausage, ham, turkey, shredded cheese, etc.
1 quart-sized Ziploc bag per person (must be quart)
permanent markers
large container of ice water
large pot(s) of boiling water
salsa (if you like)

This is a fun and easy breakfast that gets everyone involved. Great for company or even for camping! Here's where the fun starts: Give each person a bag and a marker and have them personalize their bags with their names (some will be more creative than others, which is half the fun.) In pairs, help each other crack 2-3 eggs into your bags, and "squish" them to mix up the eggs. Then add whatever ingredients you like, plus a teaspoon of water (unless you added tomatoes, which add enough moisture). Submerge each bag (just to the zipper) in the ice water, to force the air out, closing the top carefully. When everyone is ready, place the bags together in boiling water 10-12 minutes for 2-egg omelets, adding a couple of extra minutes for a 3rd egg. One time that we made these, we did not have the right bags, so we used gallon-sized bags; YIKES! They were so big, they flopped over the edges of the pan and melted to the sides. While it all worked out, we learned our lesson. Use the quart-sized bags, which are smaller than the gallon size and more durable than the sandwich size. Most importantly, have fun! Serve with salsa on the side, if desired.