Texas Roadhouse Roll’s

For some reason I panic when people ask me to bring rolls to events. I guess it is because I have had so many flops when it comes to making rolls. For thanksgiving, the rolls that I had made 3 times before with success, turned out hard and dense and flat.

I don’t know why, but I just have never felt confident making rolls. When I was asked to bring rolls to Christmas Dinner, I went straight to the store and got frozen rolls. I didn’t want to risk another Thanksgiving roll incident. But after opening presents, I was in the mood to bake, so I decided to try a new roll recipe.

I thought it turned out pretty good. I used a copy cat recipe of Texas Roadhouse rolls. Yes, those yummy, slightly sweet rolls with cinnamon butter. Mine weren’t quite exactly the same as Roadhouse, but they were still very yummy. Especially when hot with cinnamon butter.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 oz. active dry yeast
• 1/2 C. warm water
• 2 C. milk
• 3 TBSP. melted butter
• 1/2 C. sugar
• 2 quarts all purpose flour
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 egg

Cinnamon Butter:

• 1 stick of salted sweet cream butter, softened
• 1/3 C. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Place the warm water in a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast and 1 tsp. of the sugar over the water. Let it sit for about ten minutes, or until the yeast starts to get frothy and bubble.

2. Scald the milk in a small saucepan. Cool to lukewarm. Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer.

3. Add the yeast, sugar, and the flour. Add  enough flour to create a batter about the thickness of cake batter. Beat thoroughly. Let stand until light and foamy

4. Add the melted butter (let it cool first), eggs, and salt. Beat well. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Add a little bit at a time until the dough starts to pull away from the side of the bowl. All in all, there should be about 2 quarts

4. Let the dough rest for a couple of minutes.

5. Knead for about 6 minutes in the electric mixer with a kneading hook. Or knead by hand with a little flour sprinkled on the surface. Put the dough in a big bowl that has been lightly greased with oil. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let it rise until it doubles in size.

6. Punch the dough down and divide into equal portions. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Shape the dough into roll shapes.

7. Place the rolls on a greased baking sheet. Let the rolls double in size again. Whip the egg and brush over the rolls.

6. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Place a pot of hot water on the lowest rack of the oven while it is preheating and leave it in while the bread bakes.

7. Bake the rolls for 10 minutes. Lower the temp. to 350 F. and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more. Cool on rack.

8. Make the cinnamon butter by beating the butter until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar a little bit at a time, blending well. Add the cinnamon and blend well. Store in the fridge in a air tight container.

 

Recipe adapted from food.com

Baked Kale Chips

You have probably heard of these before. They are all over the blogosphere. I had to give them a try.

They are thin and crispy and have way less calories than a potato chip.

You can crush them up and sprinkle on top of popcorn.

You can season them with what ever floats your boat.

But at the end of the day, they taste like crispy kale. I don’t love kale, but if I have to eat it, I prefer it this way(or in a pasta dish with lots of other flavors to mellow it out, like THIS).

Ingredients:

• Kale, chopped, rinsed (enough to spread out evenly and fill a baking sheet)
• Olive Oil
• Kosher salt or seasoning salt (or any flavoring you want)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 F.

2. Rip Kale away from the thick stems and tear into bite sized pieces.

3. Toss kale and a little bit of olive oil in a bowl until well coated. Transfer to a baking sheet.

4. Sprinkle salt and seasonings even over kale.

5. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the kale is crispy and starting to brown on the edges.

Recipe from www.ediblexperiments.blogspot.com

Orecchiette with Kale, Bacon, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

 

If you read my last post, you will be happy to know that I’m still going strong with my New Year’s resolutions. Aside from one trip to Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate a friend’s birthday, we have made healthy meals and exercised almost everyday this week.

The recipe that I am sharing with you today is so tasty and has so many different flavors! It only takes about 20 minutes to make! Boiling the noodles takes the longest.

I have a funny story about this recipe, too. The first time I made it I was so excited to try it and it was delicious except for some reason the kale turned all slimy and shriveled. It didn’t taste bad it just looked really bad in the picture. I felt like I needed to make it one more time and not cook it as long, so I went chop up the bunch of kale that I had bought and for the first time I saw the name of what I had bought on a little sticker: Curly Mustard!

I had bought Curly Mustard and used it instead of kale! I looked up curly mustard online and found out that it has a spicy, mustard taste. I rinsed off a big leaf and popped in my mouth, and sure enough, it was spicy and tasted like hot mustard! I couldn’t believe I didn’t notice it’s flavor in the pasta dish before. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t know what kale looked like enough to grab the right bundle of greens.

I went back to the store and bought a bag of prewashed, pre chopped Kale, and let me tell you, that is the way to go! It makes the recipe that much easier!

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. uncooked orecchiette pasta
• 5 cups bagged prewashed kale
• 1/2 TBSP. olive oil
• 1/4 C bagged bacon crumbles, two pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/4 C. oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 1/4-1/2 crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 large garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• 1 large roasted red pepper from the jar, roughly chopped
• 4 oz. sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 3/8 tsp. salt
• 1 TBSP. fresh lemon juice
• Parmesan cheese, grated,  to taste, or an Italian cheese blend

Directions:

1. Boil a pot of water to cook the pasta. While the water is boiling, chop the red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and anything else that needs to be chopped.

2. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook for 8 minutes or until almost tender. Add Kale and cook for 2 more minutes. Drain in colander, reserving 1/2 C. of the pasta water.

3. While the pasta is boiling, heat the olive oil in a skillet. Once it is hot, add the garlic, tomatoes, roasted red pepper, bacon, mushrooms, crushed red pepper flakes, pepper, and salt.  Over medium heat, stir until mushrooms and garlic are start to brown, slightly. I used the 1/2 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes, and it was pretty spicy. Use 1/4 tsp. if you have a low tolerance for spicy, hot foods.

4. Add pasta and kale to the mixture. Add the reserved 1/2 C. of water and toss to combine. Mix half the cheese through the mixture. Drizzle evenly with the lemon juice and toss once more time. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese and more bacon if desired, on top. Serve hot.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light Magazine December 2010 page 38.

Eating Healthy: Baked Brussels Sprouts, Parsnips, and Bacon

Last week I thought New Year’s resolutions were cliché.

I wasn’t even going to make any because I knew I was going to fail miserably. In the past I would make a ton of resolutions and after a day or two I realized I couldn’t keep it up and so I completely gave up. So this year I decided not to make any. I got discouraged because there were so many things that I needed to change and I just don’t have time with my job to do hardly any of them.

Then it hit me! I only need to make one goal (well, two, if you count flossing every day)!

To plan my day out the night before!

All the things I need to change are things I WANT to do, I just can’t find the time. What I really needed was to be more in control of my time. So every night this week, my husband and I have written out the next day down to the hour in our planners before we go to sleep. And on one night a week we plan weekly menu.

It has been a miracle! I actually knew which nights I was going to cook and which nights Benj was going to cook (he has been a huge help since I have been working). We each knew what we were going to make and what ingredients we needed. It is really helping us not eat out so much. My husband also got a gym membership at my gym next door to my work and almost everyday he meets me there right after my work and  we exercise together. We went 4 days this week! I got the laundry done, the dishes were kept up better, our meals were more nutritious, we had time to just hang out every night, and we went to bed at a more decent time.

Yeah, I know its only one week after New Year’s. Do you think it will last? (If I start posting a bunch of ice cream recipes in  a few weeks… I guess you’ll know that things went south). I’m not worried about it. I’m just taking one day at a time. I have never lasted this long on any resolution, so I think that’s a good sign.  You may think I just said that without realizing that we’re only 7 days into the new year… but I’m not kidding.  My previous record was my resolution to read the Complete Works of Shakespeare. 

I thought about it for a couple days… then I totally forgot about it.

But somehow I mustered up the motivation to go for a solid week (I probably deserve some sort of medal).  I’m sure there might be some of you out there who made a resolution that had to do with diet and exercise (the gym was packed last monday; tonight… not so much).  So, here are a few other tips from a 7-day expert:

• Keep nutritious, low calorie snacks on hand, already prepared. Baby carrots, sliced apples, berries, sliced cucumbers, hummus, cherry tomatoes, bananas, etc.
• If you just like the taste of something sweet right after a meal, find a yummy flavor of gum to chew. I love Extra’s Apple Pie gum, Strawberry Cheesecake gum, and especially their Key Lime Pie gum. It’s ok to have a little something sweet every once in a while, but not every time you sweet tooth starts talking. For me that is every waking hour of the day. Why do I crave gummy bears ALL THE TIME?
• I love going out for a treat (ice cream is my Achilles' heel). Instread of going out for ice cream, we went to the grocery store and got some healthier, lower calorie, Jamba Juice smoothie bars that we reward ourselves with after working out. They are delicious and they feel like dessert, but they are only 70 calories because they are made from real fruit. I like the Peach Blackberry Smoothie bar. There are also other low calorie treats like Skinny Cow and Weight Watchers ice cream bars.
• Or instead of getting ice cream, pick out a fun fruit. Something you don’t normally eat or something you have never tried. The other night got a prickly pear and and Ugli fruit. It was fun and exciting to try a new exotic fruit, and it was much more healthy than a Frosty from Wendy’s.
• Eat a little slower. Chew your food more. It will give your brain a chance to realize that you are full.
• Brush and floss your teeth earlier in the evening instead of right before you go to sleep. You wont really want to snack if you just brushed your teeth.
• Eat more fish and less red meat (except, of course, bacon :).
• Don’t deprive your self completely. It will just back fire and you will end up caving in to your cravings. I don’t consider myself on a diet, because I don’t like that mentality and I don’t want to feel guilty when I mess up. I just am trying to be more in control of what I eat rather than eating whatever is in front of me.

Enough blabbing, on to the good stuff:

Baked Brussels Sprouts, Parsnips, and Bacon

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Lbs. fresh Brussels sprouts
• 3 or 4 large parsnips
• crumbled bacon to taste
• Zest from 1 lemon
• a little bit of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 roasted red peppers, from the jar
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• Grated Parmesan cheese, to taste (about 1/4 C.)
• 4 oz. sliced mushrooms

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Wash the Brussels sprouts and peel away any discolored leaves. Slice off any discolored parts of the stems. Slice in half. Put in a large mixing bowl.

2. Peel the parsnips and cut into chunks. You don’t want them too big, or they will still be crunchy when the sprouts are done. Throw them into the bowl with the parsnips. Chop up the roasted red peppers and put them in the bowl, too.

3. Add the lemon zest, pressed garlic, crumbled bacon, cheese, mushrooms, and a drizzle of olive or canola oil to the bowl. Toss until everything is coated in the oil and mixed around. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix again.

4. Transfer to a large baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes, stirring every ten minutes so it doesn’t burn on the bottom. It may need more time, depending on how big your sprouts are and how thick your parsnips are. Just keep checking until the sprouts and parsnips are tender.

5. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve hot, with more cheese on top if needed.

Recipe from www.ediblexerpiments.blogspot.com

Cookies and Cream Pudding Poke Cake

Guess what I’m doing right now.

I’m multitasking.

I’m watching Cake Boss, writing about cake, editing cake pictures, and eating cake.

It’s pretty awesome.

I knew I had to make this cake when I saw it on Pintrist. It is so easy. And I would much rather have pudding smothering my cake than frosting. And I would rather have Oreos than sprinkle on top. And the beauty of it all is that each day you keep this cake in the fridge, the better it gets. I made it for Christmas Day dinner and the piece I am having right now is more moist and delicious than the first piece.

You could do any cake flavor or any pudding flavor, but this combination is my favorite!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 Chocolate fudge cake mix (and the eggs, oil, and water required to make the cake)
• 4 TBSP. mayo or sour cream
• 2 boxes (4.2 oz) Cookie and Cream pudding
• 4 C. milk
• 5 or 6 Oreos, crushed

Directions:

1. Mix the cake mix and all the ingredients listed on the cake mix box. Mix in the mayo or sour cream. Don’t worry, it just makes it more moist. You can’t taste the mayo.  Follow the directions on the box for baking.

2. After the cake is done baking, take a wooden spoon and use the handle end to poke holes all over the cake.

3. Mix together the pudding mixes and the milk. Whisk and let it sit for a minute or two. Let it thicken just a little, but not completely. Pour over the cake and spread it even.

4. Cover with tin foil and let it cool and thicken in the fridge for at least and hour.

5. Just before serving sprinkle the crushed Oreos all over the top of the cake.

Easy. Fast. Moist. Yum.

Recipe idea taken from picture on Pintrist from The Country Cook

Winner of the Chex Mix Party Giveaway!

The winner of the Chex Party Mix-change is...................................................Mami2jcn!
Email me at ediblexperiments@gmail.com and tell me your mailing address. You have one week to claim your prize. If I do not hear from you by Tuesday, January 3, 2012, I will randomly pick another winner.  Congrats!

-Prize donated by Chex through Myblogspot.com.
-Winner chosen through Random.org 

Hope you had a good Christmas everybody! My camera is having some issues, but as soon as I get it up and running expect a Cookie's and Cream Cake and some Homemade Texas Roadhouse Rolls.

Kernel-less Carmel Corn

WARNING!!! This caramel corn is extremely addictive!!! Some nice ladies brought some into my work for us and as soon as I ate the first bite, I knew I just had to make it. I went straight to the store after work and picked up the Pirate’s Booty needed for this recipe.

What’s Pirate’s Booty? It is kind of like a cheese puff, but with white cheddar. It melts in your mouth. It is so yummy. I got mine at Whole Foods, but you can do a store search on their website. I know some Costco’s carry them. Also, a lot of smoothie shops carry them, like Jamba Juice and Smoothie King. You can also use any kind of white cheese puff. I found lots of different kinds at three different normal grocery stores. Just make sure they are either white cheddar or just plain butter flavored. Trust me, you don’t even taste the cheese.

This recipe is so easy to make and it is so much better than regular caramel corn because there are no kernels. Just the puffy goodness. 

Ingredients:

• 8-10 oz. Pirate’s Booty ( White Cheese Puffs)
• 1/2 C. butter
• 1/2 C. light corn syrup
• 1 C. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Directions:

1. Pour the Pirate’s Booty into a very large bowl and set aside.

2. Combine butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup in a 2 quart sauce pan. Cook on medium heat until it has all melted and begins to bubble.

3. Add the baking soda. The mixture will bubble up a lot and become frothy. Give it a good stir until it is completely combined and remove from heat.

4. Pour caramel over the Pirate’s Booty. Use a spatula or a big spoon to fold the caramel into the Pirate’s Booty. Repeat until all the Pirate’s Booty is completely covered in the yummy caramel corn goodness.

5. Here is where you choose your own adventure: You can either eat it soft and chewy right away (well, after it cools), or you can bake it for a more crispy texture. It is amazing both ways.

6. For a crunchy texture: Spread the Pirate’s Booty out on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 F. for 25-30 minutes. Give it a good stir every 10 minutes or so. Allow it to cool and break into bite size pieces.

Keep in an air tight container.

Recipe adapted from Living Eventfully