Showing posts with label April. Show all posts
Showing posts with label April. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Cinnamon Roll Bake: April's Winning Dessert

I must apologize for the lateness of this post.  Due to my 30th birthday and having my grandparents here visiting, I was having a hard time making time to do the dough part.  I did not forget and here it is as promised.  Overall this dessert turned out well.  I don't feel like the person gave directions very well again and had to skip between recipes.  I would also add some cream cheese icing on the top as well if I were to make it again and change the dough recipe.  It is still very delicious though.

Ingredients:
Dough:
4 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Cup Half/Half (more if needed)
3 Tbsp Butter (Melted)
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Yeast

Filling:
8 oz (1 pkg) Cream Cheese (Softened)
3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla

Topping:
5 Tbsp Melted Butter (Separated in half)
2/3 Cup Brown Sugar (Separated in half)
Sprinkle of Ground Cinnamon



Directions:
Dough:
(If you have a bread machine, you can add the dough ingredients to it and set on dough cycle or you can do it the old fashioned way like I did)
Step One: Make the Dough
Use an electric mixer to beat a portion of the flour and the remaining ingredients together, making sure all of the flour and yeast are moistened.
Use a wooden spoon to stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can (using an electric mixer at this stage can strain the motor). Stir until the dough looks ropey and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Tip: Start by adding in the minimum amount of flour in the range. If you add too much flour during mixing and kneading, the bread can become heavy and dry.
Step 2: Knead the dough
Cinnamon rolls call for moderately soft dough, which is still slightly sticky and requires 3-5 minutes of kneading.
To knead place dough on a lightly floured surface (I use baking paper on the counter), fold dough over and push down with the heel of your hand. Turn, fold dough over, and push down again. Repeat this process over and over. You know the dough is ready when it is smooth and elastic. Shape it into a ball.
Tip: Kneading helps the gluten to form in the dough and creates the sturdy structure needed
Step 3: Let the dough rise (This took about an hour and a half for me)
Place the ball of dough into a greased bowl that is at least twice as big as the dough ball, and turn it once to grease the surface. This keeps the dough from drying out.
Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size. Punch down the dough by pushing your fist into the center. Cover the dough and let it rest on a floured surface before shaping. This calms the dough and makes it easier to work with.


Once dough is complete split the dough into two equal pieces.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray/Grease an 8 in baking dish
Spread half of the dough on the bottom of the bakign dish
Spread with half of of the brown sugar mixture.
In a mixing bowl add the filling ingredients and beat until smooth.  Spread over the brown sugar mixture.
Cover well with the remaining dough and top with the remaining brown sugar mixture.
Cook for 18-20 minutes or until brown.  Cool 10-15 minutes before slicing.  Enjoy! 
Add the dough ingredients into a mixing bowl starting with half of the flour
Beat on low speed
Add the remaining flour to the dough and mix with a spoon

Sous Chef Liam showcasing the dough
Dough should be sticky

Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes
Chef selfie
Place dough in a large bowl and cover to allow to rise
Allow dough to rise to about twice the original size

Punch the dough in the middle
Place on lightly floured surface
Roll the dough out
Add half of the dough to the greased baking dish
Add half of the brown sugar mixture and top with the sour cream mixture
Fully cover with the remaining dough
Top with the remaining brown sugar mixture
Bake for 18-20 minutes
Serve & Enjoy!


If you would like to view the previous winning desserts, click here:



January's Winner: Black Forest Pavlova

December's Winner: Pumpkin Tiramisu

November's Winner: Caramelized Banana Pudding

October's Winner: Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

September's Winner: Apple Raspberry Crumble

Friday, May 2, 2014

Cheesy Chicken Burritos: April's Winning Dish

This was originally supposed to be a recipe for Chicken AVOCADO burritos, but once I pulled my avocados out they had gotten frozen in the back of my fridge and weren't very usable so I added in some other ingredients instead.  It still turned out very delicious and I had 3 additional tasted testers to vouch for it.  Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 Chicken Breasts (thinly sliced)
Seasoning (Taco Seasoning, Garlic Powder)
Flour Tortillas (Burrito size)
Mexican Mix Shredded Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese Shredded
Cilantro (chopped)
Green Onions (Sliced)
Tomatoes (Sliced)
Corn
Salsa
Sour Cream

Directions
Add the oil to a skillet and place the sliced chicken in.  Season generously and cook throughly.  Get a tortilla out and place the ingredients you want warm inside (chicken, cheese, green onions, corn, cilantro).  Close the burrito and place it on the grill (I use my nifty George Foreman grill).  Grill until the cheese is melted (a few minutes).  Open up the burrito and add the remaining ingredients (tomatoes, salsa, sour cream).  Serve & Enjoy.

Add the chicken oil and seasoning to the skillet
Prepare your toppings
Add the toppings you want warm tot he burrito

Grill the burrito until the cheese is melted
Add the remaining ingredients and enjoy!


 Here are the precious winners if you are interested in checking them out!

March's Winner: Carne Asada

February's Winner: Chicken Cordon Bleu

January's Winner: Sauteed Scallops

December's Winner: Pizza Pot Pies

November's Winner: Lasagna Stuffed Manicotti

October's Winner: Pumpkin Risotto

September's Winner: Burgundy Pork 

Thursday, May 1, 2014

April 2014 Playlist

Many songs contributed to an amazing birth month for me!  Here are 30 of them, one for each day of April to give you a little insight into what music impacted me this past month.




1. Let Her Go-Passenger:  This song always makes me chuckle to myself by the truth in the chorus "You only miss the sun when it starts to snow.....  Only know you've been high when you're feeling low,  Only hate the road when you're missing home" 

2. Morning After Dark-Timbaland feat Nelly Furtado & SoShy:  This song always makes me jam out in my car, and I love Nelly so much!  It's just fun.

3. All For Love-Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, Sting: 3 great amazing voices, and such a great song that expresses so much love and also from the great Three Musketeers....

4. Find Me A Man-Toni Braxton:  I love love love the lyrics in this song.  Great qualities to look for, and very fitting for my single 30th birthday that came to pass.

5. Break It Off-Rihanna feat Sean Paul: Such a great combination and I love this song, makes me want to get up and dance.  It has definitely followed me through the years.

6. Break Stuff-Limp Bizkit:  Haha well let's just say that I had reason for a bit of angst this past month and this song was VERY fitting.  Such a great angry jam.

7. Leave You Alone-Young Jeezy feat Ne-Yo:  What can I say, this song is a good one and it makes me sing along.  I think most of us have a bad boy/girl in our past

8. Fantasy-Mariah Carey: Good old classic Mariah.  Love it

9. Just A Girl-No Doubt:  One of the first songs to make me fall in Love with No Doubt.  And it is still great

10.  Shouldv'e Kissed You-Chris Brown: I love this song.....

11. Sleepless-Kate Havenik: This song is great.  I love the lyrics, Kate's voice and the tempo of the song.

12. Be Still-Kaskade: Kaskade is always awesome in my book and I like this song that is a bit slower tempo for them!  And the video is pretty awesome

13.  Hips Don't Lie-Shakira feat Whylef Jean: How can you not love this song?  I always want to perfect my belly dancing skills whenever I think of this song and how awesome Shakira's skills are.

14. A Thousand Years Part 2-Christina Perry feat Steve Kazee: Part 2 is so much better than the original.  I love this song every time I get it, I want to slow dance or ballet across my living room floor while belting out the words. (Yes I am aware that I have issues haha)

15. All I Wanted-Paramore: Oh how I love Paramore and Haley's voice.  They usually rock out harder but I love their slow songs, such as this one and the lyrics are pretty great as well

16. Never Let Me Go-Florence & the Machine: FATM is seriously one of the greatest of all times.  Every single song I hear makes me take a pause in life to just stop and listen for a moment and revel in the vibes that are put forth by the lyrics and the vocals and the instrumentals...

17. Someone to Love You-Ruff Endz: Such a wonderful song and great throwback.  Whenever I hear this song I definitely think of myself.

18. Yo Side of the Bed-Trey Songz: I love this song, but the music video really sealed the deal for me with his wife deploying and being without her while she is gone.  I have seen this video dozens of times and it still makes me cry EVERY time that I watch it...  needless to say I try to never watch it around other people.  It is such such a powerful message.

19. Sweet Dreams-Beyonce': This has to be my favorite newer Beyonce' song.  It has such a powerful beat and presence that you can just feel whenever you hear it.

20. Goodness Gracias-Ellie Goulding: This song makes me laugh since I sake Goodness Gracias all the time.  I love that Ellie has this song, makes me love her even more.  I notice my son is now starting to say "goodness" haha.

21. Get Up-Ciara feat Chamillionaire: When I lived in California, I don't think you could go out dancing and NOT hear this song.  Needless to say it makes me want to dance whenever I see it and puts me in a happy move...  plus I actually did enjoy the first Step Up movie haha.

22. Just Like Me-Amerie: I will always feel like Amerie was an under-rated artist.  I love this song, and she has a lot of lyrics that I feel like I can relate to. 

23. Happy-Pharrell Williams: Liam and I spend extensive amounts of time dancing around the house to this song when we are having a wonderful day!  Whenever he wants to listen to it he tells me "Mom I want to listen to Despicable me" haha

24. She Wolf-Shakira: I know that I already have a Shakira song on here, but she was impacting me a lot this month and I jammed to this song many times this month!  It always make me feel empowered and happy and I probably look like a crazy woman if you see me in my car when this song is on!

25. Only Girl In The World-Rihanna: Again this is another artist I have already featured but it's from a different time in her career and I love this song!

26. Everything Zen-Bush: Because everyone needs some Gavin in their life and this is a great song

27. I Won't-Colbie Calliat: For the rebel in me ;)

28. Edge of Desire-John Mayer: Oh how I love Johnny boy and his lyrics, they are always welcome to my ears and always want to dance with someone close around the living room....  or somewhere more acceptable and cooler haha ;)

29. Beyond the Veil-Lindsey Sterling: I love Lindsey she is so talented and adorable and her videos are becoming higher budget!  Liam and I will just turn on her channel and listen for long stretches of time in a calming state.

30. Love Takes Over-David Guetta feat Kelly Rowland: Too very talented artists, and a great song.

This is 30

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Vote for my Menu: April Edition

I just want to start by thanking you for making this endeavor so successful and I look forward to a wonderful turn out for the voting this time!   This decision is based solely on 4 main course and 4 dessert recipes that I choose and then you vote to come to a FINAL decision.  After a week's time I will cook my version of the selected recipe and provide step-by-step instructions along with photos!
To vote just comment your Number and letter choice.  Thank you all in advance for your continued support and participation!


Main Dishes: 


Option A: Sea Scallops with Cranberry Balsamic Pan Sauce
You can't go wrong with scallops and mixed with cranberry balsamic should be an amazing combination.






Original Recipe:
Sea Scallops with Cranberry Balsamic Pan Sauce











Option B: Chicken Avocado Burritos
Avocado: Good, Chicken: Good, Burritos: Good.  How could you go wrong?







Original Recipe:
Chicken Avocado Burritos










Option C: Plum Pork Tenderloin
Plum and Pork make a savory combination.








Original Recipe:
Plum Pork Tenderloin










Option D: Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
During last month's edition I had a lot of requests for a vegetarian option.  So this is for my veggie lovers, and it sounds delicious! 






Here is the original recipe:
Vegetarian Tortilla Soup









Desserts


Option 1:  Stuffed Cinnamon Roll Bake
Oh man, this looks like it is simple delectable







Original Recipe:
Stuffed Cinnamon Roll Bake











Option 2: Carrot Layer Cake
Carrot cake used to seem like such a weird concept to me when I was younger, but as I have grown older I have learned to love the flavor sensation in my mouth as well as the amazing cream cheese frosting, however I have never attempted to make a carrot cake myself, so this would be my first try.








Original Recipe:
Carrot Layer Cake









Option 3: Blueberry Peach Crumble
What a delicious combination







Original Recipe:
Blueberry Peach Crumble











Option 4: Chocolate Cherry Cordial Brownies
Chocolate:Yum Cherry: Yum Brownies: Yum!  How could you go wrong with this recipe?








For the original recipe go to:
Chocolate Cherry Cordial Brownies










There you have it!  All of the options are listed for you.  Choose 1 Main Dish & 1 Dessert!  Vote by commenting below!  Here are the links to last month's winners!  Thank you again for your support!

Carne Asada

Caramel Filled Brownies