My favorite cinnamon roll recipe!

I am a BIG fan of cinnamon rolls and can not count the number of different recipes I have tried over the years. Some are too gooey, some too dry, some too thick, some that don't raise, etc. I have a friend Camille that is famous for her AMAZING cinnamon rolls. They are always the perfect texture, the frosting is PERFECT, and they are light and airy. So..I finally got the recipe from her and WOW, they are delicious! I don't think I will try another cinnamon roll recipe again. My only alteration would be that I would maybe 1 1/2 times the frosting recipe..I like a lot of frosting!

Now, my picture does NOT do these cinnamon rolls justice. I had to make FOUR pans of cinnamon rolls (64 rolls) for a church activity and when I got home there were only four cinnamon rolls left. After the children got to them for breakfast, there was ONE lone cinnamon roll left :( So, here is the day-old LAST cinnamon roll left on my pile of four cookie sheets...to show you just how GOOD they are and how fast they go!

Perfect Cinnamon Rolls
1 c. warm milk
1/3 c. melted butter
2 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. salt
4 c. flour
1 T. yeast

Put warm milk, sugar and yeast into your mixer and mix for a minute until combined. Let the yeast grow until foamy and bubbly (about 5-10 minutes). Then add the eggs, butter, flour, and salt and combine until smooth and mixted together. Let dough sit in the bowl until it has doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours). When it has doubled, put a small amount of flour on the counter and pour the dough onto the counter. Roll dough out until it measures 16 inches x 21 inches.

Filling:
1 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 T. cinnamon
1/3 c. melted butter
Melt butter and spread on dough rectangle. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle all over buttered dough. Roll up and cut into 16 equal rolls.

Place rolls on greased cookie sheet 4 across and 4 down. Cover w/ greased plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour). Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes.

Frosting:
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. cream cheese
1/2 t. vanilla
1/8 t. salt

Frost 1-2 minutes after finished baking.

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Freezer Frenzie!

Most of you won't think it is hard to believe that I have three freezers. You know, the crazy food storage lady and all..why wouldn't I have three freezers :) Yes, two of them are fridge/freezers and one is a chest freezer. Before you think I am crazy and that my food will just go bad if the power goes out..I do have a generator and gasoline :)

Freezers however, are a secret to saving you $100's on your monthly grocery bill! To be able to stock up your freezer when prices are low on meat, cheese, dairy products, bread/tortillas, vegetables, fruit, etc., it can save you a lot of money on your food bill. I don't know what I would do without my freezers, especially the deep freeze. Here are a few pictures of my messy freezers (unorganized and all)..but, boy do they make me happy!!



Many people ask me what I think about Walmart meat. Well, I don't love it, that is for sure! I have had a few bad steaks and hamburger, so I have kind of sworn off Walmart meat (unless it is Tyson Chicken). I am sure all of their meat is not bad, but I have found a new favorite place to buy meat. First, Harmon's meat is always excellent quality, however it RARELY goes on sale for a great price. When it does though, I stock up my freezer--I LOVE their hand trimmed chicken breasts.

My other favorite place is Sunflower Market over by Fashion Place Mall in Murray, Utah. They have Sunflower Market's all over Arizona, Nevada, Texas, etc. Visit their website for store locations www.sfmarkets.com

Not only do they have high quality meat, it is also all natural, hormone free, no preservatives, as well. I feel better about that, whether it really matters or not. I just went to Sunflower yesterday and bought about 15 pork roasts ($1.77/lb.) and 10 packages of chicken breasts ($1.67/lb.). I spent under $90 and saved $166! My freezer is PACKED with pork and chicken!



They also have amazing sales on their produce and it is all really good quality. If you shop there on Wednesday's they honor their LAST weeks ad as well as THIS WEEKS ad prices--so, double the savings. Beware though, the store is packed on Wednesdays! I had to wait in line for the butcher to bring out more meat..it was crazy, but fun!!

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An apple a day, keeps the doctor away!

One of my favorite things about fall are sweet, crisp, apples. My all time favorite apple is the Jonathan Apple. It is crisp, a little tart, and has the perfect texture for pies, cobblers, and for eating plain. We planted a jonathan apple tree four years ago, but for some reason only get about 5-10 apples per year. In the mean time my grandma has a tree that is producing like crazy and so she gave me four big bags full of apples. Yippee!

So, what do I do with my apples, besides eat them?? Apple Pie Filling! YUM! If you have one of the fancy-dancy apple corer-peeler's from Pampered Chef (or wherever else they sell them), you will LOVE making pie filling. In about 4-5 hours I was able to bottle and can over 30 jars of apple pie filling. This pie filling is perfect for apple pie (Thanksgiving here we come!), apple cobbler, over pancakes (this is awesome with German Pancakes or w/ our Apple Wheat Pancake recipe), or inside of crepes. There are so many uses for pie filling, once you can them and have them on your shelf, the possibilities will be endless!

Here is my Grandma's Apple Pie Filling Recipe:

Jonathan Apples (or whatever kind you have on hand)
10 c. water
1 c. cornstarch
4 1/2 c. white sugar
2 T. cinnamon (or more if you like cinnamon)
2 t. nutmeg
1 cap full Almond Extract
2 T. lemon juice
2 t. salt

Mix the 10 c. of water, sugar, spices, and 1 c. of cornstarch together in a large sauce pan. When stirred together turn the heat to medium/high and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for just a couple of minutes, or until the mixture becomes thick. When sauce is thick, take off the heat and add the lemon juice and Almond Extract. Set mixture aside until apples are in their jars and ready to be filled.

For apples:

Peel, core, and slice the apples (with the Peeler/Corer/Slicer, or by hand). Remove any blemishes from the apples, and then put the apples inside the cleaned jars. Fill the apple jars with the cinnamon/sugar mixture until 1 inch from the top of the jars. Wipe the top of the lids with a clean and damp rag and put the lid and band on the jar. Place in a wet bath filled with water, and bring water to a boil (with jars inside). When boil comes to a rolling boil, set the timer for 40 minutes.




**Check the comment section of this post that will give you guidelines and rules for 'approved' bottling recipes and processing times. I am not claiming to be a canning expert, so check the link NCHFP: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/can_pie/apple_filling.html if you would like an 'official' and approved recipe. I just know what I have done for 10 years, that has worked so far :)


Jonathan Apple

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Homemade Salsa & Canned Chili

This is one of my favorite fall activities..to make homemade salsa and chili with all of the tomatoes from our garden. The great thing about making salsa and chili at the same time is that they are made with pretty close to the same ingredients, so you save steps my doing them together. The base of salsa and chili is pureed tomatoes (keep the skins ON and just puree them until smooth in a food processor), chopped peppers, onions, garlic, and jalapenos (chop those in your food processor as well). There are two MUST haves when making large batches of chili and salsa..a large roaster pan (I use this for everything, it holds a lot and can cook up to 500 degrees if needed) and a food processor. These two items simplify the process and make cooking time MUCH easier.

For the homemade chili, I don't have an exact recipe (sorry!), I just dump in a bunch of ingredeints, taste it and play around with several different spices. Here is the steps though to making homemade chili (from DRY beans..a GREAT way to use those dried beans in your storage).

First, I cook about 12-15 c. of DRIED pinto beans in my roaster pan with twice as much water as beans. I pour about 1/4 c. of baking soda in with the beans and water (this is supposed to help the beans cook faster and cut down on the 'gasiness' of the beans--or, is that just rumor??) I then boil the beans until they are soft which takes about 4-6 hours (or longer if your beans are older).


(cooking the dried beans)
Once the beans are soft I try to take out as much of the 'bean water' as I can (it gets dark and gray). I then puree about 4 processor containers full of garden tomatoes (rinsed and pureed--with skins on). This is probably about 30-40 tomatoes.


I then puree about 3-4 bell peppers, 3 large onions, 5 cloves of garlic all together in the processor. I then pour the tomatoes and pepper/onion mixture into the beans and let it simmer another couple of hours until the chili begins to get thick (with the lid off). I then saute about 4-5lbs. of sausage and 1-2 lbs. of hamburger (you can use all one or the other, or use turkey burger to make it even healthier...or, omit the meat all together and have a meatless chili).

I then add the seasonings and meat into the chili--thyme, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, chili powder, salt & pepper, etc. I then add about 6 cans of tomato sauce and a little water if the chili is too thick. Let it simmer until ready to serve and you are set!

Now..what do we do with all of this chili you ask? Well, my husband has a yearly 'fall kick-off' party at our house where we serve navajo tacos to all of our friends and family, watch a scary movie, and eat lots of 'fall' desserts--pumpkin rolls, cinnamon rolls, and pumpkin cookies...yum! With the chili that is left (there is always still LOTS left), I freeze in gallon freezer bags for later freezer meals. I love having chili in the freezer for quick meal ideas (chili dogs, chili & cornbread, navajo tacos, etc.). Chili freezes great and even gets better and more flavorful the longer it sits. YUM, YUM, YUM!!



If you would like my favorite recipe for bottled and fresh salsa, visit our blog www.dealstomeals.blogspot.com :)

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Fall is in the air!

There is nothing I love more than being in the kitchen on a cold and cloudy day. The kids have been out of school for a couple of days and with cold weather outside (even snow) there was not much else to do this week, but be in the kitchen and cook (well..there is always cleaning to do, but who wants to do that!)

I am not sure where my love for cooking came from, but I do know my mom had a great deal of influence on me. She was always cooking in the kitchen (especially around the holidays) and to me, there was no other place I wanted to be, than right by her side (mostly for the taste testing!) She would turn on some pretty music, put her apron on, and have fun in the kitchen. Those are some of my fondest memories with my mom!

Even at a young age my sisters and I were assigned a day each week to be in charge of dinner. We would have to choose the meal, make sure we had the ingredients to make the meal, and do the dreaded dishes after we made the meal (that sure helped us to be clean and use the least dishes). I can't say I always enjoyed my day to cook, but I think it was GREAT practice for me to learn to cook and be comfortable in the kitchen.

Having four small children, it sometimes takes patience, but I have really enjoyed teaching my children how to cook. My 9 year old daughter made her first batch of bread (with a little help) the other day. She couldn't have been more proud! Even my 8 year old son loves to spend time in the kitchen and even made the whole family oatmeal/mush this morning. It was adorable! Yes, it does take a little more patience though..my 2 year old spilled a canister of wheat kernels all over the floor thinking he would help me grind the wheat. Overall though, it is a joy to have beautiful children under my feet learning (and hopefully savoring) the memories they have with their mother in the kitchen.

Happy cooking and happy beginning to the holiday cooking season!!

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