Yummy Quick Potato Rolls

I've never made rolls this quickly before--way easier than using Rhodes. The roll in the picture is the only one left, and I'm eating it right now. Mmmmmmm!

Here's the recipe:

1/2 c warm water

3 tsp. active dry yeast

2 T. sugar

1/2 c sour cream (heated to lukewarm)

1/2 c mashed potatoes (I used instant. Also lukewarm to keep the yeast going)

1/4 c butter or margarine, softened

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 c white flour (don't use wheat, I tried it and it wasn't a good substitute)

Mix for approximately 5 minutes. Add more water or flour as necessary. Dough will be soft and not sticky. Divide into rolls and place on greased cookie sheet. Spray with Pam, cover with Saran, and let rise until double in size (it will only take about a 1/2 hour).

Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 or until golden brown on top.

Corn and Chicken Enchiladas

I'm adding these because I liked them enough to eat the left overs for a lot of days. They weren't your typical red or green sauce enchilada, they have a corn sauce that is a little sweet. They passed the kid test - 3 year old and 12 year old loved them. 9 month old - couldn't get enough of the corn sauce. The 10 year old liked them, but didn't want seconds saying they were too sweet. They are time consuming like pretty much any enchilada I've made, but they were unique enough to be good and different.

Sauce
4 ears corn (I needed more - 1 of mine was bad, but that still wouldn't have been enough. I had to mix fresh with canned corn.)
2 Tbs oil
1 medium onion, choppet
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 jalapeño chile, seeded, minced
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt

Filling
Reserved corn kernels
2 cups diced cooked chicken
4 oz. (1 cup) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Enchiladas
12 (6 -inch) corn tortillas (I needed more, but I had a 30 pack)
4 oz. (1 cup) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro

1. Remove husks from corn. Cut kernels from corn to make 4 1/2 cups. Reserve 1 1/2 cups kernels for filling.
2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until hot. Add onion and garlic. Cook 2 to 3 minutes. Add chile and 3 cups of the corn kernels; cover and cook 4 to 6 minutes or until corn is tender stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.
3. In blender container, combine milk, salt and corn mixture; blend until coarsely pureed. Set aside.
4. Heat oven to 350. Spray 9 X 13 pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, combine reserved 1 1/2 cups corn kernels and all remaining filling ingredients; mix well.
5. In small skillet over low heat, heat each tortilla until softened. place about 1/2 cup filling on each warm tortilla (1/2 cup was too much to roll. I put what looked good and just made more enchiladas.); roll up and place seam side down in sprayed baking dish. Top with corn sauce; sprinkle with 1 cup cheese.
6. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Just before serving, sprinkle with cilantro. (I didn't do that -oops ;) -cilantro isn't my favorite thing.

Kimberly

Peach puff pancake

This is a favorite at our house (and anywhere I bring it as well.) Once I brought it for a baby shower (we always did breakfast baby showers before school as teachers). I got to bring it for all subsequent baby showers that out team was in charge of.) It is delicious!

Ingredients
6 Tablespoons butter or margarine
6 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 tsp almond extract or vanilla
3 medium peaches (1 lb) peeled and sliced (2 cups) (sub 1 16 oz bag frozen peaches thawed and drained or 2 cups drained canned sliced peaches)
Peach preserves
maple syrup

1. Heat oven to 375. Spray 2 1/2 quart casserole or 9 X 13 pan with cooking spray. Melt butter in baking dish in oven.

2. Beat eggs slightly in large bowl with wire whisk or hand beater. Beat in flour, sugar, salt, milk and almond extract until smooth.

3. Stir peaches into butter in baking dish; return to oven 2 to 3 minutes or until sizzling.

4. Pour batter over peaches. Bake about 20 minutes or until puffed and golden. Serve immediately with peach preserves and maple syrup.

(This always takes longer than 2o minutes to bake - sometimes as long as 40 min. It will puff up and be golden when done and not look too wet on the top.) Yum! Makes me want to make this for breakfast in the morning. I even have fresh peaches. Hmm - my family would love me.

Kimberly

Chicken pitas and homemade pita recipes

Hi, this is Karley's sister Kimberly. She said I could share since I'm a new recipe nut.

I'll start with last night's dinner.
Greek pitas - these were super yummy, and simple

Ingredients

Pitas (recipe follows if you are brave enough to make your own, but that is what made the recipe)
hummus
2 cups chopped cooked chicken we grill up a ton, chop it and freeze it so it is always handy)
1 small container plain yogurt (6 or 8 oz)
2 tsp mint leaves
2 sliced tomatoes
1 sliced cucumber

Mix the mint leaves into the yogurt. Set aside.
Open pitas, spread hummus on one side. Fill with chicken, a couple slices of tomato and cucumber. Top with the yogurt sauce. Yum
I didn't have cucumbers (the ones I had bought were horribly bitter) so we just used lettuce. It was just as tasty. Somewhere in there I was supposed to add some greek seasoning, but I forgot. I'm sure they would be even better if I had mixed that with the chicken.

We couldn't find pitas at the store, so I searched at Sparkpeople.com (actually a weight loss sight, but they have lots of tasty recipes that are rated, and sometimes even healthy) Anyway, I found the following recipe for pitas - YUM! Never buying pitas again. I found the dough to be super sticky and had to roll them in lots of flour. I also will probably try baking them on my pizza stone next time rather than using all of the little pieces of aluminum foil.

Pitas

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1.5 cup white flour
1.5 tsp salt
1Tbsp white sugar
2 tsp dry active yeast
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup water warmed to 105-110 F

Directions

Preheat oven to 500 F
1. Blend 1 cup of the flour with the rest of the dry ingredients
2. Add water, then olive oil and mix thoroughly
3. Add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time kneading by hand by the end until all flour is worked through (about 5 mins kneading)
4. Divide dough into 8 equal parts and shape like a bun
5. Cover dough with a tea towel and let "rest" for approx 20-30 min depending on how warm your room is. (Warmer rooms need less time)
6. Roll each pita to 3/16" thick and place on individual squares of tin foil
7. Place 4 at a time right on the oven rack and bake for 5-7 minutes
8. When removing from the oven, stack them directly toogether immediately while hot so they stay soft, and cool stacked and wrapped in foil.
Note: Some may not puff, but YUM... eat them while hot or use them as crusts for quick mini pizzas or brush with olive oil and garlic and re-bake to make pita chips

Kimberly

Potato Salad

2 pounds small yukon gold potatoes - appx 6 med size
2 large eggs
2 green onions diced
2 c mayo
1/4 c spicy brown mustard
1/4 c finely chopped dill pickles with juice
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1/3 to 1/2 tsp dill seasoning
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

Put the potatoes and eggs into a big saucepan of cold salted water. Bring to a simmer. After 12 minutes remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and let cool. Continue cooking the potatoes until a paring knife poked into them goes in without resistance, about 3 minutes longer. Drain the potatoes in a colander and let them cool.
Meanwhile stir together the mayo, mustard, pickles and their juice, red onion, green onion, and lemon juice in a bowl large enough to hold the potatoes. Peel the eggs and chop them very fine into the bowl. Break the potatoes by hand one at a time into the bowl and toss them to coat with the dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper. You can also add fresh parsley, drained capers, and scallions instead of green onions if prefered.

So Yummy :)
Karley

Mediterranean Chicken Wraps

Sooooo yummy! We had these for dinner tonight and no one complained when I said we'd be having them again tomorrow : ). This is a delicious summer recipe.

Place in crock pot:
2-4 chicken breasts (The chicken goes a long way)
1/2 c olive oil
1 t rosemary
1 T chicken base or bouillon
2 t. white vinegar
1 T lemon juice
1 t oregano
1 t thyme
1/2 t pepper
Cook for 6 hours until done, shred and place back in juices.

Tzatziki sauce (this is like the sauce that comes on gyros, if you've ever had one)
1/2 cucumber, peeled and grated
1 small plain yogurt
1 T mayonnaise
1 T lemon juice
1 t dried dill
salt & pepper
1/2 t garlic powder

Serve wrapped in tortillas with lettuce, chopped tomato, feta cheese, etc. It's good stuff, Maynard : )

Tamara

Chinese Style Lemon Chicken

So in my quest to make my own chinese food - hence save a little cash I signed up for a Thanksgiving Point Cooking class with my friend...if you want more chinese you'll have to fork over some dough she'll teach again in sept- but I figure it saves me buying take out if I can make it....here is one of the recipes from our little class, and let me tell you, it beats the lemon chicken you would order from those places - it tastes much fresher, less sugary.

1 lb. skinless chicken breast fillets
1 cup each: flour & panko breadcrumbs
2 eggs lightly beaten
4 cup vegetable oil

marinate:
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp. mushroom seasoning - can buy it at the chinese type markets / stores
1 tbsp. rice wine
1/4 tsp. pepper

Sauce:
2-3 large fresh lemon, makes about 3/4 cup juice
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
cornstarch mixture: 2 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp. water


Cut chicken breast lenghtwise in half; marinate chicken for at least 15 minutes or overnight.

Cook the lemon mixing sauce in a saucepan and bring to boil. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir until thickened. Turn off the heat.

Place the flour, beaten eggs & bread crumbs on a different bowls. Heat 4 cups of oil until hot to deep-fry chicken. Dip marinated chicken in the flour first, then in the egg, last in the breadcrumbs. Deep fry the chicken until golden brown crust forms. Set on plate, cut chicken into strips & top with sauce.

Karley

"Instant" Pancake Mix

I have been on a quest to save some serious money at the grocery store. So in my quest to make things more from scratch I found this recipe. It is from my favorite food network guy, Alton Brown.

*6 cups all purpose flour
*1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
*3 teaspoons baking powder
*1 tablespoon kosher salt
*2 tablespoons sugar

I made a huge batch of this and will now just keep it in the pantry. Way easy and all things most people have on hand anyway.

Instant Pancakes
*2 eggs, separated
*2 cups buttermilk (you can use regular milk and just add a little lemon juice or vinegar)
*4 tablespoons melted butter
*2 cups "instant" pancake mix (above recipe)

Whisk together egg whites and buttermilk
Whisk together egg yolks and melted butter (be sure the butter isn't still hot or you will cook the egg yolks)
Mix the liquids together and then mix with dry ingredients. Do not over mix, there will be some lumps.

I added blueberries (I had some left over from a 4th of July dessert I made).

To feed my family of 7 I didn't double the recipe but I added 50%. Does that make sense? I did 3 eggs, 3 cups buttermilk. 6 tablespoons butter, 3 cups pancake mix. It was just the right amount.