Rhodes Rolls
Have you heard of these rolls? My husband’s grandma, Jean, loves them and swears by them, along with a college friend of mine, and apparently everyone at Thanksgiving because I went to the store to pick some up and they were completely sold out. Well since I didn’t want to make rolls from scratch for Christmas I bought a bag to try out. They are SO SO good! They are light, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside right out of the oven. And if you made enough there should be leftovers, and they are even delicious for days after. They lose that crisp but stay moist and yummy in the bag.
The down side? TIME! It takes 3-5 hours just to let these rolls raise! Then only 15ish minutes to cook. Is the time worth it? I’d say yes. I suggest making a ton on Saturday or Sunday and bag them for the rest of the week. I don’t know that I’d rush out and get these for a huge holiday bash just because they take up so much counter space for so many hours. But they are super yum and a sure crowd-pleaser.
For the Chocoholics
So I love chocolate, it’s yummy, melty goodness wins every time. For Christmas my husband got me a Lindt Wafer Bar; Milk Chocolate with a Wafer and Hazelnut Cream Center. To be honest I was a little scared by the hazelnut cream center. I’m more of a caramel girl myself but WOW! SO SO SO very good. I told my husband if he ever needs some extra points in my book he can always get me one of these. DE-licious!
The wafer middle can make for a little mess so I advise breaking the little bars off upside down, it helps keep the wafer intact. 
Go out and buy one, you’ll thank me.
Product Review: Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Cookie Mix
Yay for cookies! We my husband isn’t much of a peanut butter fan (like at all) so I don’t make peanut butter stuff much because he doesn’t eat it. But I made this mix and I think it turned out really well. I love peanut butter and chocolate so that’s what I did. I couldn’t find normal Hershey Kisses at the store so I used their all Milk Chocolate Bells – yum – instead.
They turned out great! I do have to warn anyone that if you make these with the bells and you eat the cookies warm… the bells pretty much explode with chocolate gooey-ness all over; so consider yourself warned! Also I advise doing small balls of cookies rather than large so you can get more chocolate per bite! Overall I think this mix is a winner and I suggest it for anyone!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
I have been looking for a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread recipe for a while, along with the cookie recipe, etc. I found this on Allrecipes.com and we think it’s delicious! The name on the site is Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread, however I would suggest a few changes, they will be after the ingredient list. Overall a delicious and yummy, moist bread that will be a hit. I actually did mini loaves of bread to give out to friends for the holidays. The original recipe says it makes 3 loaves, and it ended up making 8 minis.
Ingredients
* 3 cups white sugar
* 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 2/3 cup water
* 4 eggs
* 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
* 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
I didn’t have mini chocolate chips so I used regular, and did milk chocolate instead of semi sweet. I also put in some extra chips and did not include the walnuts – yuck.
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 1 pound size coffee cans, or three 9×5 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, oil, water, and eggs. Beat until smooth. Blend in flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Fill cans 1/2 to 3/4 full.
3. Bake for 1 hour, or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool on wire racks before removing from cans or pans.
I used mini loaf pans that were dark. I kept the temperature at 350 and it took about a half hour for them to cook.
Peanut Butter Cookies
I have been searching for my friend Nicole for a delicious Peanut Butter Cookie recipe and unfortunately I haven’t had time to try this one out but it sure looks yummy! This picture and recipe come from Baking Blonde, called The Best Peanut Butter Cookies. Period. and they are on my list to make. I’ll have to update once I actually get these made and have a review for you but I couldn’t deny you or Nicole the opportunity to make these should you feel the need.
In the meantime I will be running to the post office to mail gifts… 8 months pregnant with a toddler. Wish me luck.
Stir Fry Chicken
I’ve gotten my husband involved in helping pick out dinner choices. This is one I actually thought of but having him help makes my life easier and I feel like we don’t get stuck in the rut of eating the same things over and over again. I suggested Stir Fry and he thought that would be yum, so I looked up recipes on my favorite recipe site Allrecipes and found a winner. I did some adapting which I’ll share after the ingredients.
Chicken Stir Fry
Ingredients
4 (4 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breast halves
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup sliced celery (1/2 inch pieces)
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 small onion, cut into wedges
1 cup water
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
*Alright, we aren’t fans of celery so I omitted the celery, did minced onion instead of wedged onion, and made extra broccoli and carrots to make up for the celery. I cut the broccoli florets in half so they would cook quicker. I added a little extra soy sauce once the chicken was cooked and veggies had been added to the mix. Also I don’t have bouillon granules but I have bouillon cubes and I just used one cube of chicken bouillon and mashed it up. We also served this over rice.
Directions
1. Cut chicken into 1/2-in. strips; place in a resealable plastic bag. Add cornstarch and toss to coat. Combine soy sauce, ginger and garlic powder; add to bag and shake well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. In a large skillet or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil; stir-fry chicken until no longer pink, about 3-5 minutes. Remove and keep warm. Add remaining oil; stir- fry broccoli, celery, carrots and onion for 4-5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add water and bouillon. Return chicken to pan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.
Chicken & Dumplings
I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and LOVED it! So I’m going to share it with you with a few modifications. It is a crock pot recipe – yay! And a snap to prep and do. My husband and I loved this and this will go in our food rotation!
2 Large Chicken Breasts
2 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup
2 Small Cans Veggies or your favorite frozen/fresh
Minced Onion
Spices
1 1/2 cans Water
1 can (10 count) refrigerator biscuits – quartered
1. Place chicken breasts in the bottom of the crock pot.
2. Cover with cream of chicken soup and minced onion to taste.
3. Add veggies.
4. Cover with 1 1/2 cans water and spices; stir. (I used parsley and all seasoning salt.)
3. Cook 3 hours on high and add biscuits, cook 2 more hours.
4. Shred chicken and serve!
Sweet & Sour Chicken
This is a crock pot recipe however I’ve done this in a large pan for a faster cooking time before and it worked out great. This is a super yummy recipe but you have to give yourself extra time to do the prep work and browning. The chicken is still great if you don’t have time to flour and brown, so if you’re in a rush don’t worry about browning the chicken it still turns out. Also, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, sorry! But rest assured this is one to add to your recipe book!
5-6 lbs chicken
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp oil
1 6oz can lemonade concentrate
2 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp cold water
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1. Combine flour with salt. Coat chicken. Brown chicken in oil in skillet. Transfer to slow cooker.
2. Combine lemonade concentrate, brown sugar, ketchup and vinegar. Pour over chicken.
3. Cover. Cook on High 3-4 hours.
4. Remove chicken. Pour liquid into saucepan. Return chicken to cooker and cover to keep warm. Skim fat from liquid.
5. Combine water and cornstarch. Stir into hot liquid. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly.
6. Serve chicken and sauce over rice.
Product Review: Campbell’s Chili
I have to say that for years I’ve been searching for a yummy canned chili and time and time again I haven’t found what I was wanting, until now. I bought this a month ago or so and we liked it so much I bought more and we had chili over our baked potatoes last night and it was De-licious!
The kind I bought was the Campbell’s Chunky Chili with Beans. It has a good ratio of beans and meat along with a tasty sauce. I also added cheddar cheese and butter to my baked potato – yum! This is definitely a “highly recommended” from me as it’s the the ONLY canned chili that my family asks for. So try it out this cold holiday season, over baked potatoes, Fritos, fries or whatever. It’s a fast, yummy way to fill you up on a cold day!
Turkey Pot Pie
Wondering what to do with all those turkey leftovers? I made turkey pot pie and it was wonderful! A recipe my husband said that I had to write down so we could have it again.
*Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Filling Ingredients:
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 can milk
2 cups turkey – cut up
1 small can (8oz) corn
1 small can green beans (cut up) (feel free to use your favorite veggies)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese *Note: this is not enough cheese to make the filling taste cheesy but to make the texture creamy and thicker. If you’d like to taste cheese you’ll need to add more.
“Pie” Topping Ingredients:
1 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
(This is actually half the normal pancake recipe on the box)
Mix filling ingredients together in a casserole dish until the milk is stirred in completely. In a separate dish mix pie topping. Pour topping over the filling and bake at 400 for 25 minutes or until the top is golden.
