Honey Wheat Hamburger Buns

I'd been making my Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread a lot when my husband asked if I could make some hamburger buns.  I decided to use the dough from my sandwich bread, and just form it into buns (rather that loaves) at the last step.  It worked great!  I get to use my super-easy dough recipe, and we have delicious buns for burgers and our favorite pulled pork.

What you need:  for 16 buns

• 1 Tbs yeast
• 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees)
• 4 Tbs oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 5 1/2 cups bread flour
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 1/4 tsp salt

Let's get cooking:
1.   Combine yeast and water.  (You can sprinkle with 1/8 tsp sugar to help activate the yeast).  Let sit about 5 minutes, until foaming.  Then add oil and honey.

2. Combine flours and salt in a stand mixer.  Use the dough hook attachment.  With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour in the yeast mixture. 

Note:  if you don't have a stand mixer, you can still make this simple dough.  Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture as in step 2.  Mix slowly until well combined.  Turn out onto a floured surface and knead about 6 minutes by hand until dough is smooth and elastic.  Then continue with step 5.

3.  Increase mixer speed to medium for 3 minutes.  Then turn off mixer and let dough rest 5 minutes.

4.  Turn out dough onto a floured surface.  Knead about 50 times by hand, until the dough is smooth and elastic. 

5.  Place dough in a lightly greased bowl.  Cover and let rise until double, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  Punch dough down.

6.  On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 16 equal parts and form into balls.  Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise until double, about 30 minutes.

7.   Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Bake for about 15 minutes, until just turning golden.  I bake mine on a preheated stone, but you can also use a cookie sheet.

8.  Remove from pan and allow to completely cool on wire racks.  Store on the counter for up to 3 days in an airtight container. 

I like to slice them and freeze in large Ziplocs for up to 1 month.  (They probably freeze longer with no problems, but at our house homemade bread rarely hangs around that long).

-Lily

Easy Homemade Meatballs Recipe

Who doesn't love spaghetti and meatballs?  This is a super-simple meatball recipe--mix all the ingredients together, bake while your noodles are boiling, then pour in your favorite spaghetti sauce.  Dinner is served!

What you need:  for 25 meatballs

• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 recipe homemade breadcrumbs (3/4 cup)
• 1 lb ground turkey or ground beef
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp minced garlic (or 1/4 tsp garlic powder)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Let's get cooking:
 1.  Mix together the breadcrumbs and egg.

2.  Stir in the meat and spices.

3.  Form into 1 to 1 1/2 inch meatballs.

4.  Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Bake at 450 degrees for about  15 minutes, until the edges are turning golden..  (I used a preheated stone, so I didn't need to use parchment paper).

From my kitchen to yours, enjoy!
-Lily

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Homemade Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

I loooove this chicken and broccoli casserole recipe--and so does my family.  Actually, everyone I've ever made it for has liked it.  Once I made it for a family at church through our meals ministry.  I delivered it, and 30 minutes later the mom called just to tell me that her kids never liked casseroles, but they gobbled up this one.  That was a shining moment in my culinary career :) 

I think the big secret with this casserole (or any casserole I cook) is that I make it from scratch.  No goopy cans of cream-of-something or powdered soup mixes.  Just simple ingredients, all baked together into hearty, comforting deliciousness.  

This recipe does take time to make (over an hour), but it's worth it!  Plus, it makes a lot, so you could even divide it into two casseroles and freeze one for another dinner.

What you need:  for one 9 x 13 casserole, about 10 servings.

• 5 cups cooked white rice
• 3 to 3 1/2 cups broccoli, chopped
• 2 cups milk
• 2 Tbs butter
• 2 Tbs flour
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 2 Tbs oil, divided
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 large chicken breasts (about 1 lb) cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 recipes (about 1 1/2 cups) homemade breadcrumbs

Let's get cooking: 

 1.  Cook the rice according to package directions.

2.  Lightly steam the broccoli.

3.  Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat.  Whisk in the flour.  Gradually whisk in milk. Simmer until it's thickened slightly, stirring every few minutes so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.  Remove from heat and stir in pepper, salt, garlic powder, and mushrooms.  Set aside.

4.  In a second skillet, heat 1 Tbs oil.  Saute onions over medium heat until soft.  Remove from pan.

5.  Heat 1 Tbs oil in skillet over medium heat.  Cook chicken until browned and cooked through. 

6.  Spray a 9 x 13 glass pan with cooking spray.  Mix together rice, broccoli, mushroom sauce, onions, and chicken.  Sprinkle the breadcrumbs and cheese on top.  Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes, or until the cheese is turning golden and the casserole is heated through. 

Enjoy!

-Lily

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Easy-Peasy Cake Mix Cookies

Christmas might be over, but the holiday season is in full swing for us.  Our family still has several more parties over the next few days.  If you need something quick and easy to bake for a holiday get-together, these are the cookies for you!  They're super yummy, super easy, and fast.  Since you start with a boxed cake mix, you don't have to measure out flour, salt, baking powder, etc, which can save a lot of time.  And another bonus:  there's just one dirty bowl, rather than piles of dirty dishes.

What you need: (makes about 3 dozen)

• 1 (2-layer) devils food cake mix
• 8 oz package reduced fat cream cheese
• 1 stick margarine
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• powdered sugar

 Let's get Cooking:
1.  With a hand mixer (or by hand) cream the margarine and cream cheese together.  Add the cake mix, egg, and vanilla and mix until combined.  (Sometimes my dough is a little crumbly at this point.  Just add a splash of milk to help it stick together.)

2.  Roll the dough into 1 inch balls.  Roll the balls in powdered sugar just before baking.

3.  Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  (Make sure not to overbake.  It's easy to do with chocolate cookies because you can't see them turning golden brown)

Mmmm, I can almost taste them now.  Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!
-Lily

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Birthday Boy Rainbow Cake

We had a birthday party last week, and what's a 1st birthday without an awesome cake?  I saw the idea for a rainbow cake on Pinterest, and I thought it would be so fun for the birthday boy to eat smash.

To complete the fun, I also made a rainbow fabric chain and a "Happy Birthday" banner to decorate at the party.                                                                     

I obviously didn't get my rainbow layers perfect--oh, well.  It still turned out awesome!

I decided to decorate the outside very simply to let the rainbow colors inside really shine.  I used plain white frosting and added a ring of rainbow sprinkles on top.

     What you need:

• 3 box cake mixes (white)
• 6 mixing bowls
• food coloring 
• 9" round cake pans (3)
• cake leveler
• 3 recipes white buttercream frosting (such as Wilton's buttercream)
• rainbow sprinkles, decorating bag and tips

Let's Get Baking:
1.  Prepare the cake mixes as directed on the box.  Divide into six separate bowls.  Use the food coloring to dye each bowl a different color.  I used concentrated gels to get bright colors. 

2.  Grease the bottom and sides of the pans.  Trace around the bottom of the pans on parchment paper and cut out three circles.  Lay one parchment paper circle in the bottom of each pan.  (This helps the cake to slide out easier after baking).  Pour in one color in the bottom, then carefully layer a 2nd color on top.  Try to evenly distribute the 2nd color, or you won't get nice layers.

For my three pans, I used:  yellow/orange; red/purple, and blue/green. 

You may not need all of the batter that you prepared, so you can use the extra to make rainbow cupcakes!

 

3.  Bake the cakes as directed on the box--since I used an entire cake mix in one pan, I had to bake it longer than directed.  Let it cool about 5-10 minutes in the pan.  Carefully loosen around the edge with a spatula, then let it cool completely on a wire rack.

4.  When the cake is completely cool, use a cake leveler to level the top.  Then, cut the cake into two layers.  Theoretically, it should be one purple and one red layer in the picture, but you can see that I didn't get my layers perfect.

 I cut out a parchment paper circle and laid it between the layers, put both layers back in the cake pan, and wrapped the whole pan in plastic wrap.  Then I froze the cake for a day.  This step is optional, but it really helps when decorating to start with a cold cake.  Make sure to remove the parchment paper from the bottoms before assembling.

6.  I assembled the cake starting at the bottom, with a layer of frosting between each color:

top: yellow

orange

red

purple

blue

bottom: green

6. I used plain white frosting to ice the outside.  Then I used white icing to pipe a shell border on the bottom.  Then I carefully added a ring of rainbow sprinkles on top.

Cutting the cake--yay, success!  Enjoy your rainbow birthday cake :)
-Lily

Homemade Chocolate Frosty

My husband found this recipe to make a Wendy's chocolate frosty at home--yummy!  I got a Cuisinart ice cream maker for my birthday and we've been on the lookout for great recipes to make with it.  This frosty recipe is delicious--it tastes just like going to Wendy's!

 I tried to restrain myself and just have this little cup.  But, I went back for seconds...

What you need:  For 6 servings (or 4 large servings if you eat waaaay too much ice cream, like me)

• 3 3/4 cups whole milk  (I tried using an even 4 cups, and it overflows my Cuisinart)
• 1/2 can sweetened condensed milk--eyeball it
• heaping 1/3 cup Homemade Chocolate Syrup (about 6 Tbs)

Lets get cooking:

Pour in milk.

Add sweetened condensed milk.

Add chocolate syrup.

Whisk together.  Let it chill in the fridge for a couple hours.

Pour into your ice cream maker and wait 25 minutes.

It's ready!  I forgot my own advice and used 4 cups of milk = overflow!

This tastes best when eaten right away, or within a few hours.  But, it will save several weeks in the freezer in an airtight container.  (I don't actually know that from personal experience, since I always eat it all within a day or two). 

-Lily

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

Ever since I started staying home a few years ago, I've slowly been eliminating processed foods from our family's pantry and replacing them with homemade versions.  There are lots of positives to making things homemade.  My versions are usually cheaper, healthier, and tastier!  

The only negative I can really think of is the alarming number of dirty dishes I can generate during a cooking marathon.  I've started to take care of that problem by brain-washing my two-year-old son into thinking dishes are a super fun privilege he gets to help with.

Next up on the processed food chopping block:  chocolate syrup.  Now we'll never have to buy a bottle of too-expensive, cocoa-flavored corn syrup ever again!

What you need:

•  1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup sugar
• sprinkle of salt
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla (oops, I left this out of my cute ingredient pic)

Let's get cooking:

Whisk all ingredients together in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. If you need to, reduce heat to low.  You want your syrup gently simmering, not boiling.  Simmer for 20-25 minutes until thickening.  Stir every few minutes so it doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan.

l

Too many bubbles = burnt.  Too few = takes forever to thicken

Don't worry if it seems a little too runny, it will thicken as it cools.  Store in the fridge in a squirt bottle.  (I used an empty salad dressing bottle that I washed several times so my syrup doesn't become chocolate-ranch flavored.)  I've stored it up to a month without any problems.

-Lily