Food – Page 3 – Copper Acorn

by Alexis - November 13, 2011November 13, 2011

Cinnamon Roll Cake

We had a friend stay the night this weekend and I decided to make this cinnamon roll cake for breakfast. I like making things for people when they stay over. And girls like the cinnamon rolls! 🙂

I’m a little lazy and am on a mission to make some kind of cinnamon rolls without the yeast. We’ll see what I find. In the mean time, I can say that this is more like a coffee cake.

Blows Starbucks coffee cake out of the water.

Here’s the recipe, it’s fast to make.

**I only used 1/2 Cup for the topping. And it turned out delicious! Any way to make it even a little better for us.**

Cake:
3 c. flour
1/4 tsp.salt
1 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter, melted

Topping:
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Mix everything together except for the butter. Slowly stir in the melted butter and pour into a greased 9×13 pan. For the topping, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes.

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
5 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

While warm drizzle the glaze over the cake. It’s awesome!

by Alexis - October 27, 2011October 25, 2011

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I haven’t roasted pumpkin seeds since I was in…2nd grade I think. It was at school and I remember being amazed that something so yucky and slimy would taste good. It was a great memory….but let’s take a moment and think:

Who was the first person to scoop out the gunk from a pumpkin and think, ‘oh! I have a great idea! Let’s take the seeds, heat them up and eat them!’ A crazy person. (or a really hungry one) But we all get to benifit from this persons…out of the box thinking. Bless their crazy thinking.

Here it is. And here are the steps I followed. I made the ‘savory’ version.

Apparently they need to dry first before pouring on the butter, seasoning and baking. I didn’t follow that perfectly, and they still turned out great.

On another note, I’m writing this while eating caramel corn. I love fall. It is the best. Amen.

by Alexis - October 5, 2011October 5, 2011

Cinnamon Pear Muffins with Brown Sugar Crumble

I am starting to learn to eat mainly what is in season. What can I say- I’m a slow learner.

And for us right now that means PEARS! Now I never buy pears. Yuck. The grainy consistency weirds me out- but Emma LOVES them so I bought a bag.

For $1.50.

Holla.

I got this recipe a while back and didn’t like it. It was so dry. But I thought these soft pears (almost garbage soft) would be perfect. Here’s the recipe: I cut up 2 pears for this

The only change I did was I used cinnamon applesauce in place of oil and I used all white flour with the oatmeal. So I can say these are fat free! Besides the natural fats like those in the eggs, etc.

Not sure you do this, but I’ll add it in: I most always mix the dry ingredients first then add the liquids. That way everything is evenly mixed. No crazy clumps of baking powder. Yum.

A big thing to know about making muffins: DO. NOT. OVER. MIX!!!

This is my batter done and ready to spoon into the cups.

I lined my muffin cups with wax paper. I found an old Martha Stewart article saying to use parchment paper. Didn’t have that, just wax paper, so I prayed they wouldn’t smoke and set the whole fire alarm off.

They only smoked a little bit.

Here’s how you do it:

I also made a brown sugar crumble on top. Ohhh yeah.

Pear, cinnamon, oatmeal and now with a brown sugar crumble.

Fill in the cups and sprinkle with the crumble. Here is the before picture:

And the after:

Easy recipe. The thing that took the most time was folding the paper.

Review:

This would be great with any fruit you chose whatever the season. Cranberry, strawberry, peach and yes PEAR! Add nuts if that’s your fancy. This would be perfect for a picnic, Zoo outing, with pork chops or a soup&salad.

It is crazy awesome moist. No need for butter. Enjoy them cold or with some hot tea, depending on your weather. (hi family in Texas!)

I debated to leave the skins on the pears and I’m glad I did. You can’t taste the skin, but you can see it. And that’s beautiful.

(all the ingredients are found in Europe also, so you friends over there can try this with me!)

by Alexis - September 25, 2011September 25, 2011

Our family tradition

The weekend means Rainbow pancakes.

Just because it was rainy.

Just because she looked so darn cute in her new dress.

Just because I know she loves chocolate.

I made Chocolate Rainbow pancakes.

She always has candles in he pancakes. (and you can’t see it but her pancakes were pink and purple)

It was made from scratch and of whole wheat flour. Couldn’t taste it and I felt smug.

the end.

by Alexis - September 23, 2011September 23, 2011

Lunch

I experienced heaven today. I cannot tell you how perfect this was for lunch.

Ingredients: Cucumber, Tomatoes, Lettuce, Onions, Hummus and Pita bread. Top it all off with wonderful Falafel from Costco and you have the perfect lunch. And at your home!

You can find Falaffel in the frozen section in Costco. Don’t have a membership like me? Split the cost and bounty with a friend!

by Alexis - September 23, 2011

Crazy Easy Peach Cobbler

Just put sugared (canned or fresh) fruit in a pan. My peaches were too soft to be eaten so I thought this would be perfect. No need to grease the pan.

Just put fruit in…

Add some yellow cake mix on top…

Bake and then enjoy.

Yup, that easy. Enjoy!

by Alexis - September 20, 2011September 19, 2011

Hamburgers, it’s what’s for dinner.

This is for you Chris and Weronika. Remember all those hamburgers we ate this summer? I was so happy to never have another one ever again!…..or apparently at least a for a few weeks. 🙂

by Alexis - September 18, 2011September 17, 2011

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

This is for you Laura…

I have had no real desire to make casseroles, but as I’m asked about my casserole recipes, it challenged me. Which I loved. I love being challenged.

Here is a basic in our house. And one I’m sure you had in other people’s house or growing up. Switch it up to add your own flare. Just scroll through the pictures to see how I put it together.

Basic Ingredients:

Cream of Chicken (mixed with water)

Canned Chicken (for the lazy days)

Broccoli (cut up then froze for dinners just like this)

Pepper and Red pepper flakes for heat

Brown Rice (remember to make more for another recipe later on in the week, like chili/fajitas)

Shredded cheese (for us salt lovers)

Just Cream of Chicken/Water/Canned Chicken and Spices

then broccoli….forgot to take picture of the rice and shredded cheese too….but it’s in there.

I didn’t have breadcrumbs. So I improvised with crushed up oyster crackers. Wouldn’t do that again. Just tasted weird.

And here is Emma’s reaction to me saying she had to take ONE bite. She later ate 5 bites for the promise of a treat with a friend we were hanging out with that night. Poor Snow White.

Enjoy Laura! 🙂

by Alexis - September 17, 2011

Cream Biscuits

Any biscuits I attempt to make turn out to be awesome hockey pucks. Yes, perfect for hockey. And no matter what recipe I try it was always the same result.

So I eventually resolved to buy Pillsbury ones and not worry about it. But, my friend Sarah told me she had a recipe that was good….and after looking at it- it looked quite simple…so I forced myself to swallow my bad attitude towards biscuits and try again.

Here are the ingredients: minus Belle.

Mix the dry together then add the milk. I substituted the heavy cream for some half and half and regular milk.

I had to add a lot more flour than the recipe called for- it had the consistency of oatmeal. And the saddest thing about this is that I ran out of regular flour and substituted the rest with whole wheat flour. Thus the color and eventually the taste. (not terrible, just wheat-y)

Just knead, cut and place. I used to worry about not having a biscuit cutter- back when I was actually trying to make them. My cutter has since been retired to play dough time. If you don’t have a cutter just use a glass rim.

I made these thinking they would take forever to make but it took maybe 5-10 min….the rest of dinner wasn’t ready so they sat and waited to be cooked. So when you try this- make them just before you are finished with dinner.

I served them pipping hot- not because I’m nice- but because I was nervous they would harden to rocks once they cooled. They didn’t and turned out OK. They were actually eatable, although very dense. Trav and I agreed they would be best with chili or something to dunk in.

Once they came out I spread butter on top and sprinkled with garlic salt. Everything is better with garlic salt. Amen.

Out of 5 stars, Travis gave it 3 1/2 and I gave it 3 stars. It would taste better if it was made wholly of white four. (But that is my un-healthy taste buds coming out). I’m not big on the wheat flavor plus the dense-ness is very intense. As I picked them up I was shocked at how heavy these are. I told Trav these would stick to your ribs and wouldn’t be bad in the cold wintertime.

However, these don’t have butter/oil/crisco in them. So how could I expect any light flacky-ness?!

Cream Biscuits

2 C Flour, 2t Baking Powder, 2t Sugar, 1/4t Salt

1 1/2 Heavy Cream

Mix dry ingredients together then add cream. if needed add extra flour till a dough consistency forms. Knead, roll out and cut in whatever shapes you would like. Place on baking pan and cook for 15 at 425’F.

***Try these and let me know what you think!!!******

by Alexis - September 6, 2011September 6, 2011

placki z jablkami : Polish Apple Pancakes

This next Polish recipe is from our friends who stayed with us for a while. ( Hi guys!)

This is super great and simple too. I think the thing that took the longest was peeling the apples. I used this recipe for the cake batter and placed apple slices in the pan.

I added cinnamon to add just a bit more flavor. But next time I’m going to sprinkle them with powdered sugar first. Didn’t have a chance this time- they were all eaten too fast. 🙂

Hope you make them!