Favorites Friday

Video Capture device $100ish
Clementine $ 0.50ish
Capturing the laughter of 4 generations of family - priceless

(You can't see the 3rd generation - but you can hear them. :))

Favorites Friday

A new favorite book and a preview of a soon to come review post.

Easy Cinnamon Rolls

Go to store. Buy can of Cinnamon Rolls. Open. Pull apart... I kid I kid.
Not knocking the can ones - I've made plenty batches of those.

I wanted a nice warm treat for us after we came in from the snow yesterday, so I found this recipe and whipped them up. I thought they turned out great.

Cinnamon Rolls (Recipe adapted from a recipe found on Allrecipes.com)

2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast (1 pkg)
3/4 C warm water
1/4 C white sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg, room temperature
2 1/2 C bread flour

1/4 C butter, softened
1 Tbs Ground Cinnamon
1/2 C Brown Sugar

Dissolve yeast in warm water - let sit about 10 minutes. Combine sugar, salt, egg, and 1 c flour with the yeast mixture. Stir in the remaining flour 1/2 c at a time. Mixing well each addition. Put dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Cover with damp cloth and let rest 10 minutes. (I realize now that I did not do this step... and mine turned out fine.)
Roll out dough into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Spread the butter over the dough, sprinkle the cinnamon and brown sugar over the butter. Starting from one of the longer sides, roll.
Slice the roll into equal pieces - about 16.

Grease a pan, 8x8 square, 8 or 9 in circle, a larger pan you just won't fill all the way. Don't really think it matters all that much. Place rolls in pan cut side up. Cover and let rise for about 45 minutes. Mine sat longer. You can also cover the pan and put in the refrigerator over night. Preheat oven to 400. Bake until golden brown - 15-20 minutes.

The recipe I had didn't have an icing recipe included, so I whipped up one up using Shortening, Milk, Powdered Sugar, and Vanilla.

I love this frosting! I wish I could tell you exact measurements, but I really didn't keep close track... but here is what I think I used.

1/4 C shortening
1/4 C Milk
1 1/2 C powdered sugar (least sure about this one)
1 tsp vanilla

Beat together the shortening, milk, and powdered sugar. Add in vanilla. Add more of any of the ingredients to achieve desired consistency and/or taste.

Favorites Weekend

Late Favorites

I never did get around to doing a favorite last Friday - or over the weekend. But I was inspired to post today about my current favorite television show....

Picture borrowed from HERE.


Last night I came home from a great night of exercising, put the boys to bed, made myself a bowl of the Iced Banana stuff I blogged about last week (I added some blue berries, raspberries, and cranberries, and a drizzle of chocolate syrup - it was Excellent!!), and curled up on the couch for 2 hours of wonderful television. I think my heart rate was elevated the entire time. I don't think I've ever looked forward to watching something as much as I look forward to Lost. Plus my best friend loves it too, and we exchanged texts through out, which was alot of fun. I also Love the fact that they have a definitive end to the series. Some shows just kind of climax and then just fizzle along until the network finally pull the plug long after they are very enjoyable - sometimes leaving gaps in the story. There will probably be gaps left in this story, but it will all be planned in advance, which for some reason makes it better for me... And they can have the ending be exactly what they want it to be.
So if you ever wonder where I am on a late Tuesday night (as long as it stays there.) , I'll be at home watching my favorite show.

So Much to Do

Sorry for the lack of a Favorite this Friday - I'm planning on posting one tomorrow....errr later today... It was a fun filled weekend with some friends from out of town. There was an extra little one in the house, which was fun. :) And then more friends were over tonight to celebrate a friend's birthday - much fun. More babies in the house - most excellent.

Things are starting to get busy around here. So much for a little winter hibernation. I've got a few things simmering that I hope to take off soon.

MCC (Mennonite Central Committee - when you go to a Mennonite church you soon realize that there are acronyms for just about ever committee there is - probably acronyms for acronyms...) Anyways... MCC put some fliers in our bulletins a week or so ago that they will be collecting items for relief kits as well as comforters. They need everything by Feb. 28th. They are supposed to be Twin sized. I'm hoping to get one made. This needs to start tomorrow. (After I do our taxes... and hit up the local antiques store...)

Then there is the laundry room that will become a guest bedroom and small work area for me. That is on a far back burner.

I bought fabric on Saturday to use in a quilt-a-long. It's late and I don't want to run around for links, so I'll post more about this soon.

Starting to get the gardening bug - I have big plans for our garden this year.

Then there is the big one. This is brand new, as in today, errr.... yesterday I guess. There is a good chance that Jonathan and I will be going on a 10 day mission trip this summer. I have been praying for a chance to go on a trip like this for a long time. And that it would be good timing to leave the kids. It seems to be at a great time. Plus, we aren't currently pregnant, which adds to the great timing. (God does know what He's doing doesn't He Nicole... how quickly I can forget.) And even if pregnancy happens soon, it shouldn't hinder my going. As soon as I am for sure that it is going to happen I will share more. We need to figure out logistics for care for the boys while we are gone. Really, I am doubting that it will be a problem.

Plus there are several on going projects that I would like to finish... comforters for the boys, some pj pants I didn't finish for Christmas, a bag for Ohlen's animals, painting our bathroom, possibly painting other rooms in the house, weight loss/healthy living, the list goes on and on.

I'm hoping to keep my sanity, we'll see how that goes...






ps - I didn't proof read this thing and it's about 1230am, so please excuse any horrible spelling/ grammar/ mistypes.

"Ice Cream"

This will be a super easy recipe. In fact - it only has one ingredient. I put ice cream in quotes, because, well, there is no cream in this, no dairy of any kind, just one thing, and that thing is...a...



Banana.

Yep.

Just a banana (or two or three)

Take a banana - peel it - freeze it - cut it up - put it in a food processor (or blender) - process - Eat!

And it really does look and feel like ice cream! It just tastes like bananas. :) But it is SO much better for you than ice cream, which is why I will deal with the super banana taste.

Now, you can make it more interesting. I added a bit of peanut butter (to keep it on the healthier end of things, I used the peanut butter you grind right in the store - so all you get is just peanuts) and a drizzle of honey. I am really not a banana fan - but this was excellent.

I've heard that you can add other fruits too, as long as 1/2 of the ingredients are bananas. One banana doesn't make a ton of the tasty treat, but it was enough for me. I think next time I will throw in a few berries as well (without the peanut butter) and it is very tempting to top it off with some chocolate sauce.

As seems to be a trend here, I discovered this treat at The Kitchn. (Really, if you haven't checked them out you should. They also have some great kitchen ideas - I think there was an article today about movable islands - which I should check out.)

Speaking of movable islands - Lost starts in less than a week!!

Doughnuts, Donuts, whatever

One night last(?) week Ohlen asked me for doughnuts. (Time is slipping away, so this could have been earlier in the month than that....) Oh, now I remember - it was last Tuesday. Fitting that I write about this now seeing how it is a Tuesday, and Tuesday is the infamous Doughnut Day at our local grocer. It is a magical day where they give out free doughnuts and coffee (yay) in the morning. That morning we had gone and Ohlen got a doughnut and later that evening he wanted another. So I decided to look up a recipe for them. I didn't think I would find anything good, seeing as I don't have a deep fryer and wasn't looking forward to the prospect of frying anything anyways - not a fan. But I searched anyways.

Just a quick aside - I did a quick search of the difference between the two spellings Doughnut and Donut. Most sources call them interchangeable while one blogger insisted that doughnuts are made with dough and the others... aren't.... I'm going to go with the interchangeable call. I use the long form because I am a nerd like that.

Anyways, I found a great recipe for Baked Doughnuts from, where else, the Kitchn Blog. They provided a link to the recipe found on the blog 101cookbooks.com. I tweaked a few minor details and again used margarine instead of butter. (I should probably switch over. Any thoughts??) I also just did a half recipe - this is the full one.

Baked Doughnuts

1 1/3 cups warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees (divided)
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (1 package)
2 tablespoons margarine
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour
A pinch or two of nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup margarine, melted (called for unsalted butter.)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Place 1/3 cup of the warm milk in a large bowl. Stir in the yeast and set aside for five minutes. Be sure your milk isn't too hot or it will kill the yeast. Stir the butter and sugar into the remaining cup of warm milk and add it to the yeast mixture. I used the measuring cup for this to save on dishes. Stir in the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt - just until the flour is incorporated. With the dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed. I would assume you could also mix this by hand. I happen to have some dough attachments so I used them. Here add flour or milk depending on if your dough needs to be more or less sticky. You want the dough to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and eventually become supple and smooth. Turn it out onto a floured counter-top, knead a few times (the dough should be barely sticky), and shape into a ball.

Move the dough to a greased up bowl, cover, and put in a warm place. I usually use the preheating oven. Let sit until about doubled in size - roughly an hour.

Entertain Child... (optional) :)

Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2-inch thick on your floured countertop. I don't think this is an exact science. I wish I would have made mine a little thicker. Use a doughnut cutter, if you have one, to cut out shapes. If you are like me and don't have one, just use what ever circular items you have available. I used some of the kids small plastic bowls to cut out the large circles and a small plastic container for the inside holes - although I think it was a little too big, next time I will try to find something smaller. Cut out the outside circle only and then transfer to you baking sheets covered in parchment paper. I didn't have any parchment paper, so I used a silicon baking sheet, which worked fine. Cut out the inner circles. (You wait to cut the inner circles as to not distort the donuts while moving.) Cover with a clean cloth and let rise for another 45 minutes.

More child entertaining, book reading, TV watching... :)

Bake in a 375 degree oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes. I would start checking around 6 minutes. You really don't want them to over bake. They get hard fast. While the doughnuts are baking, place the butter in a medium bowl. Place the sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for just a minute or two. Dip each one in the melted butter and a quick toss in the sugar bowl. Eat right away. I did have left overs and saved them for the next day.

This was a half batch. Don't forget to bake the doughnut holes too! :)

Verdict:
This is a great recipe and I will definitely be making them again. There is alot of possibility for expanding the recipe, adding different ingredients. Mine were over done, as you can see from the picture. They still tasted ok - although they reminded me of a cinnamon and sugar pretzel (which really is not bad.) The rest of the family also enjoyed them, which is a plus. They weren't as good the next day, unless you put them in the microwave first.

Alice.com Revisited

Almost 6 months ago I wrote about a new website I liked - Alice.com.

6 months later and I still love it! I just ordered a bunch of baby food last week - it came in two days - it was wonderful.

Now there still is the need for some research if you are looking to get the absolute best price. However, in these winter months, it is nice to be able to get some of the cleaning (and other) essentials delivered right to your door.

I have to say, when I got my first package from Alice I never thought the quality would remain the same once the site became more popular, but I'm happy to say that it is still great. Everything that should be taped up is - and put in separate baggies. I will never cease to be impressed by the great packaging. And how quickly the package gets to you. Usually with in 1 - 2 days. Especially with free shipping. Sure the cost of shipping is probably built into the price of the items, but it still feels good not to have an extra few dollars tacked on at check out.

As time goes on the site is getting more and more items. There is still a lack of variety of some items - they don't carry the laundry detergent I use. (I just recently discovered my favorite detergent - love the smell - and seems to not affect the skin or allergies of my family. - SO EXCITED!!) :)

If you are at all interested I would encourage you to at least go to the site and check it out. Look up the items that you usually purchase and compare prices. Let me know if you do and what your experience with the company is like.

Favorites Friday

I thought it would be fun to start up a weekly post about my favorite things. Probably won't be many words, unless the picture needs some explaining. And I can't promise it will happen every Friday, but I'm hoping it will be most Fridays.

Look for another post coming very soon - maybe even within the hour - with some recipes for bread and soup. Perfect foods for a dreary day.