Cinnamon Swirl Bread

This isn't so much a recipe; just a method really, for making cinnamon swirl bread.  You can actually use any bread or roll dough!  Try using your favorite.  My mom made this all the time while I was growing up; she'd make a few regular loaves, and turn at least one into cinnamon-swirl bread.

I picked my favorite roll dough.  I divided the dough roughly into thirds and used a one-pound chunk to make this loaf.  (And an 8x4 inch loaf pan).  With the other two parts, I just made rolls.  If you want a bigger loaf, make sure to use more dough, and a larger loaf pan.

My family loved this and it was gone very quickly!  This is so easy to make if you have dough around anyway; give it a try!  Even using frozen dough if you have to.  ;)  If this isn't all gone in one day, try it toasted.  It is very good that way! 

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

1 pound (or a little more) favorite roll or bread dough
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1-2 Tablespoons cinnamon, to taste

1.  Let dough rise once (for one hour) and punch down.  Butter an 8x4 inch loaf pan. 

2.  On a floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle- just a little longer than your loaf pan, and about 10-12 inches wide.  Brush with melted butter.  Mix cinnamon & sugar together in a small bowl, and sprinkle onto buttered dough.  Press down lightly so it sticks into the dough. 

3.  Roll up, jelly-roll style (or cinnamon roll style!) keeping the roll as tight as you can.  Pinch ends and edges to seal.  Place in prepared pan, seam-side down. 

4.  Let rise about an hour, covered loosely with plastic wrap.  During the last 15 minutes or so, pre-heat the oven to 350 F.  When bread has risen, bake in the oven for about 30-45 minutes, or until done.  If desired, rub top crust with melted butter.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com **

Pulled Pork Barbecue Sandwiches

I had to make a homemade version of these, after enjoying them from the deli section of my grocery store far too often lately.  Actually, they are a new item there, and I would have never considered buying one at all, until a friend told me the new pulled pork sandwiches here were really, really good.  And they are!  These homemade ones aren't exactly like that.... not as sweet and smoky, I think.  But they are still really good.  (There is brown sugar in the recipe and I added some smoked paprika for smokiness, as well).  The grocery store adds cheese to their sandwich and melts it onto the meat.  I like when they do it, but I tried doing it at home and couldn't taste the cheese anyway, so I'd leave it off next time.

This is super easy and is cooked in the slow cooker.  I tried searing the pork first, and that probably did make it better, but I'm not sure.  Sometimes the flavor of meat cooked in the slow cooker is so much better when it's seared first.  With this and the flavorful sauce though, it was hard to tell if it made a difference. 

Pulled Pork Barbecue Sandwiches
adapted from One Ordinary Day

1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 Tbsp. sweet paprika

1 Tbsp. smoked paprika

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp.  dijon or honey mustard

salt, to taste (taste & add at end of cooking time)

1 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

2-4 pounds boneless pork shoulder blade roast (or any boneless pork roast), cut into 2-4 pieces

8-12 crusty sandwich rolls (like Kaisers)

1.  In 4- to 6-quart slow-cooker, stir onion, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, paprika, Worcestershire, mustard, salt, and pepper until combined. If desired, sear pork before adding to crock pot.  Add pork to sauce mixture and turn to coat well with sauce.

2.  Cover slow cooker with lid and cook pork mixture on low setting as manufacturer directs, 8 to 10 hours or until pork is very tender.

3.  With tongs, transfer pork to large bowl. Turn setting on slow cooker to high; cover and heat sauce to boiling to thicken and reduce slightly.  While sauce thickens, with 2 forks, pull pork into shreds. Return shredded pork to slow cooker and toss with sauce to combine. Cover slow cooker and heat through on high setting if necessary.

4.  Spoon pork mixture (slightly drained) onto bottom of sandwich buns; replace tops of buns.  If desired, wrap sandwiches in foil and heat in the oven. 

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com**

Classic Chicken Noodle Soup

Maybe I should call this "Really Good Chicken, Broth, and a Boatload of Noodles."  Seriously, this was really good, and it was my fault about the mega-noodle-ness.  The original recipe called for about a pound of regular, flat, wide egg noodles, and I thought that using a pound of these tiny fideo noodles would be the same.  Umm.... nope!  Oh well.  It was still really tasty.  This pic is of the leftovers, so they absorbed even more broth and expanded a bit.  We gave half of this soup away to another fam, and there was still a lot left for us, and one bowl for me to have for lunch the next day.  To my leftovers bowl, I added the juice of half a lemon.  It was SO GOOD with that lemon in there, I just loved it.  Chicken soup over here often has lemon in it (at least at this one restaurant......)  I love lemon-chicken soup.  Love, love, love it. 

To clarify, the original recipe doesn't contain lemon... I just randomly added it to my bowl of leftovers.  Also, I love lemon chicken soup.  And, this soup had a ton of noodles.  But it doesn't have to be that way, if you follow the original recipe. 

Classic Chicken Noodle Soup
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Makes a ton- probably over 10 servings

For Chicken and Broth:3-4 pound whole chicken, neck and giblets removed
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3 stalks celery, chopped in large chunks
3-4 carrots, cut in large chunks
1 onion, chopped in large pieces

Soup:
12 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 pound carrots, chopped
1/2-1 teaspoons salt (to taste, depending on the broth)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
16-20 ounces egg noodles

1.  Rinse the chicken, removing the neck and giblets.  Place the chicken in a slow cooker and add the other broth ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours.  Carefully remove the chicken and set aside in a large bowl until the chicken is cool enough to handle.  Meanwhile, remove and discard the large solids from the chicken broth and strain the chicken broth into a large pot.

2.  To the same pot, add another 12 cups chicken broth, the chopped vegetables and the salt and pepper.  Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, covered, for 12-15 minutes, until the vegetables are slightly tender (they’ll cook more when the noodles cook).  Taste the broth and add salt and pepper to taste, if needed.  Add the noodles and cook according to package directions at a rolling boil.  While the noodles are cooking, take the chicken off the bones and shred into bite-size pieces.  Stir the chicken back into the soup, and serve!

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com**

Valentine's Day Chex Mix

Like most Chex Mix recipes, this was fun and easy to make.  It combines melted peanut butter and white chocolate and to coat Chex cereal.  The recipe calls for candy-coated chocolate candies, so I chose to use some Valentine-themed peanut butter M&M's I had on hand (hard to get here- I was so excited to see them!).  This turned out sooo good; it's been hard for us to stop eating it!

Valentine's Day Chex Mix

adapted from Chex

9 cups Rice Chex cereal

1 cup real white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup Valentine's Peanut Butter M&M's

1/4 cup red sprinkles, optional

1.  Place cereal in a large bowl.  In a good-quality saucepan over very low heat, melt white chocolate, butter, and peanut butter together until mostly smooth, stirring frequently.  Pour over cereal, stirring with a rubber or silicone spatula until coated. 

2.  Place 1/2 of cereal in a large covered container (Rubbermaid container or large ziplock bag).  Add powdered sugar, and shake container until cereal is well-coated. 

3.  Meanwhile, stir candies and sprinkles into remaining cereal mixture.  Spread on wax paper to cool and set; about 15-20 minutes.  Combine both cereals in the covered bowl and store covered. 

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com**



Double Chocolate Sunflower Seed Cookies

I made these tasty cookies last week.  They were easy, fun, and tasty, which is always a good thing.  I wore the baby in my baby carrier and made these with my five-year old while everybody else was gone.  We both had a good time. 

The recipe calls for M&M's, but I used candy-coated chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, pictured above.  Our fam loves these lttle guys.  We first saw them at Trader Joes, but they are also available online, which is how we get them now. 

Double Chocolate Sunflower Seed Cookies
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces semisweet or milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into eight pieces
3/4 cup candy-coated, chocolate covered sunflower seeds
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2.  In a double boiler (or a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, OR in the microwave), place the chopped chocolate and the butter.  Over very low heat, melt slowly, stirring frequently, until smooth.  Let the mixture cool slightly, about 2-3 minutes until it is at room temperature or just slightly warm (but not hot).

3.  In a large bowl (or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer), combine the chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until combined. Gradually mix in flour mixture on low speed. Fold in sunflower seeds with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. 

4.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper, silpat liners or lightly grease them with cooking spray. Drop dough onto baking sheets by tablespoonfuls (I used a small cookie scoop), spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart. If desired, place five or six sunflower seeds on top of the cookie dough balls and around the sides.  Bake the cookies until they have slightly flattened and there are a few cracks on the surface, about 8-12 minutes. The cookies will still be soft.  Let the cookies sit for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.  These cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container for about 2 days, or you can try freezing them.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com**

Homemade Almond Milk

It seems that homemade almond milk is popping up on many blogs, so I finally decided to jump on the bandwagon and try making it.  It is so easy, and pretty fun to make!  My husband LOVES it, and almond milk has replaced dairy milk in his daily cereal.  I bought some at the store recently, too, and may do that again, but it was artificially thickened with carrageenan and tasted a little too creamy, like whole milk... and that just tastes weird to me now!  :) 

I don't love almond milk as much as my husband, but it is fun to be able to make such a thing.  I was using cheesecloth to strain the milk, but I just ordered a Nut Bag to try out.  Also, I've been using raw almonds, like all the recipes I've seen call for, but I wonder how roasted almonds would taste.  If they would even work.  I did find a few recipes calling for roasting almonds, so I'm going to try a very small roasted-almond batch tomorrow and see how that turns out. 

Besides hot and cold cereal, we've used almond milk for a baked oatmeal dish, and I loved it in that.  I want to try a hot chocolate recipe next, and a almond milk-banana-oat smoothie.  I've been drying out and freezing the leftover almond meal, but haven't actually used it in anything yet.  I'm going to try a small batch of homemade almond paste and see if that works.  This is all very experimental!

Homemade Almond Milk
adapted from Tasty Kitchen

1 cup almonds, raw and unsalted
4 cups filtered water, cold

1. Cover and soak the raw almonds in water for at least 6 hours; then drain and rinse.

2. Pour the almonds into a blender and add the 4 cups cold filtered water.  (Use new water, not the almond-soaking water).  Blend well.  Milk will form foam on top. 

3. Take the cheesecloth, and fold to ensure it is at least 4 layers thick.  (You can use a Nut Bag or a few layers of coffee filters, too).  Put the cheesecloth on the top of the pitcher and secure it with a big elastic band.  Pour the almond mix through the cheesecloth into the pitcher.  Use a big spoon to help push the milk through the mass of almond and into the pitcher.

4.  Almond milk will be in the pitcher and you will have almond solids in your cheesecloth.  If desired, dry these out on a baking sheet for a while and use in recipes.