Monday, October 20, 2014

Quick Lasagna Roll Ups

This recipe is from the lemon poppyseed lady, Ali Eisenach, her website is www.lemonpoppycake.com
This is kid friendly and kid tested and kid approved!  You will like it very much as an adult as well!

Rock and Roll Lasagna

10  dry lasagna noodles
1  24-oz container cottage cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup chopped spinach
1 jar spaghetti sauce (24 oz)

Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions.  Drain, rinse and lay flat to dry.  Pour half of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.  
In a medium bowl combine cottage cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and spinach.  Spread cheese mixture on lasagna noodles and roll up.  Place pasta rolls in the 9x13 pan.  
Pour remaining spaghetti sauce on top.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.
Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 20 min
Uncover and continue baking 10 min until cheese is browned and bubbly.
Try adding italian sausage to the cheese mixture for a heartier dinner.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Quick Dinner Rolls

Today I made these rolls and shared with my RS sisters, and several asked for the recipe, I promised I would post it, so here it is:
I will give you ALL my secrets so yours will be as good as these!
I got this recipe from my friend Diane Worthen

Quick Dinner Rolls

2 Tblsp sugar
2 Tblsp yeast (active dry)
1/2 Cup warm water

1 1/2 Cups lukewarm milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening (or butter)
2 eggs
5 1/2 cups flour

Combine sugar, water and yeast.  Let set until bubbly. 
Pour yeast mixture into mixer bowl 
Blend in milk, sugar and salt with shortening (or butter) and eggs.
Slowly add flour.  Mix well until smooth

  *Note  I actually had to add a few cups of flour with my milk and sugar and yeast part because the liquid was coming out of my boshe bread maker.  But I realized I did not say what to mix it in.  I use either my Kitchenaid stand mixer or my boshe bread maker.  Hopefully you have one of those!!

Pour dough into another bowl that has been lightly oiled.
(I have a big Tupperware bowl called "Thatsabowl" and it is my favorite as nothing sticks to it and it has a lid to put on top)

Let dough set in bowl for 1/2 hour
Punch down dough and shape into 24 rolls
Let rolls set until doubled.  (I am usually in hurry, so I preheat oven to 200 degrees, turn oven off.  Put rolls in oven for 15 min or so then take them out)
Turn oven on to 375 degrees and bake about 13 min (it says 15 min but I always start checking at 11 or 12 min)
Brush tops with melted butter

My secret ingredient: 
I add 2 Tblsp dough enhancer and 2 Tblsp wheat gluten
add it when you start adding the flour

If you dont have dough enhance or wheat gluten, don't worry, the rolls will still turn out and be good, I just heard from other bakers that to get your rolls extra fluffy, you should put in 2 Tblsp wheat gluten.  I just so happen to have dough enhancer as well so I threw that in.

I used canned milk because I have some, and I just warm it in the microwave til it is warm, make sure it is not too hot after warming it up because it will kill the yeast. But you can use any kind of milk.

To shape my rolls, I just grab a blob of dough and "push it through" my thumb and index finger of my left hand and pinch it off so it is just a ball of dough, but let me show you this lady's tutorial on how she makes her rolls perfectly round, I like her web site as well, most of her recipes are really really good!  enjoy!  look here

and now for the nourishing of your souls:
Let me leave you with a quote from our RS lesson today :

quoted from President Joseph Fielding Smith
"It is my duty, it is yours, to be better today than I was yesterday, and for you to be better today than you were yesterday, and better tomorrow than you were today.  why? Because we are on that road to perfection, and that can only come through obedience and the desire in our hearts to overcome the world. . . "
Have a great sabbath day!

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Mom's Haystacks (Cookies)

Us kids grew up on Mom's Haystacks.  I am pretty sure we all loved them, I think Linda loves them the most, and me second!  They are only for people who like coconut though!  My mom still mails them to me and Linda for our birthdays, so they seem to last several days and still be yummy!

Mom's Haystacks

1 cup egg whites (about 6)
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups Macaroon Coconut
1 1/2 cups Flake Coconut
(so I asked my mom what the heck is macaroon coconut, I can't find it in stores, she say just use all sweetened flake coconut, so make that 3  1/2 cups Flake Coconut)
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup pecans
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour ( you might need to add 1/2 cup flour)
*Beat egg whites until stiff, beat in sugar a little at a time.  Add vanilla and  coconut, Fold in flour and salt.
Add choc chips and pecans
Bake on foil covered and greased cookies sheet (I just use my silpat and it works AMAZING, get you one I say!)  
Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown (I just made these and forgot to write down the time, it seems they take around 10-11 min, but I can't remember)

Now make sure you beat the egg whites good before adding sugar, I added my sugar too soon and it makes the cookies more flat, otherwise they are like little round mounds (like a haystack!), they are still yummy if you do it wrong, but try to do it right!

I love my mom.  When I miss her, I bake these and remember all the good cookies she would bake for us kids.