Cranberry Orange Rolls

Sometimes I amaze myself! I bought cranberries a couple weeks ago and was hoping to make cranberry bread, but I got the sudden urge to make orange rolls. It seemed logical to add the cranberries. These rolls turned out beautifully.

Cranberry Orange Rolls

Sweet dough
4 Tbs butter, melted
Orange zest from half orange
1/2 cup brown sugar, not packed
Orange juice
1/2 cup fresh cranberries, chopped in quarters
1/4 cup pecans, chopped

Icing
3/4 cup powder sugar
Orange zest from half orange
Orange juice
Milk

You will have to use your own sweet dough, or cinnamon roll bread recipe. Roll out dough into a squarish-rectangular shape. Combine melted butter and orange zest and spread over dough. Sprinkle brown sugar over butter and spread evenly. Cut orange used for zest in half from and squeeze orange juice over brown sugar (enough to moisten the sugar only). Sprinkle cranberries and pecans over sugar. Roll dough tightly and seal by pinching the edge to the roll. Cut or use string to make 12 rolls. Place in 9x13 dish. Bake according to your dough recipe.

Icing: mix powder sugar and zest, then squeeze orange used for zest into sugar. Add enough milk for desired consistency. Once rolls have cooled for 10-15 minutes spoon icing over rolls.

The measurements aren't completely accurate because I just put things in as I went along, but they should be close enough.

Chicken Yum Yum

I got this recipe from one of my roommates my first year of college. One weekend I went with her to her family's home and her mom made this for dinner after church.

Chicken Yum Yum

1 whole chicken, cooked and diced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 oz container sour cream
1 pkg stuffing with seasoning
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup chicken broth (or water)

Preheat oven to 350°. Layer diced chicken into bottom of 9x13 pan. Mix soup and sour cream together and spread over chicken. Sprinkle stuffing over mixture. Pour butter over stuffing and then chicken broth. Bake for 30 minutes.

Okay...you don't have to use a whole chicken! You can use chicken breast, about 4-5 depending on how meaty you want your dish. I like to cook my chicken breast in the crock pot because it turns out nice and tender. The real recipe calls for 1 cup chicken broth, but I like my stuffing crunchy so I use less.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats

I don't know why I never tried these rice crispy treats before. They're in a family recipe book that I just discovered this week.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats

1 10 oz mini-marshmallows
1 stick butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 10 oz box rice crispies
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or chunks

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside. Combine marshmallows, butter, peanut butter, and corn syrup in large pot. Cook over medium heat until well combined and smooth. Remove from heat. Add cereal. Stir until evenly coated. Quickly pour one-third of mixture into pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chunks or chips. Pour cereal mixture and layer with chocolate chunks, etc. Cool. Cut into bars.

They are very easy to make.

Pineapple Plant

My pineapple plant ripened! The tiny pineapple popped off the plant. I'm going to replant it, so we'll see if I can get it to grow.

De-Clutter Project (Part III)

So...de-clutter project number II from earlier this year didn't go as well as I had hoped, but number III went well. I have a ton of stuff to take to DI and I feel happy that I'm going to give it away. Now I need to do the follow through and actually drive it over to DI. I will give myself till this Saturday to take it over.

A majority of the items I'm getting rid of are clothes. As I was making a list of the items (okay, so I will be turning it in for a tax deduction) I noticed that the clothes all started with the letter "S". For entertainment purposes, I will list out those items: shirts, shoes, sweaters, skirts, socks, suits, silk shirts, scarves and jackets. Well, jackets doesn't start with an "S" but it does end with one. LOL!!!

Another thing I got rid of were shoe boxes. Those went in the trash. I bought four pairs of shoes about a month ago and threw away eight pairs. I'd worn them down pretty good, so they weren't worth giving away. I ended up with more shoe boxes and always think that I'll be able to use them for some purpose and save them. Well, I tossed about eight shoe boxes. Afterwords I realized they were taking up quite a bit of space.

This has been perfect timing for de-cluttering. Since the holidays are coming I can go shopping and fill up the space with some more fun stuff. :-)

Pie Crust

I really liked this pie crust recipe. It was easy to make and turned out very nice. One reason why it was so easy is because I finally bought a pastry cutter. I love that utensil!

Pie Crust

2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
5 oz Crisco
5 Tbsp water

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in the Crisco with pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly. Add water and mix till all has been moistened. Form and divide into two balls. Roll out and place in pie dish. Add filling. Bake 350° for 50 to 60 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

The pie pictured above is an apple pie. The filling was home canned. I served this warm with ice cream.

Taco Soup

I really like making taco soup when the weather starts getting cold. This is half the recipe of Rynell's version of the soup.

Taco Soup

garlic (to taste)
onion (to taste)
1 lb ground beef
1 can corn
1 can beans (black or pinto)
1 can stewed or diced tomatoes
1 pkg or 1/4 cup taco seasoning

Saute garlic and onion. Add ground beef and brown. Once browned add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer 15-20 minutes.

Serve with toppings: frito or corn chips, cheese, sour cream, black olives or any of your favorite toppings.

Jedi Family

Andy and Rynell usually bring the kids by every Halloween so I can see the kids costumes and give them treats. Well this year, since I was at the murder mystery party, they came by to see me. Rynell did an amazing job with the costumes.

How to Host a Murder Party

Here's the gang from Kelly's murder mystery party. The last time I played one of these things I ended up being the murderer. However, this time I may have done quite a bit of plotting, but was not the murderer. Heehee!!!