Sweet Breakfast Rolls

Here is a fun and delicious recipe to make with your daughter. Haley had a blast making these with me. I mixed up a smaller batch of dough, so she could play alongside me.


Gather ingredients:

1/4 C organic shortening (I used Spectrum brand)
2 C self-rising flour
3/4 C whole milk
1/4 C butter (half stick), melted
1/2 C sugar
2 teapoons cinnamon

Mix shortening and flour together with a fork until crumbly.
Stir in milk and turn with wooden spoon until dough forms.
Place dough onto floured surface and knead until smooth.
Roll dough out into a 1/4 inch-thick rectangle (or oval)
Brush or spread butter with spoon onto dough
Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over dough
Roll up dough, using the long side
Slice into 8-10 slices and place on baking sheet
Bake at 425 degrees for 18 minutes.
Drizzle with icing (below)

Icing:
Mix together 1 C confectioners sugar, 3 Tablespoons milk and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Linking up to: Growing Home, Raising Homemakers, Raising Mighty Arrows, Homestead Revival, Deep Roots at Home

Coconut Vanilla Wafer Cake

Now here's a sweet, delicious, tropical moist cake worthy of an appearance at a luau :) The big plus is it is super easy and a great recipe to have the kids help make.

What you'll need:

1 (12 oz) box of vanilla wafers
1 C butter, softened
1 1/2 C sugar
6 eggs
1/2 C milk
1 (7 oz) package flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven 325 degrees
2. Grease and flour a bread pan
3. Crush or grind vanilla wafers (the kids will love this part!)
4. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy
5. Add eggs in one at a time, stirring together after each.
6. Add wafers, milk and coconut; stir.
7. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Serve warm or cooled. This would be delicious topped with vanilla ice cream....or enjoyed with your morning coffee :)

Growing Home, Far Above Rubies, Deep Roots at Home, Raising Homemakers, Raising Mighty Arrows, Our Simple Country Life, Women Living Well, Time Warp Wife, Our Simple Farm, Natural Mothers Network  Homestead Revival

Homemade Gingerale

This time of year, ginger is a must-have in the house. It is one of the best immune boosters and is soothing on the digestive tract. While I rarely drink soda, every once in a while I crave something carbonated. Other than placing a slice of fresh ginger in my tea with a little honey (sweet and spicy - yum!), this is my favorite way of getting my dose of this healthy root.

Ingredients for Ginger Syrup
- Fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1 C water
- 1 1/4 C cane sugar

Ingredients for Gingerale
- 3 to 4 T of Ginger Syrup
- Club soda or seltzer water (if you own a Soda Stream...I may be slightly envious...)
- Lime (optional)

Place chopped ginger and sugar in a small sauce pan with 1 C of water over medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. When sugar is completely dissolved, turn off heat and let sit for 20-30 minutes.

The liquid is now a syrup-like consistency. Remove ginger and pour syrup into a jar to store in fridge.

When ready to use, just pour 3-4 T of ginger syrup in a glass (over ice if you prefer)

Fill glass with carbonated water and stir

Squeeze in a little fresh lime juice for added flavor if you'd like

 

 Add a straw and enjoy!

Linking to: Growing Home, Far Above Rubies, Deep Roots at Home, Raising Homemakers, Raising Mighty Arrows, Our Simple Country Life, Women Living Well, Time Warp Wife, Homestead Revival

Rich & Creamy Cocoa

 

Ingredients

12 oz can evaporated milk
1 1/2 C water
1/4 C sugar
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Dash sea salt

Pour water into small sauce pan; add sugar, cocoa, vanilla and sea salt. Heat over medium, stirring until cocoa mixture dissolves.

Bring to boil and reduce to simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir in evaporated milk and serve (makes 4 servings)

Top with whipped cream and serve with cinnamon stick to stir (optional)

Baked Apple Cinnamon French Toast

This is perfect for a time-crunch Sunday breakfast, Saturday morning brunch or anytime of the week! We had this for our weekly Breakfast for Dinner night with southern hash browns and scrambled eggs. 

1 loaf of french bread, torn
6 eggs
1-1/2 C half & half
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 C sugar
1 1/4 t cinnamon
1-1/2 t cornstarch
2-1/2 C chopped apples
1/4 C butter, melted

Place bread in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, mix eggs, half & half and vanilla together. Pour over bread and refrigerate overnight (or prepare all this in the morning if having breakfast for dinner). Combine sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch together, fold in apples and place in a lightly greased 13"x9" baking pan. Place chilled bread mixture on top of the apple mixture; drizzle butter over bread. Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes.

Golden Apple & Cranberry Pancakes

Ingredients
1 Golden Delicious apple, chopped
1/4 C chopped cranberries
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
1/4 C sugar
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 C milk
1/4 C melted butter

Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Beat the eggs with milk and melted butter in a measuring cup. Combine the wet and dry ingredients into a lumpy batter and add apple mixture; be careful not to overmix as this will result in flat, heavy pancakes.

Heat a little bit of butter in a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Spoon 1/4 C of batter into skillet. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side or when bubbles form around edge of pancake. 

Serve with maple syrup or apple butter. 

Strawberry Popover Pancake

I made this delicious recipe this morning, which I adapted from a Gooseberry Patch recipe. It is so easy! The variations are endless - you could use spelt flour, brown rice flour, etc. Or garnish with a whipped topping.

Ingredients
2 T butter
1/2 C flour
1/2 C milk
2 eggs
1/4 C chocolate chips
1/4 C raw cane sugar
1 pt. strawberries, sliced

Garnish: confectioners sugar

Place butter in a 9 inch pie plate; place in 200 degree oven until butter is melted. In a medium bowl, beat flour, milk and eggs until well blended. Pour mixture over melted butter; do not stir. Drop chocolate chips evenly over flour mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until edges of pancake are puffed and a deep golden brown. In a small bowl, sprinkle raw sugar on strawberries and spoon into center of pancake; cut into wedges. Garnish with confectioners sugar.

 

 

Spiced Slow Cooker Apple Sauce

 

This morning my house smelled like delicious apples! I prepared this last night and awoke to a warn cinnamon-y aroma :) It was heavenly. The basket was a splurge of mine. I am very frugal when it comes to home stuff and buy nearly all my decorations used. But I saw this cute little apple basket at Reny's and it was whispering my name every time I walked by it. I kept glancing at it from the corner of my eye, nearly running over sweet little old ladies with my shopping cart. And then I gave in.

10 apples peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1/2 C water
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg

Place the apples and water in a slow cooker; cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Continue cooking an additional 30 minutes.

Peach Crinkle

This is a yummy dessert that costs pennies to make! There is just something about dessert. It is like the grand finale of a meal. Just when you think the togetherness at the dinner table ends - we break briefly to rest our full bellies - and then we meet again to enjoy a sweet treat!

Ingredients

29 oz. can sliced peaches, drained
1 t. lemon zest
1-1/4 c. pie crust mix
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. butter (1/2 stick)
Garnish: whipped topping or ice cream (we used french vanilla)


Place peaches in a pie pan or 8"x8" baking pan and add lemon zest

Crumble pie crust mix and brown sugar together, mix well. 

 Sprinkle mixture evenly over peaches and dot with butter

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. This sweet caramelized, bubbly goodness smells so good out of the oven!

 Top with ice cream while the crinkle is still warm! So delicious and buttery-sweet :)

My babies and their sweet juicy peaches :)

Flaky Cheese Danish

 I love the Gooseberry Patch cookbooks and found one for 20 cents at our Salvation Army yesterday (Wednesdays are their 1/2 off days!). This one is titled Hometown Favorites, and I wrote down all kinds of ingredients to some recipes I can't wait to try. All of the recipes require minimal ingredients and appear really simple to make! The kids and I made these DELICIOUS flaky cheese danishes today!

2 8-oz. tubes crescent rolls, divided
1-1/4 c. sugar, divided
1 egg and 1 egg white
8-oz. package cream cheese
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (we didn't use these)

Unroll one package of crescent rolls, separate and place on cookie sheet

 

Cream together one cup sugar, egg, cream cheese and vanilla

 

Spread mixture evenly over crescent rolls

Unroll the remaining tube of crescent rolls and place over top of cream cheese mixture

 

Beat egg white until frothy; brush over crescent rolls. Mix together cinnamon, remaining sugar and walnuts (optional); sprinkle on top

(I didn't end up using as much sugar as the recipe called for so I placed the remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture in an empty jam jar to store in cupboard)

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 8 servings or 16 when split in half

Best enjoyed with a cup of coffee and a good book :) Save extra for hungry hubby.

 

Super Easy Chicken & Dumplings

This is a DELICIOUS no-fail recipe of a southern favorite! We seem to be eating a lot of south-inspired dinners lately, but that's because I can always count on them delivering comfort and happy bellies around our table! All you need for this easy meal are a few ingredients:

32 OZ Chicken broth (DollarTree sells MSG-free broth for $1! Can't beat that!)

1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of chicken soup

3 Cups of cooked chicken, shredded (I used a ready Rotisserie :)

1/2 Cup or more Carrots, chopped

1/2 Cup or more Celery, chopped

1/2 Cup or more Onion, chopped

1 small can of refrigerated buttermilk biscuits 

Seasoning of choice to taste (i.e. poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, etc.)

Place first 3 ingredients in large pot and bring to boil

In the meantime, chop vegetables if you haven't already

Once soup has reached boil, reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook for 10 minutes.

While simmering, place biscuits one at a time on a floured surface

And roll out til about 1/8 inch thick. Then cut each flat into thirds

Remove the cover from pan and turn heat up to high. Add the chopped vegetables

Once mixture has reached boil, drop in biscuit strips one at a time and stir

 

Cover and reduce to simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep dumplings from sticking together.

And then warm some bellies with semi-homemade goodness!

 

Honey Peach Popsicles

Ohhhh yeaa it's popsicle season! We love making homemade popsicles in the summer time. They're delicious, simple to make and they're healthy! Unlike most storebrands, these ones are made with very few ingredients. Check back for more variations - we're slightly obsessed with homemade popsicles in this family - we have them with breakfast on really hot days!

Honey Peach Popsicles

We used 1 cup of almond milk, about a cup of frozen peaches, and 2+ tablespoons of honey.  I'm glad I found something to do with all those peaches I froze when they went on sale a few months ago. The honey is local and from a wonderful friend of mine :)

Bear putting the ingredients into the blender :)

 Miss Haley Jae joining in on the fun

 We love these popsicles molds!

 

Yummmm!

I just love all of the faces she makes :) 

 These were a huge hit!