Favorite Friday Recipe: Simple Sesame Noodles

Another great Pioneer Woman recipe!  B loves sesame oil so he definitely gave it a thumbs up!  I was planning on using soba noodles but had thin spaghetti on hand and surprisingly they worked well.  I added shrimp, mushrooms and edamame to make it a full meal.  Next time I'll try chicken and broccoli, and maybe pork and another vegetable too!

Simple Sesame Noodles

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces, fluid Thin Noodles, Cooked And Drained
• ¼ cups Soy Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar (I may have added more here)
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
• 3 Tablespoons Pure Sesame Oil (I think I used 2 tbsp)
• ½ teaspoons Hot Chili Oil (didn't have so I left it out)
• 4 Tablespoons Canola Oil (left this out too)
• 2 Tablespoons Hot Water
• 4 whole Green Onions, Sliced Thin

Directions:

• Whisk all ingredients (except noodles and green onions) together in a bowl. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed.
• Stir fry  meat and vegetables of your choosing along with some garlic
• Pour sauce over warm noodles and toss to coat
• Add your meat/vegetables
• Sprinkle with green onions and toss
• Serve and prepare to eat your weight in pasta!

Favorite Friday Recipe: French Breakfast Puffs

Today's recipe comes from the Pioneer Woman again but unfortunately is not quite a favorite of mine.  I did however take pictures so I figured I might as well post!

I had high hopes for these but for some reason mine came out kind of dry and too nutmeg-y and no amount of melted butter and cinnamon sugar coating could save them.  Guess I'll be going to Dunkin Donuts for some Munchkin holes!  If you'd like to try the recipe, you can find it here.

This is probably a good time to discuss my lack of photography skills.  At first I thought my pictures could be greatly improved by getting a better camera, but I've since realized I probably wouldn't know what to do with a better camera anyway.  I hate messing with fancy settings and really just want good pictures without all the work!  I can never figure out which settings are best--so I'm curious to know what you guys think...

With flash?

Or without flash?

Favorite Friday Recipe: Bacon wrapped pineapple bites

You know my love for the Pioneer Woman.  Well she has launched Tasty Kitchen where readers share their recipes and this is one of my favorites!

I especially love the hint on placing these wrapped goodies on a cooling rack with a foil lined pan underneath which will catch all the drippings while it bakes.  In my case, after the first almost smoke alarm fiasco, I put down two layers of foil and took the first layer off after half of the cooking time so the juices didn't burn and smoke and create havoc everywhere.  These are well worth the lingering smoke smell in my kitchen though.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb bacon
• 1 can large chunk pineapple
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:

• Set oven to 375F
• Cut bacon in half (I did thirds) and dredge through a shallow bowl full of brown sugar
• Place a chunk of pineapple on one end of the bacon, roll and secure with a toothpick
• Double line a pan with foil, place cooling rack on top and place the rolled pineapple chunks on the rack
• Bake 10 min then take out the first layer of foil with the dripped juices on it
• Bake another 10-15 min, you can set it on broil for the last 2 minutes or so (unless there is an alarming amount of smoke coming out from your oven.  Then you should just open all the windows, hustle your puppies into their crates and turn on the oven vents and all fans in the house)
• Let cool for a few minutes and then serve!
  

Favorite Friday Recipe: Homemade Pizza

Make your own pizza night is becoming a popular meal at our home lately.  It's quick, easy and fun to make especially when you have company visiting.  What makes it so great is this Basic Pizza Crust recipe by none other than the Pioneer Woman.  And she's right, letting this dough sit at least 24 hours in advance really helps, and if you're baking it 48 to 72 hours later, the dough is miraculously even better! 

In our household, fresh mozarella cheese is a must, then we load on all our ingredients--for me: mushrooms and olives, and for B: some sort of meat (bacon, pepperoni, Canadian bacon).  The trick to making pizza is to really pile on the ingredients, don't be shy!

After a nice little baking in the oven:

Favorite Friday Recipe: Raisin buns

Thanks to the Pioneer Woman, I have conquered my fear of yeast and baking!  Her cinnamon rolls are legendary and using the same dough recipe, I made some raisin buns for Easter.  Her recipe is actually under Hot Cross Buns, but since I was too lazy and didn't make the icing to cross the buns, I'm just going to call them good ol' raisin buns!  They've already been devoured and there are plans in place to start a second batch this weekend.  Enjoy!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Apple Tart

I made these Apple Tarts last weekend and they were delicious and so easy! Another score from the Pioneer Woman's recipes--you can check out step by step directions and her much more delicious looking pictures here! Happy weekend!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

I have really great memories of these cinnamon rolls that my mom used to bake every Sunday morning. She had gotten the starter from a friend and it made the best dough ever for bread, rolls, and of course cinnamon rolls. I've never quite recovered from the day when my mom threw out that precious starter. From then on, every cinnamon roll was a disappointment and could never compare to those original ones.

Well enter the Pioneer Woman whom I love love love. She posted this Cinnamon Rolls 101 recipe and I spent so much time reading the step by step instructions and drooling over the pictures. I've never been really handy at baking (something about not really being exact about measurements) and am terrible at dough, but I decided to give it a try. With the help of my sister in law, we measured and rolled and sprinkled and baked and to our delight we were finally able to proclaim--the best cinnamon rolls ever!

And the most miraculous thing of all is that I've been able to recreate these time and time again. Here are a couple of tips I can share after making many batches:

1. You can tell when the milk/oil/sugar mixture is scalded by the bubbles that just begin to hit the surface
2. Use plenty of flour on your surface to help with the rolling
3. Yes you will want to track down the maple flavoring for the icing, it's worth it.
4. And yes, the coffee is really necessary. I don't drink coffee at all so I just went to get a $1 cup at McDonalds
5. These freeze well (I put them in the round aluminum tins, place in a gallon size ziploc bag and then squeeze the air out)
6. And any leftover dough, if you can resist the urge to sprinkle more butter and cinnamon sugar on, are actually great left as is and baked as dinner rolls

Enjoy!

Here they are baking in the oven (before icing)

And after the glorious icing