Strawberry Spinach Salad

This is a wonderful Spring or Summer salad! It's delicious! I love all of the ingredients and together they make a great salad. I would love to use blue cheese in the place of the feta, but my kids would revolt. So I make it with feta for now. I let the pickier eaters pick out the red onion also. Let's just say this is not their favorite salad, but I love it! I like to take this salad when I'm taking dinner to someone. It's pretty!

Strawberry Spinach Salad

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1 bag baby spinach
1 bag spring mix lettuces
16 oz strawberries, sliced
4 oz feta or blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
salt and pepper
bottled raspberry or red wine vinaigrette, or poppy seed dressing

Toss together the spinach and spring mix. Add onion and strawberries and toss a little. Top with crumbled cheese and almonds. Sprinkle with a little fresh ground pepper and salt. Serve with salad dressing of choice.

Stick of Butter Rice

I bet you, like me, have seen this recipe all over the place. It is so popular. I can tell you why it is - it's delicious! This rice turns out so flavorful. It reminds me a little of the rice from my favorite chicken casserole *Oven Chicken*. I got this recipe from Thirty Handmade Days and modified it just slightly  because at my altitude I use just a little more liquid in my rice. I served it with *Crispy Cheddar Chicken*, another family favorite, and steamed broccoli. It was a great dinner that my whole family loved.

Stick of Butter Rice

1 cup long grain white rice
1, 10 oz can condensed French onion soup
1, 14.5 oz can beef broth (this is what I changed - the original recipe calls for a 10 oz can)
1/2 cup or 1 stick of butter, cut in slices

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a 9x9 inch baking dish or a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish, combine rice, soup, and broth. Cut butter into slices and place evenly on top of the mixture. Cover with foil (or your casserole lid) and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake 25-30 minutes. Fluff and serve.

Perfect Dinner Rolls

This is another fantastic recipe from Your Homebased Mom. They really are the perfect white dinner roll. I have another dinner roll recipe that I really love - it's half wheat flour half white flour - but I know this will be my go-to for white dinner rolls. The dough is very easy to work. These tasted amazing with butter and jam.

Perfect Dinner Rolls

1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast
2 cups warm milk
3 tablespoon butter, softened
1 teaspoon sugar plus 2 tablespoons, divided
1 tablespoon salt
6-7 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
melted butter

1. In a heavy duty stand mixer combine water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes, until foamy.
2. Add milk, butter, remaining sugar, and salt.
3. Add in 5 cups of flour and mix until dough forms. Continue adding flour, 1/2 cup at a time until the dough becomes smooth and pulls away from the sides of the mixer. Knead on high speed for 3 minutes. Dough should be slightly tacky.
4. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise until double in size (30 minutes or so depending on room temperature).
5. Press dough down and roll into a 8 x 12 rectangle. Cut the dough into 4 strips the long way and then each strip into 6 pieces for a total of 24 pieces.
6. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place on a greased or silpat lined baking sheet.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise a room temperature for 20-25 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
9. Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Brush the baked rolls with melted butter if desired.

Mixed Greens Salad with Pears, Candied Pecans, and Honey Vinaigrette

This is a simple and delicious salad. I love the combination of the pears, pecans, and feta. I made this salad for our Christmas Eve dinner. The vinaigrette is also a great sweet and sour dressing that would go well with any mixed greens salad. I got this recipe from The I Heart Naptime Cookbook - which is a fantastic cookbook.

Mixed Greens Salad with Pears, Candied Pecans, and Honey Vinaigrette

1/2 cup pecans
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 cups spring mix (about 1 reg size prewashed bag)
4 cups baby spinach (about 1 reg size prewashed bag)
1 large pear, cored and thinly sliced
1/3 cup dried cranberries and blueberries (or just 1/3 cup dried cranberries)
3-4 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

In a non-stick skillet combine the pecans and sugar and cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar has melted and coated the pecans. You want to cook it on medium low and make sure you remove from heat before the sugar burns.

In a mason jar with a tight lid combine oil, honey, vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper. Screw on the lid tightly and shake until all ingredients are fully combined.

In a large bowl mix together the salad greens. Pour dressing over and toss. Add pears and toss gently. Top with cranberries/blueberries and feta. Serve.

Amber's Breadsticks

These breadsticks are absolutely fantastic and really easy to make. They are baked in melted butter and wow does that make them delicious!! I have been making these for a number of years, but realized I never wrote the recipe down with pictures. I usually serve them with Italian dinners or soups. Please do give this recipe a try - it's pretty much fail proof!

Amber's Breadsticks

1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups very warm water
1 teaspoon salt
3 - 3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
garlic salt
grated Parmesan cheese

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine yeast, sugar, and very warm water. Let sit for about 5 minutes until it starts to foam.

Add 2 cups of flour and salt and mix with dough hook for a minute. Add enough additional flour, a little at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixer (I added 1 1/4  cups of additional flour). Knead with the dough hook on medium high speed for 5 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl with non-stick sprayed plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Place 1/2 cup butter on a rimmed cookie sheet. Place in the oven as it preheats to 400 degrees, being sure to watch it so the butter doesn't brown. As soon as the butter is melted remove from oven and tip the pan back and forth to spread butter evenly over the bottom of the pan.

Punch down the dough and roll into a long rectangle on a floured surface. Cut dough into strips with a pizza cutter. Take a strip, fold in the middle and twist, pinching together the ends of the dough. Place the twisted dough pieces evenly onto the butter covered cookie sheet. Sprinkle with garlic salt and Parmesan. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.

Homemade Canned Applesauce

Last Saturday I canned 23 quarts of applesauce with the help of my family. It was a big effort, but in the end it was totally worth it because homemade applesauce is just so darn good. I used a bushel of Jonagold apples and a bushel of Jonathan apples and loved the taste of both apples for applesauce. I made half regular and half with cinnamon - we love both. I used the recipe from my trusty Ball Blue Book canning cookbook. I don't have a food mill (maybe I'll get one for a future birthday present :)), so I used an apple/peeler/corer/slicer to prepare the apples. We had a quart of the Jonagold regular applesauce with dinner last night and my kids called it liquid gold so I think all the effort was worth it!

Homemade Canned Applesauce

2 1/2 - 3 1/2  pounds of apples per quart of applesauce desired
water
Fruit Fresh
sugar (optional)
cinnamon (optional)
canning supplies (canner, quart jars, new lids, rings, etc.)

1. Peel, core, and slice the apples. Place in a large stock pot with about an inch of water in the bottom of the pot (this is so the apples won't stick and burn on the bottom of the pot). Every so often I sprinkle Fruit Fresh on the apple slices and stir them around to keep the apples from browning. Fill up the pot with apples as they will cook down a lot.

2. Cook apples until soft being sure to stir the bottom vigorously and adding water as needed so apples don't stick to the bottom. At this point I like to transfer the cooked apples to a different stock pot (this is just to assure that any apples that have stuck to the bottom with not be in the finished applesauce).

3. Off the heat use an immersion blender to blend the applesauce to the desired consistency - we like it just slightly chunky. If you do not have an immersion blender you can use a food processor or blender.

4. Add desired amount of sugar to taste or none at all if the apples are sweet enough - I added 2 cups of sugar to each pot of applesauce.

5. Add cinnamon, if making cinnamon applesauce, to taste. I added about 3 teaspoons of cinnamon to each pot of applesauce.

6. Place applesauce back on the heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Then turn down the heat to a simmer and cook stirring for 5 minutes.

7. Remove from heat and ladle hot applesauce into sterilized quart size jars, leaving 1/2 inch of head space. Place a sterilized new lid on each jar. (To sterilize lids place them in a small saucepan of just simmering water - you do not want to boil the lids.) Screw on a ring tightly. Place jars into the canner rack.

8. Place rack with jars into canner with boiling water. Water should completely cover the jars. Bring back to full boil, then cover and process at a full boil for 20 minutes plus any additional time needed for your altitude - I add 10 minutes for my altitude, refer to the chart below.

**As a side note: I can on a camp stove in my garage with the garage door open. This helps keep the mess of the canning process out of my kitchen and not on my stove. It's really a great way to can if you have a camp stove.

9. After required processing time remove the rack and jars from the canner and place jars on a towel lined surface (use a jar lifter - they are hot!). Do not move the jars for 24 hours. During this time all the jars should seal.

10. At the end of 24 hours inspect each jar to make sure it has sealed by pressing the middle of the lids to make sure they don't spring back when pressed. Wipe the jars clean with a wet wash cloth. Label the tops of the lids with the year, a chalk marker works great for writing on the lids. Store sealed jars at room temperature - they will last the longest if they are stored in a cool, dry, dark place.

Pumpkin Crescent Rolls

I think this is my favorite new recipe this year! These rolls are just fantastic. They are soft and moist in texture and taste slightly sweet, pumpkin-spiced, and pumpkiny, but still bready. If that makes any sense. They are perfect for Fall and would go so well with a soup and would be great for Thanksgiving! I served the rolls with honey-butter and it was a delicious combination! The original recipe was from Cooking Classy, but I modified it just slightly.

Pumpkin Crescent Rolls with Honey Butter

1 rounded tablespoon instant yeast (SAF or another like brand)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon very warm water, divided
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup softened butter, plus more for brushing tops of finished rolls
4 - 4 1/2 cups bread flour

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine yeast, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, and 1/4 cup very warm water. Let sit for 5-10 minutes or until foamy.

Add brown sugar, 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon very warm water, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, egg and egg yolk, pumpkin, softened butter, and 2 cups of the bread flour. Mix this with the dough hook until smooth. Add remaining flour, half of a cup at a time, until you have a slightly sticky dough that clears the sides of the mixer bowl, but still sticks to the bottom of the bowl a little - for me I added an additional 2 cups of flour. Knead on medium speed for 5 minutes. Transfer to a large non-stick sprayed or oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough and divide into 3 equal portions. Roll each portion out on a non-stick sprayed surface (also spray rolling pin and your hands) to about a 10 inch circle, the size of a dinner plate. Cut into 8 equal triangles like a pizza, then starting at long end roll each piece to form a crescent roll. Pinch the pointy ends of triangle into the dough so the roll doesn't unravel and place pinched side down onto a greased baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with a silpat. Cover rolls with non-stick sprayed plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 during last 20 minutes of rising time. Remove plastic wrap and bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown on top and bottom. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter. Let cool or serve warm with honey butter (recipe below).

Honey Butter

1/4 cup softened butter
3 tablespoons honey

Mix together with a spatula until smooth. Yum!

Crock Pot Cinnamon Applesauce

I think homemade applesauce is heavenly. It is the best way to make your home smell like Fall as the apples cook away. Yum! This slow-cooker recipe for applesauce it the best. There's no stirring or watching the pot of applesauce to make sure it doesn't burn on the bottom - all you do it put all the ingredients in the crockpot and let it cook. It is the perfect accompaniment to any meal. I'm so glad I gave this a try - it will probably be the way I make applesauce from now on.

Crock Pot Cinnamon Applesauce

10 cups peeled and sliced apples (this measurement is approximate - I just peeled and sliced enough apples to fill up my crock pot)
Fruit Fresh
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup water

Peel and slice apples. I used my apple peeler/slicer/corer to make this process faster. As you place the apple slices in the crockpot sprinkle the layers with Fruit Fresh and mix around. All together I probably used about 1/2 tablespoon of Fruit Fresh. Add in the brown sugar, water, and cinnamon and mix it all together. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours and then on low for 2 hours, or you can cook on low for 6 hours. Blend apples in the crockpot with an immersion blender until it is the texture you like. If you do not have an immersion blender you can blend in batches in a blender. Pour the applesauce into a bowl and let the applesauce cool for at least an hour before serving. After it is cooled you can serve it or refrigerate it until you are ready to serve the applesauce. It is delicious warm or cold.

My Favorite 100% Whole Wheat Bread

This is a fantastic whole wheat bread recipe! I was so happy with the texture and how light it turned out - whole wheat bread has such a tendency to be too dense. The secret it using white whole wheat flour (though you can use regular whole wheat flour too!) and vital wheat gluten - both help the texture to be lighter. And the flavor is delicious! There really is nothing better than a slice of fresh, warm bread with butter and jam. SO good! 

My Favorite 100% Whole Wheat Bread (3 Loaves)

3 cups very warm water

1 ½ tablespoons yeast (I use SAF instant yeast)

¼ cup shortening

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten

6-7 cups whole wheat flour (I use white whole wheat flour)

In the bowl of a heavy duty mixer combine water and yeast, swirl the water and yeast together a little by mixing with the dough hook. Stop and wait for yeast to dissolve and froth a little. Add shortening, honey, salt, vital wheat gluten, and 3 cups of the ww flour and mix with dough hook until smooth. While mixing, add flour a cup at a time until you have a soft dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead with dough hook on high speed for 5 minutes.

Remove dough and place in a large non-stick sprayed bowl. Cover with non-stick sprayed plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled, about 40 minutes. Knead again with hands on a non-stick sprayed (or floured) surface. Cut into 3 equal pieces and shape into loaves. Place in 3 greased 9x5 loaf pans. Cover loosely with non-stick sprayed plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in pans, about 40 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until browned on top and bottom. Remove from oven and brush tops with melted butter. Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and allow to cool on a wire rack at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Breakfast Kabobs

Ok, so this isn't really a recipe, but I just had to put this kabob idea on my blog because it turned out so cute. I made these to take to a breakfast get-together and kids and adults alike loved it. I saw the idea on Pinterest. It was easy and the kabobs are perfect for a school party or any other time you need to take a yummy treat to a gathering.

Breakfast Kabobs 

2 packages bakery donut holes (I used glazed cake donut holes)
2 - 3 lbs strawberries, tops removed
3 packages black berries
wooden skewers (I snipped the pointy ends off with scissors since toddlers were eating these)

Thread strawberries, blackberries, and donuts onto skewers and serve. Easy peasy and super yummy.

Easy Cilantro Lime Rice

This is probably the easiest version of a Chipotle or Cafe Rio-like cilantro lime rice. So this is probably the one I will stick with from now on! All it has in it is cooked rice, lime zest, lime juice, and chopped cilantro. It's great! I served this with our homemade Cafe Rio dinner - which is crockpot sweet pork that each family member either makes a burrito or burrito bowl with. It's a family favorite dinner. I hope you love it like my family does.

Easy Cilantro Lime Rice

3 cups uncooked long grain white rice, or basmati rice (basmati rice is what's pictured)
zest of one lime
juice of one lime
2-3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Cook rice (I just use my rice cooker). When rice is ready and hot add lime zest, lime juice, and chopped cilantro and toss. Serve with any mexican dish.