Cinnamon Rolls

I was going to post this recipe last week then ended up going to Lagoon with my family and totally forgot. This is my Grandma Snarr's recipe and they were requested by Casey for his Father's Day treat, although I'm sure I ate way more than he did.

2 cups milk, scalded

1/2 cup shortening or margarine

1 cup sugar

2 tsp salt

1 cup prepared mashed potatoes

2 packages (4 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

2 eggs, slightly beaten

7 cups flour (about)

2 Tbsp butter

1 cup raisins, optional

1/2 cup nuts, chopped, optional

Cinnamon sugar

Pour scalded milk over shortening, sugar, salt and mashed potatoes. Cool to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add to milk mixture. Add eggs and 4 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Dredge nuts and raisins in flour and add to mixture (or you can just sprinkle them over the buttered dough later with the cinnamon sugar). Slowly add remaining flour to make soft dough (dough should barely stop being sticky). Roll 1/2" thick; spread with 2 Tbsp butter; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Roll up; cut 1" slices (the thread wrap-around method is easiest). Place on greased baking sheet(s); rise to double. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Frost. I really like the cream cheese frosting on these.

Regular Frosting (may need to double this):

1 cup powdered sugar

4 tsp milk

1 Tbsp butter, melted

1/4 tsp vanilla

Cream Cheese Frosting (definitely do not need to double):

1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla

5 1/2 to 6 cups powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar to reach spreading consistency.

Impossible Garden Pie

Sorry I missed my day last week we were in California for a quick vacation. Aunt Janice gave me this recipe while we were there. I can't wait to try it tonight!! To make this recipe evan more fun Aunt Anne sent us home with a ton of zucchini from her garden :)

Impossible Garden Pie
2 cups diced zucchini
1 1/2 diced tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped oinon
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp of pepper
1 1/2 cups of milk
3/4 cups of bisquick
2 eggs

Heat oven to 400 degrees

Layer zucchini,tomatoes and oinon in a greased 11x7 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and peeper . Mix milk bisquick and eggs in a blender for 1 minute. pour over the vegetables. Bake for 30 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting

Rice Krispie Treats

Such a classic for the 4th of July.

Ingredients:
3 Tbs butter
1 pkg (10 oz) marshmallows
6 C Rice Krispies

Directions:
*Melt the butter in a pan on low heat
*Add marshmallow, melt completely (yes it seems to take forever but it will be worth it)
*Remove from heat
*Add Rice Krispies, stir until well coated
*Using a buttered spatula or wax paper, press into a cookie pan or something similar
*Let cool and cut into squares.
Try not to eat them all in one day

Cookie ice cream sandwich

Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich

I am going to make these for Aaron and the girls on Sunday.

Ingredients

Peanut butter
12 cookies -the recipe calls for oatmeal raisin cookies but I am going to use Chocolate chip cookies

1 pint of vanilla ice cream

mini chocolate chips ( I think that mini m&m's would be good also)

spread peanut butter over bottom of 6 cookies. Top with a scoop of ice cream. Top with another cookie, press down gently. Roll sides of ice cream sandwich in chocolate chips.

Serve immediately or wrap in plastic wrap and freeze

butterscotch parfaits

I think this sounds so yummy!!!!

2 cups cold milk
1 package butterscotch pudding mix
18 vanilla wafers
1 carton cool whip thawed
6 maraschino cherries,optional

In large mixing bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set

In six parfaits glasses, alternate layers of pudding,wafers crumbs and whipped topping. Garnish with cherry if desired

serves 6

Southwest Chicken

So I noticed my last week's recipe was the last post. What's the deal? Did everyone run out of recipes already or do you just have more of a life than I do?

Anyway, this is what I made for dinner tonight. I was trying to find a recipe to use things we had on hand and this is what I came up with. We didn't quite have all the ingredients so I had to modify it a little bit but we both really liked it still so here it is. I'll post the actual recipe because it looks really good and I want to make it once we do have everything for it. Then I'll put what what I did differently.

6 boneless chicken breast halves

6 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, cut into 2" x 1/2" sticks

2 cans (4 oz.) chopped green chiles, drained

1/2 c. dry bread crumbs

1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1 T. chili powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

3/4 c. flour

1/2 c. butter, melted

Flatten chicken to 1/2" thickness. Place a cheese stick down the middle of each and top with chilies. Roll up and tuck in ends; secure with toothpick. In a shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, chili powder, salt, and cumin. Coat chicken with flour, then dip in butter and roll in crumb mixture. Place roll ups, seam side down, in a greased baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 400 for 25 minutes or until chicken is done. Discard the toothpicks.

We didn't have any cheese or green chilies so I skipped the whole flattening and rolling up part and just breaded them and baked them. Then I made a sauce out of Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chilies, a can of cream of chicken soup, and about 1/2 cup sour cream. We heated the sauce in a saucepan and put it on top of the chicken when it was done baking. Yum!

Chiken Fajitas

Okay, this can't really be considered a recipe but I'm just going to tell you how we prepare our chicken fajitas.

We use the Walmart brand packet of Fajita seasoning, preparing our fajitas according to package directions. All you need with this is a pound of chicken, an onion, and a green pepper.

While this is cooking, we also prepare a box of Rice-a-Roni fajita flavored rice.

Once those are done, we layer the rice, the chicken and vegetables, shredded cheese, sour cream and guacamole on top of a fresh baked fajita-sized tortilla. There is a grocery store here called H.E.B. that bakes their own tortillas and they are amazing.

I'm not usually a huge guacamole fan but I'm really addicted to homemade guacamole. Laurie and Cade taught us a shortcut for making it. I guess this can count as a recipe. Mash up your avocados with pace picante sauce (or whatever salsa I suppose), salt, and lime juice, all to taste because I don't know the exact amounts. It is my favorite thing right now.

Anyway that is chicken fajitas, Casey and Kristi style! Happy Father's Day everyone!

P.S. Just to clear things up--no I am not pregnant!