Adventures in Food

Moist and Delicious 2 Hour Turkey!

2012-01-23T22:13:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe at Safeway years ago and have been using it ever since! Everyone I've ever told about it, can't believe that a turkey can be cooked so quickly and still be tasty and moist. After one bite of this turkey though, they're begging for the recipe! The skin gets crispy and seals in the moisture as the turkey cooks, so every bite is juicy and flavorful! Enjoy!
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Nutella Cinnamon Rolls with Nutella Icing

2012-01-20T22:24:00.000-08:00

Today was cold, rainy, and windy, so the Munchkins and I decided to stay cozy inside day. Lounging around in jammies, we built a fort, watched a movie, took naps, and made these cinnamon rolls. Since World Nutella Day is coming up next month, I decided to make these with Nutella filling AND Nutella icing. Oh-my-word. Every warm, gooey bite tastes of cinnamon, hazelnut, and chocolate! Another great thing about these is that you can make them ahead of time and then just microwave right before serving and they taste hot from the oven. This is the perfect dessert to share with those you love, and a lovely breakfast to bring your Valentine in bed! Try it today! :)

Nutella Cinnamon Rolls with Nutella Icing
Makes 16

Nutella Cinnamon Rolls
1 package quick rise yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water (100 degrees)
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
3 3/4 cups flour

Filling
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2/3 cup Nutella
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. In the bowl of your mixer, stir together yeast and warm water and allow to dissolve for 5 minutes.
2. Add milk, salt, melted butter, vanilla, sugar, and egg and mix well.
3. Add 3 1/2 cups flour and mix until dough comes together, adding remaining flour a tablespoon at a time until dough forms a slightly sticky ball. Knead on a floured surface or using the dough hook of your mixer until dough is smooth and elastic.
3. Grease a large bowl and place dough inside, turning so top gets covered in butter too, then cover and allow to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours. Dough is ready when it is doubled in size and if indentations remain when you press your fingers into it.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a 9x18 rectangle an brush with the 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Then, evenly spread the Nutella across the surface of the dough.
5. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle across the dough evenly.
6. Starting at the long side, tightly roll up the dough, pinking the seam to seal it closed.
7. Using a serrated knife, cut the roll into 16 slices, each abut 1 1/2 inches thick. Place in 2 round, glass, greased pie dishes.
8. Preheat oven to 350 and let rolls rise in pans for 15 minutes. Bake for 12 minutes or until light brown. Allow to cool slightly as you prepare the icing.

Nutella Icing
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons Nutella
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons milk

1. Whisk together in a small bowl until smooth, then pour over both pans of cinnamon rolls while still hot.
2. Allow icing to set slightly, then enjoy your warm, gooey, delicious cinnamon roll! :)
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Best-Ever Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

2012-01-17T22:05:00.000-08:00

These cookies are truly the best chocolate chip cookies EVER! I found this recipe through Pinterest and changed it just a bit to create these chewy, gooey, chocolate packed cookies! Be warned: they're highly addictive, especially warm from the oven! :)

Pesto Puff Pastry Pinwheels

2012-01-16T10:43:00.000-08:00

I made these cheesy, little, pesto filled, flaky pastry pinwheels as a Christmas Eve appetizer. They're just the right size for munching and are so tasty you won't want to stop!
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Coconut Bread Pudding with Coconut Cream Sauce

2012-01-12T13:33:00.000-08:00

With a few stale croissants on my hands the other day, I decided to make bread pudding. Now that the holidays are over, I find myself thinking about warmer weather and the foods that come with it, coconut in particular, and I whipped this up in minutes for our New Year's Eve dessert. The bread pudding is moist with just a hint of sweetness and with the warm coconut cream sauce spooned over the top, every bit was bursting with coconutty goodness!
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Savory Pumpkin Polenta

2012-01-12T12:18:00.000-08:00

This savory pumpkin polenta is the perfect winter side dish to ham or roasted chicken! You can make it ahead of time and just thin with chicken broth and stir with a whisk while reheating over medium heat before serving.

Pig in the Mud

2012-01-08T21:50:00.000-08:00

Munchkin had been planning a princess birthday party for months, when two weeks before her party she suddenly fell in love with pigs and decided that she wanted a farm animal birthday party instead. We bought plastic pigs to stick on her birthday cake, had her party at a local park that had a small barn complete with cows, sheep, and pigs, and for dessert we served these Pigs in the Mud. Plastic cups of delicious, creamy chocolate coconut pudding with buttery little pig shaped sugar cookies sitting on top. It was the perfect ending to the most perfect Farm Animal 3rd Birthday there ever was! :)
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Best Ever Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

2012-01-05T21:59:00.000-08:00

This recipe, adapted from Betty Crocker, is an old family favorite. As long as I can remember, My mom, grandma, and I have been using it to make Christmas cookies and now it's my go-to recipe when I want to make any kind of shaped and decorated cookies. For Munchkin's farm-themed birthday party we made pig shaped ones for 'Pig in the Mud'... and they were as delicious as they were cute! :)
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Chocolate Rice Krispy Treats

2012-01-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

After getting a box of chocolate rice krispies on sale the other day, I couldn't help but imagine them smothered in marshmallows, in bar form. Munchkin helped me make these chocolate rice krispy treats, using the chocolate cereal rather than the plain, and cut them into shapes with cookie cutters to share with her little friends. It was a delicious twist on a classic sticky treat!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

2011-12-03T11:28:00.000-08:00

These muffins are the perfect addition to any holiday gathering! Whether you serve them as a spicy, sweet, perfectly moist breakfast muffin or call them cupcakes and serve them for dessert, one thing is certain... you won't have any left!

Cinnamon Avocado-Banana Bread

2011-12-01T10:04:00.000-08:00

With a bunch of ripe avocados and bananas that needed to be used, I saw a recipe on Babble and had to try it, with the addition of cinnamon. This recipe has it all nutritionally; whole wheat flour, honey instead of sugar, a fruit, and a veggie inside! It's also perfect for anyone with a dairy or egg allergy because it's completely vegan. I made jumbo muffins and then cut them in half and spread them with butter for the munchkins and they both gobbled them right up!
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Baby Food: Banana- Avocado Puree

2011-11-30T11:32:00.000-08:00

This puree is a great way to introduce avocados to your baby! The sweetness and creaminess of both the banana and avocado makes them perfectly paired as a first food for your little ones and this puree is packed full of good fats, fiber, and lots of potassium for their growing bodies!
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Funfetti Pancakes

2011-11-28T11:06:00.000-08:00

With an opened box of funfetti cake mix after making Funfetti Cake Batter Dip, I decided to try this recipe for funfetti pancakes from the same blog. I made them in mini size for the munchkins and they were amazing! The sugar in the batter caramelizes when it hits the hot pan giving these a little crunch on the outside while turning into warm, fluffy, funfetti cake in the middle! While probably more appropriate for dessert than breakfast, these are an amazing treat any time of the day!

Funfetti Cake Batter Dip

2011-11-26T14:49:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe on Pinterest and although I was skeptical at first, I made for for me and the Munchkins to snack on the other day. Who doesn't love funfetti cake batter, right?! And it's "healthy" since it's made out of yogurt! :) To my surprise, it really did taste like funfetti cake batter! It was amazingly yummy! We dipped fruit, graham crackers, and animal crackers in it and licked the bowl clean afterwards. You've gotta try it for yourself...
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Sausage and Herb Stuffing

2011-11-23T21:30:00.001-08:00

Until this year, I'd never tried making stuffing from scratch. Thinking it'd be too time consuming or labor intensive, I usually rehydrate a boxed mix and served it along side our Thanksgiving turkey. This year, I decided to give it a go and to my surprise it was easy and took less than half an hour to make! The flavors are so rich and delicious, a family member actually said it was the best stuffing they had ever eaten. I would have to wholeheartedly agree.. seriously, it's that good!

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Cinnamon Spice Glazed Pumpkin Scones

2011-11-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

You know that fall is in the air is when yummy pumpkin treats start appearing everywhere! I love pumpkin any time of year, but I always especially enjoy being able to grab a spicy pumpkin scone at Starbucks with my hot drink! If you like the pumpkin scones at Starbucks, you will LOVE these! Moist, soft, spicy pumpkin flavor covered in a cinnamon glaze- these are delicious for breakfast or dessert and are sure to get you in the mood for Autumn!

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Vanilla-Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

2011-10-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

These cupcakes were the result of an adapted Dorie Greenspan recipe that I made for baby munchkin's first birthday party! I topped them with my go-to cream cheese frosting recipe and they were a huge hit with everyone who tried them! I love that they are both vanilla-y and lemony and taste good at room temperature or slightly chilled! Mmmmm! :)
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Pistachio Baklava

2011-10-12T09:34:00.000-07:00

The first time I had Baklava was at a little Moroccan restaurant and I was blown away at the unique and diverse blend of tastes and textures that little honey soaked square held! Crisp and chewy, soft, yet crunchy, sweet honey, and salty nuts... every bite was pure heaven! The restaurant sold it by 1 inch squares for $3 a piece and we bought it several times, but in the interest of our budget I decided to try to make it at home. Rather than using a pastry brush to coat each layer with melted butter, I filled my Pampered Chef spray bottle with the butter and just sprayed it on! It worked like a charm and only took a second per layer! Who knew that making baklava at home was was this simple! It didn't take too long, and cost under $10 to make 42 delicious squares! I know what my family will be getting this year for Christmas! :)

Excuses Excuses...

2011-09-26T22:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a loooong time since my last post. There's a variety of boring explainations why, but my favorite excuse is this...
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Watermelon-Strawberry Agua Fresca

2011-08-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

After seeing Agua Fresca at Whole Foods, I did a little research on what exactly it was and couldn't wait to try my own version! Sort of a cross between a smoothie and flavored water, this drink is sweet, fruity, and SO refreshing on a hot summer day! I whipped up a pitcher of this watermelon-strawberry version recently and my family gulped it down in huge icy glassfuls!

White Pizza with Asparagus and Mushrooms

2011-08-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

This pizza has a delicious, garlic white sauce that perfectly complements the flavor of the mushrooms and roasted asparagus. When we visited Rome, we often enjoyed pizza like this for a light midday lunch. Now we enjoy making this version ourselves for a summer dinner with a fresh green salad on the side.

Homemade Strawberry Jam

2011-07-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

I love making this easy homemade jam in the summer when fresh, sweet berries are in abundance! This recipe doesn't require any pectin and has much less sugar than most, so its soft and spreadable rather than rubbery and the sweet flavor of the berries can really shine through! We love slathering crunchy toast with it or making PB&J sandwiches, but we've also been know to eat it by the spoonful warmed up as an ice cream topping! Yummy!
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Baby Food: Banana-Kiwi Puree

2011-07-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

This might not sound like typical baby food but it is a great way to start introducing more exotic fruits at an early age! It's another winning combo that Munchkin loves to slurp up smoothie style while Baby Munchkin gets it mixed into her cereal for breakfast. The sweetness of the ripe banana tames the slight sourness of the kiwi and makes this a creamy refreshing treat!

Strawberry-Nutella Milkshakes

2011-07-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

Strawberries and Nutella are a natural match made in heaven! We made some cold, creamy milkshakes the other night for dessert with fresh, sweet strawberries and added a spoon of Nutella to the mix. Yum! Frosty, strawberry, chocolate, hazelnutty goodness! The perfect dessert for a hot summer night, or anytime for that matter!

Baby Food- First Mashed Potatoes

2011-07-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

Potatoes are a frequent addition to combination baby foods since they thicken up more watery veggie purees so nicely and don't have too much nutritional value on their own. But when introducing them to baby for the first time, they need to be served on their own and this is a super easy way to make them! Whether you're making these for baby's first taste, using them as a base to mix in other pureed veggies, or even serving them as a side dish for an older baby, these mashed potatoes are creamy and delicious!
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