Yummy Quinoa Recipes

Quinoa is definitely a popular ingredient nowadays, and rightly so with the nutritional punch it packs! I have been searching Pinterest lately for new-to-me recipes that are healthful and delicious. A couple that I tried this week turned out so well I decided I'd share the links here also.

The first one is California Quinoa Salad, I didn't include the edamame in the recipe as my hubby didn't want the soy, and I only used the juice of 2 limes because mine were a good size and it tasted good with that quantity. Otherwise I prepared the recipe as described. It was super easy and super good!

Yesterday I made the Quinoa Chili which was also delicious.  I only made a few changes because I was short a couple of ingredients: I only had one can of tomatoes, and a 4oz can of chilies, and one can of kidney beans instead of two. I tasted it before adding the cayenne and decided it didn't need the extra spice (my daughter doesn't like very spicy food). It was really flavorful, definitely will make this recipe again.

I intended to take photos of each recipe but forgot, however mine looked just like the photos on the original blogs so I was happy with the results. You can check those out and I hope you are inspired to try them too!

You are welcome to follow me on Pinterest!

Linda

Make-Ahead Cinnamon Rolls

Here is a yummy recipe for cinnamon rolls which you can make a day (or more) in advance to save you time. Thursday was my son's 13th birthday and he requested these for breakfast, so I prepared them on Wednesday afternoon, let them rise in the refrigerator and baked them fresh on Thursday morning. I have made these several times and they are so good!

A friend gave me this recipe and I'm not sure where she got it, so I can't give credit to the original creator of the recipe - it wasn't me however.

The recipe will actually make 2 pans, you could bake a pan on consecutive days if you like (I've done that), or halve the recipe if you only want one pan, which is what I did this time. Remember, they will rise in the refrigerator, you can keep them there for 12-48 hours before baking.

Here's the recipe, followed by a few pictures I took along the way!

Make Ahead Cinnamon Rolls

2 pkgs yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 cups lukewarm milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup butter (or shortening - I use butter)
2 tsp salt
1 egg
5-6 cups all-purpose flour

4 Tbsp soft butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water, let sit for a few minutes. Stir in milk, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup butter, baking powder, salt, egg, and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn onto floured board; knead in more flour as necessary. Place in greased bowl and let rise until double.

Mix the other 1/2 cup sugar with cinnamon and 2 Tbsp flour in small bowl and set aside.
Roll out 1/2 of the dough on floured board into a rectangle shape. Spread with 2 Tbsp of the butter and sprinkle with 1/2 the cinnamon mixture. Roll up, pinch to seal. Cut into 12 slices ( I use dental floss for easy cutting), place slices in greased 13" x 9"pan. Repeat with other half of dough. Cover pans tightly and refrigerate for 12 - 48 hours.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
Top with your choice of glaze or frosting.

An easy powdered sugar glaze recipe:
1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, a few Tbsp milk.
Mix together in medium bowl to desired consistency.

Dough rolled out on the board

Spread with butter and topped with cinnamon mixture

Rolled up

Cut in half using dental floss. I then cut each section in half again, then each of those into 3 slices. That way I get them fairly even in thickness

In the pan.

Baked the next day.

Topped with powdered sugar icing. YUMMY!!!

Hope you enjoy these as much as my family does. They are a wonderful treat and extra nice because you don't need to get up at 5 am to have them ready for breakfast!!

Warm Your Hearts and Home

Warm your home as you bake these yummy treats and warm the hearts of your family as you share special moments together on a cool day! Quick breads such as these are easy and inexpensive to prepare, and they will fill your home with a wonderful aroma. These recipes are also a great way to utilize an abundance of zucchini or apples at this time of year! Enjoy!

Zucchini Bread IV from allrecipes.com I have made this bread quite a few times and my family loves it. It is especially good with some chocolate chips added!

Apple Bread also from allrecipes.com. This is also yummy, I had some Sweet Cinnamon Sprinkle from The Pampered Chef which I sprinkled on top before I baked it. Adding cranberries would be another nice alternative.

Make the most of it:

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  Be sure to serve up your family's favorite hot beverages - tea, coffee, hot cocoa, apple cider along with these breads.
  
  
  
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  Bake extra loaves to share with friends/ neighbors. A warm loaf of bread is a gift of friendship!
  
  
  
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  Bake extra and freeze some for another day.
  
  
  
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  Invite friends over to visit and share your freshly baked breads.
  
  
  

Have a great day!

Smart Mom

Oh bananas!

Do you ever have banana issues? You can buy them when they're still a little green and nobody wants to eat them because they're not ripe enough or you get them just perfect but before you know it they're turning black. Good thing we can save the day with banana bread, huh? I've been making the same banana bread recipe for years now, it's pretty good and super easy. Last week I had blueberries so I added them and we all loved it, so I thought I'd share my recipe with you today, so that you can get some savings out of your bananas. If we hadn't already eaten the bread I would take a picture to include here, oh well! You'll have to make your own to see how it looks.

By the way, if your bananas are ready to turn into bread but you don't have the time, peel them and put them in a freezer bag, freeze them until you're ready to bake, it works just fine.

Blueberry Banana Bread

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 cups mashed bananas (about 5 medium)

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans (9x5x3).

Beat all ingredients except blueberries in a large bowl on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 45 seconds, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in blueberries. Pour batter into pans.

Bake 50-60 minutes or until cake tester inserted near center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves and remove from pans. Cool completely before slicing.

Variations:

Whole wheat banana bread: Substitute whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour.

Banana nut bread: Add 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts. Omit blueberries.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread: Substitute chocolate chips for the blueberries.

Hope you enjoy these recipes. Have a blessed day!

Smart Mom

Back to School and Freebie Friday

Didn't get a blog out yesterday :( sorry, today however I am so thankful that we are cooler and I am getting my house back to a normal temperature, I got some sleep last night so I feel much better today and a bit more productive.

I got the Staples e-mail today with their specials for next week, they are selling packs of filler paper for 1 cent each, I am definitely getting those for school. The kids and I went in on Monday and got some of the deals I told you about last week, I saw the filler paper on sale for 79 cents (I think) but I had a feeling it would go lower because we got it last year for a steal, so I decided to wait... smart choice. By the way, those sale prices are effective Sun. - Thurs.

Ok, so it's Freebie Friday... I've been looking around for a really nice freebie... sometimes it's hard to find, I came across this offer and although it's not completely free, you get 7 free bonus recipe books with your purchase. Anyway, I really like to cook so it appeals to me, they are offering recipes from all our favorite restaurants. Click on the link to take a look.
America's Secret Recipes

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Be blessed!

Smart Mom