My Favorite Bread Sticks

First, I have to say that I'm not eating carbs for a few weeks so you have no idea how hard it is for me to blog about my most favorite carb-filled dish. But I've been meaning to share this recipe for so long, I can't put it off any longer.

These are sooooo goood. I make them all the time. And some nights when Mike is working this is all I have for dinner (I'd do it when he's home but he doesn't think it's a meal if there isn't a big piece of meat involved). I dip them in pizza sauce and alfredo sauce or melt cheese on them but they're good plain too. I always set a couple aside and sprinkle them with cinnamon-sugar. So yummy! The only down side is that you have to plan in advance cause the whole process takes a while, but they're so worth it. Enjoy!

Bread Sticks

1 1/2 c. warm water
1 Tbls sugar
1 Tbls yeast
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 cups flour (I usually use less, just eye ball it)
1/4 cup butter
3 Tbsp cornmeal
1/2 c. butter
garlic salt
parmesean cheese

Combine water, sugar and yeast. Let stand 10 minutes. Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 cups flour and mix well. Slowly add more flour until dough pulls away from side of bowl. Place in greased bowl, cover and rise for 45 minutes or until doubled. Roll onto floured surface into rectangle. Cut into 12 strips. Coat baking sheet with 1/4 c. butter and sprinkle with corn meal. Twist strips and place on baking sheet. Cover and rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 425 for 8-10 minutes. Brush with butter and sprinkle with parmesean cheese and garlic salt (or cinnamon sugar).

Avocado Citrus Salsa

Yum.  I can't think of any other way to describe this other than yum.  It is so good!  I really loooooove avocados and I also love sweet and spicy things so this was perfect for me.  Scott and Justin also enjoyed it, the others are a little more suspicious of the fruit and vegetable combinations.  This was awesome served on carne asada beef tacos.  We also loved as a chip dip.  I thought the website that posted it, http://www.ksl.com/, had a picture so I didn't take one.  I will take one next time I make this which will probably be soon!

Avocado Citrus Salsa

•2 medium oranges, peeled, seeded and chopped (I used a can of mandarin oranges)
•1 large ripe avocado, peeled, seeded and chopped
•¼ cup chopped red onion
•¼ cup snipped cilantro
•2 tablespoons lime juice
•½ teaspoon bottled hot pepper sauce (I used a splash of gren tobasco sauce)
•¼ teaspoon salt

In larger bowl combine all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours before serving. Makes about 2 ½ cups.

Banana Bread {the best ever!}

Banana Cream Bread

(from my neighbor Arin)

1 1/2 C. Vegetable Oil

3 C. Sugar

4 Eggs
6 Mashed Bananas

1 TBSP Vanilla

1 1/2 Tsp Salt
4 C. Flour
1 1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda

1 C. Sour Cream

2 C. Nuts (opt)

Heat Oven to 325
Grease and flour 3 bread pans (I usually halve the recipe and it still makes 2 loaves)
Combine oil, sugar, eggs, sour cream, bananas, vanilla, and salt.
Sift together flour and baking soda.

Mix into wet ingredients

DO NOT OVER MIX!

Divide into loaf pans and sprinkle about 2 Tbsp sugar over batter.

Bake for 60 minutes.

This is the best banana bread ever!  When ever I make it, it doesn't last long at all.  My neighbor Arin (the one who gave me the recipe) brought this over to our family shortly after we moved in to our house.  We ate the whole loaf of bread that night...so of course I had to bug her for the recipe, and I am so glad I did!

Pizza Rolls

We make this quite often lately when I don't know what else to fix.

They are really quick to make (if you have an hour or two to thaw the bread rolls ahead of time)

Pizza Rolls

Ingredients:

1 bag Rhodes dinner rolls (36 count)

motzarella cheese cut into 36 cubes

Pepperoni

First you have to thaw the rolls (this takes about an 1 1/2 to 2 hours)

Then you flatten the rolls out like this:

The one on the left is the original size, and the one on the right is how it looks after you flatten it out.

Then place two pieces of pepperoni and one cube of cheese on top of the roll.

Then fold the dough over making sure to pinch the edges tightly together to keep the cheese from oozing out.

Place on a pan and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.  Then brush with butter.

We make homemade pizza sauce to dip them in (I will post that too...one of these days.  It is so good, I could eat it by the spoonful).  I always cook the whole bag, because they make the yummiest leftovers.  Me and the kids eat them for lunch for several days after we have them for dinner.

Strawberry Cake and Strawberry Frosting

I know I post a lot of desserts, but that's because I eat a lot of desserts.  Yesterday I bought two flats of strawberries which I will freeze most of, but I thought it would be fun to try a new dessert with them too.  Justin loves strawberry cake so I found this recipe and it was great.  It was easy and had great strawberry flavor.  I thought strawberries in the frosting sounded a little weird, but it was really good.

Strawberry Cake and Frosting

1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
1 (3 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin mix
1 cup mashed strawberries
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup flaked coconut (I omitted this because my kids don't like coconut)
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (I also omitted this due to Scott's allergy to nuts, but I would have loved both the coconut and the nuts.  I'll have to try it that way sometime.)

4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1/4 cup mashed strawberries
1/4 cup flaked coconut (omitted)

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2.In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and gelatin mix. Make a well in the center and pour in 1 cup mashed strawberries, oil, eggs and sweetened condensed milk. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut and chopped nuts. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3.Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.
4.To make the frosting: In a large bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, melted margarine, 1/4 cup mashed strawberries and 1/4 cup coconut. Beat until smooth and spread over cake.

This recipe makes way more frosting than is needed, unless you really like frosting.  You cold probably do 1/2 to 3/4 of the frosting recipe.  I did it all : )

Banana Bars

Lately, I have been wanting to make banana bread with over ripe bananas, but the kids have been eating them all up before I am stuck with any over ripe ones.  Finally, today I noticed that we had a few that qualified to me as over ripe--no more green on them.  So I found this recipe and the kids loved it!  I may make these from now on rather than banana bread.  (mostly because I just really love frosting)  Also, they were eaten up before I got a picture so they really are a winner at my house!

Frosted Banana Bars

from allrecipes.com

½ cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (I used three ripe bananas)

Frosting (use store-bought cream cheese frosting or make your own from the version below)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10 x 15 inch jellyroll pan or one 9X13 pan and an additional 8X8 pan. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; stir into the batter. Finally, mix in the mashed banana. Spread evenly into the prepared pan(s). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bars to cool completely before frosting.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Set aside. In another medium bowl, beat whipped cream until stiff peaks form (it helps to use a chilled bowl and chilled beaters). Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Frost to your heart’s delight!

Lemon Bars

3/4 c. margarine, softened

1 1/2 c. flour

1/3 c. powdered sugar

Dash of salt

Mix together and spread on 9 x913 pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

4 eggs, beaten well

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. flour

6 Tbsp. lemon juice

Pour onto crust that is still hot. Put back in oven and bake 25 minutes. While still hot, rub butter lightly over the top, then sprinkle powdered sugar over the top. Cut in squares and serve.

I have adjusted the recipe for the crust to make it a little thinner. Before, it was 1 c. margarine, 2 c. flour, and 1/2 c. powdered sugar. It always seemed too thick to me.

This recipe came from Afton Godfrey