Kellie's Homemade Salsa

 We enjoyed a great family trip to go camping with the extended Wright family. We all met at Steven and Kellie's house for dinner on July 4th and then went camping at Flathead Lake and visited Glacier National Park. Before dinner Kellie served us chips and homemade salsa. It was so yummy! I asked her to share her recipe with us. So here it is:

Homemade Salsa
1 can (28 Ounce) whole tomatoes with juice

1 can (10 Ounce) diced tomatoes and green chilies

1/2 yellow onion, chopped (about 1/4 cup)

1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 jalapeño, diced
1 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground cumin
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
1 whole lime, juiced

Put all ingredients in the blender and pulse until it's the consistency you like. Add extra salt if needed and refrigerate for at least on hour before serving.  It is so yummy! I broke chips into it and ate it like gazpacho.

Meatloaf Muffins - Beef Free!

The theme for Abi's bridal shower was Scrabble because she and Myles like games. Jessica arranged for everyone to contribute one of their favorite recipes to go along with a scrabble letter and she put them in a book for Abi. One of the recipes Jessica added is for meatloaf muffins. Last night when I tried to think of something for dinner that everyone would eat and suggested baked potatoes. Adria agreed with that. I thought we needed some kind of meat to go with them. I remembered the meatloaf muffin recipe from the day before and asked Abi if I could take a picture of it. Adria can't eat beef, so I modified it to use ground turkey. We didn't have enough turkey, so I used some pork sausage as well. I think the combo turned out great. Everyone loved them - Even Adria and Pierce ate them! (They have both been picky lately.) Also Ryan has been avoiding regular onions, so I had to use green onions instead. Here's my modified recipe:

2/3 cup cracker crumbs (I used Ritz crackers- recipe said you could use bread or oatmeal too)

1 Pound ground turkey

1/2 pound mild pork sausage

2 beaten eggs

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 c chopped green onions (green part only)

1 tsp salt

dash of pepper

Sauce:

1.5 Tbsp brown sugar (I just estimated)

3/8 cup ketchup (1/4 c + 1/8c)

3/8 tsp nutmeg (I did a heaping 1/4 tsp)

1 and 1/2 tsp dry mustard

Mix all the ingredients well. Grease muffin tins and fill until each muffin tin is three quarters full. Mix the sauce ingredients and add on top of each meatloaf muffin. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. 

There was only 1 muffin left that I grabbed for my lunch. So the only picture I have is this one that's not very good because I took it during my lunch break at work. LOL - Meatloaf pictures never look great anyway. They taste better than they look!

Butterscotch Monkey Bit

 I found this recipe in a "conference packet" from Deseret Book. The original recipe is cooked in a pressure cooker. But I didn't have pan that would fit inside my pressure cooker. So I modified it and baked it in the oven. We made it twice over Easter/Conference weekend and then we made it 2 more times the next weekend when Myles and Abi came to visit. The best part is that it is dairy-free which is a must around here since Adria can no longer eat dairy. 

16 Rhodes Frozen Dinner rolls
1/2 C chopped pecans
1 (3.5 oz) package cook-and-serve butterscotch pudding (Jello brand in dairy free- check ingredients on others)
1/2 c brown sugar
6 Tbsp dairy free butter, melted

Place Frozen rolls in a zip-lock bag and allow the rolls to thaw for 1.5 - 2 hours at room temp (or overnight in the fridge). Do not let the dough begin to rise.

Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray and sprinkle the pecans in the bottom of the pan. Cut the rolls into 6 pieces and arrange half of them in the bottom of the pan. Mix the butter and brown sugar and drizzle half of it over the rolls. Sprinkle half of the pudding mix over the rolls. Then repeat the layers with the other half of the rolls, butter/sugar mix and pudding. 

Cover with plastic wrap (sprayed with cooking spray) and let rise until double - about 1.2 to 2 hours at room temp or overnight in the fridge. 

Preheat the oven to 350°. Bake the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and invert onto a large serving plate. 

**the last time I made this I had 24 rolls so I made 2 pans. I used double the pecans (half for each pan). I increased the sugar and butter by 50%- and used half the mix on each pan. I only used 1 package of pudding and used 1/2 on each pan (1/4 on each layer). It worked great!**

French Almond Cake

 It's Olivia's Birthday tomorrow! Happy Birthday! Today my family had a bridal shower for Abi. I told Adria I would bring her a birthday cake. So after the shower we sang happy birthday and ate cake. She doesn't like most fruit flavors and I wanted to find a cake she would like. I had a recipe for French Almond Cake and she said she loves almond flavor. The only problem was the recipe also included fresh orange juice and zest and she hates oranges. I asked if she'd like lemon or something else. I suggested cherry. She prefered lemon. So I made altered the recipe to lemon. She took some home to Ben and he said he liked it so much he wants one for his birthday- and he wants to try the cherry version - so I will have to create that one soon. 

For the cake:

1/2 cups sliced almonds
¾ cup plain yogurt or Greek yogurt
1½ cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1½ cups all purpose flour
¾ cup almond flour not almond meal
3 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup canola oil

For the glaze:
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¾ cup powdered sugar plus more for sprinkling
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Spray a 9-inch round cake pan (with at least 2 inch tall sides) with baking spray. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper and spray parchment paper lightly. Place almonds in a small baking pan. Spread to a single layer. Bake for 15 minutes or until just beginning to turn pale golden brown, stirring every 5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, sugar, and eggs, stirring until well blended. Add the all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, salt and extracts. Stir to combine. Add the oil and stir well. Keep stirring till smooth. This might take 2-3 minutes.

Pour the batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the cake feels springy to the touch in the center and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. If the cake is getting too brown near the end and  is still not done, cover loosely with foil sprayed lightly with cooking spray to prevent cake from sticking to the foil. Be careful not to over bake. While cake is baking make the glaze. Cool cake on a wire rack for 10 minutes; then turn it out of the pan onto the rack.

For the glaze, combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, powdered sugar and extracts in a small bowl. Stir with a whisk until smooth. 

While the cake is still warm, using a pastry brush, gently pat the glaze all over the cake. Just keep going over the cake till the glaze is gone. Some of it will drip off, but most of it will soak in. Sprinkle the toasted almonds over the top of cake while glaze is wet and pat gently. Allow cake to cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

Gwen thought this cake looked delicious too! 

Fritos Snack Mix

 We went camping over Labor Day weekend with the extended family. It was so fun to see Steve and family from Montana, and Justin's and Jessica's families and Mom and Dad. We should definitely do it again!  We all brought food to share but now we all have new food restrictions. :-( Justin and Ashlee recently found out their family all are allergic to gluten. Adria has been complaining for months that her stomach hurts and we finally did an allergy test for her and discovered she is allergic to milk. So she had gone milk free for the past few months and that seems to help. So we all had to bring gluten and dairy free foods. (BUMMER!) I found this recipe from cookiesandcups and decided to modify it so we could take it as a treat. I didn't use M &Ms because they probably aren't dairy free and I don't like them anyway. Another thing I learned on this trip - Licorice isn't gluten free! Who'd of thought? So the next recipe quest is homemade gluten free licorice... We will see. 

Everyone LOVED this snack mix and they all said I needed to share the recipe. So here it is to the best of my ability to remember what I did.  

• 1 (10.5 oz) bag of Fritos - I used the bigger bag (19oz) and used a little more than half the bag
• 3-4 cups Rice Chex Cereal- Original recipe says 2 cups, but I left other stuff out so I added extra here. 
• 2 cups of candy corn -Original recipe said to use nuts too, but we left those out.
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup non-dairy (vegan) butter
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large roasting pan Fritos, and Chex.  Set aside.

In a small saucepan melt sugar, vegan butter and corn syrup over medium heat.  Let mixture come to a boil and then boil for 4 minutes without stirring.

Remove from heat and pour over Frito mixture, stirring to coat evenly. Bake for 8 minutes.  Remove to stir and bake for an additional 8 minutes. Stir in the candy corns and pour onto 

wax paper lined counter and let cool completely breaking large clumps.

I didn't get a picture because we ate it too fast and I didn't think about pictures. That just proves how delicious it was!

Orange Rolls

We love orange rolls at our house but rarely make them. Usually we just get them at Grandma Jenny's house at Christmas time. This is a different recipe I found from Mel's Kitchen Cafe and of course I had to try it with my own variations.

1 cup hot water
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 skimpy Tbsp yeast
1 large egg
2 Tbsp dry milk powder
3 1/2 cup flour

Heat the water so it's steaming but not boiling. Pour it into a bowl, add the butter, sugar and salt and mix until the butter is melted and the mixture has cooled to warm. (I used my stand mixer.) Add the egg and the yeast. Gradually add about 3 cups of flour. Mixing in well. Add the last 1/2 flour slowly if need to make a soft dough. knead for a few minutes then cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled (about 1 hour).

Make the filling:
3/4 cup sugar
2 - 3 Tbsp fresh orange zest. (I used 2 large oranges)

Mix the sugar and zest together. I didn't feel like this made quite enough. I had some lemon sugar I made (using the same procedure with lemon zest) a few weeks ago for something else. So when I sprinkled the mix on the dough, I added some lemon sugar too - probably about 1/4 cup. So next time I'll use a full cup of sugar and more zest.

After the dough has doubled roll it on a lightly floured surface into a 16 x 14 inch rectangle. Brush with fresh squeezed orange juice. (You could use butter here, but then the rolls don't hold together at well.) Spread with sugar filling. Starting with the long end, roll up the dough and pinch the seam to seal it.

Using floss or string mark the dough in half, then quarters, eights and sixteenths. Cut with the string into 16 equal pieces. Take each round and pull gently into an oval, then twist once in the middle. Place each roll on a lined baking sheet.

Let the rolls raise until nearly doubled, about 60 to 90 min. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20 mins or until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly then frost
.

 Frosting

3 oz cream cheese, room temp.
5 Tbsp butter, room temp.
pinch of salt
1-2 Tbsp orange juice
1 tsp orange zest (or whatever is still left on the orange - I didn't have much)
1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar

I never measure the sugar when I make frosting, so these numbers are always approximates. Cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the salt and 1 Tbsp orange juice and zest. Mix well. Add the powdered sugar and additional juice if needed to make a thick, but spreadable frosting.

Spread the frosting over the still warm rolls and serve.

Limone Brownie

Ryan and I went to Pizzeria Limone last week. I always want their lemon brownies, but I rarely get them. I didn't get one last Friday, and regretted it all weekend so I decided to make my own last Sunday. They are chocolate brownies with lemon buttercream and covered with chocolate ganache. After I posted a picture of them in Instagram, one of my neighbors commented that she wanted one. So I made them again today. I am currently waiting from the buttercream to set up so I can add the ganache on top and thought I'd post the recipe here. Last week I didn't have cream, so I made the ganache without cream. Today I didn't have semisweet chocolate for the brownies, so I used unsweetened chocolate. I'll post both the variations in case you don't have those items either!

Brownies (this recipe is a variation from Sally's Baking Addiction)

1/2 cup butter
two 4-ounce semi-sweet chocolate bars*
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons (80g) all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons (11g) unsweetened natural or dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

*If you have unsweetened baking chocolate bars, add an extra 1/2 cup of sugar (1 Tbsp sugar per 1 oz of chocolate.)

Melt the butter and chopped chocolate in a medium saucepan on medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat, pour in a large mixing bowl, then allow to slightly cool for 10 minutes. (I skipped the bowl the 2nd time - soo many dirty dishes, just wait for it to cool longer.)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom and sides of a 11x7 inch baking pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on all sides. Set aside.
Whisk the granulated and brown sugars into the cooled chocolate/butter mixture. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla. Gently whisk in the cocoa powder,salt and flour.
Pour/spoon batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 35 minutes or until the brownies begin to pull away from the edges of the pan.

Allow the brownies to cool while making the buttercream.

Lemon Buttercream

1/2 cup butter, softened to room temp.
 3 cups of Powdered Sugar
 1 lemon

Beat the butter until smooth, or nearly smooth. Zest the lemon and add to the butter. Squeeze both halves of the lemon into the butter and mix in. Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Drop onto the cooled brownies and spread a thick layer over the brownies with an offset spatula. I put mine in the freezer before and after putting on the buttercream. When the buttercream is set, cover with chocolate ganache.

Chocolate Ganache Without Cream

4 oz semisweet chocolate
1/3 cup milk (I used 1% but the recipe I found said 2% - whatever)
2 Tsp butter

Chop the chocolate into pieces. I used chocolate chips so that part was done. Heat the milk and butter in a pan until the butter is melted and the milk is starting to bubble. Pour over chocolate and stir until the choclate is melted. Cool if necessary so it can be spread over the brownies without melting the buttercream. Freeze the brownies until the ganache is set.

Chocolate Ganache with Cream (also from Sally's Baking Addiction)

4 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c heavy cream

Heat the cream in the microwave or stop top until simming, but not boiling. Pour over chocolate and let it sit for 2 to 3 minutes. Then stir the chocolate until it's melted and smooth. Allow it to cool slightly then spread over brownies.

Allow ganache to set before cutting brownies. I put mine in the the freezer.