MMMM! Homemade Cinnamon Rolls! YUM!

So I was perusing through my countless cookbook for new ideas and was going through Southern Living 40 years of the best recipes and found a Cinnamon Rolls recipe that does not involve refrigerated dough, which is the only recipes I could find for the longest time. This is totally from scratch. YAY!

Well not only are they OHHHH so yummy they are also very easy! DOUBLE YAY!  I made these on Tuesday with full intent on bringing them to precepts class but alas as is everything from scratch with yeast, they had to rest for 40 min before being cooked.

Since it's taken me so long to find such a good recipe I thought I would share it with all of you.

Cinnamon Rolls - Makes 2 dozen

Yummy cinnamon rolls, there was another pan but they got eaten quick. Note: I left the oven on when I left, and they rose for almost 3 hours....I took them out with still 4 min left so hopefully the next batch won't be as "dark"

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup butter

3 1/2-4 cups all purpose flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 (1/4 oz) envelope rapid rise yeast
2 large eggs

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 tsp cinnamon

For icing
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
3 1/2-4 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Combine water, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/3 cup butter in a saucepan over medium heat; cook until butter almost melts, stirring occasionally. Cool to 125-130 degrees.

2. Combine 2 cups flour and next 3 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add warm milk mixture to flour, beating at low speed of a heavy- duty electric mixer. add eggs and beat 3 min at medium speed.

3. Gradually add 1 1/2 cups flour beating 2 min. Gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.

4. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface, and knead 5 min or until smooth and elastic. Cover and let rest 10 min. Divide dough in half. Working with half of the dough at a time and keeping other half covered, roll each half into 12 in square.

5. Combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup butter, and cinnamon (I used a pastry blender for this part) Spread evenly over both squares of dough. Roll up dough, jelly roll fashion, starting at long end; pinch seams to seal (I did not pinch the seams...opps)

6. Cut each roll into 1-inch slices. Place rolls, cut side down, in 2 lightly greased 9 in square pans (I only have one so I put the rest in two glass pie pans)

7. Cover and let rise in a warm place free from drafts, 40 min or until doubled in size. Bake at 375 degrees for 18 minutes or until golden brown ( if you can smell them they are most likely finished)

8. combine powdered sugar, 3/12 to 4 Tbsp of milk, and vanilla; drizzle glaze over warm rolls. (I did not do this as I did not have any powdered sugar)

NOTE: Baked cinnamon rolls can be frozen without glaze for up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator overnight and bake in foil at 375 for 10 min.


Hope you enjoy them as much as my family did!

Adventures in Canning

This past weekend for the first time ever, I canned! And I actually enjoyed it!

I got two bushels of tomato's and canned them. I have 12 quart jars full of tomato's! and 3 quarts of tomato sauce that I will use for pizza or pasta.

One thing I learned in my adventure, when peeling and coring the tomato's ( I did not removed the seeds, just the core and skins) Once you carve a X into the bottom of the tomato drop it in hot water to peel the skin, this takes like 30 secs if that.

Core the tomato first before taking the skin off...its a WHOLE LOT easier than skinning and then coring because the tomato's are very very slippery, not something I had really thought of before. Core and then skinning made it a lot easier than the other way around.

Next up I think I might try to make grape jelly. Did you know that jelly is like 4 lbs of fruit and like 7 cups of sugar!! HOLY COW! That's a lot of sugar!!

In our back yard we have a 2 pear trees, 2 cherry trees and a grape vine. Our pear trees have never really produced eatable fruit, except for the groundhogs who love to eat their breakfast from my tree, but they are very bitter or totally destroyed by the bugs. So we picked them all and hubs is going to trim the tree again and hopefully next year I might have some pears to add to my list of canned goods from my own homestead.

80 Days

Why yes, I am they type of DORK who tracks her birthday!

Today while looking over my new day planner I realized that there is only a little over 3 months until my birthday and as i haven't worked out in three months my plan to be 150 by my birthday might have failed.......But then I deiced why does it have to fail, I have 3 months, there is no reason, with losing 2 lbs a week I can not make my goal.

Today during nap, I worked out and after my work out I joined another walk, The Heart Walk on Nov 10th in DC. Figured since I was too late on the color run, its better to do something than nothing, and registration was FREE! Can't beat that, and I'll be walking with my Thirty One crew, that will be lots and lots of fun, and hubby is even going to join (bc I'm making him and it's on my birthday weekend! HA!)

As my scale has been broken for some time I have no clue where I'm starting at, except for about a month ago I had my annual checkup with my midwife and I weighted 168; so we'll start there!

Wouldn't it be totally awesome if I lost that 25lbs oh dude I'd be 143, and that hasn't happened since senior year of high school!