Love Those Buns!

Whenever I make a pot roast or pork roast, it is a two-day meal. The first day being the roast with side dishes, then I shred the leftover roast to make pulled pork or bbq beef for the next day's dinner on buns with chips or some other casual accompaniment. Actually, I look forward to day two more than roast day.

A few months back, the pulled pork dinner day was upon us and I had forgotten to purchase buns. ugh! The thought of driving down the hill to the grocery store (24 miles round trip in a vehicle that gets 16 mpg with gas over $4/gallon) really didn't appeal to me - but I dislike eating this type of food on slices of bread. I also knew that the bread recipe that I use for whole wheat sandwich bread would be the wrong texture for buns.

I started perusing recipes and found this one for Whole Wheat Buns. The texture is fantastic, they smell wonderful while baking, and now my family is spoiled and only want homemade buns from now on. Since they freeze spectacularly well, I don't see where this will be a problem.

Also - I make the dough in my bread machine so I can work on other things at the same time. The recipe comes from Bread Machine Magic.

Whole Wheat Buns - Hamburger or Hot Dog

Makes 12 hotdog buns or 8 hamburger buns

• 1 cup water
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 teaspoons yeast

Place all ingredients in bread pan, select Dough setting, and press Start.

When dough has risen enough, the machine will beep. Remove bread pan, and turn out dough onto a floured counter top. Gently roll and shape the dough into a 12-inch rope.

With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces for hamburger buns or 12 pieces for hot dog buns.

Grease a baking sheet (I use parchment, rather than greasing). Roll pieces of dough into balls and flatten for hamburger buns or shape into 6-inch rolls for hot dog buns. Place on prepared baking sheet. Cover and let rise in warm oven 10 to 15 minutes until almost doubled.

Preheat oven to 400°F Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown (be careful mine cook pretty fast). Remove from oven and cool on racks. When ready to use, split buns horizontally.

Banana Split Cake

One of my favorite summertime treats is Banana Split Cake. I have fond memories of my mom making this cake for me growing up, for my birthday, and even as a special surprise when I visit.

This is the perfect thing to bring to potlucks and gatherings. The recipe is super easy, using very few ingredients, but everyone who tastes this will be asking you for the recipe! This is a no-bake dessert and the original recipe calls for 2 eggs, but you can use egg substitute if that freaks you out.

Banana Split Cake

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted

2 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened

2 eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 can crushed pineapple, drained

3-4 bananas, sliced

large container of Cool Whip

marachino cherries and walnuts or pecans for garnish, if desired

Mix together the melted 1/2 cup butter with the graham cracker crumbs. Gently pat mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 pan - do not pack tightly.

Beat together the 1/2 cup softened butter with the confectioners sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Spread this mixture evenly over the cracker crumb crust.

Next, layer banana slices. On top of banana layer, spread the drained crushed pineapple.

Spread Cool Whip over the top of all and garnish with marachino cherries and nuts, if desired.

Can I Afford a Personal Chef?

Many people ask themselves (and me) this question. The majority of the time, the answer is YES! I then ask a series of questions that make it clear whether or not a personal chef service is affordable. A few of these questions are:

Could you use some extra hours in your week? Having a personal chef gives you 10-15 hours per week to do other things.

Would you like to eat more healthy meals and less additives and preservatives?

Do you purchase healthy ingredients at the grocery store with good intentions, but end up throwing it away because it went bad before you could cook it?

Do you eat out more than twice a week?

If you answered "YES" to more than one of these questions, you can afford a personal chef and will actually save money by having one.**

**Most people don't realize the amount of money they spend on going out to eat, fast food, take-out, or the cost of the groceries they waste because it goes bad and gets thrown out before they can cook it - Not to mention the gas used driving around town to pick up these things. Another thing people tend to not be aware of is the amount of calories, sodium, fat, artificials, and preservatives they are feeding their families.

Summer Vacation - Kids In The Kitchen

School is out! Many teens and tweens will be home during the day and rooting through the fridge and cupboards for food. You can either keep your kitchen stocked with quick (but unhealthy) commercially prepared items, have a personal chef stock your fridge and freezer with healthy and ready to heat and eat fare, or you can start your kids on the road to kitchen self-confidence and self-sufficiency by encouraging them to prepare some meals. Having healthy ingredients in the house will help your kids create salads, tortilla roll-ups, and other creations that are good for them. Who knows, they may even offer to make you a meal to show off their skills.

Recently, I was lucky enough to give a cooking class for a group of Girl Scout Cadets (ages 12 – 17). The group was fairly large (15 or 16 girls), and wanted to learn how to make something that could be individualized (especially the vegetarians in the bunch), as well as made by themselves at home. We decided on calzones with homemade pizza sauce for dipping. These recipes are simple and quick, and the girls were thrilled with their creations.

In keeping with the simple and quick theme, I had the girls use Rhodes frozen dough balls for their calzones. While pizza dough from scratch is very easy, it can be a bit time consuming. I also had the girls create their calzones without sauce, and then made sauce in which to dip their delicious pizza pastries.

The calzone and sauce recipes we used are below.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Serves: 8

1/2 cup(s) onion, chopped

2 tablespoon(s) garlic, minced

2 tablespoon(s) olive oil

1 15 oz. tomato sauce

1 6 oz. tomato paste

1 teaspoon(s) salt

2 teaspoon(s) oregano

2 teaspoon(s) basil

1/8 teaspoon(s) pepper

Sauté onion & garlic in olive oil until tender.

Stir in remaining ingredients.

Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Easy Calzones Using Frozen Roll Dough

Serves 8

8 Rhodes Texas™ rolls (or 16 Rhodes Dinner Rolls), thawed but still cold
1/2 cup diced pepperoni
1, 2 1/4-ounce can sliced olives
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped green peppers
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup heated pizza sauce

Flatten each roll into an 8-inch circle. Combine ham, olives, mushrooms, green peppers, and cheese. Place 1/4 cup ham mixture on each circle. Fold dough over (like a turnover) and seal edges with a fork. Place on a sprayed baking sheet. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes. Serve with pizza sauce for dipping. **Recipe courtesy of Rhodes Frozen Dough.

Homemade Calzone/Pizza Dough (Bread Machine)

Makes 8 calzones or personal pizzas

1 1/3 cup warm water

2 teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups all purpose flour (can substitute up to 50% with whole wheat flour)

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher or sea salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons yeast

Place ingredients into the bread machine pan in the order specified by its manufacturer.

Set to dough cycle

When dough is complete (my machine’s dough cycle is a little over an hour), dump out of bread machine pan onto lightly floured board.

Knead a couple of times with floured hands until dough is not too sticky to work with.

Use with your favorite pizza or calzone recipe.

Tis The Season - For Pumpkin!

October brings thoughts of haystacks and jack-o-lanterns. Jack-o-lanterns get me thinking about recipes using pumpkin. Pumpkin is loaded with the antioxidant, beta-carotene, which some sources say can prevent disease. In addition to being healthy, pumpkin is also delicious and adds flavor and moisture to dishes. I like all types of recipes that call for pumpkin, from snacks to main courses to desserts. Some of my pumpkin recipes have come to be family and friend favorites. In fact, the Pumpkin Ring recipe below makes a cake that I consistently get requests for at potlucks.

Pumpkin Stuffed Shells

32oz Marinara (homemade or in a jar)

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1 (16oz) can solid pack pumpkin

½ cup dry Italian-seasoned bread crumbs

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

36 jumbo-sized pasta shells, cooked to firm stage, drained, and cooled

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Spoon a thin layer of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 13 by 9 inch baking dish.

Combine beaten egg with pumpkin, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and nutmeg.

Stuff shells with mixture and arrange stuffed side down in a single layer in the baking dish.

Cover shells with rest of spaghetti sauce.

Cover dish tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Remove foil, sprinkle mozzarella over top and bake uncovered 10 to 15 minutes more until the cheese melts and the sauce is bubbling.

Adapted from Woman’s Day Magazine

Roasted Pumkin Seeds

2 cups pumpkin seeds, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons Canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Let pumpkin seeds dry on paper towels. Toss cleaned pumpkin seeds with oil and salt; spread out on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 250° oven for about 1 hour, or until the pumpkin seeds are dry, stirring occasionally.

Pumpkin Fluff

2 c. skim milk

2 pkgs. sugar free vanilla pudding mix

Blend till stiff

Then blend in:

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup fat free cool whip

cinnamon and nutmeg or pumpkin pie spices to taste

Serves 8, Serving Size: 1 cup, Points per serving 2

Adapted from Weight Watchers Online

Pumpkin Smoothie

1c. skim milk

1 low fat vanilla yogurt

1 tsp. vanilla

2 pkts splenda

1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup pumpkin

4-6 ice cubes

....mix it up in the blender.

Makes 1 serving, 4 points.

Adapted from Weight Watchers Online

Pumpkin Ring

3 cup bisquick baking mix

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup margarine or butter, softened

4 eggs

1 can (16 oz) pumpkin

2 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup milk

----GLAZE----

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour 12-cup bundt cake pan or angel food cake pan, 10 x 4 inches. Beat all ingredients on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Spread in pan. Bake about 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely. Beat glaze ingredients. Drizzle over cooled cake.

Sauteed Spinach & Roasted Beets

I love root vegetables. From beets to sweet potatoes to rutabega. I have clients who love them as well, so I've been preparing them quite a bit this week.

On Tuesday, I finished shopping for my client and was on the way to their home when I realized I had forgotten my latex gloves - a MUST when preparing beets. I stopped at the craft store, a sporting goods store, and another grocery store in the area, seeking gloves. None were to be had. As I was pulling out of that last parking lot, trying to decide if I should go back home for the gloves (adding an extra 45 minutes to my day) or just suffer with red hands for a few days until the beet juice wears off, I noticed a dentist office. Hey! Dentists have GLOVES!! I walked into the office and told the receptionist of my dilemma. She was happy to provide a pair of gloves and another employee even requested a business card as she may be interested in hiring a personal chef!

Sautee'd Spinach & Roasted Beets

1 pound beets, scrubbed but not peeled

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon thyme, dried

20 ounces spinach, fresh

1 teaspoon ginger, grated

1 teaspoon garlic, pressed

Heat oven to 450 degrees

Line 2 sheet pans with parchment. Slice beets into thin rounds (about 1/8 inch). Toss slices with olive oil, salt and thyme and spread in one layer on baking sheets. Roast 20-25 minutes, the beets should be soft, glistening and dark around the edges. The thinest slices will be crisp and almost burnt around the edges.

Meanwhile, saute the spinach with 1-2 T olive oil, the ginger and garlic in a saute pan. When both are done, combine

Serves 4

Fine Cooking Magazine

Two Contest Prizes This Month!

I sent my October eNewsletter before realizing it was Breast Cancer Awareness Month so I'm sending another newsletter at midmonth with ANOTHER contest prize in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness. That's right - October will have two prizes! This second prize is a custom handmade bracelet made by Jenny T Designs in the Healing Jewels collection.

Each month, my eNewsletter contains news, recipes, and a CONTEST with prizes. You can't win if you don't enter. You can't enter if you don't get my newsletter. :-)

If you don't already subscribe to my enewsletter, sign up now!