It's all on you, icing everywhere

I'm no cinnamon roll snob, won't catch me bragging left and right about my accomplishments that everyone's so jealous of and wish they'd attained in their own lives, being free to be me is my primary goal here, and always has been.  Whether I'm making Giant cinnamon rolls or those infused with Vanilla pudding, I'm the last person you'll meet who'll spend their lifetime achieving in the workplace, I'm more of a sidelines girl, letting success splatter upon me from those knit close around me, while I simply feed them and enjoy the rest of my day, delighting.

Being a millionaire without even trying hard is kind of how my parents raised me, which is why going the buttermilk route and skipping all the drama associated with gym rats and wine party enthusiasts alike, fits me perfectly.  I mean sure, one-hour caramel apple cinnamon rolls serve a purpose in society, a very valuable one I'd suppose if looking square at it and agreeing.  Instead, I go where God puts me, standing there so strongly others miss what I'm seeing.  It's all about bounty in my neck of the woods, with a few trials decorating the long run, which glitters in the mornings and shines a very undeniable shade of merciful gold.

Crudités and Pizza Rolls

Homemade caramel apple cinnamon rolls it is, all risen.  I can not get over how easy it is to make Cookie Dough fudge, keep it in your fridge, and nibble on it here-and-there waiting for it to run out so you can make chocolate.  My Grandma's recipe and my aunt's, both including marshmallows and chocolate chips, I'm thinking.  But these caramel apple cinnamon rolls are the highlight of my weekend...both the assembly and the leftovers that will last for days, into the school week.

Unrelated, more cilantro rice must be awakened, needing another whole batch of Mel's perfected recipe, wrapped up in a corn tortilla with shredded pork and black beans, beyond amazing, amazing.  Even better.  Well, there is this buttermilk ranch I can't get enough of, once you get over the whole mayonnaise being the primary ingredient in most dressings issues you have, use Light.

Spicy black bean salad

Falling in love was the easy part, when it comes to black bean dips and all, but it's the curiosity about the dressing, that most intrigued me.  Two cans of black beans was like beckoning me to respect it (I already did!), a can of corn I'd replace with bagged frozen, a diced red onion (LOVE!), three quarter cups salsa...suit yourself with the quantity.

Three minced cloves of garlic are doused in olive oil (3/4 c) and swirled with 1/2 cup cilantro, dashed with cumin, salt and pepper. 1-1/2 t, 1 t, 1/4 t  Are not left to your imagination, working overtime to secure 2 T lemon juice and 1 T red wine vinegar.  As always.

Pork digest

Since when can you go wrong with a pork roast in a crockpot, providing enough shredded goodness after 5 hours on high to supply these Sweet Pork burritos, with extra for pork sandwiches, nachos, there are no limits.  You can amuse yourself with post-workout InstaGlam photos all you like, while your peers laugh on, and there still won't be enough reason to not invest in 2 1/2 to 5 lbs of pork butt or shoulder, bone-in is where I'm leaning.  The options are as endless as witty Facebook comments, but can Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin truly call itself a relationship when visits to the table are few and far between, unless non-existent enters your vocabulary.  From a distance pork maintains whatever illusion the ego desires...it's succulent and will someday become trendy, I'm certain.  Up close, it's a little harder to admit and explain, but pork, my friend, hates talking on the phone, can't remember faces, and has walls aplenty that will never come down.

Soak it up

If you're going to go so far as to make bread pudding for your family, you'll thank yourself.  Part of it is the ease of whisking 3 eggs, 2 cups of milk, 2 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 tsp salt.  I mean c'mon!  Having purchased (or made) a couple of loaves of cinnamon swirl bread, one for your freezer because God knows you'll make bread pudding at least twice, if not many, many more times than that.  Trust me.  You'll cut the loaf up, or at least 12 slices, into 3/4 inch pieces, and then soak it in your slurry for ten minutes flat, give or take.  Spreading the soaked cinnamon swirl bread in a buttered glass dish, 8 x 8 or larger if you prefer more carmelizing, your choice.  You'll want to sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top, say a tablespoon (or two) of sugar blended with 1/4 tsp (or 1/2). Three-seventy-five for 35-40 minutes should do you.

Nightly battle

Salad-making has become my forte whether I like it or not.  Blending organic mixed greens with organic romaine creates just the delicate or crunchy texture I'm in for, with a plethora of opportunities to unite both Mexican and barbecue.  Take the dressing for instance, basically a mayo/buttermilk/barbecue sauce trio, accentuated with lime juice, white vinegar, cumin and cayenne if I were naming any names.  It's the vegetables dressing the salad like confetti that bring my heart into being.  Craving avocado chunks anyone?  How about sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack cubed into small squares, red onion sliced almost as thin as is humanly possible, but not quite.  Oh I threw in the can of rinsed black beans, the cup and a half of frozen corn she recommended, certainly the minced cilantro.  Grilled shredded chicken soaked in barbecue sauce is the clincher.  Don't remind me of the tortilla strips sprinkled upon this glory, sucker punched by a warm, waiting cinnamon-sugar-encrusted bread pudding on the stove.

Nacho season

I used the whole onion, my mistake.  Digging in my produce drawer for the leftover half from Cowboy Pasta Sauce, I recalled no, I went for the full cup, having doubled the sauce recipe.  No problem when I whip together this one-minute literally divine salsa (at least I'm hoping).  Finding good use for an overabundance of tomatoes, slightly short on cilantro, but alas lime juice, pickled jalapeños, and garlic cloves are a dime a dozen around here.  Don't even have a bag of chips, I thought, then recalled quartered corn tortillas crisp up in a 350 oven after about twenty-five minutes, liberally sprayed with oil, of course.

Condensed version

I knew my bananas were destined for greatness, banana blueberry muffins DOUBLED it is.  My freezer absolutely loves me as I supply its depths with muffins and breads to take out at life's leisure. Speaking only of crockpots here, have you tried these Pulled Pork mini sandwiches with a spicy coleslaw to stand with it?  My husband will LOVE me for securing a pork roast to make this, say five to seven pounds.  Going on next week's menu feels certain to me, like knowing how to make crockpot stuffing for next Thanksgiving makes me breathe.

OMG

When I went about making Cowboy Pasta last night, I had no idea what I'd be proving.  My easiest sauce ever plan fell flat on its back, actually ran out of Giada's sauce, I know, can you imagine? So plan b held three pounds worth of ground beef and ground pork, literally a half and half mixture. And a hunt, of a lasagna? Another beef/pork complimented pasta?  As soon as I centered on Mel's Cowboy Spaghetti, I just knew, we could adapt it.

Tripled the meat in the end, sacrificed the bacon, doubled the sauce, and you know what's so interesting about adding 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce?  The four tablespoons of Worcestershire that somehow sweetens everything up.  I mean with a teaspoon only of oregano and four cloves of garlic minced, serving my version of Cowboy Pasta Sauce over a pound of rotelle.  Could freeze an entire half of the recipe for another fallish-night feeling, and have enough to feed a family of eight, with leftovers!  Not even kidding.

Anticipation

If I could do it all over again, relive last night's dinner with forethought, less with abandon, I'd have made nice with my slow cooker YEARS ago, despite the unavoidable aromas penetrating every nook and cranny of my house.  I'd simply go ahead with these chocolate chip pumpkin loaves, to mask any unwanted memories of the day's slow cooking, similar to yesterday's French bread rolls wafting everywhere, doing duty as a cover up.  You know precisely what I'm meaning.

A couple of balsamic glazed pork loins or a true 5 lb chuck roast going incognito as Italian Beef, right up my alley.  Who wouldn't meld two teaspoons of salt, pepper, oregano, basil, onion powder, garlic powder, dried parsley and two bay leaves together, expecting family dinner to stun and amaze as always.  What a guarantee!

Sidelines

I had to outdo myself today, I had no choice.  Had leftover buttercream icing, you see, a 7 year old's fake birthday happening last Saturday.  You weren't invited.  The oohing and aahing over the best vanilla cupcakes ever made interesting, and a stick of butter combined with 3 oz cream cheese, 3-1/2 cups powdered sugar, a teaspoon vanilla, a quarter cup cream, yes heavy whipped, now we're talking.

Not like to each other, remember the banishment, it's everlasting.  But back to these French Rolls, they're sublime AND amazing.  Plucking my eight hideaway rolls I'd of course snuck in the depths of my freezer...waiting, just waiting for a purpose, a sandwich straight from heaven.

It was of course the French dip, thank God I reserved a package of deli roast beef, easily nabbed off the shelf of a Sam's Club.  So you combine two packs of Zesty Italian dressing mix with a mere 16 ounces of beef broth, an entire jar of pepperoncinis, juice not included...crockpot with roast beef on low until you're all ready to sit down for dinner.

Bake those well-risen French rolls, extras for tonight, some for butter and jam, the rest sneaking their illicit way back into the freezer.  On the side I have crafted Mel's barbecue pasta salad, subbing bacon for the sausage as recommended in her comments.  And tonight we'll ice the rest of today's vanilla cupcakes, with multi-colored buttercream icing, the joy's more than you can fathom.

Methods to madness

I'm gonna go out on a limb and try making Mel's version of taco filling.  I mean to be honest mine's meant for tacos and nachos, hers for rolled up burritos, adding rice.  Can hers be adapted to my preference for crunchy, using exactly her method and same ingredients?  Look ahead.

Do what she says with the bean mixture, mashing half a can of pintos with half a cup of chicken broth.  Cook half a cup of chopped onions in half a tablespoon oil, start with medium heat, then experiment with medium-high, 3-4 minutes.  Stirring often, then stirring in:

3 T tomato paste
3 finely minced cloves of garlic
Cumin, 1/2 T
Oregano, 1 t
Chili powder, 1 t

Cook one to two minutes, add ground beef...and BROWN.  Drain, stir in mashed bean mixture, three to four minutes, add beans, a tablespoon of lime juice and 3/4 tsp salt.

MAKE IT WORK.

Sour cream and shredded cheddar needed

When making guacamole to go alongside tacos versus oven nachos w/ jalapeños, you'll recall the importance of securing your food processor for a whirling of those ranch dressing ingredients. You'll want this dip on hand for all your many intentions for it...crunchy lettuce salads speaking the loudest with a barely audible Antipasto Salad remembering how we enjoy it time and again (sans mushrooms) at good ol' Bemidji's Dave's Pizza, it's the best.

Taco Meat Recipe

Brown 2 lbs ground beef, drain well.  Add 2-15 oz cans pinto or black beans, whatever's on hand.

Add:

4 tsp instant minced onion

2 tsp salt

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp instant minced garlic

1 tsp crushed dried red pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp oregano

Simmer with 1/2 cup water or more to meld flavors.  Serve on oven baked chips with melt cheese, green onions, and pickled jalapeño slices...350 for 7 minutes.  Or in toasted crunchy taco shells, rolled in microwaved soft tacos, however your heart leads.

Pure rivalry

Spoil me rotten, friends.  Throw as many cherry tomatoes, green peppers, and ears of corn at me as your heart pleases, make my refrigerator burst forth with plenty and abandon.  Hate me, but yesterday I wanted nothing to do with Caprese salad-making, today I'm not even interested.  All the ingredients are speaking loudly, yes cilantro AND parsley, already sure of my favorite but letting you sit on the sidelines and figure it out.  Do it logically, like a psychologist who wanted to be a doctor would. Then talk wa-a-a-y too much while misreading a totally innocent fifteen year old's perceptions, try writing a historically accurate book about it, and then pretend to yourself that your shadow had nothing to do with it, at all.

I went with Mexican Tomato and Corn.