Pumpkin Roll

I decided to try and make a pumpkin roll when we had a group over at the beginning of November. I looked at multiple recipes on the internet and ended up coming up with a combination of a few. For the most part, the recipe I used comes from Southern Living, but I made a few changes based on some  recipes that I saw.

Pumpkin Roll

Cake:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2/3 cup pumpkin
1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. butter

Coat bottom and sides of 15x10 pan with cooking spray and line pan with wax paper. Spray wax paper with cooking spray (just in case to prevent any possible sticking).

In mixing bowl, beat eggs and then gradually add in granulated sugar. Combine flour and next 6 dry ingredients. Gradually add dry ingredients to egg mixture. Combine pumpkin and lemon juice, and gradually add to mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 15 minutes or until done. When you remove from the oven, roll cake (leaving wax paper attached to cake)* and let cake cool completely seam side down.

For icing, beat cream cheese and butter. Gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla.

**I recommend once you get the icing mixed to put it in the refrigerator while the cake is cooking. The first time I didn't and it was a lttle too liquidy when I was rolling it in with the cake.

Unroll cake when cooled. Loosen wax paper from cake a little. Spread icing mixture on cake. Reroll, removing wax paper as you roll. Once you are done, refrigerate at least a few hours before serving. Sprinkle powdered sugar, or whatever else you like, on top before serving.

*If you prefer to remove the wax paper before you roll the cake, be sure you put powdered sugar or something on whatever you use so it doesn't stick and end up cracking. A lot of people put it on a towel to roll, but I found that using wax paper worked great and was easy!

Here is a pic of the first one that I made in November. It wasn't the prettiest pumpkin roll ever and it definitely had a few cracks, but it was pretty when it was sliced and it tasted great. I ended up making pumpkin rolls for two Thanksgiving get togethers that we went to, and they turned out prettier the second and third time!! I'll have to take a pic next time and replace this one!

This is great for fall and the holidays!

Pioneer Woman's Perfect Potatoes Au Gratin

I made these potatoes last night for dinner, and I had them heated up again today for lunch. They probably aren't good for you, but they are really really good and I will definitely be making them again!! To get the step by step recipe go to the Pioneer Woman site. She gives great pics and descriptions.

Pioneer Woman's Perfect Potatoes Au Gratin

Ingredients

• 4 whole Russet Potatoes, Scrubbed Clean
• 2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
• 1-½ cup Heavy Cream
• ½ cups Whole Milk
• 2 Tablespoons Flour
• 4 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced (1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste
• 1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Freshly Grated (I used mild)

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Smear softened butter all over the bottom of a baking dish.
Slice potatoes, then cut slices into fourths.
In a separate bowl, whisk together cream, milk, flour, minced garlic, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
Place 1/3 of the potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish. Pour 1/3 of the cream mixture over the potatoes.
Repeat this two more times, ending with the cream mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown and really bubbling. Add grated cheese to the top of the potatoes and bake for 3 to 5 more minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

*Picture from Pioneer Woman

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos & Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing

I made this on Sunday night. I had my doubts for a little while while I was mixing the filling, but they were SO GOOD! I will definitely be making these again. I made most of them using corn tortillas and a few with flour. I ate the corn and Colt liked the corn better too. Go on over to Our Best Bites to get her full recipe with pics. Below is the text recipe.

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos
Recipe by OurBestBites.com

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder (I used 3x's minced onion because I didn't have onion powder)1/4 t granulated garlic
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions

2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C grated pepperjack cheese

small corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray


Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or come unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

Dip 'em in salsa, sour cream, guacamole, or Creamy Lime Cilantro Dressing.

I made the Cilantro Lime Dressing from the recipe above. It was good but has a little bit of a kick to it. I thought the taquitos were great with no dip at all and Colt dipped them in queso.

Click on the link's above if you want Our Best Bite's step by step recipe for salsa, quacamole or Creamy Lime Cilantro Dressing. I haven't tried the salsa or quac, but below is the recipe for the other dressing. For all you Utah girls that love Cafe Rio, this is supposed to be similar to their dressing. I wouldn't know but in case you love it and want to give it a try, this is supposed to be a good knock-off version!

Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing Recipe by Ourbestbites.com 1 pack (1oz) Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix (regular or buttermilk, and ignore directions on the packet) 1C mayo 1/2 C milk (or buttermilk depending on which packet you buy) 1 lime 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro 1/4 C green salsa* hot sauce  Place milk, mayo, and ranch mix in a blender.   Juice the lime in there too, you should get about 2T juice.  Toss in the garlic, cilantro and green salsa.  Blend 'er up.  Sample it and add hot sauce to taste.  Make it several hours ahead of time to allow it to thicken. *A note about green salsa: There are several brands of green salsa available in most supermarkets and they have various degrees of heat.  One of the most commonly seen brands is Hernandez.  Hernandez brand is a lot spicier than any of the others I've tried.  Even their medium green salsa is way too spicy for my liking.  I like to buy La Costena because their  medium is actually really mild.  That way I get all of the flavor of the tomatillos but I control the level of heat with the hot sauce.  If you're not used to buying green salsa, make sure to sample it first before you put it in the dressing so you know what you're getting into!

Sweet Baby Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I made these last night for dinner. I got the recipe from Mikelle's Meals blog. The meat has to cook for the majority of the day but just throw it in and you don't have to worry about it for 8-9 hours and the meat just falls apart. They sauce has a little bit of a sweet taste but not too sweet and were really good. Colt went back for seconds.

Ingredients:

4 lb. Pork Roast or shoulder
2 bottles of Sweet Baby Rays Original barbeque sauce (I used only about 1 to 1 1/2 bottles and it was even a little too much. I also used the smallest pork roast I could find too though since it's just the two of us)Directions:

In a large crockpot place the pork and fill up with water. Cook low for 8-10 hours. Drain liquid and shred pork. Place back in the crockpot and pour 1-1/2 bottle of bbq sauce over the pork. Combine and cook for 1 more hour. Serve on rolls (I used Cobblestone Mills hoagies).

This is great if you want a no hassle, quick meal. I also used the slow cooker liners so there was hardly any cleanup either!

*Picture taken from Mikelle's Meals blog as well.

Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce

I made this for lunch today and it was really good and easy! Colt even liked it and he is not a pasta kinda guy :) I will definitely be making again sometime, and I may throw in some grilled chicken next time as well. I got the original recipe from Our Best Bites and if you want step by step instructions with pics then click on the link!


Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce
12 oz bag Barilla Cheese & Spinach Tortelini (find them in the dry pasta aisle)
4 oz bacon (about 4 strips bacon)*
3 cloves garlic, pressed in garlic press or finely minced (I used 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder)2 Tbs flour
2 C milk
¾ tsp kosher salt
⅛ tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp dry basil
¼ tsp red pepper flakes (1/2 tsp or more if you like spicy)
1 medium lemon
2 C loosely packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped
¾ C grated mozzarella cheese, divided
¾ C grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil.  Add tortellini and cook according to package instructions.
Place bacon in a medium sized skillet on the stove-top at medium-high heat.  Cook until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon and set on paper towels to drain.  Reserve two tablespoons bacon drippings in pan and discard the rest.  Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant and tender, about 1 minute.  Add flour to pan and stir with a whisk for about 1 minute. Slowly add milk and continue to stir with whisk until smooth.  Add salt, pepper, basil, and red pepper flakes and bring sauce to a simmer.
While sauce is heating, use a microplane grater or a fine-holed cheese grater to zest lemon.  Then cut lemon in half and remove juice.  Add 2 teaspoons zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice to sauce.  (Note:  I really love lemon so I added this to my tastes.  If you don’t want as strong of a lemon flavor, I suggest cutting it down to 1 teaspoon zest and 2 teaspoons lemon juice) (I used 1 teaspoon zest and 2 teaspoons lemon juice) .  Continue to stir until thickened, 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat.
Drain tortellini and place back in stock pot.  Reserve 1 tablespoon of the cooked bacon and add the rest to the pasta mixture.  Add spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.  Add sauce and gently stir to combine.  Place pasta mixture in an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish and top with remaining 1/4 cup mozarella and 1/4 cup parmesan and also crumbled bacon.
Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese on top is melted and pasta is bubbly throughout.  Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.
* For a vegetarian meal, omit bacon.
Serves 4-6

Tortilla Soup

I stole this recipe from The Link Home.

It's really good, really easy, and Colt even likes it better than Taco Soup.

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded

1 sm. onion, chopped

2 cloves minced garlic

4 oz. chopped green chillies

2 T. olive oil

1 can of Ro-Tel tomatoes

1 can of pinto beans

1 can of whole kernel corn

1 can of beef broth

1 can of chicken broth (use what you boil the chicken in)

1 1/2 c. of tomato juice

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 T. A1 sauce

Saute the onion, garlic and green chillies in the oil.

Add everything in a crockpot or cook on top of the stove. I cooked mine on medium low heat on the stove for about 45 minutes to an hour and added the chicken at the very end.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheese and tortilla chips (or in Colt's case.. no sour cream)!

Here's a pic of the finished product, also stolen from The Link Home.

German Chocolate Cake & Coconut-Pecan Filling & Frosting

This is my mom's recipe for German Chocolate Cake. If you don't like coconut, leave them out, or if some like it and some don't make the icing 1/2 coconut and 1/2 not. My mom usually has to do it this way because 1/2 of us don't like it. I halfed the icing for Colt's birthday though assuming some people didn't like coconut and the coconut was the half that was completely gone after the party.

German Chocolate Cake

1 pkg. 4 oz. Baker's German's sweet baking chocolates

1/2 c. water

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. (2 sticks) butter (softened)

2 c. sugar

4 egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. buttermilk ( or T. vinegar & milk)

4 egg whites

Heat over to 350. Line bottom of 3 (9 inch) round cake pans with wax paper. Microwave chocolate and water in bowl on high 1 1/2 - 2 minutes or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring halfway through heating time. Stir until chocolate is melted. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in chocolate mixture and vanilla. Add flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, and beating after each addition until smooth. Beat egg whites in another bowl on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently stir in batter. Pour into pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until cake springs back. Immediately run spatule between cakes and pans. Cool 15 minutes and then remove from pans. Remove wax paper and cool on wire racks. Spread Cocunut-Pecan Filling and Frosting on between layers and on top of cake.

Cocunut-Pecan Filling and Frosting

1 can 12 oz. evaporated milk

1 1/2 c. sugar

3/4 c. (1 1/2 stick) butter

4 egg yolks (slightly beaten)

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 pkg. 7 oz. Baker's Angel Flake Cocunut (about 2 1/3 c.)

1 1/2 c. chopped pecans

Stir milk, sugar, butter, egg yolks, & vanilla in saucepan. Stirring constantly, cook on medium heat 12 minutes or until thick and golden brown. Remove from heat. Stir in coconut and pecans. Cool to room temperature and of spreading consistency. Makes about 4 1/2 cups.

It's not the easiest cake to make, but it's not that hard and the part that takes the most time is waiting on it to cool. This is probably one of my favorite cakes and one of the best German Chocolates, to me anyways!