Easy Peezy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

I've been wanting to make these rolls that I saw on Bloomdesignonline

http://bloomdesignsonline.com/2013/10/make-it-monday-pumpkin-pie-rolls.html

It did not disappoint. I'm not really a pumpkin pie fan but I like pumpkin on occasion and with my kids home from school this week for the break it was a perfect time to try it! My hubs on the other hand loves pumpkin pie so he was definitely excited for this! Easiest thing ever when you get the crescent rolls from the grocery store. Got them from Costco on sale too, so they were very cheap. And I made two batches because the recipe had so much leftover filling. 

For the rolls-

2 cans crescent rolls

For the filling-

1 cup pumpkin puree

3 tablespoons butter melted

1/4 agave

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

dash of ginger & allspice

For the glaze-

1 cup  powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon milk

1 Tablespoon butter melted

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Touch of vanilla 

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix together the ingredients for the filling until well combined.

Unroll crescent rolls.  Press seams together so that you have a rectangle.

Spread a thinish layer of the filling on top of the rolls- just split the filling between the two cans rolls.  Roll up the dough from the curly side.  Cut the roll into 8 equal pieces.  Place slices in a buttered 8 inch round cake pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes until golden brown.  While these are baking, whisk together ingredients for glaze until smooth. 

Remove rolls from oven and let cool slightly (5 minutes) spread glaze generously over tops of rolls & grub!  

Disclaimer: eating 3 DOES make you feel sick...in case you were wondering...

Nutty Vegetarian Pasta

We are doing 2-3 vegetarian meals a week in 2013! so i needed to expand my horizons so I jumped over to The Smitten Kitchen. This was one of those meals created by being inspired by a cauliflower walnut pasta salad but then branched off on my own. I'm happy with how it turned out and so for the first time in many months I'm blogging it for posterity!

Ingredients
1 head Cauliflower- cut into florets
1 lb whole wheat thin spaghetti pasta cooked in salt- save a cup of pasta water
1-2 sweet bell peppers- chopped
2 zucchini diced
1/2 small container ricotta cheese
3/4-1 cup walnuts- chopped
1 large purple onion- chopped
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
Parmesan cheese
1 lemon
Evoo
Salt and pepper
Garlic powder or minced
Cayenne (optional)

Pasta-Cook the pasta 1 minute under the package cook time. Toss in a glog of evoo, 1/2 cup pasta water (add more if needed), and 1/2 juiced lemon. Add some Parmesan cheese to lightly coat. Salt, pepper, and garlic powder it to taste.

Walnuts-In a pan toast walnuts until golden in 1 tb of butter or evoo. Remove from pan & toss in pasta.

Veggies-Heat a bit of evoo in a pan and sauté the purple onion and garlic. Add cauliflower and cook until slightly golden. Sprinkle cayenne, salt, and pepper. Put a glug of the white wine vinegar. Add bell peppers for a couple minutes, then the zucchini. Continuously stir veggies. If the bottom looks like its too hot, add some water or wine to pick up the stuck pieces on the bottom. Cook until soft and yummy but not mushy.

Add ricotta cheese to pasta.

Plate some pasta, cheese, nut mixture and top with the veggies. Serve with bread of your choice! I added feta to my leftovers the next and if was delish!

The "Turn Any Meat Lover into to a Vegetarian" Sandwich

So, my hubs has named the "Turn Any Meat Lover into to a Vegetarian" Sandwich because it's that good. It's full of so many yummy veggies and a homemade pesto that you forget what's not there. It's really good the next day slightly reheated too!


The "Turn Any Meat Lover into to a Vegetarian" Sandwich
makes 6 sandwiches
Thick bread or Ciabatta (i love TJ's Tuscan Italian loaf)
2 Bell Peppers, sliced into rings
1 white onion, sliced in rings
3 Zucchini sliced long ways 
8ish artichoke hearts, chopped
Roughly a handful of sundried tomatoes , chopped
1 package of Mozzarella cheese (slice it)
1 batch of Homemade pesto (you will have leftovers to use all week)
EVOO
Cooking spray
Cayenne, salt, and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees & put 2 cookie sheets in there to heart also.


Heat up some EVVO and saute the veggies starting with the zucchini. I like to watch for the my veggies to turn bright and then add a bit of soy sauce and cayenne. Remove it from the pan and do the same thing to the onion & bell pepper but add minced garlic too.


Make your pesto (click on the link above for recipe) or pop open the jar. :)


Layer your sandwiches with everything! Spray both sides of your sandwich and put them on the 1st hot cookie sheets, stack the 2nd cookie sheet on the top of the sandwiches. If your sheet is light like mine, I put a baking dish onto to keep it down.


Set the timer for 5-10 minutes and out comes a golden & delish sandwich!

Homemade Pesto

I have always loved pesto and when a friend of mine told me how to make it about 7 years ago, my whole whole opened up :) This great on: any so so sandwich to make it amazing, any good pasta to make it delish, or like my newest son eats it- scooped out of a spoon!


Homemade Pesto Recipe

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese (or Parmesan)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup pine nuts or walnuts

3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 handfuls of Spinach leaves if you want


Put all ingredients in the blender or food processer and blend until creamy. If you plan on freezing it, didn't put the cheese in until after you defrost it.

Sweet Potato Burgers

Hello Blog World! It's been awhile I guess but i have some great new recipes to share. I recently went off dairy (and back on now) due to a possible allergy for my little nurser. So, I was forced to eat cheese free but tried some new yummy vegan & dairy recipes. This burger was a huge hit and now on our dinner rotation! This recipe was slightly adapted from a great vegan blog Healthy Happy Life.


Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers
makes 7-8 large patties
2 cans cannellini white beans, drained
1 large sweet potato, baked/peeled/mashed (about 2 cups)
2 tsp agave
1/4 cup wheat flour
Additional seasoning (whatever you have on hand - I used a few dashes cayenne, black pepper salt to taste if needed
plentiful Panko crumbs
oil for pan
avocado
Dijon mustard
rain buns or thick bread
romaine
onion
olive oil bell pepper


Directions:
1. Bake or microwave sweet potato. Peel, place in large mixing bowl.
2. Add drained beans to mixing bowl. Mash beans and potato together.
3. Mash in seasoning, flour and any additional seasoning. Your mixture will be quite soft and moist. But you should be able to form a patty. Add more flour or a scoop of breadcrumbs - or dry rice to thicken the mixture if needed.
4. Saute the onions & bell peppers.
5. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a pan over high heat.
6. Form a patty from mixture and coat in Panko crumbs. Thick coating. Then drop the patty in the pan. Repeat until the pan is filled. Cook until browned on both sides. You could also bake. If baking, use less Panko.
7. Transfer cooked patties to paper towel. Cool for a few minutes. 
8. Serve on the bun/ bread, toasted with garlic & all the toppings. 


The creator of this recipes suggests mustard but my family isn't a fan of it so I just put a little in the mixture to give it a bit of flavor but not to spread on the bun.

Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

So, I thought that those Rolo Turtles were good but... Wow, this is even better. I could reach my limit with the caramel turtles but sadly (for my ars) I haven't found it with these yet. These are super easy but a bit more labor intensive than the Rolo Turtles, worth it though. This was a total Pinterest item and as you can tell it came through. I got it from Legume Loyalist. She has some awesome step by step pics if you want to see it in detail for any reason.


Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

makes 1 sheet of bark

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 bag of mini pretzels
12-oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
sea salt

1. Wrap a baking sheet with tin foil.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. NOTE: use a cookie sheet with sides or your caramel will boil and ooze and set off your smoke alarm!  Or foil the sides up to contain the bubble. If you don't you will have to evacuate your children and hubby as you clean up burnt sugar and pretzels...not fun.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. As it melts, cover a cookie sheet in an even layer of mini pretzels.
3. Once the butter is melted, add the sugar and stir to incorporate. Let the sugar and butter to softly simmer and bubble, but don’t let it boil, so adjust the heat accordingly. Stir occasionally. The browning process should take about three minutes from when it starts to bubble.

4. Once the sugar and butter have caramelized, pour the mixture evenly over the pretzels on the baking sheet. I used a small ladle and kinda dumped it in each one and spread it all over after with a spatula. The caramel does hardens pretty quickly. Bake the pretzel-caramel mixture in the oven for 5-7 minutes.

5. In the meantime, set up a double boiler. Fill a saucepan about a quarter ways full with water. Place the pot over a medium flame. Take a large, heatproof bowl and set it on top of the saucepan. Be sure that the water in the pot will not touch the bottom of the dish, otherwise your chocolate will burn! Also if any water gets in there it will be ruined so make sure the bowl is super big. Pour the chocolate chips into the bowl and stir constantly until they’re completely melted. If your chocolate is a bit old (like from the mega pack at Costco) it won't get creamy but it will melt and you can kinda spoon it out and spread it all over.

6. So, pour the chocolate over the pretzel-caramel mixture evenly.
7. Spread any remaining thick spots of chocolate with a spatula. Sprinkle sea salt evenly over the bark. Place it in the fridge to cool and harden for about an hour. Once it’s done, the tin foil should pull off easily and you can break the sheet into smaller, bark-like pieces.

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