Grandma Rodgers's Chicken and Dumplins.

Yay! Finally I have a recipe from my Grandma Rodgers! Thank you Uncle Larry for sharing this one with me! I'm so excited! :-) 

Chicken and Dumplins

From: Grandma Rodgers (via Uncle Larry) 

Whole Chicken
Plain Flour
Yellow Food Coloring


Place whole chicken in large stock pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Once water starts boiling, turn down and let simmer and cook for at least an hour, until chicken is cooked through. Once chicken is cooked dip some broth out of the top of the pot and let cool. Mix your chicken broth and plain flour to make dough. On a large flat surface sprinkle out some flour and roll out dough VERY thin. Let it sit and dry 4-5 hours. The dryer, the better. Then cut your dough into squares to make your dumplins. Take your chicken out of the broth, de-bone it, and return chicken to the broth. Bring the broth back up to a boil and start dropping your dumplins into the broth one at a time, slowly. After dumplins are all added in to the broth, add a few drops of yellow food coloring (Grandma thought this made it look richer) and salt and pepper to taste. Let cook until dumplins are cooked through and serve while hot! 


Story: Funny story Uncle Larry told me while giving me this recipe- Once Grandma called and asked him and Jo Ann to come eat dumplins. When they got there they opened the pot and it was red! Uncle Larry asked "WHAT is THAT!?" and her answer: "It's RED Chicken and Dumplins. I was out of Yellow food coloring so I added red. It tastes just as good, if you don't like it go back home!" hahahaha. 

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

This is from Food Network Magazine this past month. It was on the cover and just looked so delicious I had to try it. Who doesn't like Broccoli Cheddar soup? Well this one is even better because it sneaks it some other good veggies too. Served it with sliced french bread and it was so yummy. A GREAT fall soup. 

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

From: Food Network Magazine

2T extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups half and half
1 lb russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups chopped broccoli florets
1 1/3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
croutons for topping, optional

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, half-and-half, both potatoes, bay leaf, 2 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, put the broccoli in a microwave-safe bowl; add 3 tablespoons water and season with salt. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes; drain.

When the potatoes are tender, remove the bay leaf from the soup and transfer the soup to a blender. Puree until smooth, leaving the filler cap slightly open to let steam escape (or puree the soup in the pot with an immersion blender). Return the soup to the pot and thin with water, if necessary. Return to a simmer over medium-low heat; stir in the broccoli and season with salt and pepper.

Add the cheese and stir until melted. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with croutons, if desired.

Per serving: Calories 589; Fat 34 g (Saturated 18 g); Cholesterol 97 mg; Sodium 931 mg; Carbohydrate 50 g; Fiber 8 g; Protein 22 g

Notes: When it says use a blender or immersion blender.. please do. I thought I would use my food processor and it went everywhere. LOL. I realized I had to do it in much smaller batches and it finally got done, but wow what a mess. 

Also- I used a tad more half and half and chicken broth so it didn't need to be thinned later with water, and it was a bit creamier. I suggest using a bit more cheese if you like a really cheesy flavor because it came out a tad bland without extra cheese. I think the next time I make it I will add more cheese, and maybe add some chopped green onion as well just for a little extra something to it. Overall great soup and I will be making it again soon! Yum! 

Breakfast Burritos

Trying to think of something a little different for dinner? Everyone likes breakfast for dinner once in a while, here is an easy way to have it a little easier! Make breakfast burritos! It's simple. Take your favorite breakfast foods and place them in a warmed tortilla shell, maybe add some shredded cheese, and enjoy! You can make them ahead of time and warm them in the oven, or place ingredients on the table and let everyone make their own. Here is how we make ours!


Scrambled eggs
Shredded Cheddar
Diced Onion
Diced Tomato
Diced Bell Pepper
Sausage patties cut in half
Tortilla shells


To make it even easier, get the pre-diced veggies in your produce section. We actually use a non-spicy pico mix from schnucks that is just delicious! Obviously the list of what you can add is endless. (peppers, fresh vegetables, different cheeses, salsa's, gravy, bacon, sausages...)

Mom's Meatloaf

This is a great recipe and best of all it is easy. Meatloaf gets a bad rap and I never understood why. Maybe it's because my Mom is a great cook and I never had "bad" meatloaf? So if you think you don't like it, try this recipe, it will change your mind! 

Meatloaf

From: Judy R

2 lbs. 80/20 ground beef
20 saltine crackers, crushed 
2 eggs
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup (plus more for top)
1/2 cup milk
about 4 cheese slices
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven at 350. Mix all ingredients together well (easiest to do with your hands). Place in loaf pan and bake at 350 for about an hour, or until middle reaches 160 degrees. In last 5 minutes of cooking take out of oven, place slices of cheese across top to cover then "drizzle" ketchup across cheese. (do not cover entirely!) Put back in oven for remaining 5 minutes for cheese to melt. 
*Note* you don't HAVE to use a loaf pan if you do not have one. Mom has formed it into a loaf and placed it in the middle of a 9x13 pan lots of times and it is fine. It may cook faster if you do it this way so be sure to keep an eye on it. 
Also- I don't recommend using ground turkey in this case. It is the first recipe I have found that it wasn't as good with ground turkey. In most cases I think it actually tastes better with ground turkey, but when we did the meatloaf it wasn't great. 

Orange Marmalade Rolls

These are DELICIOUS. It doesn't have a strong orange taste. Just the perfect hint of orange. If you like Orange Marmalade, you will love these. If you don't.. you will love these. Trust me! Yum. These, of course, are a Pioneer Woman recipe! 

Orange Marmalade Rolls

By: Pioneer Woman 

Ingredients

FOR ROLLS:

1/2 whole Recipe Of "Cinnamon Roll Dough"

8 Tablespoons Orange Marmalade

1/2 cup Melted Butter

1 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

ORANGE GLAZE:

2 pounds Powdered Sugar

6 Tablespoons Melted Butter

1/2 cup Milk

1/2 cup Orange Juice

1 dash Salt

Preparation Instructions

Roll out dough into a long rectangle. Spread marmalade over the top. Pour on butter, and then sprinkle on the brown sugar evenly. Sprinkle with salt.

Beginning at the long side farthest from you, roll the dough in a long roll toward you; begin careful to keep it tucked tightly. Pinch edge to seal.

Cut rolls into 1 to 1 1/2 inch rolls and place into buttered pans. Allow to rise for at least 20 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown (but not overly brown).

While baking, mix together the ingredients for the orange glaze, thinning with more milk or orange juice to make mixture thin enough to be pourable.

Immediately drizzle orange glaze over the top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTE: We could not find pans with straight sides, so we used regular pie pans. After the rolls baked we pinched the sides upward to make a lip around the pan and that made it easier to get some icing around the edges. 

This is how ours came out. We made both cinnamon rolls and orange marmalade rolls. They are both delicious! 

Cinnamon Rolls

I have seen this recipe on The Pioneer Woman Blog for a long time. I kept thinking they looked so delicious. But my fear of baking kept me from trying them. Well Mom and I were in a baking mood and we decided we were gonna make these no matter what! We are SO glad we did! They were really easy to make, and oh wow are they good. These are the best cinnamon rolls I have EVER had in my entire life. Not the best ones I've made, or the best home made.. the best EVER. So here is the recipe for Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls. There is also an Orange Marmalade version, which we also made and are also delicious! If you would like a better step by step with photos- please go check out her website! For that matter, you should go check it out anyway if you never have. It is amazing. Trust me!

Cinnamon Rolls

By: The Pioneer Woman

1 quart whole milk

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

2 packages active dry yeast (0.25 ounce packets)

8 cups all-purpose flour (plus 1 cup extra, separated)

1 tsp (heaping) Baking Powder

1 tsp (scant) Baking Soda

1 T (heaping) Salt

Plenty of melted butter (as in 3 or 4 sticks..)

2 cups sugar

Generous sprinkling of cinnamon

Maple Frosting:

1 bag powdered sugar

2 tsp Maple Flavoring

½ cup milk

¼ cup melted butter

¼ cup brewed coffee

1/8 tsp salt

Mix the milk, oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir Mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir mixture together. (at this point you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it- overnight or even a day or 2, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down.)

When ready to prepare rolls, sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle ½ cup to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spread 1 T of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ inch to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

For the frosting mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don't skimp on the frosting.

Note: My rolls don't work at 400 degrees anymore, I now bake them at 375 degrees.  

NOTE: We could not find pans with straight sides, so we used regular pie pans. After the rolls baked we pinched the sides upward to make a lip around the pan and that made it easier to get some icing around the edges. 

This is how ours came out. We made both cinnamon rolls and orange marmalade rolls. They are both delicious! 

Cinnamon cake- no photos

Ok. Finally. HERE IT IS! Mom's cinnamon cake recipe!! Oh yeah. 

Mom's Cinnamon Cake

From: Mom! (Judy R.) 

Before we start, I want to note that Mom gets her pudding mix and cake mix at Aldi for this. She says it doesn't come out the same if you don't... but I am sure it will be pretty darn good if you don't have an Aldi near you and get a different brand. 

1 box yellow cake mix

1 box instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup sugar
2 T cinnamon
(plus whatever your cake mix calls for to make it....)


Preheat your oven to 350. 


Make your cake mix according to the directions. Then add the box of instant pudding powder. 


Pour mixture into 9x13 pan. 

In a small bowl mix your cinnamon and sugar, mixing well. 

Sprinkle your cinnamon sugar mixture onto the top of your cake batter, covering it evenly with a thick layer. 


Using a butter knife swirl the sugar mixture into the cake batter, going back and forth in all directions, several passes. The point is to swirl the sugar mixture into the cake and to the bottom without mixing it too well. You want it swirled- not mixed. 


Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. 


While cake cools SLIGHTLY (you want it warm, not hot and definitely not cool) make your glaze, and drizzle onto cake, spreading it evenly in a thin layer, while cake is WARM. You don't want a thick layer because the glaze is rich and will overpower the cake. 


Glaze: 


1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 T butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole milk

Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until smooth. 

Drizzle over warm cake and spread evenly in a thin layer. (Note in the picture above- that's a tad too much! You want a thin layer!) 

Now enjoy!! It really is ridiculously good! 

Mom's Cinnamon Cake

Ok. Finally. HERE IT IS! Mom's cinnamon cake recipe!! Oh yeah. 

Mom's Cinnamon Cake

From: Mom! (Judy R.) 

Before we start, I want to note that Mom gets her pudding mix and cake mix at Aldi for this. She says it doesn't come out the same if you don't... but I am sure it will be pretty darn good if you don't have an Aldi near you and get a different brand. 

1 box yellow cake mix
1 box instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup sugar
2 T cinnamon
(plus whatever your cake mix calls for to make it....)

Preheat your oven to 350. 


Make your cake mix according to the directions. Then add the box of instant pudding powder. 

Pour mixture into 9x13 pan. 

In a small bowl mix your cinnamon and sugar, mixing well. 

Sprinkle your cinnamon sugar mixture onto the top of your cake batter, covering it evenly in a thick layer. 

Using a butter knife swirl the sugar mixture into the cake batter, going back and forth in all directions, several passes. The point is to swirl the sugar mixture into the cake and to the bottom without mixing it too well. You want it swirled- not mixed.

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. 


While cake cools SLIGHTLY (you want it warm, not hot and definitely not cool) make your glaze, and drizzle onto cake, spreading it evenly in a thin layer, while cake is WARM. You don't want a thick layer because the glaze is rich and will overpower the cake. 


Glaze: 


1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 T butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole milk

Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until smooth. 

Drizzle over warm cake and spread evenly in a thin layer. (Note in the picture below- that's a tad too much! You want a thin layer!) 

Now enjoy!! It really is ridiculously good! 

Click HERE for the recipe without photos.