Dessert Friday: Cinnamon Cream Cheese Roll-ups

Pinspiration: http://pinterest.com/pin/185210603398433076/

I found myself with a block of cream cheese that was expiring soon and a half a loaf of bread that needed to be used up soon. So I decided to try out this recipe, because it looked easy and delicious.

I didn't get pictures of the whole process. In fact, I only got 2.

In the oven.

And on the plate.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Roll-Ups (I did half this recipe, but I'm listing it whole)

1 loaf (16 oz) thinly sliced white bread, crusts removed (I used Aunt Millie's 100% Whole Wheat)
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
3/4 c confectioners sugar
1 c sugar
1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
3/4 c butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Flatten bread with a rolling-pin.
2. In a bowl, combine cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar.
3. In another bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
4. Spread about 1 tablespoon of cheese mixture on each slice of bread.
5. Roll up, jelly roll style.
6. Dip in melted butter, then in cinnamon-sugar.
7. Place on an ungreased baking sheet.
8. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown.

I refrigerated the ones I didn't eat right away and warmed them up before I ate them.

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Review:

So delicious. A couple weeks after I made these, I went to a party where someone had brought them. Mine were better, but people scarfed hers down. So now I owe a couple of my friends a batch of mine.

Slow Cooker Thursday: Ranch Potatoes

Pinspiration: http://pinterest.com/pin/185210603395752559/

Red potatoes are my favorite. I like buying a bag of them and just figuring out something to do with them. My favorite thing is to throw them in foil with some seasonings and olive oil and putting them on the grill. Yummy.

I also love using my slow cooker. If I can just throw some things in and let it cook all day and at the end, there is deliciousness waiting... that's awesome.

The bummer with cooking a side dish in a slow cooker is that you actually have to make the main dish.

The first step of ingredients (why get everything out if you don't need it for 6 more hours?).

Potatoes, garlic, and water. I cut up all 3 pounds. I almost halved it, but then I realized I'd have to find another recipe in a couple day and I'd be eating the potatoes for a few days anyway.

Lid on, and I'm off. I ran errands...

I already had green onions, so I used those instead of chives.

Mine were in for just over 5 hours on low (I have a Rival slow cooker and it tends to cook faster). The potatoes were pretty tender and mixing them up mashed them a bit, but who cares?

Slow Cooker Ranch Potatoes

3 lbs red potatoes, quartered
1 c water
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 c ranch dressing (I used light)
1/4 c shredded cheddar cheese (I used 4 cheese Mexican)
1/4 c parmesan cheese (I used reduced fat)
Pinch of salt
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t pepper
1/4 c chives or green onions, minced

1. Add water, potatoes, and garlic (not the powder) to the slow cooker. Set to low and cook covered for 6-8 hours or high 3-5 hours. May need to adjust accordingly based on your slow cooker. Potatoes should be tender.
2. Stir in cheeses, pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, chives, and ranch dressing.

Can be refrigerated and reheated.

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Review:

These are good! I'm not a HUGE fan of ranch, so next time, I may reduce to a 1/3 or 1/4 cup. You could really increase or decrease any of the ingredients. Like... if you're a big fan of cheese, you could use 1/2 cup of shredded instead. I won't judge.

Craft Wednesday: Easy Matting for Diplomas

I don't remember seeing this on Pinterest, so this is pretty much a burst of creativity from my brain.

Diplomas can be boring to frame. My mom framed my Master's degree for me a few years ago (herself, in a wooden frame she found), but she didn't realize my Bachelor's wasn't framed. So I kept an eye out for a couple matching frames on sale. I didn't look hard. Eventually I found a couple I thought would work... oops, too small (kept them... I'm sure I'll figure out something to do with them).

I finally found a couple I really liked that would work.

My schools' colors are orange and brown and orange and black. So these frames work perfectly because they are brown and black.

The frames were a little too big for the diplomas (why are diploma frames more expensive than picture frames?) so for the "matting" (which really isn't matting at all or even close), I used scrapbook paper. I found orange and coordinating brown and black paper (metallic).

A quick, easy, colorful way to display diplomas! Much better than the holder they come in and not sitting in a box/drawer somewhere.

How to Organize: The T-Shirt and Tank Drawer(s)

Pinspiration: http://pinterest.com/pin/185210603395477535/

Except, I first saw it here: http://unfuckyourhabitat.tumblr.com/

I'm pretty sure I saw the tank top idea on UFYH also. I don't want to claim I'm clever enough to come up with that on my own.

I have way too many t-shirt. Way, way too many. And then I have way too many fitted t-shirts. And way too many tanks. It's sick. I have a lot of clothes period.

When I moved in October, the people who carried my drawers out to the trailer commented on how organized my shirts (and bras... to come later) were. It's really just so I can actually close the drawers.

Some of my tanks, but not even close.

I started lining them up that way, with the drawer sitting as it would in the dresser.

Then realized it was much easier if I laid it on its side.

All of those boxes are Premier Jewelry boxes. I keep them in case I need to send one back. My niece sells it, so I have a lot. I'm not thrilled with my scarves being there, but until I figure out a better way, that's where they'll be.

That is, literally, today. Laundry day is tomorrow, so there are some tanks missing.

These are my fitted t-shirts. The "cute tees" that I'm more likely to wear when I'm going to see people. I had extra space on the right, so there are more tees on the side so I could space the rest of them out better.

Sweatpants on the left, which I can't fold to fit vertical. Capri lounge pants in the middle, which I have several more pairs of, but they are dirty and in the laundry. Long sleeve t-shirts (and overflow capris) are on the right.

My drawers are wide enough for about 2 and 7/8 tees, so I divided them into 2 drawers and used the extra space for non-white socks in this drawer (the extra space on the right is fitted workout tees that are made out of that material that isn't made for this type of organization)...

... and pantyhose in this drawer. As I've mentioned.... laundry day is tomorrow, so I normally have a lot more t-shirts.

I have a small set of 3 drawers (each drawer is about a foot wide and a foot deep) that I keep my white socks (in case you were wondering where those are) and underwear in.

Chicken & Avocado Enchiladas

So.... I had a chance to use my Emergency Car Kit yesterday. During my softball game, our catcher got hit in the nose with a foul ball. Gushed blood. Eventually it stopped, so hopefully it's not broken. She had a good bump on it later. While she was laying on the bench (her husband plays too, so they didn't leave right away - he asked her first), I asked if she had taken any ibuprofen, since I knew she'd need it for the pain once the shock wore off. And I had some in my car! Sometimes I keep some in my purse, but with all the switching around of purses I do, I don't always transfer that into my purse.

If you start following me on Pinterest, please let me know so I can follow you back. I try to follow people back, but I don't always keep up and I want to make sure if you're reading my blog, I follow you back.

On with the food.

Pinspiration: http://pinterest.com/pin/185210603398433627/

I was pretty excited about this. I had purchased a rotisserie chicken at the store, which I am now a huge fan of because it's much easier than cooking chicken breasts and shredding them.

And I really like avocados. Like... love them. The creaminess, the flavor.

And enchiladas. I think I mentioned that before.

I bought avocados and after a week, dug through my Food board to find one of the avocado enchilada recipes I could make. Found it.

No in progress pics.

I did half the recipe, because I didn't want to use up all of my tortillas. I only had about 3/4 cup of chicken broth, so the sauce was more of a spread. I would make just the cream sauce as a spread and put it on sandwiches. That was delicious.

I did smother them with salsa and light sour cream.

Inside.

Smothered with salsa and sour cream.

You can see the avocado and cilantro inside.

Avocado Cream Sauce:
1 T butter
1 T flour
1 c chicken broth (I only used 3/4 c and it was fine, but for a "saucier" sauce, use the full cup)
3/8 c sour cream (I used light)
1/4 t cumin
1/4  salt
1/4 t garlic powder
1/8 t pepper
1 avocados, peeled and pitted
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime

1. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat.
2. Add the flour, whisking until golden and bubbly, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Slowly whisk the broth into the flour mixture.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Stir in the sour cream, cumin, salt, garlic powder and pepper, whisking if necessary to remove any lumps.
7. Remove from heat and transfer mixture to a blender or food processor. Add avocados, cilantro and lime juice, and pulse until smooth and well-blended. (Be very careful blending hot liquids -- the heat will expand! So be sure to remove the lid occasionally so that the heat can escape.)
8. Season with additional salt or pepper if needed.

Enchiladas:
1 T olive oil
1/2 c green onions, chopped
1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely diced (remove seeds for less heat)
4-5 (6-inch) flour tortillas
2 c shredded cooked chicken (I used rotisserie)
1.5 c Monterrey Jack cheese (I used 4 Cheese Mexican)
opt: 1 poblano peppers, stemmed and thinly sliced (I didn't have this, so you may want to include this)
optional garnish: fresh cilantro, sour cream, and/or shredded cheese

1. Prepare the "Avocado Cream Sauce" as listed below. Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a 9x9-inch baking dish (or 8x8).
2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and peppers. Saute for 5-6 minutes until the onions are cooked and translucent. Remove from heat.
3. Place a tortilla on a flat surface. Spread a tablespoon or two of the avocado sauce down the middle of the tortilla. Then layer on some of the vegetable mixture, shredded chicken and cheese. Carefully roll the tortilla and place it seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
4. Drizzle the top with about half of the remaining avocado cream sauce, then cover the dish with foil.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until tortillas are heated through and begin to harden.
6. Remove from the oven, then serve individual enchiladas drizzled with the remainder of the avocado cream sauce. You can also garnish with additional cilantro, cheese, and/or sour cream.

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Review:

They were blander than I was hoping for. Probably because I didn't have a poblano pepper. I probably could have added in the whole jalapeno to make up for it, but I didn't. The original recipe called for a white yellow onions, which I don't care for, but this probably would have increased the flavor. I may make them again if I want to experiment with the flavor.

Cleaning a waffle iron... after you make cinnamon rolls on it.

I don't have a pinspiration for the cleaning part. If you're on Pinterest, you've probably seen the post that says you can cook cinnamon rolls in a waffle iron.

I'm here to tell you not to. Especially if your waffle iron doesn't have removable plates. Which means you can't soak/submerge it.

I had to learn this lesson the hard way. Usually to clean my waffle iron, I wipe it with a damp cloth. I always spray with Pam before I make waffles, so there's never anything crusted on. Sometimes I will spray it with water to let it soak a little.

But this didn't work. There was cinnamon crusted in every nook and cranny of the waffle iron.

So I asked the wonderful woman over at UFYH: http://unfuckyourhabitat.tumblr.com/. And she gave me this advice:
Toothbrush, paper towels, and patience. :-) And highest heat to kill anything yucky.

Toothbrush. Duh.

That's about halfway clean. You can see the difference. I used one of the crappy toothbrushes I got from the dentist that I would never actually use to brush my teeth.

Sooooooooooooooo, so much better!

Saturday Morning Breakfast: Egg Muffins

Pinspiration: http://pinterest.com/pin/185210603398091883/

Another one of those "I didn't think to take a photo" reviews.

I liked the idea of this, because I could make a bunch of them ahead of time and take them to work (while I was working).

Egg Muffins (Modified)

6 eggs
1/2-1 t Spike Seasoning (optional, I used one of my Mrs. Dash seasonings)
1/2-1 c shredded low fat cheese
Suggestions for other ingredients: green onions (or any onion, I prefer green because they're not as strong), bacon (I used turkey bacon), sausage, chopped vegetables such as peppers, broccoli, mushrooms. Basically, whatever you like with your eggs.

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. I used a metal muffin pan and paper liners that I sprayed with Pam. They stuck horribly. If you have a good non-stick muffin pan, I wouldn't use paper liners, but I would spray with Pam.
2. In the bottom of the muffin cups, layer diced meat, vegetables, cheese and green onions to about 2/3 full.
3. Break eggs in measuring bowl with pour spout, add seasoning, and beat well.
4. Pour egg into each muffin cup until it is 3/4 full.
5. Bake 25-35 minutes until muffins have risen and are slightly browned and set.

Muffins will keep more than a week in the refrigerator. Egg muffins can be frozen and reheated. For best results, thaw in refrigerator before reheating. Microwave on high about 1-2 minutes to reheat.

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Review:

Thumbs up. What I liked the best was that I could basically just throw in whatever ingredients I wanted. They're essentially scrambled eggs in a cup. And they do heat up well in the microwave. I did sprinkle some salt and pepper on them too, right before I ate them.