It's a Good Idea to Read the Recipe

I pulled my sourdough starter out of the fridge last night, planning to bake my Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread today. Then I forgot about it and didn't measure out my starter and mix it up with the water, flour, and 7-grain. I remembered this morning - but that's OK, as long as I get it started first thing in the morning, I can make it in one day. So, I quickly got it mixed up, without looking at the recipe. I remembered I needed 1 cup of starter, 3 cups of warm water, 3 cups whole wheat flour, and some of the 7-grain cereal - so I added the water and the flour and then went to look at the recipe to find out how much cereal. That's when I discovered that I only needed 1 cup of water and 1 cup of flour for this recipe. Oops, too late! I was thinking of my recipe for Sourdough Pancakes - that one takes 3 cups of water and 3 cups of flour.

So today I just had to make enough dough for 3 loaves of bread, instead of 1.

I made and baked 1 loaf as usual - it's gorgeous and smells wonderful. I put another loaf in the freezer right after I shaped it and before I let it rise - so I can bake it later. Thawing and letting it rise will probably take just as long as actually making the bread, but I won't have to do anything except set it on the counter and leave it alone until it's ready. And the third portion of the dough? I rolled out and formed into these whole wheat caramel rolls, a recipe I found on the back of a flour bag a long time ago, but never got around to trying. Here's the original recipe:

Whole Wheat Caramel Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 T sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 pkg. active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 T shortening
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

1. In large bowl, combine 1/2 cup unbleached flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, salt and yeast; blend well. In small saucepan, heat milk, water and shortening until very warm (120 to 130°F). Add warm liquid to flour mixture. Stir by hand until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in an additional 1/4 to 3/4 cup flour to form a stiff dough. On floured surface, knead in 1/4 to 3/4 cup flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl; cover. Let rise in warm place (80 to 85°F) until light and doubled in size, about 1-1/4 hours.
2. Punch down dough several times to remove all air bubbles. On lightly floured surface, roll dough to 16x12-inch rectangle. In small bowl, combine brown sugar and butter; blend well. Spread evenly over dough; sprinkle with nuts. Starting with 16-inch side, roll up tightly, pressing edge to seal. Cut into 16 slices; place cut side down in greased 9-inch square pan. Cover; let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, 45 to 60 minutes.
3. Heat oven to 350°F. Uncover dough. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; turn onto serving plate. Makes 16 rolls.
   

Of course I just took the dough I had, rolled it out and spread it with the brown sugar, butter, and nuts. Then, instead of letting the rolls rise completely and baking them right away, I covered them with plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator. Tomorrow morning I can take them out, let them come to room temperature and rise, and then bake them. That way we get to have fresh, warm, ooey, gooey caramel rolls for breakfast. Hopefully they'll be as good as they sound and I'll remember to take a picture or two before we eat them all.

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One-Pan Tomato Basil Chicken

I found this recipe ages ago in the coupon section of the newspaper, but I hadn't made it in years. I don't know why it's been so long. This is really good, and so easy.

One-Pan Tomato Basil Chicken
ready in just 30 minutes

• 1 package (6.9 ounces) Rice-a-Roni Chicken Flavor
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 2 cups broccoli flowerets, or green beans
  
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Mozzarella cheese (optional)

1. In large skillet (10 inch), prepare Rice-a-Roni mix as package directs, except simmer 10 minutes.
2. Stir in chicken, basil, broccoli, and tomato.
3. Cover, continue to simmer 5 to 10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with cheese before serving, if desired.

Serves 4

I used cooked turkey instead of chicken, and peeled and chopped a frozen tomato. The original recipe calls for broccoli, but green beans are good, too. Also, I did not have any Mozzarella, so I used cheddar. Parmesan works, too.

More Rice-a-Roni recipes.

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Apple Cranberry Crisp

Apple crisp is good. Add cranberries, and it's even better! at least in my world...

Apple Cranberry Crisp

Ingredients:

• 3 cups chopped apples, unpeeled
• 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1-1/2 cups old fashioned or quick cooking oats
  (or a combination of the 2)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. Combine apples, cranberries, sugar and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly and place in a 2-quart casserole dish. Set aside.
2. Combine oats, brown sugar, flour, pecans, and butter. Mix until crumbly and spread evenly over fruit.
3. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until fruit is fork tender.
4. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
   

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Sausage-Hamburger Cheese Dip

Beth and Tim made this dip last night. They mixed all the ingredients up and put them in the crockpot on low, and left it overnight. That was too much cooking for the cheese, so this is the adjusted recipe - cook everything overnight and then add the cheese the next day.

Sausage-Hamburger Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. sausage (hot)
• 2 lbs. ground chuck
• 3 chopped onions
• 1 large can mushrooms (drained)
• 1 large can diced tomatoes (drained)
• 2 cans Rotel (hot) (drained)
• 3 T. garlic powder
• 1 large brick Velveeta cheese (chopped)
• 2 cans chopped green chiles

Directions:
In crockpot add all canned items. Brown sausage and ground chuck, drain and add to crockpot mixture. Add garlic powder, and cook on low for several hours or overnight. About half an hour to an hour before serving, stir in Velveeta, cover and cook until melted, stirring occasionally. Serve with corn chips or tortilla chips.

Tim also stirred in some fresh jalepenos to spice it up, but this is quite spicy on its own.

Note: Unless you're going to have a big crowd, you might want to cut this recipe in half because it makes a lot. My 5-quart crockpot was filled to the top.

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Tangy Marinade

I jotted this recipe down on an old envelope several years ago. They were doing a segment on the news about how citrus in your marinade counteracts the carcinogens caused by grilling. I just thought it sounded good.

Tangy Marinade

• 6 T. oil
• 4 T. vinegar
• 4 T. lemon juice
• 3 T. brown mustard
• 3 garlic cloves (crushed)
• 1-1/2 t. salt

Mix; Marinate chicken several hours or overnight; grill as usual.

This makes amazing grilled chicken and should probably be called Best Marinade Ever.

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