Easy Homemade Smoothie

Easy Peasy Homemade Smoothie

It didn't take me many trips to Jamba Juice to realize that I could work that same magic in my own kitchen. All I needed was some fruit, juice, yogurt, a tall cup, and an immersion blender and voila!  Fresh homemade smoothies, any flavor I wanted, at a fraction of the cost of a Jamba Juice.  Now, I realize, a lot of people don't mind paying for the convenience, but if I can make something comparable at home without too much trouble, I'm going to do it.  So, here is what I do to recreate a Jamba Juice smoothie.  I'm not sure what its name is, but I changed it up anyway by adding mixed berries.

Homemade Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 7-8 large whole frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
• 1 small ripe banana, sliced
• 3-4 oz. Greek yogurt (I used AE Clementine flavor)
• 1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
• water

Instructions:
In a tall plastic cup (I use a 32 oz. cup from an Angels game giveaway), place all of the ingredients in the order listed.  Fill with enough water to come about 1 inch from the top of the fruit.  You can always add more water to thin it out later.  With your immersion blender in hand (I use my Braun Hand Blender), push down into the cup as far as you can and then start the blender.  Blend gently with up and down motions, pushing down on the frozen fruit to break it up.  After you've gotten the blender to the bottom, keep blending for another 30 seconds or so, moving the blender up and down until you have a smoothie texture. Add more water & blend if the smoothie seems to thick.  Pour into a glass with a straw and enjoy!
Makes about 1 1/2 servings--enough for me and my 8-year-old eating buddy.

Jaime's Salsa

Yummy Salsa

I hope my brother-in-law, Jaime, doesn't mind that I'm posting his salsa recipe.  I'll post and ask for permission later.  This is one of my very favorite salsas, second only to Casa Gamino's in Paramount, California.  It's rather time consuming cutting up the tomatoes and everything, but it makes a ton and lasts a while, AND it's so fresh and tasty.

Jaime's Salsa

Ingredients:

• 6 medium ripe tomatoes
• 6 roma tomatoes
• 1/2 red onion
• 4-6 green onions
• 4 medium cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 tablespoon to 1/4 cup hot sauce, depending on desired heat
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• one small bunch cilantro, chopped

Instructions:
Finely chop tomatoes, red & green onions and throw into a large bowl with all of the other ingredients except the cilantro.  Preferably, use a hand blender to partially blend the mixture.  Stir in cilantro.  Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.  Store in a stoneware or glass container, covered, in the refrigerator.
Makes about 8-10 cups of salsa.

Browned Butter Popcorn

Browned Butter Popcorn

I really like popcorn when it's drenched in butter, or even butter flavored topping at the movie theater.  As often as I like eating popcorn, though, I really can't use as much butter as I'd like.  When I was a kid, my mom would pop the popcorn in melted butter.  Yum!  The salt in the butter would evenly coat the popcorn and the butter would brown just a little bit to give it a deeper butter flavor.  So good.  Generally, I pop my popcorn in canola oil.  Last night I decided to throw in two tablespoons of butter along with the canola oil to see how it would taste, and it was perfect.  Just the right amount of butter flavor, not greasy, with cute little browned butter flecks all over.  I think I'll be doing this again.  Here's the recipe in case you'd like to try it too.

Browned Butter Popcorn

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons canola oil (approx.)
• 1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
• 2 tablespoons salted butter
• salt to taste

Instructions:
In a heavy medium sized pot, heat canola oil and 2-3 kernels of popcorn.  When kernels start to sizzle and turn white, add the rest of the popcorn.  When those turn white, add the butter and cover.  Shake here and there as the popcorn pops.  When the popping has slowed to 1-2 seconds between pops, remove from heat and pour into a large bowl.   Sprinkle with salt.

Cinnamon Pecan Sticky Buns

Cinnamon Pecan Sticky Bun

I am currently in "Cinnamon Roll Mode," preparing for the upcoming food competition at the Iowa State Fair.  I'm keeping my non-traditional cinnamon roll entry secret, because I think I actually may have a chance to win in that class.  The other two classes, though, traditional cinnamon roll and sticky bun, are crap shoots, so I figure it won't matter if I post a recipe.  I'm just crossing my fingers that I get a judge who likes this type of sticky bun, and maybe this year my sticky buns will go behind the velvet curtain, instead of straight to the reject table.  

I'm posting this recipe because I think these buns taste wonderful, and this coming from a woman who doesn't really eat cinnamon rolls anymore because she's made and tasted way too many.  Something about the caramel and pecans set these apart, though, and I can still enjoy them. 

I'm not going to lie, this is kind of a complicated recipe, but if you're into that sort of thing, give 'em a try. The unique thing about these sticky buns is that I've laminated half of the filling (butter, sugar, cinnamon) into the dough.  I just thought it would make them a little more interesting, but not quite "non-traditional."  The topping is a simple brown sugar and butter caramel that I think is outstanding due to its simplicity.  Overall, very satisfying.

Cinnamon Pecan Sticky Buns

Ingredients

DOUGH ½ cup milk (2%) ¼ cup butter ½ cup warm water 1 envelope active dry yeast 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk 1 ½ teaspoon salt 4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, plus more for dusting work surface

FILLING ½ cup butter, softened ¾ cup packed light brown sugar 1 teaspoon regular ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon Vietnamese ground cinnamon 1 pinch of salt

CARAMEL TOPPING ¾ cup butter 1 ½ cups light brown sugar 1 tablespoon light corn syrup 1 tablespoon water 1 ½ cups pecan pieces, lightly toasted

Instructions

1.  Make the dough: Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan or in the microwave until butter melts.  Remove pan from heat and set aside until the mixture is lukewarm (about 100 degrees). In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, mix together the warm water, yeast, sugar, egg, and yolk at low speed until well mixed.  Add the salt, warm milk mixture, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 2 cups of the flour, and mix at medium speed until thoroughly blended, about 1 minute.  Switch to the dough hook, add another 2 cups of the flour, and knead at medium speed (adding ¼ cup more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, if necessary) until the dough is smooth, about 10 minutes.  Scrape the dough into a large lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, then cover bowl with plastic wrap.  Let dough rise in refrigerator overnight.

The next morning…

2. Mix the filling: Mix together the filling ingredients and set aside.

3. Make the topping: In a medium sized pot over medium high heat, mix together the butter, light brown sugar, corn syrup, and water.  Stir constantly as you bring to a boil.  Once it has come to a boil, remove from the heat.  Butter a 9 X 13 inch cake pan.  Pour caramel topping into the pan.  Sprinkle pecan pieces evenly over the surface of the caramel.  Set aside. 

4.  Form the rolls:  Turn dough out of bowl onto a lightly floured work surface.  Using a rolling pin, shape the dough into a 16 by 12 inch rectangle, with a short side facing you.  Spread half of the sugar, butter, cinnamon mixture over 2/3 of the rectangle.  Starting with the unbuttered third, fold the dough into thirds like a letter.  Roll out to a large rectangle again and fold in thirds again.  Then fold in thirds one more time.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about half an hour.  Then roll dough out to a 16 x 12 inch rectangle.  Spread the remaining sugar, butter, cinnamon mixture over the entire surface and roll up, starting at one of the 12-inch sides.  Cut log evenly into 6 rolls.  Place rolls onto nuts & caramel in the pan.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled (45 minutes to an hour).  While the rolls rise, preheat oven to 350°.

5.  Bake the rolls: When the rolls have fully risen, put in the preheated oven and bake until rolls are deep golden brown and an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of a roll reads 185-190°F, about 28-35 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool for about 5 minutes.  Invert rolls onto a large cookie sheet, making sure to get all of the caramel and nuts on top.  Cool for 10-15 more minutes before serving.

Makes 6 rolls

Sticky bun set to rise.

You can sort of see they layers here, but they're subtle.

Snickerdoodles with Sprinkles Instead of Cinnamon

Snickerdoodles with Sprinkles Instead of Cinnamon

Each summer, the elementary school I work at has "Library Night."  Throughout the summer, every Thursday night, the library is open for families to come check out books for summer reading.  About three years ago, we started adding a hot dog dinner to sweeten the deal, and teachers will also make desserts for the event each Thursday.  Tonight is my night to make some cookies, and I thought sickerdoodles would be delicious; and then I thought snickerdoodles with sprinkles would really please the kids (not to mention this big person who loves sprinkles on sugar cookies).  They turned out GREAT.  A little on the crisp side, because I don't like my snickerdoodles underbaked.  

I made half sprinkled and half cinnamon/sugar, just because I could.  Using sprinkles for half the recipe used a whole 3 oz. bottle of nonpareils.

Sprinkles Snickerdoodles

    --Adapted from www.kingarthurflour.com

Ingredients

• ½ cup vegetable shortening

• ½ cup softened butter
• 1 ½ cups white sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
extract
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar

• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½  teaspoon salt

• 2 ¾ cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

• 6 oz. rainbow nonpareils

Instructions

Beat together the shortening and sugar till smooth, then add the eggs, again beating till smooth. Beat in the vanilla, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt, then add the flour, mixing slowly till combined. (Don’t overbeat.  And for the record, be sure to NEVER overbeat cookie dough.) Cover and refrigerate at least two hours.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Cover the entire dough ball with sprinkles

Once dough is chilled, roll tablespoon-sized balls in the nonpareils in a shallow pan or bowl. You can coat 3-5 balls at a time.  Gently shake the pan/bowl to coat the dough balls with sprinkles. Place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, leaving about 1 ½" between them.

Bake the cookies at 400°F for 10 to 11 minutes, or until puffed and browned around the edges. Remove the cookies from the oven, cool on the pan for about 3-5 minutes, and then cool them on a rack.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies (I think)

Cookies are ready for Library Night.

Tiny But Mighty Popcorn Prepared Three Ways

Tiny But Mighty Popcorn 3 Ways: Caramel, Kettle, & Salted

The real, live bag of popcorn.  Okay, not live, but real.

I've mentioned this Tiny But Mighty Popcorn in a previous post about different sizes of popcorn, but I love this one brand so much, AND it's available in the grocery stores here in Des Moines, that I thought I needed to devote an entire post to this Iowa treasure.  I'm making this popcorn three different ways today: popped in canola oil, kettle corn, and caramel corn.  (Take note, this popcorn didn't do well in my air popper.  Only half the kernels popped, and the ones that did tasted burned.)
In the other post, I mentioned the Amish Country Popcorn, that is even tinier than the TBM popcorn, but like I said, this is easier to get, and it tastes just as good.  Just not as tiny.  Besides its charming size, this popcorn tastes great just popped in some canola oil and then lightly salted.  My friend Karla uses the fine setting on her sea salt grinder, and it tastes even better.  It's a nice, clean, crisp, salty taste; plus, it's a variety that has a disintegrating hull.  So, after it's popped, you're not left with those strange shells that get stuck in your teeth (or tonsils in my case--eew).
If you're interested in this popcorn, but don't live in around Iowa, you can order TBM popcorn online, but it's kind of pricey.  If you live in the Des Moines, Iowa, area, HyVee and Dahls carry the brand in most stores, but Dahls has better prices.  I got my 1.5 pound bag for $3.19 at Dahls the other day, and I've seen it at HyVee for as much as $5.89.  
So, here are three different recipes to go with the three different ways to enjoy this tiny popcorn.  Have fun!

Regular Salted Popcorn

#1 Regular Popcorn

Ingredients:

• 2-3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
• 2-4 tablespoons butter (optional)
• salt to taste

Instructions:
Place oil in a heavy bottomed two quart pot with a fitted lid.  Place one or two kernels of popcorn in the the oil.  Heat oil over medium-high heat until popcorn turns a lighter, almost white color.  Pour in remaining popcorn and cover with the lid.  You actually don't have to shake the pot the entire time, but you can if it makes you feel better.  When the popping starts to slow, then shake for sure.  When popcorn is only popping about one per second, it's time to remove from heat, uncover, and pour into a large bowl.  If you want butter, place the butter in the hot pan and swirl around until melted and pour evenly over popcorn.  Toss.  Salt a little at a time and taste to see if you need more.

Colored Kettle Corn

#2 Kettle Corn 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
• 3-4 tablespoons white sugar
• canola oil for popping
• salt to taste

Instructions:
In a heavy 5-quart pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the popcorn kernels and sugar. Cover and shake until the popping is just about done. Don't leave it on for too long, or the sugar will burn and taste terrible. Pour into a metal or ceramic bowl (plastic will melt) and stir/toss until cool to the touch. Sprinkle with a little salt and stir/toss; taste and repeat until you like the level of saltiness.
*If you want colored kettle corn, I suggest you purchase some food color gel.  I like this kind because of its easy squeeze bottle.  For each color I squeezed in one large drop of gel right after putting in the sugar.  The water in the gel will make the oil spit, so it's best to put the sugar in first so it can absorb the gel.  Once you start shaking, the color gets evenly distributed.

Caramel Corn

#3 Caramel Corn


Ingredients:

• 1 C brown sugar
• 1 stick butter
• 1/4 C light corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 4-8 quarts popped popcorn 

(Note: if you're using the tiny popcorn, don't use an air popper.  Pop in canola oil.  If you're going to use regular sized popcorn, go a head and use air popped popcorn.  Save a few calories.)


Instructions:
Preheat oven to 250°.
Combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup & salt in a medium to large microwavable dish. Microwave on high until butter is mostly melted and then stir to combine ingredients. Bring to a boil by cooking on high for about 2 minutes. Remove and add baking soda. 
Put naked popcorn into a huge bowl. Pour above syrup stuff over popcorn and mix thoroughly. Spread popcorn onto two non-stick cookie sheets. Bake at 250° for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes, rotating pans between top and bottom shelves. Remove from oven; stir immediately. Stir occasionally while cooling. Store in an airtight container.

German Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls

Okay, so I wasn't going to post this recipe until I won the Tones Cinnamon Roll Competition with it at the Iowa State Fair.  I did enter them last summer in the Non-Traditional Cinnamon Roll class, and they went immediately to the reject table.  This is what the judge said on my comment card: "These are stunning.  This is an idea for a roll that I have never encountered in my life.  It looks so heavy but is so light.  However this reminds me more of a cake than a roll."  I think I literally screamed in my car when I read that comment card after the fair was over.  Seriously?  "more of a cake than a roll"?  It's a NON-TRADITIONAL cinnamon roll, for crying out loud!  I guess I'm still a little angry over it.
Actually, I was at Trader Joe's about a month later, and I SAW the judge there shopping alone.  I was so, so tempted to go ask her what business she had judging a non-traditional cinnamon roll competition if she was unable to think outside of a box.  I thought better of it, and didn't accost her.  I don't want to be banned from the competition.
At any rate, I don't know if I'll try entering this again next year, hoping for a better judge, but if there's any chance this woman will be on the panel, I don't think I could take it.
Oh, this roll gets rave reviews from everyone who tastes it.  You heard what the judge said, it's "stunning."
(For more on my Iowa State Fair food competition experiences, go to this post.)

German Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 pkg. active dry yeast
• ¼ cup warm water
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 egg plus one egg yolk, beaten
• ¼ cup butter, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ¾ cup warm milk
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 ¼ cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Filling

• ¾ cup light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• ¼ cup softened butter

Frosting

• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 egg yolks, beaten w/ 1 tsp. water
• ½ cup butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted
• 1 cup flaked coconut, lightly toasted

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a standing mixer, sprinkle yeast over warm water.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes, until soft and bubbly.  With the paddle attachment, stir in sugar, butter, cocoa, egg & yolk, and vanilla.  Mix until smooth.  Switch to the dough hook attachment, and add milk and 3 cups flour.  Mix & kneed on medium low speed for 8-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic, adding additional ¼ cup of flour 1 tablespoon at a time if it seems too sticky.

2. Place dough in a large, lightly greased bowl, turn to coat, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise until doubled, 1-2 hours.  Meanwhile, mix brown sugar, cinnamons, and salt and set aside.  Butter a 9 x 13-inch metal pan and set aside.

3. While dough rises, make the frosting.  In a large saucepan, combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks w/ water, butter, and vanilla.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and reaches 180°F.  Pour into a separate bowl and allow to cool.  Then stir in toasted pecans and coconut.

4.  Punch dough down and turn out onto a floured surface to form rolls.  Roll dough out to a 16 x 20-inch rectangle.  Evenly spread butter over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1 inch area of the dough free on one of the short ends.  Spread sugar/cinnamon mixture over the butter lightly using your hand.  Press in gently with a flat hand.  Starting at the short end that has the filling, roll dough, brushing away extra flour with a dry pastry brush.  Wet the end and seal by pinching gently.

5.  Brush off excess flour.  Using a 2-ft. length of dental floss, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces.  Place in buttered pan, cover, and let rise until puffy and almost doubled, about 1 hour. 

6.  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Bake rolls at 350°F for 25-30 minutes, or until the center of a roll registers 188-190°F on a probe thermometer.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes before frosting.

7.  Frost rolls and serve.  Keep leftovers in an airtight container.

Makes 6 ridiculously large rolls

Sunbutter Cookies/Sunbutter Blossoms

Sunbutter blossom cookies

Sunbutter cookies.  You can barely see the green flecks.

Okay, so I decided to make some Sunbutter cookies and Sunbutter blossom cookies to take to a school event.  I'm so glad I tried them out BEFORE taking them anywhere.  Green inside?  Really?  I did notice that the plain Sunbutter cookies had little green flecks in them yesterday, but for some reason, I dismissed the flecks.  Today I thought I'd taste a Sunbutter blossom cookie because I wanted to see if they were good enough to leave the house.  I THINK it tasted okay, but when I looked at it, I was floored. The very middle of each cookie had turned green.
Of course I googled "sunbutter cookies green" immediately, and came up with a decent explanation (something about chloro-something-or-another in sunflower seeds), but that doesn't mean I'm going to eat them or serve them to others.  Too weird.  I'm mainly posting this recipe because it's an oddity, and the one website I looked at suggested I halve the baking soda to reduce the greening.  So, give it a go if you'd like.  I'm going to stick with peanut butter.


Sunbutter Cookies/Dove Sunbutter Blossoms
    --Adapted from King Arthur Flour


Ingredients:

¼ cup butter ¼ cup vegetable shortening ¾ cup Sunbutter 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar 1 large egg 2 T milk

1 tsp vanilla 1 ½ cups KAF unbleached all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt granulated sugar 1 bag Dove Milk Chocolate Promises, unwrapped

  

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, shortening, and Sunbutter until well blended.  Add the sugars; beat until light and fluffy.  Add the egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat well.  Stir the flour, soda, and salt together.  Gradually mix into the wet ingredients.

Shape the dough into 1 ¼-inch balls.  Roll in sugar.  Place balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes.  Remove from the oven and immediately place one chocolate Promise on each cookie.  Then go back and press each Promise gently into the cookie.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Sunbutter Cookies and Sunbutter Blossoms.  The exterior looks fine.