The one thing that has sounded good this whole pregnancy has been donuts… I have stopped more times then I want to admit to pick up a donut on the way to work.  But it still wasn’t curing the craving for homemade fresh donuts. I bought a donut cutter many months ago but then didn’t have luck finding a recipe I loved. I then remembered my mom had one in her old Betty Crocker Cookbook, so I wrote it down last week and we made them for breakfast Sunday.

They were awesome, and definitely cured the craving… for a few days anyway We made cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar and chocolate. Next time I d like to try glazed.

Cake Donuts (From: Betty Crocker)

• Vegetable Oil
• 3 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 c. sugar
• 3t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. nutmeg
• 2 T. shortening
• 1 T. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 c. milk

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375.

Beat 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the remaining ingridents in a large mixer bowl on low speed, scaping bowl constantly 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally 2 minutes. Stir in reamining flour.

Turn dough onto well cloth covered board; roll around lightly to coat flour. Roll gently 3/8 inch thick cut with donut cutter.

Slide donuts into hot oil. Turn donuts as they rise. Fry until golden browl 1 to 1 1/2 minutes each side. Drain off excess oil and top with topping if desired.

With the in-laws in town, I made a deal with Adam if he made breakfast Saturday I would make it Sunday. I decided to do quiche and cinnamon rolls. I have had these starred for awhile and decided this would be a perfect time to go. I thought these were very good.

Orange Cinnamon Rolls (From: Pioneer Woman)

Dough

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 package Active dry yeast
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a pan. “scald” the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point.) Ture off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active drive Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Stire mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

Add 1/2 cup flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and the salt. Stir mixture together. Refrigerate overnight.

Filling

• 8 T. orange marmalade
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup broke sugar
• 1/2 t. salt

Roll out the dough into a large rectangle. Spread the marmalade over the top. Pour on butter, 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 towards you, being careful to keep it tucked tightly. Pinch the edge to seal it.

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

Bake at 375 for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Meanwhile make the glaze.

Orange Glaze

• 2 lbs. powdered sugar
• 6 T. melted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• dash of salt

Mix all ingredients, thinning with more milk or orange juice to make mixture thin enough to be pourable.

When rolls are done cooking remove them from the oven and immediately drizzle orange glaze over the top.

Serve warm or at room temp.

As soon as I saw these in my google reader I thought yummy.

I have to say we were kind of disappointed in them, they seemed to lack flavor as well as filling. I think I might try them again but add more in to them to bulk them up. Maybe some veggies and some rice or something.

Overall they tasted good, just didn’t leave me super full. They also reminded us a lot of these.

Chicken Squares (From: Vintage Victuals)

• 2 tubes of 6 Pillsbury crescent rolls
• 1 10-ounce can of chicken breast meat, drained
• 8 ounces of cream cheese
• 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• Dash of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Apply cooking spray to a large baking sheet and set aside.

Roll out the crescent dough and divide into rectangles, pinching the seam of the 2 triangles together to form oblong rectangles of dough.

In a medium bowl, combine chicken, cream cheese, onion, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper, creaming the ingredients together.

Spoon a dollop of the chicken mixture onto one side of each crescent rectangle. Fold one end of the rectangle over the filling to form a square. Pinch the dough together around the edges to seal, and place the squares on prepared sheet.

Bake the chicken squares for 20-25 minutes or until the crescent rolls are golden brown. Serve immediatly with rice and peas. Yield 6-8 chicken squares.

I have a new love for pizza, granted I have ALWAYS loved pizza, but since discovering white pizzas I just love them. I love to order them both out and make them at home.

When hanging out with my mom a few weeks ago she told me about a new white sauce recipe she had discovered. When she told me it was mayo, Parmesan, and ranch dressing I didn’t really believe her. But then again she has never lead me astray. So I went for it.

It made an AWESOME sauce, you could not taste the mayo, it was more a parmesany ranchy taste. Very yummy, and went perfect on the white pizza. I also tried a new dough recipe… actually Adam tried a dough recipe. It was a good dough, but didn’t brown up quiet like other doughs I have made.

Whole Grain Pizza Crust (From: Branny Boils Over)

• 1.5 cups warm water, divided
• 1 T active dry yeast
• 1 t honey
• 2 cups flour (I used all white as I had no wheat)
• 1 c whole wheat flour
• ¾ t coarse salt
• 2 t olive oil

Stir yeast into ½ cup warm water.  Add honey and let stand 5 minutes.  Place flours in food processor fitted with a metal blade.  Add salt and pulse.  Pour in yeast mixture, remaining water, and oil.  Process 1 minute until dough comes together.  Let rest 20 minutes before rolling out.

White Pizza Sauce (From: My Mom)

• 1 cup ranch dressing
• 1 cup mayo
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese

Mix all together and top on crust.

I baked my crust for about 5-10 minutes then topped with white sauce, shredded chicken, mushrooms, broccoli, and cheese. Of Course onions on Adam’s half.

I am pretty sure Adam’s favorite food is bread! And he is pretty spoiled. He often walks into the door with “Hi Honey dinner is done, can you take the bread out of the bread machine.”

He asked me to make some fresh bread I told him to look through my bread cookbook that I haven’t got to use and when he found something I would make it. He chose this yummy recipe

This recipe was AMAZING! Although mine was almost a little too done it was the perfect crunchy on the outside nice and soft on the inside! It had wonderful flavor!!! Next time I think I would add a little garlic powder to the bread itself to give it a little more garlic flavor.

Also a product rave. I love using these little cubes of crushed garlic from Trader Joes. You store them in the freezer when you need garlic just pop out the tables you want. This is SOOO simple as it tastes fresh but you don’t have to fight with garlic. Buy some next time you are at TJ’s!

Garlic Bubble Bread (From: The Big Book of Bread by Anne Sheasby)

• 1 basic white bread dough prepared
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian Herb Seasoning

Grease a bundt pan.

Combiner melted butter, egg, Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt and dried herbs in a small bowl, mixing well. Dip the dough balls into the butter mixture, coating them liberally all over, then arrange the dough balls in a single layer in the pan. Drizzle over any remaining butter mixture. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the ring for 30-40 minutes or until risen and golden brown. Turn onto a wire rack. Pull the rolls apart to serve, warm or cold.

Basic White Bread (From:

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 3 2/3 cups white flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, diced
• 1 teaspoon fast-action dried yeast

Pour the water into the bread machine pan. Sprinkle over the flour, covering the water completely. Add the salt, sugar, and butter placing them in separate corners of the bread pan. make a small indent in the center of the flour and add the yeast.

Set the bread maker to the dough setting. One dough has risen punch down. Divide into 12 equal sized balls.