Lion House Dinner Rolls

I love these rolls and I'll be honest I have bought them at least a dozen times from our local Deseret Bookstore just so I don't have to do the work. I do still love making rolls from scratch though and wanted my girls to learn this method so we made them for Easter. These instructions are the traditional Lion House rolls where they are rolled up. This takes a bit of practice so just play with it until you find what works. Just make sure you line them all up on the pan the same with the edges all facing the same side. It just helps when they bump into each other rising and baking. MMMmmm MMMmmm!

Lion House Dinner Rolls

Yields 2 dozen

2 tablespoons active dry yeast or instant w/no proofing

2 cups warm water

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 egg

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

2/3 cup nonfat dry milk

5-6 cups flour

In a large bowl, combine the yeast and water. Let stand 5 minutes (unless you are using instant yeast – just add the yeast and water together with the other ingredients). Add sugar, butter, salt, dry milk, 2 cups flour and egg. Beat together until very smooth. Add remaining flour gradually (about 1/2 cup at a time) until a soft but not sticky dough is formed. Knead the dough for at least five minutes if using an electric mixer and for at least 10 minutes if mixing the dough by hand. When the dough is smooth and elastic, place it in a lightly greased large bowl covered with greased plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled. Separate the dough into two portions. Roll each section out to an 11X14-inch rectangle. Brush the top with melted butter. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the dough into two pieces, the long way.  Then slice the dough into five or six strips across so you end up with 12 small rectangles. I use my hand to measure. Using your left hand make a "L" with your thumb and pointer. This is about how big you want each roll piece to be. As wide as your thumb and as long as your finger. Use that as a judge when you cut your dough. Then roll each small rectangle up like a snail (butter on the inside) and place in a lightly greased 9x12 glass with the roll resting on it’s open edge. (If you don't have 2 glass dishes you can also use a greased rimmed baking sheet.) Repeat with the second portion of dough. Cover the rolls with lightly greased plastic wrap and let them rise until doubled. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 minutes until they are nicely browned.

Butter Garlic Potatoes

This is my favorite way to cook potatoes, and every time I do, I think about my best friend in Missouri! She is always cooking meals for families, and I can still remember when she brought us these with some pork chops. Mmmmm!! She came to visit me last summer and I made her make them for us again. Something about someone else making you food...it just tastes better than when you do it yourself! Am I right? 

Butter Garlic Potatoes

Recipe from Sarra Bauer

2 pounds (or more) potatoes 

6 Tbsp butter, plus or minus (I usually start with 1/2 a cube and add more if needed)

2 Tbsp roasted garlic and herb seasoning 

This recipe is really just whatever works for you. You can do any amount of potatoes, any amount of butter and any amount of seasoning. But this is about what I do for our family of 6. Wash and slice up your potatoes. I always cut them in half once lengthwise and then into slices about 1/4 or so thick. They can be thicker they will just take longer to cook. Start melting your butter in a really large skillet pan with a lid. Throw in the potatoes along with 1 Tbsp or so of the seasoning. As they cook down you can add more butter and more seasoning as needed. I usually throw in some salt at the end as well. I always get my roasted garlic and herb seasoning from Sams. It use to be a different brand, but now it's Weber brand. Whatever brand you use they are all pretty much the same. 

Mom's Fried Rice

My kids love the rice pilaf I make. They could eat it every day if they could. But it's kind of a pain to make. Not like mom's easy fried rice especially when you use minute rice! I didn't have any green onions, and I also only had brown rice, but it still turned out amazing! And bonus- this was the first time in my daughter's life she had a bite of an egg without upchucking. And she is 7 next month. So hurray for that!  

I actually had this leftover rice twice for breakfast this week with an additional egg. Yum!

Mom's Fried Rice

Makes around 2 1/2 cups

2 cups minute rice, white or brown

onion, chopped (1/2 cup-1 cup to your preference)

green onions, chopped (to your preference again)

2-3 Tbsp butter

2-3 eggs

salt and pepper, to taste

soy sauce, to taste

Cook he minute rice as directed. Brooke swears the minute rice it what makes this fried rice the bomb, but if you have leftover rice in the fridge I'm sure it would taste amazing too! While the rice is cooking, melt the butter in a big frying pan and saute the chopped onions until they are about done. Scoot them over to the corner of your pan and scramble 2-3 eggs. Once the eggs are done mix them up with the onions and add the cooked rice. If you need to add more butter go ahead and do so (I won't tell). Mix everything all together and add lots of salt and pepper. Then drizzle soy sauce over it but don't overkill. You don't want the rice to be brown unless it's brown rice. Less is usually more and you can add later if you need to. And it's done! Enjoy! 

Pico de Gallo

I LOVE pico! So does my 7 year old daughter. In fact when I made steak fajitas tonight, we ate all of the pico before dinner was served and ended up having to make another batch! lol For that reason I doubled my original recipe so that you will have plenty for the family. But you could also half it to serve 2-3 people. Super simple. You can also add a chopped garlic clove if you'd like. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. 

Simple Pico de Gallo
makes about 3 cups 

6 medium Roma tomatoes
1 small white onion (or red)
1 jalapeno pepper
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup or so of chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the tomatoes in half and take out the seeds under running water. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces, and add to a mixing bowl. Finely dice the onion and the jalapeno (remove the seeds if desired). Toss the onion and jalapeno in the bowl with the tomatoes. Add the chopped cilantro and mix well finishing up with the lime juice and salt and pepper. It's better if you can refrigerate it for about 15-20 minutes so the flavors will settle. 

Note: When I want a "kicked up" guacamole, I will make a half a batch of this pico and mix it with 3-4 mashed avocados. Heavenly.

Fennel, Beet, and Citrus Salad

Fennel, Beet, and Citrus Salad (inspired by Bon Appetit)

1 bunch beets, washed with greens trimmed
1 head fennel, trimmed and cut into 1/8″ slices, with green fennel fronds reserved for garnish
1/2 red onion, sliced into paper thin half moons

Goat cheese

Handful of Spinach
 2 blood oranges
1 navel orange
 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

To prepare the beets, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash the beets thoroughly and trim off the greens. Place the beets in a large casserole dish, or anything that will hold 1/8″ of water. Sprinkle the beets with salt, cover tightly with foil, and put into the oven. Roast until the beets are tender, and you can easily pierce them with  fork, around an hour, but start checking after 40 minutes. Add more water if too much has evaporated. Once the beets have cooked though, run them under cool water to remove the skin. Slice into 1/8″ rounds and set aside.

Meanwhile, cut one blood orange and piece apart, Juice the remaining oranges, set in a bowl-whisk together olive oil, juice, salt and pepper.

When ready to serve, layer the fennel, onions, oranges, and drizzle on several tablespoons of the dressing. Keep in mind that the beets will quickly turn everything pink, so dress them separately and intersperse just before serving for optimal presentation. Finish with a few turns of fresh pepper, green fennel tops, and a strip of blood orange zest. I added goat cheese and a handful of spinach!!

Raw Tabouli Salad w/ Hemp Seeds

Did you know that parsley is rich in Vitamins A and C, folic acid, and flavonoids that act as an antioxidant? Also Iron and Vit C! It is a blood purifier and kills bacteria in the body, it also cleanses the liver of toxins and rejuvenates it! Hemp seed is a digestible plant protein loaded with a ton of minerals, in fact..3 tablespoons of hemp seeds is 10g of PROTEIN!

Base Ingredients

1 huge bunch of curly parsley or flat is fine, or two small bunches

1/2 white onion, diced

1 organic tomato, diced

5-6 heaping tbl. hemp seeds

Dressing

Juice of 1 lemon

1 garlic clove, minced or chopped

1/4 cup of good olive oil (preferably cold pressed)

1/2 tsp of celtic or Himalayan sea salt

Directions

Chop the parsley small and place in a large bowl, with onions, tomato, and hemp seed. In a blender or processor combine lemon, garlic, olive oil, and salt. Blend until smooth- poor over mixture!

Put in fridge and snack on throughout the day for a burst of energy or eat it as a side salad.

Black Bean Sweet Potatoes

I wasn't going to post this recipe because it's so simple it's silly. BUT this is my second time making it and my husband has really loved it both times!! You can make it as a side or as a meal like I do on our meatless nights:) Pair it with some veggies like the picture or my favorite is to pair it with the Kale salad(found on our blog)

Black Bean Sweet Potatoes:

Recipe (& pic because mine some how got deleted) from: http://naturalvitalityliving.com/sonnet-lauberth-recipes/

Ingredients:

3 sweet potatoes (or however many you need for your family)

1 can of black beans rinsed 

Half of yellow onion chopped 

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons paprika

shake of chili powder

Red pepper flakes

Bake the sweet potatoes at 350 for 1 hr 15 min (or however long it takes for those suckers to bake). When the sweet potatoes are about done, sauté the onion in some olive oil (for about 3-5 min) add the cumin, paprika, and chili powder and sauté for another minute. Add the black beans and sauté for another couple minutes. Take the baked sweet potatoes out cut them in half and atop them with the black bean mixture. Add some red pepper flakes for garnish. Sooo yummy!!! 

*The black bean mixture only feeds about 3 people so if you need more just double the recipe. Also in the original recipe it calls for 1 cup of vegetable broth, I didn't think it needed it so I opted out both times. 

Bruschetta with Balsamic Drizzle

So on a trip to Chicago with my husband, we ate at this great resturaunt called Weber Grill and ordered their bruschetta bread. It was amazing and I was determined to find my own recipe. This is like heaven! I used the leftovers I had from last night and made some more for myself for lunch today and I felt like a queen....might need to do that more often for myself! :)

A few notes: I used a grande ciabatta baguette from Sams Club, but any of those baguette type of breads will work. Last night for dinner I sliced the entire baguette, but for the leftovers today I cut off a 6 inch piece and then sliced it lengthwise. I'm telling you this because if you like your bread really thick-do it this way, and if you like thinner bread and heavy on the tomatoes-slice a bunch of thin slices. (If you are confused I have a pic at the end to show the difference). Also only make as much as you will eat because the bread will go soggy. So make what you want and then put the rest of the tomato mixture in the fridge and when you want more, pull it out and slice up more bread. The drizzle is quite rich so use it sparingly (but it is amazing!), and next time I'm going to half the below recipe because I had way too much, and even though it says to drizzle before you toast, next time I will drizzle after so that it looks fancy on the serving platter. :)

Bruschetta with Balsamic Drizzle:
Recipe from Neighbor Julia

Bruschetta:
6 roma tomatoes- chopped (firmer tomatoes are better for this recipe)
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
2 cloves fresh garlic (use the real thing! minced)
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 T. Balsamic Vinegar
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 long skinny baguette sliced thinly (I used chibata, but sour dough or any would work)

Mix all ingredients (except for bread) in a medium sized bowl. Allow to chill in fridge for at least 2 hours for best flavor. (I like to make mine a day ahead if I have time). When ready to serve slice bread and toast bread slightly in oven. Top each piece of toast with bruschetta, drizzle recipe below, and toast again. 

Balsamic Drizzle:
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 T. corn starch

Stir all ingredients together in a small saucepan. Boil until slightly thickened (add extra corn starch if needed). Let cool 5 min. or until thickened to consistency you would like (don't let it get too thick). Drizzle over bruschetta and toast. Enjoy!

Hopefully you can tell the difference between the slices- the first is for a thinner, more traditional bruschetta

 This one is for a thicker bread- slicing the baguette lengthwise and opening it up

Caramalized Sweet Potatoes and Peaches

I did just post this on my dairy free blog, but it's too good not to repeat on here!

This side dish kind of stole the show at dinner the other night. :) I'm thinking it should replace the nasty sweet potato casserole dish at Thanksgiving in so many homes (sorry I'm not a fan of the casserole!) Super yummy and the peach and sweet potato flavors were great together! Definitely going to be a regular side dish around here! At my grocery store the sweet potatoes look like regular potatoes and the orange sweet potatoes are labeled as "yams" so do what you normally do, but make sure you don't use the white flesh sweet potatoes- use the orange flesh ones (that might actually be labeled yams)

Caramalized Sweet Potatoes and Peaches

Recipe from Daphne Oz in Relish

Serves 2-3

1 Tbsp organic coconut oil, melted

2 Tbsp pure maple syrup, room temperature (it will make the oil go solid if it's too cold)

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

iodized salt

1 medium sweet potato, scrubbed and cut into 1 inch chunks (the orange variety)

2 medium peaches, pitted and sliced into 4 wedges each (I only had canned I just made sure I strained them really well)

1 medium sweet onion, peeled and quartered (I used about 1/2 an onion)

Preheat oven to 450. In a small bowl, whisk the coconut oil, syrup, cinnamon, and salt. Put the potato and peaches in 2 separate bowls. Pour three-quarters of the syrup mixture over the sweet potato and one-quarter over the peaches and toss. Spread the potato in an even layer in a large baking dish and roast for 10 minutes. Toss and roast for 5 more minutes. Add the onion and roast for 15 minutes. Toss the potato and onion, add the peaches in an even layer, and roast 10 minutes, or until the potato and onion are fork tender and the peaches have caramelized. 

Black Bean Salsa "Summer Salsa"

I love this salsa! Sometimes I eat it with a spoon. I smiled with joy when I had 2 leftover corn on the cobs last night from dinner. Need I say more?

Black Bean Salsa

Recipe from my friend Lyndsie

Yields about 5 cups

5 roma tomatoes, chopped

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 ears of corn, cooked and cut off the cob

4 green onions

1 bunch of cilantro, chopped 

Dressing:

1 package "Good Seasons" Italian Dressing

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Mix everything together in a big bowl and then pour the dressing over the top. Stir well so that the dressing doesn't settle at the bottom. Store in the refrigerator covered. Serve with some chips, cheese quesadillas, fajitas, or anything else you like!

Kale Chips

I have been bugging everyone about some healthy snacks for Marlee because I have just been running out of ideas. Well I bought some Kale to throw in our smoothies and I thought why not make some kale chips!!! So I texted my friend Aubrey and tada. These were soooo easy to make and they are pretty fantastic!!!! Marlee loved them. 

Kale Chips:

by: Aubrey Vick

Some Kale (either comes in a bag or just in bunches like normal lettuce)

Olive Oil

Sea Salt (I use Real salt) 

Rip off the kale, or cut it, wash it and throw it in a large bowl. Drizzle some olive oil over it and sprinkle salt over it and toss... Sorry to be so vague, but it really just depends on how much olive oil you want and salt you want. Chris said I put TOO much salt (who could have too much salt right? lol) So maybe be a little cautious of that. Cook at 400 for 10-15 minutes watch carefully you just want them to be a little brown so they're crunchy. and enjoy!!! 

Sweet Potato Steak Fries

I've tried quite a few recipes for sweet potato fries because its the only way my kids will eat sweet potatoes! This recipe is by far my favorite by a long shot and it's all because of the cinnamon. I think I probably ate 3 or more whole potatoes they were so good. There aren't amounts listed for the seasoning so you can just put in however much you like. I do like doing it in the ziplock bag though because it's a lot easier to make sure they are coated evenly with the olive oil and seasons. Yum! Oh and to do "steak fries" you just cut your potato in half and then lay that half cut side down and cut on an angle into the center to make 3-4 fries (hope that makes sense)

Sweet Potato Steak Fries

Recipe from Nicole

sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into steak fries

olive oil, to coat

salt

garlic powder

cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put the cut fries into a large ziploc bag and pour in olive oil enough just to coat the potatoes (squish them around a bit to coat). Sprinkle in a good amount of salt (1-2 tsp), some garlic powder and some cinnamon (all to your own taste and liking) and shake to coat. Place the fries onto a baking sheet and leave some space between. Bake for 10 minutes then flip them over and bake for 10 more minutes.

Spaghetti Squash with a Twist

My friend Aubrey does the Paleo diet, she has a blog with a lot of yummy recipes. I tried this spaghetti squash and I honestly don't think I'll ever go back to regular pasta. You can modify this recipe any way you like too! You can add meat.. or even use a different sauce. I even added some butternut squash to go with it and the extra flavor made it even better.



Spaghetti Squash

Recipe by: Aubrey Vick @ www.paleomadepainless.blogspot.com



1 Spaghetti Squash (this feed two people plus tons of leftovers for lunch the next day)
1 can of your favorite pasta sauce, I used one of my favorite red sauces

Preheat your oven to 350 and line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Cut the Spaghetti Squash in half, scoop out the ooey gooey stuff , spread a little bit of olive oil over it, put salt, pepper and other spices (I use garlic powder and basil). and flip them over (so the opposite I have in the picture above) Cook the Squash for 45 minutes, you'll want to be able to stick a fork in it but you don't want it to bake for too long or it will turn mushy. Take them out, grab a fork and start shredding so it looks  spaghetti. Throw some heated up spaghetti sauce on it and enjoy!! Here's the recipe for the butternut squash if you want to add some fall flavor to yours:

Butternut Squash:
1 Butternut Squash
Olive Oil and Spices

Cut the squash in half, scoop out the ooey gooey stuff again, peel it and cut it in chunks. (however big you prefer) throw it in a smaller pan (like a 9x9 or smaller) toss them with some olive oil, season it with pepper, garlic salt, and basil. Or whatever else you want. Cook at 350 for 20-30 minutes until you can stick a fork in them.

Kale Salad

1 bunch kale

1 t salt
1/4 medium-small red onion, thinly sliced or diced
1/3 chopped toasted almonds or nuts of choice
1/3 C raisins, currants or dried fruit of choice
avocado, chopped
1/4 C olive oil
2 T apple cider vinegar

Soak kale in water to loosen any dirt. Wash individual leaves as you de-stem them (pull leaf away from thickest parts of stem). Shake dry. Chiffonade leaves (stack, roll and slice into thin ribbons) and put in a large bowl. Sprinkle salt over kale and, using hands, massagekale for 3-4 minutes. After about a minute you’ll notice a big difference in the leaves – they’ll start to soften and turn a dark green almost as though you were steaming them. When done, drain off any liquid that collects on bottom of bowl (may or may not happen) and setkale aside.

Heat a small sauce pan, toss in whole nuts and toast until nuts start to brown slightly. Shake pan on occasion to brown nuts evenly and to keep from burning them – which is SO easy to do. I used almonds because that’s what I had on hand. However, walnuts, pecans or even sunflower seeds would be great in this salad too. Remove nuts from pan and give them a rough chop on your cutting board. Add nuts to bowl of kale.
Add diced onions, avocado and raisins to bowl (again, raisins, currants, or your fave dried fruit cut into raisin-sized pieces will all be fine – just use whatever you have on hand). Pour olive oil and apple cider vinegar evenly over bowl of goodies, then toss the whole thing with tongs until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed

Strawberry Spinach Salad

This is such a great salad! I missed it this year for Christmas (so festive), and so I decided to add it to our annual New Years Eve fondue night. It did make me feel a bit better eating all the fried food and that deadly seven layer dip.

It's very simple, but has the perfect balance of flavors. Love this salad.

Spinach Salad
Recipe from Sherry Chapman 

1 package of fresh baby spinach
1 cup fresh ripe strawberries, stems removed and sliced
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
1 cup walnuts or pecans

Dressing:
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Mix together and let sit for an hour or until the sugar dissolves. Pour over salad just before serving.

Ramen Noodle Cabbage Salad

If you want to lighten it up after stuffing yourself at Thanksgiving,

here's a very tasty and easy salad.

Ingredients:

2 T Sesame seeds (optional)

1/4 cup silvered almonds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds (optional)

1/2 head Napa Cabbage (shredded in 1/8 in. strips)

1/2 bunch green onions chopped fine

Directions:

Mix all ingredients with one package of chicken flavored ramen noodles, uncooked and broken into tiny pieces.

Add dressing right before serving:

2 T sugar

4 T rice vinegar

1/4 t salt and pepper

1/3 cup light vegetable oil

1/2 package of  Ramon flavoring

Sliced Potatoes

This is pretty simple, but it's also the only way my kids will eat potatoes- so I had to post incase any of you have the same problem! :) You can use regular or red but I think reds cook up a bit faster and have more flavor.

Sliced Potatoes

1 potato per person

olive oil

salt and pepper

cheddar cheese (optional)

For reds you can leave the skins on. Slice each potato to about 1/4 -1/2 inch thickness. On the cutting board you can salt and pepper the slices. In a large skillet heat up 1 Tbsp olive oil. Cook the potato slices on medium heat until they are tender, turning after 3 minutes or so. Add olive oil if they are sticking. Sometimes I sprinkle some cheese on top, and other times I leave it out. My kids love these with ketchup of course.

Twice Baked Potatoes

Fall Favorite.

Bake your potatoes 350 oven for 1hr.

scoop them out

and whip in milk, butter, and sour cream (to your taste)

add back to the potatoe shell and enjoy,

can add shredded cheese and put back in oven to melt.