Saturday, April 20, 2013

Cinnamon Sugar Waffle Biscuits

Okaaaaaaaaaaay. This recipe might win the official ‘Fast, Cheap, and Easy’ award. Because, dude. And … dude. And, for real … DUDE.

cinnamon sugar waffle biscuits fast cheap easy 3 copy

Okay. So … here’s what you need:

cinnamon sugar waffle biscuits fast cheap easy 1

1 can Pillsbury GRANDS biscuits

cinnamon sugar (1/3 cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon; mixed)

 

These directions are rough, pay close attention:

Dip raw biscuits in cinnamon sugar mixture to coat on both sides. Place in heavily greased waffle iron.

 cinnamon sugar waffle biscuits fast cheap easy 2

Cook until your waffle iron says their done. That. Stinkin’. Easy.

cinnamon sugar waffle biscuits fast cheap easy 3

They’re so good, I have to eat them plain … no syrup. My kids ate them with jam. I think I’ve made these 5 times since the first time I made them a few weeks ago. SO easy a 15 year old boy could do it. ;)

1 Hour French Bread

I saw this easy 1 hour French bread recipe floating around Pinterest last week. I looked at it. It looked terribly easy. However, I knew it wouldn’t have enough flavor. So I tweaked the recipe and added sugar and salt … nothing worse than going through the hard work of yeast bread only to have it not taste like anything. Trust me. There’s a bread recipe in my husband’s family cookbook from waaaaaay back. And it is waaaaay bad.

1 hour french bread from Fast, Cheap, and Easy

I apologize in advance for iPhone pictures … my USB cable got chewed by my puppy and I can’t upload pictures to my computer. Tragic. Okay. Here we go.

Here’s what you need:

2 1/2 cups warm water

2 TBS yeast

3 TBS sugar

2 tsp salt

3 TBS olive oil

6 cups flour

* 1 egg white mixed with 1 TBS cold water

 

Here’s what you do:

Combine yeast and warm water (not hot – you’ll kill your yeast). Sprinkle sugar on top and let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes. You’ll notice that the yeast has gotten all bubbly. Add the oil and salt, and slowly mix with a paddle blade in your electric mixture for about 5 seconds. Add flour and let the mixer ‘knead’ the dough together (on medium high speed) for about 1 minute. Dough will pull away from the bowl and be very sticky. Place a hot wet towel over the top of the bowl and let it rise in a warm oven (not hot) for 20 ish minutes. (I usually turn my oven on until it reaches about 150 degrees, then turn it off)

Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it out on a floured surface, divide it in half, and shape into loaves. (If you need it to fit in bread bags, just divide it in four and make short loaves, like ciabatta)

1 hour french bread Fast, Cheap, and Easy

Cut slits on the top of the bread and let the bread sit while your oven heats to 375*. Bake bread at 375* for 20 minutes. While it’s baking, mix up 1 egg white and 1 TBS cold water. After 20 minutes of baking, open the oven and brush the egg white on the bread while it’s still in the oven … I used a long BBQ brush because I didn’t want to take it out of the oven and have the bread fall. After you’ve brushed it with the egg mixture, bake it for another 4-5 minutes. The top will be a gorgeous golden brown.

1 hour french bread start to finish Fast, Cheap, and Easy

This bread is chewy, soft, and sooooooo tasty!! Enjoy!

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Caramel Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Icing

 

Oh my good gracious. Y’all are gonna want to be my BFF after making these. Don’t worry. There is plenty of me to go around. ;)

caramel cinnamon rolls 4 fast cheap easy

For this entire recipe, you are going to need:

THESE!!!! (Although, if you don’t have them, the recipe will still be delicious and caramel-y without them)

caramel cinnamon rolls 5 fast cheap easy

2 T yeast

4 T sugar

3 cups warm water

2 tsp salt

8 cups flour

cinnamon

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 sticks of butter

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups powdered sugar

 

Now. Here’s what you do …

 

Dough:

Dissolve together (and let sit for 5-10 minutes):

2 TBS yeast

4 TBS sugar

3 cups warm water

Add:

2 tsp salt

8 cup flour

Then, mix everything together until it forms a ball. Place a warm, wet towel over the top of the bowl. Place the bowl in a warm oven for 20 minutes to allow the dough to double in size. (I turn my oven on for a minute, until it reaches about 150 degrees)

Just before you are ready to roll out the dough, melt 1 stick of butter and get some brown sugar, cinnamon, and caramel bits ready.

Flour the surface you will roll the rolls out on. Dump the dough onto the floured surface. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into a rectangle shape (if you can … I’m not good at that part!). Then, spread the melted butter all over the dough … all the way to the edges, leaving not un-buttered spots. Then sprinkle LIBERALLY with brown sugar. Then sprinkle with cinnamon. Then sprinkle with caramel bits. It should look like this:

caramel cinnamon rolls 1 fast cheap easy

(Again, a little more rectangle-ish, would be best … but I just went with it)

Now you need to roll it up. Start rolling it up from the longest side, if that makes sense. You want a LONG roll to cut, not a short FAT roll. Okay? Okay.

Now. To cut … some people get all crazy and use dental floss and such. All I’ve got is mint dental floss and that just ain’t happening, people. I used a sharp, serrated Cutco carving knife and cut the roll into 3/4” pieces. Lay them flat on a GREASED casserole dish, leaving room around each roll so it can raise again. Like this:

caramel cinnamon rolls 2 fast cheap easy

After you’ve cut out all the rolls and put them into casserole dishes, you need to put those casserole dishes back into your warm oven. Set the timer for 20 minutes again, and let them rise for 20 minutes (they should be filling the dish now, without spaces). Like this (Sorry, Instagram picture):

caramel cinnamon rolls 6 fast cheap easy

Remove both casserole dishes from the oven, and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Once the oven is heated, bake the rolls at 350 degrees for about 23-25 minutes. They’ll be golden brown on top.

** While they are baking, make your icing:

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups powdered sugar

Combine brown sugar and butter in a small sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk, return to a boil, and cook for 1 minute, while whisking continually. Pour mixture into a mixing bowl. Stir in vanilla and salt. Whisk in powdered sugar until smooth (I used an electric mixer for this). Immediately spread glaze over warm rolls. Icing will set up fast. (It’s more like a thick glaze)

caramel cinnamon rolls 7 fast cheap easy

(Sorry. ‘Nother Instagram picture.)

caramel cinnamon rolls 3 fast cheap easy

Holy cow. SO YUMMY!!!

caramel cinnamon rolls 4 fast cheap easy

I could barely take any pictures before having to dig in!!

Y’all enjoy! Bet you don’t go back to regular cinnamon rolls! I know I won’t!!

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Biscuits

Guys. Sometimes, when I walk through Costco, something magical happens. They just hand me free food. And usually, I realize that even though I didn’t think I was hungry and didn’t think I wanted to try my 18th different kind of hummus, I really do. It’s great. Love Costco for that.

Well. A couple weeks ago, as I was wandering through getting my usual, this nice southern momma handed me half of a sausage biscuit. I’m usually not a sausage fan (and I still can’t really say I am, but my hubs and kids LOVE sausage), but in a moment of politeness, I took it. And, it was delicious. And it was stupid easy to make. And I was like, “Wait. I can do this kind of sausage for my lovers.” And then the heavens parted. And I wore a halo home. And my kids carried me around the house cheering something about me being the best mother ever. Yeah. Something like that.

Any. Way.

HaRk! A sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit. In MY kitchen!

sausage egg cheese biscuit fast cheap easy 2

Here’s what you need (at Costco):

sausage egg cheese biscuit fast cheap easy 1

Frozen Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits

Goolsby’s Country Sausage (Cause, with a name like Goolsby’s, it’s gotta be good, right?)

Eggs

Cheese

 

Directions:

Preheat oven and cook biscuits according to package. On an electric skillet, cook up as many sausage patties as you need. These ones cook fast and don’t produce tons of grease. In a frying pan, cook up some eggs (are y’all laughing at how stupid and self explanatory this recipe is? cause I am). Place cheese on top of egg for the last 30 second to melt. Assemble your breakfast biscuits.

sausage egg cheese biscuit fast cheap easy 2

I like to go all crazy one morning every couple weeks and cook up a dozen sausage biscuits. Then I let them cool completely. Put each one in a ziploc sandwich bag … then put them all into a gallon sized freezer bag … and BAM! Sausage biscuits in 30 seconds on school mornings.

sausage biscuits freezer meals fast cheap easy

My apologies. This isn’t really a recipe. More of just an idea … and recommendation. Those biscuits are yummy. And I’ll vouch for this brand of sausage. That is all, people. Enjoy. :D

Easy Korean Pork (or Chicken) BBQ

Alrighty. All you fast, cheap, and easy people … if you haven’t already done so, I would like to encourage you to check out the condiment aisle at Target. Specifically, Target’s ‘Archer Farms’ brand. Why? Because they don’t throw nasty garbage like high fructose corn syrup into their condiments and sauces. Can we all just agree to boycott anything with high fructose corn syrup in it? Please?!

korean pork bbq

Okay. So … I decided to try the Korean Style Barbecue sauce … um … it’s good. Real. Good. But, it’s a little spicy. My kids ate it, but had to grabs drinks of water in between each bite. I did add a few TBS of brown sugar to it, which I think helped the heat. But, it’s good, people. I promise. Here’s what you need (+ brown sugar):

korean pork bbq fast cheap easy 2

1 cup Korean style barbecue sauce

1 cup cooked, diced pork (I used leftovers that I diced up and froze from a couple weeks ago because I’m sneaky like that)

1 pkg chow mein noodles

1 bag sugar snap peas

2-3 TBS brown sugar

1 small onion, diced (if you have it … I was out)

 

Directions:

In a skillet over medium-high heat, saute diced onion and pork together. Add bbq sauce and simmer for about 5 minutes so the meat can soak in the flavor. While it’s simmering, add the chow mein noodles to a pot of boiling water (they take 3 minutes to cook, literally). After the meat has simmered for about 5 minutes, add in the bag of snap peas and heat throughout (about 2 minutes). Drain noodles and throw them into the skillet. Toss to fully coat noodles with sauce. Serve with a tall glass of water (it’s not that hot, but it does have a kick). Super yummy. Stupid easy.

korean pork bbq

Pineapple Bread

Y’all have probably figured out by now that I make a lot of ‘bread’. Never regular bread. Never really use yeast. Always seems to have some sort pureed of fruit in it. Well. That’s because I can my own fruit. A lot of it. And … my kids are punks. And they go through cycles of eating my canned fruit and refusing my canned fruit. Which means I have a lot of canned fruit to use … somehow.

So. Behold. I give you Pineapple Bread … It’s delicious. I promise. Party on, y’all.

pineapple bread fast cheap easy

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup pureed canned pineapple (drain it then throw it in the blender)

2 cups flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*. Combine butter, sugar, eggs, and pineapple using electric mixer. Add cinnamon, soda, and salt. Mix until combined. Then add flour and combine. Pour into greased 8x8 baking dish (that’s the key – ditch your loaf pan!!!), SPRINKLE THE TOP WITH SUGAR, and bake for 25 minutes. Set the timer for 20 minutes and check on it.

* Sometimes I go all crazy and sprinkle it with brown sugar on top.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Meatball Surprise

Don’t you just love Pinterest?! I found this recipe on there and thought, “My kids would LOVE that!” And. THEY DID.

meatball surprise 2 fast cheap and easy

Here’s what you need:

meatball surprise 1 fast cheap and easy

24 meatballs (I just used Costco’s, but you could make your own)
4 cheese sticks (cut into 6 pieces each)
1 pkg Pillsbury Flaky Layers biscuits
Marinara Sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*. Divide biscuits into three (peel the layers apart, leaving three thin biscuits). Wrap the biscuit around a meatball and piece of cheese and close tightly. Place on greased cookie sheet, leaving space between each one, like this:

meatball surprise 3 fast cheap and easy

Then spray with olive oil (think … olive oil cooking spray). Then sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake at 350* for 15-17 minutes, or until golden brown on top like this:

meatball surprise 2 fast cheap and easy

Serve with marinara sauce for dipping. YUM! My kids went crazy!