Easy Peasy Crescent Roll Dough Cinnamon Rolls

My sister Judy has always been creative with her cooking; she invented her own version of a meatloaf that is the one I cook to this day and her fried chicken is the best, oh and don’t even get me started on her potato salad, every time we have a cookout my mom asks her to make it.
Over the years she has also invented a few treats that are really good. She learned how to make funnel cakes at home using a cast iron skillet and a 2 cup glass measure to pour out the batter and only using a small amount of oil instead of a deep fryer. She also makes great cakes and is not afraid to try something new.

Well last night she made these cinnamon crescent rolls by just sprinkling the inside of the rolls with cinnamon sugar and rolling them up into crescents. They were SO good! I could not believe something so easy could come out so good, she is a genius. They got eaten up so fast that I did not have time to get a picture of one…

 

 

Well I decided to take her recipe to the next level and actually make these Crescent Dough Cinnamon Rolls. They are so, so good and you will be amazed at how easy they are to make.

 

 

 

 

 

 

First chop 1 cup of walnuts and set aside (or you can use any nut you like). Mix ¼ cup white sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon together, set aside.

Take a roll of crescents out of the fridge and on a lightly floured surface unroll the dough. Next seal all the seams in the dough so that you have 1 rectangle of crescent dough. Spread with butter that you have allowed to come to room temperature (you will need about 1 tablespoon of butter, maybe a little more).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next sprinkle the cinnamon sugar lightly over the dough, ya don’t want too much or the rolls will not hold together well when you slice them (As I found out in this first attempt and you will see in the pictures). Then sprinkle the nuts on top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roll the dough up from the longest side so you have a long tube of dough. Then slice into ½ inch pieces and place in a small pan coated with cooking spray and bake at 375 for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

As you can see they did not hold together well, I think that was because there was too much of the sugar/cinnamon sprinkled on them, but they were still good.

I did not have any milk so I did not make a glaze to go over these but if you want you can make a glaze with a ½ cup powdered sugar and just enough milk to make a thick glaze. Serve warm with coffee or milk,Yummy!

RELIGION vs. THE GOSPEL

The following was given out at Arcade Church and a friend of mine that goes there gave me a copy and I thought it was really cool so I wanted to share it with you all.

Religion: I obey-therefore I’m accepted.

THE GOSPEL: I’m accepted-therefore I obey.

Religion: Motivation is based on fear and insecurity.

THE GOSPEL: Motivation is based on grateful joy.

Religion: I obey God in order to get things from God.

THE GOSPEL: I obey God to delight and resemble Him.

Religion: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or myself, since I believe, like Job’s friends that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life.

THE GOSPEL: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while He may allow this for my training, He will exercise His Fatherly love within my trial.

Religion: When I am criticized I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a ‘good person.’

THE GOSPEL: When I am criticized I struggle, but it is not critical for me to think of myself as a ‘good person.’ My identity is not built on my record or my performance but on God’s love for me in Christ. I can take criticism.

Religion: My prayer life consists largely of petition and it only heats up when I am in a time of need. My main purpose in prayer is control of my surroundings.

THE GOSPEL: My prayer life consists of long stretches of praise and adoration. My main purpose is fellowship with Him.

Religion: My self-view swings between two poles. If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people. If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel insecure and inadequate. I am not confident, I feel like a failure.

THE GOSPEL: My self-view is not based on my view of myself as a moral achiever. In Christ I am simultaneously sinful and yet accepted in Christ. I am so bad He had to die for me and I am so loved He was glad to die for me. This leads me to deeper and deeper humility and confidence at the same time. Neither swaggering nor sniveling.

Religion: My identity and self worth are based mainly on how hard I work. Or how moral I am, and so I must look down on those I perceive as lazy or immoral. I disdain and feel superior to ‘the other.’

THE GOSPEL: My identity and self-worth are centered on the One who died for His enemies. I am saved by sheer grace. So I can’t look down on those who believe or practice something different from me. Only by grace I am what I am. I’ve no inner need to win arguments.

Religion: Since I look to my own pedigree or performance for my spiritual acceptability, my heart manufactures idols. It may be my talents, my moral record, my personal discipline, my social status, etc. I absolutely have to have them so they serve as my main hope, meaning, happiness, security and significance, whatever I may say I believe about God.

THE GOSPEL: I have many good things in my life—family, work, spiritual disciplines, etc. But none of these good things are ultimate things to me. None of them are things I absolutely have to have, so there is a limit to how much anxiety, bitterness and despondency they can inflict on me when they are threatened and lost.¹

I know I want to follow the Gospel but sometimes I fall into the religion trap. So I am posting this as much as for me than for anyone else. Hope you find it makes you think like it did for me. J

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¹ Adapted from Timothy Keller, The Gospel in Life Study Guide, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 16.

What He did

Sunday, April 1, 2012

 

Jesus, He:

Created, appeared, was prophesied about, hoped for, called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (And mightily lives up to all of those even today), was born, lived a human life, honored His mother and earthy father (and His real Father too), never killed, swore, had no other God before Him, never had or worshiped a carved image, never took His name or His Fathers name in vain, kept the sabbath day (As it was meant to be kept by God’s rules and not man’s), never committed adultery (He was never married, but He also never committed fornication), never stole anything, did not bear false witness against anyone, never coveted anything that belonged to someone else, worked with His hands, was called, baptized, baptized (once by water and then by the Holy Spirit), fasted, prayed, was tempted, called others to follow Him, made plain the teaching of God, upset the phonies, healed, loved, gave all of Himself, befriended sinners, longed for those lost, taught, lived what He taught, amazed many, commanded demons, entered Jerusalem on a colt, was stalked, betrayed, arrested, claimed He was that I AM, given an unfair trial, humiliated, mocked, crucified, laid in a tomb, RAISED TO LIFE, is still alive today, has a free gift of salvation, beat Satan, will come again on the clouds, take His children home, destroy sin, start a new world, live forever, give us everlasting life and He is real, really.

Parmesan Potato Wedges

Have you ever had steak fries? I know, silly question right? Well I was doing some research on the web and I found out that the standard steak fries (1 regular serving at local Steak House restaurant here in Sacramento) had over 300 calories and a whopping 17 grams of fat! Man that is almost half of your daily value for fat.. That is just ridiculous.

Well I have been accused that most of the recipes I post about are high fat/high calorie so I thought I would post a recipe for low fat version of my Parmesan Potato Sticks. These are baked and not fried and have less than half of the calories and fat of the deep fried version. These fries are perfect as a side dish with your favorite burger or go really well with a good grilled steak. They are also really yummy with Spaghetti, Yum!

First you need a good baking potato. I use a regular Idaho Russet baking potato (the ones that are really huge!) for this dish because they have the perfect amount of starch and usually you can find the baking size at the store. However you can use any type of potato for this recipe that you like.

I also use a low fat parmesan cheese as well so that the calories and fat stay low.

There is also some Panko bread crumbs in this and so far I have not been able to find a low fat version of them in the store but the recipe only uses ½ cup over 6 large potatoes (cut into wedges) so the amount per serving is really not that much. Progresso makes good Panko bread crumbs and the Italian style are the best to use for this recipe.

Here is the complete recipe for Tim’s Potato Wedges;

Serves: 5 Cooking Time: 30 min

Ingredients

^1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

^1/2 cup grated reduced fat Parmesan cheese (if you can’t find the low fat version just use the regular)

^1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

^1/2 teaspoon salt

^1/8 teaspoon black pepper

6 medium baking potatoes (about 2 pounds)

¼ cup plain yogurt + 1 tablespoon chicken stock or water to thin out a bit

 

 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Coat two 9″ x 13″ baking dishes with nonstick cooking spray.

In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper; mix well and set aside.

Peel potatoes and cut lengthwise into quarters; cut each quarter lengthwise into 3 strips. Dip each strip in yogurt mixture then in the Parmesan mixture, coating completely. Place in a single layer in baking dishes. Pour any remaining melted butter evenly over potatoes.

Bake potatoes 30 to 35 minutes, or until tender, turning them over once or twice during baking (Note I turn these a few times, like 4 or 5 because I want them to cook evenly and not be to brown on one side).

 

Making Gnocchi from scratch

So I had some leftover baked potatoes and I decided to peel them and make some gnocchi. If you don’t know what they are here is a link from Wikipedia: Gnocchi

I really like the Italian dumplings so I went to work.

Now I don’t have a potato ricer so I just used a fork to break up the potatoes into crumbles then mixed in 1 egg to the 2 small potatoes that I had left over. Then added flour until the dough was no longer sticky (Sorry I did not measure this all out because it was just a quickie to get some Gnocchi in the freezer for a future use and to use up the leftover baked potatoes).

Then I added more flour and cut off a small handful of dough and rolled into a long rope about ¼ an inch thick and then cut the rope into ½ inch pieces, then I indented them with the end of a wooden spoon (you can also use your pinkie to make indentations, just flour your pinkie first!) so that they would hold whatever sauce I will be putting them in (Actually they will be used this time in a chicken soup recipe).

After I cut the potatoes with a fork it hit me that I could have grated the potatoes on the smallest side of my box grater and that probably would have worked great (no pun intended.)!

Well these baby’s will be going into my next pot of chicken soup, now mind you they do not take long to cook at all so if you use them for soup add them the last 5 minutes to the cooked soup. Make sure the soup is simmering well and when the Gnocchi float to the top they are done. You could also ladle out some of the broth and cook the Gnocchi separate then add all to the soup and serve. So yummy.

Almost Vegetarian Chili

I love chili, from chili made with beef, to veggie chili. I wanted to make a pot for this cold that I have so I was off to the pantry to see what was in there. I found a package of pinto beans and a package of black beans so I thought why not make two bean veggie chili?

So I did not want to make two large pots of beans for my chili so I just made a half cup of each. First I picked through the beans then rinsed them and put them in separate pots. Cooked for about 2 hours then added salt to both of them and combined the two into the bigger pot. I had to add water to the beans as they cooked, maybe next time I will add more water in the beginning. To the pot I added about ½ cup of onions and about 4 cups of chicken stock (that is why it is ‘almost vegetarian’). Then I added 1 tsp. Thyme, ½ tsp. cumin, 1 tablespoon chili powder and some more salt and pepper to taste. To that I added some frozen vegetables (Carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower), 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce (I did not have any diced tomatoes in the pantry), then tasted to see if the seasonings were just right. It was really good but it needed a bit more salt. The pintos and black beans really complement each other. You may want to double the amount of beans, but I wanted just the flavor.

I also decided to try a double apple pie. It has a top and bottom crust and a crust in the middle. I cut out a round of dough and pre baked it in the oven on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Then I put the bottom crust in a deep dish pie plate, and poured in caned pie filling that I doctored up a bit with a little more sugar and cinnamon. I layered some of the pie filling, then placed the baked round of dough on top of that then more filling and topped with the top crust. Here is a picture, can you see the extra crust layer?

Pollo de Limón con Chorizo y Cerveza

Lime Chicken with Chorizo and Beer a Tim Taylor Original

I came up with this recipe while watching Clair Robinson’s Beer Braised Chicken. It looked so good but I wanted to change it up a bit and make it Mexican style. So I changed the bacon to chorizo sausage, the fennel to leeks and the beer to a Corona. It was really good but the beer was really prominent and you really could not taste the rest of the flavors. So back to the drawing board I went. This time I used a ½ a Coors light beer and added 1 cup chicken stock. The chicken is a real winner, but make sure you follow the step where it says to remove the bits of chorizo or they will burn when you are searing the chicken.

I also made Hasselback potatoes and they are looking good too. Here is the link for the potatoes. They were really good; this is the first time I have made them.
 

Here is the recipe for the Pollo de Limon con Chorizo y Cerveza:

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Chorizo; Broken up
2 Tablespoon Olive oil
6 Bone in and skin on chicken thighs (or use what pieces you like)
1 Teaspoon Salt
½ Teaspoon pepper
1 Teaspoon Paprika
¼ Teaspoon Cumin
2 Large bunch Leeks, prepped and sliced
1 Bottle light beer (See cook’s note)
1 Small jalapeño pepper seeded and chopped (optional)
1 clove garlic, finely minced.
3 tablespoons Lime Juice

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cook the Chorizo in olive oil in large oven safe pan (such as a Dutch oven or a baking dish with large sides) on low heat and until rendered down, remove chorizo bits with slotted spoon and discard.
Mix salt, pepper, cumin and paprika together in a small bowl.
Turn up heat in pan to medium high. Pat chicken dry and season on all sides with seasoning mixture. Sear the chicken on all sides in the pan with the rendered chorizo fat and olive oil, until the outside is brown and crispy. Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside, meanwhile turn pan back down to low and add the sliced Leeks to the pan, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook until translucent, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Pour in beer, add garlic and Jalapeño pepper (if using) and bring to a boil then lower to a simmer, nestle chicken and all resting juices, skin side down, in the leeks and beer. Cover and transfer the pan to the oven. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, flipping the chicken over after 20 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and put over low heat. Remove the chicken pieces to a warmed serving platter. Add the lime juice to the sauce and simmer to reduce to a thicker consistency, about 5 minutes. Pour the sauce over the chicken pieces and serve immediately. If you want a smoother sauce, just strain the sauce after it has reduced.

• Cook’s notes: If you want you can use a whole chicken for this, to sear a whole chicken use two sets of tongs to turn the chicken on all sides.
  
• I use Coors light for this as it has a good mellow flavor. You can also substitute 2 cups Chicken stock if you don’t want to use the beer but I advise using the beer, it is just SO good with it.
  

Shredded Beef Tacos with Home Made Pico de Gallo

I have been craving a good taco for a few days and so I decided to head over to the store and get a few things to make some. I have never made them before so I was wondering if they would come out OK.

They were so good along with my own pico de gallo and a bit of shredded Monterey jack cheese.

I wanted these to be low fat so I used a lower fat tortilla and low fat Monterey jack but you could not taste the difference. I normally would have used whole wheat tortillas but I could not find any in the small taco size. The beef was a bit bland (After all it WAS my first time making them) but after adding a little more salt they were fine. Next time I will have to double the seasonings that I used.

I used a London Broil (OK out here in California they label it a London Broil but it is actually a top round steak)because I read that it is a cut that is very similar to Flank or skirt. I cut some small pockets in the beef and inserted a slice of garlic into each pocket and then I drizzled some olive oil on both sides and seasoned the whole thing with a mixture of chili powder, salt, freshly ground black pepper, cumin and parsley flakes. It was well seasoned but because I cooked it in the crock pot all day it needed way more seasoning. I would do the same thing next time but then add more of the same seasonings after I got it into the crock pot. I put it in a shallow dish and added some chopped onion, cilantro and 2 jalapeño-seeded and diced. Then I drizzled some lime juice over it and put it in the refrigerator. The next morning it went into the crock on low and cooked all day.

When I cut up the large onion I used only half and saved half for my Pico de Gallo. This is so easy to make it is just some chopping and dicing but I let the food processor do all that work. For my Muy bueno! Pico de gallo I use 5 roma tomatoes (also known as Plumb) seeds removed, half a large white onion, half a bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped, 1 jalapeño, seeds and veins removed, 2 cloves of garlic and about 2 tablespoons lime juice. Put it all in the food processor and pulse until chopped.

Sometimes I think my stomach really controls me and that is not good. When the Israelites were led out of Egypt and into the desert God fed them with manna so that they would know that they did not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God: And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (Deut. 8:3 ESV)

The key is to eat well but also to read the Word every day. It is just as important to be spiritually fed as it is to be physically fed.

Here is the recipe for Tim’s Muy Bueno! Shredded Beef Tacos:

1 London broil (Top Round Steak)

1 tsp cumin

1 cloves of garlic, sliced thin

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp salt

½ tsp parsley flakes

½ tsp chili powder

¼ cup lime juice

½ large white onion, chopped

2 jalapeño’s seeded

½ bunch cilantro, chopped

Taco size whole wheat or low fat tortillas

8 oz. low fat Monterey Jack cheese

1 avocado, chopped

Cut small pockets in meat and place a slice of garlic in each one. Drizzle with olive oil and rub in on all sides of meat, combine seasonings and liberally apply to meat on both sides reserving half.

Place in shallow dish and add the onion and cilantro then pour the lime juice over the vegetables. Place in the refrigerator the night before.

Put into Crock Pot and add the rest of the seasonings, set on low and let cook 6 to 8 hours.

Remove meat from Crock pot and shred using two forks. Remove juices from Crock pot and mix into shredded meat.

To serve warm tortillas and place some of the meat on the tortilla and top with cheese, then add some pico de gallo and some chopped avocado, fold and enjoy!

Bridgeport Covered Bridge

Recently my dad and I went over to Bridgeport to see the covered bridge. It is the longest single span covered bridge in all of the USA. It was built in 1862 by David Isaac Johnwood and was built for the Virginia Turnpike Company toll road which served the northern mines and the busy Nevada Comstock Lode. You can read more about its history in the picture.

This is an amazing piece of Northern California history and if you have the time this year, you should drive up and see it. The drive up from Sacramento only takes 90 minutes and it is so worth it. This is how you get there:

From Sacramento head up HWY 80 to Auburn and take the HWY 49 exit (exit 119c Elm Ave.)toward Nevada City.

Head north and follow 49 to the CA-20 west/Empire St. toward Marysville, 22 miles, turn left onto CA-20.

Then go 7 and a half miles and turn right onto Pleasant Valley road. The bridge is about 8 miles in.

You will have a great time.

Lemmon Tea Bread

December is in full swing and the Christ-mas season has come again, it is wonderful to read all the blogs about what people are cooking and the treats they are making for the season. I can’t wait to try some of them myself esp. A recipe I got from my friend Yoshiko, she, her husband and I go to church together and they host a bible study at their house. She made this wonderful Lemon Tea Bread from a cookbook called

‘Quick Breads’ well it was really good the way she made it and I think I am going to give it a whirl for Christ-mas eve. I love lemon anything! When I make it I will post the recipe with pictures.

 

But what I really want to get off my chest is these Christ-mas greetings that are going around, people wanting to be ‘politically correct’ and say “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings” instead of Merry Christ-mas. It is after all, Christ’s birth that we are celebrating. To be honest it is really not His birth that we are really celebrating but the fact that He (Who is, after all, God (John 1:1)) came down to live as a human, to go through the things that we all go through so that He could comfort us when we are going through them and to teach us about this Agape love that we should have for Him and for our fellow man (Neighbors). To endure temptation, again so He can comfort us when we are tempted and ultimately pay the price for all of us by dying on the cross and then raising back to life 3 days later. Ah but that is another Holy day.

 

So, where do you stand? In the ‘Happy Holidays’ camp or in the ‘Merry Christ-mas’ one? I for one am and always will be a Merry Christ-mas guy.

 

Photo of Lemon Tea Bread courtesy of Food.com