Bow-tie Lasanga

I admit I haven't been cooking much theses days. I really really do have a good excuse. I've been attempting to work out more. Somewhere things have to give, so lately we haven't had much to post. Actually, that is kind of a lie, we have had lots of things, I'm just too lazy. Except I'm not lying about the working out thing.

Tonight's dinner comes from here

What you need:

• 1 pound beef
  
• 1 package Bow Tie Noodles
• 3 cups Spaghetti Sauce
  
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
  
• ½ cups Mozzarella Cheese
• ½ cups Sour Cream

Brown your meat in a small pan. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions.

After noodles are cooked, drain, return to pot and drizzle with olive oil. Mix in your spaghetti sauce.

Add your fried hamburger, seasonings, cheese, and sour cream. Fold together and allow it all to combine and melt together, over low heat, for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

This dish was a :
SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!

Oh my gosh this was sooooo yummy. But word to the wise. Make sure you double check your list while at the store. It really blows to be 5 mins away from sitting down to eat an amazing dinner, and having to send your husband out to the store to by the last ingredient. Also blows at 10pm and all you wanna do is eat!

Yummy gooey-ness Monkey Bread

For our 4th of July party I had looked into making a yummy monkey bread mini sized. I thought the process looked like a lot of fun and it just looked good all around. I read the recipe a few times and thought that it didn't look too complicated. Somehow, I don't know how, I've never had a hard time using yeast. I have heard enough horror stories to know better though. I loved the idea of individualized breads so that when people picked at it, that it didn't look pathetic. Lots of people loved them: which in the end made me happy, and that's all that counts right?!?

Source : Yummy Yummy Monkey Bread Mini's
**** Side note: My directions are for use with bread maker, please see above link for directions without a bread maker, and I wish you the best of luck with that!***

For the dough:
2 3/4 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
3/4 cup very warm water
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg, room temperature

For the coating:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2-4 teaspoons whole milk

1. Place the dough ingredients into your bread machine pan, starting with the wet ingredients (the egg, butter, and water). Next add in the bread flour, then the sugar, then the salt, and then make a well in the dry ingredients and add in the yeast, being sure that it doesn’t touch any moisture. Set your bread machine for the dough cycle and continue with your day for an hour and a half or so.

2. Grease 44 mini-muffin cups (or/and 12-15 regular muffin cups) with non-stick spray (I used non-stick spray). In small bowl, mix the 1 1/2 cups sugar and 4 teaspoons cinnamon. Punch down the down if needed. Divide the dough into 44 equal ping-pong ball sized pieces for mini-muffins (a lot of work, but worth it) or 12 equal pieces for regular sized muffins. Pinch each piece into 3 small dime-sized balls for mini-muffins or 6 smaller balls for regular muffins.

3. Dip the smaller balls into the butter, then into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place the corresponding balls (3 dime-sized and cinnamon-sugar coated balls for the mini-muffins, for example) into greased muffin tins side-by-side. Do this until you’ve used up all of your dough.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-14 minutes for mini-muffins. Allow to cool completely before icing and/or removing.

5. Combine your icing ingredients and drizzle over the muffins (you want the icing to be thin enough to drizzle, but still thick enough that it will stick to your spoon for a bit before falling off). Allow the icing to harden, then jimmy the muffins out with a toothpick. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature for 24 hours, then store in an air-tight container in the fridge for another day or two.

This dish:
Success!!!

Meet Bertha:

I know its not the greatest picture ever. Its from my cell phone, but you get the gist. I have wanted a Kitchen Aid mixer for 2 years now, but I do have a hard time justifying spending hundreds of dollars on something like this. Although Bertha will be a staple in my kitchen until my dying days. Soon you shall see lots of recipes that Bertha helped make :-D