Simple Yet Gourmet

This coming Saturday I am hosting a baby shower for my sister Kristi.  We are going to have a light lunch including Chicken Salad Sandwiches on Buttermilk Rolls , Great White Punch, Strawberry Spinach Salad , a fruit tray with dip, mini-cheesecakes, and these adorable cupcakes.  As Aaron will tell you, I always have to try recipes out before making them for something and these cupcakes were no exception.  I had already tried out one cupcake recipe and they did not turn out well at all.  These came through for me though, and I'm so glad.  I think they will be just perfect for the baby shower!  I'll have more of these recipes for you after the shower :)

Okay, so I felt like you guys needed a little dessert this week so here is Mike's new favorite cinnamon roll recipe.  I will have to agree with him on this one, these are the best rolls I have made yet.  I have seen this recipe all over the place, but never cared to try them because I like my own recipe.  But I was feeling a little bored with my recipes and decided to give this one a try.  You actually make pudding and add it to the dough, which makes is extremely soft and pliable.  Now you have a soft, moist roll covered in cream cheese goodness, what more can you ask for in life!  I'm glad I was bored!   Enjoy. (Sorry I forgot to take a picture with the frosting on them, but they were yummy!)

My little girl turned 10 years old this past Friday so I surprised her with Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes. I served it with fresh strawberries and raspberry syrup. They were amazing, this recipe will be one of our family favorites for sure. Like always, I combined two different recipes into one to make and the added a few things to make the "perfect recipe." It was a nice change from the boring, buttermilk pancake recipe!

When I was first married I made these for Mike, he so surprised that I had made these from scratch instead of from a can.  It was really fun to cook for Mike because everything I made he was amazed with!  We have had many good laughs from those early years. These have become one of our family favorites as well as a McCain favorite as well.  I usually make a whole batch and we then have leftovers for lunch the next day or dinner the next evening.  I really love to serve these with the homemade hamburger buns I have posted in the past, but feel free to just by hamburger buns as well.  In the summer we like corn on the cob, but in the winter I serve it with sweet corn and fruit.  A very easy dinner for those busy weekday nights!

My little Maddie loves poppy seed muffins, so I decided to go on the hunt for a good lemon poppy seed muffin recipe just for her. Well it paid off, this one is a winner! The recipe was almost perfect, but I thought it was a little thick so I add buttermilk to the batter which made them even more moist and much easier to handle. They were just sweet enough yet had a nice tartness to them with the lemon icing drizzled on top. Next time, I think I might even add some blueberries for color and flavor. Yummy!!

This is one of Mike and Maddie's favorite dishes. I have never been a fan of Shepherd's Pie, but this recipe changed my mind. You make a garlic mashed potato (which recipe I use all the time) for the top, with a layer of Havarti cheese, a layer of sauteed veggies and seasoned beef. The gravy makes the dish complete! I know it has the hated mushrooms, but I chop the mushrooms and onions really fine so my kids and husband don't notice! I love this dish because it's a complete meal in one dish. I like to serve it with sliced fruit, but other than that, dinner is served!

Here is the roll recipe I promised last week to post, sorry for the dealy. You will need to plan ahead to make these, for the truly do take 4 hours total to rise! I know that seems like a lot of time, but if you start these after lunch, they will be fine for dinner. This is NOT a hard recipe, it just needs to have time for the dough to rise. They are worth the time, moist, soft and just a wonderful texture. They even heat up nicely the next day in the microwave. Please give them try, you won't be disappointed!!

My family has decided that we are going to change our ways a little and try to eat extra healthy this month! So I will leave the sweet recipes up to Pam!! I do have a few I have made but not yet posted so I will try to add a few in the middle of all the healthy ones!! With Mike out of town a lot, it gives me a chance to try my crazy veggie recipes out on my kids! Mike is always good about eating whatever I make, but he does like chicken or meat with his dinner. He has done better as I have in the past few months started to take meat out of meals and replace them with whole grains and veggies!