Rhodes Pineapple Coffee Cake

You guessed it.  Today I'm over at the Rhodes blog guest posting.  I showed the easy step-by-step instructions for Pineapple Coffee Cake.  This is seriously one of the easiest Rhodes recipes I have made.  Yet it doesn't taste like it was easy.

This recipe makes me want  to do some more experimenting.  I think this recipe could be turned in to all sorts of coffee cakes.  But for today, pop on over to the Rhodes Blog and make this coffee cake today.  You'll love it.  I know I did.

Rhodes Pumpkin Slices with Rum Sauce

Today I'm posting over at the Rhodes Blog.  I made Pumpkin Slices with Rum Sauce.  Oh. My.  This recipe is soo tasty.  It's cinnamony, pumpkiny all drizzled with rum sauce that tastes like penuche fudge.  I know I'm not adequately describing this delicious sweet bread.  You just need to make it and devour it today.

Pop on over to the Rhodes Blog and see the step by step instructions yourself.

Rhodes Basil Tomato Rolls

 
Today I'm posting over at The Rhodes Bake N Serv Blog.  I'm making Basil Tomato Rolls.  If you know me, you'll know how much I love Basil.  This was the perfect way to use some of my fresh from the garden basil and tomatoes.

Here's a little bit of the lovely basil from my herb garden, just waiting to be chopped and eaten.

 And here's the rolls fresh from the oven, before they are inverted onto the serving dish. 

Now head over to the Rhodes Blog and see the step-by-step instructions to make these delicious rolls.

My New Herb Mincer

I just wanted to share this new little kitchen tool I found.  Years ago, I saw something like this and I have been on the lookout ever since.  It seemed like a great way to slice fresh herbs, fast.  I was in my local Crate and Barrel store (I love that I can say that-my local Crate and Barrel.  It's fairly new where I live and I have always loved Crate and Barrel!) browsing through the housewares.  And there it was.  I had to have it.  And it wasn't even expensive.

 So I have been slicing herbs ever since.

You'll have to check out my Rhodes post later in the week to see what this little beauty did to my fresh basil.  Loved it!

You can buy it at your own Crate and Barrel Store or check it out online here.

Cinnamon Churro Chex Mix

At my house we love, Chex Muddy Buddies, or as we call it, Puppy chow.  It's one of those treats I can throw together quickly.  So I almost always have all the ingredients on hand.  When Chex cereal goes on sale, I stock up.

So I had been seeing a few variations around on the internet.  I found this cinnamon version over at The Double Dipped Life and gave it a try.  It was a hit.  We have made it several times.  The recipe calls for cinnamon chips.  If you haven't seen them they are sold next to the chocolate chips.  Most stores carry them now.

If you love cinnamon and sugar.  Make some soon.

Cinnamon Churro Chex Mix

9 cups rice Chex cereal
1 cup cinnamon chips
1/4 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon


In a microwavable bowl, cook chocolate chips and butter for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. If the mixture still has some lumps, microwave about 30 seconds longer. Place cereal in a large bowl. Slowly pour cinnamon and butter mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, sugar, and cinnamon. Sprinkle sugar mixture over cereal and stir gently to coat evenly.  Pour onto a cookie sheet to cool.  It probably won't cool before the eating begins.

I'm Back

What has happened to me this year?

Working on this blog has always been in the back of my mind.  But somehow I've been M.I.A.  I've been busy with some other blogs.  Check out I Heart Salt Lake, the blog about Salt Lake City and surrounding areas that I run with my sister Dianna.  I've also been blogging with Rhodes.  I'll have another Rhodes post soon.  I've also been grilling a ton.  I have a new grilled corn salsa I can't wait to share.  I've also been baking banana bread as soon as the bananas get too ripe.  Sometimes that happens soo fast.  But my son at home doesn't seem to mind too much. I have a new banana bread recipe that I'll be sharing soon.

But I'm ready to get back to posting recipes and fun food stuff here.

Thanks for being patient with me.

Caramel Apple Toffee Dip

I love caramel!  If it has caramel in it, then I approve.  There are about a million recipes out there on the web for this type of recipe.  So let me add my version to all the others.  It's a simple dip for just about any type of fruit.  But apples are the best.  But don't stop there, crackers and cookies are good dipped into this as well.

Caramel Apple Toffee Dip

1 8 ounce cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup toffee bits

Beat cream cheese, brown sugar and vanilla with electric mixer until smooth.  Stir in toffee bits.  Serve.

Notes:

I have also heated this recipe in a small crockpot for caramel fondue.  The toffee chips will start to break down though. 

To keep apples from turning brown, soak in pineapple juice for 15 minutes.  Drain before serving.  Save in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator.  They will not go brown for a few days after doing this.  Plus you won't taste the pineapple juice like you do when they are soaked in lemon juice.

Rhodes Blog- Pepperoni Bread

Today I'm over at the Rhodes Bread Blog guest posting.  I made some yummy pepperoni bread.  It's soo easy to make and really good.  We love it for lunch or dinner.  But we really love it when we're watching a football or basketball game on tv.  It's great alone or dipped in marinara sauce or ranch dressing.  I've made it with different meats and lots of different cheeses too. 

It is so versatile.  Just keep a loaf of Rhodes frozen bread dough in your freezer and you can add whatever meats and cheeses you have on hand.

   

Now go thaw a loaf of Rhodes bread and start planning your dinner now.

2011 ReCap

Looking back over the past year, I picked out a few of my favorites from 2011.
It was hard to choose but here's what I came up with.

Oatmeal Carmelitas

These are easy to make.  A crowd-pleaser and I almost always have all the ingredients already in my pantry and fridge.  Or maybe I like them so much, I keep the ingredients on hand.


Cherry Checkerboard Cookies

These were a fun "lady cookie" as I like to say.  They take some time and not the kind of time your teenager would appreciate as they (and their friends) grab them by the handful.  Therefore, a lady cookie.  I made them for my book group the first time.

BLT Pasta Salad

One of our favorites salads when the tomatoes are fresh on the vine. It's a BLT and pasta salad in one!

Lemon Bars

These are definitely one of my favorite treats!  The hubby doesn't care for them as much as I do (He'd rather have chocolate).  So it's best I only make them when I can give most of them away.

Apple Cider Chicken Marinade

This makes The, Most, Moist chicken.  Ever!  The fresh herbs make it soo tasty too.  After making it the first time, I now grill up twice as much chicken as we need because the leftovers get eaten just as fast.

Today I'm over at the Rhodes Bake-N-Serve blog.  I made Cheesy Pesto Bread.  I love it.  Bread and Pesto, two of my favorites things.  The Cheesy Pesto Bread is easy to make and it is very versatile.  You can make it to eat as a pizza, serve it as an appetizer, but I also love it sliced up with soup.  It's definitely soup weather around my neck of the woods.  So bring on the soup and the Rhodes Cheesy Pesto bread.

Head over to the Rhodes Bake-n-Serve blog to see the step by step instructions.  You can be enjoying this great bread for dinner tonight!

Winner!!!

The winner of the Gold Medal White Whole Wheat giveaway is...

Sue

I'm sending you an email and your gift will be on it's way!

Gold Medal Giveaway

Do you use whole wheat flour in your baking?  Would you like to use whole wheat flour more than you already do?  Well Gold Medal is making it easier.  Gold Medal now has White Whole Wheat Flour in the stores and it's great!

Look what Gold Medal sent me to try out their new White Whole Wheat Flour.  One ceramic cookie jar, a coupon for a FREE 5lb bag of White Whole Wheat Flour and a great set of recipe cards that call for whole wheat flour.  All of the recipes look great. I'm still working my way through them all.  But I'll be showing you the Pumpkin-Spice bars in the next few days.  I've been baking with this flour and love it.

Now Gold Medal wants you to try it out th White Whole Wheat Flour for yourself.  They are giving away this same kit to one JuliesfoodLove.com reader.  You just need to enter by midnight on Sunday, October 30th to win.  Winner picked by random.org.   Then Gold Medal will be sending your gift on its way.

The weather is getting colder.  It's time for me to pull out the crockpot.  I usually cook in the crockpot once or twice a week when the weather starts to turn cold.  I know it's a great alternative to heating up the house with the oven in the summer too.  But we tend to do a lot of outdoor grilling in the summer.  So it's slowcooker time around our house.

This is an easy way to cook a pot roast.  We love pot roast sandwiches or add barbecue sauce and make it a bbq beef sandwich.  But this meat is also great on salads or nachos or in burritos.  The leftovers don't last long around my house.  I always have the seasoning on hand and when the meat goes on sale I usually stock up.  That makes this an easy meal.  Just pull the meat out of the freezer one day and throw it in the crockpot the next morning.

Easy Pot Roast for Sandwiches

1 pot roast, my crockpot easily holds a 5-6 pound roast

McCormick's Montreal Seasoning

Oil the inside of your slowcooker.  Place pot roast inside of slowcooker.  Generously season the roast with Montreal Seasoning, usually a few Tablespoons.  The seasoning can get peppery.  If you're not a pepper fan, then go easy.  Cover and cook on high for one hour. Reduce heat to low and cook an additional 6-8 hours.  Try not to lift the lid during the cooking time.  

Here's how it looks before shredding.  See that yummy juice in the bottom? Don't pour it off. It will be absorbed into the meat after you shred it.  Now shred the meat using 2 forks

Serve warm on rolls or bread.

 

*water is not needed, really

*if you don't have the time to cook on high first, that's ok. Just cook on low for 8-10 hours

*For bbq beef, just add the sauce to the meat after shredding. Can heat on low for another 30 minutes. But not necessary

Rhodes Guest Post-Almond Cream Cheese Squares

Today I'm over at the Rhodes Bread Blog posting about Almond Cream Cheese Squares.  It's another great recipe from the Rhodes Home Baked Family Favorites cookbook.  I know you've heard it before, but I Love this cookbook.  Every recipe has a picture, a must for me and cookbooks, and they are so easy to make. Rhodes makes it easy. 

These Almond Cream Cheese Squares are so delicious.  You might just want to take the leftovers to work or you will be tempted to eat the whole pan.

Guest Posting at Whatever Dee-Dee Wants

Today I'm over at Whatever Dee-Dee Wants with her recipe roundup.  She's been having great guest post-ers all week.  I'm honored to be among them.  Actually I can't wait to try all of the recipes over there this week.

Pop over there and see the BLT Pasta Salad I've posted before.  But now that the tomatoes are on the vine in my garden, we are loving this salad even more.  For some reason I forget how good it is until we have fresh tomatoes.

Try this salad.  You'll love it!

You might be tired of me mentioning all the grilling we've doing doing around my house.  But it's true.  My husband has become very proficient at grilling.  I think most men think they are...But most aren't.  By brother-in-law is a butcher.  He is full of great tips with meat.  But the one tip my husband has taken to heart is the "Low and Slow" rule.  If you really want your meat to be tender and moist.  Then it needs to be cooked over low heat and for awhile.

With chicken (boneless-skinless) on our gas grill this means about 30 minutes.  In 30 minutes most people would have that chicken breast dried out and crispy.  Not my husband. 

Here's what he does.  Preheat the grill on Medium-High heat for 5-10 minutes.  Then turn it down to low.  Place the chicken on the grill and don't mess with it.  After about 12-15 minutes turn the chicken.  If the meat sticks it may need more time.  Then cook on the other side for an additional 12-15 minutes.  It helps to keep the lid down and to just let the heat work.

Now on to the marinade.  I found this recipe on allrecipes.com.  It was perfect for me because I have all of these herbs growing in my garden. 

It starts with chopping up fresh parsley, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, fresh basil and garlic.  Add the apple cider vinegar, white wine, olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Pour marinade into a heavy duty plastic bag.  Add the chicken.  Place bag in the refrigerator until ready to cook.  Marinate at least 2 hours but can be left in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Grill. Eat. Enjoy!

Apple Cider Chicken Marinade

2/3 cup white wine

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 T. fresh lemon juice

2 T. apple cider vinegar

3 T. chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary

1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl.  Pour into a heavy duty plastic bag.  Add chicken and refrigerate for 2-24 hours.

Last month my husband and I took a quick trip to NYC.  We left on a Friday morning and came home on Monday morning.  Unfortunately we didn't have a direct flight on the way there.  It was also unfortunate that there were crazy rain storms in NYC.  We ended up spending 10 1/2 hours in the Detroit airport.  So that made our quick trip even shorter (or longer-however you choose to look at it).

Anyway,  we had no plans for the trip.  Just go with the flow and see what happens.  Actually I had a few ideas, but we would see how they turned out.  Saturday night we happened by Magnolia Bakery.  We couldn't believe how crowded it was for 8:00 on a Saturday night. 

One of the workers talked us into sampling their banana pudding.  It was delicious.  So we bought the banana pudding, a chocolate chip blondie and a red velvet cupcake.   Of course, I forgot to take pictures before all that was left was the blondie.

The banana pudding was our favorite.  The cupcake and the blondie were good, just not great.  But it was fun to stumble upon Magnolia Bakery and it was the perfect time for a treat.

Another Use for Rhodes Grilled Rolls

Here's just one more way we've been using Rhodes Grilled Rolls.  I wasn't kidding when I said that we LOVE them!

BBQ Pork Sandwich

Grilled Pizzas

We have been grilling like crazy over at my house.  We have adapted the Rhodes Grilled Rolls into nice little individual pizzas.

Start with Frozen Rhodes Rolls, texas size.
Place them on a greased tray and cover with sprayed plastic wrap.  Let them thaw for about 1 1/2 hours. 

Preheat your grill to a medium heat (about 350 degrees)
Roll out the dough to form a thin circle, around 6 inches.  Brush with olive oil. 

Place dough on grill, oiled side down.  Cook for 1-3 minutes on med-low.  When grill marks are starting to turn light brown, turn the dough.

Brush with pizza sauce.  Add cheese and whatever toppings you want.

Close grill lid for about 3-5 minutes or until cheese melts.

We love these pizzas with pepperoni.  Or with pesto or Alfredo sauce in stead of pizza sauce.  They are also great with grilled veggies.  Just grill up the veggies first.  We also make large pizzas.  They are just a little trickier to flip and cook evenly.  Plus its fun to have everyone "make their own".

Winner of the Rhodes Cookbook Giveaway

The winner of the Rhodes Cookbook is...

Alison!

Email me with your address and the cookbook will be on its way to you.