Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

Well, this was suppose to be posted on Christmas last week, as it was out Christmas breakfast.  However, I've been having just to much fun with my dear husband home to make time. Sad I know. :)

I hope your holidays have been as good as ours.  I was excited to receive "The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook" for Christmas.  I also received some new mixing bowls and some bamboo cutting boards.  Watch for those to make an appearance soon. :)

On to our food.  As I said above, I made these rolls for our Christmas morning breakfast and they were a big hit.  I did most of the prep work the night before after the kids were in bed, so that in the morning I could just bake them.  Gotta say, I love having a bread machine for just these occasions.  So much easier!  We did not do a sugary glaze on top because we don't like things too sweet.  If you want a glaze, here is a basic one (replacing dairy butter with your own dairy free one of course).  We thought they were perfect without the sticky glaze though.

Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 cup room temp water
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 large egg
Filling (recipe below)

Measure carefully, placing all the ingredients except the filling in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer.  Select Dough cycle (do not use delay cycle).  Make filling and set aside.

Remove dough from pan.  Gently push fist into the dough to deflate.  Flatten the dough with your hands or a rolling pin to approx. 15 x 10 inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface.  Spread the filling onto the rectangle.  Roll it up tightly, beginning at 15-inch side.  Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal.  Stretch and shape to get it even.  Cut roll into 1 inch slices with dental floss or a sharp serrated knife.  Place slightly apart in pan.

*If you are looking to bake these later:  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator.  You will need to remove the rolls, cover them loosely with the plastic wrap and let them rise in a warm place for an hour or two (until they have doubled) before baking.

*If you are going to bake now:  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place about 30 mins or until doubled.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove rolls to a wire rack and let cool a few minutes.  If desired, drizzle a glaze over the rolls now.

Enjoy!

Jump Start Breakfast Granola

Well, really I eat it all the time as a snack, but it is a good start to your day if you don't have time to cook something.  Half a cup of this granola is 222 calories, so its pretty calorie packed.  That's because its full of super foods: cacao nibs, goji berries, hemp seeds.  I usually pour some coconut milk on top.  If you need it sweeter, go ahead and add some more honey.

Jump Start Breakfast Granola
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup shredded coconut
2 Tbsp chia seeds
2 Tbsp hemp seeds
2 Tbsp ground flax seeds
2 Tbsp cacao nibs
2 Tbsp goji berries
2 Tbsp almond butter
4-5 Tbsp raw honey

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large mixing bowl, add chia seeds, hemp seeds and flax seeds and mix so they combine.  Add the almond butter and 1 Tbsp honey and mix well with the seeds, creating small "balls".  Add coconut, goji berries and cacao nibs and combine.

Add one cup of oats at a time with 1 Tbsp on honey, mixing until well incorporated before adding the next cup.  When all the oats and honey have been added, pour mixture into a baking dish and press down lightly.

Put granola in the oven for 30 mins, mixing it up every 10 minutes to evenly bake.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Enjoy.

Kung Pao Seitan

I'm sorry I've gone so long without blogging.  I haven't been cooking much for two very good reasons: 1, I was doing NaNoWriMo last month and 2, my lovely husband is working long hours.  I expect my cooking creativity to snap back into gear as holiday's just scream cooking and baking.

I've been meaning to try seitan for a while.  While we do eat meat, we are trying to greatly limit how much we eat.  Both for health and price reasons.  I try to buy grass-fed, no antibiotics/hormones, cage-free, etc. meat, which can be pricey.  So I thought, if seitan doesn't taste to bad, then it might be a cheaper solution for meat (since we aren't big tofu fans around here).

The base for this recipe is from The Accidental Vegan, but as usual I did tweak it.  Can't help myself you know.  The basic seitan recipe is also from this book, but you can find others online as well.  The one created in this cookbook looks kinda like cut up and cooked chicken (as seen in the picture).  My daughter thought it was chicken just by the look, but I will admit that she didn't like the taste.

(Basic Seitan, before being added to the kung pao.  Tastes better than it looks!)

The verdict?  While the seitan turned out fine and was far better than tofu (IMHO), it still wasn't that great. It does soak up the sauce well, so it was really like eating really big flavor bits. haha  I'm not sure if I will make seitan again, but I will do this kung pao again.  My husband and I both agreed that just beefing up the zucchini and mushroom quantity would make it a great dish, or you could try tofu or meat in it too if you really wanted.  So on to the recipe.

Kung Pao Seitan

1 Tbsp oil (I used grapeseed)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated ginger
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 carrot, chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
1 cup chopped bok choy
6 crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 cup basic seitan (or meat or tofu)
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 can bamboo shoots, drained
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp Sriracha sauce (this makes it pretty spicy so do less if you can't take to much heat!)

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium low heat.  Add the onion, garlic and ginger and saute for about 5 minutes or until onions are soft.  Stir in the soy sauce and carrots and cook a few more minutes.  Stir in zucchini, bok choy, and mushrooms and cook stirring often, for another 8 to 10 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Stir in the seitan, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, sesame oil and Sriracha sauce.  Cook stirring occasionally for another 5 minutes.  Serve hot.