Dinner Rolls {No Eggs + No Dairy}

I have two nephews (one on my family's side and one on David's family's side) and neither of them can have eggs or dairy, so I'm always on the lookout for "safe" things to make for everyone that they can enjoy as well. No point is making dinner rolls for everyone and then having to have a separate bag of rolls if you can find a recipe that is safe for them to eat, but still delicious for everyone else, too! My friends - these rolls are those rolls. Light, fluffy, delicious, quick to make (one blogger touts them as 1-hour dinner rolls), and quicker to disappear.

Dinner Rolls {No Eggs + No Dairy}

PheMonenon via At Home with Haley and adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cup, then leveled off

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes.

To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups of the flour - on low speed with the paddle attachment incorporate the flour to create a wet, sticky mixture. Still on low speed, add 1 cup of the remaining flour and incorporate. Switch to the dough hook and add the remaining 1 cup flour. On low speed, mix the dough to incorporate the final addition of flour until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the speed to medium and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl - turn to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 20 -30 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently deflate into a rectangle. Cut it in half vertically, then each half vertically again into thirds so you have 6 equal strips of dough. Cut each strip of dough into fourths by cutting horizontally to make 24 little squares of dough. Take each piece of dough and cup it lightly under the palm of your hand on a clean surface. Press lightly and start rotating and rolling the dough ball quickly so that it forms a nice little ball of dough. (PheMomenon says that once you get some practice, you can do this with both hands at the same time and really speed up the process.)

Place each rolled piece of dough into a lightly greased 9x13 baking pan in rows of 4 about 1/2-inch apart. Cover the rolls in the pan with a lightly greased piece of plastic wrap and let rise to double while your oven is preheating to 400 degrees F (rise about 20 minutes). Bake for 13-15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Serve warm and enjoy!

Pot Roast

I didn't get a picture of this (yet) but it was definitely the best pot roast that I've ever made in the history of pot roasts that I've attempted to make - therefore, it must get recorded. 

Pot Roast 

Source: Recipes that Crock

Ingredients:
2-3 lb beef roast
5-6 potatoes, peeled and quartered
3-4 medium baby carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, quartered

2 pkgs brown gravy mix
2 c water


Directions:
Spray your crock pot with cooking spray. Rinse roast and brown in a hot frying pan for a couple of minutes on each side to brown. Place roast in crock pot, fat side up. Surround the roast with potatoes, onions and carrots.
Mix together one brown gravy packet with 1 c cold water and pour over the roast and veggies. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours (total). 

An hour before serving, mix together the remaining brown gravy mix and 1 c cold water. Pour over roast and veggies. Cover again for the last hour of cooking.

Mini Burritos

These were such a fun appetizer. I loved them! We took them to a party and they disappeared in minutes. I also think that I will be making them frequently for kids lunches/dinners. They are the perfect size for little hands. Plus, I almost always have these ingredients on hand.
Mini Burritos = Success! 

Mini Burritos
Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients:
1 1b ground beef
½ small onion, diced finely
1 packet (1 oz) taco seasoning mix (Chili Powder, Onion Powder, Garlic Salt, Cumin, Paprika)
3 tablespoons water
1 (15 oz) can refried beans

3/4 cup cooked rice (optional)
3/4 cup salsa
1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 package flour tortillas for burritos (10 tortillas; 8 inch)
butter for basting
Toppings: sour cream, guacamole, salsa


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large skillet, brown the beef and onion until beef is no longer pink.
Add the taco seasoning and 3 tablespoons of water. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the refried beans, rice, salsa, and cheese.
Quarter each flour tortilla with a pizza slicer making 4 wedges from each tortilla. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of meat mixture onto the wide part of each tortilla. Fold the sides in and roll up towards the small end creating a mini burrito. Place burritos on a cookie sheet. If preparing ahead of time cover and refrigerate until serving.
Brush burritos with melted butter if desired. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until burritos are warm.

Add your favorite toppings such as sour cream, guacamole, and salsa.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Wraps

So here's the deal with cooking new things. Sometimes you find something awesome, like these chicken cordon bleu wraps. Sometimes you serve your family food that you don't even want to eat, even though the pinterest picture looked delicious. (I'm looking at you, Honey Curry Chicken.) The goal in my life is to have more of the former meals than the latter. We make a lot of things that we know and love, and by trying new things a couple of times a week, I'm slowly adding to that list. This meal is definitely going into the rotation. And as long as you have the ingredients on hand (swiss cheese and ham aren't things I always have) this is a super quick fix for a delicious dinner!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Wraps
Source: Taste and Tell

Ingredients:
½ cup miracle whip
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon honey
3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
6 (6-8 inch) flour tortillas
9-12 slices Swiss cheese
6 oz deli sliced ham

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard and honey. Stir together and season lightly with salt and pepper. Add in the chicken and stir to coat.
Heat an electric skillet to medium heat. Spray lightly with cooking spray. Heat the tortillas in the microwave for 10 seconds or until pliable. Place 1 to 1½ slices of cheese down the center of each tortilla, followed by 1 oz of ham. Add about ½ cup of the chicken mixture, then roll up the tortilla.
Grill the wraps, seam side down until warm and until it has light to medium grill marks. Flip over and cook the second side until the wrap is warmed through and the cheese is melted.
Serve warm.

Italian BMT (Subway)

The Italian BMT is one of my favorite sandwiches to get when eating at Subway (right below the Grilled Chicken with Ranch dressing). This Italian classic is filled with salami, spicy pepperoni, and ham. As I was making this recipe to post, I searched out what BMT actually stands for. Turns out that the acronym BMT stands for Biggest, Meatiest, and Tastiest. (lame!) However, in the early days of Subway restaurant history, it was a promotion that was based on the Brooklyn Manhattan Transit system in New York City that went along with the subway theme. (I love things like that.) 

If you are looking for a spicy, hearty sandwich, this fits the bill!

Italian BMT

Source: Subway Restaurant Knock-off

Ingredients:

4, 6-8" loaf soft sandwich bread, like this Italian Sandwich Bread
4-6 ounces sliced sandwich pepperoni
4-6 ounces salami
4-6 ounces sliced Ham
8 slices provolone cheese
1 tomato, sliced thin
4-8 leaves green leaf lettuce

Dressing of choice

Directions:
Slice the bread in half length-wise. Add the meats, cheeses, tomato, and lettuce. Top with dressing of choice. Secure the bread with toothpicks and cut into eight equally-sized sandwiches.

Italian Sandwich Bread

The recipe for this said it was a French Bread recipe but turned out to be more like a delicious loaf of Italian Bread perfect for sandwiches. I made some yummy Italian BMT sandwiches and felt like we were eating at Subway. The bread was the perfect addition.  

*Note: The rising time for this is SO long. I pretty much halved all of the rising times because I was in a hurry. The loaves turned out pretty heavy, but still tasty. If you plan the time to let everything rise I'm sure it would be lovely and fluffy. But if you don't have the time, know that you can shorten rising time and it will still turn out decent. 

Italian Sandwich Bread
Source: Food.com

Ingredients:
1⁄4ounce dry active yeast(1 packet)
1⁄4cup warm water
1⁄4teaspoon sugar
1cup hot water
1 1⁄2tablespoons granulated sugar
1⁄2tablespoon salt
1⁄4cup oil
2 1⁄2-3cups all-purpose flour


Directions:
Dissolve yeast, warm water, and sugar in a small bowl.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine hot water, granulated sugar, salt, and oil. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour to the mixture in the large bowl/mixer and mix well. Stir in yeast mixture.
Add 1 – 1 1/2 cups more flour and mix until well blended. (At this point your dough will still be quite sticky). Leave in bowl and let rise for 1 hour, mixing a few strokes a couple of times during the hour.
Divide dough into 2 (or 3 if you want smaller loaves) pieces. Roll out each piece on a floured surface into the length desired then roll up length wise like a jelly roll.
Put on a greased cookie sheet, sealed side down, and tuck the ends under. Slash the top diagonally across the top every couple of inches with a sharp knife. Brush with egg white. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Let loaves rise 30 more minutes.
Bake for 25 - 30 minutes.

Ranch Chicken Enchiladas

Anyone who knows me really well knows that my mom's chicken enchiladas are pretty much my favorite food in existence. Covered in white creamy goodness and loads of cheese... mmmm.  I usually scoff at all other enchilada recipes, because hello - if I'm going to make enchilada's, I'm going to make those ones. However, I came across this recipe and thought they looked delicious. They have a yummy flavor combination and in all honesty - are much healthier than my favorite enchiladas (stuffed with cream of chicken soup and sour cream). I'll definitely make them again! (I also like that you can cook the chicken in a crock pot, or you can use pre-shredded chicken to make this really fast! Plus I always have these ingredients in my house.



Ranch Chicken Enchiladas

Source: The Recipe Critic

Ingredients:

3-4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
Chicken taco seasoning (2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion salt, 1 tsp cumin)
1 package ranch dry salad dressing
½ cup bottled ranch
½ cup salsa
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can chicken broth
1 package white flour tortillas

Instructions
Prepare chicken.  Option 1: Cook in the slow cooker with the ranch packet, taco seasoning and, chicken broth on low for about 3-4 hours. Option 2: Combine seasonings with already cooked and shredded chicken, omitting chicken broth. 

Mix the ½ cup of ranch and ½ salsa in a bowl. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and spread a very thin layer of the mixture on the bottom.
Assemble the enchiladas by putting 2 Tbs of the ranch and salsa mixture on the bottom of tortilla, and layering shredded chicken and sprinkling with cheese before rolling it up.
Line up the enchiladas in the 9x13 pan and top heavily with the cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and enchiladas are heated through.
Drizzle the top with ranch and enjoy!

Greek Chicken Gyros

I was feeling adventurous and wanted to try some different flavors than I normally do. I really liked this, although the tzatziki sauce was a bit much for the kids (and David doesn't like red onions). I subbed HVRanch for the sauce for them and they liked it much better after that. I like having some different recipes up my sleeve and really liked the flavor of the chicken.
















Greek Chicken Gyro 
Source: Le Creme De La Crumb
Greek Seasoning Blend: All Recipes-Misty Jane Pilgrim


Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, pounded to ½ inch thickness
1 tablespoon mediterranean/greek seasoning (you can substitute Italian seasoning in a pinch)
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
½ red onion, thinly sliced
4 pitas (this is a Greek-style flatbread you can find at almost any grocery store near the bread and tortillas or in the bakery)
optional: lettuce, feta cheese crumbles

Seasoning:
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoons dried Greek oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Tzatziki Sauce:
½ English cucumber, peeled and diced
2 cups cold plain Greek yogurt
4 teaspoons minced garlic
⅓ cup chopped dill, fresh or frozen (may sub 2 tablespoons dried dill)
1½ Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (juice of ½ medium lemon)
½ tsp salt, or to taste
⅛ tsp black pepper

Directions:
Puree all Tzatziki Sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor making sure to get as much moisture out of the diced cucumber as possible (use a paper towel to blot it out). Cover and chill until ready to serve. Making this the night before is ideal as it gives the flavors time to marinate.

Season chicken breasts with mediterranean/greek seasoning on both sides. Cook in a large skillet over medium heat 5-6 minutes on each side until cooked through. Cut into strips.

Lay pitas on a clean surface. Add lettuce (if desired, chicken, red pepper strips, and onions. Top with tzatziki sauce. Fold pita in half or roll it into a burrito shape.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake in a Mug

I've always liked the idea of cake/muffins/brownies/cookies in a mug in the microwave. Mostly, because if I make a whole pan of brownies or such... I'll eat them all. So it's nice to be able to have a treat without having all of the tempting leftovers. Lately, Lydia's really been interested in helping me cook in the kitchen, so we've been doing a lot of these little recipes because she can help me measure all of the ingredients - she doesn't have to wait for a long time for the end result - and it doesn't make a huge mess in the kitchen. We had some leftover maraschino cherries and some pineapple rings in the pantry and this cake was SO good. We may have made it 3-4 days in a row. I have a big soup-mug that I used because the pineapple ring fit perfectly in the bottom, but if I was using a regular mug, I'd just slice the ring on one side and wrap it to fit. 

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake in a Mug

Source: Crouton Crackerjacks

Ingredients:
1 canned pineapple slice
1 maraschino cherry
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose or plain flour
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbsp pineapple juice (reserved from the can of pineapple slices)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp beaten egg
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
In a 12oz glass coffee mug, layer the brown sugar, pineapple slice and place a maraschino cherry in the center of the pineapple ring. In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients and pour on top of pineapple slice. Microwave on 50% power for 2 1/2 minutes. Let sit 30 seconds, run a knife around the outside of the cake and then turn out onto a plate. Scrape all the syrup from the bottom of the mug onto the cake.

Tetrazzini

This is a great way to use leftover turkey from Thanksgiving but can also be made with shredded chicken. David doesn't like mushrooms, so I cooked everything then added mine at the end. So good.

Tetrazzini
Source: Adaped from Ready Set Eat

Ingredients:
8 ounces dry spaghetti pasta (or linguine/fettuccine)
vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups chopped cooked turkey/shredded chicken
1 can Diced Tomatoes, undrained

4 oz green chilies

1 can Cream of Chicken soup
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt. Meanwhile, add oil to a large skillet; heat over medium-high heat.
Add onion; cook 3 minutes or until softened. Add mushrooms; cook 5 minutes more or until mushrooms are tender and lightly browned.
Add turkey, undrained tomatoes, chilies, soup, water and half of cheese to skillet; stir to combine. Stir in cooked pasta; heat until mixture is hot and pasta is coated. Top with remaining cheese.

Beef and Noodles

I made a beef roast a couple of weeks ago and was lamenting to David that I always do the same things when I make a roast (delicious things, but the same things). Mostly just roast with potatoes, and french dip sandwiches. Luckily, I came across a few new beef roast dishes to try. I made a few things, but this meal was by far the winner. Like, David couldn't stop talking about this meal. You'd think that I'd suddenly become a master chef rivaling Bobby Flay. It was so funny. I'll let you in on a secret - it's the way I cooked the roast.... and the homemade noodles. 

Melt-in-your-mouth pieces of shredded beef with homemade egg noodles in a salty broth. Comfort food doesn't get much better than this. 

(Don't be scared of the egg noodles, it was actually really easy and SO much less expensive than the frozen egg noodles you can buy at the store and SO much tastier than dried egg noodles. 

Beef and Noodles
Source: Adapted from Spicy Southern Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 lb cooked and shredded beef roast, (recipe below)

Homemade egg noodles, (recipe below)

2 TBS dried onion flakes
3 beef bullion cubes
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp parsley flakes
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp black pepper

1 can cream of chicken soup (or mushroom if your husband likes mushrooms more than mine)
4-6 cups water

salt and pepper to taste
parsley for garnish, optional

Directions:
Prepare egg noodles following recipe below. Set out previously cooked beef roast. (I used leftover beef roast from another meal. If you don't have leftover roast, earlier in the day you will need to put your raw beef roast in the crock pot using the recipe below so that it will be ready at this point.)

In a medium sized pot, combine cream of chicken soup, seasonings (bullion, onion flakes, etc...), and 4-6 cups of water (add more water if you want it more like a soup and less water if you want it to be more like a beef and noodle dish with a smaller amount of broth). Bring to a boil. Add beef and egg noodles. Cook until noodles are al dente (cooked all the way through, but not soggy.)

Serve hot with rolls on the side. If your family is anything like mine, this will be a dinner-time hit!



Egg Noodles
2 cups all purpose flour, plus additional for dusting the board
4 eggs, beaten
¼-1/2 teaspoon salt

http://dineanddish.net/2015/04/easy-homemade-egg-noodles-recipe/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/fresh-pasta-recipe.html

Mound the flour in the center of a clean countertop. Make a well in the middle of the flour, add the eggs and salt. Using a fork, beat together the eggs and begin to incorporate the flour starting with the inner rim of the well. As you incorporate the eggs, keep pushing the flour up to retain the well shape (do not worry if it looks messy). The dough will come together in a shaggy mass when about half of the flour is incorporated. When the mixture starts to become stiff, start kneading the dough with both hands incorporating all of the flour.

Scrape the area to find any loose bits of dough, then re-flour the surface. Continue kneading, adding flour as necessary, until the dough is thick and smooth in texture.The dough will only take as much flour as it needs, so don't worry about adding too much, the rest will fall off, or stay on the outside covering the dough so it won't stick.

Roll out the dough, until very thin, at least 1/8". (The dough will expand/bubble quite a bit while cooking, so try to get it as thin as  possible. Once your dough is rolled out, use a pizza cutter to slice your dough into thin vertical strips. Make a couple of slices horizontally until your noodles are a desired size.

Remember, fresh pasta cooks much faster than dry pasta. It will only need 3-6 minutes until it's cooked through!

Shredded Beef Roast

2-3lb chuck roast
1 large onion, peeled then roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled then smashed
15oz can beef broth
1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
lots of garlic salt and pepper
4oz can chopped green chiles

Directions
Trim large pieces of excess fat from roast then cut into 6-8 big hunks. Add onion, garlic, and beef broth into the bottom of a crock pot then nestle beef into mixture. Sprinkle in chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, and pepper and then place the lid on top and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or until beef shreds easily. Remove beef then shred and place into a large bowl with enough cooking liquid to make it juicy, but not so much that it's dripping. Pull out as many onions as you'd like to include with the beef. Stir in green chiles. Discard remaining cooking liquid.

This Beef and Noodle recipe may also be made as a crock pot meal using the following instructions: 

Crock Pot Beef and Noodles
Place beef roast in slow cooker. Sprinkle seasonings from both recipes on top. Add cream soup and smear on top of roast. Add beef broth.
Put lid on crockpot and cook 9 to 10 hours on LOW.
Remove lid and shred beef using 2 forks. Add noodles and enough water to mostly submerge the noodles.

Cook for 1 hour. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

Mexican Rice

A delicious side dish, but bulky enough for a meatless lunch or dinner. Yum! 

Mexican Rice
Source: The Peaden Life

Ingredients:
1/2 Onion, diced
3 cups Rice, cooked
1 can Diced tomatoes, drained
1 can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Corn, drained
1/2 cup salsa (to taste, more can be added for desired consistancy)
Salt & Pepper
Cumin
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Onion Salt
Paprika
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Directions:
In a large frypan, saute onion in a small bit of oil. Add rice, tomatoes, black beans, and corn and stir together. Add salsa. Season with about 1/2 tsp each of cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion salt, and paprika.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Top with cheese and serve.

Cinnamon Raisin - Muffin in a Mug

Cinnamon Raisin Muffin in a Mug
Source: Adapted from Bigger Bolder Baking

Ingredients:
5 tbsp flour
1 ½ Tbsp packed light-brown sugar
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp baking powder
⅛ tsp salt

1 egg (or 2 Tbsp applesauce or mashed banana)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp raisins

Cream Cheese Icing
1 Tbsp Cream Cheese or Neufchatel Cheese, softened
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp milk

Directions:
Combine first five ingredients (dry ingredients) in a mug. Add wet ingredients then whisk together with a fork until combined and nearly smooth. Fold in raisins.
Microwave mixture on high power for 1.5 minutes then check cake for doneness. If it is not fully cooked microwave for an additional 15 seconds.
Prepare Cream Cheese Icing by mixing all of the ingredients together in a bowl by hand until smooth. (Make sure cream cheese is soft before combining.) 

Serve warm topped with frosting.