Maple Nut Sticky Buns

Okay, these are pretty easy. Considering I was able to make them all by myself and they turned out good the first try, they're easy. I thought the maple syrup thing would make them taste gross, (I'm only a fan of maple syrup on certain occasions) but they were good too!

Ingredients:

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

1/2 cup maple syrup

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 pckg quick-rising active yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup warm water (120-130 degree F)

6 tablespoons softened butter, divided

1 egg at room temp

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar, divided

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Grease 13 x 9 baking pan, spread pecans and maple syrup evenly over bottom.

2. Combine 2 cups flour, granulated sugar, yeast and salt in large bowl. Mix in water, 2 tablespoons butter and egg. Beat until smooth. Gradually stir in remaining flour until soft dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

3. On lightly floured surface, roll dough to 15 x 12 inch rectangle. Spread with remaining butter. Mix brown sugar with cinnamon. Sprinkle over surface. Starting with a 12-inch side, roll up tightly.

4. Cut into 12 slices. Place cut side down in prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap, place on wire rack set over large pan of hot water. Let rise until buns double, 30-45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375. Uncover buns. Bake until golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Cool for one minute. Loosen edges, invert onto a serving plate. Serve warm.


Okay, so story with this one: I don't know if you remember last semester I had that ridiculously horrible week, and the icing on the cake was my broken car. The whole flat tire thing. Well Mike, Tom's brother, basically saved the day. On a few occasions. He kept saying it was a good break from homework, and he misses working on cars, so he didn't need anything in return. But c'mon, he's a Possin boy, he needed some food for payment. So i made these for him and brought him to his apartment. Good times.

oatmeal cookie bars

You guys know these... can't believe they weren't up here yet. And I needed the recipe, so I called mom and am typing it straight from her...

1/2 c butter
1/3 c white sugar
1/3 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 c quick oats
1 6 oz pckge chocolate chips.

(double for 13x9)

350 for 20-25 mins, greased pan.

This recipe comes from the green cook book that the Grand Rapids ward put together. It's only the best cookie bar ever, and I am going to make a double batch tonight, just to make me feel better about my job. It's the classic comfort food. Childhood memories, chocolate chips, cinnamon, and that warm oven feeling.

Crunchy Granola Suite

Okay, So this isn't a recipe, I just wanted to tell you a story

On the way to Utah, I was playing Aaron's i-pod and listening to, of course, Neil Diamond. And there is a song called "crunchy granola suite"

Cailey and I were at the grocery store, and I saw good granola bars on sale, so when I picked them up, I started doing a little dance in the aisle and singing "Let me hear that, let me near that crunchy granola SUITE!!"

I tried to find the meaning of the lyrics, and guess what!?...nobody knows.

P.S. its behaviors like this that got me my dates for every night this week. :)


Then I found 15 bucks. Just sitting there. In the cereal aisle.

***EDIT- I don't really have a date every night this week. That was a joke.

The Most Amazing Salad

Seriously, if I had to give up either chocolate or this salad, I'd choose to never eat chocolate again. Its that good.

1 bag of fresh baby spinach
1 chicken breast, cooked and cubed
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, diced
1 can of pears, sliced
handful of walnuts
handful of bacon bits
handful of fresh parmesan cheese
a bit of poppyseed dressing

If I don't have some of the ingredients on hand, I just leave them out and its still a pretty good salad. The parmesan cheese is really expensive, and the artichoke hearts are only affordable if you buy them in buk at Sam's Club. Only use a little big of the salad dressing- enough to flavor, but don't coat the spinach in it at all. Its not at all good for you and the less you use the better health wise. And soggy spinach is gross anyway. So just flavor, don't drench.

I've had this for lunch for the past few days, and wow, thats become my favorite meal of the day. I like to think its healthy because of the spinach. If you use the rest of the ingredients sparingly, I suppose it is healthy.