Turkey Bacon & Feta Cheese Salad With Bonus Honey Butter Rolls

Alright! I'm almost done updating these promised recipes. I can't wait! I've been making some pretty cool stuff. But I have to get this out of the way first! :)

So first up is the salad. This salad was delish. Honestly. Another thing is...I didn't follow or use a recipe. :) But if you can't make it just with knowing the ingredients and "feeling it"...I'm sorry. I'll try and do the approximate with everything. :)

Okay. Baby Spinach. Turkey Bacon. Feta Cheese. Bosc Pears. Baby Bella Mushrooms. Hardboiled  Eggs. Red Onion.
So just use however much spinach you want. Cause I have no clue on this one.
Approx half a package of cooked and cut turkey bacon.
2 Baby Bella Mushrooms per plate.
1 1/2 hard boiled eggs per plate.
Half of a red onion distributed between the two.
Sprinkle with as much Feta Cheese as you want.
Half a Bosc pear. Slice it. And garnish each plate with one half.
Sprinkle lightly with Pepper.
Drizzle with Balsamic Vinaigrette.
Enjoy! :)

So next up is some Honey Butter Rolls. :) Super Easy. Fast. Delicious. I'm really sorry that Once again, I didnt take many pics. Mainly, after they came out of the oven pics. I was just in a hurry to get everything set on and served before it got cold...that I sorta forgot.

I also used White Whole Wheat Flour in these instead of Whole Wheat. I realize that yes, White Whole Wheat is not as "healthy" of an option. So for the longest time I just didn't use it. But I have done a lot of research on different flours...and decided that know. In the end it isn't necessarily the "unhealthiest" flour of the two. True, Whole Wheat Flour contains approximately 5% more protein than White Whole Wheat does, and it has tannins and phenolic acids...whereas White Whole Wheat does not. But! White Whole Wheat has considerably less gluten content. So if you are trying to monitor gluten, the fact that it's lacking 5% of the protein value, is outweighed by the benefits of less gluten. That however, is just my opinion. If you decide to buy White Whole Wheat Flour, make sure it's organic.

Recipe

1 Tablespoon of Instant Yeast
1 1/8 cups of warm water
3 cups of White Whole Wheat Flour
 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
3/4 cup of honey
1/2 cup of softened butter (1 cube)
1/4 cup of dry milk

Dissolve Yeast in Water & Honey. Let set for approx 15 minutes or until the yeast has started to bubble and expand. Add remaining ingredients to mixture and mix and knead until you have a smooth dough. It is going to be sticky.
Set in a greased bowl and let raise until doubled in size.
(I was in a hurry so I just skipped this step. They probably would've been fluffier if I wouldn't have.)
Lightly grease your desired pan, and form dough into even balls. Space evenly on pan and let rise until double. While they are rising preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Stick in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and immediately butter the tops and sides. Serve warm, with your choice of jam. :)

So there ya go!

Question: "Do you have a tried and true dinner roll recipe or do you enjoy trying out different recipes?"


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I Love Holidays

Hey again everyone! Sorry, I didn't mean to neglect my blog for so long. But I have been so busy. It's crazy. Since  I last updated I have made a round trip to Idaho to visit my family. (we drove. AND I learned how to drive a stick shift.) That was such a blast though. Just hanging out again and catching up...my family is so funny. I can't describe how much I've missed all the noise and craziness. Except, I have a lower noise tolerance than I once did. I used to not really be bothered by a ton of noise, but there were several times I found myself wishing I was back home in my quiet apartment. ;)

As soon as we got home I had to run off and take my State Practical test for the First Responder class I was taking. I can't tell you how relieved I am to finally not have to worry about tests anymore...the next day was the written test and so I studied some more...then I got there, and they totally tricked me...they hardly had any questions about the stuff I had studied...and they asked so many questions that looked ALL the same. I haven't gotten my results back yet, but trust me, you will hear my exclamation of joy, if I pass. :)

Then there was Easter. I love Easter. Everything is all springy and cheerful, and everyone dresses up in pretty bright colors...and its awesome. I have heard the story so many times, but it never grows old. What Jesus did for me(you) is absolutely incredible and beyond my comprehension. I also enjoy all the cute plays people do about the Easter story.

And then there's the food...I don't know about you all...but my family was the type to celebrate holidays. My mom made the BEST food ever...and we NEVER ran out...there was always so much food, that we could've just sat there at the table and feasted all day without a worry. That's one of the things I've missed the most about home....is the holidays. Everyone celebrates them differently...but it's not something you really think about. Until, BAM! You aren't home with your family for the holiday...and you go to someone else's place, or your in laws. My husbands family isn't really the type to just go all out with an awesome feast...and so that made me super homesick over Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. So I decided that the next holiday we came to, I was going to take things into my own hands. ;)

Along came Easter. I planned out a menu and when shopping. I was so annoyed though, when I couldn't find the meat I wanted. I was looking for some nice lamb chops. Because, A. I don't really like Ham...AND it's not good for you. And B. Why do so many people celebrate days like Christmas and Easter with a big juicy Ham? Ham is from pig, which was considered by the Jews an unclean animal and they were forbidden to eat it. Plus, the fact that Jesus was considered the "Lamb of God"...idk, it just seems more awesome and meaningful to eat lamb on those holidays. But I couldn't find any!! All I could find was this giant lamb leg, and that grossed me out. So I opted for 2 Cornish Game Hens. They're small. Delicious....and small...and delicious. Oh! They also are not ham. ;) That being said...I really don't care if you  eat Ham for those holidays. :) I was just stating my personal opinion, and since I like to have my opinion, I will more than gladly allow someone else's theirs. ;)

We didn't actually have our Easter meal on Easter Sunday. We had it Monday night instead. Because we were invited over to a friends place for Sunday afternoon lunch. Where we enjoyed a delicious meal, and some awesome times. 

Lemon Pepper, Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Cornish Game Hen

Honey Seasoned Yam

Spinach & Turkey Bacon Salad Sprinkled With Feta Cheese, and drizzled with Balsamic Vinaigrette and garnished with Bosc Pears. (Ingredients: Baby Spinach, Baby Bella Mushrooms, Red Onion, Hard Boiled Eggs, Turkey Bacon, Feta Cheese and Bosc Pears)

Raw Vegan Chocolate Cinnamon Mousse
This was delicious and I've been wanting to try it for ages. But! I don't think I will put cinnamon in next time.

Oh. And we had some nice fluffy White Whole Wheat buns...But I failed to get an after pic of them...they are on the plate. :)

I will post all the recipes for everyone in following posts. :) 
I will also give a post of what I used the left over chicken for...as there was no way we could each eat an entire chicken. ;)
Question: What is your favorite Holiday and why? Are you the type to celebrate holidays? Also, do you have any special traditions? Tell me about them.

I would love to hear what your menu was!

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What I Do With My Remaining Bread Dough

Here's the promised update on what I use the rest of my bread dough for. :) Like I said, I generally only make 3 regular loaves of bread. I make a fourth loaf of cinnamon bread. :) Because I love cinnamon...and bread. :) It's just an awesome snack. :) I also love diversion, and getting as much stuff done in one process as I can. :)

You will need: Bread dough, cinnamon, honey, flour, rolling pin.

So, what I do is mix up about 1/4 cup of honey,  a Tablespoon of cinnamon and 1/2 Tablespoon of flour. I'm honestly not sure on these measurements, because I tend to just dump at this point and go with it. :) 

On this loaf, instead of just immediately forming it into a loaf, I instead get out the rolling pin and roll it out into  a rectangular shape. You are going to want to get this as close to a rectangle as possible. How thick the dough is after you roll it out depends entirely on how many "swirls" of cinnamon you want in your loaf. Just be careful not to get it too thin, or it will leak.
When you're done rolling it out, spread the cinnamon mixture onto it, be careful not to get it too close to the edge of the dough or it will all gush out when you go to roll it up.
After you've done that, you need to roll the dough. Starting at one of the ends. Roll it up tightly. Don't be alarmed if there's a pile of honey and stuff oozing out the other end once it's all rolled up. Just scrape it away with a spoon and be done with it. I then, just help the shape of the loaf out a bit with my hands, to make sure it looks normal when it comes out of the oven.
Place it in a greased bread pan. I also like to make a bit of a "design" in the top of my cinnamon loaf. This bakes for as long as the other ones do. I generally just put all four loaves in the oven at once.

Here they are when they are done. The Cinnamon loaf is the one on the far right.  Like, I said, I like mixing things up a bit. It's also nice to have at least one "normal looking" loaf... for sandwiches. :) Notice the 2nd one in from the left? That is what happens when you cut to deep. :) I think I love blogs now. :) If something doesn't turn out quite right I just use it for an example: "don't do this, or it will look like this". ;) Gotta love it.

Does anyone else LOVE those sandwich thins that you can buy? Well, I do. They're awesome  for so many reason...more sandwich, less bread...mini "pizza's"...yeah. They're awesome, as I mentioned before. But I just don't really like breads that arent home made. My husband prefers that I use those to make his sandwiches for his lunch. So I always make them along with my bread. Again this is using the same recipe.

For these you will need: Bread dough, Rolling Pin, Fork, Italian Seasoning, Crushed Red Pepper, Chopped Onion, Parmesan Cheese. Cookie Sheets.

So. If you haven't noticed we've only made 4 loaves, when the recipe yields "5", start noticing. There's going to be a little over a loaf's worth of dough left. So I divide that up into balls about the size you'd use when making dinner rolls. I then divide each of those balls.

You need the rolling pin for this part too. :) Take the balls and roll them out into a circle, one at a time. I don't know about you but it's rather difficult for me to roll something out into a circle. So here's one way to increase your odds of getting a nice circle. :) Take the ball, and roll it, it will stick to your rolling pin and will be somewhat oval shaped. [figure 1.] Peel it off, lay it back on the table and place your rolling pin right in the middle of the oval. The narrow parts of the oval should be sticking out on either side of the rolling pin. Roll it again. Until the dough appears to be in a circle. If it's still not quite shaped the way ya want it...feel free to use your hands. [Figure 2, 3, and 4.] Then lay the circle onto a greased cookie sheet. Repeat the above steps, placing the next circle of dough on top of the previous one. Thus making a sandwich out of the dough. Continue until you run out of dough. :)

After you have one pan filled, you can pull out your fork and just punch piles of holes into the tops of these things, it makes them look much cooler. This is my favorite part. :)

I make the next pan, exactly like the first except I like to have some seasoned ones. So When I'm finished with this pan, I sprinkle the tops with: Italian Seasoning, Crushed Red Pepper, Chopped Onion, and Parmesan Cheese.

I don't let these raise for very long, because that would defeat the purpose of them. I generally put them in the oven after they've had about 10 minutes to rise. Keep the oven set to 350 degrees F and set the timer for 15-20 minutes. 

Take out when they are done, let cool and then make yourself an awesome sandwich. :)
For this sandwich I used: Spinach. Sharp Cheddar Cheese. [that comes from my parents-in-law's organic dairy farm. They make cheese's and yogurts to sell. The cheese tends to be rather strong. Making it an awesome choice for this particular sandwich.] Bell Peppers. Baby Bella Mushrooms. Balsamic Vinaigrette. :)

It's absolutely delicious!!! :) :)

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I linked up with: Becoming Lydia & A Mama's Story