Gooey Goodness

1 box yellow or white cake mix

2 pkg. dry yeast

1 tsp. salt

2 1/2 c. lukewarm water

5 c. flour

1 stick butter, melted

3/4 c. brown sugar

1 3/4 tbsp. cinnamon (or more depending on your taste buds)

This is the EASIEST cinnamon roll recipe I have ever used! It's simple, fast and most importantly AMAZING! Below you will find the ingredients I used.

Combine the first 3 ingredients and add water. Mix until ingredients are incorporated well. Add three cups of flour in 1 cup increments mixing well after each addition. After the third cup the dough will pull off sides.  Sprinkle about a cup of flour onto a clean workspace. Empty the mixing bowl onto the flour and start kneading in the flour.  For the last cup sprinkle on in small increments you may find you don't need the entire last cup.  After dough is kneaded and formed into a ball place into a greased bowl. I prefer glass or ceramic.  Cover and let the dough rise for about an hour, it should double in size. We were processing beans and ham so I placed it by the pressure cooker, it was my own personal little proofing station.  Punch down dough and place on a clean buttered workspace.  Working carefully so you don't tear a hole into it begin forming the dough into a rectangle.  This is a lot of dough and your rectangle will be quite big.  When you are satisfied with the size spread the room temperature butter onto the rectangle. Spread out brown sugar and  then sprinkle with cinnamon. Starting from the bottom roll up. You will then have a rather long and large "log of dough". Slide a  12" piece of thread under the log and bring them up to the top and cross over. (I know...it's hard to understand sorry)  Slice every 1/2 inch or so depending on how thick you want your rolls. Place in greased baking pan, cover and let rise for about 45 minutes and then bake 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees. About 10 minutes before you take the rolls out of the oven make the Cream Cheese Frosting. While warm frost and then DEVOUR!

 

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Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

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Green Tomato Cake

Green Tomato Cake

Ingredients

4 cups chopped green tomatoes

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 cup butter

2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Directions

1. Place chopped tomatoes in a bowl and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt. Let stand 10 minutes. Place in       a colander, rinse with cold water and drain.

It produces a lot of liquid.

2.  Place chopped, salted and drained tomatoes into a food processor and process until it's in tiny bits

I placed all this into a smaller colander and drained off the remainder of the liquid.  It produced even more than when I salted them. (Don't salt again)

3. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat until creamy.

Butter

Butter and Sugar

Butter, Sugar & Eggs

4. Sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, soda and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add raisins and nuts to dry mixture; add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Dough will be very stiff. Mix well.

5. Add drained tomatoes and mix well. Pour into the prepared 9 x 13 inch pan.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.

Sorry I didn't get a picture before people started cutting into it...it was just that good!

I was going to frost this with a cream cheese icing, but I tasted it and decided it could stand alone.  I might add the icing next time, by the end of making it I was pretty tired and I had to work later, and that played a big part in not icing.  I forgot to put in the nuts I was going to use pecans because I am allergic to walnuts. The original recipe calls for 2 cups chopped tomatoes, I went an extra step and finely processed them.  It wasn't until I was processing the last cup that I realized 2 cups of processed tomatoes equals 4 cups of chopped tomatoes.  Yep you guessed it, I had to double the recipe. It turned out wonderful because I was able to have a cake for my family and one for work.  Both cakes were gone in the morning!  It was super fun to have the people at work try and guess what the "secret" ingredient was. I am thankful I took the extra step and put them in the food processor. I think that the chopped pieces would have been too big and the tiny ones gave the cake just the right amount of texture and helped make it SUPER MOIST!  I love this cake!  It's definitely one I will keep using again and again. Towards the end of the summer my garden is almost dead, but I have TONS of big green tomatoes.  I love the ripe red ones, but it's nice to have a little variety to spice things up.

I found this at allrecipies

BLT Pizza

The garden is in full swing and pumping out tomatoes by the bowl full.  I thought it was a perfect night to make the house favorite BLT PIZZA.  It is AMAZING, and simple and did I mention amazing...

For the pizza...you can start a few ways.  You can either  A.) make your own pizza crust, B.) buy pizza dough and bake it yourself, or C.) buy prepared and precooked thin crust.  I usually make my own dough, but it was after all the Sabbath a day of rest, so I opted for C.  It was super simple and Walmart had them on sale for $2.00.  This pizza doesn't have a sauce, so I melted some butter and put a little garlic in it.  I then brushed the crust generously and sprinkled it with dried parsley flakes.  I covered it in about a cup of shredded mozzarella and popped it in the oven on 425.  I started it out by having it on baking stone and when the cheese was almost melted I put the crust directly on the oven shelves.  That allowed the crust to crisp up a bit. When the cheese was melted and almost brown, I pulled it out and let it cool for a couple of minutes.  I topped it with bacon that I had cooked to an extra crispy texture.

After the bacon I topped it with sliced tomatoes fresh from the garden.

I then topped it with a mixture of chopped iceberg lettuce and the tangy zip of miracle whip.  I put the lettuce in a bowl topped it with MW and then used the tongs I cooked the bacon with to toss.  Once the lettuce is nicely covered in MW, top it on top the pizza and serve.

The first time I served this everyone was a bit skeptic, but one taste and everyone was hooked!  I think it works so well because you get the temperature contrast of the cold lettuce and hot pizza.  It just has the best taste! I adapted the recipe from the California Pizza Kitchen BLT Pizza.  You see there is not a CPK in the great state of OK and I had to get my fix. A girls gotta eat right?

We also had a Margherita pizza with tomatoes and basil from our garden.  I used the same crust and the same cooking technique only I topped it with a light pizza sauce, fresh basil, mozzarella, and sliced tomatoes.  It was so good!  I was also able to eat this one because the tomatoes were cooked.

Dinner was a hit and it was pretty cheap and super fresh!

It's like crack...but not as bad for you

I am sure you know by now how much I love to cook. I was a vegetarian for a while (before I moved to Crescent and my Doctor and lack of meat free dishes changed that). I also have dabbled in the art of eating completely animal free (vegan)...I couldn't do it for long I LOVE cheese, but I picked up a few things along the way. Believe me my 18 year old brother and friend loved these cupcakes and my father said it was the BEST coconut pecan frosting he has ever eaten. Give it a try you never know how much you'll like something until you try it. My mother also pointed out this is a perfect treat for people who don't have access to dairy or for a delish food storage dessert. My family is hooked...

The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake Ever

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa (I usually add a little more for a richer flavor)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons white vinegar
3/4 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups cold water

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl or mixer (use the batter attachment) combine dry ingredients. Stir in oil, vinegar and vanilla mix until it's a paste. Slowly stir in the water a cup at a time. It won't seem like it can take that much, just keep stirring. After all liquid is incorporated stir or mix for a minute or so more. Bake at 350 until the middle of the cake is springy to the touch or a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Immediately turn out and wrap with plastic wrap. This keeps the cake super moist. Let cool to room temperature before frosting.

This makes a little over 2 dozen cupcakes, one bunt cake, or two 9" rounds. Be sure to adjust the baking time.

This goes great with a coconut pecan frosting, which is listed below. This is by far the best vegan cake recipe I have found, and I've been looking!

Preparation time: 50 minutes

Coconut Pecan Frosting

1 stick margarine (1/2 cup)
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions: Boil together all ingredients in a medium to large saucepan over medium-high heat for 8-12 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Pour then spread on cake while frosting is still warm. Let set up for a few minutes before serving (sets up faster if you cover it and place it in the fridge).

Serves: enough for one 2-layer cake, or 24 cupcakes

Preparation time: 15 minutes