Sensational Cinnamon Bun Pancakes

Have you ever had IHOP's Cinn-a-Stack pancakes? If you have, you know that they're just about the best thing in the world. I only get them once in awhile, because I seem to only make it to IHOP when I have house guests. The nearest one is about 5 minutes up the road, so there's no reason I couldn't go more often, I just usually prefer somewhere with a drive-thru when I'm eating alone.

To satisfy my cravings, I decided to come up with my own version of a cinnamon bun pancake. They turned out wonderfully, and pretty close to the real deal. I had to share this with the world, so everyone can have Cinn-a-Stack without even leaving the house. Heck, you don't even have to leave your pajamas!

Cinnamon Bun Pancakes

Ingredients

Icing:

- About 2oz. cream cheese - softened

- 1/4 C. milk

- 8 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Filling:

-  1/2 C. packed brown sugar

- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

- pinch of salt

- 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Pancakes:

- 1 1/2 C. flour

- 3 1/2 tsp. baking powder

- 1/2 tsp. salt

- 1 heaping Tbsp. sugar

- 1 1/4 C. milk

- 1 large egg

- 3 Tbsp. butter - melted

Method

- To make the icing, simply whisk together the soft cream cheese, milk, and powdered sugar. Start with about 5-6 Tbsp. of the sugar, and add the rest until you get the desired consistency. 

- For the filling, place the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a small saucepan. Heat and stir over low heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is liquid. Keep over the lowest heat until ready to use. After awhile, the mixture will be come less liquid, and more grainy.

- For the pancakes, place the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Whisk together to eliminate any clumps. Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk, egg, and melted butter. Stir together until well combined. Let the mixture sit for 2-5 minutes. The longer it sits before cooking, the fluffier the pancakes will be!

- Heat a skillet over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, pour in the batter about a half a cup at a time, and brown on both sides. Stack the pancakes as they come out of the pan, spreading a few tablespoons of the filling on top of each as they hit the plate.

- When all of the batter is used, pour the icing over the stack, close your eyes, and pretend that you're at IHOP!

Enjoy!

Welcome Back Breakfast

Well, hello there, Blogosphere! How have you been? Long time, no see!

I spent the last few weeks at home in PA, and I decided that when I got back to my VA life, I would start blogging again. As you can see, my page has a new look, and I'm going for a fresh start. I have some adventures that I want to go on, and a list of new recipes that I want to try. My contract at the park has ended, and I'm unemployed for the time being, so blogging/cooking/photography will be a good way to stay busy!

To kick things off, I tried a new recipe for breakfast this morning.

They're "Breakfast Cups". Toast, bacon, and eggs all married together. They're simple and delicious, and it's all stuff that I had on hand. I used whole wheat bread and turkey bacon, so they're even fairly healthy!

Breakfast Cups

Ingredients

2 slices whole wheat bread
2 slices bacon
2 large eggs
salt and pepper

Method
- Spray 2 custard cups (or 2 cups of a large muffin tin) with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

- Fry bacon in a skillet for about a minute on each side, to remove some grease and start the crisping.

- Trim crusts off of the bread and discard. Flatten the bread with a rolling pin. Press the flattened bread into the greased custard cups, making sure there are no holes. Cut the strips of bacon in half, and lay on top of the bread.

- Crack an egg into each cup, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

- Place custard cups on a small baking sheet, and place in the preheated oven. Bake at 375 degrees F for 16-18 minutes, until the egg whites are solid but the yolks are still slightly runny.

- Run a knife around the edge to make sure the bread is loose, and remove to a plate. Pour yourself a cup of coffee or a glass of o.j. and enjoy!

Filling, nutritious, and kind of fun!

Enjoy!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I cooked again! This time, I even have a recipe to share. But first let's talk about my day off. I usually have Saturdays off, but I had Friday this week. So today, I had planned on getting up early, going to the New Kent Winery, then driving back down Rt. 60 and hitting every thrift store/antique store/second-hand shop along the way. Wellll, I slept a lot later than I intended to, and then this huge storm hit and everything got a little screwed up. But. I did make it to New Kent Winery in New Kent, VA.

It's a gorgeous building, and there are pretty extensive vineyards all around it. I got there right after a tour had ended, and the next one wasn't for 45 minutes, so I just did a tasting. For $6, I got to try 10 wines and keep the wine glass. Not too shabby. I ended up buying a Vidal Blanc and a White Merlot. I fell in love with the White Merlot at Victoria Valley Vineyards when I was in South Carolina, and this one is almost identical. I'll definitely be stocking up on it!

After the winery, I headed back down 60, and that's when the storms hit, so I didn't stop at every antique store that I saw, or any for that matter. I did stop at the Williamsburg Pottery Factory, though, as well as the Yankee Candle Village. I wrapped up the day with some Carside-to-Go from Applebee's, coming home to eat, and watching the movie Waitress, which turned out to be pretty good. It turned out to be a decent day off, and I found a fantastic winery that isn't too far away!

Now on to my new recipe. It's adapted from the Chicken Enchilada Pasta recipe from Taste of Home. There was a lot that I didn't like about their version, though, so here's my own Chicken Enchilada Casserole:

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients:
12 oz. pkg. of pasta (I used mini shell macaroni)
1 lg. sweet red bell pepper - seeded and finely chopped
1 lg. green bell pepper - seeded and finely chopped
1 C. finely chopped red onion
1 Tbsp. hot sauce
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 - 5 oz. cans chunk white chicken, drained
15 oz. can refried beans
1/2 of a packet of taco seasoning mix
16 oz. jar of enchilada sauce, divided
8 oz. package of Mexican or taco-blend shredded cheese
tortilla chips
sour cream

Method:
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Rinse, and drain again. Set aside. You'll want to stir it every 5-10 minutes while it sits, so it doesn't congeal into a big pasta blob. Trust me. It happens.

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil. Add the chopped peppers and onion, as well as about a 1/4 tsp. salt. Cook until vegetables are tender, 5-8 minutes.

- To the vegetable mixture, stir in the chicken, refried beans, hot sauce, taco seasoning mix, and 1/2 C. of the enchilada sauce. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes. In a large bowl or pot, fold together the chicken mixture and the pasta. Fold in half of the shredded cheese, until melted and well incorporated.

- Take a 3-qt. casserole dish. Spray it with nonstick cooking spray, then spread half of the remaining enchilada sauce on the bottom. Spoon in the pasta mixture evenly on top of the sauce. Drizzle the remaining enchilada sauce on top.

- Cover the whole thing with foil and bake, covered, for 30 minutes. After the half hour, uncover it and sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese on top. Bake, uncovered, for 5 minutes more, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

- Spoon out onto plates and serve with crumbled tortilla chips sprinkled on top, and a dollop of sour cream!

It's delicious. You can use more or less hot sauce, depending on your taste. If you don't have the time or patience to let it bake for 35 minutes, you could always skip the pasta, just make the chicken mixture and eat it in flour tortillas. Then you're just cutting out the casserole part and having chicken enchilada wraps.... You could also use boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of canned chicken. Just cook it up and shred it. Canned chicken is just cheaper, faster, and easier. (Read: I'm lazy.)

It's such a great recipe to play around with. You can make it as complicated or simple as you like and substitute/add/subtract ingredients. It's super versatile, and can be made to fit anyone's tastes. So have at it!

Enjoy!

Last Weekend Curry Chicken

This past weekend was my last full weekend off for the rest of forever. Starting this week I go to 6 days a week, probably until January. I tried to make the best of it, and had a pretty good time. Saturday night, I had some awesome Chinese, a Blizzard at DQ, and went to the movies to see Brave. Excellent movie, by the way. I highly recommend that you go see it!

Yesterday, I went to the outlets to look for some work boots and a rain coat. I found a great rain coat at the Columbia store. I might have found some boots if all the store clerks hadn't been annoyingly incompetent. There were only two stores that even had work boots, the Hush Puppies/Merrell outlet and the Sketchers store. The former had about 6 employees that were all over me as soon as I walked in the door. I appreciate clerks being readily available and offering to help, but they literally swarmed around me and nagged me about what I wanted, what size I needed, what I needed boots for, if I wanted steel toe, if I wanted hi-top or regular.... I said several times that I was just looking, but they just hovered there staring at me and asking what they could get me. Luckily, my mom called just before I started killing people, and I ran out of the store, never to return.

The Sketchers store was the complete opposite. I walked in and some very apathetic tween muttered in my direction that everything was buy one, get one half off, and then wandered away. There were only two people working and both looked like they were about 15 years old. I actually found a pair of boots that I was interested in, but they didn't have my size out, so I stood there for about 10 minutes trying to get one of them to come over, and I swear when I waved the shoe that I wanted at the apathetic tween who greeted me, he turned and walked away to the other corner of the store.

Soooo, long story not-so-short, I did not get boots at the outlets and everyone who irritated me should be fired... and set on fire. After the outlets, I stopped at the Yankee Candle store just because I like it in there and it smells good.... I then got some groceries and came home to make Curry Chicken stir-fry. It was pretty excellent, so I thought I'd share the recipe. It's a slight variation on a Taste of Home recipe. 

Curry Chicken Stir-Fry
Ingredients
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. curry powder
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp. chili powder
1 C. reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 Tbsp. lite soy sauce
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast - cut into cubes
2 tsp. vegetable oil, divided
1 C. sliced carrots
2 garlic cloves - minced
3 C. fresh broccoli florets
4 green onions - thinly sliced

Method
- In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, curry powder, red pepper flakes, and chili powder. Stir in the broth and soy sauce until smooth, and set aside.

- In a large nonstick skillet, stir-fry the chicken in 1 tsp. oil for about 6 minutes, or until it's no longer pink. Remove and set aside.

- In the same pan, add remaining tsp. of oil and stir-fry the carrots and minced garlic for about a minute. Add the broccoli and green onion, and fry for about 4 minutes more. 

- Stir the broth mixture, then add it to the pan with the vegetables. Cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Return the chicken to the pan and heat through. 

I made some brown rice to go with it. It's just the right amount of spicy, it's super simple, and nice and quick. It made two meals for me, so I'll have the leftovers for supper tonight!

Enjoy!

Mmm, Casserole

So to keep me from going completely insane, I convinced my mom to let me make supper the other night. I needed to make something soft with no big bits of anything so my dad could swallow it. He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer the other day, and he hasn't been able to swallow real food for a month now. I made a casserole that I had made in SC, but with some modifications.





I got this from a cookbook called "Favorite Recipes from Quilters". The recipe is called "Sue's Casserole", but I don't know who the heck Sue is, so I'm trying to come up with another name for it. I might just call it Noodle Casserole... or Torrey's Casserole... or something.

The recipe is:

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. sugar
3-8oz. cans tomato sauce
6oz. can tomato paste
4oz. cream cheese, softened
1 C. sour cream
8 oz. noodles
1 C. shredded cheese

Method:
1. Brown ground beef and drain off excess fat. Add garlic, salt, pepper, sugar, tomato sauce, and tomato paste to the beef. Mix well and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat, and let simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

2. Cook noodles and drain.

3. In a bowl, combine sour cream and cream cheese. Remove the meat sauce from heat and stir in the cream cheese mixture. Toss this mixture with the cooked noodles.

4. Pour contents into a large baking dish, and sprinkle shredded cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until bubbly.






I like this recipe because it's so versatile, and you can use whatever you have on hand. This time, I used spaghetti noodles, last time I used penne. It would be just as good with egg noodles, or anther kind of pasta. I also didn't have fresh garlic this time, so I just used garlic powder. I also let it cook longer - about 30 minutes, so it would be a little more set up.

I'm excited to make this again and experiment more with it. I think next time I'll add shredded cheese in with the sauce instead of just on top. My mom had the idea of doing it in layers with some sliced mozzarella.

It's a super easy recipe, and pretty fast. I think anyone who reads this should try it out, and let me know what modifications you make. I'm also open to suggestions for a new name for it!

Cabbage, Rude People, and Hiking

Hi, all. I have a variety of things that I want to discuss. I could probably make a few separate posts, but I'm feeling chatty right now.

Number one. Cabbage. I love cabbage. I bought a head at the Clemson Farmer's Market yesterday and wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. After a bit of research, I had plenty of things to make with it and had to choose. I ended up with Cabbage Jambalaya. I found the recipe on All Recipes, which I use constantly. I love that you can get a recipe for virtually anything, and it's already been tested by twenty other people, and they've all left a review and tips or changes they made to the recipe. My Jambalaya turned out great! I tinkered with the recipe a bit, and I'll post what I came up with at the end. It turned out beautifully, and I made some Jiffy corn muffins to go along with it.



I know, I know, I should have done the corn muffins from scratch, but Jiffy Corn Muffin mix is really the best option. It's always delicious, done in 20 minutes, and usually costs about $0.50 a box. That's the only thing I will almost always choose to make from the box instead of scratch.

This dish would be great for a pot luck, and you can choose how spicy or mild you make it by changing up the hotness of the sausage and which spices you use. I used super hot sausage and put quite a bit of black pepper in it. If you wanted it even hotter, you could add hot sauce and/or cayenne pepper. For a milder version, use sweet sausage and leave out the peppers. Mine was just the right amount of heat for me... although I was a little red in the face by the end.


Number two. Rude people. What is it about EVERYONE I've e-mailed in the past month that makes them ignore me? Ok, when I just submit my application materials for a job, I'm sure they get hundreds of applicants so I understand them not e-mailing me to let me know they've received my resume. When I e-mail a potential employer with specific questions, or a property management company about renting an apartment, I expect an answer. Is that too much to ask?

I've e-mailed three theatres in the past week with specific questions, to the e-mail address that the website said to contact with questions. Am I so undesirable as an employee that they can't even acknowledge me? If they pretend I don't exist, I'll go away? The apartment rental people are even worse. They should want people to be interested in their rentals... ignoring potential tenants is NOT a good way to get them to rent.

Ok, this concludes our rant portion of this post. :-P


Number three. Hiking. I've got the hiking bug. Ever since my short excursion to the Twin Falls, I've been all over trail sites. This weekend I'm going to go find the Yellow Branch Falls in Oconee County. It's a pretty clearly marked trail, and only a mile and a half each way, but I think I should start out slow. I'll save those eight mile hikes for later! My problem is, all of my hiking/camping equipment is in PA. I really only need my hiking boots, which... I probably need new ones anyway since I probably haven't bought any since junior high. The rest of the things I need, I can get fairly inexpensively so it's not a big deal. I probably don't even need half of it, but 10 years of Boy Scouts taught me to have enough supplies to last me days of being lost in the woods... even if it is just a two-hour hike.

So that's my life at the moment. I am cooking and baking as much as ever, NO ONE WILL RETURN MY E-MAILS, and I have a new hobby... a healthy, outdoorsy hobby. Who'da thunk it? :-P


As promised...


Cabbage Jambalaya

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 lb. smoked (hot or mild) sausage, cut into 1/4" slices.
1/2 an onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium head of cabbage, chopped
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 3/4 cups, + 1/4 cup water
1 cup uncooked whole grain rice
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste

Method:
In a large stock pot over med. heat, combine the ground beef, sausage, onion, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally until the beef is completely browned.

In a small bowl, whisk together the tomato paste, 1/4 c. water, basil, and garlic powder. Add the tomato mixture, cabbage, the rest of the water, the rice, and the salt and pepper (or any other spices you want) to the pot. (It'll look like a LOT of cabbage, but it'll cook down.) Stir and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 35-45 minutes - until the rice is done.

Enjoy!