Episode 4: Homemade Snack Croissants

Tonight will be our first time attending an FRG (Family Readiness Group) meeting.  These meetings are for spouses, family members, and close acquaintances of soldiers.  The meeting is to promote unit and army support of the families and to create a network of family members to support each other during deployments.  Over the years FRG has developed a reputation for a place where wives (or husbands) try and wear their spouses rank and belittle or boss other spouses around.  Lucky for me, I do wear the same rank as my wife.  :)  For the meeting tonight my wife asked me to make croissant snack rolls so I chose to make smores croissant.  Heres to using food to manipulate the other spouses (insert evil laugh)

Recipe: Smores Croissant

Yields around 50 rolls

Dough:
2 Packages active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening
4 cups all-purpose flour

Start by dissolving the yeast in warm water.  Stir in sugar, salt, eggs and shortening.  Mix with a Kitchenaid mixer or by hand until smooth.  (Should begin to feel and look like croissant dough that you get from the store).  Knead dough, then cover and let it rise in a warm place for 1-1 1/2 hours (or until double in size).

Punch down dough.  Divide the dough in half, roll first half into 12 inch circle.  Cut into wedges using a pizza cutter.  Continue reading below for instructions to make them into smores!

Smores:
50 pieces of chocolate
6 graham crackers crushed
100 mini marshmallows

Take one wedge of dough and place a piece of chocolate in the middle.  Add one marshmallow on each side of the chocolate.  Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of graham crackers on top of chocolate.  Roll up croissant starting with the wide end.  Place smore croissant on baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.

After all croissants have been topped and rolled, cover and let rise for 1 hour.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-15 or until golden brown.

Episode 3: Blueberry Crumb Bars

A little treat now and then doesn't hurt.  We have been successfully eating healthier by not eating out and by not eating foods that have preservatives in them.  So far our diet consists of a lot of fruits, veggies, homemade breads, made-from-scratch meals, and a lot of water.  Believe it or not, we were able to not spend as much on this months grocery bill by buying a majority of fruits and veggies.  We also bought a lot more fresh meats products then we normally do.  The combination of grocery savings and the savings from not eating out, will help out the bank account.  For brunch today I decided to make "Blueberry Crumb Bars".  I used frozen (not fresh) blueberries for the recipe.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures during the process but the one picture that I have and that really counts is the final product picture!

Recipe:

Yields around 36 bars (9x13 in pan)
Dough
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
zest of lemon

Filling
Juice of one lemon
4 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix in medium bowl sugar, baking powder, and salt then add egg and butter.  Mix butter into bowl with a dough cutter.  Add lemon zest and mix.  Dough will be crumbly.

Take half of dough mixture and layer the bottom of a 9x13 greased pan.

In another medium bowl, squeeze the lemon juice over a mixture of sugar and cornstarch.  Stir.  Add blueberries and continue stirring until all the blueberries are covered in the sugary liquid.

Pour the blueberry mixture in the pan and spread evenly.  Take second half of dough mixture and spread out evenly on top of blueberries.

Place pan in oven and cook for 45 minutes or until top is slightly brown.  Let cool completely before cutting.

Mahalo!

Episode 2: Bread Making

Recently I started training for my first marathon in December.  With that, I decided to start eating a little healthier by not eating out, cutting back on the amount of chicken/beef that I eat, and not eating any foods high in sugar or prepared foods.  This means that I must spend a lot more time in the kitchen preparing my own meals and making almost everything from scratch.  Today I started out by making three different types of bread.

Bread 1: White Breakfast Bread
This will replace having to purchase loaves of bread from the store.  Mine is much healthier and tastier!

Recipe:

One (1 1/2-pound) Loaf
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons Dry Milk
3 3/4 cups Bread Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

Bread 2: Mini Picnic Rolls
These will be used for lunch with sandwich meat or as a side with dinner.  They have cornmeal in them, which makes them very dense and gritty.  Very tasty and goes well with soups.

Recipe:

Yields around 24 Rolls
2 2/3 cups Bread Flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons instant yeast dissolved in 1 tablespoon warm water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup Dry Milk
1/4 cup dried potato flakes
1 cup water

Bread 3: Soft Pretzels
Of course these will be used as desert with dinner! Unfortunately I will be eating these without any toppings, such as my favorite, Cinnamon Sugar!

Recipe:

Yields 12 Pretzels
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups flour
Dip-In Before Baking:
2 cups water
2 tablespoons baking soda

Here's to healthier eating and strong training!

Episode 1: Making a Banana Cream Pie

On today's episode, I will attempt to make a Banana Cream Pie from scratch.  There is only one issue; we are out of eggs!  Watch as I alter the recipe and try my best at making one of Grandma's favorite recipes.









Ingredients:

3/4 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

3 egg yolks, beaten

     (Alt. 1 mashed banana + 1/2 tsp baking powder)

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 (9 inch) pie crust

2 bananas, sliced

EPISODE 1 VIDEO

EPISODE 1 PICTURES

Ingredients:

Finished Product: