Holy Cream Cheese

I hope those who see this do not offend easily. If that is the case I apologize in advance, but this post does make a light humorous touch on religion and is all meant in good fun. That being said, I want to introduce you all to what I have dubbed, The Holy Cream Cheese!

At work there is a new associate, and during her first week she brought in this delicious dish that a relative makes. I took a bite and immediately started rewriting the lords prayer in honor of this cream cheese pastry treat. I got the recipe the other day and have made it for myself, altering it slightly. I will post the official recipe, along with the changes I made myself. I will post my cream cheese prayer at the end.

Ingredients:
3x tubes of flaky crescent rolls
3x blocks of cream cheese
1 stick unsalted butter
sugar
vanilla
cinnamon
milk (maybe)

All right, so one of the best things about this is you don't have to measure ANYTHING!

Preheat your oven to 350.

To start you blend together all of the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and some cinnamon. Add all to taste, add a little, try it, and add a little more depending. Because it's all to taste I did it one item at a time. I also replaced regular granulated sugar with powdered sugar. I did this because I happen to make an amazing cream cheese frosting with powdered sugar, so I knew it would be enjoyed.

I actually stopped at the sugar. My boyfriend, Jay dislikes cinnamon, so I saved that for just the top layer, and I was out of vanilla. Once blended I added just a splash of milk not even 1/4 of a cup, just to thin it a little bit and make it more manageable late for spreading.

Okay so once you have your filling all blended to how you like it, its time to put it all together. Spray down your casserole pan with non-stick cooking spray, or coat it in butter or Crisco, whatever you like for a non-stick surface. Then pop your first roll of  crescent rolls, and lay them out on the bottom of your pan.

Take half of the filling and spread it over the rolls. Between the non stick spray, and the thick filling, this part with bee difficult. Just stay patient, and spread it as evenly as you can.

Then pop the next can, and add a new layer of crescent rolls, followed by the rest of your filling. Spreading out the filling this time will be super easy because the first layer of filling will hold the second layer of crescent rolls in place.

Alright, add the third canister of crescent roll, Then in the microwave, (or on the stove if you prefer) melt one stick of unsalted butter. Then drizzle it all over the top and use a spatula to make sure each pastry triangle is covered. It will gather up between the pastry, don't worry about it, just spread it out as evenly as you can.

Next take your granulated sugar and your cinnamon and dust all over the top.

Bake for 35 minuets in your oven preheated to 350 degrees. After 35 minuets, take it out and smell that sweet cinnamon goodness!

LOOK AT THAT! Oh so good. You are able to dig in almost right away, it cuts easily with a spatula and is great both warm and cold.

It is so simple and easy! Give it a try, play around with the ingredients since it's all just however you like it! This is one backed good that is done by heart, not by head!

And now for the prayer that has already set off way too many laughs!

My taste buds who art in Heaven

Cream cheese be thy name

Thy baked good come

Thy sweet will be done

On my tongue as in my stomach

Give us this day our cinnamon topping

Forgive us eating cheese cake

As we forgive those cheesecake against us

Lead us not into vegetable

But delivers us from Greens

For thine is the cream cheese

The cinnamon,

And the crust,

Forever and ever, amen

Cinnamon Candy

My big sister, over at Burnt Toast likes to give me challenges for Simple Cooking. The other day she challenged me to make a Cinnamon Candy recipe she found. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! I love candy, particularly cinnamon candy. This was a really great and fun recipe. And like the goal of the blog says, simple! You can find the original recipe here.

So lets get started!

Ingredients:

2 cups of sugar

1 cup of water

1/2 cup of light corn syrup

1/2 a tsp cinnamon extract

1/2 a tsp red food coloring

You will also need a candy thermometor. You can get one at Walmart for just under four dollars. :)

Alright! So lets get started. In a pot start cooking the water, sugar, and corn syrup on a medium heat.

Let it cook to a boil on the medium heat, we wanna heat this up slowly. As it rises to boiling be sure to stir it occasionally. Once boiling, place a lid over it and let it cook for three minuets. Go a head and take the lip off then and turn the heat to a medium/high heat. From here on out let it boil, and do not stir. The mixture will thicken severely as it boils. Use your candy thermometer to check the temperature. You want it to be at 310 Fahrenheit, also known as the Hard Crack Point. It will take about 15-20 minuets for it to reach that point, just keep an eye on the thermometer.

Once it's reached the hard crack point, remove the pot from heat and add in your cinnamon extract and red food coloring. Mix well and fast, and be sure it's all well away from your face as the fumes will be strong.

Quickly pour onto a greased baking sheet and using a spatula spread it out so it cover the whole surface.

Using a sharp knife, or a pizza cutter, start to score the sheet of liquid candy into roughly one inch squares. You can cut them as big or as small as you like, however. The gel will trying to form back together, you just have to keep repeating the scoring lines until it's cooled enough for the lines to stay in place. I had some issues with it pushing around on the sheet so mine are all deformed, but the over all shape really doesn't matter.

Let it sit at room temperature till it's completely cooled and hardened. This only takes about ten minuets or so, not too long at all. The pieces break apart easily into their squares, like sugar glass, and that is all there is to it!

The texture is the same you would get in say, jolly ranchers, and things, so just by changing the flavore of the extract this recipe opens up a lot of candies to you, if you want to make others.

Note about the cinnamon, I felt the flavor wasn't enough for me, next time I'll probably add a full teaspoon instead of just half, but it's still very good.

LEFTOVERS! This makes a lot candy.

Who will like this: Children will love this! It's homemade candy, I don't think any kid wouldn't like it! Also, anyone who enjoys cinnamon flavored candy!

That's all there is to it my loves! Go out and enjoy the cinnamon goodness that is this candy!

Alyce Sheahen's Banana Bread

An Introduction to This Recipe:

This recipe started belongs to Cassie's great Grandmother. She never wrote down her recipes. So if a family member wanted it, they had to follow along with her and write it down as she went. Cassie shared this with us on the Simple Cooking Group .

This is actually my third attempt at this recipe, which is why it's taken so long to post a new blog. I have been hell bent on this recipe being the next entry. The first time I attempted it, I cooked it exactly as instructed. The very middle didn't cook at all and the top caved in because of it. The second time I cooked it for longer and on a higher temperature, and it turned into a Banana Brick.

I knew it wasn't my oven, because it cooks everything else just fine. And I was following the recipe exactly. It had to be the pan. Well a few days ago I bought some 9" round pans, and decided to use those instead of the traditional loaf pan. Today I gave it my third try and SUCCESS! I now have banana bread in the shape of round cakes! Enjoy!!!

First, oreheat oven to 350 degrees. Next....

Cream Together:

1/2 cup shortening (See note at bottom of entry on Shortening)

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 bananas

Sift Together:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Little by little add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, mix well, and repeat till all is mixed together well. Don't worry if it is a bit chunky, it doesn't have to be smooth.

Now add in a tsp of vanilla. This is also where you add in nuts if you choose to do so.

Pure dough into pan. If you use a bread loaf pan, as tradition dictates, I suggest splitting it into two pans or cooking half now and half after the first, as the center tends to not cook for me if I place it all in a bread pan at once. Alternately you can use round pans or small casserole/cake pans, they work just as well, and in my experience, the 9" rounds take about half the time to cook.

Whatever your choice in baking dish is, place the dough into it after spraying it with non stick cooking spray.

Place in the hot oven and cook for 40 minuets. If using a more sallow pan like a round pan, keep a close eye on it, it should be ready after about 20 minuets.

When is is all done it make appear slightly under-cooked. This is alright as long as it's ONLY slightly and not drastically under-cooked. You can keep it in the oven for longer, but be careful, because if it gets over cooked it will be dry and not as good. Let it cool for a few minuets then go a head and cut right into it! It's delicious! Especially when its still warm and has butter on it. Hope you enjoy it!

Note on shortening: Shortening and butter were used to replace the use of lard in recipes. The shortening and butter, when melt in the oven, create the little air like pockets we see in cakes, breads, and other baked goods. The most common shortening is Crisco, but you can replace shortening with butter if you like. The ratio for that is..

1 cup shortening + 2 tbs water = 1 cup butter

Roughly a cup for a cup then. It is recommended, however, that if you choose to replace shortening with butter, you chill the batter before cooking it. Butter melts at a lower temperature than shortening does, and in baking, timing is everything. If the butter melts too soon, it can create a problem with the turnout, but chilling the dough and subsequently the butter will help it last a little longer, to melt at a more opportune time.

Who will enjoy this: EVERYBODY! I honestly don't know a single person who doesn't like banana bread unless they have an allergy, in which case, shame on you for eating noms in front of somebody who can't have it!

April's Oreo Balls

Alright this is a wonderful recipe directly from one of our Simple Cooking group members, and one of my best friend's April. They are Oreo Balls. I don't know where she came across this recipe, but Jay and I took one look at it and decided it was a must try. I took pics in hopes it would be yummie enough to be blog worthy and dear lord it really is! So without further ado, the Oreo Balls!

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) package of Oreo Cookies, crushed.

1 (8ounce) package of Cream Cheese, softened.

1 (24 ounce) package of Almond Bark (This can be subsituted for White Chocolate Bark too).

1 (24 ounce) package of Chocolate Bark.

Alright, step one is going to be the hardest thing of the whole process. I'm sorry to be the barer of bad news but you need to crush up the entire package of Oreos into a bowl. It's hard I know but I promise it IS worth it!

Next, make sure your cream cheese is nice and soft, I had to soften mine in the microwave for about 40seconds. Then with a blender or hand mixer, mix the Oreos and cream cheese together well..

Roll the mix into balls, April suggest about the size of a walnut. An ice cream scoop can work wonders for this part, otherwise your hands end up really covered in the stuff. Not that that's a bad thing. You want place the Oreo balls on a cookie sheet and chill in the fridge or freezer for about an hour.

As the hour draws to a close, pull out your double broiler, or whatever you use to melt chocolate, and heat it up. Toss in your almond bark. You want to use at least 3/4 of the package, though I used the entire thing in the end. Melt the bark down and then either with toothpicks in the Oreo balls, or with a tongs, dip the balls into the melted bark and place back on the cookie sheet.

Back into the fridge or freezer for about 20 min. Wash out your pan during this time and rinse well, then go a head and get started on melting your chocolate. When the almond bark is hardened pull the cookie sheet out and drizzle over the Oreo balls with the melted chocolate. Use as much or as little as you like. Chill for another 10 min, and you're ready to eat!!!

These are SO good, delicious, and simple!

Kids will LOVE to make this happy treat. Like the peanut-butter balls, this is a fun messy thing to make, and an easy hand help treat they can march off with the nom on while playing.

ENJOY!!!!

Simple Cooking V-Log One! Baked Ziti and Ceasar Salad!!

Alright everyone, this is it! This is what Jay and I have wanted for Simple Cooking all along. Our ultimate goal has always been to turn Simple Cooking from a a text blog into a V-log. I know it's not the best quality, but this is our very first one and we're SO excited about it! I hope you all enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it, and eating the final results...Jay had some for breakfast this morning as well hahaha!

Also along with posting the V-log here, we ask that you all check out our brand new Simple Cooking Channel on You Tube. So here it is, what everyone's been waiting for! The Simple Cooking V-Log!

I hope you all enjoyed it! Here are the written instructions as promised!

Three Cheese Baked Ziti

Ingredients:

• 1 box ziti noodles
• 2 jars of tomato and basil spaghetti sauce
• shredded mozzarella cheese
• shredded/ground Parmesan cheese
• sliced provolone cheese
• sour cream

Alright so before we really dig in, you want to set a pot of water to boil, make sure it is big enough to cook the entire box of noodles. After that, things move super fast and you really have only about 10 minuets of wait time.Preheat over to 350 degrees Add box of noodles to the boiling pot of water, and cook for about 7-10 minuets until the noodles are al dente (see glossary term at the end of the recipe) Once the noodles are cooked, pour them into a strainer and rinse with cold water until they're luke warm.

Next, get out a baking pan, one you might use for other kinds of casserole, or cakes, etc. and cover the bottom with the cooled noodles.

Add on a layer of sauce, covering the noodles. Place the provolone cheese around the pan on top of the noodles and sauce. Next add on a nice thick layer of sour cream. (Helpful Hint: I like to spread the sour cream on each slice of provolone before putting it into the pan. I learned the hard way what it's like to spread sour cream onto something that is slippery underneath! )
Add another layer of noodles, and another layer of sauce.

The next layer is a nice, thick spread of mozzarella cheese, don't be afraid to cover it all!
Layer on the last of the noodles, and the rest of the sauce once more time. Finally cover the top with the Parmesan, as much or as little as you like, it doesn't matter a whole lot, do it to taste!
When you're all done, put it in the over for 10 minuets, just util it starts to boil at the top a little and the cheese melts. Remove from the oven and serve it up!

Cesar Salad

Ingredients:

• Lettuce
• Parmesan cheese
• Croutons
• Cesar dressing

Break lettuce up wash it up if you choose, fold in Parmesan cheese and croutons, then mix in just enough dressing to coat everything without drowning it all.

There ya go, that's all you need! I hope you all try it and really enjoy it! :)

Three Cheese Baked Ziti

Hello my loves! I know it's been a while since I updated you with so super yummie food, but I promise the wait is well worth it. Today I am giving you Baked Ziti! It's something I've been making for a really long time. This particular version has three different kinds of cheese in it, and is so ooey gooey good I've had friends ask me if I'd make it for them if they bought all the ingredients. So are we ready to rock? Then lets wash our hands and get cookin' !

Ingredients:

1. A box of Ziti noodles (my local stores don't carry it, Mostaccioli works just as well!)
2. 2 jars of your favorite red sauce (I like to use tomato and basil)
3. A package of shredded mozzarella cheese
4. A package of sliced provolone sandwich cheese
5. Parmesan cheese. (You can use shredded but the powdered kind is just fine too!)
6. 16 oz sour cream

Alright so before we really dig in, you want to set a pot of water to boil, make sure it is big enough to cook the entire box of noodles. After that, things move super fast and you really have only about 10 minuets of wait time.

• Preheat over to 350 degrees

• Add box of noodles to the boiling pot of water, and cook for about 7-10 minuets until the noodles are al dente (see glossary term at the end of the recipe)  

• Once the noodles are cooked, pour them into a strainer and rinse with cold water until they're luke warm.

•  Next, get out a baking pan, one you might use for other kinds of casserole, or cakes, etc. and cover the bottom with the cooled noodles.

• Add on a layer of sauce, covering the noodles.
• Place the provolone cheese around the pan on top of the noodles and sauce.
• Next add on a nice thick layer of sour cream. (Helpful Hint: I like to spread the sour cream on each slice of provolone before putting it into the pan. I learned the hard way what it's like to spread sour cream onto something that is slippery underneath! )

• Add another layer of noodles, and another layer of sauce.

• The next layer is a nice, thick spread of mozzarella cheese, don't be afraid to cover it all!

• Layer on the last of the noodles, and the rest of the sauce once more time.
• Finally cover the top with the Parmesan, as much or as little as you like, it doesn't matter a whole lot, do it to taste! 

When you're all done, put it in the over for 10 minuets, just util it starts to boil at the top a little and the cheese melts. Remove from the oven and serve it up! 

As you can see, it DOES NOT come out in a nice layer like a lasagna would, but that's alright, everything still mixes really well together and is still FABULOUS to taste!

LEFTOVERS!!!!: Not only can one box of noodles in this dish feed a few people but there is enough to feed a TON of people! Even when I feed close to seven people on one box (three of which have massive appetites) I still have left overs! This lasts us for a good long while, its wonderful to bring to work or school and its so good cold or hot!

Who will like this:

• People who do not like sour cream!!!: I have a very good friend who loves this meal. I fed this to him several times before I discovered he didn't like sour cream. I asked if he knew I had it in the Baked Ziti and he was floored, he said he couldn't taste it at all. Even now, knowing its in there, he still loves it!
• Children: It's cheesy, ooey, gooey and strings out like mozzarella, so it's really fun. The noodles are small too so that helps kids approach this new dinner idea more easily.

GLOSSARY TERM!!!!! 

For those of you who don't know what "al dente" means. Here is the definition directly from BusyCooks.about.com

Al dente refers to the desired texture of cooked pasta in Italian cooking. It literally means "to the tooth". When the pasta is cooked al dente, there should be a slight resistance in the center when the pasta is chewed.

That is it for tonight, my loves! Cook, and cook for the love of it! Feel free to ask any questions you might have right here OR... on the Simple Cooking Facebook group page! Come join the fun and the conversation! See you all later!

~Alex~

Orange Chicken

This is one of my favorite recipes it takes maybe 20-30 minuets to make, and most of that is the actual cutting up and initial cooking of the chicken itself. Now I know that Orange Chicken is breaded and I will include the breading at the end of this post, but I personally do not use it. I tried to the first two times I made it and we wound up eating more breading than chicken! Anyway, I prefer to just put the sauce directly onto my chicken and my family and friends agree it is better that way. So lets scrub our hands and get cooking!

Ingredients:

• 2lbs of boneless chicken breast. (obviously more if you're cooking for more people)
• Sesame cooking oil or Olive oil (Sesame oil is pricey and really only for more traditional flavoring. Regular olive oil is what I use)
• Rice wine (This too is pricy, and you do not need a lot of it, this will last over the next several times you make this meal. Also, Rice Wine Vinagre is NOT the same thing, do not try to use it trust me I learned that the hard way. You may have to ask a store employee where this is becasue it's in a different location in every store)
• Dried red pepper flakes
• Green onion
• Ginger
• Minced garlic (you can use the pre chopped stuff in a jar if you like or fresh it's up to you as long as it's not dried you want it moist and seemingly fresh :) )
• Soysauce

Alright so lets start to dig in. Go on and pre heat your cooking pan on low and add in a little olive oil just to get it going. It can heat up slowly while you're cutting up the chicken. All you need to do is cut the chicken up into bite sized pieces, small and quick to cook through. Once it's all cut up, toss it in the pan, turn the heat up and saute the chicken till all the pieces are cooked through. If you're unsure, cut open one of the bigger pieces and see if all the pink is gone or not. 

While it's cooking, you can rinse the green onion and use a scissors to cut it up into small pieces. You'll be able to get everything else set up and ready for the next part too.

Once it's all cooked through, put the chicken into a bowl and clean the pan out. Add more olive oil get it medium hot again and add the olive oil once more. Now the fun starts! All of this is to taste there are very few exact measurements here on out.

1. You want to put a good deal of powdered ginger into the pan estimated 2-3 teaspoons
2. Add in roughly 1 teaspoon of the minced ginger and use your spatula to mix it together really well. It'll only take about 15 second before it starts to burn down so mix it quick.
3. Sprinkle in about a handful of red pepper flakes and another handful of the cut up green onion. Mix it all together. It's going to start smelling really good right about now. And this is the trickiest part next.
4. Pour in exactly 1 tablespoon of Rice win... any more and you have to try and counter it's taste...which is really gross in when too much is present.
5. Add in a splash or two of soy sauce
6. Slowly mix it all together in the pan, and  as you do this pour in about 1/4 cup water a VERY little at a time mixing it all together. The goal here is to let it all cook down, you may have to add more ginger to the mix to help thicken it. I personally like a lot of the ginger and that's the main flavor in my Orange Chicken.
7. When the yummie sauce is nice and thick, go on and add in the chicken once more. Push it all over and around, making sure every piece is covered. Once it is all covered in the sauce, and hot again, it's ready to serve!

HELPFUL SUGGESTION!!!: If you're cooking for more people I like to add the chicken little by little, get a small amount covered thickly, place it in a new bowl, make more sauce and coat more chicken. I personally do not mind doing this as it assures all the chicken is coated thickly with lots of flavor. And really it doesn't take any longer than if you were to do it all at once. :)

GREAT MEAL IDEA!!!: Feel like Asian food? Serve this dish up with some rice which is nice and filling, and a big glass of cold milk and you've got a GREAT filling meal.

LEFTOVERS!!!: I have always been in the habit of cooking a ton of food even when I'm not cooking for a lot of people. The Orange Chicken I just "made" is a WONDERFUL leftover! In my opinion, it probably taste better as a next day or two left over, cold from the refrigerator! Mouth watering in my opinion!

Who will like this:

• Children: The pieces are fun and bite sized. They can't really taste the onions or garlic if made correctly and it's not spicy, the pepper just adds flavor! It's small, colorful, and a new way to get them interested in chicken!
• Adults: Adults who are new to Asian food but want to try something will enjoy this. There is no intimidation at all. It's something they're totally familiar with with ingredients they have eaten their whole life! It's a great way to introduce you, your family, or anyone to Asian food!
• Anyone who already enjoys Asian food or even new foods, in general will like this. It's a great twist, a totally new way to serve a classic dish!

Alright as promised here is the things you'll need for breading the chicken if you so choose to do so :)

Ingredients:

• Egg
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil
• Cornstarch
• Flour

Before cooking the chicken, put the cut up chicken into a bowl. In a separate bowl mix the egg, a dash of salt, pepper and a tablespoon of olive oil. Add in 1/2 cup of cornstarch and a 1/4 cup of flour. Go through the rest of the recipe as is above, except when you're mixing the chicken and sauce, add in a little water to the four and cornstarch mixture, about 1/4 of a cup should work, then slowly mix it in with the sauce and the chicken so it all thickens and breads up and gets covered in sauce. And that's how you bread the chicken :)

That's it for my AWESOMESAUCE Orange Chicken! I hope you all enjoy it! Let me know how it turned out for you or any suggestions you've got!

~Alex~