Dump Cake | The Pioneer Woman Cooks | Ree Drummond

Dump Cake | The Pioneer Woman Cooks | Ree Drummond.

I have not made this, but the post is hilarious and I feel like my friend and I could be saying these things to each other. That makes me laugh even more!

What I did today is take a golden cake mix, added 2 eggs, pureed raspberries and a little bit of applesauce to get the measuring cup from 1/4 cup oil to 1/2 cup liquids. Then I threw in some ground flax seed and a handful of coconut, poured in about 1/2 bag (probably a little more) of chocolate chips, stirred it together. Using a cookie scoop, I got 3 dozen cookies formed. Baked in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. I'd share a picture but the camera is off camping! They smell incredible!

Updated: 10/14 I took pie filling from the country store, added more cranberries and apple, some brown sugar, applesauce and apple pie spice, then did the cake thing and butter on top. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll post a picture if it's yummy!

Ree says you can do any combination of fruit with her Dump Cake, so I'm brainstorming on what to do. I love Bakers Choice Cherries, so might just do all cherry...that would be delish I think...but I'll wait until I lose these extra pesky 5 lbs.

Orange Scones

Monday's sure can be a drag, especially coming off a busy weekend. I'm still recovering, and am just tired. My oldest finished math a little early and cranked out these delicious scones. We all enjoyed a tea break before Latin for one, math for another, and grammar for another.

Orange Scones

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Yield: 8 scones in a scone pan

Ingredients

For the scones:

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour


• 1/2 cup granulated sugar


• 1/4 tsp kosher salt


• 2 tsp baking powder


• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, cubed, softened


• 1 large egg


• 1/4 cup sour cream


• 1/4 cup orange juice


• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract


• 1 tsp orange zest

For the glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar (plus tiny more if need)


• 3 Tbsp orange juice


• 1 tsp orange zest


• 1 tsp nearly melted butter

Instructions

1. For the scones, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Add in butter. Mix using the beater blade of an electric mixer until it resembles coarse crumbs (you can also use a pastry cutter, if you prefer).


2. Add in egg, sour cream, orange juice, vanilla extract and orange zest. Combine completely.


3. Make a long roll with the dough, using additional flour to make it workable. Score in to 8 even sections.


4. Place one section in to each spot in your scone pan, trying to be careful to not overwork the dough.


5. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Let cool in pan, separate out on to cooling rack set on top of wax paper.


6. For the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, orange zest and orange juice. Spoon orbrush glaze over each cooled scone, allow to set, about 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. ENJOY!

Why I Need Schedules

This day of school is over, at least my part in it. I'm so happy. It was beautiful out and all I felt like doing was going to lunch with my husband, taking a walk, and puttering around. None of those things happened.

Even though nothing I really wanted to do occurred, I'm going to be able to relax tonight with a good feeling of satisfaction. The only reason is: the schedule.

My school schedule is an excel spreadsheet and it starts at 8 am every day except Thursday, but that shifts most weeks to 8 am. It only starts at 8:30 incase we are tired from lingering at church Wednesday night.

All day, every day, I know what I'm supposed to be doing with whom because of the schedule, which we all have a copy of. There is no chaos, guessing, calling out to people who are surprised it's time for them to come work...the key to an organized school day here is a predictable plan. I'm so thankful for it because in spite of the daydreaming that kept capturing my attention, the schedule reeled me back.

Aside from the school schedule, my laundry schedule is my little accountability partner. My memory is terrible, and the less I have to rely on it, the better. My feelings about laundry are equally unreliable. I do not like doing laundry, but I do like having an orderly home and that means clothes that are clean and ready to wear when needed. Taking pleasure in providing this key staple of care to my family is the motivation to stick with my laundry plan. One day my children will be on their own, fending for themselves, but sweet memories of growing up, where they are equipped to 'do it all on their own but don't HAVE to', are what I'm hoping to instill. These years of learning cannot be the years of cooking for themselves, cleaning all the things they interact with, managing all their money etc. It is too much on a child's mind to have to manage all of that; that is why God designed the family with a mother at the helm of daily living. "Let me do that for you," is a blessed thing to be able to say to kids who toil all day with academics and which need down-time to be kind to their siblings, pray, exercise, and just have some fun.

The schedules allow me down-time, but also make it so my kids get the time 'off' which they need. It also means that if I have chores for them to do, it is clear how long they are doing them so their whole day isn't wrought with working.

-ACL

Note: My first excel spreadsheet style schedule was created in 2008-2009 when my children were quite young. The only year we began without one was a disaster, and the kids were asking for one in short order. The schedule is not a quickly created project, so if you are trying to make one and want a template, please email me.

Today's new recipe--Easy Artisan Bread. Mix 3 cups warm water, 1.5 TBSP salt, 1 TBSP yeast, and 6.5 cups flour together lightly. Cover and let sit for 2 hrs. Shape in to 4 grapefruit sized balls and let rise for 40 mins or so. Add a little more flour as needed (especially if you use freshly ground flour). Bake in a steamy 425 degree oven for 20-30 mins. You can get the oven steamy by spraying the walls and quickly shutting it when you put the bread in, or add some water to a cast iron skillet that is already in the hot oven.

Ice Cream Cake (peanut free)

If you have a child with a nut allergy, it pretty well eliminates purchasing an ice cream cake for their birthday. At least around here, DQ and Carvel carry a risk. Here is an easy way to make your own. You'll need several hours but the labor is easy, it's mostly time in the freezer. I decorated this one while it was in the freezer since the Turkey Hill ice cream was melting fast. The flavors were great though--Homemade Vanilla and Dutch Chocolate.

Supplies:

offset knife or flat spatula
spring form pan
spatula
two 1/2 gallons of ice cream (I prefer vanilla and chocolate)
8 oz (or more to taste) Nabisco chocolate grahams (Teddy Grahams or just regular small graham crackers that give you more and are cheaper are fine, too. I imagine you could use Vanilla Wafers for a child who doesn't like chocolate but check for a nut risk)
Magic Shell (can eliminate for a non-chocolate lover)
Cool Whip (2-3 containers, regular size)
optional but nice--piping equipment, even just a bag and a coupler without a tip can look good, but I used a large star tip

Many of today's ice creams have gums (like tara) which keep the ice cream from hardening. If your product isn't rock solid, no need to set it out while you pop the spring form pan in the freezer. Otherwise, while your pan is getting chilled, take out the ice cream to soften on the counter.

How to:
Place spring form pan in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. I put it in and go do lots of other things. Pull it out and spread vanilla ice cream on bottom and up the sides of the pan. Return to freezer for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, put chocolate grahams in a food processor and process until pretty small but not dust. Use a rolling pin/bag if you don't have a food processor.

Take pan out of freezer and cover vanilla ice cream layer to your desired thickness of crushed crackers. Drizzle Magic Shell over the crackers. NOTE-some recipes tell you to completely mix Magic Shell with the cookies, but be prepared to crack a tooth and need a chain saw to cut through the cake unless you go VERY THIN with this layer.

Return to freezer for 30 minutes or until very firm. Take out and cover with chocolate ice cream, about 1/2 the container. Top with more crushed grahams and Magic Shell if you prefer, or just do grahams here and pop back in freezer for 30 minutes.

Take out and cover with vanilla ice cream, you should use the rest of the 1/2 gallon of vanilla. You can stop here with the layers for now. Put in freezer for an hour. You want this to all really harden up together.

Get a plate big enough for your cake, run warm water over outside edge of pan carefully or take a hot sponge around the edge to help it release. Once you've released the cake, flip it over on to a plate and carefully take off the bottom. An offset knife works well here or any long, thin, evenly graded spatula. Work fast so it doesn't melt too much.

Return to freezer for 30 minutes.

Here you have some flex--you can cover the entire cake with Magic Shell if you are worried about melting, but realize you'll have to use a chop stick to boar little holes for candles if this is a birthday cake. You could do a lattice type design with Magic Shell, or you can just cover completely with Cool Whip and smooth it out. Let this freeze again, and then pipe a nice design on the top. You can use colored non-pariels and sprinkles for a pretty finish.

NOTE-I do not recommend using a full gallon of ice cream, it is really thick and kind of difficult to work with when it comes time to cut and eat. We like it with one and a half gallons more. I used only one container of Cool Whip and was wanting...it really freezes up nicely to mimic whatever Carvel and DQ have on top of their cakes.

*You can put icing as a layer inside the cake as well, just spread on to frozen graham/Magic Shell layer.

Please comment with questions. I know I don't write recipes like a pro!

Eat | Simple and easy Vanilla Butter cake that you should know | Red Brolly

Eat | Simple and easy Vanilla Butter cake that you should know | Red Brolly.

I want to remember to try this recipe, maybe as soon as tomorrow, so here is my way to easily find it! Sounds pretty interesting, doesn't it? Weigh your eggs!

Best Chocolate Cream Pie

This chocolate cream pie holds its shape beautifully. The bottom photo was taken 2 days after the pie was made--the crust was still flaky and there is no running. Just follow the original Crisco recipe for the crust and bake it until golden. I don't worry with weights of any sort--just poke the crust well and it is fine enough. My edges aren't gorgeous either. You want a thick pudding so the slices stand firm when served.

Ingredients:

1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked 4 egg yolks, beaten (or 3 yolks and 1 whole egg) 1 1/2 cups white sugar (I've done 1 1/4 and it is good) 4 tablespoons cornstarch 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 T instant coffee granules or 1 T very strong coffee

1/2 teaspoon salt 3 cups whole milk--go slow with this and cut it off at 2.5 if thickness is ideal by then 1 tablespoon butter 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract pint fresh whipped cream sweetened with a couple T 10x sugar and 1 tsp vanilla, if desired

Directions:

1.	In a large mixing bowl, cream together egg yolks and sugar. Mix in cornstarch, cocoa powder, coffee and salt. Add milk and stir gently. Start with just 2.5 cups of milk.
2.	Pour mixture into a large saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until boiling. If too thick, add the rest of the milk. Remove from heat. Stir in butter  and vanilla extract. Cool slightly, then pour mixture into pastry shell. Chill before serving. Garnish with whipped topping.

Orange Sweet Rolls

Copied from this blog:

http://www.howdoesshe.com/sweet-glazed-orange-roll-recipe/

I'm going to make these tonight and cannot wait! The dough is nearly finished! JOY!

*I ended up making something similar...I needed to make sandwich bread, so just did a double batch using Mark Bittman's sandwich loaf recipe, adding an egg to it (Found in "How to Cook Everything", the yellow cookbook with tons of reliable recipes) and spread softened butter on the rolled out dough. (My dough was made using hard red wheat (6 c.) and 1 c. store bought white flour.) Then I sprinkled it with Sucanat with Honey, some brown sugar and softened orange peel.  I just went by the look because I wanted these to be less sweet than the cinnamon rolls I recently made. I did add a touch of cinnamon. For the glaze-- about 1/4 of a block of softened cream cheese, ~ 3 TBSP softened butter, ~1 1/2 c. powdered sugar, a drop of heavy cream and enough real maple syrup to get the consistency to being spreadable. After baking, I turned the rolls over to cool slightly and while warm, spread the glaze so it would melt down over them. Once these are refrigerated, you can put them back in their baking pan if you want. (I turn them over on a tray covered with foil). We all liked these and found them more suited to breakfast than a fully sugared cinnamon roll, though those are great for a special Christmas morning treat!

Sweet Glazed Orange Rolls

Ingredients

• Rolls:


• ingredients you will need:



• 1 1/2 cups of milk


• 3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon Sugar


• 1 egg


• 1 Tablespoon salt


• 2 Tablespoons yeast


• 2 cups of warm water


• about 9-10 cups of all purpose flour


• at least 1 cup of butter


• Filling:


• 1/2 cup sugar


• 6 Tablespoons melted butter


• grated rind from one orange


• Glaze:


• 2 cups powdered sugar


• juice of one orange


• Water, to thin

Instructions

1. On a floured counter roll the dough into one large rectangle about 1/4-1/2 inch thick.


2. Bring the filling ingredients to a boil and remove from the heat.


3. Pour the orange filling onto the dough.


4. Spread the mixture evenly over the dough


5. Roll the long edge of the dough, be careful not to pull the dough as you roll it. Gently lift and roll the dough.


6. Use a piece of thread or floss to cut the rolls. Slide the string flat under the dough to 1 1/2 inches (or desired thickness) from the end of the roll, cross the string over the dough and pull. VOILA! Repeat this step until all the rolls are cut.


7. You have two options for baking these rolls.


8. 1. Place each roll in a regular sized muffin tin


9. 2. Place the rolls on a cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. You will generally place 12 rolls on a sheet.


10. Let the rolls raise until they are touching (if using a cookie sheet) or until they have risen well above the muffin tins.


11. Bake the rolls at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes until they are golden brown.


12. Allow the rolls to cool slightly while making the glaze.


13. Mix glaze ingredients and pour over rolls


14. Enjoy!

http://www.howdoesshe.com/sweet-glazed-orange-roll-recipe/

Baking

I've been back to making bread for about a month now. I'm finding it needs to be done twice per week, with at least one batch of rolls. For years if I made rolls, I did the technique where you roll the dough like a snake then tie it in a knot, but I was never thrilled with that type for some reason. Now I just roll up balls of dough and press them down.

 
The bread pictured here is the typical size loaf I'm doing. I've recently moved from mixing in the Zorijushi to just using my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. It is nice to have a little more say in what is going on.

Currently the favorite recipe is from Mark Bittman--his sandwich loaf, using fresh ground hard red wheat, hard white and about 1/2 cup of oat groats ground. The new thing I'm loving is using milk in recipes; when I was allergic that wasn't an option, so I got in the habit 10 yrs ago of not using milk. It, along with egg(s), adds SUCH a lovely, flexible crumb--no need for rice bran extract, extra gluten or xanthan gum.


Cupcakes--nothing special, just a boxed mix and icing, but the kids all loved the piping and sprinkles, so I thought I'd share. They all thought I'd purchased them; sweet how some fun papers and a star tip and sprinkles can brighten up a dessert! One jar of icing will exactly cover 24 cupcakes if you are careful.



Merry Christmas!

Healthy Caramelized Banana-Pumpkin Oatmeal

I wanted to make something low sugar, low gluten, with pumpkin, so did a quick search this morning. With only one student to school today, I've got tons of time on my hands!

I chose a recipe from Annie's Eats and modified it. Her link is at the bottom which uses more traditional ingredients.

This is delicious and could easily work for company, though the banana is a taste that seems more suited to adults. My husband and I devoured this, the kids ate it but weren't in love...not sure how that is, probably the texture of the bananas (heavenly!). The amount of banana doesn't look like it will be enough, but it is. The pumpkin, well, that is a different story. I don't really taste the pumpkin, so think you could add a full cup, reducing another liquid by same amount to accommodate. It does add a subtle, rich undertone in the recipe as written below. If you don't like banana, try apples, peaches or pears. YUM!

Healthy Baked Caramelized Banana-Pumpkin Oatmeal-this can easily be adapted to be completely dairy free, just substitute olive oil or margarine for the butter. If use olive oil, reduce hot water for steel-cut oats by a scant 1/4th cup.

Yield: 10-12 1 cup servings. Pictured below are 4 ramekins with about 1 cup each. The casserole dish shows how much is left after taking this quantity out. (note the place mat made by my daughter!)

Ingredients

1 cup steel-cut oats
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided--does not have to be soft
4 cups very hot water
2 medium bananas, sliced into discs

3 cups old-fashioned oats
¼ cup sorghum, can do scant and fill rest with maple syrup or add 1 tsp maple extract if desire maple flavor
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup stevia (any cup for cup blend), plus 1 tbsp. stevia blend for bananas                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1/4 cup sucanat, plus 1 tbsp. sucanat (for bananas)

2¼ tsp. ground cinnamon, divided

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
Dash each ground cloves and cardamom
½ cup pumpkin puree
½ cup vanilla rice milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

**If desired, sprinkle 2 tbsp. dark brown sugar and a little maple syrup on top before baking.

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Place the steel-cut oats in a large bowl with 4 tablespoons of the butter.  Pour the hot water over the oats and cover the bowl.  Let stand for 20 minutes.


• Meanwhile, make the caramelized bananas.  Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the bananas, 1 tablespoon Stevia blend, 1 tablespoon sucanat, and ¼ teaspoon of the cinnamon to the pan.  Toss gently and cook briefly, about 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let cool.


• After the steel-cut oats have finished soaking, stir in the old fashioned oats,  ½ cup sucanat , sorghum, salt, remaining 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves.  In a small bowl whisk together the pumpkin, rice milk and vanilla.  Stir the pumpkin mixture into the oat mixture.


• Spread the bananas over the bottom of a lightly greased 2 quart baking dish.  Pour the oatmeal mixture on top of the bananas.  Bake for 40-45 minutes.  Let cool in pan with oven door ajar before serving.

Note:

• If you want this crispier and thinner, you can likely use a 9 x 11 baking dish as for a regular baked oatmeal, only you won't have banana to cover the entire bottom. Would be a good size if you only want banana on half. Reduce baking time to 30-35 min and remove when knife comes out nearly clean. It might have to go up to 40 mins.


• For more fiber, add 1/4 cup ground flax seed prior to baking.

Easter Service Invitation Idea

Taking food to neighbors is a pleasant way to invite them to church. It can be hard to find the time to make something fancy, so today instead of a sweet, we made a double batch of  No Fail French bread, substituting one cup of flour with rolled oats and we added a little gluten. This recipe will make 11 small boules that uncooked, weigh 8 oz. (ok, they are basically big rolls). Rather than bake them immediately, they were allowed to rise for 20 mins or so.

It's a small gesture, but attaching a verse and an invitation to church made it easy to go visiting.  I hope this will give you an idea to use on your mission field.  As Christians, we can forget that we alone are the light of the world. Think about that; we know there is wretched darkness, and we know people need the light. But how often we forget that the light of God lives in us because of His Holy Spirit in us, so we are the light in this world. It is also easy to forget how messed up the lives of those without Christ are. People take medication to sleep, then to awaken, they are depressed, they have no purpose, financial struggles aren't uncommon, they live with major fears....there are so many people who feel love is conditional.

The harvest is up to the Lord, we just need to speak the truth and approach folks like we have the cure for their disease, because we do.



This is a double-sided tag, I forgot one ingredient--they are brushed in egg white. We punched a hole in the invitations our church made up and put both on the bags with the bread, using the tie to connect them.

Cakes