So Soft, Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

I love cinnamon rolls, but ah man, why can't I eat them without feeling bad. I decided to make these cinnamon rolls, but add a little whole wheat flour to ease the pain of eating them and comfort my overwhelming sweet-tooth. And I only say that because my metabolism has slowed down quite a bit. I have made cinnamon rolls a lot over the years, but never really had a good one. A few weeks ago, a friend brought over amazing whole wheat cinnamon rolls and we all loved them. I decided whole wheat could be great. While exploring various online recipes, I found one that uses vanilla pudding in the recipe. Turns out, a lot of people use pudding to make cinnamon rolls but usually keep it a secret. This would be the ultimate cinnamon roll! Soft, moist, cinnamon and brown sugar goodness with cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients: (recipe taken from another source, but I added whole wheat flour to it and changed the frosting).

Rolls:
1/2 c. melted butter
2 T. active dry yeast
2 T. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 box of 1.34 oz vanilla pudding
4 1/2 c. flour
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 eggs
1/2 c. warm water

Filling:

1/2 c. melted butter
3 1/2 c. brown sugar
4 T. cinnamon
Reserve butter for dough. Combine sugar and cinnamon together for filling.


Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz pack of cream cheese
3 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 T. milk
Blend until soft and creamy. Add more milk or more sugar to make more of your desired texture.



Dissolve yeast into warm water. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. In large bowl, combine eggs and butter, mix then add salt. Make pudding according to directions. Allow to set in fridge for about 5 minutes. Gradually add flour and mix with other ingredients. Add pudding once set, and mix well. Dough should be very soft and easy to work with. If it is too sticky, add more flour until it is soft and manageable, but no longer sticky. Allow dough to rise for about an hour while covered.
Once ready, roll dough out on floured surface. Add butter over dough and then add brown sugar mixture with cinnamon over buttered dough. Roll up the dough and then cut into slices for each roll. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Take out of oven once slightly golden. Frost and Enjoy!

Mandarin Orange, Grilled Chicken & Apple Salad

This salad combines sweet mandarin oranges, chopped apples, grilled spicy mustard chicken (or any other grilled chicken creation you make) and your choice of vegtables over a bed of romaine lettuce. I loved the colors of the salad blended together, along with the wonderful taste. Here is what I added in addition to main ingrediants.
Chop following:
Tomatos
radishes
sprouts
bacon bits
cucumber
carrots

I love ranch dressing or Italian the best. Add your favorite dressing!
Be creative and add whatever you like. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Blueberry & Plum Muffins

1 egg
1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. vegteble oil
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. oatmeal
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. plum yogurt
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. blueberries, frozen or fresh

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat egg and stir in oil and milk. Mix in remaining ingredients. Gently fold in blueberries Fill muffin cups 2/3 full or grease muffin pan if cups aren't used. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Easy Breakmaker Whole Wheat Bread

We decided with our lovely bread machine we have, to start making our own whole wheat bread. Super easy and came out sooo good! If you stock up on whole wheat flour, yeast, and oil, you will always find ingrediants to make bread. I decided we can also make our own tortillas, scones, pancakes and muffins with the flour as well. Great way to save money!

Whole wheat bread (sorry, breadmaker only recipe)

3 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. yeast
1 1/8 c. warm water
1 T. dried milk (or liquid milk)
1 T. brown or granulated sugar (I will remember to add a little sugar next time)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. canola oil

Dissolve yeast into warm water. Let sit for about 1 minute. Add everything else to bread maker machine and then add water/yeast. Takes about 3-4 hours total in bread machine.

Creamy Avocado/Bean Dip

I got the idea for this on another food blog, but decided to add more beans/spices to it. I used 1 medium sized avocado, 1 can of garbonzo beans(chick peas), 1 can of white navy beans, 1 c. of herdez green salsa, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. onion powder, and about 1 tsp. lime juice. I combined all into blender and puree/mashed until all combined and smooth. This dip came out so great. I love it with baked tortillas. This recipe makes enough for several meals. Can also be eaten with pita-pockets, with chips or on bread.

Tip of the day: Did you know that avocados are high in fat but contain cholestral friendly fat that is good for you. Also, did you know that to have a healthy PH balance, you need a healthy balance of alkaline rich foods in your body combined with acidic foods. Navy beans are extremly high in alkaline.

Favorite Grilled Chicken

I have never really been a big meat eater, particularly of chicken breast. But I have always enjoyed grilled chicken over regular. I created this great marinade using my creative imagination. I took what I had in the fridge and made this great grilled chicken.

Favorite Grilled Chicken

1-2 chicken breasts (use as much or less as you need)
Double ingrediants if needed, but this should be for about 1 large chicken breast to marinade).
2 T. Spicy Brown Mustard
1 T. Worchesershire sauce
1 T. Steak sauce
1 tsp. onion powder

Let marinade over chicken breast(s) in fridge for about 1 hour. Either take entire chicken breast and grill in foreman grill or on stove, or cut chicken into cubes or strips and grill over medium high heat. Enjoy!

Healthy Grilled Chicken Wraps

These wraps are so easy to make and absolutey delish! I used costco's flour tortilla dough, the kind you need to bake or fry, grilled chicken which I made a great marinade of steak sauce, worchestershire <(?)sauce, and spicy brown mustard combined (see recipe). I grilled the chicken and it had a great kickin flavor. I added sprouts, zero cholestral/saturated fat pepperjack cheese (my favorite now), a great avocado bean dip (see recipe), a splash of lime juice, chopped cucumbers, and my favorite, the 'ol tomato.