What I made this Christmas (WIMTC)

 My hubby made these.  It's his way of man-i-fying the cookie decorating process!

I love making Christmas cookies each year - but I love decorating them even more!  We're trying to not focus on food over the holidays, but it was fun to keep up this tradition (and give away the majority of the cookies!). 

I used a different type of icing this year and liked it a lot.  Instead of buying something store bought I made a glaze-ish icing.  I saw this idea online and decided to run with it using a basic recipe I keep in my head:

1 bag of powdered sugar
some melted butter ( a couple tablespoons)
a splash of vanilla
a tiny dash of salt (so it's no overly sweet)
milk

I beat everything together, adding the milk until it had a slightly runny consistency.  Then I refrigerated it overnight, and set it out for an hour or so the next day before using it.  The goal was for the icing to spread easily using a pastry brush, but not to run everywhere and make the cookies wet.  I liked it a lot and I think it's my new standard cookie icing!

I made a lot of stuff this Christmas.  Gifts, food, projects for our home, etc.  And I actually took a lot of pictures too - but I never had time to put them up.  So I'll slowly start showing them as I get the pictures on to the computer (first I have to find that cord...). 

Baking Bread

I recently learned how to bake bread... actually using yeast... from scratch.  I'd been intimidated by this for years but always wanted to try!  And let me encourage you - it is MUCH easier than I ever imagined!  You don't have to be Martha Stewart or Paula Dean to be successful =)

Deliah's Pumpkin Nut swirled bread

I would highly recommend any of these bread baking tutorials.  They give simple step by step directions, and best of all they show awesome, inspiring pictures!

Here are some pictures of me making Dana from MADE's Braided Bread (with cinnamon sugar):

MADE Braided Bread

Dana's lovelier bread

Deliah Creates Best Bread Ever

Pumpkin nut swirl - yum!!

The PioneerWoman

Pioneer Woman does them right.  Soooo yummy!

I've made these cinnamon rolls a few times for various events and everyone loves them!  I don't have any pictures of the ones I've made... they didn't last long enough to take a picture!  I did change the icing recipe a bit, leaving out the maple and adding vanilla just because of my personal preferences.  They are even easier to make than the breads above because you don't have to knead the dough at all!

Recipe: Café Olé

I love a plain cup of coffee, but some days it's fun to put a little something extra in it.  I've been making Café Olé for years but I have no idea where I got the name or the idea... which probably means my sister taught it to me at some point!

Ingredients:
Coffee
Cream
Sugar
Cinnamon
Cocoa Powder

Pour yourself a cup of coffee and prepare it to taste like you usually would (cream, milk, sugar, Splenda... whatever you like).  I always use Half n' Half and sugar.

Stir in some cinnamon and cocoa powder to taste.  I don't measure mine but I probably use about a 1/2 tsp. of each.

That's it!  One of the great things about Café Olé is that it's fast and flexible.  Some days I only use cinnamon or only cocoa powder, and right now I'm drinking a mug full made from yesterday's coffee.  Normally I hate leftover coffee but we're out of coffee beans and when I turn it into Café Olé I can't tell that it's not freshly brewed!

Recipe: Easy Chicken & Rice Soup

We've been feeling pretty under the weather lately and have turned to an old staple to battle our colds - chicken and rice soup.  Not feeling up to going to the store for lots of ingredients I decided to use what I had on hand and ended up with something pretty yummy.  I've been making a big batch each Sunday night and we reheat it for meals throughout the week.  My hubby usually hates soup, but he actually likes this one!

Easy Chicken & Rice Soup

Ingredients:
Cooked rice (I use a mixture of white rice and a brown rice/ whole grain mix from Trader Joe's)
Shredded chicken (I boil and shred this in bulk and keep it stocked in the freezer most of the time)
water
poultry seasoning
black pepper
dried bay leaves
onion powder or onion flakes
salt
optional:  sliced veggies such as carrots, celery, onion, etc.

Directions:
Fill a large pot 1/2 full with water
Add shredded chicken and rice
Add seasonings to taste - more poultry seasoning than anything else (I just eye-ball it and use caution.  I add salt to taste in individual servings.)
Bring to a boil, then remove lid and let simmer until soup reduces to desired thickness. 
Remove bay leaves.
Serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top if desired.  Olive bread makes a great accompaniement!

This really is a no-fail recipe.  I never measure anything - I just sort of add it whatever amounts I have of the rice and chicken and the approximate ratios of seasonings that I prefer.  And since I like veggies in my soup but my hubby doesn't, I put in really big chunks of carrots that he can easily pick out.  That way everyone wins!

Recipe: Frozen Banana Bites

This is a really easy snack that I love to make when I've purchased too many bananas and need to use them up quickly.

It only takes two ingredients: Bananas and chocolate =)

1.  Peel bananas and slice.  Lay out on cookie sheet that is covered in wax paper.

2.  Melt chocolate (I use dark chocolate) in microwave in a small zip-lock bag for a short time (45 seconds).  Squeeze chocolate in bag to make sure it is fully melted.  Snip corner of bag.

3.  Squeeze bag and drizzle chocolate over bananas.

4.  Place cookie sheet in freezer until chocolate drizzle is frozen.  Remove from cookie sheet and put into freezer-safe storage container.

5.  Eat frozen whenever you want!  Yum!