Cinnaburst Bread Copycat

I don't know how many of you have been to a Great Harvest Bread before or if you have tried their Cinnaburst bread, but it is the bomb. I love Great Harvest...especially the one in Rexburg. This is the only picture I could find online. The store is so cute, though! There is one here in Liberty Lake and it is all modern and boring.

I have actually made this bread and it is pretty close to the real deal, but not quite. I did find that if the cinnamon chips are at room temperature they will melt when you mix them into the dough. I suggest freezing them before you use them.

Anyway, here is the recipe. (Recipe and photos courtesy of this lady. I just found the recipe on pinterest.)

Great Harvest Cinnaburst Copycat Bread

1 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk 

1/3 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast (1 pack)

1/3 cup oil (I used veggie oil)
1/2 T salt
1 egg
4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup cinnamon chips

• In mixer combine yeast, sugar, and warm water and milk; let bubble for about 5 minutes. 
• Add in oil and egg. 
• Slowly add 2 cups flour, mix and then add salt. 
• Add 1/2 cup flour at a time until it comes away from side of bowl. Add the cinnamon chips when it gets close to the right consistency. The dough will be very sticky but the softer the dough the lighter the bread. So use the least amount of flour you can handle. 
• Let rise in mixing bowl for about 30 minutes. 
• Form into loaf (or whatever shape you want).
• Let rise and additional 30 minutes. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. 

 Makes 2 loaves

BBQ Meat Balls

I don't know if this is a holiday recipe or not, but it is good for parties or large family gatherings. You could have it for dinner with some sides too, I suppose. Anyway, this is a recipe I stole from the Muir family. They are delicious! Tyler and I always go to town on them at family gatherings :).

Mix together in bowl:

13 oz canned milk

2 lbs ground beef

2 cups oatmeal

2 eggs

1 cup chopped onions

½ tsp garlic powder

2 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

½ tsp chili powder

Make into small balls on cookie sheet. (Karen puts the balls really close together  because it is MUCH easier to put the sauce on, and I think they taste better that way.)

Mix in separate bowl:

2 cups ketchup

1 ½ cups brown sugar

2 T liquid smoke

½ tsp garlic powder

½ cup chopped onions

Poor sauce over meatballs.

Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

As for a Christmas memory....

I remember a Christmas soon after we moved to Washington where I found out mom's present stash in her closet. The presents had notes on them saying whose gifts were whose. (I suppose it would be hard to remember with all those girls!) Anyway, after I looked at several gifts I came out and found Kristin in the kitchen. I told her she was getting some kind of barbie for Christmas and she was so mad at me for telling her what she was getting. I remember thinking, why doesn't she want to know? Ha ha! Kids.

For the Holidays....Yams!

So I was thinking we should all post a "Holiday" recipe for the up coming Holidays. Even if it is one we all know a classic Weathers recipe or even if it is a new one we haven't tried, just post something so we can have them on the blog. What is your favorite Holiday recipe? Post it :) And I guess if we are making this a Memories blog too then post a favorite Holiday Memory too!

I thought I'd post a Yam recipe for my Holiday post and then Mom requested my Yams recipe for someone who wanted it (I think some one at work wanted it), she calls it sweet potato pie, I just call it yams, but whatever.

So here is my recipe, given to me by a good friend from Indy.

Sweet Potato Pie/ Holiday Yams:

2-4 large yams- peeled cut and boiled until tender
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup softened or melted butter or margarine
1 tsp of vanilla
1/4 tsp of salt
2 eggs beaten

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1/3-1/2 cup of melted butter drizzled

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Peel, cut up and boil Yams until tender.
In a large bowl add all ingredients (except topping) and blend with a blender or use kitchen-aid to mix together.
Pour into a 9x13 baking dish spread it out evenly.
Mix topping ingredients together in a separate bowl (except the melted butter)
Sprinkle topping evenly across the Yams mixture in the pan and then drizzle the melted butter evenly over the topping.
Bake for 30mins or until bubbling and topping looks crispy.

Suggestions:
instead of melting the butter for the topping I just used softened butter and then "cut" it into the other topping ingredients like the crumbly top for pies, it works the same.  But if you are in a rush and forgot to soften your butter you can always melt it then drizzle it. The recipe called for 1/2 cup of butter for the topping I found that was too much so I lessened it and it's usually somewhere around 1/3 cup maybe but if you like it buttery then 1/2 cup works fine. Oh and Pecans taste the best with this recipe I think, but you may like walnuts better.

You Say Po-tay-to, I Say Po-tah-to

Wendy here.

So I was the one that suggested we call this blog Recipes and Memories.  I know Kristin had wanted to get a recipe blog going for awhile, but I had in my mind a family journal-type blog where we could record memories and eventually print them off in one of those lovely blog books.  So, then I though "Why not combine the two?"  Here's how envision it:  Posts could be just a recipe, just a memory or a combination of both.

Here goes my combo entry:

Potato Salad

Mom's potato salad.  Remember how it involved peeling a ton of potatoes?  I always thought she put waaay too many onions and pickles.  And oh, how I hated the addition of pickle juice.  Even with all those "faults" mom's potato salad has spoiled me.  I have a hard time eating someone else's without thinking something is amiss.  And don't even get me started on store bought potato salad--it tastes like chemicals.  Slimy chemicals!

Mom has her signature potato salad and I have been aiming to develop and become famous for my own version.  (True story: I took this salad to at least three pot lucks this summer alone.)  It's nothing like mom's but I think it's just as tasty in it's own way. 

Before I give you the recipe, I need to apologize for my lack of specificity.  I remember it used to drive my teenaged self to the edge of sanity when Mom would instruct me to add "some" of an ingredient to what we were making for dinner.  "How much is some?" I would demand.  Time has taught me how to know the amount of "some" needed when cooking.  Or maybe it was Mom.

Well, if you need specific measurements, you will just have to go ask Betty or Martha.  Here is my unexact recipe for potato salad.

Ingredients:
Some potatoes (I prefer red potatoes, baby ones if they are on sale, but any will do.)
Some Greek yogurt (It depends on how many potatoes you use.)
Some green onions (I prefer green onions, but I've used red and yellow too.)
Some fresh dill
Salt and pepper

Preparation:
1. Cut potatoes into bit sized pieces and boil until tender.
2. Chop onions and dill
3. Drain potatoes.  (I like to spread them out on a cookie sheet and let them cool for a bit before mixing everything.  I think that's just because I can't stand the thought of mixing hot food with yogurt.  If you're in a hurry, you can even put the cookie sheet in the freezer for a bit!)
4.  In a bowl mix together potatoes, onions, dill and yogurt.  (If you want you can add some regular mayo, but I found it tastes just fine without any mayo.)
5.  Salt and pepper to taste.
6.  Chill and enjoy!

It's so simple, but so yummy.  Since it has super healthy Greek yogurt in it, you can rationalize eating as much of it as you like!

Classic Meat Loaf

This is Mom's Meat Loaf recipe, it's pretty much the classic recipe but with a small twist.

Classic Meat Loaf:

Ingredients:

1lb. of extra lean ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup quick cooking Oats
1tsp of salt
pepper to taste
1 onion (optional :)
3/4cup of shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)

Topping: 1/3 cup Katsup
               1/4 cup Brown sugar
               1 1/2 tsp mustard


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix all ingredients together (except topping) in a large bowl. Use a Kitchen aid to mix well or use your hands, this helps especially with the cheese. Press meat mixture in a loaf pan and place in the oven. In a small bowl make topping by mixing together the three ingredients. Pour topping on top of meat after it has cooked in the oven for 5-10mins or until the top does not look all pink. Cook the loaf for another 45-50 minutes or until there is no pink inside. (total cooking time about an hour)

Side notes:
I use extra lean ground beef because I add cheese and that has a lot of grease in it. If you don't add cheese you don't need such a lean beef.
For a faster cooking time separate into tiny loafs and place on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil. I usually do this and make about 5 small loafs/patties. I cook them for 5 mins then add the sauce on top of each individual one then I cook for another 25-30 minutes or until I can see no pink inside (I cut open the biggest loaf and check it that way)

Serve with mashed potatoes and a green veggie for a classic home cooked meal.

Baked Beans (Tyler's favorite :)

Okay Kim has literally asked me for this recipe three times now :)

This is my baked bean recipe, or we call it sweet chilli (Actually Marty gave this recipe to me). My kids love it and we usually serve it with corn bread.

Baked beans (Sweet Chilli):

Ingredients:

~1 large can of Bush's Bake Beans (original recipe)
~Add any other can of beans you like ( up to five cans)
          I usually use: 1 can of red kidney beans, 2 cans of black beans,
                               2 cans of Great Norther beans (If you cant find these
                               use another type of white beans), and 1 other can of
                               beans of my choice something I have in my cupboard.
~1lb. of lean ground beef (cooked)
~1/2 package of bacon (cooked and crumbled)
~3/4 cup Brown sugar
~1/2 cup Katsup
~1 tsp of salt
~2 tsp of vinegar
~1Tb of mustard (I usually don't add this, but that's my preference)

Directions:

First, Brown the ground beef and cook the bacon.
Second, drain and rinse all beans (yes, rinse them all very well) except the Bush's Baked beans.
Third, throw in all the beans and meat into the crock pot.
Fourth, add remaining ingredients in the crock pot and mix together.
Fifth, bake in crock pot on low for 9 hrs. or High for 4 hours.

Serve as a side at a BBQ or for a main dish with a side of corn bread.

Side notes: If I serve it as a side dish I omit the ground bee and just add the bacon.This can be vegetarian if you omit the ground beef and bacon and uses Bush's baked beans w/o bacon in it.

Corck Pot Italian Chicken

Okay I guess I'll be the first to Post a recipe or two or three, since I'm sitting here with my recipe box out I might as well type up a few to put on here. We will see how many I get done.


Here is a new Favorite of ours: Italian Chicken in the crock pot. 

I mostly love this because it is so easy and I think it tastes great too.

 (image courtesy of The Daily Blarg)

Ingredients:

~ 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (Yes, you can put them in frozen! I just cut them in half if they are really big)
~1 large (28 oz.) can of diced tomatoes (you may use the Italian flavored if you like)
~2 cups of sliced fresh mushrooms
~1 can of quartered Artichoke hearts
~1 can of olives sliced (I usually only do half a can, too much olives if you use the whole can)
~1/4 cup of chicken broth
~1 onion diced
~3 cloves of garlic minced
~2 1/2 tsp of dried basil
~1 tsp of dried oregano
~2 tsp of salt
~1 tsp of pepper
~3 Tb of heavy cream (optional)

Directions: (this could get complicated ;)

Throw everything in the crock pot (except the cream) and cook on Low for 9 hours OR on High for 4-5 hours. (Told ya this is very complicated)

An hour before serving, shred the chicken in the crock pot and you can add the cream if you choose to at this time. Also this is when I taste test and add any more seasonings (I like lots of basil) if needed.

Serve over pasta (or rice) with a side of green veggies.

That is it! It's quick to throw together in the crock pot and easy to serve up.

Start Sharing!

Thanks for the input on the blog ladies. I think it is pretty much finished and ready to go. So, start posting those recipes! Remember when you do a new post/recipe make sure to "label" the post so we can keep all the recipes orginized. You label a post by clicking on the "Labels" button to the right of where you type your post. If you look to the right on the main blog page there are a bunch of labels I already chose. Please use those exact spellings to label your post and if you think of a new label that needs to be added feel free to do so. Also, you can use more than one label on a recipe/post. For example, if you post a chicken alfredo recipe label it under "Poultry" and "Main Dishes". If you have any questions feel free to ask. Anyway, thanks and happy posting!

Work in Progress

Here is the recipe blog...we are working on it! Please give suggestions for the title. Thanks!