Cinnabon Clones!

I searched through many Cinnabon clone recipes and decided this one seemed like the best. There were literally about 350 reviews on it and they were all raving about how moist and yummy and exactly-like-the-real-thing they were. I made them the other day and thought they were pretty good but I need to figure out a way to make them more.....gooey? Anyway, this is the recipe with a couple modifications that I made after taking tips from all the reviews.

Ingredients:

1 package dry active yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

1 cup warm milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

4 cups all purpose flour

Filling:

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 1/2 tbsp cinnamon powder

1/3 cup butter, softened

Icing:

8 tbsp butter, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup cream cheese, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

Mix the yeast into the warm milk. In a big bowl, combine the sugar, salt, eggs, butter, flour and yeast and mix well to form the dough. If you think it's way too sticky, add a little bit of flour at a time while mixing. Knead the dough for a few minutes, put in a big bowl and cover with a towel and set aside to rise. I put mine in the oven after turning it on for a bit and sticking a bowl of water in there and then turning it off. I left mine in there for a couple hrs to rise. It should be double its original size.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface until its about 20 inches by 16 inches. It should be about 1/4 inch thick. Spread the softened butter over the entire surface of the dough and then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the butter. If you want you can add crushed pecans here too. Carefully roll up the dough from the long end. Cut the dough into about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch thick rounds. Some people said they used string or floss. I just used a serrated knife and didn't press down very hard in order to maintain the round shape. Place in a lightly greased baking dish. At this point, some people had let the rolls rise again before baking them, but I was growing impatient so I just baked them at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

To make the icing, combine all the ingredients and mix with electric mixer until fluffy. Ice and enjoy. You can also add more pecans on top when finished.

Whateveryouwannacallit/Easy Chicken&Rice Pulao-ish thing.

My khala saw this on some desi cooking show (I think) and then my mom tried it out and I thought it was great and sooo easy! It's great for leftover rice, too!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb or 1 lb chicken breast, cut into small cubes

1 large onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 tbsp garlic-ginger paste

tandoori masala

BUTTER :)

lemon/lime juice

sliced green onions

chopped cilantro

If you have a cup or two of leftover rice you can use that, otherwise, boil up a couple cups of rice, until cooked but firm, not very soft or mushy.

Sautee the chicken over high heat, with garlic-ginger paste and a tsp or two of tandoori masala, in a couple tbsps of butter until cooked. Remove and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium, add more butter to the pan and some oil if you want and throw in the onions and sautee for a minute or two. Add the bell peppers and sautee another few minutes until they just start to get a little tender. Throw in the chicken chunks and the rice and add a few more tsps of tandoori masala and stir well. Let it all cook together for a minute or two until the rice is warmed through, then add a couple tsps of lemon juice to taste. Taste for salt. Turn off the stove, and add a couple more slices of butter, the chopped green onions and cilantro. TADA! This literally took me like 15 minutes to make, fresh boiled rice included!

V8 Beef Stew

Ive made this many times and always messed around with the ingredients. I feel the barbecue sauce gives it a smoky flavor, but skip it if you like. I saw some recipes online that brown the cubes first. You can do that too if you like, but I've never done it before.

All in all, I feel this is an extremely easy recipe thats good too. Just toss it in the cooker, and forget.

1 pound cubed beef
2 1/4 cups chopped potatoes
1 cup chopped carrots
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 large can V8 juice
Black Pepper
3-5 dashes of hot sauce (As spicy as you'd like it)
Oregano
Barbecue Sauce

Just put all the ingredients in a slow cooker and let cook on low for 10 hours. Or you could use a regular pot, and add in all the ingredients but the vegetables. Add the vegetables after an hour or so of cooking.

Just make sure the stew has become thick before serving. It should be a stew, not a soup.