Name Change.

OK, so I just changed the name of my blog....Stephanie's Smokin Recipes was good...but as I started thinking about my blog, I realized that it didn't really describe what I am about and what my purpose is with this blog. My recipes are not about creating from scratch, but rather putting my own spin on existing recipes. It may be recipes from my mom or another person...a book, magazine...or somewhere else...but with each new recipe I try, I like to do something to make it different from what it was....put my spin on it and make it my own...so with that being said I have changed the name to Stephanie's Recipe Spin :)

Its a super stuffed Monday!

      Monday's always seem to be hectic...no matter what it is you have to do...no matter how little or how much. I was actually having a really hard time choosing today's Menu....nothing sounded good...nothing looked good...nothing jumped out and said COOK ME! I was flipping through recipes when the one for Super Stuffed Potatoes waved at me! I decided it would go good with some Broccoli and cheese, sweet rolls and a nice homemade vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting.

This can actually be a very quick meal made in 30 mins....just omit making the rolls from scratch (store bought works just as great!) and get an already made cake or just a regular old mix.....or you can take the semi long way around...and do it like I did :)

So first we will start out with our Rolls. These are Homemade Sweet Dinner Rolls and I made them using my bread machine...BUT..don't  fret..if you don't have a bread machine, you can still make these YUMMY rolls. 

To make rolls without a bread machine:
Dissolve your yeast and 1 tbsp of sugar in warm water, let it sit for just about 10 min. While that is sitting,  warm your milk in saucepan until it just begins to bubble. Remove from heat, stir in sugar and butter until completely melted and cool to about lukewarm. Combine your yeast mixture, milk mixture and egg  in a large bowl. Stir in flour a little at a time and knead on lightly floured surface, about 10 mins. Cover the same with a clean dishcloth and let rise about 1 hr in a warm place.

Sweet Dinner Rolls

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)       
  
• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup butter, softened 

• Place water, milk, egg, 1/3 cup butter, sugar, salt, flour and yeast in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough/Knead and First Rise Cycle; press Start.

 (Tip: Once you have added your flour, make a little indentation pocket in the top for your yeast to go in!)

• When cycle finishes, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 12 inch circle, spread 1/4 cup softened butter over entire round. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Roll wedges starting at wide end; roll gently but tightly. Place point side down on ungreased cookie sheet. Cover with clean kitchen towel and put in a warm place, let rise 1 hour.(My oven was still warm from when I baked by cake, so I just set them in there and let them rise! It did GREAT!) Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). 

 

 

• Let bake about 15-20 mins or until golden brown :)

 

 

What I did was get all my ingredients in the bread machine and then I worked on my cake.

So next we will talk about making the homemade yellow cake with Vanilla buttercream frosting.  This really was easy to make and IMO didn't not require any more effort then making a regular cake. I will say that the cake could have been a little more moist, but I do believe that was my fault and done by overcooking slightly. For anyone who tries this recipe please let me know how it turned out for you....and if you have any suggestions..I am ALWAYS open to suggestions!

Homemade Yellow Cake:

Ingredients:                                            

2 c. flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
3/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees, grease and flour either two round pans or a rectangle cake pan(which is what I used.        
  

•  In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Next sift together your flour, baking powder and salt.

• Add half of your flour mixture slowly to your butter mixture, once you have it mixed well, add half of your milk and all of your vanilla and mix well

• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

• Add the remaining flour mixture,  and then the rest of the milk. Mix until you have a smooth consistency

• Fill a greased, floured baking pan or 2 layer pans no more than half full.

• Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes until cake springs back when lightly touched near center or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

Ingredients:                                                                       
1 (16 oz) package of powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
3 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla


Beat sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla with electric mixer at low speed until well blended amd smooth. If the frosting becomes too thick you can add more milk by teaspoonfuls until it is the desired consistency. This will make about 2 1/2 cups of frosting.

Now...this frosting for me, was a tad on the sweet side...but the hubby and kids all liked it...and my husband usually isn't one for overly sweet things. Mine was also thin because I did add extra milk in the hopes of toning down the sweetness some, but I think the thinner icing works well for this cake.

Next we are going to move on to our main course, SUPER STUFFED POTATOES, with cheesy broccoli as the side dish!!! mmmmmmm! I only did one side dish with this meal because of the meat and potato being used as the main dish, I figured adding anymore sides would just be overkill!
This was actually the first time I had ever made these, and they are definately on the list of must make again. They were so filling and delicious...and when the weather starts to get colder, these will be PERFECT for warming you up.
 

Super Stuffed Potatoes                                                         

 Ingredients:

4 small potatoes (2-1/4 lb.)

1 lb.  ground beef

1/4 lb. (4 oz.) VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 small  tomato, chopped

2 green onions, sliced

1/2 cup  BREAKSTONE'S Reduced Fat or KNUDSEN Light Sour Cream

Prick potatoes in several places with fork. Microwave on HIGH 14 min. or just until tender, turning after 7 min.   

Meanwhile, brown meat in large skillet; drain.

Add VELVEETA, tomatoes and onions; cook until VELVEETA is melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently.





Split potatoes; mash insides with fork. Top with meat mixture and sour cream.

I seasoned my meat with Lawry's season salt as it was browning...I season all my meat! I also put a little butter and season salt on each potato before I topped it with the meat mixture. I doubled this recipe (because 4 servings is not nearly enough of ANYTHING for my family) and it was no problem at all to double. Everyone really loved it, especially the kids...they told me to be SURE and make it again!

Cheesy Broccoli:
               When you are doing your weekly grocery shopping, be sure and pick up this

Simply follow the directions on the bag and that's it! This will be the easiest thing you make allllllll day!











And don't forget to frost your cake so that when you are done with this delicious dinner you can have dessert!

I hope everyone really enjoys these recipes! It really is a hearty meal made in just a short time.

Please give me your feedback...and as always..Happy Cooking!

Until Tomorrow.....

The Perfect Sunday Dinner.

I love when I can use my crockpot, especially on a sunday...throw all your ingredients together and let them cook! Then when dinnertime comes all you have to do is serve :) Today we had My momma's roast beef, white bread and for dessert it was granny smith apples with warmed caramel. 

This Roast Beef recipe is the one my mom always made when I was growing up...and still does...I have added my own touches to it, as I try to do with every recipe..it was a family favorite then, when I was a kid, and its a family favorite now with my family. You can pick whatever kind of  boneless beef  you would like for this, this time around I used a Boneless Bottom Round Beef Rump Roast.

My momma's Roast Beef

What you will need:                                                                

Beef, cut of your choice

2 Pkgs Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Vegetable Oil

Salt and Pepper

1 stick of butter

All Purpose Flour 

4 Cups Water

about 6 regular sized potatoes

half of a regular sized bag of baby carrots

First get your crock pot ready and set it on the high setting. Put about 1/3 oil in a skillet at heat.

Rinse your roast off with water and place on a plate and then salt and pepper to taste.

Mix both packages of Lipton onion soup mix with your 4 cups of water.

When your oil is hot, use Lg forks to place roast in skillet (You will most likely get a lot of popping and splattering of oil at this point, so once you have quickly but gently set your roast in the skillet, back away until the popping lessens.)

Brown roast on all sides

Once roast has been browned on all sides, remove from skillet and place in crockpot.

Now to make the gravy, mix your flour in with your hot oil in the skillet, the exact amount of flour is going to depend on how you want your gravy, start out adding little amounts of flour at a time to avoid over flouring, this is easier then trying to add oil later if you added too much flour.

When your oil and flour mixture becomes dark brown, add the Liption Onion Soup mixture to the skillet and stir continuously.

Keep stirring until the gravy has reached the consistency of a creamy soup, and then pour over roast.

Take your stick of butter and cut it into 3rds.  Add 1/3 of a stick of butter to the top of the roast and coat each side of the roast with the butter, once you have done this let the remaining butter fall into the gravy and stir.

 

Cover and let cook on high for about an hour.

Now for the Vegetables!

Peel your potatoes and cut into wedges, about 16 per potato (you don't want them too big or I swear they will never fully cook!)

Slice your baby carrots in half long ways.(I have no picture of these because I cheated and used canned sliced carrots because thats all I had...you could use the baby carrots, canned carrots or even fresh whole carrots, it really is just up to you!)

Put potatoes and carrots in a bowl and salt and pepper to taste, add to crockpot and turn heat to low.

Make sure all your veggies are in the gravy, add another 3rd of your butter to the top of the roast and let it sit there...it will melt and run into the gravy :) 

About an hour before its done, add the last of your butter and stir. Dinner will be done once the Roast is done and the veggies are tender...I usually let mine have a total cooking time in the crockpot of 8 hours! I also like to slice the roast about 30 mins before its ready and return it to the crockpot so that each piece can soak up as much juice as possible.

And thats it!!! Serve it up and enjoy!

I love this roast beef...it is so flavorful, everyone loves it and I always have plenty of leftovers :)  It makes for a great Sunday dinner because it does not require a great deal of time in the kitchen, it is simple, yet fulfilling and delicious :) 

Slap some butter on some bread and serve with dinner. I should have made homemade bread with my bread machine for this, but well...I didn't. We will just save that for another meal :)

And last but certainly NOT least was dessert....mmmmmmm is all I can say...and that was all the hubby and kids could say too. It hit the spot :)

Caramel Apple Dessert

What you will need:       

Cold Granny Smith Apples  (How many depends on how many people you are serving, I use about 1 apple per person)

6 of the individual cups of T. Marzetti's fat free caramel apple dipping sauce. (They come 6 to a package)

How to make it:

Fill a large pot about half full with water and place a large glass mixing bowl over the top, so that just the bottom of the mixing bowl is touching the water. Turn burner to high.

Empty all 6 containers of the caramel into your glass mixing bowl and stir. 

If you want to peel your apples, go ahead...I like to do both, a mix of peeled and unpeeled....IMO the skin on provides the apple with more flavor. 

 Slice your apples into wedges and place in individual bowls.

Allow caramel to warm, stirring often. It is ok when the water starts to boil in your pot, you want to test the temp of your caramel often to make sure that it does not get to hot. The degree of warmth is up to you, I like mine to get to the point where its ALMOST to hot, but it isn't, just right as I like to call it :)

Once the caramel has reached the temperature you desire, use a spoon to drizzle the caramel over the apples and serve immediately.         

Thats it! It is quick and simply and DELICIOUS! It goes perfect after the tasty roast beef you served for dinner. And also by using the fat free caramel, you are serving a low in fat awesome dessert that won't blow your calorie count for the day. The warm caramel on the cold tart apples is such a wonderful combination. And I must say, the apples I got this time had so much flavor and were soooo juicy!

I hope that anyone who tries these recipes enjoys them as much as me and my family do. And as always please leave me your feedback, ideas, and comments :)

Happy Cooking! 

Favorite Kitchen Gadget of the Day!
 

Today my favorite kitchen gadget is definately my potato peeler!!!

 Not only did it make peeling the potatoes so much easier, but also the apples :) Such a time saver then the regular old peel with a knife (which I have never been very good at) My peeler is a farberware brand that I got from walmart. It works super great and I love it....so if you don't have one, make it a point to get one!