Baking

Cinnamon Roll House Centerpiece

11 · Dec 5, 2016 · 1 Comment

There is something truly magical about baking during the Christmas season. I have very fond memories in the kitchen with my family during the holidays making all kinds of goodies. Cookies, fudge, peanut brittle, my favorite cinnamon roll and all kinds of candies and goodies to pass out to friends and family. I loved to watch my parents in the kitchen working on these projects together. When I was little, my Dad never really spent a whole lot of time in the kitchen except for Christmas. That was the time of year he would join my Mom in the kitchen helping her make up the magical Christmas goodies and making up the scrumptious plates that would be whisked off to our loved ones.

The years we made cinnamon rolls were some of my favorite. As I thought back on those memories, I thought it would be fun to make a centerpiece for our Christmas table out of cinnamon rolls. I mean really, that’s a perfect holiday centerpiece!

I headed off to Walmart to get some inspiration and boy did I find it. I found this fun Gingerbread House Bundt Pan and thought it would be great to make the house out of CINNAMON ROLLS!

It would bring back those memories in the Christmas kitchen with my parents along with bringing in a new tradition with my kiddos. To make it even easier, I decided to make our cinnamon roll house with Pillsbury Grand Cinnamon Rolls. Super easy & tasty as well.

You know when you dream up an idea and then cross your fingers and toes in hopes that it will work? Well, I was beyond thrilled with how this one turned out and it hardly took any of our precious holiday time to make the magic happen. Here’s a quick little video to show you how to make one as well…

I’m mean really, how fun is that?

All you really need to do is…

Spray your pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Layer your Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls in the gingerbread house pan. I used three cans of Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls Make sure to press it a bit into the nooks and crannies.

Bake at 350˚ for 50-60 minutes.

You may need to cover it with foil after about 30 minutes to avoid over browning on the bottom.

Once it is baked all the way through (make sure to test with a cake tester), remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack.

I dressed mine up with holiday greenery, some cranberries, powdered sugar and then at the last minute thought I would try it with a drizzle of the icing on top.

First, I laid down some of the greenery on a cake plate.

Then I placed my cinnamon roll house on top and dusted it with powdered sugar and placed a few cranberries and a festive sprig of holly at the door…

Then I thought, you could either leave it like this with the powdered sugar, you could even decorate it with Royal Icing just like a gingerbread house OR, you could drizzle the icing that comes with the Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls on top of the roof.

I love it BOTH ways! I decided it didn’t need the full Royal Icing treatment. I love the rustic look of the powdered sugar and/or the Pillsbury icing. PLUS, it makes it so much easier to make and extra tasty as well.

So, what do you think? Are you inspired to make a Cinnamon Roll House for your Christmas table?

Disclaimer // This is a Pillsbury sponsored post. All thoughts, ideas and opinions are my very own. Rest assured, I will never promote a brand that I don’t truly love and use in my every day life.

5 GREAT Thanksgiving Recipes

9 · Nov 21, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Are you gearing up for Thanksgiving? We sure are at our house. Everyone has placed their orders for their favorite Thanksgiving recipes. Most of the shopping has been done and we’re gearing up for a scrumptious day.

Last week, I had a fabulous opportunity to travel out to Denver for a fun early Thanksgiving with some blog friends at WhiteWave Foods. You may not be familiar with WhiteWave Foods, but I’m sure you are familiar with some of their brands. One of my favorites is International Delight! They also have other great brands like Silk, Horizon Organic, Earthbound Farms and many more.

Now, I’ve been an International Delight Ambassador for several months now and they invited me to help cook for their WhiteWave Foods Thanksgiving. Of course I said yes, and set to work to create a fun dessert using International Delight for the feast.

But before we get to dessert, here are some of the other Thanksgiving recipes that my co-chefs brought to the feast.

Lisa from Wine & Glue brought a tasty Bacon Jalapeño Creamed Corn that was scrumptious! This recipe is great for Thanksgiving and any time of the year really. It’s lovely with the Horizon Organic Milk & Cream.

Lisa from Veggies don’t Bite made a Thanksgiving recipe that absolutely blew my mind! I came home raving about it. VEGAN SCALLOPED CAULIFLOWER is my new favorite Thanksgiving dish. This creamy veggie dish doesn’t have a lick of dairy in it and you would NEVER know. You’ll have to check out the recipe to see what magic she created using all plant based ingredients like Silk Cashew Milk. AAAAmazing!

Next, we had a lovely Roasted Acorn Squash Rings from Nosh & Nourish. Again, another totally plant based dish that was out of this world using some great organic ingredients from Earth Bound Farms.

Now, onto the sweets! Kat from Mama’s Losin’ It made lovely Pumpkin Bars that were a scrumptious alternative to Pumpkin Pie!

Last but not least, was my recipe. A mini version of my No-bake Pumpkin Cheesecake using International Delight Simply Pure Vanilla Creamer.

You can grab the recipe and watch the video on how to make this simple & scrumptious treat HERE. All I did to make it mini was to make it in disposable baking cups that are a bit larger than your standard cupcake cup and super sturdy.

All-in-all it was a fabulous WhiteWave Thanksgiving Feast! I LOVED trying all of the new recipes and can’t wait to make them for my own Thanksgiving and throughout the year!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of WhiteWave Foods. The opinions and text are all mine.

Chicken and Sweet Potato Skillet Recipe – Easy Weeknight Meal

3 · Oct 20, 2016 · 1 Comment

Looking for a new easy weeknight meal? Your family is going to FALL in love with this tasty dish. Savor the flavors of fall with this one pot wonder.

As my kiddos have gotten older, I have found that trying to plan family dinners is getting harder and harder. We have high school activities, church activities, homework, chores… The list goes on and on it seems.

It doesn’t help that I’m a busy at home, working mom and my sweet, hardworking husband works full-time and is going to school as well. Bottom line is, we’re BUSY!

I’ve tried to find ways to help speed-up the weeknight dinner scene and one of the ways that I’ve discovered is to either grill up a bunch of chicken on Sundays or grab a rotisserie chicken or two from the market each week. I can use that chicken to whip-up all kinds of great recipes.

With the Fall rapidly approaching, I thought it would be fun to come-up with a Mexican, Fall inspired dish. Not exactly traditional, but oh-so TASTY! Not only did I want it tasty, I wanted it to be a quick and scrumptious easy weeknight meal. Thank goodness for the help from my friends at Old El Paso! Have you tried their Chicken Taco Seasoning? It’s amazing!!

This meal turned out even better than when I imagined it.

Let me show you how to make it…

Easy Weeknight Meal – Chicken Sweet Potato Skillet Recipe Video

Doesn’t it look scrumptious?! You can grab the full recipe at Old El Paso.

Easy weeknight meal - Chicken and Sweet Potato Skillet

I am an official Old El Paso Blogger and am compensated for my recipe development. All thoughts and opinions are my very own.

Green Chili and Salsa Egg Muffins Recipe

10 · Sep 20, 2016 · 3 Comments

Always on the run in the morning? YEP, us too! Here’s how I figured out how to make a scrumptious egg muffins recipe for on-the-go!

Call me crazy, but I’m not always up for sweets in the morning. I’m one of those people that do really well with some scrambled egg or something like that in the morning. Sadly, we don’t always have time to bust out a pan, whip up some eggs and scramble them before work and school. We needed a take-an-go option for eggs. I thought and egg muffins (minus the Mc) would be a great way to take scrambled eggs on the go. The bonus, you can make them days ahead and either refrigerate or freeze them.

They literally take just minutes to whip-up, then you bake them in the oven. Let them cool and I wrap them in wax paper or store them in an airtight container. When you’re ready to eat them, pop them in the microwave for 30-40 seconds and you have a GREAT breakfast on-the-go!

I have the recipe over on the Old El Paso website, Click HERE to get all the details.

Disclaimer / I am an Old El Paso blogger and am paid for my time and recipe creation. As always all thoughts, ideas and opinions are my very own.

Baking

Easy Weeknight Meal – Chicken Sweet Potato Skillet Recipe Video

Doesn’t it look scrumptious?! You can grab the full recipe at Old El Paso.

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