Homemade Spaghetti-O's

These homemade spaghetti-o's go a long way to easing mommy guilt.  The kind of guilt you feel when you have to resort to the boxed macaroni and cheese in the cupboard.  I try to make healthy meals for my kids, but sometimes time, or lack of it, is the enemy.  I am not above tossing frozen chicken nuggets in the oven, or opening a can of prepared pasta, but when a recipe like this works out so well, it's worth the extra few minutes spent at the stove.

Homemade Spaghetti-O's

Adapted from this recipe at Back to the Cutting Board

Ingredients:

2 -14 oz (398 ml) cans tomato sauce

3 cups water

3 tsp sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

8 oz ditalini pasta

4 oz shredded sharp cheddar (approx 1 cup)

1/8 cup milk

1 tbsp butter

Directions:

In a large pot over medium heat, stir together tomato sauce, water, sugar, garlic powder, and salt.  Bring to a boil

Add pasta and lower heat.  Stir frequently while simmering - this pasta likes to stick to the bottom of the pot.  Simmer for 15-20 minutes until pasta is cooked.

Remove from heat.  Add shredded cheddar, milk, and butter.  Stir until the cheese has melted.  Serve right away.  This will thicken as it cools, so you may need to add some milk or water to re-heat. 

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Jalapeno Cheddar Sour Cream Biscuits

A British biscuit is an American cookie and an American cookie is a British cookie and an American biscuit is a British scone and an American scone is something else entirely. Simple!

~Oxford Dictionaries

I've been holding out on you.

Over a year ago, I made the best batch of biscuits, finally figuring out that sour cream made the softest, flakiest biscuits ever, and I shared them with you.

What I didn't share was the batch of biscuits that came after.  Same recipe, with a couple of extra ingredients.

Life gets busy, and we forget to do things that we had the best intentions of doing.

Last night, I was going through pictures on my computer and came across these.  Four pictures of the most amazing biscuits, hidden away amongst 200 or so hockey photos taken that same week.

And I remembered that I meant to share them, but didn't.  So here they are, a year late, but still oh so amazing.  The ingredients are whole and simple, they take almost no time to mix up, and the results are the softest biscuits with just the right amount of cheddar and jalapeno flavour. 

Make them.  I know you'll love them.

Jalapeno Cheddar Sour Cream Biscuits

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sugar

1 1/2 cups sour cream (I used full fat sour cream)

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup old cheddar, shredded

1/3 - 1/2 cup pickled jalapeno peppers, drained and diced 

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  

Whisk together the dry ingredients.  

Add the sour cream and butter.  Stir until it just holds together.  Add cheddar and jalapeno peppers, and stir again until it just holds together.

Roll dough out on a floured surface, about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick.  Use a round cutter and press straight down to cut out biscuits.  If you twist the cutter you won't get those nice looking layers on the side of the biscuit.

Bake until they are golden brown, about 12 - 15 minutes.

Notes:

These are best freshly baked and still warm from the oven.  If you want to make them ahead of time, freeze the unbaked biscuits and then bake them straight from the freezer, adding a few minutes cooking time.

Don't over overwork the dough, it should be just combined and still lumpy before you roll it out. Overworking the dough will result in tough biscuits.

When measuring the flour, don't just scoop and dump.  This compacts the flour in the measuring cup, resulting in too much flour and hard, dry biscuits.  Instead, fluff the flour with a scoop and add it to the measuring cup scoop by scoop.  Read how to properly measure out a cup of flour here:  King Arthur Flour.

I've gone easy on the salt.  If you prefer a saltier biscuit you could use up to a teaspoon.

My original Sour Cream Biscuit recipe is here:

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Stuffed Buns

I made these stuffed buns for the kids' lunches again, and it's time that I share this simple and oh-so yummy snack / lunch box treat with you.  The first time I made them I used leftover chicken and broccoli in the filling.

The next time I made them I used leftover ham and broccoli.

Both delicious.  These stuffed buns are almost as popular around here as my Pizza Buns, and I'm thinking about trying a stuffed pizza bun version...sort of like a pizza pocket...but with the same sweet, soft dinner roll dough that makes these stuffed buns so amazing. 

The bread maker is the star of the show.  It does most of the work.  But you can use your favourite dinner roll recipe if you don't have a bread maker.  The filling comes together quickly if you're using leftovers.  Some cooked meat and veggies, some cheese, and a bit of mayo to bind it all together.

Roll the dough out into flat rounds, scoop some filling onto each one, seal and bake.  Super simple.

Stuffed Buns

I batch of breadmaker dinner rolls

I 1/2 cups finely chopped cooked meat, such as chicken or ham
1 cup chopped cooked vegetable, such as broccoli, cauliflower or asparagus

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese, such as cheddar or mozzarella

1/4 cup mayonnaise

Bread Maker Dinner Roll Dough

Add to breadmaker in order listed:

8 oz warm milk

3 tbsp butter

3 cups flour

3 1/2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp breadmaker yeast (or 2 tsp active dry yeast)

Set to dough cycle.  When cycle is complete, move dough to lightly floured surface and knead for one minute.  Divide into 16 equal portions.

Combine filling ingredients.

Roll each dough portion into a flat circle and scoop some filling into the centre of the circle.  Bring the edges together and seal, then place sealed side down in baking dish.  Allow to rise for one hour, then bake at 350°F for 15 min or until they are golden brown.

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