on the menu

what's the best reason to spend all day in the kitchen cooking? a husband coming home, of course! we were so excited to have Brian with us for two whole days this weekend, and i celebrated by cooking breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert both days! but, to avoid having to spend the entire weekend in the kitchen, i chose meals that could be prepared in advance. here's what was on the menu:

orange breakfast rolls
mexican tortilla soup
avacado dip
broccoli chicken casserole
oreo truffles
pumpkin walnut bread
baked spaghetti
chocolate chip cookies

getting hungry yet? every bit of it was delicious, and the best part is, i get to eat leftovers all week (and i sent most of the dessert back with him)!

here's the first of many recipes...

Orange Breakfast Rolls

i love cinnamon rolls, but my husband and i love the orange rolls, too, so i decided to try to make them myself. i had to tweak a few recipes to make these rolls. i also used my breadmaker to make the dough. so, here's my tweaked recipe:

dough:

3/4 cup water (i mixed water and OJ, for extra orange flavor)

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

6 Tbs sugar

1/4 cup softened butter

1 tsp salt

2 Tbs dry milk

1 1/2 tsp yeast

add ingredients to the breadmaker as instructed in the manual (mine says dry ingredients first, then liquids). then turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a rectangle (10 x 18 inches).

filling:

1/4 cup butter, melted

1-2 tsp orange juice

1/4 cup sugar

orange zest from 1 medium orange

mix the melted butter with OJ and spread out over dough. then sprinkle sugar over butter (i didn't measure, but i estimated about 1/4 cup). finally, sprinkle zest over dough.

starting at long end, roll up dough and pinch seams together. cut dough into 1-inch slices. place cut up side on a buttered baking dish. cover with a slightly dampened towel and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1 hour. bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, or until slightly browned.

icing:

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

3 Tbs orange juice

orange zest from 1 medium orange

mix well and drizzle over warm rolls.

here is the finished product! didn't take long until they were all gone!

more recipes to come!