Month: March 2011

Who doesn’t like a great hamburger roll…….

Whenever I go to the grocery food store, I can never find tasty looking hamburger rolls that are all natural and not filled with stuff like high fructose corn syrup.  (Yes, even though we are vegetarian, I still call them hamburger rolls, otherwise no one knows what you are talking about!)  So, I decided to make my own…and of course, I wanted to use my bread machine.  After some trial and error, I found a great recipe.  They were perfect.  We had an incredible dinner with veggie burgers, fries and all the fixings!  Probably the only problem with the rolls was that they were so puffy….once you had all your fixings on the veggie burger…it was hard to take a bite!  The recipe called for 1/4 cup of sugar, which I thought was crazy..so I only added 1 Tablespoon.  It also called for vital wheat gluten, but I didn’t add any.  It said that if you added the vital wheat gluten, the rolls would rise higher..I can’t imagine them getting any higher!

Whole Wheat Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns (Bread Machine)

*By Engineer in the Kitchen and posted on May 26, 2006 on Food.com

Ingredients

    • 1 cup water
    • 1 eggs
    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 cup whole wheat flour
    • 3/4 teaspoon salt
    • 1/4 cup shortening
    • 1 Tablespoon  sugar
    • 3 teaspoons yeast
    • 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten (optional)

Directions

  1. Place all ingredients in bread pan, select Dough setting, and press Start. (Vital Wheat Gluten is optional but the bread will rise higher with it.).
  2. When dough has risen enough, the machine will beep. Remove bread pan, and turn out dough onto a floured countertop. Gently roll and shape the dough into a 12-inch rope.
  3. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces for hamburger buns or 12 pieces for hot dog buns.
  4. Grease a baking sheet. Roll pieces of dough into balls and flatten for hamburger buns or shape into 6-inch rolls for hot dog buns. Place on prepared baking sheet. Cover and let rise in warm oven 10 to 15 minutes until almost doubled.
  5. Preheat oven to 400°F Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown (be careful mine cook pretty fast). Remove from oven and cool on racks. When ready to use, split buns horizontally. These will keep in plastic bag in the freezer for 3 to 4 weeks.

A gorgeous March day…..

Last Friday it was 76 degrees here!  Absolutely gorgeous…we just had to go out to the park!  We had a great time at the playground and then walking around the woods…..We felt like Spring had arrived…but it hadn’t…..yet, this week it has arrived..but it is freezing out again!  Oh well…we enjoyed it while we had it!

What’s the big deal about batter……

I’ve just never been a big batter fan….cake batter, cookie dough batter, brownie batter….I just want to finish up, wash the dish and be done with it….

But not so with the rest of my family….it is considered a crime if I wash the bowl, spoons, spatulas or mixers without letting everyone lick the remains of every drop of batter!  I just don’t get it……

I’ve gotten in trouble for accidentally putting the bowl in the sink and filling it with water…..this is just what I do…naturally…I cook and then I immediately clean..I don’t go around the house making sure everyone has a lick!  Well, now I do…in fact, it has gotten so bad that we now have a rotating schedule..who gets the bowl, the spatula and the spoon and/or mixer!  The things we do for our family……

Another game review….

River has recently discovered a game we’ve had for a long time…..The Disney Enchanted Dream Ball Game….all my children loved this game.

It is a simple game where you roll the die and collect 5 different discs that match your princess.  It involves wearing a crown and capturing the wand….all exciting concepts for a four year old.

It is quick to set up and doesn’t take too long to play…so a child stays interested and involved.

Sometimes when we play, a few stuffed animals join us…and I don’t like when they are beating me! (I’m very competitive!)

I did modify this game a bit….the wand had Tinkerbell on it..but none of the crowns had Tinkerbell and she wasn’t a princess you could choose to be…so I had to change that so that all the princesses were on the wand and made it so that Tinkerbell was on a crown and could be chosen to use for the game……

Is this game educational?  I guess in a way…it teaches certain identification skills….but I think it really just a fun game that we have enjoyed over the years…..

Photography by River…..

River loves to take my one camera….which is dying….and take photographs.   I love seeing photos from her perspective.  Most of them I end up deleting…but every now and then….she captures a moment so wonderfully.  I love this self portrait she did while we were driving in the car.

And this was one she took on my birthday.  She also took this one of Quinn and I…..and I find it fascinating that she captured our hands, instead of our faces..which whether or not it was done on purpose..I love!

birthdays…..

So, yesterday was my 44th birthday……it was a wonderful day……filled with good food and awesome gifts……and spending time with family.

And it was also the day I decided to announce that I am pregnant….with twins……I’m now 14 weeks along and feeling better and better each day.  It’s been a long 3 months…..filled with lots of morning sickness and sleepiness…but the excitement and joy makes it all worth it.   Twins do not run in our family…as far as I know.  According to the doctors..the older you are and the more pregnancies you’ve had..the greater your chance of having twins!  This was the first picture I got of the little guys…when they were only 7 weeks old..they are much bigger now..as is my stomach!

I was incredibly surprised when the doctor said there were twins…but I was more overjoyed that their little hearts were beating and they were healthy!