Baked Cinnamon Donuts

I just went on vacation to Hawaii earlier this month. I miss vacation already. About a month before that, I went to Boston with Adam, and got to eat delicious Dunkin Donuts. When will it come to San Francisco! So dying for the delicious vanilla-frosted nommy-ness...the iced coffee was super good, too. So strange.

I decided to bake up some donuts on my new donut pans to enjoy with my Dunkin Donuts coffee mug (I love buying mugs that remind me of places I've been that I loved!) shortly after my trip. I got the recipe from my mom, who made these the last time I visited home.

Baked Cinnamon Donuts
Recipe by Ina Garten

Baking spray with flour, such as Baker's Joy
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 doughnut pans well.

Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined.

Spoon the batter into the baking pans, filling each one a little more than three-quarters full. Bake for 17 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then tap the doughnuts out onto a sheet pan.


For the topping, melt the 8 tablespoons of butter in an 8-inch saute pan. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Dip each doughnut first in the butter and then in the cinnamon sugar, either on one side or both sides.

Roasted Broccoli Alfredo

This was a great easy dish that was pretty yummy. Because I've been kind of...not really participating in eating what I cook for my boyfriend (still trying to eat somewhat healthier or cleaner), I've been trying to cook a lot of simple dishes (not because I can't eat it! Just because I occasionally have to prepare two dishes, his and my even simpler one...haha). I grabbed a jar of Trader Joe's alfredo sauce and wanted to try it out, so decided on this straightforward recipe that called for a lot of ingredients that I already had. I just used chicken apple sausages from Costco.

Roasted Broccoli Alfredo
Recipe from Simple Green Moms

1 lb. fresh or frozen broccoli florets sliced in half
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 package tortellini pasta (or other pasta of your choice)
4 to 6 links chicken Andouille sausage (optional)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup Alfredo sauce (I used Trader Joe's)
Parmesan cheese (for serving)

To roast the broccoli – Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, mix the broccoli with 2T olive oil, salt and pepper. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil then spread the broccoli evenly on the sheet. Roast for about 15 to 20 minutes or until they are crispy on the outside and soft of the inside. Carefully remove from the oven and set aside.

To cook the sausage - Heat remaining olive oil in a skillet on medium-high. Slice the sausage then cook, turning occasionally, for about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic, and continue cooking for another minute or so until the garlic is fragrant and the sausage is browned.

To cook the pasta – Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water then toss together in a large saucepan with the Alfredo sauce, sausage, and broccoli.

You can add a little extra milk to make it creamier, if desired. We think it is best served warm, and sprinkled with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese!

Arugula Sausage Rolls

This was a great, easy lunch to whip up for my boyfriend on the weekend. It could also be used for a simple appetizer or a yummy game-day snack! There's nothing fancy about it, but it's just too easy and too good to pass up. The cheese spread (I used Rondole) is delicious. I used chicken & apple sausages from Costco for the sausage...always a good choice.

Arugula Sausage Rolls
Recipe from The Weary Chef

1 can crescent roll dough
2 full-cooked chicken sausages, sliced into half circles
½ c. garlic and herb cheese spread (or substitute onion chive cream cheese)
1½ c. arugula

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Unroll crescent roll dough, and divide dough into eight triangles. Spread about a tablespoon of cheese spread down the center of each triangle, evenly arrange arugula leaves over the cheese, and place sausage over the greens. (You can use a large piece of sausage as shown or bite-sized pieces).Sausage Rolls with Arugula

Fold two corners to the center, and pinch to seal. Sausage Rolls with Arugula

Place sausage rolls on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, and bake 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Italian Sausage Stuffed Peppers

I made this for Adam last night and it looked soooo good, but I'm going on a little diet so couldn't participate myself. He completely devoured it...so assuming it's good. I adapted the recipe a ton (I used leftover long-grain rice, cut it in half to use just one pepper, and used fresh parsley and added enough salt/pepper/garlic powder to make it taste excellent) but below is the base recipe. I can't wait to try it myself! From the taste I got to make sure it was seasoned correctly, I really missed out!

Italian Sausage Stuffed Peppers
Recipe From Nine Months Baking

2 bell peppers (red, yellow or orange) halved and seeded lengthwise
½ pound spicy italian sausage (casings removed)
1 cup bulgur
1¼ cup almost boiling water
1½ cups spinach
1 sweet onion chopped
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp parsley
Olive oil for drizzling
Parmesan for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 and line a baking sheet with foil.

First in a large bowl (because you will use this bowl later on for mixing) add your bulgur and your almost boiling water. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes.

While bulgur is “cooking” take a pan over medium heat and add your italian sausage, breaking up into smaller pieces and cook until browned.

Once sausage is almost done cooking add your chopped onion. Let sauté until onions are translucent.

Add your garlic powder, salt, black pepper and parsley. Mix.

Add spinach and let cook for one minute and remove from heat.

By now your bulgur should be done. Taking your sausage mixture add to bulgur and mix well.

Taking your peppers, cut side facing up, add to lined baking sheet and place in oven for about 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and add stuffing to each pepper being sure to pack it in, drizzle lightly with olive oil and place in oven again for another 10 minutes.

Chicken Legs

For some reason, everybody always loves this meal. I took the hint from the fact that my younger brother loves this and used to be very picky about everything. It was never always my favorite but it's definitely good. I made it for a few friends over a month ago and I'd never made it before, but it makes a lot and the recipe (from my mom) was pretty straight forward.

I'd never cooked chicken legs before, let alone any chicken with skin, so I had no idea what it would look like through the baking process. I kept thinking it wasn't cooking right since it wasn't darkening fast enough, but after the full length of time (about an hour) they looked perfectly. It also freaked me out a little that before it was cooked, some of the skin around the feet was yellow...eww! But it makes sense that that would be completely normal, and they turned out great! Foolproof, easy recipe!

Baked Chicken Legs

Chicken Legs

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

Place chicken legs on a greased baking sheet (do not use foil). Heavily season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder on both sides. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until skin is darker and crispy.