Recipes...mmm, mmm good!

I had a request a couple of weeks ago to post my recipe for cinnamon rolls, so here it is:

CINNAMON ROLLS
from the kitchen of Tressa LeCheminant
1. Mix the following ingredients together:
4 cups flour
1 ½ TBL yeast
2. Mix the following ingredients together, and then add to the flour mixture:
2 ½ cups hot water
2 tsp. salt
¼ - ½ cup sugar
¼ cup oil
3. Add 2 eggs and beat for 3 minutes.
4. Add approximately 3 more cups of flour and stir to form a sticky but stiff dough. Let rise in warm spot for 30-45 minutes.
5. Roll out into large rectangle and spread with melted butter and cinnamon sugar mixture. 6. Roll into log and cut into 1 ½ inch pieces. Place on cookie sheet and let rise until double. 7. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.
8. Spread cream cheese frosting over top of cinnamon rolls while they are still warm from the oven. Enjoy!

Cinnamon/Sugar Mixture
1. Mix the following ingredients together:
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
3 TBL cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting
1. Beat the following ingredients in medium bowl with electric mixer until smooth:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
¼ cup stick margarine or butter, softened
2 tsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2. Gradually beat in 4 cups powdered sugar on low speed, 1 cup at a time, until smooth and spreadable.

Here is the recipe for a pasta salad that I made for the music recital...of course I didn't take a picture, although it is definitely yummy! I will first post the original recipe and then tell you the little adjustments that I made for that salad that night.

Pasta Pesto Salad

1 lb. penne pasta (cooked al dente)

1 cup homemade buttermilk ranch dressing

8 ounces pesto sauce

1/2 cup feta cheese

1 small basket grape tomatoes

1 small pkg. baby spinach

3 grilled and cubed chicken breasts

OK, so I obviously didn't use the chicken for that night and it was still delicious. If you were using this salad as more of a main dish instead of a side, the chicken would be good. I also used the Kraft Meditteranean Crumbles cheese instead of the feta...it is cheaper and it is what I had on hand. It does have feta cheese in it, along with some other kinds of cheese. I've had it both ways and don't think it makes any difference. I accidentally used about 1 1/2-2 cups of ranch dressing instead of 1 and it didn't seem to be too overpowering in the end, although 1 cup would probably be just fine! I always thought this salad would be hard to make but it was actually very very easy to put together since you don't have to cut anything, unless you do the chicken. Enjoy!