Quick & Easy Honey Wheat Dinner Rolls

I love making bread. Sometimes I do not have enough time to make bread but these only take a couple of hours total. If I start these at 4pm I can have them on the table with dinner at 6pm. You can freeze these but I don't think I have ever had any left over to freeze. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick and Easy Honey Wheat Dinner Rolls

1 ½ cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup+ White Flour (Plus more for kneading, dusting)
3 TBS Honey
1 envelope Rapid Rise Yeast (2 ¼ tsp)
¾ tsp Salt
¾ cup Warm Water (105-115 degrees)
2 TBS Melted Butter
1 egg

In a large bowl, mix the wheat flour, salt, and yeast together with a fork.
Add honey, water, melted butter, and egg.
Stir with a wooden spoon until it is a well-blended sticky mass.
Stir in the white flour adding more if needed to form soft dough.
Knead the dough until smooth and elastic on a floured surface. Add more flour if necessary to keep it from being too sticky (being careful not to add too much or it will become dry).
Shape dough into a ball and place it in a large oiled (or buttered) bowl. Turn the ball of dough around so that it is coated on all sides.
Cover the bowl with a damp towel (I like to use a tea towel for this) and place in a warm place to rise for about 20 - 30 minutes.

At this point you can start the rest of dinner, change a diaper (wash your hands!), chase the baby, clean up the A&D ointment she found in the zipped diaper bag that she discovered how to use a zipper on and you had no idea.

Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
Punch down dough and put it in the greased pan. Pat the dough down into an even thickness then cut it into 16 squares.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cover with a damp towel again and put it in a warm area. (I usually put it on a cooling rack on top of my stove while the oven is preheating.)
Let it rise for 30 minutes.

Again more dinner prep can be done.
Or you can put away all of the puzzles pieces into the correct boxes after the baby decided that it would be more fun to put all of the puzzles together at the same time. Oh wait that takes so much more time. It might be easier to pull your hair out and cry. I know I did.

Lightly dust the top of the rolls with flour.
Bake rolls for 10 to 15 minutes. The tops will be golden brown and they will sound hollow when tapped.
Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

This recipe can be doubled easily.
These rolls can be frozen. Wrap individual rolls in plastic wrap. Place all wrapped rolls in a zip-top freezer bag. Reheat them by taking them out of the plastic wrap and wrapping them in foil. Place in a 350-degree oven for 25 minutes.

**Updated 12/1/12 to add a photo of these yummy rolls.**

Product Review - Avent Breastpump

A good breast pump is essential for any mom who decides to nurse their baby. When I was first figuring out which breast pump to buy, I was pregnant with my first. This was 9 years ago now and it was slim pickings. There were not very many affordable choices and the expensive choices were only available through a lactation consultant. There were not many lactation consultants around at that time either.

Medela and Ameda breast pumps have been the preferred choice for many years but they are not that affordable. Something I have found is that most times, expensive does not actually mean better.

As I researched as much as I could about all of the pumps available at that time, I discovered a common thread. The moms I talked to said that they had the best pump around but they also said that it really hurt to pump out. The reviews I read said that the most expensive pumps that you could buy at a store were supposedly the best you could get. So… I knew I needed to either save up some extra money or find a better alternative. I found my pump at Target. I read the box that said it had massaging “petals” that helps stimulate milk flow. The box also said that this manual pump was just as effective at expressing milk as the electric ones. To top it off, it was less than $50! That is why I bought the Avent Isis breast pump. It was new to the US but had been around for a while.

I have to tell you, it is awesome. It is fast, effective and overall comfortable. Also, I have had mine for 4 kids and it still works. I love that you can pump directly into the bottle you want to use. I love that it is compact and easy to figure out.  I also love that it didn't break the bank. I love nursing my little ones and I love that I can pump when I need to without it hurting. I know that many of the more expensive brands have improved tons since my son was born. I have seen many companies try to mimic what Avent has. This tells me that I made the right choice (not that my experience didn't already tell me). 
 If you are a nursing mom or will be a nursing  mom, let me encourage you that nursing is one of the best decisions you can make for your baby.  It is  a lot of fun once you get the hang of it and there are great lactation consultants out there who can help you out when you have problems and questions.

Menu Monday - Cheesy Pasta Bake

Quick and easy meals are essential for any mommy to have in her survival kit. This is a perfect dish to make on a busy day. It is great for potlucks and for blessing new mommies with dinner as it travels well and makes great left-overs. I usually have all of the ingredients on hand so I can throw it together any time I need something quick and easy.

Cheesy Pasta Bake

• 16 oz bag of Penne Rigatte pasta
• 3-4 cups spegahtti sauce (meatless) - I just use a 26.5 oz can
• 1 small can sliced black olives
• 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grate parmasan cheese

Boil pasta according to package.
In a 9x13 pan, mix 1 1/2 cups mozarella, the parmassan, almost all of the olives (leave out a few to sprinkile on the top.) and the sauce.
Add the cooked, drained pasta making sure it is throughoughly mixed.
Sprinkle the rest of the mozarella and the remianing olives on top.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

Serve with a green veggie and bread.