Cinnamon rolls

I made enough to freeze some (though not many). They turned out so tasty! We topped ours with some orange vanilla frosting. Delish!

To freeze:
Once cut (regardless of recipe used), place on cookie sheet as if you were going to let them rise. Stick in the freezer! Once frozen bag them. Good to go. To use just take them out (however many you want) before you head to bed the night before. When you wake up theyll be nice and risen and ready to go. I've seen differing views on this. Some said stick them in a warm place and some said the fridge. Me? I stuck them on a plate in my oven. If you go the fridge route you may want to take them out earlier to ensure they have enough time to defrost.

Orange vanilla frosting:
3 tablespoons butter- softened
1 tablespoons orange rind
2 tablespoons orange juice
a splash of vanilla (I just dumped mine in all nilly-willy)
enough powdered sugar for the desired thickness

Mix it all up and enjoy!

White Kidney Bean Soup

This is a perfect soup for when you 1.)don't have a lot of time or 2.) need to use up pantry items. Both were the case tonight.

Vegetable broth/base (I did 4 cups)
1 can of white kidney beans
.5 cup minute rice (I prefer minute rice in my soup for timing reasons)
.5-1 cup frozen corn
5.-1 cup frozen peas

Add water and/or broth to pan (I used 4 cups water and 2 large bullion cubes. You could use premade broth). Bring to a boil. Add all other ingredients and cover. Let simmer until frozen items are cooked through and rice is soft (about 15 minutes). For deeper flavors simmer another 15-20 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Tasty, light, and warming (it's cold here today). Flavor could/would be deeper with a chicken broth. Garlic would be a good addition as well. I went for simple tonight and paired it with some saltines.

Fresh tortillas

I tried my hand at homemade tortillas today. They turned out awesome! I halved the recipe (just did a quickie google search for flour tortilla recipe and picked one) and still got 14 out of it. It took a couple to get the hang of rolling them out to the right size and thinness but once I did I flew through the rest. I did use EVOO instead of lard in the dough for a couple reasons (mostly being I don't use lard). I don't think there was much difference in taste from the store bought or even fresh ones in a food joint (though there is a difference). I had called my sister to ask about the substitution and she mentioned they may taste different so I was worried they would.

A few dried out in between making them and making dinner but nothing too bad. I could have warmed them up and loosened them up a bit. :) These weren't quite big enough to roll but that's ok. Those two are the first two I made so they were a bit thicker. Dinner rocked!