Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

With the recent change in weather (for the better in my opinion!), I was craving some yummy soup. I found this on Pinterest and thought I'd give it a try. It was yummy and I already had all the ingredients on-hand. Plus you can't beat a crockpot meal (it made my house smell wonderful all afternoon!) This is from Haute Plates.

Crock Pot Tortilla Soup

Don't be fooled by all the ingredients - this is a super easy recipe and it's SO yummy! Just throw everything into the crock pot and let the aroma fill your home and entice your appetite. I like to top this soup with fresh squeezed lime juice, avocado, tortilla strips, and grated Jalapeno Jack cheese. I also grill up some cheddar quesadillas for the kids.

Ingredients
Soup
3 shredded, cooked chicken breasts
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
3 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Toppings
Fresh Lime juice
Jalapeno Jack cheese, grated
Avocado

Directions
Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, bell pepper, green chiles, pinto beans and garlic into a slow cooker.
Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf.
Stir in corn and cilantro.
Cover, and cook on LOW setting for 6 hours or on HIGH setting for 3 to 4 hours.
Top with lime juice, tortilla strips, grated cheese and avocado.
Serve with grilled quesadillas.
ENJOY!

Granny's Waffles

These are usually reserved for Christmastime but anytime is a good time for strawberry and whipped cream smothered waffles.  And don't forget the side of bacon!

1 c skim buttermilk + a little
1 c flour
dash of salt
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 Tbsp vanilla
1 egg or egg substitute
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix all ingredients lightly (a little on the lumpy side) and let sit for at least 20 mins before baking.  Bake in waffle iron.  Serve with strawberries and whipped cream (and bacon.)

Yield:  4 big waffles
Note:  Granny usually quadruples or quintuples this recipe to feed all of us!

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

GG and YoPapa have had a bumper crop of zucchinis this year and we have been searching for some new recipes to use them up.  Granny (Mom) found this one and tried it out today.  Super yummy plus a healthy dose of zucchini.  My kids ate them without any complaints or questions at all. . . well, except for the weirdo, Cash.

3 1/2 c white flour
1 c wheat flour
1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 c cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 c oil
1 1/2 c milk
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 c shredded zucchini (this was about 2 medium to large zucchini - about the size of a typical cucumber)
1 1/2 c chocolate chips (semisweet)

Mix wet ingredients including sugar and zucchini.  Then in separate bowl mix all dry ingredients.  Add dry to wet and stir until just combined and then add chocolate chips.  Put in muffin liners filled almost full and bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes.  (Or 13-15 minutes for mini muffins.)

Yield:  about 40 standard muffins

These would also be good sprinkled with some sugar before baking but we forgot! 

Calzones

Okay, we have calzones or pizza probably every week and a half. My favorite food is pizza, ya, I'm 7. Granny requested that I put this on the blog, so I'm finally getting around to posting the recipe.Here is a step by step guide on what to do. I'm not much of a food blogger, but I did my best. Here goes:

These are the ingredients:
1 1/2 C water                            
1 t salt                                        
2 T sugar
 4 T oil
4 1/2 C flour
2 T active dry yeast
Pizza sauce and toppings
Egg wash: 1 egg  + 1 T oil, mixed

In a large bowl, stir water, salt sugar, oil and yeast.

Add flour a one cup at a time until dough is soft, not sticky.

 Cover and allow to rise until doubled in size (about a half an hour)...

 Punch dough down. Pinch off pieces of dough about the size of a Zhu Zhu pet, (that's all I had nearby that was comparable) You should be able to get  8 calzones out of this recipe.

 Roll out dough into an oval or rectangle.

 (FYI, I don't always make very pretty food...)

 Spread sauce on 1/2 of dough then stuff with toppings

I think one thing that makes my calzones extra special is to use mozzarella AND mild cheddar. I also like to use Ragu marinara sauce. But I'm sure everyone else has their preferences too.

 I like to grease my pan and spread cornmeal on it, just for an added touch.

 Okay, then fold dough down and pinch the edges closed, like so:

 Paint with the egg wash

 Cut 2-3 slits on the top for venting

 Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

 Don't forget to blow in them, the are super HOT!

Then when you're done, thrown what you don't want on the floor, and then chuck your plate on the floor too.

 

This little guy ate 3/4 of an entire calzone! We are big fans over here.  

Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina

This recipe is a favorite at our house, and I use it a lot when I make meals for other people in the ward. It's easy and always tastes good!

Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Prep Time:

15 min

Inactive Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

40 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup pastina pasta (or any small pasta) (I use rotini pasta, and I usually do about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes)
• 1/2 cup diced onion (about 1/2 a small onion)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 tablespoon butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta into a large mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Put the chicken mixture into the bowl with the cooked pasta. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Place the mixture in a buttered 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish. In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Copyright 2011 Television Food Network G.P.

Skillet Summer Vegetable Lasagna

I love a good skillet meal! Made this tonight and we really enjoyed it. These left-overs will actually get eaten!

 From melskitchencafe.com

 *Serves 4-6

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped fine

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 (28-oz.) can diced tomatoes

Salt and pepper

10 curly-edged lasagna noodles, broken into 2-inch lengths

1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1 small yellow squash, cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1/4 cup shredded fresh basil

1 cup part skim ricotta cheese

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Drain tomatoes into a 2-cup liquid measure. Add water to tomato liquid to make 2 cups. Add tomato/water mixture and 1 teaspoon salt to skillet.

Scatter noodles into the skillet, layer tomatoes over the noodles and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, covered, stirring occasionally (so the noodles won't stick!) for about 10 minutes.

Stir in zucchini and squash, cook, stirring now and then, until noodles and squash are tender, about 8 minutes. Add basil and half of the rictotta cheese and half of the Parmesan cheese to the noodles, stirring until the sauce is creamy. Dollop remaining ricotta  cheese over the noodles, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.

Seriously Good Mac 'N Cheese

I will never (OK, maybe almost never) make Kraft Mac 'N Cheese again.  This recipe is so yummy and really pretty easy.  It does take a little longer than the Kraft version but it's totally worth it!!!  I got this recipe from Keeping Up Cookbook, which I'd highly recommend.  I've made several yummy things from it.

1 lb. whole grain pasta, any shape, cooked al dente (I usually use good ol' elbow macaroni)

1 3/4 cups whole milk (I've used 2% and it came out fine)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese or 1- 8oz. package (I also grate some extra to put on top - can't ever have too much cheese)
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

In a saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups milk to a simmer over medium heat.  Whisk cornstarch into remaining 1/4 cup cold milk.  Stir this mixture into simmering milk and continue cooking and stirring until sauce begins to bubble and has thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in cheese.  Add salt to taste and cayenne if desired.  Stir cheese sauce into cooked pasta.  Here's where I deviate from the recipe a bit:  Add mixture to greased 9x13 pan and top with shredded cheese and sprinkle with some bread crumbs.  Pop in 350 oven until cheese is melted.  You could probably use the broiler if you wanted it done quicker you'd just have to watch it VERY closely!

Mom's Bread

Here's the recipe to Mom's bread.  There's not a full list of ingredients, it can be a little different each time.  I'm not sure this would work in a regular old KitchenAid mixer either.  You could try to halve the recipe and then knead it by hand and that might work.  But if you really want to make Mom's homemade bread then save your pennies and get thyself a Bosch mixer.  And a wheat grinder.  And some red and white wheat.  OK - save a LOT of pennies.  :)



Anyway, Brianne and I got a tutorial on the homemade bread making the other day (yippee!) so I wrote down the official recipe:

Grind an even mix of white and red wheat in the wheat grinder (I think it was about 2-3 cups of each.)  Put 4 c. water in microwave safe bowl and heat to very hot. Put 2 c. oats (old fashioned or Quick oats, either is fine) in bowl of mixer with beater attachment.  Add 1 c. packed brown sugar, 1/3 c. oil, 4 tsp salt (1 TB plus 1 tsp) and pour very hot water over them.  Mix and then add about 4 c. flour and mix.  Add 1 TB plus 1 tsp yeast and add 1 c. flour and mix again.  Change to dough hook.  Keep adding flour until dough begins to clean the sides of the bowl.  Dough should be sticky but not too sticky that you can't handle it.  Let it knead in mixer for about 8 minutes.  Leave the dough in the mixing bowl (with the dough hook and all) and cover it with a towel and place in an OFF oven with the light on to raise until double - about 30 min.

After it has risen, punch down the dough or just turn on the mixer and let it run for a minute.  Grease your pans (we used 4 medium sized pans) and form loaves.  Make sure and spank 'em good so they'll be pretty.  :)

Place the pans in the OFF oven again with the light on to let raise until doubled again.  Remove pans carefully and heat the oven to 375.  Bake for about 20 minutes.  Remove from pans immediately and let cool on a wire rack. After it's cooled place the bread in bags and freeze what you won't use immediately. But I'm sure you'll just want to eat it all right away.



I'm making this again right now to see if I can do it on my own.  We'll see. . . fingers crossed!

Father's Day Breakfast

Sorry, the pictures are not the best quality, but I was in a hurry!

Just as an aside: Okay, I made the braid for dinner the other night -- except I'm not a barbecue chicken pizza fan, so I just used spaghetti sauce and some Italian chicken and mozzarella and parmesan cheese and it was delicious! So thanks for that.

Now . . . I'm pretty sure I sent this recipe to you all before because it was so awesome. I'm posting it again now, again, because it is so awesome. Definitely on the level of doughnuts -- in a "you'll probably want to make/eat this sparingly because of the calories" sort of way. I generally reserve them for special occasions. But, these are sooooo tasty, and easy (I actually think quicker than pancakes or waffles) and they look so fancy too!

We can all thank Giada for this treat that incorporates chocolate into breakfast. Yes please!

Chocolate and Cheese Danish

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Prep Time:

10 min

Inactive Prep Time:

5 min

Cook Time:

15 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

8 pastries

Ingredients

Filling:

• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 2 (9-inch-square) sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1 egg, beaten

Directions

Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Filling: In a small bowl, mix together the cheeses, egg yolk, flour, sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips. Set aside.

Cut each sheet of pastry into 4 equal-sized squares. Put 4 pastry squares on each prepared baking sheet. Spoon about 2 to 3 teaspoons of the filling into the center of each piece of pastry. Fold 1 corner of the pastry diagonally over the filling to within 1-inch of the opposite corner. Using a pastry brush, brush the folded-over section lightly with the beaten egg. Fold the opposite corner over the egg-brushed pastry to form an open-ended Danish. Brush the pastry with beaten egg and bake until puffed and golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before serving.

I'm pretty sure Dave called these "a little bit of homemade heaven on earth" at one point. Enjoy!!

BBQ Chicken Braid

This is actually a very versatile recipe and you can fill it with just about anything.  I've made it with chicken, spaghetti sauce, green bell peppers, and mozzarella; shredded chicken mixed with cream cheese and stuffing; grocery store rotisserie chicken pieces and cheddar cheese with a little Ranch dressing - the possibilities are really endless.  Plus it looks fancy!  I've used Pillsbury French Bread Dough (the natural kind without any "extra" ingredients/preservatives) with this recipe before and it's great that way too.  Just follow the directions on the package for cooking time if you use that.  This dough recipe is great for pizzas too. 
Basic Pizza Dough                                                                                         
(I can get one bread braid out of this recipe or one 16-inch crust pizza)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 cup warm (105-115 degrees) water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1⁄4 teaspoon salt (I actually used 1 tsp of garlic salt because I thought it needed more seasoning)
3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour (I used 2 cups white flour and about 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour)
Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl, cover, and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.  Mix the oil, honey, salt, and yeast mixture in a large mixing bowl. Mix in 3 cups of flour.
If the dough seems too wet, mix in more flour, 1⁄4 cup at a time, until the dough is soft. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead in more flour, 1⁄4 cup at a time, until the dough is moderately stiff and somewhat firm to the touch, about 6 minutes.  (I just use my mixer.)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Roll out into a rectangle about as long as your cookie sheet.  Place dough on greased cookie sheet and assemble ingredients down the middle lengthwise.  You want to build the braid on the cookie sheet or it will be too heavy to move to your cookie sheet once you've built it.  Trust me - it ain't pretty.  :(
BBQ Chicken stuffing
BBQ’d chicken or cooked shredded chicken
BBQ sauce
Cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, cojack - whatever you've got on hand)
Purple onion, thinly sliced (I only used about 1/4-1/2 an onion)
Grated parmesan cheese
Garlic salt
Egg wash (one beaten egg mixed with about 1 TB water) or melted butter
Layer BBQ sauce, cooked chicken, sliced onions, more BBQ sauce, cheese and cilantro down the middle of the dough.  Using a pizza cutter make some cuts along the edges of the pizza up towards the center where all the ingredients are layered (I usually make about 9-11 fringe pieces on each side.)  Starting at one end pinch the first fringe, top or bottom, closed over the end so that all your ingredients don't spill out then alternate fringe pieces and pinch end over to the bottom of the opposite side's fringe piece. Sorry, it's really hard to explain but here's a picture of mine about halfway through.
It's really easy to do - just impossible to explain!  Once you get to the end just pinch one of the fringes closed again.  Once you're finished, brush the egg wash over the top of the braid and sprinkle a little garlic salt over the top and then a little parmesan cheese.
Bake in a 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until it looks done.  Here's the finished product!
 
Just slice it like you would bread and serve.  My kids LOVE it when I make this!

Cinnabon Rolls

Disclaimer: I have not actually made these, but a blogger friend of mine posted this and said they are the closest to Cinnabon she's ever tasted...worth a try to me!

The Cinnabon Recipe

Rolls:

1 1/4 oz package of yeast

1 C warm milk

1/2 C sugar

1/3 C melted butter

1 t salt

2 eggs

4 C flour

Filling:

1 C brown sugar

2 1/2 T cinnamon

1/3 C butter (softened)

Icing:

7 T butter, softened

1 1/2 C confectioners sugar

1/4 C cream cheese

1/2 t vanilla

1/8 t salt

Rolls: 

1. Dissolve yeast in milk

2. Mix in sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour. Mix well.

3. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead into a large ball. Cover and let rise one hour.

4. Roll dough out into a 20 X 15 inch rectangle.

Filling: 

1. Spread the softened butter over the entire rectangle of dough. Sprinkle the filling generously over the dough.

2. Roll from long side to short side. Pinch the ends.

3. Using a serrated knife, cut the rolls about one inch wide. I got 12 rolls out of mine. You can cut them wider to make bigger rolls.

Baking: 

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Allow rolls to rise for 30 minutes.

3. Bake the rolls until they are slightly brown, but not doughy. I set the timer on my convection oven for 15 minutes, and they were perfect. Depending on your oven though, they may need more time.

Icing: 

1. When done, remove the rolls from the oven and allow to cool for a bit.

2. Cream all of the icing ingredients together and spread on top of the rolls. Enjoy!

Baked Parmesan Chicken

I am again stealing this from my friend Laura, but I think she stole it too, so I don't feel too bad :) And I don't have a picture, even though I made this last night. Sorry. This is another meal with ingredients I pretty much always have on hand. Dave really likes Chicken Parmigiana, and I feel like this is a tasty, more healthy take on that dish. This recipe is originally from Just Cook Already, but Laura modified it slightly. It calls for fresh thyme, basil and oregano, but she just used dried - which still tastes great.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
2 cloves garlic, minced - or 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup dried bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 chicken breast halves (I usually just use 2 big breasts -- so about 4 breast halves)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter with garlic over the stove. When butter starts to bubble, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Stir breadcrumbs, parmesan, thyme, basil, oregano and salt and pepper in bowl. Dip chicken halves in butter, and then in bread crumb mix. Place chicken in baking dish. I sprinkle some extra bread crumb mix on top, and then drizzle with extra melted butter. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. (I usually take it out at 50 minutes and cover the dish with foil to let it "rest." It keeps the chicken nice and moist. Serve with marinara sauce and pasta. I used whole grain rotini pasta (Mason's fave, without sauce of course -- who is this kid?!)

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Let me just say upfront that no recipes I post on this blog belong to me nor were any created by me because I am just not that awesome. At least thus far in my cooking life. Now that that is out of the way :) . . .

Okay, so this recipe is one I definitely made sure I grabbed for my personal arsenal while at BYU living with one Melissa M. Burns. These are easy and only require a few ingredients (which I usually happen to have on hand anyway) -- they don't even require eggs! More importantly, they are very, very tasty and also quite cute. Perfect for baby showers and the like. I will also say I have only had them in the raspberry form, although the recipe says you can use apricot jam instead.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 tsp. almond extract

2 cups flour

1/2 cup jam (seedless raspberry is my preference, but apricot may also be used as stated above)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar, butter and almond extract. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl edges often, until creamy (1-2 minutes). Reduce speed to low and add flour. Continue beating until well mixed. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. With thumb (or I find a round teaspoon works better), make indention in the center of each cookie. Fill each indention with 1/4 tsp. jam. Bake for 14-18 minutes (be careful not to let them brown). Let set for 1 minute on the pan and then remove from sheet to cool. Once cool, drizzle the cookies with almond glaze (recipe follows).

Almond glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. almond extract

2-3 Tbs. water

Combine all ingredients and stir. Adjust measurements to taste and desired texture. Drizzle on cookies and allow to set.

Delish! I always get rave reviews with these bad boys.

Shredded Chicken Tacos

I love Crockpot recipes because they are generally very easy. This one is no exception! I saw this idea on a friend's cooking blog -- and I'm reposting (stealing, if you will) her picture and recipe. We made these for Quinn's blessing (along with shredded beef tacos) and it makes a lot of food, and like I said, so easy!

Ingredients:

Chicken - 2-3 chicken breasts

Salsa (I use Pace Picante Medium)

Canned black beans (rinsed and drained)

Frozen Corn

Directions:

You can actually just make this with salsa only, but I like to add beans and corn. Put chicken in crock pot. Cover with salsa (I usually add whole jar). Add black beans and corn (about 1 cup each). Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-5. Shred. Enjoy in soft tacos with your pick of fixings.

Fast Dinner Rolls

I love to make these rolls and they live up to their name - they're fast! I was a little hesitant to make them the first time because anything with yeast listed as an ingredient scares me - well, it used to anyway.  I was pleasantly surprised that these actually came out perfectly the very first time I tried them! I got the recipe from A Bear in the Kitchen and I've used a few of her other recipes as well.  


Fast Dinner Rolls

3/4 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup hot tap water
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups bread flour (give or take a 1/4 cup)
1 heaping tablespoon instant yeast

Pour milk into a microwave safe bowl or glass measuring cup. Cut butter into pieces and add to milk. Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer add milk/butter mixture and hot tap water. Add sugar and salt and 2 cups of the flour. Mix for 1 minute. Add yeast and flour 1/2 a cup at a time until dough pulls away from the side of the mixer. Knead dough with dough hook for 5 minutes on medium speed. Place dough in a non-stick sprayed bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap to trap in heat. Let it sit for 10 minutes.

Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Remove dough from bowl to a non-stick sprayed surface and cut dough into 12 equal pieces. Spray your hands liberally with cooking oil spray and form each piece into a smooth ball and place into the greased 9x13. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until rolls have doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top and bottom. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter if desired.

TIPS:
*I don't cut my dough into 12 equal pieces.  That did NOT work out well for me the first time.  I bought a really inexpensive kitchen scale (like $4 or something) at Bed, Bath and Beyond and now I weigh each bit of dough before I form it into a roll to make sure that all my rolls are the same and everything cooks evenly. I almost always end up with 2 or 3 more rolls than will fit into one 9x13 pan. 
*Even though this recipe says it makes a dozen rolls the rolls are really big and hearty and one is almost too much for my kids.  They are great for little mini sandwiches! 
* I wouldn't double this recipe if you're using a small KitchenAid mixer.  It's just not powerful enough to knead that much dough for 5 minutes.  I thought mine was gonna die or catch on fire!  It'll do one batch pretty well though.