Now you can see how easy it is to make soft and gooey homemade cinnamon rolls from scratch. My simple recipe is as healthy as I can make it, using only two tablespoons of butter in the whole thing. There’s nothing like that rich enticing aroma that comes from the sweet brown sugar and cinnamon filling. The smell of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven is the best thing ever! This is an easy one-rise recipe so it won’t take long to have them on the table but you can also prepare the rolls the night before, refrigerate them overnight, then rise and bake them in the morning.
You don’t have to avoid cinnamon rolls (well, maybe at the mall… I would avoid those!). Most cinnamon rolls are made with lots of butter but try my healthy recipe and see how good they can be with very little butter or if you want to avoid saturated fat altogether, I often make them with a trans fat-free margarine (Canola Harvest) and I swear no one can tell the difference. So yes, you can have delicious, soft and yummy cinnamon rolls with not butter at all.
Serve these warm and you will never have leftovers. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Luckily, green goes with my hazel eyes. We already know that eating broccoli is one of the healthiest things you can do, especially when it comes to protection against cancer, but how about wearing it? Researchers at the University of Arizona and Johns Hopkins University are testing to see if rubbing it on your skin may reduce the risk of skin cancer. The key ingredient is sulforaphane, which prevents the growth of cancer cells. The researchers will be testing a broccoli solution on skin to see if it works.
It could happen. But until it’s proven, don’t go to the beach with a bag of broccoli unless you plan to eat it. Continue using sunscreen and eating your broccoli. Imagine if they start selling broccoli sunscreen? What would they call it? Broc of Olay… La Roche-Brocay… Broccer-tone… Agreeno… Broc-o-gena… Broccoli Boat… Any other suggestions?
Johnny asks… I have a question about making homemade frozen dumplings. Every Time I boil them in water and take them out they taste a bit wet, heh. I want to know how to make them properly, so they can taste more meaty and less wet. Kinda like the restaurant version. Also what brand are good and meaty ? God Bless. Take care. Bye 🙂
My Response…
At first I thought you made your own dumplings and froze them but it looks like you are buying them frozen and when you boil them, they are kind of soggy. I can tell you that making your own gnocchi with my recipe will give you a fantastic, meaty dumpling but if you’re buying them frozen, be careful not to overcook them. I have never used store-bought but I do freeze my own so when you put them in boiling water, don’t let the water stop boiling or they will get mushy. I usually turn up the heat at the same time to keep the water boiling, and stir them right away so they don’t stick. Then I turn the heat down to a nice gentle boil until they rise to the top. You could also try removing them from the water as soon as they rise to the top. – Jenny Jones
There are many reasons to make your own homemade bread crumbs. First, you’ll save money. Second, they’ll taste way better than packaged ones. Third, they’ll be healthier. By using whole wheat bread, you’ll be adding beneficial fiber to your meal. And finally, it’s so easy!
Let me clarify: it’s easy if you have a food processor. But even if you don’t, you can still do this. Always start with fresh bread. Nobody wants to eat stale bread so why would you want stale bread crumbs? So fresh bread is a must. You can make crumbs with any kind of bread like white or sourdough, but whole wheat is the healthiest so look for 100% whole wheat bread with 3 grams of fiber per slice. Fiber is your friend.
Some recipes call for dry bread crumbs to make something crispy like breaded cutlets or chicken fingers. Others need soft bread crumbs, like a topping for mac & cheese. My recipe shows how to make both dry and soft crumbs, and also how easy it is to make your own super-crispy Panko crumbs, too!
If you don’t have a food processor, you can finish the dry crumbs in a blender or by putting the dried bread in a plastic bag and rolling with a rolling pan, or even smacking it with a small pan. Soft bread crumbs can be made using the large holes of a grater, but carefully! So whatever kind of breadcrumbs you need, dry ones, seasoned crumbs, fresh or Panko, remember that homemade is always better. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Patrizia asks… Hi Jenny, I have a question on cupcakes. I use to make them perfect but after my husband bought me the kitchen robot they seem to raise and at the end they sink a bit in the center,they also stick to the paper liners. Could it be i beat them too much with the kitchen robot and the baking powder an baking soda is worked too much. I use the oven on top and bottom heating. Thanks
My Response…
Let’s talk first about the cupcakes sinking. I suspect the oven is too hot, especially if you are using heat from the top. With too much heat, the cupcakes will cook from the outside and will appear done but the inside is not done so they sink. The same applies to the tops. Heat from above will make the tops cook too fast and the cupcakes will appear done but the inside is not done so there’s no support for the top and it sinks. I would suggest you avoid any heat from the top and that could solve the sinking problem. If not, then reduce the oven heat and test the largest cupcake with a toothpick inserted deep into the center. If it comes out dry, they are done all the way through and should not sink.
As for the cupcakes sticking to the paper liners, there are several possible solutions. The easiest is to use foil-lined paper liners which should release much easier. If you can’t find them, you might try spraying the inside of the paper liners with a cooking spray or grease them by hand. If there’s not enough fat in the recipe, you may have to grease the liners or not use liners and grease the pan. I’ve also read that you should not let the batter sit in the liners or the liners will absorb too much moisture, so put in the batter and put them in the oven right away. Finally, I’ve noticed that letting my cupcakes cool completely makes it easier to remove them from the paper. I hope this helps. – Jenny Jones
Yes, there is a better way to make popcorn. It’s fast. It’s cheap. It’s easy. And it’s as healthy as you can make it. Forget the packaged microwave stuff with unhealthy fats and additives, and forget the stove-top way – it’s too much work. All you need is a paper lunch bag and a stapler. Yes, you CAN put staples in the microwave – watch my video. It takes all of three minutes to make popcorn this way and you can do it with no fat at all or you can add a little oil into the bag before popping.
Popcorn is a healthy snack that provides fiber, some protein, and I just learned that the hulls have antioxidants so as long as you don’t load it with butter, you can enjoy a big bowl of popcorn guilt-free. Make sure to use plain popping corn with nothing added. This is the only way I make popcorn these days.
I’ve been a popcorn lover all my life. Here are all the different ways I have made it:
In the 60’s – Shaking the pot on the stove.
In the 70’s – Jiffy Pop that came in a foil pan that ballooned up when you popped it.
In the 80’s – Air popper.
In the 90’s – Whirley Pop, the big silver pot with the crank handle.
In the 2000’s – An electric appliance that didn’t work so I returned it.
In the 2010’s – Paper bag microwave popcorn! Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
To keep crisp cookies crisp all you need is a stapler, a coffee filter, some baking soda, and an air-tight container. I can explain. The baking soda absorbs moisture and the coffee filter is made of a porous material full of tiny holes that lets the air circulate easily and allows the baking soda to absorb any moisture.
Put about 1/3 cup of fresh baking soda into a coffee filter and staple it closed with two staples, allowing the open edge to get as much air as possible. Stapling the baking soda inside the filter keeps it from spilling onto the cookies. A couple of staples is all you need. Also, make sure the freshly baked cookies are completely cooled before storing.
Place the stapled coffee filter in an air-tight container (in any position, upright or laying down) with your cookies and you will find them just as crispy the next day. Here are some other tips for keeping cookies crisp:
Cool cookies completely before storing.
Do not store soft cookies together with crispy cookies.
Glass containers are good for storing crispy cookies.
Do not store in plastic bags but use a covered container.
Refrigerating cookies will help keep them crisp.
If you freeze cookies they will be crispy if you eat them frozen.
Cookies that have softened will be never become crispy when stored no matter what tricks you use.
Cookies can be re-crisped in a 300 degree F oven for 5-10 minutes.
Baking without butter is a priority around here because I am not living without cookies. When I’m not having my lemon brownies, doughnuts, marble loaf, or apple bars (all made without butter) there is always a cookie on my dessert plate. I haven’t had a store-bought cookie in decades. Why would I when healthy cookies are so easy to make. We eat a few and I freeze a few, so there are always a variety of cookies in the freezer.
Crispy cookies like this one can be eaten still frozen – talk about crunchy! This healthy cookie can be made with extra light olive oil or canola and it’s 100% whole grain, made with oats and whole wheat pastry flour with crisp rice cereal added for even more crunch. You’ll see I added some mini chocolate chips although you can omit those… but I wouldn’t. 🙂 Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I don’t need to tell you why you have to eat your vegetables. Okay, maybe I do. Your mother probably told you they provide vitamins, which your body can not produce so you need to get them from food. But back in the day we didn’t know about the recently discovered antioxidants and phytonutrients found in fruits and vegetables, with each different color providing its own specific anti-aging and protective nutrients. And the more intense their color, the more benefits. Many of these phytonutrients (with names I can’t pronounce) cannot be found in any other food groups.
Bottom line: Vegetables can help prevent certain diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Vegetables are also some of the richest sources of fiber that exist. So if you want to look great and feel great with a strong immune system, do what I do and eat vegetables every single day. I have a salad with every meal and then one or two cooked vegetables as well. Roasting is my favorite way to cook vegetables. Roasting brings out the natural sugars in vegetables and it’s the easiest way I know to cook them and to eat more than one color at a time.
Even a novice cook can make these super easy roasted veggies. Click here for my new recipe. – Jenny Jones
By popular demand, here is a new video showing how I make my easy potato pancakes. Using a food processor makes this healthy recipe incredibly easy to do but you can also shred the potatoes the old-fashioned way using a box grater. Even then it’s still an easy recipe. After years of ordering potato pancakes in restaurants to have them bring me a greasy, practically deep-fried mass of mush, I decided I had to learn to make my own. And it was a labor of love because I love my potatoes!
The best potato pancakes need a thick batter and the trick I am sharing in this video is how to drain the potatoes of their juice but keep the starch and that takes just five minutes, but it’s a must-do for these delicious little patties. My dad used to make potato pancakes all the time and serve them with sour cream – lots of sour cream – but now I use less of it, and the reduced fat kind. Oh, and my mother would slice up leftover potato pancakes and stir them into scrambled eggs. I still love that for breakfast! Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
