Dinnertime Superhero!

Photo by Lorilyn Tenney (*Tink)


Any recipe that I can use in more than one way gets VIP status in my house. Some days just get away from me. You know the ones. I may wake up early; even get a little work done before the rest of the alarm clocks in the house go off. Then my teenager ignores his alarm and doesn't get up for school until five minutes before the bus will be showing up... six blocks away. Instead of rushing to get ready though, he moseys in to me and asks if he can borrow the car. As I think about his request, I realize I have a doctor appointment, a package to Fed-Ex and a toddler to drop off at preschool, not to mention everything I need to do at home. I begin my denial with an apologetic, "Oh. Honey, I have to..." and that's when he disappears from the doorway, leaving me to wonder, "Just how do I expect to get it all done?"

Recipes like lasagna, quiche, hamburgers or meatballs are excellent for putting together, freezing and then baking when you need them. And now, my friends, you too can cover up the fact that you didn't even think about dinner until the rest of the family was on their way home! Because who's going to believe that at the last minute you had time to make homemade dinner rolls or hamburger buns? Well, I will. But that's just between us.

It all started on a beautiful spring day in May of 2009. I had ground beef thawed and ready to transform into mini-meatloaves. It's rare for my family to argue with me about what I'm making for dinner. And considering some of the strange recipes I ask them to try, when they do oppose my standby recipe choice, I tend to listen. So meatloaf was out and Bryan suggested grilling hamburgers instead. I told him to fire up the grill before I realized we had no buns. I quickly ran to the computer and found this Taste of Home recipe for 40 Minute Hamburger Buns, posted to Food.com by Marie. Dinner was on the table in less than an hour, with homemade burgers and buns! I've been using this recipe ever since, for burgers, sloppy Joes, soups, hot dogs and shredded pork or beef sandwiches.

Not that these buns need any help, but I recently found a recipe posted to Food.com by Brenda. It's one she created at home, out of her love for the King Arthur brand Everything Bread and Bagel Topping. I whipped up a batch of 40 Minute rolls, using this topping, to accompany dinner. My family thought I was a genius! They could be right, but I'm not one to brag. Living up to its name, this Everything Topping is great on everything from loaves of white or wheat bread to bagels and rolls. Even for the beginning baker or yeast-o-phobic, these recipes can turn you into a dinnertime superhero!

40 Minute Hamburger Buns
Recipe posted by Marie, Photo by Lorilyn Tenney (*Tink)



Everything Topping - Bagels, Rolls, Bread
Recipe by Brenda., Photo by Lorilyn Tenney (*Tink)