My Kitchen Apron

Paula Deen Taco Soup

2012-02-03T17:45:00.000-08:00

Taco Soup

2 pounds ground beef
2 cups diced onions
2 cans pinto beans, undrained
1 can light red kidney beans, undrained
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz) can tomatoes with chiles
2 (4.5 oz) cans diced green chiles
1 (4.5 oz) can black olives, drained and sliced, optional
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 package ranch salad dressing mix
Fritos, for serving
Sour cream, for garnish
Grated cheese, for garnish
Chopped green onions, for garnish

1. Brown ground beef and onions.

2. Put drained and transfer beef and onions to crockpot.

3. Add beans, corn, tomatoes, green chiles, black olives, taco seasoning, and ranch dressing mix to crockpot.

4. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

5. To serve, sprinkle a small handful of Fritos in bowl and ladle soup over them.

6. Top with sour cream, cheese, and green onions.

Linked up at Church Supper

Pin It

Breakfast Cups

2012-01-22T09:43:00.000-08:00

I am addicted to Pinterest. But I think it is better than my earlier addition to Farmville on Facebook. I have found a TON of teaching and cooking ideas out there. This is one of them. I originally pinned a recipe called Idaho Sunrise Part Two from The Village Cook as something I could make, refrigerate, and pop in the microwave for a quick weekday breakfast. I think there are about a bajillion ways to change this up...bacon, ham, peppers, onions, buffalo chicken...

Anyway. I think they turned out pretty yummy but I am already planning on how to make them NEXT time. :)

· 24 oz. bag shredded hash browns, thawed

· 2 tsp seasoned salt

· 1 tsp black pepper

· 2 TBSP vegetable oil

· 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

· 1 lb. breakfast sausage, cooked & crumbled

· 6 eggs

· 1 – 2 tsp hot sauce

· ¼ cup milk

· 1 TBSP parsley

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.

2. Mix together thawed hash browns, salt, pepper, ½ cup cheddar cheese, and vegetable oil.

3. Divide evenly between the 12 cups in a well greased cup muffin tin. Make a well in the center.

4. Bake at 425°F for 15-18 minutes, cover with foil if the edges appear to be getting too brown.

5. Remove muffin pan from oven and lower oven temperature to 350°F.

6. Mix together eggs, milk, hot sauce, & parsley until thoroughly combined.

7. Spoon sausage into hash brown cups, dividing evenly between 12 cups.

8. Divide the remainder of the shredded cheese into the cups on top of the sausage.

9. Pour egg mixture over sausage and cheese into each cup, dividing as evenly as possible. Press down top with spoon.

10. Cook for an additional 15 minutes at lower temperature.

11. Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes when done.

12. Slide a butter knife along the outside edges to help remove cleanly from the muffin tins.

**I turned the cooked breakfast cups over on a cookie sheet and broiled them upside down for 3-4 minutes to brown the bottoms.

Linked up on Everyday Mom's Meals Church Supper and Weekend Potluck.

Melted Snowmen Cookies

2012-01-17T17:06:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when I let my DH help bake. He is an awesome cook. He was trying to make a bargain with me by helping me decorate my melted snowmen cookies that I was making for my kindergarten kiddos. Mostly, he was just chasing me around the kitchen. My class thought they were AWESOME! And you know what? I had a pretty durn good time in the kitchen last night too! :)

If you want to see what very nicely decorated melted snowmen cookies look like, check out Crazy Domestic's blog. That is where I got the idea and hers look fantastic. Sadly, her blog is inactive and I don't know if she will eventually delete her posting of the beautifully decorated melted snowmen. If my next attempt at these are better looking, I will try and update with a new photo. In the meantime, they were fun to make, tasted yummy, and made 23 five year olds happy!

Melted Snowman Cookies

2 package Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix

2 eggs

1 cup (2 sticks) margarine, softened

24 large marshmallows

Betty Crocker Cookie Icing, white

Decorating icing, green, red, black, & orange

Make cookies according to package directions. Don’t worry about shaping the cookies perfectly. They are going to be melted snowmen. Allow cookies to cool completely before icing.

Squeeze white cookie icing onto each cooled cookie, spreading with the back of a spoon. Again, messy is fine…melted snowmen can “puddle”.

Spray microwaveable plate with cooking spray and arrange marshmallows on plate without touching. Microwave for approximately 30 seconds. Watch carefully and pull out just when marshmallows begin to “puff” up.

Place soft marshmallows onto iced cookies, pushing down slightly to give them the “melted” look. Decorate with additional icing and/or decorations.

Simply Sinful Cinnamon Muffins

2012-01-13T07:58:00.000-08:00

Snow day! I thought I would use the time to put a few of the recipes I have tried into the computer. Starting with these yummy muffins I made last night. I'm not sure where I saw the recipe originally, but I had bookmarked the King Arthur Flour website for a while so that is the recipe I followed with just a few changes. Last night I did my own little taste test with the crumbs that fell off when I popped them out of the muffin pan. As another snow day bonus, I had full muffin for breakfast today! They do have rolled oats in them so I felt justified. :)

This morning I also made a powdered sugar glaze for the top. My kiddos were divided on how well that went over. Both liked it but one thought it made the muffins too messy (I know...go figure?!). The other kiddo could have cared less about the mess.

Simply Sinful Cinnamon Muffins

Topping Filling:

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed 3 TBSP butter, room temp.

1/4 cup diced pecans ½ cup brown sugar

1/4 cup rolled oats 1 ½ TBSP ground cinnamon

1/2 cup flour 3 to 4 TBSP water

3 TBSP butter, room temp.

Batter:

½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted

¾ cup milk

2 large eggs

1 ¾ cup flour

½ cup rolled oats

2 TBSP cornstarch

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 TBSP baking powder

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

½ cup cinnamon chips or butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 400˚F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake papers or grease it lightly.

Prepare the topping by mixing the ingredients together until crumbly. Set aside.

Prepare the filling by mixing ingredients with enough water to make filling with a soft, pudding-like consistency. Set aside.

To make the batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, milk, and eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, including the chips. Add the dry mixture to the liquid, stirring just until combined.

Divide half the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Dollop 2 teaspoons cinnamon filling onto each muffin, then top with remaining batter. Sprinkle with topping, pressing it in lightly.

Bake the muffins for 20 to 35 minutes, or until they’re golden brown. Remove from oven, and wait 5 minutes before transferring from pan to rack to cool.

Drizzle confectioners’ sugar glaze once cool. (optional)

Adapted from King Arthur’s Flour website.

Mini Monte Cristos

2011-12-28T14:05:00.000-08:00

Monte Cristo sandwiches are one of my boys' favorites and my ears always perk up when I hear about a variation of them. Today we tried the miniature monte cristo version from the Crisco website.

And it uses things I already have in my house. Bonus!

I started off by trimming all the crusts from 6 slices of white bread.

Then I laid the trimmed slices of bread onto plastic wrap and rolled them nice and flat with a rolling pin. I also spread a little mayonnaise onto each slice so that the meat and cheese would have something to "hold" onto when I rolled these up. The original recipe called for mustard but my 13 year old would probably choke if I tried to sneak mustard into his so I just used mayo. Not the battle I choose to fight. :)

Then, onto each rolled out, mayonnaised up, pieces of bread, I laid one slice of ham...

a thin slice of turkey, and...

a thin slice of Swiss cheese.

Then I rolled them all up as tight as I could and

wrapped them up in Saran Wrap. I put all of them in the fridge to set for a while and I got a few things done around the kitchen.

One of the things I got done around the kitchen was making the batter by mixing up some buttermilk baking mix, 2 eggs, a can of evaporated milk, cinnamon, and salt.

After about 30 minutes, I pulled my little saran wrapped logs out of the fridge and put 4 toothpicks in each, as evenly spaced as I could get.

They kinda look like some kind of mideival torture device.

Then I sliced each roll up into four sections.

I could eat them just like this. But I didn't.

I dunked them in the batter, letting them sit for a minute to soak up some of the batter...

and then dropped them, three or four at a time, in the deep fryer for just a couple minutes. (Oh, and FYI...Mr. Kitchen Apron put the deep fryer in the garage. So, I had to dip and fry on his work bench.)

After they were all dipped and fried...

I dusted them with a little powdered sugar. One of my kiddos dipped them in grape jelly before he ate them.

My other kiddo...did this...

Yup. I bet you wish you were me. :)

Miniature Monte Cristo Bites

6 slices of white bread
Mayonnaise
6 thin slices ham
6 thin slices turkey
6 thin slices Swiss cheese
1 cup buttermilk baking mix
2 large eggs
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Vegetable oil (for frying)
Powdered sugar (for dusting)
Grape jelly (for dipping)

Trim crusts off of each slice of bread and flatten with a rolling pin.
Spread mayonnaise onto each slice of bread. (or mustard)
Top each slice of bread with one slice of ham, one slice, of turkey, and one slice of Swiss cheese.
Roll up tightly.
Wrap with Saran Wrap and let set in fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together baking mix, eggs, evaporated milk, cinnamon, and salt.
Heat oil for frying.
Remove rolls from fridge and remove plastic wrap.
Skewer each roll with 4 evenly spaced toothpicks. Slice each roll into 4 pieces.
Dip each section into batter, allowing some batter to be absorbed.
Fry, 3 or 4 pieces at a time, in 375 degree oil, for 1 to 2 minutes, turning frequently, until golden.
Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.
Serve with grape jelly.

Hot Pizza Dip

2011-11-27T18:30:00.000-08:00

This recipe is a combination of two recipes that I found...the first was from Food.com. I was looking on their site for something to make and it was their Recipe of the Day today. So, that is where I got the idea to make this. How-ev-er...I had bookmarked a similar sounding pizza dip from one of my favorite food blogs: Closet Cooking, several months ago and I popped over there to check his version out too.

We had most of the ingredients so I didn't have to pick up much...just some pepperoni and a jar of pizza sauce because I was too lazy to make homemade.

I mixed together the softened cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, garlic powder and Italian seasonings.

Once that was stirred up well, I spread it out in the bottom of a pie pan.

I spread about a cup of pizza sauce over the cream cheese layer.

I topped the pizza sauce layer with pepperoni, olives, and another 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese, and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

That went into the 350 degree oven until the cheese was all melted golden brown and bubbly, about 20-25 minutes.

Hot Pizza Dip

8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 cup shredded mozzarella, divided
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasonings
1 cup pizza sauce
2 oz. pepperoni slices
2 TBSP sliced black olives

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together softened cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, 1/2 cup mozzarella, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and Italian seasonings.
Spread mix evenly over the bottom of a pie plate.
Spread pizza sauce over cheese mixture.
Top with pepperoni, black olives, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Add one more sprinkle of Italian seasonings.
Bake until cheese has melted and dip is bubbling and golden brown, 20-25 minutes.
Serve warm with chips or crackers.

Tetrazzini

2011-11-27T05:33:00.000-08:00

I totally have to write down how I made this tetrazzini because I got a rare compliment from my husband on it. He is an AWESOME cook and always has been. I love to cook but for a long time had almost given it up because constantly coming in second is no fun. But I still keep plugging along and sometimes I have success! Like this! :)

I started out with the mushroom base because that is one of the things that I love the MOST about tetrazzini...sauteed mushrooms and onions. I only used one package of sliced button mushrooms, but since I lurve them so much I see no problem adding more. In fact, I think the next time I make it I will try to use TWO because some always seem to go missing as I cook...hehehe.

Then I chopped up some celery and onions. Yeah, I know. There are no pictures of the onions. My bad.

Then I sauteed them in a pan with some melted butter for-frickin-ever! This is where I usually lose it. I am so impatient for these babies to brown up.

But while I was waiting, I cooked up my noodles...I used thin spaghetti noodles because that is what I like but I have seen lots of recipes with egg noodles and other shapes of pasta.

I also cut up my chicken, about three breasts that I had poached and let cool in the stock because I read somewhere that letting it cool that way helps keep the chicken juicy. Obviously, my favorite tetrazzini is turkey, but chicken is a good substitute for me.

Then, since I was STILL waiting on my mushrooms to cook up all gold and perfect, I mixed up the chicken and noodles in a big bowl.

And I started the sauce with some butter, flour, salt, chicken stock, cream, and sherry.

FINALLY, my shroomers were looking golden brown and delicious. (Although, looking at this picture it seems a few may be missing...)

So, I mixed my noodles, chicken, sauteed veggies, cream sauce, lemon juice, frozen peas, and some parmesan and swiss cheese in my big bowl.

Then, I poured all of that into a baking dish and popped it into the oven for about 30 minutes. When the timer went off, I sprinkled some bread crumbs and parmesan cheese over the top and put it back in to bake for another 10 minutes.

Delish!

Tetrazzini (Chicken or Turkey)

1 (12 oz.) package noodles (I used thin spaghetti)
3 cups chicken or turkey (chopped)
1 (12 oz.) package of button mushrooms, sliced
2-3 stalks celery, diced small
1/2 white onion, diced
1 cup butter, divided
1/4 cup flour
1.5 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup sherry
1 cup frozen peas
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
1 cup Swiss cheese
2 TBSP lemon juice
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Melt 1/2 cup butter in large sautee pan.
Slice & chop mushrooms, celery, and onions while butter is melting.
Add prepared veggies to melted butter and sautee on medium heat for @ 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
Prepare pasta according to package directions. Rinse & set aside when cooked.
In a saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter over low heat.
Add flour, a pinch of salt & pepper, and stir until completely incorporated.
Slowly whisk in milk, cream, broth, and sherry, stirring constantly. Bring sauce to a simmer and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine pasta, chopped chicken (or turkey), sauteed veggies, frozen peas, sauce, lemon juice, swiss cheese, and 1/3 cup of the Parmesan cheese. Mix together gently, but completely.
Pour tetrazzini into a greased casserole dish, making sure pasta mixture is spread fairly evenly throughout.
Bake at 375 degrees for @ 30 minutes.
While baking, mix bread crumbs and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese in a small bowl.
After 30 minutes of baking, pull tetrazzini out and sprinkle bread crumb and cheese mixture over the top.
Return to oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until top is golden and bubbly.
Remove from oven and serve warm!

Linked up at Everyday Mom's Church Supper

Mini Mini Monkey Bread

2011-11-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

I don't have anything clever to say. I guess it's just one of those days. But I do have a little time and about a bajillion recipes I want to post out here. So, I'm gonna start with a recipe that I made this week from Rhodes Bread. I know I originally saw it on several blogs and have been thinking about making it for a while. I finally got around to trying it and it was a hit with my boys. And, since I only post recipes that I like, you can be pretty sure it was a hit with me too! :)

I forgot to put out the ingredients for the powdered sugar icing drizzle but that's only powdered sugar, vanilla, and a little milk.

I started off by thawing out the frozen rolls in my standard cupcake pan. I followed the directions on the package by preheating the oven on to 200 degrees, turning it off, and putting the pan of frozen rolls in with a shallow bowl of water that I had microwaved for 2 minutes. I left those in there for about an hour and when they came out...

they were all thawed out. I cut each of the rolls into six pieces.

Then I mixed up some melted butter and corn syrup in one bowl and some brown sugar and cinnamon in another bowl.

Then I rolled all those little pieces of dough into small balls, dipped them in butter, and rolled them in the sugar & cinnamon mixture.

Then I popped three of those buttered and sugared dough balls into one of the cups of my mini cupcake pan. The original recipe called to put six of them into each cup of a regular cupcake pan. I was making them to send to my son's confirmation class and wanted them to be even more bite-sized so I used my mini pan.

When I was done rolling and dipping, (and making a mess) I let them rise until doubled and then popped them in to oven.

While they were baking, I mixed up my powdered sugar, melted butter, vanilla, and a little milk to make the drizzle for the top of these.

I spooned it onto the rolls while they were still warm in the pan so it would melt and drizzle.

Three small bites of heaven! :)

"Mini" Mini Monkey Bread

12 Rhodes dinner rolls, thawed but still cold
6 TBSP melted butter
2 TBSP corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup powdered sugar
1 TBSP melted butter
2 TBSP milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Begin by thawing out the dinner rolls according to package directions. (I did the quick thaw in a cooling oven.)
Spray mini muffin pan with Pam cooking spray.
Cut each dinner roll into 6 equal pieces and roll into balls.
In a small bowl, melt 6 TBSP butter and mix with the corn syrup.
In another bowl, stir together brown sugar and cinnamon.
Dip each dough ball into the butter mixture and then roll in brown sugar mix.
Place three buttered and sugared dough balls into each cup of the prepared mini cupcake pan. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls until all cups of the pan are filled.
Spray one side of plastic wrap with cooking spray and cover the filled cupcake pan with the prepared plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise until doubled.
Remove wrap and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for @ 5 minutes.
While cooling, mix together powdered sugar, 1 TBSP butter, vanilla, and milk.
When monkey breads have cooled a bit, drizzle with powdered sugar icing.
Carefully remove mini monkey breads from pan (until sugar cools and hardens a bit, the individual balls may try and separate).
Enjoy!

Linked up at Foodie Fridays

Sausage & Cheese Bites

2011-11-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

This is one of the tastiest, easiest, and most versatile recipes I have found in a long time! And it's all thanks to the lovely and talented Jonna at Get Off Your Butt and Bake. I have made them twice and look forward to making them a lot more!

This is all it took. This time. We decided we could put any number of things in the filling...taco fililng and cheese, ham and cheese, or the one I want to try next...turkey and cheese with caramelized mushrooms and onions. But that'll be another post.

After the puff pastry was thawed out, I rolled it out and cut it into 24 squares, or as close to squares as I could get! :)

Then I pressed the squares into the cups of a mini muffin pan and started mixing up the filling.

I started off the filling by browning some Italian sausage, draining it well, and then putting it into a bowl to mix up for the filling.

I chopped up some sundried tomatoes...

added it to the sausage, along with some pasta sauce, and...

stirred that all together.

I dropped spoonfuls of the filling into the puff pastry cups,

topped the cups with some shredded cheese and put them in the oven for @ 15 minutes.

When they came out, they looked fantastic...

and tasted even better!

Sausage & Cheese Bites

1 Puff Pastry Sheet, rolled out and cut into 24 squares (about 2.5" x 2.5")
1 roll Italian sausage, browned & drained well
1 cup Pasta sauce
2 TBSP sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 cup shredded Mexican Cheddar Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Unfold thawed puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out to @ 10 x 15" rectangle.
Cut the pastry sheet into 24 squares (@ 2.5" x 2.5").
Press the squares into cups of mini muffin pan. Set aside.
Brown sausage. Drain well.
Combine sausage with chopped sun dried tomatoes and pasta sauce. Mix well.
Spoon filling into pastry lined cups.
Top with shredded cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees for @ 15 minutes, until the edges begin to brown.
Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 5 minutes.
Enjoy!

Linked up at Sunday Church Supper

Caramel Apple Cookies

2011-11-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

In addition to being Halloween, October 31st is National Caramel Apple Day. I get all geeky about all these weird holidays, especially food holidays. But I'm not a big fan of caramel apples. I like caramels and I like apples but put the apple on a stick and cover it with caramel and I am kinda "meh" about it. I had bookmarked a Caramel Apple Cookie recipe from Liz at Blog is the New Black and I decided that a Halloween evening when my kiddos decided they were too old to trick or treat would be the perfect time to try these out.

The best part was that all I needed to buy for this little cooking experiment was apples and caramels. And really, I only needed to buy the caramels as I had other apples I could have used but they weren't Granny Smith apples and, at least for my first shot at this recipe, I wanted to follow it pretty closely.

First I creamed the butter and brown sugar.

Next, I added the egg, baking soda, cinnamon, and flour and mixed until it was all smooth. It didn't look like much and I thought I would only end up with a dozen cookies or so. I was okay with that but I was also WRONG! :)

Then I counted out half of a 15 oz. package of caramel squares...

cut them into quarters, and...

threw them in with the cookie mix and cinnamon chips.

Last, I cut up the Granny Smith apple. I don't know if my apples were ginormous or if I cut wrong, but I got two cups of chopped apple out of a single apple.

The dough was very sticky and it was really difficult for me to drop by spoonfuls onto the parchment paper, but I perservered and got to lick my fingers after each batch was dropped and popped in the oven.

They cooled on the cookie sheet for a bit when I pulled them out of the oven but they were still VERY sticky and I was worried about transporting them to work in the morning. So, I layered them on wax paper (as Liz recommended) and they were a HIT! I left a few at home and my picky 13 year old was MAD MAD MAD that I didn't leave more. I don't usually get excited when he is upset, but I do get pretty happy when my kids like my cooking! :)

I'll definitely be making these again!

Caramel Apple Cookies

1/2 c butter, softened
1.5 c packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 c all-purpose flour
2 cups Granny Smith apples, diced (I used 1 large)
8 oz. caramel squares, cut into fourths
1/2 cup cinnamon chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and beat until smooth. Slowly add the baking soda, cinnamon and flour. Beat until smooth.
Fold in the apples, caramels, and cinnamon chips.
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Cool on baking sheet until caramel begins to firm. Transfer to wax paper lined wire rack because they will still be very moist and may fall through wire rack. (I know this first hand!)
Enjoy!

Beer Cheddar Cheese Bread

2011-10-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning with an upset tummy and knew I wouldn't be able to enjoy the chipolte beef tacos that were on our menu today. So I was super excited that I was planning to make bread anyway. Bread is definitely one of my comfort foods. And it didn't let me down today.

I found this recipe for Beer Cheddar Cheese Bread earlier this week from Isabelle at Home and immediately bookmarked it in my "Things to Make" folder. I've made lots of bread before but never beer bread but I've eaten lots of it and love it. Isabelle's recipe was so very yummy and, as a huge bonus, it was super-easy.

I always start out by laying out all my ingredients...it helps organize me and I start getting excited about cooking or baking.

First, for this recipe, after I set all my "shtuff", was mixing together all the dry ingredients.

Then I added the oil, cheese, and chives and started that all blending in my blender. It wasn't getting incorporated and I couldn't figure it out until I saw the can of beer still sitting there on the counter. No, I wasn't drinking the other five in the six-pack...just tired. :)

So, I added the beer and blended it all up and it looked far more like I expected.

Then I poured it into my Paula Deen loaf pan...

poured the melted butter on top, and popped it into the oven for an hour.

Then I sat down with my 11 year old and watched a show on The History Channel about preparing for a zombie apocolypse. (Really, what was that doing on the history channel?)

After an hour...

I like the end pieces best...I'm odd like that! :)

Beer Cheddar Cheese Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP baking powder
3 TBSP sugar
1 12-oz. beer
2 TBSP olive oil
2 cups shredded cheese (it was supposed to be 1.5 but I wasn't following directions at that point and it turned out good anyway!)
1 TBSP fresh chives, chopped fine (@ 3 onions)
4 TBSP butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.
Add in olive oil, cheese, chives, and beer. Blend until well combined. Dough will be sticky.
Pour dough into greased loaf pan.
Pour melted butter over the top.
Bake for 1 hour.
Enjoy!

Linked up at: Everyday Mom's Meals Church Supper

Hearty Beef Stew

2011-10-16T18:29:00.000-07:00

This was on yesterday's menu. It cooks for hours and hours and makes the house smell wonderful. But yesterday morning didn't start off the way I planned and so the stew didn't get started early enough. So I, begrudgingly, switched my Sunday supper for Saturday stew because I am nuthin if not flexible. Ha! (If you only knew how UNTRUE that is! :)

Anyhoo...THIS is the beef stew that was postponed.

To make myself feel better, I started by getting out all my ingredients. I like taking a picture of all my ingredients because it helps me get everything out and ready to cook. (And then I can pretend I am doing my own little cooking show...hehehe...only when the boys aren't home...shhh...don't tell!)

First, I preheat the oven to 250 and mix up some flour, salt, and pepper to coat the stew meat.

Then I cut the stew meat into smaller pieces. I just think that the pieces they give you in the stew meat packs are too big. Just look at that. That's not MY bite size.

Then I shook those BITE-SIZED pieces of meat in my bag of flour and tossed them in some hot oil in my dutch oven. I cooked the meat for about 5 minutes until it was starting to brown up nicely.

Then I added some garlic and onion and cooked that a little longer. (and yes, I know my onion pieces are bigger than my pieces of beef but that's the way I roll these days.)

Then I added my seasonings, tomatoes, and beef broth. I covered the pot and put it into the oven. It needs to cook between 4 - 6 hours and this is the part that I didn't have time for yesterday. :(

But today, I started out just before noon and let it cook in the oven until about 5:00 p.m. until the meat was beautifully tender.

Just before I pulled the Dutch oven out of the oven, I started cutting up all my fresh vegetables. I put another 4 cups of beef broth into a stock pot, and added my potatoes, carrots, and celery. I brought that to a boil and then added the stew meat, etc. from the oven. I let all that cook up for about another hour.

After the vegetables were tender and nearly falling apart, I added a slurry of cornstarch and water, and a bag of frozen peas. Normally, I would add some sliced mushrooms but when I opened up my carton today, they were bad, so we just did without. I brought all of that back up to a boil and then it was ready to be served with some crusty bread & butter.

Mmmmmmmmm!

Hearty Beef Stew

1 lb. stew meat, trimmed to bite sized pieces
2/3 cup flour
2 TBSP salt
1 TBSP pepper
2 TBSP canola oil
1 yellow onion, chopped into large pieces
2 TBSP minced garlic
1 can petite diced tomatoes
2 tsp ground thyme
2 bay leaves
8 cups beef stock, divided
1+ cup carrots, baby or sliced
1+ cup celery, sliced
2+ cups red potatoes, skin on, diced large
2 TBSP corn starch
1/2 cup cold water
1 bag frozen peas

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Heat 2 TBSP oil in Dutch oven.
Trim meat to bite sized pieces.
Mix together flour, salt, and pepper in a large ziploc bag.
Shake meat in flour mixture and then brown in hot oil for @ 5 minutes.
Add garlic and onion to meat. Cook another 3 minutes until onion begins to soften.
Add 4 cups beef broth, tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves, and salt & pepper to taste.
Place pan in oven and cook for 4-6 hours.
Just before removing pan from oven, bring 4 more cups of beef broth to a boil in a stock pot.
Add chopped carrots, celery, and potatoes to the stock pot.
Remove stew meat from oven and add to the stock pot.
Cook on medium-low heat for an additional hour or until potatoes and veggies are tender.
Mix together cornstarch and water and add to stew to thicken.
Add frozen peas.
Return stew to a boil and serve warm with crusty french bread.
Enjoy!

Double Crunch Honey Garlic Pork

2011-10-15T16:01:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about this meal all week. Ever since I decided to take the plunge and start a new addiction called Pinterest. This is my version of my very first pin from Rock Recipes. I had originally planned on making this for dinner tomorrow but today didn't go as planned so...

The only thing I had to buy for this ended up being the pork chops and a new jar of cayenne pepper. Of course I used up most of our honey so I do need to replace that but still. Anytime I can make a short grocery list I feel fortunate.

The first thing I did was mix up the flour and spices. The recipe made a TON. Usually when I do country fried steaks or chicken parm I have to make two batches because I run out. But it was super easy to do the dredging because there was so much.

Then I made a quick egg wash and started heating up about a half inch of canola oil in a skillet.

When the oil was ready, popping when I sprinkled in some water, I salt and peppered the pork chops...

dipped the pork chops in the spiced flour...

gave them a dunk in the egg wash...

put them back in the spiced flour mix, making sure they were completely covered with the coating and...

dropped them into the pan of hot oil to fry. The chops I used were regular cut and I was worried that they wouldn't cook all the way through without burning the coating. Thankfully the recipe I was following mentioned cooking the chops at just below medium heat to prevent exactly this and it worked out well.

I cooked them with my gas burner turned just below medium for 5 minutes on each side and then pulled one out and cut it open to be sure it was done.

Once I was sure they were cooked through, I pulled them out and set them on a wire rack to drain off some of the grease. Durn it if a little piece of the crust didn't accidentally fall off so I could taste it...YUM!

After I had flipped the chops, I started the honey garlic sauce by warming up some garlic in olive oil and then adding honey, soy sauce, and black pepper. That simmered for about 5 minutes. The original recipe called for 5-10 minutes but warned about watching it closely so it wouldn't foam up over the pot. My sauce starting foaming up after just a couple of minutes and so I had to turn it down to the lowest setting on the burner. I let it cook for a bit longer and then cooled off for a few minutes while the chops were draining.

Just before serving, I dipped the chops in the honey garlic sauce and then served a little bowl of the sauce on the side for dipping.

The sauce itself was pretty awesome. I was worried it would be too sweet but it wasn't.

And THAT was what was left! :)

Double Crunch Honey Garlic Pork Chops

6 center loin pork chops, well trimmed (I only used 4)
Canola oil, for frying
1 cup flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1.5 TBSP ground ginger
1 TBSP ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp ground sage
1 TBSP paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 eggs
4 TBSP water
2 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP minced garlic
1 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp ground black pepper

Sift together flour, salt, 2 tsp black pepper, ginger, nutmeg, thyme, sage, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Mix until well combined in a shallow bowl.
Make an egg wash by whisking together eggs and water.
Wash chops and then salt and pepper both sides.
Heat 1/2 inch canola oil in a skillet.
When oil is hot, dredge chops in flour, eggs, and flour again.
Fry in oil just below medium heat for @ 5 minutes on each side, being careful not to burn coating while still getting chops cooked through.
When chops are golden brown and crispy, remove from oil and drain on a wire rack.
For honey garlic sauce, warm garlic in olive oil to soften the garlic but do not let it brown.
Add honey, soy sauce, and 1 tsp black pepper.
Simmer for 5 - 10 minutes watching closely so that it does not foam over.
Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before dipping.
Just before serving, dip cooked chops in honey garlic sauce.
Serve with a small bowl of sauce for dipping.
Enjoy!

Linked up at: Church Supper

Chocolate Eclair Dessert

2011-10-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

I first had this dessert when a co-worker brought it to a potluck. It tastes just like a chocolate eclair donut to me. And durn it if those aren't my absolute favorite donuts! It was gone in a flash and I am just grateful that I got down to the lounge early enough that day to get a piece. Then, I found out how easy it is to make. I made it yesterday at home and my boys absolutely loved it!

Those are all the ingredients it takes. Well, those and milk.

First, I made the vanilla pudding. I read online where someone used pistachio pudding and I may have to try that and some other flavors, but yesterday, it was plain jane vanilla. (and it was yummy!)

Then I added the Cool Whip and, yes, you can see that I didn't wait until it was completely thawed out. My bad. I just had to stir longer and it all worked out fine in the end. ;)

Then it was time to start layering. First, I layed out some graham crackers in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish...

then I added a layer of the pudding & cool whip mix. See, you can't even tell that it wasn't thawed when I started. So there.

Next, another layer of graham crackers. I had to start breaking them up to fit on this layer.

Then, another layer of the pudding filling...

and a third layer of graham crackers.

Last, I warmed up a can of chocolate frosting (yes, I know homemade would have been better but my todo list is long and so...) and poured that over the last layer of graham crackers.

All this got popped into the fridge until after dinner and then...scooped out and ate up! YUM!

Chocolate Eclaire Dessert

1 box graham crackers (my recipe called for 2 boxes, but I only used 1)
1 large box vanilla pudding mix (or 2 of the small 3 oz. size)
3 cups milk
1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip, thawed (or not...hehehe)
1 container chocolate frosting

Mix pudding mix & milk together. Blend until smooth.
Add Cool Whip and stir together until completely mixed.
Place graham crackers in a single layer at the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.
Spread 1/2 of the pudding mix on top of the graham crackers.
Place another layer of graham crackers on top of pudding.
Spread remainder of pudding mix on top of the graham crackers.
Place a final layer of graham crackers on top of the pudding.
Warm a container of chocolate frosting in the microwave for @ 20 seconds.
Pour over the top of the graham crackers and spread with a spatula.
Refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
Dig in!

Linked up at: Wonka Wednesday

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

2011-10-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

Today was National Fried Scallop Day so naturally, I made Potato Soup. Because that's how I roll. Yup. I'm a rebel. Besides, I had no scallops to fry and we had too much going on this weekend for ANOTHER grocery store run.

But this soup is da bomb! I heart soup. But I really, really, really heart this particular soup. And, I get to snack on bacon while I cook. :)

I started out by cooking up a pound of bacon and saved the grease. Then, I chopped up some onions, celery, carrots, and diced up some cooked ham in some of that wonderful bacon grease. We have to dice this up pretty small because my son isn't a big fan of large chunks in his soup. But I think it would be just as yummy with bigger chunks of veggies and ham.

Then I added some flour and mixed that around until it was smooth. To that I slowly added the chicken broth, stirring the entire time to make it nice and smooth. Every time I do something like this I think of my husband. He taught me how to make gravy without lumps like this and our biscuits and gravy have never been better.

After all the broth had been added, I started adding the milk, half-and-half, Velveeta, potatoes, salt, and pepper.

I brought that up to a boil and then turned it down to simmer. While it was simmering, I pulled out about a cup of the potatoes and crushed them with the back of a spoon and put that back into the pot to help thicken things up. I let all that simmer for about 30 minutes.

About five minutes before we were ready to eat, I threw in a bag of frozen corn, some shredded cheddar cheese, and most of the bacon. I let that cook for about five more minutes until I started seeing little bubbles again and then served it up! My bowl got some extra shredded cheddar cheese, bacon, and green onions. My sons bowl only got the cheese.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

2 TBSP butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 can chicken broth
6 cups milk
2 cups half-and-half
10 large baking potatoes, baked, peeled, & cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 TBSP hot pepper sauce
1 lb. bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled, & divided
1 cup diced ham
1 (16 ounce) block Velveeta cheese
1 8 oz. package shredded cheddar cheese
1 16 oz. bag frozen corn
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/4 cup sour cream, optional

Linked at: Everyday Mom's Meals Church Supper, Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Ultimate Cookies

2011-10-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

Did you ever notice that the more tired you are, the bigger the cookies you make are? No? Well, here's my theory. In honor of National Homemade Cookie Day today, I tried a new cookie recipe from Iowa Girl Eats....the Ultimate Cookie recipe. I followed her recipe exactly. Except for the part where she warned her readers that it made a lot of cookies and that you should cut the recipe in half. Pfffftt. We LIKE cookies at my house. I'll just make the recipe as is. We can handle it. So, I started mixing, and dropping by teaspoons onto the cookie sheet, 12 at a time, and baking, and waiting 15 minutes while they cooked, and then another 5 while they cooled on the pan, then dropping another 12, baking, waiting, then another, then another, then another. On my sixth dozen, I noticed I was trying to empty the bowl by making the cookies bigger. On the last, I swear I was ready to just make one giant cookie. Maybe I started out making them too small. But by my spoonfuls, I made nearly 8 dozen cookies! The last batch of giant cookies is in the oven now. The cookies are delicious but I am tired. And, to tell you the truth, I'm too tired to care that the last batch of cookies probably total somewhere around 1,000 calories each. Yup. They are that big. ;)

I started off by creaming together the sugars and butter.

Next I added the eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, I sifted together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Then I added the dry ingredients to the butter & sugar mix.

In a third bowl, I mixed up some oats, milk chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and Heath toffee bits. Now, I ask you, doesn't that look like an awesome trail mix right there?

I exercised my good judgment for a change and added the awesome trail mix into the cookie dough and stirred it all up.

Then I began dropping the cookie dough by spoonfuls onto my parchment lined cookie sheet and putting them in the oven.

Look at those things! There are nearly 100 of those yummy things in my house. Some bigger than others. hehehe. Guess that means I'll be sharing some at church in the morning. :)

Ultimate Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups oats (instant or slow cooked)
1 bag Health Toffee Bits
1/2 bag milk chocolate chips
1/2 bag butterscotch chips

Cream together the butter and sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla
In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Slowly add dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mix.
In a third bowl, combine oats and chips. Mix together.
Stir into cookie dough.
Drop dough by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet, either greased or lined with parchment paper.
Cook at 325 degrees for 14 - 15 minutes.
Cool @ 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

Easy Bean Dip

2011-09-28T02:42:00.000-07:00

This is my go to recipe when I have no time and need to take something to a potluck. I almost always have all the ingredients in the house and, simple as it is, everybody likes it and it is nearly always gone. I know I have said it before but our schedule has been so incredibly hectic this fall. I have a hard time telling if I am coming or going some days. I woke up yesterday morning and, luckily, remembered that I was supposed to bring a dish to school for a co-workers birthday. Apparently the pumpkin bars I was going to try and make weren't going to happen so I fell back on my old standy-by. It only took about 10 minutes to put together and everyone loved it.

It starts out with a layer of refried beans on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish, or a plate or a platter or pie pan or anything really. The smaller the dish you start with, the deeper each layer will be.

Then spread sour cream on top of the refried beans. I usually use enough to cover the beans. Yesterday all I had in the fridge was an 8 oz. container and it worked, but I would have liked just a bit more.

The next layer is salsa and I have to be vewy vewy caweful when I put on the salsa so I don't stir up the sour cream into the salsa...not sure why I care about that so much as it all gets covered up by cheese but I always spend more time than is necessary being careful and then cringe when a little of the sour cream comes through. If you look closely at the picture, you can see yesterday's oops on the bottom middle of the dish. :)

The last step yesterday was to sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese all over the top. Look again, you can't see the sour cream, can you? :)

I like to use the 9 x 13 glass baking dish so that I can see the layers.

Other options with this (that I didn't have yesterday) are guacamole, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, sliced black olives, and or flavored sour cream. If you are going to add the guacamole, it goes on right after the refried beans and before the sour cream. Sometimes I flavor the sour cream with taco seasoning. I just stir a package of taco seasoning into the container of sour cream, mix well, and then spread onto the dip. Chopped onions, tomatoes, and/or black olives all get sprinkled on top.

Easy Bean Dip

1 can refried beans
Guacamole (optional)
Sour cream (@ 12 oz.)
1 package taco seasoning mix (optional, for flavoring sour cream)
1 jar salsa
Shredded cheddar cheese (at least 2 cups)
Chopped onions (optional)
Chopped tomatoes (optional)
Sliced black olives (optional)
Tostito bite-size rounds

Spread refried beans on the bottom of pan, plate, platter, or baking dish.
In order spread layers of:
1. guacamole
2. sour cream (flavored or not)
3. salsa
4. shredded cheese
5. onions, tomatoes, and olives
Serve with Tostito bite-sized rounds
Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Oreo Fudge Bars

2011-09-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

THIS would be the plate of yummy deliciousness I took to my son's Junior High Cross Country team's tailgate party this weekend. I felt kinda bad for the pan of regular brownies from a mix that someone else brought. They really didn't stand a chance sitting next to these. And I didn't bring them to try and make those little brownies feel bad. I like regular brownies too. I have eaten loads and loads of them. I just lurve these more! And I have been looking for an excuse to make these again. They are too dangerous to make and not share because if they are in the house, I will just keep eating them and eating them!

I don't remember where I found this recipe originally. Seems like I saw it once on one blog and then, all of a sudden, I was seeing different versions of it all over the place. I do know that the recipe I ended up using was from Kevin & Amanda's blog. It is a chocolate chip cookie pan recipe, layered with double stuffed oreos, and covered with fudge brownies.

I have made them as individual cupcakes before but there was going to be lots and lots of food there at the tailgate and I wanted to cut them into smaller pieces.

I did get them ultimate compliment from my older son's girlfriend (the one who he texted that his Mom is not "that good" of a cook). She is on the cross country team and was there at the tailgate and texted him that they were the BEST brownies she had ever had. There you go. Redemption. :)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Oreo Fudge Bars

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 TBSP vanilla
2.5 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 pkg. Double Stuffed Oreos (we have used peanut butter ones too!)
1 pkg. brownie mix (I used Duncan Hines)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream the butter and sugars in a medium bowl with a mixer. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
Slowly add dry ingredients to butter and sugar mix until just combined.
Stir in chips.
Spread cookie dough into a 9 x 13" baking pan lined with parchment paper for easy removal.
Place a layer of oreo cookies on top of the chocolate chip cookie dough.
Mix together ingredients as directed for brownie mix.
Pour brownie batter over oreos.
Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.
Cool completely if you want to stack. Otherwise, serve them warm with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.

Linked up at Everyday Mom's Meals Church Supper, Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Crock Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup

2011-09-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

I really really really love the foodie friends I have made through this blog. I have "met" so many helpful friends and they have never let me down. So, this week when the weather finally started cooling off and I really really really wanted some broccoli cheese soup, but didn't have any time, I just asked. And Krista and Everyday Mom's Meals came through with this AWESOME easy recipe.

I started off putting two cans of Cream of Chicken soup into the crockpot.

I took the small onion and a carrot and pulsed them in the food processor and then added them to the crockpot.

Then I cubed a pound of Velveeta and added that.

I added two packs of frozen broccoli to that.

Last, I added a quart of half and half and some hot sauce to the crock pot and turned it to high. That cooked all morning and by time the lunch rolled around....

This was a hit at lunch and I have leftovers that I am very excited about.

Crockpot Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 (10 oz.) cans cream of chicken soup
1 small onion
1 carrot
1 lb. Velveeta, cubed
2 (12 oz.) bags frozen chopped broccoli
1 quart half and half
1 teaspoon hot sauce
shredded cheddar cheese and croutons for topping (optional)

Pulse onion and carrot in food processor.
Add all ingredients to crock pot and mix.
Cook on high for four (4) hours.
Top with shredded cheddar cheese and croutons.
Enjoy!

Linked up at Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Snickurtle Pie

2011-09-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

Kate from Diethood.com is awesome. Wanna know why? Cuz of this right here recipe she posted on her blog. Also, her food photos are gorgeous. Mine are not. But when I followed her recipe for a dessert called a "Snickerturtle Pie"...my food was awesome too.

This pie has been on my to make list for several months...just the name makes me want to eat it. And then school got in the way. And baseball. And cross-country. And football. And soccer. I guess my junior high boys' schedules have been kicking my hiney. But, finally, finally, finally, I got around to making this yummy deliciousness last night. I took it in to the teacher's lounge today and it is totally. all. gone. Not really a surprise there.

And it was pretty easy. Hardest part was waiting for it to freeze up. Putting on the topping and freezing again.

I started out by toasting the pecans.

Then I poured in 1/4 cup of caramel sauce into the bottom of an Oreo Cookie Pie Crust.

Next, I mixed together the softened cream cheese, sugar, and peanut butter with my little blender.

Then I added the whipped topping and half the toasted pecans and stirred that all up together. I layered that on top of the caramel and then stuck it in the freezer while we went off to a soccer game.

When we got home, I pulled the pie out and added the toppings...the rest of the toasted pecans, melted chocolate, and drizzled some additional caramel topping onto it. That all went back into the freezer until morning.

When I took it out in the morning...it was GORgeous! Well, okay, it wasn't as pretty as the pictures on diethood.com but it looked sinfully delicious. So I took it into school and shared it and it was tasty!

Snickurtle Pie

1 Oreo Cookie Crumb Pie Crust
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
2 cups thawed whipped topping
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted and divided
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping + more for drizzling
3 - 4 TBSP melted chocolate for topping

Toast the pecans over medium heat for 3 minutes. Shake them frequently so they don't burn.
On the bottom of the cookie crust, spread 1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping.
Beat together cream cheese, sugar, and peanut butter. Mix well.
Add the whipped topping and half the toasted pecans. Blend well.
Spread the cream cheese mixture over the caramel.
Freeze for at least 3 hours.
Remove pie from the freezer and sprinkle with remaining pecans and melted chocolate.
Drizzle some caramel topping over the chocolate.
Freeze for another 1 to 2 hours or more.
Keep frozen.

Linked up at: Tuesday Talent Show

Breakfast Sliders

2011-09-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

We have had a pretty hard time adjusting to our school schedule this year. One of the things that seems to have gone by the wayside is breakfast for my boys. They have been making do with granola bars or toast and nutella. So, over the long weekend, I made some breakfast sliders that we can wrap up and reheat in the mornings for a quick breakfast. They are not the most attractive thing I have ever made, but my boys like them and that's what matters. :)

We have made a variety of sliders, but never breakfast sliders. Until now. And for these, I just took the regular slider sandwich recipe and added breakfast items...sausage, eggs, and cheese.

I started out by splitting open 12 rolls and buttering them.

Then I added a pre-cooked sausage patty to each roll. I know I could have cooked up my own sausage patties, and they would probably taste even better, but our long weekend is still full of soccer, baseball tournaments, laundry, and lesson planning. So, I used convenience items. Maybe once we settle into our school routine, or when baseball and cross-country and soccer is over....

I scrambled up some eggs with a little milk, sage, thyme, and salt.

I added some of the scrambled eggs and a quarter of a slice of cheese on top of each sausage. I got to looking at it and decided it needed more cheese so I turned each roll over and added another quarter slice of cheese on that side of the slider. Then I squeezed all 12 of the little sandwiches into a baking dish.

Then I brushed the tops of the sliders with some butter, covered them with foil, and popped them in the oven at 350 degrees. After 15 minutes, I bumped the oven up to a broil and took off the foil. After just a few minutes more, I turned the sliders over and browned the other side.

Breakfast Sliders

12 brown & serve rolls
12 pre-cooked sausage patties
6 slices American cheese
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
3 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
dash of thyme
dash of sage
1/4 tsp salt

Scramble eggs with milk, dash of thyme, sage, & 1/4 tsp. salt.
Split each roll in half and spread with margarine.
Top each roll with a quarter slice of cheese, a sausage patty, scrambled eggs, and another quarter slice of cheese.
Fit sandwiches tightly into a baking dish.
Melt butter with thyme, sage, and seasoned salt.
Brush rolls with seasoned butter.
Cover with foil.
Bake for 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Turn oven to broil, remove foil, and broil for 2-3 minutes, until tops begin to brown. Turn sandwiches over and broil an additional 1-2 minutes until the other side of the sliders are browned.
Remove and serve warm.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Lasagna

2011-08-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

Things have been so crazy around here the last couple weeks with baseball, soccer, and school starting that I haven't had time to do a lot of good made from scratch home-cooking. Most nights have been a mad scramble to make sure the kids have something to eat before ball games and/or practices and I end up eating a salad after everything is done. NOT the way I like it. But the worst two weeks are over. This weekend is still kind of hectic but the boys and I were all going to be home tonight for dinner at the same time. So I really wanted to cook. We decided to throw together a recipe from the Life as a Lofthouse blog that I have been wanting to try for a while...Chicken Cordon Bleu Lasagna. We love chicken cordon bleu but I wasn't able to spend a long time in the kitchen tonight. With a few convenience items, this seemed like a good compromise.

I say a few convenience items, but really, have you ever seen more? lol. I know it is not as healthy and it is definitely more expensive, but we don't do this all that often so....

I started out by mixing up the eggs, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, and some of the chopped parsley.

Then I mixed up the chicken, ham, garlic powder, and Alfredo sauce and started layering. Just like regular lasagna, I started by covering the bottom with some of the meat sauce. Then I laid on the lasagna noodles, cheese, meat sauce, mozzarella, and swiss. Then another round of noodles, cheese mixture, meat sauce, mozzarella, and swiss.

I covered all that with some tin foil and popped it in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. When it came out, I sprinkled on a little more parsley, turned the oven up to broil, and browned the cheese.

It smelled wonderful and tasted even better. Sadly, my picky eater took a teeny tiny bite and then went and got the peanut butter and jelly. :( But it was a hit with my other son. And me!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Lasagna

2 eggs
15 oz. container Ricotta cheese
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cups diced, cooked ham
2 cups diced, cooked chicken
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 jar creamy garlic Alfredo sauce (16 oz.)
6 uncooked lasagna noodles (oven ready)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
16 Swiss cheese slices
2 TBSP chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs in a medium bowl. Stir in ricotta, cottage, and parmesan cheeses. Add 1/4 cup chopped parsley. Set aside.
In a different bowl, mix together diced chicken and ham, garlic powder, and Alfredo sauce.
Spread 1/2 cup meat sauce in the bottom of an ungreased 9 x 13 baking dish.
Layer as follows:

3 lasagna noodles
half of cheese mixture
half of remaining meat sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese
8 swiss cheese slices

Repeat layers:
1. 3 lasagna noodles
2. half of cheese mixture
3. half of remaining meat sauce
4. 1 cup mozzarella cheese
5. 8 swiss cheese slices
Cover tightly with foil.
Bake for 1 hour.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with 2 TBSP of chopped parsley.
Set oven to broil and return pan to oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is browned.
Let stand 10 - 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Linked up at: Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Church Supper, Recipe Sharing Mondays, Hunk of Meat Monday

White Trash Dip

2011-08-18T20:53:00.000-07:00

How happy am I that I got to put my apron back on tonight for the first time this week. School starts tomorrow and between getting my classroom ready, my boys ready, baseball, and soccer, things have been beyond hectic here. However, despite the busyness, I wanted to take in a snack for the teachers lounge tomorrow. And, high on my list of recipes to try was the White Trash Dip recipe from the blog, From Cupcakes to Caviar. So, I tried it.

The verdict. Thumbs up. It's yummy. It's pretty easy. It has bacon in it. Janet's blog is funny. And...and...and...you can sneak a little bit off the top without it showing. I can't wait to really dig into it tomorrow!

About the only work involved was cooking up a pound of bacon. And that is never hard in my house cuz it means I get some. So, I cooked it up and then chopped it up.

I added it to the chili, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and green onions.

Then I scooped it all out into a pie dish and cooked it at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Tomorrow I am serving it with Tostito Artisan Chips. Tonight's taste testing was with Triscuit Parmesan Crisps. Mmmmmm.

White Trash Dip

1 can chili (15 oz)
2 packages cream cheese (8 oz ea), softened
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1 lb. bacon
4 green onions, chopped
1 tsp red pepper flakes

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook bacon. Crumble.
Mix together chili, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, bacon, and green onions in a large bowl.
Spread mixture into a pie pan.
Cook for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.
Serve with chips.

S'mores Bars

2011-08-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

Happy S'mores Day!

I gotta be honest. I don't care one way or another about regular s'mores. My honest opinion is that they are way too much effort when we are at a cookout. And then I usually burn my mouth on the gooey hot metled marshmallow. But now...now there are these. S'mores bars.

I was having some teacher friends over for lunch today and I knew when I planned the lunch that today was National S'mores Day. So, thinking ahead, which is so rare for me, I found this s'mores bar recipe on The Hungry Mouse's blog. Of course, not so rare for me, I was running behind and only got these made shortly before the lunch and was in such a frantic pace that I didn't even get my step-by-step pictures taken. But I will get them next time. And there will definitely be a next time!

S'mores Bars

1 cup butter (2 sticks) room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 2/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 large (4.4 oz) Hershey's chocolate bars
3 cups marshmallow fluff (@ 16 oz.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper for easy lifting when the sticky goodness is finished.
Beat together softened butter and sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla, beat together until mixed thoroughly.
In a separate bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add dry mixture to butter and sugar mixture and mix until completely incorporated.
Divide dough into two halves.
Spread one half of the dough onto the bottom of the parchment paper lined baking dish.
Cover the dough with a single layer of chocolate.
Cover the chocolate with marshmallow fluff, spreading evenly.
Cover marshmallow fluff with the second half of the dough. (I used two more sheets of parchment paper to roll out a layer of dough roughly the same size as the pan. Then I carefully laid the dough onto the sticky marshmallow fluff and peeled away the parchment paper so that no marshmallow fluff was showing.)
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until graham cracker topping becomes golden.
Cool completely to room temperature. (I stuck mine in the fridge for easier cutting.)
Enjoy!

Dreamboat Floats

2011-08-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

Today is National Root Beer Float Day. I offered to make root beer floats for my boys today and (gasp!) was turned down. Instead, they asked for a twist on the root beer float that we had when we visited Fitz's American Grill in St. Louis last summer. If you have never been, it is a great little restaurant where you can watch them bottle their own vintage root beer and other soda while you eat.

While I was fascinated watching the assembly line bottling, my boys were probably more excited by the variety of different root beer floats. Both ended up with a Mt. Everest Float, which was vanilla and chocolate ice cream in root beer and was HUGE!

Did I mention they were HUGE???

Anyway, they had a tough time deciding between the Mt. Everest Float and the Dreamboat Float, which was made with Fitz's orange soda and vanilla ice cream. In honor of National Root Beer Float Day today, we tried to recreate it.

During a school supply shopping trip at Walmart, I picked up all the necessary supplies for our Dreamboats. Gotta say I was kinda disappointed that they didn't carry Fitz's Orange Soda. :( Some of our other local grocery stores do and that was what the plan was. But, we are nothing if not adaptable when it comes to our ice cream treats.

We started out with three scoops of vanilla ice cream. We like to add our ice cream first. It helps make more of the creamy flavored foam that rises to the top. Fitz's added their ice cream after the soda and it was still delicious but my boys love that creamy foam. (And it is less messy my way!)

And then added our Sunkist Orange Soda.

And a straw.

And a spoon.

It was pretty complicated but we managed! :)

Dreamboat Floats

Vanilla Ice Cream
Orange Soda

Scoop three scoops of vanilla ice cream into a tall glass.
Add orange soda to fill the class.
Enjoy!

Pepperoni Logs

2011-08-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

I love the internet. And I love that I found all these fabulous food bloggers. And my family loves that they are getting to try all these great new foods. Today's new food came from The Recipe Roundup blog. Pepperoni Logs. They were super easy and super yummy. My tempermental twelve year old even liked them.

These are all the ingredients that it took. Well, and the oil in the deep fryer. How much easier could it be?

First, I layed out the eight egg roll wrappers that I had left in the fridge.

Then I laid out five pepperoni slices on the bottom corner of each wrapper.

Next I added about one-quarter cup of cheese on top of the pepperoni...

I wet the edges with a slurry of water and cornstarch, and then started to roll. I folded the bottom left corner up and over the pepperoni and cheese, tucking the filling in tightly.

Then I folded the sides in to create my "envelope".

rewet the last corner, and rolled it up tight as I could so no filling would leak out when they fried up.

I got all eight of them rolled up, some better than others, but I did the best I could.

Then I dropped them in the deep fryer for about five minutes. We have a double basket deep fryer and I was able to get three rolls per basket without too much crowding. After just a few minutes, I flipped the rolls over, holding a few down with tongs that wouldn't stay flipped. After about five minutes, they were nice and golden and I pulled them out and served them with some warmed up pizza sauce.

I wanted to do half of them in the deep fryer and the other half in the oven to do a little comparison. But it was so hot in here today that I couldn't bring myself to turn on the oven. Maybe next time! And there will definitely be a next time. They were so stinkin' easy and my boys loved them.

Pepperoni Logs

1/2 package Egg Roll Wrappers (8)
40 Pepperoni Slices
2 cups Shredded Italian Cheese

Lay out egg roll wrappers on a clean, dry surface.
Place five pepperoni slices diagonally on the bottom left-hand corner of each wrapper.
Top each strip of pepperoni with 1/4 cup of cheese.
Stir 1 TBSP cornstarch into 1/2 cup water to make slurry.
Using fingers, wet the edges of an egg roll wrapper with the slurry.
Fold up bottom left corner over the pepperoni and cheese, tucking filling in tightly and sealing the edges.
Fold over sides of the wrapper to create an "envelope".
Rewet the top corner of the wrapper and roll up tightly, making sure edges are sealed tightly to prevent the filling from leaking out while frying.
Drop rolls into deep fryer, a few at a time so as not to crowd the basket.
Cook until golden brown, about five minutes.
Serve with pizza sauce for dipping.

Crock Pot Italian Beef

2011-08-02T04:44:00.000-07:00

I'm not feeling all that clever about posting today. Not that this sandwich didn't turn out fantastic. It did. I am just bummed because my hormonal, pre-teen, 12 year old son not only did not like it, but he was BRUTAL about how much he didn't like it. Before he even tasted it. Or, for that matter, saw it. Apparently, the idea of "italian beef" has, since he last ate it and enjoyed it, become repulsive to him. I'm not gonna lie. He kinda hurt my feelings. I sure hope he makes it to 13.

The rest of us thought this was yummy. We love a good Italian Beef in our family (all of us who we are keeping). This was juicy and tender and just the right amount of spicy. It is messy, but we have learned to lean over our plates while we eat these.

And, since I have started to go back into the classroom to get ready for a new school year, the crock pot version made this so easy.

I put this all together in the crockpot the night before. This time, in addition to the chuck roast, beef broth, garlic, and an Italian salad dressing packet, I threw in a jar of Italian giardiniera. I think it added great flavor to the meat. HOWEVER, by the time this had cooked all day, most of the vegetables had just totally dissolved. Which would have been great for my 12 year old because he doesn't like vegetables to touch his meat but he didn't even....oh, boo hoo hoo. Next time I will either just add the juice from the giardiniera while it cooks and add the veggies in the last hour or add a 2nd jar of veggies in the last hour.

Anywho...I pulled the crockpot out of the fridge in the morning and turned it on low. I let it cook while I worked in my classroom, ran errands, taxi'd the aforementioned mouthy 12 year old and his friends to baseball, picked up a friend for him to "hang out" with (p.s. did you know that at 12 kids no longer come over to play, they come over to HANG OUT?), fed them lunch, snacks, etc., etc.

After about 10 hours, the meat (and the vegetables) was so tender it was just falling apart. Because I can't stand grease, I took a layer of grease off the top and then started pulling the roast out to pull apart with forks. After a while it became easier just to do it in the crockpot because it was literally falling apart as I tried to transfer it to a bowl. Leaving it in the crock pot made it easier to pull apart but it meant that there was not nearly as easy to nibble as I worked. I left the pulled meat in the crockpot for another hour while I ran my 12 year old to a meeting at the church about his confirmation where they will hopefully turn him BACK into a human being. When we came home, the meat had soaked up all that beautiful, yummy, spicy juice and we (most of us) were able to have delicious sandwiches.

I used a leftover loaf of crusty mixed grain French bread that did a wonderful job of soaking up the juice but not getting so soggy that it fell apart. I also had some ciabatta sandwich rolls that we could use but we didn't need last night.

Grumpy had peanut butter and jelly. Which he made himself. There are no pictures of that.

Crockpot Italian Beef

3 to 4 pound chuck roast
16 oz. jar of Italian giardiniera
12 oz. jar of pepperocini peppers
1 pkg. zesty Italian salad dressing mix
2 TBSP minced garlic
10 oz. can beef broth

Add all ingredients together in slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low for 10 - 12 hours, or until meat is very tender.
Use forks to shred the meat and return to the crock pot for an additional hour to soak up juices.
Serve on crusty bread.
Enjoy!

P.S. Adolescent son has since apologized for his behavior and our house is pleasant again. He has, however, still not tried the Italian beef. Despite this, I have decided to keep him. ;)

Linked up at: Church Supper Sunday

Paula Deen's Peanut Butter Cheesecake Minis

2011-07-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

I get excited when I put on my apron. I lay out all the things I will need for a recipe: the ingredients, the pans, a recipe to follow, and lately, my camera. Just looking at everything all lined up and ready to go is therapeutic to me. I'm not a great chef or baker. I'm just a plain ol' home cook, constantly trying to make things my family will enjoy. I fail far more often than I succeed in the kitchen. My husband is actually a fantastic cook. He managed a restaurant when I met him and he cooks instinctively. He can look at the pantry and put together a dish that is sometimes worthy of an episode of Chopped. It's quite intimidating. For a while, I even quit trying. But, over the last year or so, I have gradually squeezed my way back into the kitchen. But I have to have a plan. I have to have a recipe to follow.

Today (National Cheesecake Day), I followed one of Paula Deen's recipes. And I started saying things like "y'all" and "there ain't nothin' a little butter cain't make better". And you know what? Today's attempt was a three-quarters success. Only my youngest didn't care for them. But the rest of us, including my husband, thought those durn things were tasty!

I started out by crushing up the graham crackers. The recipe called for a cup and a half of graham cracker crumbs and it took me about 12 graham crackers to get that amount.

While my graham crackers were being pulverized in the food processor, I melted up some butter in the microwave and put a cupcake liner in all 12 cups of my muffin pan.

Once all the graham crackers were crumbled, I added that and the sugar to the melted butter and mixed that up. It really didn't look like a graham cracker crust to me at that point. It looked too crumbly. I almost added more butter but then I decided to trust Paula Deen and see what happened.

I scooped a heaping tablespoon of the graham cracker mix into each cupcake liner.

I tried to use a spoon to press the graham cracker crumbs into the bottom of each liner, but it wasn't working very well. So, I ended up using my fingers and pressing them down.

Then I unwrapped a mini Reese's Peanut Butter cup for each muffin cup and put those right on top of the graham cracker crust.

One for the cheesecakes, one for me, one for the cheesecakes, one for me...

For the filling, I took two softened blocks of Philidelphia cream cheese and blended them with my hand mixer until they were "fluffy".

Then I added the sugar, flour (hehehe, I just spelled it flower), and almond extract and mixed that together. Last, I added the eggs, one at a time, and mixed those until it was smooth and creamy.

I used my 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop the filling on top of the candy and graham cracker crust.

I popped the filled cups into the oven and baked them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

When they came out, I let them cool off on the counter.

They were yummy jus the way they were or:

drizzled with a little chocolate and caramel.

Paula Deen's Peanut Butter Cheesecake Minis

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 TBSP sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
12 bite-size peanut butter cups
2 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp almond extract
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a paper cupcake liner in each cup of a standard muffin pan.
In a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter until crumbs are moistened.
Press crust into bottom of each muffin cup.
Put 1 peanut butter cup into the center of each crust.
Beat cream cheese with handheld electric mixer until fluffy.
Add sugar, flour, and almond extract, beating well.
Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Spoon cream cheese mixture over peanut butter cups and graham cracker crusts.
Bake until just set, about 20 minutes.
Allow to coop completely before serving.

Linked up at: Wonka Wednesdays

Lasagna Rolls

2011-07-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today was National Lasagna Day. I'm not sure who decided to dedicate a day to lasagna IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER but I do have air conditioning and we haven't had lasagna since the weather was cold outside. And yesterday, I saw a yummy looking idea on the Chef in Training blog.

Here is what I started with. The recipe I was following called for ground beef. I had some Italian sausage in the fridge so I used that instead. I also used a whole pound because my family likes lotsa meat in our sauces.

I browned up the whole pound with an onion and some minced garlic. At this point, my house was beginning to smell wonderful.

While that was browning, I cooked up 8 lasagna noodles, pulled them out and let them cool off so I could handle them when it was time.

When the sausage was all cooked up, I pulled it off the heat and drained the grease. I used the same pan to make my sauce.

I poured in a can of crushed tomatoes. Added some salt, oregano, and just a teeny bit of cayenne pepper. I put about 2/3rds of the cooked sausage and onions into the sauce and let that simmer for about 15 minutes.

While that was simmering, I made the filling. I added Ricotta cheese, an egg, Parmesan cheese, onion salt, and could have stopped there. But there was all that extra yummy cooked sausage. So I added that too.

I covered the bottom of a 9" baking dish with some of the sauce when it was done. Not sure how much I used. I didn't measure, just made sure the bottom was completely covered. Probably a little more than a cup.

Then I laid out my noodles.

Here is where my "next time I will" comes in. The original recipe did NOT call for the sausage to be in the filling. It was supposed to be that smooth creamy cheese and egg filling. How easy would that have been to spread onto the noodles. Very is the answer to that question. How easy was it to spread my lumpy bumpy sausage and cheese filling onto the noodles. Ridiculous. Look how ugly that looks. So....next time I will either leave the sausage out of the filling or (because I am stubborn like that) I will crumble the sausage into teeny tiny pieces that will make it much easier to spread on the noodles.

Anyway, after I fought the battle of spreading the filling onto each noodle, I rolled them up and put them, seam side down, right on top of the sauce in my baking dish. Now aren't those the cutest things!

I made eight. See how those last two are so much bigger. That's because I had extra filling and I was trying to use it all up. Didn't. So I bagged it up and stuck it in the freezer. Not sure what I can do with it, but I couldn't pitch it. I'll wait until it gets freezer burn on it and then toss it. :)

Then I covered up all those cute little roll ups with the rest of my tomato sauce and popped it in the oven. After 30 minutes I pulled it out and covered it with some mozzarella cheese and grated some fresh Romano on top. I put that back in for another 5 minutes to let it melt. I like it when the cheese browns so I turned the oven to broil and gave it an ADDITIONAL five minutes to brown up. And it did.

We had a small lettuce salad and garlic bread with it and it was a wonderful way to celebrate National Lasagna Day.

Lasagna Rolls

1 pound Italian sausage
1 small white onion, chopped
2 TBSP minced garlic
1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 lasagna noodles, cooked
1 container (15 oz.) Ricotta cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 egg
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese

Brown sausage with onion and garlic. Drain grease.
Bring tomatoes, salt, oregano, and cayenne pepper to a simmer. Add two-thirds of the browned sausage and onion mixture.
Let simmer on low for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook off noodles. Rinse and set aside to cool.
In a small bowl, add Ricotta and Parmesan cheese, onion powder, and the egg. Mix together until well combined. Stir in the rest of the sausage (crumbled fine).
Spread approximately one cup of tomato sauce onto the bottom of a 9" baking dish, making sure the entire bottom is covered so noodles won't stick.
Lay out noodles and spread about one-third cup filling mixture evenly onto each noodle. Roll up and place rolls, seam side down, on top of the tomato sauce.
Cover the rolls with the remainder of the tomato sauce.
Cook at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
Pull out and top with mozzarella and Romano cheese. Turn oven onto broil and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese has browned.
Let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!