Something New is Cooking

JOIN FOODIE FANATICS!

2012-01-23T00:39:00.002-05:00

LOTS OF YUMMY RECIPES CAN BE MADE HERE! THEY ALL HAVE BEEN DELICIOUS! SO FAR WE HAVE MADE PAULA DEEN. WE PICK A NEW FOOD NETWORK STAR IN FEBRUARY!

SO...JOIN US!!!!

FIND THE SITE HERE.

Paula Deen's Banana Nut Muffins

2012-01-23T00:25:00.003-05:00

I feel like I've been only making Paula Deen recipes lately! But....who cares! They are so yummy!

I had some ripe bananas so I decided to make her banana nut muffins from Cooking With Paula Deen January/February 2008 issue. They are so easy to make and so yummy delicious!

The recipe can be found here. It's a must make!

Foodie Fanatics: Chicken Empanadas

2012-01-22T00:48:00.003-05:00

This week's Foodie Fanatics recipe was chosen by Michele of Makin' Cakin' Weekends. I must say these were great! I have to admit, I didn't get to make these myself. My daughter, grandkids, and I were all set to make but I received a phone call that my mom had fallen and was on the floor. Kelly and I drove over there. Mom was fine. Her legs just are not real strong and when she bent to pick up something, they gave out. She was sitting in front of her chair in the living room, embarrassed. My dad was not able to pick her up by himself. They are both almost 79 years old. Kelly and I got her up and stayed to chat for a little.

My son-in-law, bless his heart, fixed the empanadas. We left out the bell pepper since I'm not the biggest fan. We used jarred jalapeno. This was not hard to make he said. They were really great. The recipe can be found HERE.

Good choice, Michele!

Savannah Smiles Lemon Blueberry Parfait

2012-01-22T00:26:00.003-05:00

As I have mentioned, it's Girl Scout cookie times. But, I am sure that you all know that. All the cute girls knocking on your door or hitting you up at the troop. My troop of Daisies had an awesome first cookie booth.

I found this recipe on Facebook from Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida. Savannah Smiles were brought back for the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouts. It's a wonderful lemon cookie. There are many recipes on the Little Brownie Bakers site.

This parfait made with the cookies was super easy to make and YUMMY! I think it would be the most perfect summer dessert.

Savannah Smiles Lemon Blueberry Parfait

One small pkg (3.4 or 3.5 oz) instant lemon pudding and pie filling

1 1/2 cups whipped topping, divided

2 cups cold milk

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

3/4 pkg. Savannah Smiles lemon cookies. Leave 8 or 9 whole cookies to decorate desserts with and crush the remaining 12 cookies into cookie crumbs.

Directions:

1. Prepare lemon pudding as directed: With a whisk or an electric mixer, blend together the pudding mix and 2 cups milk, on low speed for about 2 minutes. Let set for 5 minutes.

2. In a separate bowl, stir together with a spoon, 1 cup pudding and 1/2 cup whipped topping.

3. Using 2-4 clear dessert cups, layer the ingredients into each cup as follows:

Lemon pudding

cookie crumbs

pudding/whipped topping mixture

blueberries

Repeat

Whipped topping

top with a blueberry and cookie crumbs

just before serving, insert 2-3 whole cookies near the edges

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Paula Deen's Pork Tostados

2012-01-21T10:20:00.007-05:00

Monday, the day after having the Spice-Encrusted Pork Tenderloin and Seasoned Black Beans, I used the pork and beans to make Pork Tostados. It was wonderful on a Monday to come home and make a very simple meal. They were yummy and I would definitely make the pork and the tostados again!

Pork Tostados

3 T corn oil

6 (5-inch) corn tortillas

left over Seasoned Black Beans

left over Spice-Encrusted Pork Tenderloin

toppings: salsa, guacamole, sour cream, cilantro...

In a large nonstick skillet, heat corn oil over medium-high heat. cook tortillas on each side until golden. Drain on paper towels.

In a small saucepan, add beans and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often until all liquid has evaporated. Use a potato masher to mash beans.

To assemble tostadas, layer beans, salsa, guacamole, shredded pork, and sour cream on each tortilla. Garnish with fresh cilantro, if desired.

I put salsa, black olives and cheddar cheese on mine.

Foodie Fanatics: Spice-Encrusted Pork Tenderloin and Seasoned Black Beans

2012-01-15T21:37:00.008-05:00

This week's recipe was jambalaya, and again I wasn't in the mood for the dish. I found a recipe for Spice-Encrusted Pork Tenderloin and Seasoned Black Beans. The recipe was in the January/February 2009 Cooking with Paula Deen magazine. I've been wanting to make a pork tenderloin or pork roast. I am so glad I made this.....it was totally AWESOME! Spicy and yummy! My son told me it was a keeper!

The recipe makes quite a bit since it's supposed to be used for Pork Tostadas also. I halved the recipe since it's just the two of us and I still have quite a bit left over. We may make the tostadas tomorrow night.

I didn't have the Mexican oregano, so I used regular; I used regular chili powder and caraway instead of coriander.

The Seasoned Black Beans were good too. Spicy! I would have been great over rice! It's to be used in the tostados, too.

Spice-Encrusted Pork Tenderloin

2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons Mexican oregano
2 tablespoons garlic salt
2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
4 (1.5-pound pork tenderloins, trimmed)
1/4 cup olive oil, divided

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine chili powder, coriander, cumin, kosher salt, oregano, garlic salt, and pepper. Coat tenderloins evenly with spice mixture.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook 1 tenderloin for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until browned. Remove tenderloin and place on prepared pan. Repeat with remaining olive oil and tenderloins. Bake for 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of tenderloin registers 155 degrees or desired degree of doneness. Slice to serve.

Ready to go in oven

Seasoned Black Beans

4 (15-oz) cans black beans, drained

2 (10-oz) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan, combine beans, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat until heated through. Serve immediately.

Have the Cake: Cinnamon Rolls

2012-01-14T16:20:00.008-05:00

This month's challenge for Have the Cake is Cinnamon Rolls. I LOVE cinnamon rolls! I wanted to participate this month but did not want to mess with yeast. I made the Paula Deen ones before and they were awesome but take time. I found this one on Mommy's Kitchen's site. The recipe can be found here.

These were delicious! My son and his friend loved them. Best of all, they do not take long to make since they are made with crescent rolls.

Mine did not come out minis like Tina's did. I guess I didn't roll them tight enough. No worries...I put them into regular size muffin tins and they worked out great. I will definitely make these again and again! Loved them!

the filling

ready for oven

fresh out of oven

Copy Cat Club: The Original Home Baked Girl Scout Cookie

2012-01-14T15:25:00.007-05:00

I am my granddaughter, Samantha's, Girl Scout leader. My daughter, Kelly, is the co-leader. I was her Girl Scout leader. I am thoroughly enjoying my second time around with a troop. Our troop consists of 7 Daisies in Kindergarten and 1st grade. The girls are wonderful as are the moms.

As you know, it's Girl Scout cookie time again. One of my mom's is our cookie mom, along with my daughter helping her. We pick up the cookies this Monday and start selling on Thursday. So, support your local Girl Scouts and buy cookies!

I found this recipe on line for the original home-baked Girl Scout cookie. Originally, the girls baked cookies and then sold them door-to-door. The following recipe was given to Girl Scouts in 1922 and sold for about 25 cents per dozen. The whole story can be found here on the Girl Scout website.

This past meeting we discussed the upcoming cookie sales and talked about the types of cookies, the cost and a goal for the troop. The girls do not quite understand setting a goal and they wanted to sell like 5 or 6 boxes for their goal. Anyway....we set a goal of 1,000 boxes. Wish us luck.

While the moms were signing up for booths and discussing the finer points of the cookies sales, I brought the scouts into the kitchen and had them make the original cookie recipe. The girls love to bake! This is also an entry for the Copy Cat Club.

I originally printed this from allrecipes.com. Then, just now I looked at the History of Girl Scouts and see the allrecipes version did not tell you to refrigerate for an hour before trying to cut out. So, instead of cutting out the cookies, we scooped onto the cookie sheet. Worked out well, the girls liked using the scooper!

The Original Home-Baked Girl Scout Cookie

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar plus additional amount for topping (optional)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

Cream butter and the cup of sugar; add well-beaten eggs, then milk, vanilla, flour, salt, and baking powder. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Roll dough, cut into trefoil shapes, and sprinkle sugar on top, if desired. Bake at 350° for approximately 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.

Makes about 36 cookies.

My cookie mom's daughter, Ally.

Foodie Fanatics: Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake

2012-01-09T21:05:00.002-05:00

It was my week to choose the Paula Deen recipe. I chose Chili Chicken Stew which was from her January/February 2009 issue. It can be found here. This is what it looks like:

But.....after running around on Sunday putting Christmas decorations away from my home and my parents, plus the temperature getting into the upper 70's, stew just did not sound good at all. So, I opted to make a dessert to eat while watching the Denver/Steeler game. Go Broncs!

I stuck to the Paula Deen chef and made her Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake. Yummy! It was made with a box white cake which made the recipe easy. The hardest part was pureeing the strawberries! I added a little more strawberry to the icing.

The recipe can be found on the Food Network site here. You won't be sorry!

Foodie Fanatics: "Cake" Ice-Cream Cones

2012-01-01T12:22:00.007-05:00

This recipe for the Foodie Fanatics was chosen by Michele at Makin' Cakin' Weekends. We are still baking from Paula Deen. My daughter and I made these yesterday before dinner to have to munch on during the night. They are super easy to make. You can make with any flavor cake mix. I was originally going to do funfetti, but had a bad egg and made chocolate instead.

Everyone seemed to enjoy them. My four year old grandson kept asking were the ice cream was! He knew they were cake, but they were in the cones. Silly boy!

The recipe can be found here on the Food Network Site. I recommend making these especially for a kids party! The flavor possibilities are endless.

Sorry the pic is fuzzy, we were outside enjoying a fire in our 60 degree weather!

My grandson with the frosting on his nose!

Copy Cat Club: Sonic Root Beer Freeze

2012-01-01T11:49:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year's Eve. We did. My daughter and her family came over. My 15 year old son had six friends over. (five spent the night) We grilled out burgers, ate a lot, played the Wii, toasted with champagne, laughed alot. We also decided to have these Root Beer Freezes after dinner. This is one of the recipes for the Copy Cat Club.

They were very delicious. Most of the kids had the root beer (A&W, of course, since my first job as a teen was waitressing at an A&W Restaurant in Ohio). One had Coke, I tried strawberry soda and my daughter had Cherry Coke. All came out very good. These are definitely to make again. Kelly actually made these for us, but I was going to do these during the week.

I found the recipe on Copy Kat. There are some yummy looking stuff there. The recipe is super simple. Two ingredients! I would recommend trying different sodas.

Sonic Root Beer Freeze

2 cups vanilla ice cream

1/2 cup root beer

Directions:

Place both ingredients into a blender, and mix for about 30 seconds on puree.

How easy is that!!!

My grandkids finishing off my freeze.

The root beer and ice cream in the blender

Kelly's Cherry Coke Freeze

My strawberry soda freeze

Copy Cat: Cracker Barrel Baked Macaroni & Cheese

2011-12-28T19:04:00.005-05:00

A while back I had seen there was a copy cat cooking club. I wanted to join, but when I went to, the postings had stopped. I'm really hoping that Tia of Buttercream Barbie will start it back up. Cross your fingers. I'm trying to stay away from the clubs that are strictly baking. Not good for the blood sugar! Anyway, I had emailed Tia and she said that she may start this club back up. Therefore, I found a recipe to make to let her know that I want it started up! (sounded like a spoiled child!)

The recipe was Cracker Barrel's Baked Macaroni and Cheese and can be found here. This site, www.recipesecrets.net, seems to have fantastic looking recipes. This macaroni and cheese was super good. Ooey goodness! I will definitely make again. It was not hard to make at all. You must try it!

Foodie Fanatics: Chocolate Malted Milkshakes

2011-12-28T18:45:00.003-05:00

I'm a little late on posting this recipe for Foodie Fanatics. With the holidays, I just have not had the time, or desire, to sit at the computer at home. I hope everyone had a happy holiday. Ours was very nice, but hectic. I really enjoyed having my daughter and family here for the holidays without having her leaving.

The week before Christmas, the recipe for Foodie Fanatics was Paula Deen's Chocolate Malted Milkshakes which was Kelly's choice (What's Cooking Kelly). Man, were they scrumptious! Very easy to make. Kelly and I made these one evening with the kids. Kelly actually did all the work...I only smashed the malted milk balls to sprinkle on top (which were left over from Halloween!).

I highly recommend trying this milkshake. You will not be disappointed! The recipe can be found HERE.

It's not the best picture, but you get the idea of it's yumminess!

Foodie Fanatics: Mini Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders

2011-12-11T18:22:00.005-05:00

This past week was my choice for Foodie Fanatics. I saw these on someone else's blog and thought they sounded really good.

I was right. They were easy and delicious. Another excellent and quick meal from Paula Deen.

My daughter, Kelly, and I made these at her house last night. They were quick. We had other stuff in the oven (tiny tator tots to go with the mini hamburgers...get it?!), so we fried the burgers. They came out great.

I wasn't a big fan of the slider sauce, but it's a matter of preference. My daughter and son-in-law loved it.

Mini Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders

Sliders:

2 lbs ground chuck

10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Parker House-style rolls, split and toasted (we used slider rolls, untoasted)

Slider Sauce

Caramelized Onions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a cooling rack inside a rimmed baking sheet.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the ground chuck, bacon, cheese, pepper and salt.

3. Form mixture into 25 (2-inch) patties. Place on cooling rack. Bake 20 minutes.

4. Spread Slider Sauce on bottom half of each roll; top with 1 burger.

5. Spoon Caramelized Onions evenly over each burger, cover with top half of each roll. Serve immediately.

Slider Sauce:

1/2 cup mayo

2 tsp sweet pickle relish

2 tsp red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp. Greek Seasoning (see below)

1/4 tsp sugar

Mix together in bowl. Cover and refrigerate.

Caramelized Onions:

2 T butter

2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions, and cook, stirring frequently, 10 to 12 minutes, or until caramel colored.

Greek Seasoning:

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp salt

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

slider sauce

Apple Coffee Cake

2011-12-10T13:25:00.007-05:00

This recipe was off the Mr. Food site and can be found here. It was pretty simple to make. It would have been easier if I knew where by apple slicer/corer was. Found it after I was done! I really recommend trying this. You will not be disappointed. It is filled with chopped apples in every bite. The topping has pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon. Yum!

just poured into pan

the topping

first piece fell apart, but no worries...still delicious!

Peppermint Brownie Parfaits

2011-12-10T10:39:00.008-05:00

This recipe is found in the 2011 Paula Deen's Christmas magazine. It's one of those recipes that you keep going back to look at. My mom had everyone over for dinner Wednesday night, so I had to make it! I made up the whipping cream mixture and baked the brownies the night before. After dinner, I just had to put the parfaits together. Everyone loved them as you can see by the pictures of my grandkids!

I didn't crumble my brownies; I cut them into tiny cubes.

It's a definite must make. The whipping cream mixture is light, not too heavy or sweet. Perfect!

Peppermint Brownie Parfaits

1 (22.5 oz) package brownie mix (the 13 x 9 size)

4 cups heavy whipping cream, divided

2 (4 oz) bars white chocolate, chopped

30 round peppermint candies, crushed

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Garnish: peppermint candies

Directions:

1. Prepare and bake brownie mix according to package directions; cool completely and crumble.

2. In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup cream and white chocolate. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Cool for 45 minutes.

3. In a large bowl, beat remaining 3 cups cream at high speed with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Whisk in cooled white chocolate mixture and crushed peppermints until combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

4. In parfait glasses, layer crumbled brownies, peppermint mixture, and chocolate chunks as desired. Store, covered, in refrigerate. Garnish with peppermint candies.

white chocolate and 1 cup whipping cream

brownies fresh out of the oven.

whipping cream with white chocolate mixture and peppermint candies

Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken

2011-12-10T10:05:00.010-05:00

I found this recipe on Jamie Cooks it Up. I reminded me of a recipe my mom made a few times growing up. It was easy to make on a weeknight and tasted awesome. My son had two big helpings! I will definitely make this one again! and again!

Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken

5 chicken breasts cut into strips
1/2 C flour
1 t salt
1 T lemon pepper
3 T olive oil

Sauce:
1 can pineapple chunks
1 1/4 C pineapple juice (use the pineapple juice from the can, there won't be enough to equal 1 1/4 C. Just add a bit of water to make up the difference.)
3/4 C apple cider vinegar
1 t soy sauce
1/4 t ginger
1 chicken bullion cube
1 C sugar
2 T cornstarch
green onions (optional, but tasty)

1. In a dish mix the flour, salt and lemon pepper.

2. Cut your chicken into strips with some kitchen scissors. Dredge the chicken through the flour mixture.

3. Into a large HOT skillet add the olive oil. Place each piece of chicken into the hot pan. Over medium heat cook the chicken until it is golden brown. Turn each piece over and repeat. Lay the golden brown chicken in a 9x13 pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

4. Pour the juice from the pineapple can into a measuring cup. Add enough water to the juice to equal 1 1/4 C.

5. In a medium sized sauce pan mix the ginger, sugar and cornstarch. Add all other sauce ingredients to this dry mixture and stir.

6. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium heat. Let it boil for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then pour 2/3 of the sauce over the top of your chicken.

7. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

8. Take the chicken out of the oven and pour the pineapple chunks over the top. Pour the rest of the sauce over the top of the chicken and return it to the oven. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle a bit of green onion over the top if you choose.

Chicken after browning

baking

baking after adding pineapple

Foodie Fanatics: Mexican Chicken

2011-12-06T22:46:00.005-05:00

This was the 3rd recipe we made for Foodie Fanatics. This week's Paula Deen choice was made by Michele at Makin' Cakin' Weekends. It was delicious. I had seen the recipe before and wanted to make it. Finally I did. I wish I did what Michele did and added Rotel tomatoes instead of regular can of potatoes. We did add salsa, and it added the necessary kick.

Kelly and I made the recipe together. Took us no time to whip it up. It would make an awesome weeknight meal.

The recipe can be found here. It was really good. I substituted the cream of mushroom soup for another can of cream of chicken. I can't stand the taste of mushrooms!

This should have been posted Sunday. Sorry, Michele!

After mixing ingredients

Reindeer Chow

2011-12-04T21:37:00.002-05:00

Thursday night, our Daisy Girl Scout troop made goodies to take to SOS Children's Village. SOS Children's Village is a foster care neighborhood near me. It's a wonder place with wonderful volunteers and kids. Saturday there were about 100 volunteers hanging lights and decorating the neighborhood. I asked if my Girl Scout troop of 5 and 6 year olds could help and they suggested making baked goodies for the works. So, we made brownies, cupcakes and Reindeer Chow to take over. The girls had a blast decorating cupcakes, mixing up the batter for brownies and making the Reindeer Chow. We also learned about being Honest and Fair (the first part of the Girl Scout Law).

The Reindeer Chow is from the Gooseberry Patch's Christmas 2009 recipe book. It's basically trail mix, but since it's Christmas time.....

I adjusted the recipe some to fill up the baggie I put it into. I gave SOS a bowl to put it in. I did not use the dates and swapped the sunflower seeds for mini pretzels.

Sorry about the picture. I didn't want to dirty the bowl!

Reindeer Chow

4 cups salted peanuts

1 cup whole almonds

1 cup red and green candy-coated chocolate pieces

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped dates

1/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; store in covered container.

Cheesy Stuffed Meatballs

2011-12-02T21:31:00.005-05:00

I get an email every day from Mr. Food. On the 29th, I received one that included this recipe. I knew I had to try it. It looked so delicious....and it was! Both my son and I really enjoyed it. I served Ragu with it, spaghetti noodles and cheesy garlic bread. I will definitely make this one again. In fact, one of my Girl Scout moms spotted it and took my recipe home with her!

This was a good week night meal. It goes together fast. The longest part was rolling the meatballs and waiting impatiently for the meatballs to cook!

Cheesy Stuffed Meatballs

Yields: 20 meatballs

Preparation Time: 10 min

Cooking Time: 15 min

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
³/4 cup plain bread crumbs
¹/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
¹/2 cup water
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 egg
1 ¹/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
³/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (8-ounce) block mozzarella, cut into 20 (1/2-inch) cubes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except mozzarella cheese; mix well.
Divide mixture into 20 meatballs, then form each meatball around a mozzarella cube, making sure to cover cheese completely. Place on prepared baking sheet.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until no longer pink in center. Serve immediately.

Before baking

Straight from the oven.

Foodie Fanatics: Homemade Mini Corn Dogs

2011-11-27T00:01:00.001-05:00

This is recipe number 2 for the Foodie Fanatics weekly blog. This one was chosen by my daughter, Kelly, of What's Cooking Kelly. This Paula Deen recipe was another success! It was so yummy. You will never want to eat another frozen corn dog again! It was a little time consuming and messy but so worth it!

You may have to add a little more buttermilk for the batter. Our batter came out too thick. Kelly and I made the corn dogs for dinner tonight.

Check out the Foodie Fanatics site and join the fun!

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil, for frying

1/4 cup cornstarch
1 (16-ounce) package beef hot dogs, each cut crosswise into 3 pieces
1 1/2 cups self-rising cornmeal mix
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Special Equipment: 40 (6-inch) wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Directions:

In a large Dutch oven, pour the vegetable oil to a depth of 4 inches. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F.

Place the cornstarch in a small bowl. Place 1 hot dog piece on the end of each skewer. Dredge the hot dogs in cornstarch, gently tapping off the excess.

In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal mix, flour, and sugar. Add the buttermilk, whisking until smooth.

Holding the ends of the skewers, dip the hot dogs into the cornmeal batter to completely cover the hot dog. Holding the ends of the skewers, carefully place the battered hot dogs into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Repeat

procedure with remaining skewered hotdogs and cornmeal batter.

Servings: 40 corndogs
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 12 min
Difficulty: Moderate

Before frying

My turn at frying

First attempt on left; 2nd attempt on right!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

2011-11-20T22:46:00.002-05:00

I found this recipe looking at Fake Ginger. Amanda has some amazing posts on her blog. We were having dinner at my daughter's house tonight. I made these for our dessert tonight. It was a good choice! They were a hit!

You have to make these. Easy, yummy.....did I say easy!

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment or aluminum foil. Spray lightly with oil.
Melt butter; stir in granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, and salt; stir just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Foodie Fanatics: Chocolate Banana Cream Miniature Cupcakes

2011-11-20T08:26:00.007-05:00

I recently joined a new club called Foodie Fanatics by Michele at Makin' Cakin' Weekends. A new Food Network chef is chosen every three months. All the members take turns choosing a recipe by that chef for everyone to make. The first chef is Paula Deen and I chose her Chocolate Banana Cream Miniature Cupcakes for the first recipes. It's out of Paula's 2011 Christmas magazine.

My daughter, Kelly, of Whats Cooking Kelly, and I made these together last night before settling down to watch Twilight and New Moon. I think I made a good choice! They came out delicious! They are so yummy! We could have just kept popping them in our mouth!

I used my batter dispenser from Avon. It worked out great for the miniature cupcakes! No mess!

Chocolate Banana Cream Miniature Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 oz) box chocolate cake mix

1 (3.4 oz) box instant banana cream flavored pudding mix

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup sour cream

2 cups thawed frozen whipped topping

Garnish: dried banana chips (could not find at my grocery the day I went)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 (24-cup) miniature muffin pans with foil liners.

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

In a medium bowl, combine pudding mix and confectioners' sugar. Add cream and sour cream; beat at medium speed with a mixer until very thick. Fold in whipped topping. Pipe or spread mixture over cupcakes. Garnish with banana chips, if desired. Store cupcakes, covered, in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Yield: 4 dozen miniature cupcakes

This is before Austin stuck his whole head in the bowl to lick it!

My batter dispenser from Avon. Love it!

Banana Crumb Cake

2011-11-16T22:07:00.003-05:00

I love Christy Jordan of Southern Plate! She has some of the most awesome recipes. Her cookbook is fantastic! I look through it all the time.

I had three bananas needing to be used up, which is just the right number for this recipe. The whole recipe was put together fast and is so wonderful! We ate it with Cool Whip when it was still a tad warm. Oh my goodness! Make this and you will not be sorry!

Banana Crumb Cake

Ingredients

3 bananas, peeled

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine (I used unsalted butter)

1 cup milk

1 cup chopped nuts, optional (I used walnuts)

2 cups self-rising flour

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

Crumb Topping

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine

1 cup brown sugar, light or dark

1 cup flour (whatever kind you have on hand)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray two 8x8 inch pans with cooking spray. Place the bananas and sugar in a large bowl. Mix until the bananas are liquified. Add the margarine and mix until creamed together with the banana mixture. Add the remaining ingredients and blend well.

In a medium bowl, combine all the topping ingredients. Cut together with a long-tined fork until well blended. Pour one-quarter of the batter into each pan and top with one quarter of the topping. Pour the remaining batter and top with the remaining topping.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Serve from the pan.

I'm Baaack.....Slow Cooker Chicken & Dumplings

2011-11-16T21:35:00.004-05:00

I know it has been ages since I've posted anything. Life has been a little crazy the last few months as my friends know. First my dad had a mild heart attack and had by-pass surgery. Next, my 15 year old son had to have his appendix out. Then, the end of October I came down with the beginnings of pneumonia. For now everyone is well. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

I received this recipe from the Campbell's Kitchens. Once a week you receive an email with different recipes. There were a few that I wanted to try. This one was the first one.

It was very easy to put together, no precooking, just some chopping. My only issue was that it needed more spice. Pepper did nicely. Also, the dumplings took FOREVER to set. I ended up putting the crock pot insert into the oven for a little less than 10 minutes when the dumplings would not set after about an hour.

But, never mind that....it was DELICIOUS! Mmmm Mmmm Good! My son had two giant helpings.

Slow Cooker Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients:

about 1 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 cups Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 cups baby carrots

2 stalks celery, sliced (about 1 cup)

2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) cream of chicken soup (regular or 98% fat free)

1 cup water

1 tsp dried thyme leaves, crushed

1/4 tsp ground pepper (needs way more)

2 cups all-purpose baking mix

2/3 cup milk

Directions:

Stir the chicken, potatoes, carrots and celery in a 6 qt slow cooker.

Stir together the soup, water, thyme, and pepper in a medium bowl. Pour soup mixture over the chicken and vegetables.

Cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or until the chicken is cooked through.

Stir the baking mix and milk in a medium bowl. Drop the batter by spoonfuls onto the chicken mixture. Increase the heat to HIGH. Tilt the lid to vent and cook for 30 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked in the center.

Serves: 8

Double Chip Cookies

2011-07-25T19:16:00.005-04:00

Found this recipe in the June/July 2011 Taste of Home: Simple & Delicious magazine. I had not made anything new in ages. My daughter and her family are staying with me. They moved here from Kansas. As soon, as they have enough money saved they will get a place of their own. Since being here, Kelly has done almost all the cooking and cleaning which is wonderful!

My grandchildren, Austin and Samantha helped me make these cookies. Samantha cracked her first egg! She was excited. It is a really easy recipe. We have several more recipes out of this edition picked out to make! This recipe is yummy good!

Double Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in the chocolate and butterscotch chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown (tops will feel soft). Cool for 3 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Yields: 2 1/2 dozen

The Secret Recipe Club: Nutella-Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-05-16T07:00:00.008-04:00

I just joined a cool cooking blog club called The Secret Recipe Club. Each month you are given another person's blog. You can make anything form this person's blog, and however many recipes you want to. You just can't post til the given date or let that person know you have her blog. Pretty cool!

My blog for the month is Sara at Cupcake Muffin. Check her site out; she has a lot of nice looking recipes! I chose Nutella-Chocolate Chip Cookies. I was going to a picnic and thought these look heavenly and I had all the ingredients. These are super simple to make and are DELICIOUS! You must bake them!

Nutella-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup Nutella

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or coarsely chopped dark chocolate

1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts, optional (I omitted)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with foil or parchment paper.

2. Whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.

3. Beat together the butter and sugars; add Nutella and beat until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Fold in the dry ingredients, followed by chocolate chips or chunks, and nuts if using.

4. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls two inches apart on the cookie sheets and then flatten slightly by hand. Bake 8-10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

About 4 dozen small cookies.

Simple Southern-Style "Unfried" Chicken

2011-05-04T23:58:00.003-04:00

This recipe is from Kraft Recipes. This was under Healthy Living. It was soooo yummy! I want to double the recipe next time so I can put on a salad. My son and I are not big fans of Ranch dressing, so I used Light Creamy Caesar Dressing instead. I would think Creamy Italian would work too. I will definitely make this one again and again...

Simple Southern-Style "Unfried" Chicken

Ingredients:

1 broiler-fryer chicken (3 1/4 lbs), cut up (I used chicken breasts)

1/2 cup Kraft Light Ranch Dressing (I used Light Caesar)

1 pkt Shake 'n Bake Extra Crispy Seasoned Coating Mix

Directions:

Remove skin from all chicken pieces except wings (unless you use boneless, skinless like me). Place chicken in large resealable plastic bag. Add dressing. Seal bag; turn to evenly coat chicken with dressing. Refrigerate 30 minutes to marinade.

Heat oven to 400 degrees (I did 350). Place coating mix in pie plate or shallow dish. Dip chicken in coating mix, turning to evenly coat both sides of each piece. Place in single layer on baking sheet. Sprinkle with any remaining coating mix. Discard bag and marinade.

Bake 40-45 minutes or until chicken is done. (I did about 25 minutes).

Pasta Fagioli

2011-05-04T23:10:00.003-04:00

I found this yummy recipe while looking through Ginas Skinny Recipes. She has lots of wonderful looking recipes! The best is the Weight Watchers points. Yes....I'm trying again. Now that I'm mid-40's I realize it's time to do better on watching my health. So, as of Sunday....it's a new me!

I was going to make this for dinner on Monday. I had it mostly made, but had to run my son somewhere. I decided on something else that night, but the pot in the fridge and finished in the morning before work. It made for a great filling lunch!

Pasta Fagioli

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

1/2 onion

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1-15 oz can cannellini beans

15 oz can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes

1 large bay leaf

1 T basil

1 T parsley

1 tsp oregano

2 (14 oz each) cans chicken brother (fat free)

1 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups (6 oz) dry Ditalini pasta or other small pasta

grated Parmesan

Directions:

In a deep pot, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat.

Add beans, tomato sauce, celery, carrots, chicken broth, basil, bay leaf, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper. Add water and bring to slow boil. Let simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add pasta and cook uncovered until pasta is al dente, according to package directions.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with grated cheese.

5 servings (about 1 1/2 cups each)

6 WW+ points (grated cheese extra)

Easter Dessert: Fruit Ribbon Cake

2011-04-24T22:17:00.005-04:00

Happy Easter everyone! I hope all who celebrate had a wonderful day! I went to see my in-laws for a while. Jimmy stayed for dinner. I ate with my parents.

I found this dessert in Better Homes and Gardens Simply Better booklet Easy Cakes. I think it was free with another book I received. I thought this was a really good cake for Easter. Colorful!

This was really delicious. I didn't have the raspberry preserves, but I had strawberry. I used that instead. Good substitution. I finally know what lemon curd is! Really good!

Fruit Ribbon Cake

Ingredients:

1 pkg 2 layer size white cake mix, and ingredients to make

1 1/3 cups seedless red raspberry preserves

2/3 cup lemon curd

1 8 oz container frozen whipped dessert topping, thawed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour two 8x1 1/2 inch or 9 x 1 1/2 inch round cake pans; set aside.

2. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake according to package directions. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Removed from pans. Cool on wire racks. Using long blade serrated knife, cut each layer in half horizontally.

3. To assemble, place one split cake layer on serving plate; spread with half of the preserves. Top with second layer; spread with lemon curd. Top with third layer; spread with remaining preserves. Top with fourth layer. Spread whipped topping over top and side of cake. If desired, cover and chill for up to 4 hours.

Store in fridge.

Good 'n Easy Apple Cake

2011-04-17T07:40:00.003-04:00

I found this recipe in Southern Plate cookbook (Love, Love the book!). I didn't have the apple pie filling, so I substituted a can of peach pie filling. So, I actually made Good 'n Easy Peach Cake! Christie was right...very easy to make. And, man is it GOOD! Loved it hot and cold. I served mine once with Cool Whip and the next time with vanilla ice cream. Both ways are delicious. It took the cake over to my parents for dinner's dessert. My mom called me the next day to tell me that this was one of the best cakes she has ever had!

Good 'n Easy Peach Cake

Ingredients:

CAKE:

1-21 oz can apple (or peach) pie filling

1 box white cake mix

3 eggs

1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

TOPPING:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup chopped pecans

4 T margarine or butter, softened

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; grease 13"x9" pan. Pour out filling onto plate and coarsely chop with knife. Place in large bowl and add cake mix, eggs and 1 cup nuts; mix well. Pour into baking pan.

Mix all the topping ingredients well with a fork and sprinkle over top of the cake.

Bake 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Taste of Home Favorite Sugar Cookies

2011-04-16T23:18:00.004-04:00

I was asked by a fellow scout mom to bake 100 cut out cookies for the Coral Springs, FL Relay for Life which was yesterday. I told Kim yes as long as I do not have to ice them. She said she would have the ones that purchased the cookies ice them. The cookie cutter was a little small so hard to deal with. It's in the shape of the cause ribbon you see on cars. I had a few rejects and re-dos, but all in all, I ended up with about 84 cookies.

I used this recipe at Christmas time and they came out wonderful. The second batch I only chilled for about 45 minutes and were easy to handle.

Favorite Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. Combine flour and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Chill for 1-2 hours.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with 2 1/2 inch cookie cutters. Place on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Crescent Lemon Honey Buns

2011-04-10T13:29:00.003-04:00

I was in the mood to bake something this morning. I looked through the Pillsbury Breakfast & Brunch Made Easy, March/April 2011. I actually had all the ingredients for these. While my son was still sleeping I whipped them up. We ate them with scrambled eggs and sausage patties.

These buns are much smaller than the picture in the book, but they are so delicious! We loved them! The lemon flavor wasn't over bearing at all. We added the coconut which was great in them. I would definitely make these a lot.

Crescent Lemon Honey Buns

Ingredients:

1 pkg (3 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup flaked coconut, if desired

1 T honey

1 tsp lemon juice

1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp butter or margarine softened (I used a tablespoon. Came out great)

1 T lemon juice

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheet with shortening or cooking spray. (I used a stone and it didn't stick)

2. In small bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, coconut, honey and 1 tsp lemon juice with wooden spoon until smooth.

3. Unroll dough onto work surface and separate into 2 large rectangles. Overlap long sides to form 13x7 inch rectangle; firmly press edges and perforations to seal. Spread cream cheese mixture on rectangle. Starting with 1 long side, roll up; press edges to seal. With serrated knife, cut into 12 slices. Place cut side down on cookie sheet.

4. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. In small bowl, mix powdered sugar, butter and lemon juice; spread on warm rolls. Cover and refrigerate any remaining rolls.

Campbell's Beef and Cheddar Soft Tacos

2011-04-06T08:55:00.004-04:00

Last night was the second night in a row that my son made dinner. Monday night we had Schwann's frozen Chicken Cordon Bleu's (it was national chicken cordon bleu day) with rice. Last night we had these tacos which was on the back of the cheddar cheese soup. It was so souper (he he!) easy to make and fast. Good work night meal. I appreciated Jimmy's help in the kitchen since it was a busy, tiring day at work. He's such a great kid!

The picture is off the Campbell's website. I totally forgot to take a picture!

Campbell's Beef & Cheddar Soft Tacos

1 pound ground beef

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup

1/2 cup Pace® Picante Sauce

8 flour tortillas (8-inch), warmed

2 cups shredded lettuce

Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring often to separate meat. Pour off any fat.
Stir the soup and picante sauce in the skillet and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling.
Spoon about 1/3 cup beef mixture down the center of each tortilla. Top with the lettuce. Fold the tortillas around the filling.

St. Patrick's Day

2011-04-03T20:18:00.010-04:00

I know I'm a little late, but I wanted to let you know what I made for St. Patrick's Day. My son is very small part Irish on his dad's side and loves to have an "Irish" meal. I oblige of course.

Some of what we had was previously made:

Corned Beef and Hash

Best Ever Potato Soup

Grandma's Irish Soda Bread

The new recipe I made this year was Betty Crocker's Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Pie. Man, was that awesome!

Ingredients:

2 pints mint chocolate chip ice cream, slightly softened

1-6 oz ready to use chocolate flavored pie crust

1 1/4 cups crushed chocolate mint cookies

1 cup chocolate fudge topping

Directions:

Spread 1 pint of the ice cream in pie crust. Sprinkle 1 cup of the crushed cookies over ice cream. Cover and freeze 1 hour.

Spread remaining pint of ice cream over cookies. Cover and freeze about 3 hours or until firm.

Let stand at room temperature about 10 minutes before cutting. Serve with fudge topping; sprinkle with remaining cookies. Cover and freeze any remaining pie.

Raspberry Coffee Cake

2011-04-03T16:20:00.007-04:00

This was made in March.

I saw this recipe on Nancy's A Recipe a Day. Nancy always has some yummy stuff. This was really, really good! I didn't have raspberry, so I used strawberry jam. I love strawberries, and will chose them over raspberry. I had seen this recipe and had printed it; one morning, I woke up and had to have it! I was so glad I made them!

Raspberry Coffee Cake

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup seedless raspberry preserves ( I used strawberry)

powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Beat cream cheese, butter, and sugar together until creamy. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla and beating until mixture is smooth.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the cream cheese mixture at low speed until the mixture is well blended.

Spread into a greased 9×13 pan. Spoon preserves over the top and swirl carefully with a knife. I used more than 1/2 cup preserves ~ more like 3/4 cup.

Bake at 350º for 30 minutes or until the cake begins to leave the sides of the pan.

Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Cut into squares.

Makes 12 ~ 15 servings.

Before putting in oven.

Right after coming out of oven.

Old Fashioned Coconut Meringue Pie

2011-04-03T15:46:00.005-04:00

I made this on March 14 - Pi Day! It's another recipe by Southern Plate's Christy Jordan. She has such delicious recipes. I LOVE Coconut Cream Pie! It's one of my all time favorite pies. This came out delicious, but I thought just a smidgeon salty. I think it's because I used salted butter. Otherwise, I thought it was great tasting. I did not make a meringue topping. I used the Cool Whip I had in the freezer. For the crust, I used Cristy's Mix in the Pan Pie Crust. Talk about simple!

Mix in the Pan Pie Crust

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cup Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Sugar
1 teaspoons Salt
1/2 Cup Cooking Oil

2 Tablespoon milk

Directions:

Mix flour, salt, and sugar in pie pan. Slowly add milk and oil. Mix well with a fork and pat out to fit pan.

Bake at 350 until brown, usually about ten minutes.

Coconut Meringue Pie

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

stick margarine, melted

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

3 eggs, separated

1 heaping cup coconut, sweetened flaked

9 inch pie shell, baked (or the above Mix in the Pan Pie Crust)

Directions:

Mix flour, sugar, salt, margarine, milk and egg yolks in large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wire whisk until thick. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and coconut. Pour into baked pie shell. Top with meringue.

Meringue

3 egg whites

1/4 cup sugar

Whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar. Continue beating on high speed until soft peaks form. Pour onto top of pie and spread to edges to seal well. Sprinkle additional coconut on top. Bake at 325 for ten minutes or until top is golden. Refrigerate until completely cold before serving.

Cheesy Chicken and Chicken

2011-04-03T00:17:00.002-04:00

This is another yummy recipe from Southern Plate. This was so super easy to put together and hardly any ingredients. I made this Tuesday night for dinner. When I got home from work, I shredded the chicken and served over rice. Delicious!

Ingredients:

2 - 3 lbs boneless chicken breasts

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can cheddar cheese soup

Directions:

Add chicken to crock pot. Mix soups, pour over chicken.

Cook on high 3-4 hours, or low 6-8 hours.

When done, the chicken will fall to pieces.

Make rice and serve chicken and cheesy gravy on top.

Banana-Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

2011-04-02T23:34:00.004-04:00

I found this recipe on an email I received from Betty Crocker. I already had the cake mix and the bananas....so, I made them last night to eat with dinner tonight when my friends came over for homemade lasagna. The banana taste was slight; I would not have minded more. I used regular chocolate chips, which was good too. These were yummy. I used a different Betty Crocker frosting. It had chocolate chips. Made the cupcakes rich, but still great. They were good without the frosting, too.

If you want the recipe, you can find it here.

Savory Pepper Steak

2011-04-02T23:20:00.002-04:00

I received a booklet with slow cooker recipes from Southern Plate. I found some that I wanted to make. I decided to make the Savory Pepper Steak recipe for Wednesday night. It was pretty easy to put together. It tasted really good. The sauce was tasty and I liked how the peppers got really soft.

I actually made this on March 5th. I just haven't had much chance to post lately.

Ingredients:

1 lbs 1/2" thick round steak, cut into strips

1/4 cup flour

salt and pepper

1 medium onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 large green peppers, cut into strips

1-16 oz can stewed tomatoes

1 T soy sauce

2 t Worchestershire sauce

Directions:

Combine flour, salt, pepper. Toss with steak to coat. Place in crockpot with onion, garlic, and "most of" of the green peppers. Stir, combine the rest of ingredients and pour over meat mixture.

Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours.

An hour before serving, turn to high and add remaining green pepper. (I omitted this step)

Serve over rice.

Quick Lasagna Toss

2011-03-18T22:33:00.003-04:00

I saw this recipe on the Mr. Food site. I get emails from the site and there are always tons of yummy stuff on here. I made this recipe Monday for dinner. Good dinner for a work night. This tasted almost exactly like my lasagna. Pretty much all the same ingredients. The picture does not do it justice. It is delicious. If you make it, you won't be sorry!

Serves: 6

Cooking Time: 25 min

Ingredients

12 lasagna noodles, broken into large pieces
1 pound hot Italian sausage, casing removed
1 (26-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
¹/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
¹/2 teaspoon dried basil
¹/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Cook noodles according to package directions; drain.
Meanwhile, in a soup pot, cook sausage over medium-high heat for 6 to 8 minutes, or until no pink remains, stirring to crumble sausage; drain.
Add noodles and remaining ingredients; mix well.
Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 6 to 8 minutes, or until heated through and the cheese has melted. Serve immediately.

Double Peanut Butter Paisley Brownies

2011-02-25T22:03:00.002-05:00

Last Sunday was my birthday. I had a party for the first since I was a teen. My cousin, Toni, wanted to make cookies. I got down the Reese's Peanut Butter chips I had since Christmas and we found this recipe on the back of the bag. My cousin did an awesome job; these came out awesome!

The recipe can be found here.

Pizza Stuffed Chicken

2011-02-15T23:20:00.003-05:00

This recipe is in the January/February 2011 Cooking With Paula Deen magazine. After looking at it for a while, I finally decided to get the ingredients. But, with my schedule, and getting over being sick, I finally made it tonight.

This was a super easy recipe and very good. Next time, tho, I will have pizza or spaghetti sauce on the side.

Pizza-Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 lbs)

20 sliced pepperoni, divided

3/4 cup shredded provolone cheese, divided

4 large fresh basil leaves (omitted)

1/2 tsp salt (didn't measure)

1/4 tsp ground black pepper (didn't measure)

2 T vegetable oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each chicken breast. Stuff each with 4 slices pepperoni, 2 T cheese and 1 basil leaf. Secure with a wooden pick Lightly spray each side with non-stick cooking spray; sprinkle with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes per side or until browned. Bake for 15 minutes or until done.

Remove from oven. Cut remaining 4 slices pepperoni into thin strips. Sprinkle chicken with remaining 1/4 cup cheese; top with pepperoni strips. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

Belgium Waffles

2011-02-07T22:08:00.005-05:00

I have been wanting a Belgium Waffle maker for quite a while. I was at Target Friday and spotted this one at a good price. I had to have it!

We decided to have breakfast for dinner tonight. I wanted to dry out the waffle maker, too. I used the recipe for Quick Waffles that came in the manual. It was simple and good. Makes less waffles than it says, but oh well.

For 1 1/2 waffles, I added chocolate chips. I was going to do blueberries, but they looked a little leery!

Quick Waffles

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

1 T vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 T baking powder

2 tsp sugar

Directions:

Beat whole eggs in a bowl until thick. Beat milk, melted butter and vanilla into eggs. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Sift into egg mixture, and mix well. Bake as directed for waffle maker.

M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-02-07T19:40:00.003-05:00

I found this recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Kaitlin in the Kitchen. I printed it on January 8th and have been dying to make them. My son had a couple friends over last night to watch the Super Bowl, so I decided it was a great time to make them.

I must say this is one of my all time favorite cookies! They cook to a thin cookie loaded with chocolate. The kids had the first batch almost eaten before the 2nd batch was done cooking! Today, I gave another of my son's friends two and he took two more to go! I love recipes that are simple and wonderful!

M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 stick butter, slightly melted

1 egg, room temperature, slightly beaten

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup plain M&M's

Directions:

Cream together butter, egg, and vanilla until just combined. In a large bowl, mix all of your dry ingredients. Dump all of your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and M&M's.

With a cookie scoop, take a scoop of dough (I just scooped some with my hand) then press it out into your hands and hand roll the dough into a ball. Repeat process and bake cookies in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to turn golden brown. Do not overcook.

Easy French Dip Sandwiches

2011-02-06T21:48:00.000-05:00

I found this recipe by Julie on Better Than Burgers. I love French Dip. This was really simple to make and it was good. Not my favorite, but I think part was the roast beef. I don't think it was as good as I usually get at Publix. I actually made this over a week ago. Just never got around to posting!

Easy French Dip Sandwiches

3 lb. sliced deli roast beef

1-2 packages of Aujus mix (i.e., McCormick's Mix)

6 slices of Swiss or Provolone Cheese

6 sliced sandwich rolls (French Rolls, Kaiser Rolls etc...anything you would like)

In a large frying pan place meat with 1 c. water, simmer/steam until warm. Prepare Aujus mix according to package directions. Butter inside of roll (both top and bottom) and place butter side down in hot frying pan. Cook until browned. Place 1 slice of cheese on inside of browned bun. Top with 1/2 lb. of warmed roast beef (I patted mine dry with a paper towel before putting it on the bun). Pour Aujus in a small bowl and eat to your hearts content.

Buffalo Chicken Tenders

2011-01-30T21:29:00.003-05:00

This is another awesome recipe from Donna at My Tasty Treasures. One of my son's all time favorite food is hot wings, so this was right up his alley! He loved it. It was perfect served with the mac 'n cheese.

We do't like bleu cheese dressing, so we didn't make it.

Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Ingredients:

1 cup low fat buttermilk, divided

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 lbs chicken tenders

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup hot sauce

2 T melted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet and transfer to oven.

In a medium bowl, stir together blue cheese and 1/2 cup buttermilk. Season dip with salt and pepper and set aside.

Place flour and remaining 1/2 cup buttermilk, in a separate medium bowls. Season flour with salt and pepper. Set out another rimmed baking sheet alongside. Dip chicken in buttermilk (allowing excess to drip off), then in flour (shaking off excess); place on sheet.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Working in batches, fry chicken until golden-brown and cooked through, 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer to rack in oven to keep warm.

In a large bowl, stir together hot sauce and melted butter. Add chicken and toss to coat. Serve tenders with blue cheese dip.

Easy Homemade Mac 'n Cheese

2011-01-30T21:05:00.003-05:00

I found this recipe on Pennies on a Platter site. I LOVE her recipes and I love Mac 'n Cheese. This recipe was super easy and really good. I may use medium cheddar cheese next time. My son definitely gave it a thumbs up!

I've been sick off and now since before Christmas with a never ending cough. I ended up going to doctor on Wednesday. He is testing me for allergies on Friday and next Tuesday; did some other tests too. I got a flu and pneumonia shot but the flu shot made me sick...fever, achy. I must feel better today since I made new dishes! I just want to quit coughing for good. I ALWAYS have a slight tickle and a slightly stuffy nose.

Anyway....on to the recipe. I halved the recipe since it's just my son and I eating.

Easy Homemade Mac 'n Cheese

Ingredients:

12-16 ounces large elbow macaroni (or desired pasta)

1 lb sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

6 T butter, divided

2 eggs

1 (14 oz) can evaporated milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare the pasta according to the package directions; cook to al dente.

Meanwhile, melt 2 T butter and pour into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Layer half of the pasta into the pan, then top with half of the cheese. Dot with 2 T of the remaining butter. Repeat layers, ending with dotted butter.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the 2 eggs and evaporated milk. Pour evenly over the pasta. Bake for 20 minutes.

Yield: 8-10 side dish servings.

Sausage, Peppers and Onions

2011-01-17T20:48:00.004-05:00

I found this recipe on My Tasty Treasures. If you haven't checked her site out yet, you need to. Donna has a ton of delicious recipes.

This was a pretty easy recipe, just a little messy with the oil. And, then, cutting the veggies. But, it was so worth it. It came out do yummy. My son had two helpings. He's been pestering me for 2 weeks to make it, but one week he was too sick.

I have a ton of leftovers even though I did not make as much as the recipe calls for. Lunch tomorrow!

Sausage, Peppers and Onions

Ingredients

16 links sweet Italian sausages, with or without fennel seeds (I mixed hot and sweet)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, or as noted

8 cloves garlic, peeled

1 pound white, sitake or cremini mushrooms (or mix of them)

3 large yellow onions, cut into 1 inch wedges

6 pickled cherry peppers, stemmed and seeded, but left whole (used jarred slices)

2 medium yellow and 2 medium red bell peppers, cored, seeded and cut into 1 inch strips

Directions

Poke the sausages all over with a fork. Divide 1/4 cup olive oil between two large, heavy skillets and heat them over medium heat. Divide the sausages between the skillets and cook, turning occasionally, until the sausages are well browned on all sides, about 8 minute. About halfway through the browning the sausages, whack the garlic with the flat side of a knife and toss half the cloves into each skillet. Transfer the browned sausages and garlic to a 13x9 inch baking dish, leaving the fat behind.

While the sausages are browning, prepare the mushrooms. Trim the stems. Cut any mushrooms with caps larger than 2 inches in half; leave smaller mushrooms whole. The mushrooms can be omitted.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Scatter the onions and cherry peppers over the fat in one of the skillets, and the mushrooms over the fat in the other. Cook the onions, stirring often, until browned and wilted, but still quite crunchy, about 8 minutes. Cook the mushrooms until they have absorbed the fat in the skillet and have begun to brown, about 6 minutes.

Slide the rooms into the baking dish. Spoon the onions into the baking dish, leaving behind some of the fat in the skillet. (If there is not fat left to coat the bottom of the skillet, pour in enough olive oil to do so) Add the peppers to the skillet and cook, tossing frequently, just until wilted but still quite crunchy, about 6 minutes. Slide the peppers into the baking dish, toss all the ingredients together well, and place in the oven.

Bake uncovered, tossing occasionally, until the vegetables are tender but still firm and no trace of pink remains in the sausages, about 25 minutes. Serve hot.

Excellent over rice.

Key Lime Bread

2011-01-15T20:52:00.005-05:00

Dayna with Better Than Burgers made this earlier this month. It looked so yummy! Living in South Florida, we are big on Key Lime Pie (Blond Giraffe anyone!). I got the ingredients at the grocery and since I was not doing much this evening, decided to make it.

I sprayed the bundt pan but the bottom stuck anyway, so I flipped it over so it looked nicer. It might not look pretty, but it tastes great!

Key Lime Bread

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter- softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 Tbsp. grated lime peel

2 Tbsp. lime juice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

Glaze

2/3 cup powdered sugar

3 Tbsp. lime juice

Directions:

In large bowl cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, mix well. Add lime peel, juice and vanilla-- mix until combined. Combine flour, baking powder and salt- add to creamed mixture, alternating with milk.

Transfer to 2 greased bread pans or bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Combine glaze ingredients, drizzle over warm bread. Cool completely and serve.

Creamy Apple-Raisin Oatmeal

2011-01-15T13:39:00.003-05:00

This recipe was sent to me in a Betty Crocker e-mail. I thought it looked delicious. I made it at work earlier this week. It was soooo simple. I liked it, but something was off for me. I'm not sure if it was the yogurt or the apple juice. I made oatmeal the next day and just did the oats, water and raisins, and brown sugar. Yummy!

Creamy Apple-Raisin Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1/3 cup quick-cooking oats

1 T raisins

2/3 cup apple juice

2 T Yoplait Original French vanilla yogurt

2 tsp packed brown sugar, if desired

Directions:

1. in 2 cup microwaveable cereal bowl, stir oats, raisins and apple juice until well blended.

2. Microwave on high 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until thickened. Top with yogurt; sprinkle with brown sugar.

Makes 1 serving (3/4 cup)

Awesome Pepperoni Pizza

2011-01-09T12:51:00.003-05:00

I received this recipe in the mail from Great American Recipes. I've had it out to make for probably about a month. I decided to try it last night. I must say I liked it alot. It wasn't my favorite crust recipe, but it was pretty darn good. The one thing I would change, tho, is to use a larger cookie sheet. I like my crust thinner. Otherwise, I highly recommend it.

Awesome Pepperoni Pizza

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 pkg (1/4 oz) dry yeast

1 T, plus 2 tsp olive oil

1 cup lukewarm water

3/4 cup pizza sauce

12 oz mozzarella, sliced

1 3/4 oz pepperoni slices (about 25)

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/8 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 12x9 inch baking sheet. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the yeast. Make a well in the center and add olive oil and water. Mix until a soft dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently for 5 minutes.

2. Roll out dough and press into prepared baking sheet. Cover and allow to rest for 10 minutes at room temperature, then bake for 5-7 minutes.

3. Remove the crust from the oven and spread pizza sauce on top, leaving 1/4 inch border. Arrange the mozzarella on top and then the pepperoni. Sprinkle with oregano and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and bake until golden, 15-20 minutes.

4. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife (I use scissors), slice the pizza into 6 square slices. Serve hot.

Easy Oreo Truffles

2011-01-08T12:25:00.007-05:00

I found this recipe in an email from Kraft. I made them at Christmas time with my granddaughter, Samantha. She rolled each truffle into a ball, except for the first one. She did an awesome job! Of course, being five years old, they weren't exactly uniform in size. But who cares! They tasted FANTASTIC! Definitely one I want to make each holiday season.

The picture I took has the truffles, Magic Cookie Bars and the Never Fail Fudge. For a better picture go to the Kraft site here.

Easy Oreo Truffles

Ingredients:

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 pkg (1 lb 2 oz) Oreo cookies, finely crushed (about 4 1/4 cups), divided

2 pkgs (16 squares) semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Directions:

Mix cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended.

Shape into 1 inch balls. Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store in tightly covered container in fridge.

Yield: 48 (or less)

Cinnamon Breakfast Puffs

2011-01-08T11:43:00.005-05:00

I was looking at different blogs last night and came across this recipe on Sunday Baker's site. Check Tanya's site out; she has some awesome recipes! I made these this morning (even though my son is away with a friend for the weekend) for breakfast. They were so yummy! Very easy and quick to put together. Mine look like little muffins. I had to double the sugar/cinnamon mix for the coating. These are a must try!

Cinnamon Breakfast Puffs

Ingredients:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup melted butter

1 large egg

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

Glaze:

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp cinnamon (mix together with sugar)

Directions:

In a small mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the egg, beating well. Slowly add in the flour and milk, alternately, starting and ending with the flour.

With a small melon scooper, fill greased mini muffin pans (3/4 full). Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden.

Remove from oven. While warm, dip each puff in the melted butter, then the cinnamon/sugar mix. Serve.

Yields: 24

Texas Jambalaya

2011-01-05T20:49:00.005-05:00

My son has been wanting to make jambalaya for a while. He looked up recipes a few weeks ago and found this one on Allrecipes.com.

The last few days Jimmy has been helping me with dinner since I've been sick (middle ear infection, bronchitis and pink eye). Last night, we made the jambalaya. It was a fairly easy recipe to make with both of us working on it. We did not use the full amount of onion. We also substituted chicken for the ham. Next time, I think we will add more meat. The dish is spicy, but not overly so.

The picture is from the website, since I forgot to take a picture!

If you are interested in making, here is where you can find the delicious recipe.

Marinated Antipasto Platter

2011-01-03T22:14:00.003-05:00

This is a recipe I made for Christmas Eve. This is a recipe from the December/January 2011 Simple & Delicious magazine. It put together really easy and tasted great. My son-in-law, Steve, could not stay out of the olives. My son kept munching on the salami!

Since most of us do not like mushrooms, I did not add, and just put in more of the olives.

Marinated Antipasto Platter

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 T orange juice

1 tsp grated orange peel

1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed

1 tsp dried tarragon

1/2 lb part-skim mozzarella cheese, cubed

2/3 c pimiento-stuffed olives

2/3 cup pitted Greek olives

2/3 cup pitted ripe olives

1 jar (4 1/2 oz) whole mushrooms, drained

1/2 lb thinly sliced hard salami (used genoa)

Directions:

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the first six ingredients. Add the cheese, olives and mushrooms. Seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate overnight.

Drain marinade; reserving 2 T. Thread salami onto toothpicks. Arrange on a large platter; drizzle with reserved marinade. Arrange cheese mixture around salami.

Snowball Cake

2011-01-03T22:07:00.002-05:00

I found this cake on the Kraft website. It looked yummy and perfect for the holiday season. I made this for our Christmas dinner. It was really delicious. Of course, mine did not look as nice as the picture on the website, but, hey, it's the taste that counts, right?

To make this yummy cake, visit the Kraft website.

Never Fail Fudge

2011-01-02T22:49:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It's been forever since I blogged. My daughter and her family came for the holidays. We had so much fun. We even went camping in the abnormally cold weather Florida was having. Now, I'm trying to get over being sick. Ugh!

The next couple days I will be be blogging some good things I made but never posted. The first one is Never Fail Fudge from the jar of Marshmallow Fluff.

This was really good. I think I prefer my mom's fudge recipe, but this was close.

Never Fail Fudge

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 small can (5 oz) evaporated milk

1 jar (7 1/2 oz) Marshmallow Fluff

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp vanilla

1 large (12 oz) pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in pot. Stir over low heat until blended.

2. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, being careful not to mistake air bubbles for boiling. Then, boil slowly, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes (use soft ball test).

3. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate and vanilla until chocolate is melted. Turn into a buttered 9x9 pan and cool.

Grandma's Irish Soda Bread

2010-10-30T13:53:00.002-04:00

My son, Jimmy, had to do a presentation in Geography on a country. He chose Ireland, of course. He has Irish on his dad's side. He had to bring in a dish from that country for extra credit. So, he asked me to make Irish Soda Bread (at least he changed his mind from corned beef hash).

I found an easy recipe in Gooseberry Patch Farmhouse Kitchen book. It came out delicious! The container came out empty!

Grandma's Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 c. sugar

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 1/2 c. raisins

2 eggs, beaten

1 3/4 cup buttermilk

1 T butter, melted and slightly cooled

Directions

Stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl; stir in raisins and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk and melted butter, blending well. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; stir until well mixed. Pour batter into two greased 9x5 loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Turn loaves out of pans and let cool on a wire rack. Makes 2 loaves.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Brown Butter

2010-10-21T23:00:00.002-04:00

This recipe is from the October/November 2010 Taste of Home Magazine. I kept looking at this recipe wanting to make it. Tonight, we decided to have breakfast for dinner. It made a lot. I should've halved the recipe. It was quite good. I loved the pecan topping.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Brown Butter

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, cubed

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 T packed brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups milk

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

Directions:

In a small heavy saucepan, cook butter over medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add the maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg. Remove from heat, stir in pecans.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, pumpkin and cheese. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a greased hot griddle. turn when bubbles form on top. Cook until second side is golden brown.

Serve with brown butter.

Yield: 14 pancakes.

Apple Orchard Snack Cake

2010-10-21T22:49:00.002-04:00

This is another YUMMY recipe from Southern Plate. I've been wanting to make something with apple for a couple weeks now. I miss being in Ohio and going to the apple orchard to get your own apples and the fresh apple cider and maple candy. Sigh......

But...anyway, I decided to make this recipe. It was so great. Very easy. I used 2 apples and it was enough. Both apples were on the large side.

Apple Orchard Snack Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted

3 eggs

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

2-3 apples, peeled, cored and diced

3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8 x 8 inch pan. Blend the granulated sugar, margarine, and eggs in a large bowl with a spoon. Stir in the graham cracker crumbs, apples, and walnuts until blended.

Spread the batter in the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until firm to the touch. Sprinkle liberally with confectioners' sugar. Cool and cut into squares.

Steak and Milk Gravy

2010-10-21T22:34:00.002-04:00

I just recently purchased the Southern Plate cookbook. LOVE IT! I want to make practically every recipe! If you have not visited Christy's site, you must. Lots of down home cooking.

This was Wednesday night's dinner. My son had band practice until 6:00 to get ready for competition of marching bands on Saturday. I left work and went straight home. I had a cake made (next post that I am doing), homemade mashed potatoes made and prep dishes done before going to pick him up. Nice.

I had not made cubed steaks in ages. These were so delicious and tender. I rarely make homemade gravy. This came out great! Looking forward to leftovers tomorrow for lunch!

Steak and Milk Gravy

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour - divided

1/4 tsp salt, plus more for the gravy

1/4 tsp pepper, plus more for the gravy

4 pieces cubed steak, approximately 4 oz each

1 1/2 cups milk

Directions:

Place enough oil in a pan to just coat the bottom, and place over medium heat while you prepare your steak.

In a shallow bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour with the salt and pepper. Stir that up. Dip each piece of steak into flour on both sides to get it coated well. Place each piece of steak in the pan and cook until good and browned on both sides. Remove the steak to a plate while you make your gravy.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup flour into the skillet with the meat drippings. Add a little more salt and pepper and stir over medium heat until the flour is lightly browned (just a few minutes). Slowly pour in the milk, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wire whisk to break up any lumps, until thickened and there are no lumps. This will happen rather quickly. Add a little more milk if you prefer thinner gravy. Return the steak to the pan and turn to coat with gravy on both sides.

Serve the steak and gravy together in a bowl or serve the gravy on the side to go with mashed potatoes.

Salisbury Steak

2010-10-21T22:16:00.003-04:00

This is another recipe from Paula Deen's Best Dishes 2010 magazine. I actually made this last week. I think it turned out good, not my favorite, but I would make it again. More gravy next time. My son ate it up and wants me to make again.

I left out the mushrooms since we both can't stand them. I didn't make the gravy because I wasn't sure if Jimmy would like the gravy with the onions. So, I cheated and just used Heinz Beef Gravy. I thought it was good that way.

Salisbury Steak

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 T Worcestershire sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1 (8 oz) package sliced baby bella mushrooms

2 T all-purpose flour

1 (10-oz) can condensed French onion soup

1 (10 1/2 oz) can beef consomme

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, pepper and salt. From mixture into 6 (4 inch) patties. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Add patties to skillet, in batches if necessary, and cook 7-8 minutes per side or until browned. Remove patties from pan; set aside. Reserve 2 T drippings in skillet.

Add mushrooms to skillet, and saute for 1-2 minutes or until just tender. Add flour and onion soup, and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. stir in consomee.

Return patties to skillet; bring to a boil. reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until patties are cooked through and sauce is thickened. Serve immediately.

Easy Chicken 'n' Dumplings

2010-10-10T22:57:00.003-04:00

This is another recipe from Paula Deen's Best Dishes 2010 magazine. This was another yummy recipe. I was going to make something else for dinner tonight, but Jimmy asked to make this instead. I loved the dumplings! I will definitely make this again. And, use the dumpling recipe, too.

Easy Chicken 'n' Dumplings

Ingredients:

1 to 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 chicken bouillon cubes or 2 tsp chicken granules
1 tsp House Seasoning
1 quart water
1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of celery or cream of chicken soup
Dumplings (recipe follows)

Directions:

In a large Dutch oven, combine chicken, celery, onion, bay leaves, bouillon cubes, House Seasoning, and 1 quart water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat, and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until chicken is done.

Stir in cream soup until blended, and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer; drop in Rolled Dumplings, one at a time, into simmering soup, and cook 6-8 minutes or until dumplings are tender and float to the top. (Do not stir mixture while dumplings cook).

Remove and discard bay leaves.

Rolled Dumplings

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup ice water

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Sprinkle a small amount of ice water in center of flour.

Work mixture with fingers from center of bowl to sides of bowl, adding small amounts of water as you move to sides of bowl.

Knead dough, and form into a ball. On a floured board, roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Dough will be firm. Cut dumplings into 2x1 inch strips.

Cookies 'N Creme Brownies

2010-10-09T17:44:00.003-04:00

This recipe was in the Betty Crocker June/July 2010 magazine - "It's Summer." I wanted to make this the minute I saw the recipe. I'm so glad I did----awesome! I made this Wed and glazed them Thursday. They are the best! Did not last long!

Cookies 'N Creme Brownies

Ingredients:

1 box (1 lb. 2.3 oz) Betty Crocker fudge brownie mix

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 cup coarsely chopped creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookies (7-8)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2-4 tsp milk

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or spray bottom only of a 13x9 inch pan. In large bowl, stir brownie mix, water, oil and eggs until well blended. Spread in pan. Spread cookies over batter.

2. Bake 28-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour 30 minutes.

3. In small bowl, stir together powdered sugar and milk until smooth and thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over brownies. Store at room temperature.

Cajun Seared Steak

2010-10-09T17:36:00.003-04:00

I found this recipe on a site that I can no longer remember. It helps you plan meals and make a grocery list. I didn't venture any further with it since there is a fee involved. Anyway, I found this recipe and thought it sounded great. I was hungry for steak, too. This was delicious. However....I had a severe smoking issue. The recipe says to heat skillet to high. I did that but when I put the steaks in, you would have thought my house was on fire. I had my son running around opening windows. But, besides that..it was delicious!

Cajun Seared Steak

Ingredients:

2 (8oz) New York strip steaks or filet mignons

1 cup unsalted butter

1 T black pepper

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

Butterfly the steaks. Mix dry ingredients in small bowl. Melt the butter and pour in shallow bowl.

Heat skillet on high for 10 minutes. Dip steaks in melted butter; sprinkle with the seasonings on both sides and sear 2-3 minutes on each side.

Place on warmed plates. Add rest of melted butter to skillet. Stir for 2 minutes and pour over steaks.

Dalmatian Cupcakes

2010-10-02T19:50:00.008-04:00

This recipe is from Betty Crocker's April/May 2010 book, Cupcakes, cakes & more. I had all the ingredients. It is soooo good. I actually made a week ago but never got around to posting.

I had to use a Betty Crocker picture off the computer. My finished cupcake came out blurry.

Ingredients:

2 packages (3 oz each) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, or regular size

1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist devil's food cake mix

1 1/3 cups water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 container Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy or whipped vanilla frosting

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 35o degrees. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular size muffin cups.

2. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and 1 egg with electric mixture on medium speed until smooth. Stir in one cup of the chips Set aside.

3. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and 3 eggs on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Divide batter among muffin cups (1/4 cup in each). Top each with 1 heaping tablespoon cream cheese mixture.

4. Bake 17-22 minutes or until tops spring back when touched lightly. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove from pans, cool completely, about 30 minutes.

5. Frost with frosting. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips. Store loosely covered in fridge.

Chicken Pot Pie

2010-09-23T22:33:00.008-04:00

My 16-year old cousin, Brittany, made this a few months ago when we went to visit her and her family. She got the recipe from one of those recipe cards you get in the mail asking you to join. It might have been Grandma's Kitchen. It was very good. My son liked it too. I had her text me the recipe the other evening so tonight we made it. It came out so delicious.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 T butter, divided

1/2 tsp salt, or more to taste

1/2 tsp of dried thyme leaves

1 (16 oz) thawed package of frozen veggies (I didn't thaw, just simmered more)

1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1/3 cup of dried white wine (I used chicken broth)

1 refrigerated pie crust

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt 1 T butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; sprinkle with thyme and salt. Cook and stir until no longer pink.

2. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in vegetables, soup and wine; simmer about 5 minutes or until veggies are a little tender.

3. While soup mixture is simmering, unwrap 1 pie crust. Using a small cookie cutter, or a knife, make several decorative cut outs form pie crust to allow steam to escape. (or not so decorative).

4. Remove chicken mixture from heat and pour into a 9 inch pie plate. Top with pie crust. Melt remaining 1 T of butter. Brush the butter over the pie crust.

5. Bake pie 12 minutes. Turn oven to broil; broil pie 4-5 inches from heat for 2 minutes or until crust is golden brown and chicken mixture is bubbly. (Keep an eye on it.)

6. Serve immediately.

This looks good in the pot...over mashed potatoes!

Before being buttered.

I think it came out nice!

Italian Baked Pork Chops

2010-09-23T22:24:00.002-04:00

This recipe is from Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade, September/October 2010 issue. I actually made this last week. I liked it, but my son did not. It's just he is not the biggest fan of pork chops. I did make one with just BBQ sauce on it and he ate that.

Italian Baked Pork Chops

Ingredients:

1 T Dijon mustard

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

4 pork center loin chops (6 oz each)

salt and pepper

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together mustard, oil and Italian seasoning. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper; then, brush both sides of chops with mustard mixture. Press Parmesan into both sides of chops.

3. Place chops on prepared baking sheet. Bake about 10 minutes or until just cooked through.

Crunchy Chicken-Cheese Bake

2010-09-13T21:27:00.002-04:00

I have no idea where I got this recipe from. I haven't made it in years. My husband used to love it, so it's been 8 years or so since I made it! It's really easy and delicious. My son kept saying how good it is. We decided next time to double the toppings. There just wasn't enough soup and cheese for the rice...and dipping bread...

Ingredients:

8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (used a package of 3)

4 sliced Swiss or American cheese, each cut in half (I used Swiss)

1 can (10-3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup

8 thin tomato slices (omitted)

2 T butter, melted

1/2 cup Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing

Hot cooked rice

Directions:

In 3 quart oblong baking dish, place chicken. Top with cheese. Stir soup and spread over cheese, top with tomato. Combine butter and stuffing; sprinkle over tomato.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, or until chicken is done.

Serve over rice.

Pizza Loaf

2010-09-13T21:14:00.003-04:00

I found this recipe in the new Taste of Home cookbook I received - Grand Prize Winners. I was dying to try it and I'm glad I did. It was so delicious! My son loved it.

I used different "toppings" in mine. I added pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, black olives, pepper rings, ham, and sausage.

Ingredients:

1 loaf (1 lb) frozen bread dough, thawed

2 eggs, separated

1 T grated Parmesan cheese

1 T olive oil

1 tsp minced fresh parsley

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

8 oz. sliced pepperoni

2 cups (8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

1 can (4 oz) mushroom stems and pieces, drained

1/4 to 1/2 cup pickled pepper rings

1 medium green pepper, diced

1 can (2 1/4 oz) sliced ripe olives

1 can (15 oz) pizza sauce

Directions:

1. On a greased baking sheet, roll out dough into a 15 inch x 10 inch rectangle. In a small bowl, combine the egg yolks, Parmesan cheese, oil, parsley, oregano, garlic powder and pepper. Brush over the dough.

2. Sprinkle the remaining ingredients - except the pizza sauce. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with the long side, pinch seam to seal and tuck ends under.

3. Place seam side down; brush with egg whites. Do not let rise. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Warm the pizza sauce; serve with sliced loaf.

Yield: 10-12 slices

Have the Cake: Big Soft Pretzels

2010-09-13T21:00:00.004-04:00

This month's Have the Cake is soft pretzels. Thanks, Rena, for choosing this for our theme! I have not made soft pretzels in my teens! I love to eat pretzels. I was originally going to do a copy cat of Auntie Ann's pretzels. My I found this one in my recipes that I wanted to try. I used to get the recipe cards from Grandma's Kitchens and this was one of them. It looked simple and I had all the stuff. I made these yesterday.

It was super simple. I didn't really enjoy rolling the dough out. The recipe called to make 30. They must be very thin pretzels. I made my thick....I got 9! These came out sooooo delicious! I will make these again and again.

Ingredients:

1 envelope dry yeast

1 1/2 cups war mater (110-115 degrees)

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 large egg, beaten

1 T coarse salt

Directions:

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl. Sift flour, sugar and salt into yeast mixture and mix well.

2. Knead dough on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap. Let stand for 10 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 45o degrees. Grease baking sheets.

4. Divide dough into equal portions. Roll each portion into an 18-inch rope. Loop into pretzel shapes. Arrange on prepared baking sheets.

5. Brush the pretzels with beaten egg. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake until golden 10-15 minutes. Serve immediately or store cooled pretzels in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Chorizo Frittata

2010-09-12T13:22:00.003-04:00

I found this recipe in the September/October 2010 Cooking With Paula Deen magazine. I don't usually cook with chorizo and now I remember why...greasy! I made it for myself since Jimmy does not eat eggs. So, I have breakfast for tomorrow!

This tasted great. I think hashbrowns would taste great in it as would regular breakfast sausage.

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

3 oz chopped chorizo sausage

1/2 cup chopped tomato (I omitted)

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup whole milk (I used 1%)

1/4 tsp salt

2 T chopped fresh cilantro, divided (I omitted)

1/2 cup Mexican cheese blend (I used a little more)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small ovenproof skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add sausage, and saute until browned, 2-3 minutes. Stir in tomato.

2. In a small bowl, combine eggs, milk and salt. Pour over sausage and tomato. Reduce heat to medium, stir in 1 1/2 t cilantro. Cook until eggs set in center, about 3-4 minutes.

3. Sprinkle eggs with cheese and place skillet in oven. Bake until cheese melts, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 T cilantro. Cut inot wedges, and serve immediately.

Serves: 2

MSC Club: Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

2010-09-11T12:53:00.002-04:00

This is my first entry for the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club. What a great month to enter! The recipe was on page 104 of the Martha Stewart Cupcake book. These were so delicious! I made these Thursday. We actually did not have anywhere to go, which was nice. It's been crazy since school started....marching band, scouts. My son is now Freshman class Vice President! We have two new people at work.

These were easy to make and very yummy! I just had to wait til the next day to try them. Since I did not have enough muffin tins, I halved the recipe.

Ingredients:

42 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, such as Oreos. 30 left whole and 12 coarsely chopped

2 lbs cream cheese, room temp

1 cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, room temp, lightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

Pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat over to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

Divide batter evenly among cookie-filled cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate (in tins) at least 4 hours (or overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

My Girl, Paula: Pineapple Upside-Down Biscuits

2010-09-09T20:48:00.007-04:00

Last week's My Girl Paula was bread. I almost forgot to do it! Tonight, I actually did not have any where to go (Miracle!) so I made a meatloaf for dinner and baked! This recipe is from the Lady & Sons II cookbook. The recipe was super easy to make and DELICIOUS! You really must try it!

Ingredients:

One 10-inch can crushed pineapple, drained, juice reserved

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature

10 maraschino cherries

One 12-oz package refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (10 count)

Directions:

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Grease 10 cups of a muffin tin.

Combine the pineapple, sugar, and butter, and mix well. Divide the pineapple mixture evenly among the muffin cups. Place a cherry in the center of each muffin cup. Place one biscuit in each cup on top of sugar and pineapple mixture. Spoon 1 tsp pineapple juice over each biscuit.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden. Cool for 2 minutes. Invert the pan onto a plate to release the biscuits. Serve warm.

Tangy Garlic Wings

2010-09-09T20:30:00.000-04:00

This recipe is out of the newest Paula Deen magazine, September/October 2010. It looked really good and thought it would be perfect for Labor Day since I am having issues with my grill.

It had a good taste, but Jimmy and I decided it could've been spicier and crispier.

Ingredients:

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 T red wine vinegar

2 T Dijon mustard

2 T chili powder

1 tsp garlic salt

2 dashes hot sauce

4 1/2 lbs chicken wings

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine ketchup, butter, vinegar, mustard, chili powder, garlic salt and hot sauce. Add wings, tossing to coat; chill for 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove chicken, reserving marinade, and place on prepared baking sheets in a single layer. Brush with wings with marinade.

Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is done. Discard any remaining marinade.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Cinnamon Cream

2010-09-09T19:12:00.000-04:00

I found this recipe in the Paula Deen Best Dishes 2009 magazine. I had all the ingredients..so why not! I made it Monday for breakfast. It was really easy to make. The pancakes were awesome! But, I could have done without the cinnamon cream. Just didn't do it for me!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3 T sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup whole milk

2 large eggs, separated

3 T butter, melted

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate morsels

4 T butter, divided

Cinnamon Cream (recipe follows)

Directions:

Preheat griddle to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a small bowl, combine milk, egg yolks, and 3 T melted butter; add to flour mixture, whisking until smooth.

In a small bowl, beat egg whites at medium high speed with an electric mixer until stiff. Gently fold into batter. Fold in chocolate morsels.

Melt 2 T butter on hot griddle. Ladle about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto hot griddle. Cook pancakes for 2-3 minutes, or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look dry. Turn, and cook other sides. Repeat procedure with remaining 2 T butter and remaining batter.

Serve with maple syrup and cinnamon cream.

Cinnamon Cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

In a medium bowl, beat cream at medium high speed with an electric mixture until thickened. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar and cinnamon, beating until stiff peaks form. Cover and chill.

Chili Mac

2010-09-05T12:31:00.003-04:00

This recipe is from the September/October 2010 Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine. My son agreed that it looked like one to make. It was super easy for a weeknight and tasted good. It says 4 servings, but I think it was more like 6. I had a ton left over. It needed some liquid added to it when re-heating. But, otherwise, we liked it alot.

Ingredients:

2 (14-oz) boxes mac and cheese dinner

1/2 cup water

1 lb ground chuck

2 T chili mix

Directions:

1. In a large heavy-bottomed pot, prepare macaroni according to package directions. Stir in 1/2 cup water; remove from heat. Cover and keep warm.

2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef, stirring occasionally until browned and crumbly. Drain well and return to skillet.

3. Stir in chili mix and macaroni mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes or until heated through and bubbly.

Grilled Caesar Chicken Breasts

2010-08-31T22:30:00.004-04:00

This recipe is found in the August/September 2010 Taste of Home Simple & Delicious. I saw it and thought it sounded good. My daughter, Kelly, of What's Cooking Kelly made it and said it was really delicious. I had all the ingredients, so I did!

It is so simple to make. Just got to remember to leave time to marinate. I broiled mine since I'm having issues with my grill at the moment. It did splatter some. It did have a good taste. I will make again. It would taste really good in a wrap!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup creamy Caesar salad dressing

3 T olive oil

3 T Dijon mustard

6 garlic cloves, minced

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5 oz each)

Directions:

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the dressing, oil, mustard and garlic. Add the chicken. Seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Drain and discard marinade. Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat or broil 4 inches fromt he heat for 6-8 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees.

Cream Cheese Banana Bread

2010-08-28T18:51:00.000-04:00

I found another recipe on Fake Ginger that I wanted to try. I had some bananas getting ripe, and I had all the ingredients, so I had to make it. OMG! This is awesome! Amanda has the most awesome site. You really must check it out.

The recipe can be found here. You MUST try it!

Cookie Carnival: Coconut Cherry Bars

2010-08-28T16:39:00.003-04:00

One of the selections for The Cookie Carnival this month was the Coconut Cherry Bars by Betty Crocker. I wasn't sure how I would like them even though I love cherries and coconut and nuts. I must say...they are delish! The only part about making these that I did not like was cutting the cherries..I had red fingertips for a while! But it was well worth it.

If you want to try these, go to Betty Crocker to find the recipe.

The crust after baking.

My Girl, Paula: Slip 'N' Sliders

2010-08-28T10:55:00.005-04:00

This week's theme for My Girl, Paula was lunch. I couldn't decide at first what to make until I spotted this recipe in the July/August Cooking With Paula Deen Magazine. It was good, but I think next time I will do my own seasonings. Jimmy ate 4 of them! It was his first week of high school and he was starving!!!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground round

1 T dill pickle juice

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

3/4 tsp onion powder

3/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

6 slices sharp Cheddar cheese, quartered

12 slices fully cooked bacon, cut in half

Ketchup

1 (15 oz) pkg miniature wheat sandwich buns or 12 (3 inch) dinner rolls

24 hamburger dill pickle slices

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine ground round, pickle juice, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper; mix gently to combine. Shape mixture into 12 (3 inch) patties.

Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat until hot. Add patties; cook for 2 minutes. Turn patties; cook for 1 minute. Top with cheese; cook for 1-2 minutes or until patties are done and cheese is melted. Top with 2 half-pieces of bacon.

Spread ketchup on cut sides of buns. Place pickles on bottom of buns; top with patties, and cover with bun tops.

Peanut Butter Blondies

2010-08-18T21:06:00.003-04:00

I saw this recipe on Fake Ginger's blog. I kept looking and looking...finally I printed out the recipe. My son had Freshman Orientation this morning so I took the day off. The orientation was very informative and he was interested in some clubs, saw lots of friends. I hope he has a great experience with high school. I took the whole day off today just to hang out. I had the time and needed a dessert for dinner at my parents' tomorrow, and this is what I wanted...badly! I did try a little piece and YUMMY GOOD! I love it! I'm sure everyone will tomorrow. I definitely will make this one again!

The recipe is found here on Fake Ginger.

My Girl Paula: Chicken Fried Chicken

2010-08-18T20:54:00.004-04:00

This week's theme for My Girl Paula is Anything Goes. This was not the original Paula Deen recipe I was going to make. I was going to make oven fried chicken, but did not read recipe close enough to realize it had to sit in fridge for several hours. So, I searched on line and found Chicken Fried Steak and decided to make it with chicken instead. It was easy to make. The chicken was very tasty. The gravy.....never thickened up and I felt like I kept adding and adding salt and pepper. But, served with mashed potatoes, Caesar salad, and biscuits...very yummy meal.

The recipe can be found here.

Four Cheese Baked Ziti

2010-08-14T08:53:00.000-04:00

This recipe came in an advertisement for a Taste of Home Cookbook. I kept looking at the recipe and wanting to make it. After Mom broke her foot, I decided it would be good for our Thursday night dinner. I made breaded baked chicken, 1/2 of the ziti, salad, garlic bread and the cherry pie previously posted. Dinner came out delicious if I do say so myself! My mom was glad to not have to cook...but she would not stay out of the kitchen!

I forgot to take a picture of it until after we served, so here's the whole dinner. It was so good!

Ingredients:

1 package (16 oz) ziti or small tube pasta

2 cartons (10 oz each) refrigerated Alfredo sauce

1 cup (8 oz) sour cream

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 carton (15 oz) ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1/4 cup grated Romano cheese

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

1 3/4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Cook pasta; drain and return to the pan. Stir in Alfredo sauce and sour cream. Spoon half into a lightly greased 3 qt. baking dish.

2. Combine eggs, ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese and parsley; spread over pasta. Top with remaining pasta mixture; sprinkle with mozzarella and remaining Parmesan.

3. Cover, bake at 350 degrees, 25 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until bubbly.

My Girl Paula: Chocolate-Cherry Chiffon Pie

2010-08-04T22:56:00.004-04:00

This week's theme for the My Girl, Paula is Pies. I love pies! It's been so hot out, that when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it. It involves no baking! Since I'm making this on Wednesday, we all know it's for dinner at my parents' house tomorrow. I tasted the filling. Awesome. I am making the entire dinner tomorrow since my poor mom broker her foot on Saturday. I feel bad for her!

The picture is before being frozen. I will take a picture of it tomorrow!

Ingredients:

24 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies (oreos)

2 T butter

1 cup boiling water

1 (6 oz) box cherry-flavored gelatin (Jell-o)

1/2 cup ice

1 (16-oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 (12 oz) package frozen cherries, thawed

Directions:

In the work bowl of a food processor, combine cookies and butter. Pulse until crumbs form. Press into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine boiling water and gelatin, stirring until gelatin is dissolved. Add ice, and stir until melted. Fold in whipped topping until smooth. Fold in cherries. Freeze until firm, about 2 hours.

Cowboy Burgers

2010-08-03T22:59:00.005-04:00

My friend, Michele, at Alwayz Bakin' made this recipe the other night. She raved about it and I love a good hamburger, so Jimmy and I decided to give it a try. She was so right! It was so awesomely good! Jimmy did a great job grilling for me (especially since the grill didn't want to start for quite a while!). I did not set the burgers in the fridge for 30 minutes since Jimmy was afraid to turn grill off and then have it not start again! This was very easy and so good.

The recipe is from Deep South Dish. You can find the recipe at her site. Please try...you won't regret it!

Fresh off the grill!

My Girl, Paula: French Toast Stuffed with Banana and Walnuts

2010-08-02T19:38:00.005-04:00

Last week's Theme for My Girl, Paula was Breakfast. I found this recipe in the The Lady & Sons, Too cookbook. I can't say this was my favorite recipe, but it was still good. I think I would have liked a little less banana stuff.

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1/4 cup milk

4 very ripe bananas

1/4 cup (1 oz) coarsely chopped walnuts

1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

3 slices egg bread

4 T (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:

In a large, shallow bowl, using a fork, beat the eggs until lightly frothy. Stir in the milk; set aside.

Peel bananas into a small bowl and mash them with a fork. Stir in the walnuts and nutmeg. Spread the banana-walnut mixture evenly over half the bread slices, leaving a 1/4 inch border uncovered on all edges. Top with remaining bread slices and press down gently to seal.

Place 2 sandwiches in the egg mixture and press down gently. Turn gently and let soak for a moment, until evenly saturated on both sides. Remove from the bowl and repeat with the remaining two sandwiches.

In a frying pan or on a griddle large enough to hold all the sandwiches at once, melt 2 T of the butter over medium heat. Add the sandwiches and fry until the undersides are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Cut the remaining 2 T butter into several pieces and dot them around the pan. Flip the sandwiches with a spatula and fry until the second side is browned, about 2 minutes longer.

Place the French toast on warmed individual plates. Using a small, fine sieve, lightly dust the tops with confectioner's sugar. Serve hot, with jam or maple syrup.

Sweet and Spicy Jerk Ribs

2010-08-02T19:25:00.003-04:00

This recipe is from the August/September 2010 "A Taste of Home" Magazine. It did not take any time to put together into the crock pot. And, man, was it DELICIOUS! Just the right amount of kick to it. The meat fell off the bone. I will definitely make this again.

Ingredients:

2 racks pork baby back ribs (about 4 1/2 lbs)

3 T olive oil

1/3 cup Caribbean jerk seasoning

3 cups honey barbecue sauce

3 T apricot preserves

2 T honey

Directions:

Cut ribs into serving-size pieces; brush with oil and rub with the jerk seasoning. Place in a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker. Combine the remaining ingredients; pour over ribs.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. Skim fat from sauce before serving.

Cookie Carnival: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2010-07-25T21:55:00.002-04:00

One of the recipes for this July's Cookie Carnival is Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. The recipe is from Pillsbury. I made these this afternoon. I added some chocolate chips to part of the batter. the cookies were so delicious! Hard to stay out of them!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups quick cooking rolled oats

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray. In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar and margarine; beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; blend well. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Stir in oats, raisins and nuts.

2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.

3. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute, remove from cookie sheets.

My Girl, Paula: Blueberry Cream Pie

2010-07-21T22:35:00.006-04:00

This week's, My Girl, Paula theme is Anything Goes. After looking through The Lady & Sons, Too! cookbook, I found this recipe. Had to make it! It is for tomorrow night's dinner at my parents'. I've been meaning to make it for a couple weeks now. It was really easy. THIS PIE IS AWESOME!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

one 9-inch deep-dish pie crust (thawed if frozen)

Two 3-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup granulated sugar

One 21-oz can blueberry pie filling

Directions:

Press the chopped nuts into the bottom of the pie crust. Bake as directed on the package and let cool.

Beat the cream cheese with the confectioners' sugar. Beat the heavy cream with the granulated sugar until it forms into soft peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the cooled pie shell and top with blueberry pie filling.

Refrigerate until well chilled.

Fajitas

2010-07-06T08:30:00.007-04:00

My daughter, Kelly, wanted to make this recipe by Tyler Florence while she was visiting. All of us chipped in...Kelly doing most, Jimmy making the guacamole, Steve helping with the grilling, and I did clean up and found stuff.

This was one of the best fajitas I have ever had! Thanks, Kelly!

Ingredients:

1 orange, juiced

2 limes, juiced

4 T, olive oil

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

3 chipolte chiles, in adobo sauce

3 T roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 lb shirt or flank steak, trimmed of fat, cut into thirds or 8 inch pieces

salt and pepper

2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced

1 large onion, thinly sliced

Lime juice, olive oil, optional

12 flour tortillas, warm

guacamole, recipe follows

good quality store bought salsa

Directions:

In a small 2 cup measuring cup, or something similar size and shape, combine all the marinade ingredients. Using an immersion blender, puree the marinade until smooth. Transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag and add the steak, seal and shake to coat. Refrigerate the beef for 2-4 hours to tenderize and flavor the beef.

Preheat a ridged grill pan on high heat. Drain the marinade from the beef. Lightly oil the grill or grill pan. Season liberally with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grill the steak over medium-high heat and cook for 4 minutes on each side and then transfer to a cutting board and let rest. Depending on the size of your grill pan, you may need to cook in batches.

Once the beef is off the grill pan and resting, add the bell peppers and onions tossed with lime juice and olive oil, if using. Grill the mixture for 7-8 minutes until the vegetables are just barely limp.

While the peppers and onions are cooking, heat up the tortillas. Turn any free burners on a medium low flame; place a tortilla on each flame and let it char about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Flip the tortilla and repeat on the second side. Once heated and charred, remove the tortilla to a clean tea towel and wrap to keep warm. Repeat until you have warmed all the tortillas. Or, you can heat the tortillas in the microwave.

Thinly slice the steak against the grain on the diagonal.

To serve: Spread guacamole on a tortilla, top with a few slices of steak, peppers and onions, and salsa. Roll up tortilla to enclose the filling.

May also be served with sour cream and shredded cheese.

Guacamole:

5 ripe Hass avocados

3-4 limes, juiced

1/2 small onion, chopped

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 serrano chile, chipped

1 big handful fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Drizzle olive oil

Halve and pit the avocados. With a tablespoon, scoop out the flesh into a mixing bowl. mash the avocados with a fork, leaving them still a bit chunky. Add all the rest of the ingredients, and fold everything together. Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole so it does not brown and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Fourth of July Cupcakes

2010-07-04T22:52:00.014-04:00

Happy Fourth of July! I hope everyone had as nice a day as I did. It was great having my daughter and her family here to visit for the holiday. They aren't leaving for a week. Looking forward to the upcoming week off to visit with them. We had a barbecue and went and watched the city's fireworks.

I decided to make the the Fourth of July Cupcakes from A Recipe a Day by Nancy. I thought my two grandkids would get a kick out of them...I think the adults did too!

This recipe should make like 18 cupcakes but I had my grandkids helping so I made 13!

Ingredients:

White cake mix and the ingredients to make it

blue food coloring

red food coloring

white frosting

sprinkles

Directions:

Mix the cake mix and the ingredients to make it. Divide the batter evenly into three bowls. In one bowl add blue food coloring to desired shade. Repeat with the red food color. Leave one bowl as it.

Line 18 muffin tins with liners. Put about 2T of red batter on bottom; next 2 T of white on top of red; third 2T on top. Do not swirl.

Bake as directed on cake mix box. Let cupcakes cool. Frost with the white frosting and add red, white and blue sprinkles.

My Girl, Paula: Mustard and Peppercorn Crusted Ribeye

2010-07-03T21:43:00.004-04:00

This recipe is actually for next weeks theme: Grilling. This was such an easy recipe and so delicious! We ate until we were stuffed! My son-in-law grilled these for me while I did the inside stuff.

Ingredients:

4 large ribeye steaks (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick, at least 6 ounces each)

4 T brown mustard

4 T fresh ground black peppercorns

1-2 T finely ground black pepper (if desired) - I omitted

Kosher salt

Directions:

Brush ribeyes with mustard on both sides. In a shallow bowl, or a plate with deep center, combine the pepper and salt. Pat pepper mixture onto steaks and crust thoroughly on all sides.

Prepare your grill by lightly spraying your grate to prevent sticking. When the grill is hot, place the ribeyes on your grate and cook until desired doneness. About 3-4 minutes a side for rare. Add one or two minutes for medium rare and so on.

Weekend Brunch Casserole

2010-07-03T21:33:00.005-04:00

My daughter is visiting with her family from Kansas. When I was at my cousin's a couple weekends ago, she made this casserole. It can be found on the Bob Evans website. But, don't tell Bob that I prefer Jimmy Dean better...Shhh...

My cousin made it with onions and peppers; I left them out. It was so yummy! We ate the whole thing!

Ingredients:

1 lb Bob Evans Original Recipe Sausage Roll (I used Jimmy Dean Regular)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 (8 oz) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

4 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Crumble and cook sausage in medium skillet over medium heat until browned. Drain.

Line bottom of greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish with crescent roll dough, firmly pressing perforations to seal. Sprinkle with sausage and cheese. Combine remaining ingredients in medium bowl until blended; pour over sausage.

Bake 15 minutes or until set. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into squares. Refrigerate leftovers.

Have the Cake: Strawberry Shortcakes

2010-06-28T19:47:00.007-04:00

This month's theme for Have the Cake was Strawberry Shortcakes. Strawberries are my absolute favorite fruit. I LOVE, LOVE strawberry season. I went thru a period recently where I did not want to try anything new. I seem to be out of that rut. I love the theme. I made the Strawberry Shortcakes from "The Sweet Melissa Baking Book."

The recipe whipped up in no time. I did not make the home made whipped Cream. I opted for Cool Whip!

I have to say these were the best shortcakes I have ever made or had. They were so delicious. Sweet by not too sweet.

Ingredients:

Shortcakes:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 T sugar, plus 1 T for glazing

1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

4 T cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

1 cup cold heavy cream

2 T whole milk or heavy cream for glazing

Strawberries:

1 dry quart fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled and sliced

3 T sugar (or ore to your taste)

Whipped Cream:

1 cup cold heavy cream

3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 T plus 1 1/2 tsp sugar

Directions:

Before you start:

Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.

To Make the Strawberries:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the floor, baking powder, salt, 2 T of the sugar, and the zest. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until it resembles a coarse meal. Little by little, stir in heavy cream until the dough starts to hold together (you may use a bit more cream if need be).

2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Pat together to form a rectangle 5 inches wide by 7 1/2 inches long that is about 1 inch thick. cut the long side of the dough into thirds, and the width in half to form six 2 1/2 inch squares. Place the shortcakes 3 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet.

3. Brush the tops of the shortcakes with the milk or heavy cream and sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until light golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.

While the shortcakes are cooling, prepare the strawberries. In a medium bowl, combine the sliced strawberries with the sugar. Set aside for 20-30 minutes to macerate.

To Make the Whipped Cream:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the heavy cream and vanilla on medium speed. In a slow steady stream, add the sugar and beat until the mixture forms medium-stiff peaks.

The whipped cream is best used when just made, but can be refrigerated in an airtight container overnight and beaten again before serving.

To Complete the Shortcakes:

Fork split each shortcake in half horizontally. Place one half on each of six plates. Spoon 2 tablespoons of berries on each. Top each with a large dollop of whipped cream. Spoon more berries on top Place each of the remaining halves on top of the berries. Garnish with more cream and berries, if desired.

Cookie Carnival: Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

2010-06-27T23:33:00.006-04:00

This morning I made the other recipe for June for the Cookie Carnival. I was a little concerned at first. It seemed to take FOREVER to be fluffy. I finally just added the egg and vanilla. The dough seemed alittle dry. It was my first time using almond paste. I must say I really like the way it flavors the cookies. The cookies turned out delicious. I didn't want to make the homemade Raspberry Refrigerator Jam, so I just used the strawberry preserves I had in the fridge. Good choice!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup grated almond paste

2/3 cup sugar

5 T butter, softened

1 large egg white

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 c all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

6 T Raspberry Refrigerator Jam

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper; secure to baking sheet with masking tape.

Place first 3 ingredients in a bowl; beat with a mixture at medium speed for 4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg white; beat well.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add flour and salt to almond paste mixture; beat at low speed until well blended. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and shape dough into 36 (1-inch) balls. Place balls 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets and press thumb into center of each cookie, leaving an indentation.

Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden. (f you bake both pans of cookies at the same time, rotate the pans in the oven halfway through baking time for even browning.)

Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks. Spoon about 1/2 tsp Raspberry Refrigerator Jam into center of each cookie.

Cookie Carnival: S'mores Sandwich Bar Cookies

2010-06-21T22:54:00.007-04:00

One of June's Cookie Carnival Recipes was the S'mores Sandwich Bar Cookies from Hershey's. Being campers, I had to make this for Jimmy and myself. Good choice!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/3 cups (8 oz pkg) Hershey's Mini Milk Chocolate Bars OR 5 Hershey' Milk Chocolate Bars (1.55 oz each)

3 cups mini marshmallows

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8-inch square baking pan.

2. Beat butter and sugar until well blended in large bowl. Add egg and vanilla, beat well. Stir together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Press half of dough in prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes.

3. Sprinkle mini chocolate bars over baked layer or arrange unwrapped chocolate bars over baked layer breaking as needed to fit. Sprinkle with marshmallows, scatter bits of remaining dough over marshmallows forming top layer.

4. Bake 10-15 minutes or just until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan or wire rack. Cut into bars.

Buffalo Chicken

2010-06-14T20:56:00.007-04:00

I found this recipe in the new June/July 2010 Taste of Home's Simple & Delicious magazine. I want to make about 1/2 the magazine this time. Lots of yummy stuff.

I knew my son would like this chicken; he LOVES chicken wings! The hotter the better. Jimmy helped me make this dish; in fact, he made most of it. It turned out so delicious.

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (5 oz each)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 eggs

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

3 T canola oil

1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce

1/4 cup shredded provolone cheese (used slices)

1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Flatten chicken to 1/2 inch thickness. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

In a shallow bowl, whisk eggs. Place bread crumbs in another shallow bowl. Dip chicken in eggs, then coat with bread crumbs.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook chicken in oil for 7-10 minutes on each side or until chicken juices run clear, adding wing sauce during the last 2 minutes. turn to coat chicken.

Sprinkle with cheeses. Cover and cook until cheese is melted.

My cat, K.C., making it very hard to post my recipe!

Mint Chocolate Delights

2010-06-09T18:27:00.006-04:00

I'm baaaccckkkk! I think it's been at least 2 months since I've posted. I've been on a I don't wanna cook anything new kick. I think I'm getting out of it.

Today was the last day of school in South Florida. Feel a little sad....it's my son's last year of middle school. Off to High School in the Fall. Where does time go!

Jimmy has been wanting me to make these cookies with the Nestle Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels. I figured it's the last day of school, so why not!

Boy! Are they YUMMY!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup baking cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 2/3 cup (10 oz bag) Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

Beat butter, both sugars and vanilla extract in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in morsels.

Drop by well-rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake 11-13 minutes until cookies are puffed and centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.