Cheesy Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients

• 1lb ground beef
• 1 1/12 large onion diced
• 2 1/2 cups Salsa
• 1/2 can (15 ounces) black beans
• 1 1/4 cup Italian dressing
• 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cuim
• 3 (8 inch) corn tortillas
• 1 can of corn (drained)
• 2 cups shredded Mexican Cheese
• 1 cup shredded lettuce
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• Sour Cream

Directions

1. In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat, until meat is no longer pink; drain.
2. Stir in the salsa, beans, corn, dressing, sour cream, taco seasoning and cumin.
3. Spoon a generous layer of meat mixture on bottom of 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
4. Place a flour or corn tortilla on top of meat mixture. Layer with half of the meat mixture, and cheese. Repeat as many layers as you like. 
5. The last & final layer should be a healthy dose of grated cheese.
6. Cover with foil that has been sprayed with pam or other and bake at 400° for 25 minutes, or until hot & bubbly. 
7. Let stand for 5 minutes be serving with lettuce, tomato and sour cream. Yield: 8 servings.

 

 

I made this for dinner one night and brought the left overs into work with some tortilla chips, it was gone in 5 minutes and several people wanted the recipe.  It was very good!

Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups quick cooking oats

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with a large fork dipped in sugar.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Snickerdoodles

 Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
3. Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets. 

 If the dough still looks a little wet go ahead and add a little bit more flour.  I kept running into that problem.

Getting vanilla extract in Mexico was the best idea ever, it really makes a difference in taste.  If you ever visit Mexico make sure to pick up a huge bottle.  You won't regret it!

Doggy Treats

 Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup margarine
• 1 cup boiling water
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 cups whole wheat flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a large bowl, combine rolled oats, margarine, and boiling water. Let stand 10 minutes. Grease cookie sheets.
2. Thoroughly stir in cornmeal, sugar, bouillon, milk, Cheddar cheese, and egg. Mix in flour, 1 cup at a time, until a stiff dough has formed.
3. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface, mixing in additional flour as necessary until dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Roll or pat out dough to 1/2" thickness. Cut with cookie cutter (I prefer bone shaped), and place 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
4. Bake 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Cool before serving. Store in a loosely covered container. 

I found this recipe off of allrecipes.com.  For these since it is Christmas time I molded the dough into pans with Santa faces, snowmen and Christmas trees.   My mom and I had been making cookies all day and her dogs were calm until these came out of the oven.  They knew these treats were for them!  

Buffalo Chicken Dip

 

Ingredients

• 2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained  (Cooked a chicken breast and a half and shredded the chicken)
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup Ranch dressing
• 3/4 cup pepper sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot®)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl and cook it at 350 until it's warm, enjoy with tortilla chips or pretzels!

Collard Greens- Slow Cooker

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound smoked meat or 1 smoked turkey leg
• 1 tablespoon House seasoning, recipe follows
• 1 tablespoon seasoned salt
• 1 tablespoon hot red pepper sauce
• 1 large bunch collard greens
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

In a large pot, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil and add smoked meat, house seasoning, seasoned salt and hot sauce. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 1 hour.

Wash the collard greens thoroughly. Remove the stems that run down the center by holding the leaf in your left hand and stripping the leaf down with your right hand. The tender young leaves in the heart of the collards don't need to be stripped. Stack 6 to 8 leaves on top of one another, roll up, and slice into 1/2 to 1-ince thick slices. Place greens in pot with meat and add butter. Cook for 45 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally. When done taste and adjust seasoning.
Serve with favorite dish as a side.

House Seasoning:

• 1 cup salt
• 1/4 cup black pepper
• 1/4 cup garlic powder

My first experience with cake pops!

I've been catching on to the new genius idea this is cake pops or cake balls.  I've always loved cupcakes but these little things are almost just as cute.  My mom is amazing so she went out and bought this cake pop maker

So we made two types of cake pops our first time.  One was in the cake pop maker and the other is the 'by hand' way. 

Ok so for the ‘by hand’ batch we made caramel apple pops.  We cooked a caramel cake and used apple juice for half the water.  Once the cake was cooked and cooled we broke the cake up in a big bowl and added vanilla icing mixed with caramel and apple juice.  We found that we didn’t need the entire can of icing, our cake balls turned out to be a little too moist.  Next time we’ll add icing until it reaches the desired consistency.  Once we formed all of the cake and icing into the size of golf balls stuck them in the freezer to get them good and cold.  We melted white chocolate in a makeshift double boiler (we’re going to need a real one if we start making a lot of these.)  We coated the cake balls, set them in small muffin wrappers and placed them in the refrigerator to cool.  Of course feel free to decorate.  I think next time we’ll craft something so they don’t touch anything while they cool they were a little messy from sitting in the wrappers.  

For the cake pop maker we made chocolate covered cherry cake pops.  So I took a devil’s food chocolate cake mix added maraschino cherry juice to the batter in place of water.  Then all you do is fill the holes in the maker ¾ full of batter, put a half of a maraschino cherry on top and close the maker, they sit for 4-6 minutes and they’re ready to go.  We popped them out of the maker, let them cool and then coated them in melted milk or white chocolate.  The cherry in the center was really good! 

They took a long time to make.  Next time I’m making them in the cake pop maker and using an actual double boiler.  I think the process would go a lot faster.  I’ll be making the chocolate covered cherry pops for my birthday next week.  Pictures and exact recipe to come!

Beer Cheese Dip with Bacon

Ingredients

• 2 (8ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened
• 1 packet (1 ounce) Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Dips Mix 
• 2 cups of mild shredded cheddar cheese
• 6 to 8 strips of cooked bacon, chopped
• 1/2 of beer (or pour some more in if it makes you happy :)
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Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl
2. I really did all the measurements to taste after starting out with the cream cheese

Served best with pretzels, beer and football!

All things CUPCAKES!

I found this blog that is all things cupcakes.  I will be exploring these recipes in the weeks to come.

Cupcake Project

Sangira

Ingredients

• 2 jugs of Real Sangria
• 2 sliced Apples
• 1 cup of Marciano Cherries
• 2 sliced Oranges
• 2 cups of Grapes
• 1 cup of Sugar
• 
  

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a large beverage container, like pictured above.
2. Shake up well occasionally to disburse sugar

Tip- best if served after 48 hours.  Taste great either way but taste better one fruit is saturated.

Baked Ziti

Ingredients

• 1 pound dry ziti pasta
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
• 6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves of grated fresh garlic
• 1/4 cup of freshly chopped basil

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, fresh garlic and basil, and simmer 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

Zucchini Bake

 

Ingredients

• 2 cups sliced zucchini
• 1-1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/4 cup sliced onion
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Directions

• In a greased shallow 1-qt. baking dish, layer zucchini, mushrooms and onion. Sprinkle with cheese and basil. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. Yield: 4 servings.

 

Grilled Pork Chops with Peach Salsa

Ingredients

Peach salsa:

• 1/2 red onion, diced (reserve the other half for Online Round 2 Recipe Orzo Soup with Pork)
• 2 peaches, halved, pitted and diced
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
• Pinch kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pork chops:

• 5 pork chops, end cut
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Salsa:

In a bowl toss all of the salsa ingredients together and set aside.
Pork chops:
Heat an outdoor grill or grill pan over medium-high heat.
Brush the pork chops with the oil. In a small bowl combine the chili powder, salt and pepper. Generously sprinkle the rub over both sides of each pork chop. Grill the chops until cooked through, about 4 to 6 minutes per side. (Set 1 chop aside for Online Round 2 Recipe, Orzo Soup with Pork.) Arrange the chops on a serving platter and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Serve the chops with the peach salsa.

Pollo Fricassee from Puerto Rico

 Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken drumsticks
• 1 tablespoon adobo seasoning
• 1/2 (.18 ounce) packet sazon seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 large red potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 fresh or dried bay leaves

Directions

1. Wash the chicken and pat dry; place into a large bowl. Season with adobo seasoning, sazon seasoning, and salt. Place the legs into a slow cooker, and cover with the potato slices.
2. Puree the red pepper, green pepper, onion, garlic, cilantro, olive oil, wine, cumin, and oregano in a blender. Pour over the chicken and add the bay leaves.
3. Cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours, until the chicken is easily removed from the bone.

Puerto Rican Rice

I tried my best to make an authentic Puerto Rican meal for a friend of mine.   This was the side dish, which looks very plain but is actually really good either by itself or mixed with the juices from the Pollo Fricassee.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups uncooked calrose rice, rinsed

Directions

1. Bring vegetable oil, water, and salt to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Add rice, and cook until the water has just about cooked out; stir. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover, and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Stir again, and serve. Rice may be a little sticky and may stick to bottom of pot.

Baklava

My family and I had a Greek night at my mom's house a few months ago here is the dessert we had for the night:

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough (found in the freezer section at your local grocer)
• 1 pound chopped nuts
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup honey

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.
2. Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. 
3. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.
4. Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
5. Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
6. Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

Fruit Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 package of sugar cookie dough
• desired fruit toppings (above- bananas, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, kiwi, raspberries)
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to sugar cookie package instructions.
2. Smooth out package of sugar cookie dough on a round pizza sheet or rectangular baking sheet
   
3. Bake in preheated oven as directed on package. Cool.
4. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla until light. Spread on cooled crust.
5. Arrange desired fruit on top of filling, and chill.

Creamy Dill Cucumber Toasties

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (.7 ounce) package dry zesty Italian-style salad dressing mix
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 French baguette, cut into 1/2 inch thick circles (or whatever bread you'd like)
  
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 2 teaspoons dried dill weed

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, dill, dressing mix, diced cucumber and mayonnaise.
2. Spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture on a slice of bread. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

The picture above leaves the cucumber and dill out of the 'mix' you can choose to add a slice of cucumber and sprinkle dill on top once you've spread the mix on the bread if you'd prefer.

Amazing Fruit Salad

I've made this recipe several times now and it's always a favorite.
Ingredients

• 2 kiwis, peeled and diced
• 2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced
• 8 ounces raspberries
• 1 pound strawberries
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor

• 10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
• butter flavored cooking spray or butter
  
• cinnamon
  
• sugar

Directions

1. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden Delicious apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon & sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.
4. Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

Red Skin Potato Salad

Ingredients

• 2 pounds clean, scrubbed new red potatoes
• 6 hard boiled eggs
• 1 pound bacon
• 1 bunch of green onions
  
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup mayonnaise
  
• 1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
  
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain and set in the refrigerator to cool.
2. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, chop and set aside.
3. Chop the cooled potatoes, leaving skin on. Add to a large bowl, along with the eggs, bacon, and green onion. Add mayonnaise, sour cream, cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Chill for an hour before serving.
   

Mexican Cream Cheese Roll-ups

This past Friday I made a small Mexican feast for a few of my family members that will be taking the trip to Cancun with me in exactly 31 days. The appetizer on the menu was Mexican Cream Cheese Roll-ups! I found a recipe for them but tweaked it to make it my own:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened


• 1/3 cup mayonnaise (I used Hellman's the first time and an off brand the second time. Hellman's tasted a lot better)


• 1 (2.25 ounce) can black olives, chopped


• 6 green onions, chopped


• 8 (10 inch) flour tortillas


• 1/4 cup of corn


• 2 teaspoons Adobo seasoning


• 1/2 cup salsa

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, black olives, corn, seasoning and green onions.


2. Spread cream cheese mixture in a thin layer onto each tortilla. Roll up tortillas. Chill about 1 hour, or until the filling is firm.


3. Slice chilled rollups into 1 inch pieces. Serve with salsa for dipping.