Cowboy tater tot hotdish

Cowboy Casserole adapted from a recipe at Taste of Home 1 1/2 pounds ground beef (I used 80/20) 1 medium onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 can (15.25oz) whole kernel corn, drained 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded 1/2 cup milk 4 tablespoons sour cream 1 bag (30 oz) frozen tater tots (I used Ore-Ida Crispy Crowns) Before I got ready to make this casserole, I let the Crispy Crowns sit on the counter to defrost for an hour or so. The original recipe used still frozen tater tots, but I felt they wouldn't cook as well if they were still frozen solid. In a large skillet cook the onion until tender and translucent. Add the chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the beef and cook over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain the mixture and place into a large bowl and set aside. In a small bowl combine the soup, milk and sour cream. Whisk until smooth. Add to hamburger mixture and stir to combine. Add corn and 1 cup of cheddar cheese. Gently mix to combine. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer half of the Crispy Crowns on the bottom, pour the hamburger mixture over the top and then layer with the other half of the Crispy Crowns. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes, or until golden brown and crunchy.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies have been in my family for about 40 years. Maybe a little longer. My Mom copied the recipe from a neighbor, and Mom is convinced she must have copied it wrong because the cookies never turned out the way our neighbors did. In mine and my families opinion, they came out BETTER!


2 cups butter flavored crisco
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
5 cups of flour
1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Cream crisco and sugars together until light and fluffy.

2. Add eggs one at a time, mix well

3. While mixer mixes, add salt, soda and vanilla

4. While mixer continues doing it thing....add flour one 1/2 cup at a time, once flour is incoperated, add chips let mix for just a couple seconds.

5. Chill dough for an hour or so. Bake cookies about 9 minutes at 375 degrees

6. Can bake into bars...place in large greased jelly roll pan and bake at 325 for 20-30 minutes

Blue Moose Queso

THANK YOU very much Melissa for this yummy recipe!!

Blue Moose Spinach Queso



2 packages Velveeta Pepper Jack Cheese

1 tomato, chopped

1 onion, chopped

16 oz. sour cream

½ cup milk

1 small can jalapeños, drained (I omitted these)

1 block spinach, thawed and squeezed

Pasta and sausage

Here is something I made up tonight....I don't have measurements, but it was a hit all around so I don't want to forget what I did

2T butter
1lb ground sausage (cooked and drained)
onion chopped
white wine, or cooking wine
fresh spinach (handful) chopped
cream or whole milk
llbfun shapped pasta (cooked, drained)

Melt butter in skillet, add onions ans saute. When tender, add approximately 1 c of wine, add sausage...heat. Add spinach and about 1/2 c (or more, until it looks creamy and yummy) Add pasta, remove from heat, toss, sprinkle with paremesean cheese. Enjoy!

Cranberry and White Chocolate Scones - 111949 - Recipezaar

Cranberry and White Chocolate Scones - 111949 - Recipezaar

Boiled Chocolate Frosting

6 tablespoons milk
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
1 dash vanilla extract


Directions

Combine the milk, butter, and sugar together in a saucepan and bring to a boil; allow to cook at a rolling boil for 30 seconds and immediately remove from heat. Add the chocolate chips and vanilla to the milk mixture and stir until the chips are completely melted. Pour immediately over warm brownies.

Irish Soda Bread

Thank you Camille for finding, testing, and sharing this recipe with me!

Authentic Irish Soda Bread Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit so that it is ready for your bread straight away. You will need the following ingredients to make authentic

Irish Soda Bread

4 1/2 cups of flour
1 egg
¼ cup of sugar
3 teaspoons of baking powder
½ a teaspoon of baking soda
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 stick of softened butter (about ¼ of a pound)
2 cups of buttermilk
1 cup or so of raisins (you can use regular or golden raisins)

* Butter a cookie sheet (or some flat pan) and lightly flour it.

* Mix together in a large mixing bowl the flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder.

* Cut in softened butter into the flour mixture.

* Stir in raisins.

* In a separate bowl lightly beat the egg into the buttermilk.

* Add the egg and butter milk mixture into the flour mixture by hand, mixing in a little at a time and being careful to avoid over mixing.

* Turn out on a lightly floured board and briefly knead to form a smooth dough.

* Shape into a high, round ball.

* Place onto a baking pan.

* Slash a cross or x shape across the top of the dough.

* Bake at 350F 50 to 60 minutes.

* It is done when it is nicely browned. Tap to see if it sounds hollow if so it is done.

*** The only thing I really changed on here was the flour. It was SO sticky it clearly needed more. So it was 4 cups. I'm guessing I added about 1/2 cup more. I just did it until I could actually get a "smooth" ball.

Molten Lava Cake

I stole this right from my friend Camille's blog (with her permission :D ) It is soooooo yummy! It will cure any chocolate craving you have!

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for muffin tins
3 large eggs
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted ( 1 1/3 full cups of chips)
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Whipped Heavy Whipping Cream (to top with when you eat. you could do ice cream or something of course)

Preheat to 400 degrees.

Take a 6 cup muffin tin (or use a 12, just do this to 6 and put a little water in the other 6 to avoid scorching during baking), coat them in the extra butter, then liberally coat each cup in sugar. (Don’t skip this part. It gives a delightful outer crust to the cake!)
Now mix until fluffy the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs – one at at time and blend thoroughly after each egg. On low, add the flour and salt until blended. Now slowly added the melted chocolate (do this by hand) and just folded it in until combined.
Split the batter between the 6 cups, bake for 8-10 minutes.
*Note – if you cook these too long they will not be ruined. They won’t be lava cakes anymore. They will be rich dense cupcakes.
Turn them upside down, dust with powdered sugar, and top with a dollop of whipped cream.

Eye Balled Kung Po Chicken

Thanks Becky!!

cut the chicken into bite pieces, stir fry until brown, add peanuts (unsalted) do the same, add 4 green onions (thinly sliced) do the same

add the sauce and let reduce/thinken

Sauce...
soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, chili pepper to taste, brown sugar and water: (2 tbsps soy sauce, not quite a cup of water, and around a tbsp of brown sugar)

"wings"

I've tried making hot wings a variety of times and have never come even remotely close to anything good. They always "looked" easy to me, but I could never turn out easy.

After researching, or latching mostly onto to my friend Camille's research (she is a the google queen and I was reading as fast as she was finding AND reading) I found what to me was the most perfect "way" to make them!

First of all, I like boneless. All those bones make an already messy eating experience just so much work. So, I took a 2lb bag of chicken strips and put them on a cookie sheet and blotted them. Then I mixed this:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1-2 teaspoon salt
1-2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1-2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
(I'm an eyeballer with spices, so these are approximate)

in a gallon sized plastic bag and add chicken pieces. Seal and toss to coat.

THEN the big secret here is to do this:

Pour the chicken pieces and excess flour onto a baking sheet and spread evenly. Allow the chicken to sit on the floured baking sheet to dry out for about 1 hour. This step is crucial!
Preheat fryer or a large stockpot filled halfway with vegetable oil to 350 degrees F.
Add chicken to hot oil and fry until cooked through and crispy, about 10 to 13 minutes.

Then the sauce, here is what I used. So many sauces seem to just focus on "hot". I like a little kick to be sure, but I really like is layers of flavor. This one did it for me, I do think next time I will decrease the worchestershire sauce and increase everything else....but really, it was good and pretty darn close to perfect. Thanks Camille!!

STICKY FINGERS LIKE WINGER'S

1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. honey
2 tsp. hot sauce (more or less as desired)
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

In a saucepan over low heat, combine all ingredients. Warm sauce, stirring occasionally

Unfortunately I took no pictures. I tend to forget to do this, the 3 year old on my leg saying, "MOM, are they done NOW!" may have had something to do with this. We're going to go with that.

Coffee Cake

Coffee Cake

from Kitty

1c butter
1 3/4 c sugar
4 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 t almond extract
3 c flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 can pie filling

Cream butter and sugar, add beaten eggs and flavorings, beat well. Add flour, salt and baking powder. Mix well. Spread 2/3 dough in jelly roll pan, spread pie filling over dough. Top with remaining dough. Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool. Drizzle frosting over top

Frosting

3 T milk
1 1/2 - 2 c powdered sugar
1 T melted butter
1 T vanilla (Kitty used almond)

Bacon Chicken Dumpling

(the ultimate in comfort food....PLUS it had a 6/6 rating, well, one didn't like the dumplings, but thats just crazy so we pretend not to notice)

3 slices bacon
3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, diced
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - diced
3 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed
3 cups half-and-half
1 1/2 cups biscuit mix
1 cup milk
Directions
Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside; reserve bacon drippings in skillet.
Add potatoes, onion and chicken to bacon drippings and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour in chicken broth; season with poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir in corn, and simmer all together for 15 minutes.
Pour in half-and-half and bring to a boil; add crumbled bacon. In a medium bowl, combine biscuit mix with milk and mix well (dough should be thick). Drop tablespoon sizes of dough into boiling mixture; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes uncovered, then another 10 minutes covered. (Note: Do not stir while simmering, or dumplings will break apart). Serve hot.

Baked Potato Soup

2 potatoes
3 tablespoons margarine
2 cups chopped white onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups instant mashed potato flakes
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
8 ounces bacon - cooked and crumbled
2 green onions, chopped


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake potatoes for 1 hour, or until done. Set aside to cool.
Melt butter in a 3 quart saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions until tender and golden brown. Stir in flour, and cook 5 minutes to make a roux. Pour in chicken stock and water. Add cornstarch and mashed potato flakes. Season with salt, pepper, basil and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove the skin from the cooled potatoes, and discard. Dice the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes, and stir into soup, along with the half-and-half. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until thick. Spoon into bowls, and garnish with shredded cheese, bacon and chopped green onion.

I admit that when I make soup, the specific amts on the ingrediant list is more of a suggestion. And I omit at will. Like the potato flakes. I find these to be gross.....so I just added more potatos....I also used 2% milk, and it had to keep warm on the stove for a good while as practice ran 45 minutes long (such is life) this allowed the potato to cook down even more, making a thicker soup. Regardless, most of the crew here ate it. Well, 4 out of 6 and 3 of those LOVED it. Not bad for this house.

Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti Pie
12 oz. spaghetti noodles, cooked and drained
4 T butter
1 c. Parmesan cheese
4 eggs, beaten well
1 c. cottage cheese

Stir butter into cooked noodles. Then stir in Parmesan cheese and eggs. Divide this mixture into 2 pie plates that have been sprayed with cooking spray and form into crust shape. Top each pie with 1 cup cottage cheese.

Filling:
1 lb. hamburger
1 sweet Vidalia onion, chopped
1 (26 oz.) jar of spaghetti sauce
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Brown hamburger and onion. Drain and add spaghetti sauce. Divide and spread evenly on top of the two pasta crusts. Top each with 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees about 25 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Remove foil and bake additional 5 minutes. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving. This dish can be frozen before baking. When ready to use, thaw first, or allow longer baking time.

Pumpkin Bars

4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped walnuts


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour the bottom and sides of a 10x15 inch jelly roll pan
In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin; beat until smooth. Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and cloves.
Spread batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.

Frost with cream cheese frosting.

1 pkg. cream cheese
1 stick of butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 c powder sugar

Mix until smooth, frost bars and enjoy! Store leftovers (if your family who only had a "little bit" leave any)

Chocolate Pear Bread

I got this recipe out of the newspaper! SOOOO yummy!!

1c buttermilk

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 c butter, softened

1 c sugar

2 large eggs

1 3/4 c all purpose flour

1/2 c coco

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 riped peeled, core removed pear chopped

1/2 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan and set aside. Measure buttermilk into small bowl and stir in baking soda. Set aside.

Cream 1/2 c butter in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add sugar, beating well at medium speed. Add eggs one at a time beating after each addition. Stir in buttermilk and soda mixture. Sift coco, cinnamon, baking pwerder adn salt. Add to creamed mixture in bowl blending well. Fold in pears and walnuts.

Turn batter into pan and bake for 1 hour. Remove from pan after cooling for 15 minutes.

****TIPS****

* set timer for 45 minutes and begin checking for doneness then

* toasted nuts are great in this

* a large apple makes a great substitute

* SUPER yummy served with chocolate honey butter!

Chocolate Honey Butter

1/2 c butter softened

2 T chocolate syrup

2 T honey

1/4 c powdered sugar

Combine all ingrediants in bowl and beat until light and fluffy

Camille's Tater Tot Mexican Hotdish

1lb hamburger
taco seasoning
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 can nacho chedder cheese soup
1 pkg tater tots


Brown beef and season as package dictates. Drain black beans and corn. Mix with seasoned beef. Spray non stick cooking spray in a 9x13 pan, spoon in beef mixture. Spread cheese over top, layer with tater tots.

Bake 350 degrees for 1/2 hour

Gina's Frosting

4c powder sugar
3/4 c crisco
2T water
1/4 t salt
1/2 t almond or 1 t vanilla flavoring

Place half of powder sugar in bowl. Add shortening, salt, flavoring. Beat on medium speed until fluffy. Add remaining powder surgar powder surgar, mix until blended....add coloring until desired hue is acquired. Frost and decorate away! Keeps serveral weeks

Spagetti salad

5-6 different veggies washed and cut up to make approx 4-5 cups. A variety of colors is recomended like different peppers, cucumbers, tomato, carrots...whatever you have!

box of pasta or small box of spagettie cooked according to al dente box directions. Immediately rinse with cold water.

8oz zesty italian dressing

2-4 t salad supreme seasoning. (add according to your taste preference)

Toss all of the above and enjoy!

Crock'd Pot Swiss Chicken

6 boneless chicken breast
2 can cream of chicken soup
1 box stove top stuffing
4 oz swiss cheese
1/2 c chicken broth
1/2 Parmesan cheese shredded

Place chicken in bottom of prepared crock'd pot. Put swiss cheese on top of chicken (slices or shredded work) In medium bowl mix soup, broth, stuffing mix, seasoning packet and then spoon on top of chicken. Cook 6-8 on low.