Rollin'

It's safe to say that my family loves pasta.  We have pasta at least once a week and I have leftovers for lunch...that's how much I love pasta.  One of my husband's favorite pasta dishes is stuffed shells.  I've mentioned the stuffed shells recipe before and I have it thanks to a dear friend of mine who now lives on the west coast and I miss her terribly :(

There are tons of recipes for the pasta stuffing out there and you may have a favorite that you use, so I'm not going to share my recipe with you (it's now become a secret family recipe!).  I've seen several meal ideas for lasagna rolls which are supposed to make the idea of lasagna a little less overwhelming due to the small amount of work involved in the process.

Get rollin'...what you'll need
 - lasagna noodles
 - ingredients for pasta stuffing
 - pasta sauce

Get rollin'...what you do
1. Prep your pasta stuffing.  I mixed mine up and then let it chill in the fridge until the pasta was ready.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Cook lasagna noodles.  I cooked mine just long enough to be able to roll them.  You'll want them just over al dente because you're going to bake them once they're rolled.  Drain them and rinse them with cold water.  (Rinsing goes against all great pasta recipes, and normally I don't rinse my pasta, but if you want to be able to handle the noodles to make the rolls, you'll need to cool them down, which is the only purpose for the cold water rinse.)
4. Prep your rollin' station...cooled lasagna noodles, pasta sauce, stuffing mixture, paper towels, baking dish.  (See above picture)
5. Pour enough sauce to just cover the bottom of the baking dish.
6. Lay out your paper towels and pat both sides of the noodles dry.  They will still be sticky, but you don't want them soaking wet or the stuffing mixture won't stick.
7. Spread a small amount of the stuffing mixture on the noodle and then start rollin' em up!  Lay them with them seam down in the sauce.  Continue the drying, spreading, and rollin' until you've used all the noodles and stuffing mixture.
8. Bake for 20-30 minutes.  Sprinkle on some mozzarella the last 5 minutes for some added cheesiness!

Don't they look yummy?!

Happy cooking!

How sweet...

I love bananas, especially when they are overly ripe, mashed up, and baked in banana bread.  I have several bags of overly ripe bananas, pre-mashed and frozen for that intended purpose.  I've never been a fan of banana pudding, but when I came across this recipe I knew I had to give the sweet dessert another try.

I've had this recipe saved on one of my Pinterest boards for awhile now, but I can't seem to make everything I pin....anyone else having that issue?!  Pinterest needs to come up with a way to create a grocery list from the recipes that you pin.

This isn't the simple recipe you're used to...it's rich and decadent.  It takes banana pudding to a whole new level.

The original recipe (Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding) is from Paula Deen, but I found this recipe on a fun little blog, Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour.  (I'll link both recipes so you can access the original.)  I'm not a fan of the name, so maybe I'll rename it with my modifications ;)

1st Class Banana Pudding

   5 bananas, sliced

   Nilla wafers

   2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding

   3 cups of milk

   1- 8oz pkg of cream cheese, softened

   1- 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

   1- 12oz container of whipped topping

1. Line bottom of 9x13 baking dish with Nilla wafers.

2. Mix 3 cups of milk and the 2 boxes of instant pudding.  (I let mine set in the fridge while I prepped the other ingredients.)

3. Use hand mixer to combine cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Then fold in whipped topping.

4.  Finish cream cheese mixture by stirring in the pudding until well combined.

5.  Slice bananas and layer them over the wafers (they don't have to be perfect, no one is going to see them).  Then pour on pudding mixture, finish by topping pudding with some of the remaining wafers.

6. Cover and refrigerate.

What I did differently...I have to watch the amount of carbs that I eat and was a little shocked at the number of carbs in just one serving of the vanilla instant pudding.  So...I used sugar free pudding, 1/3 less fat cream cheese, and lite whipped topping.  I can't take out all the carbs, but a girl has to indulge a little, right?!

Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour made the suggestion to use the 3 cups of milk for the pudding and I would have to agree with her...3 cups will get you the perfect consistency on the pudding.  Click here for the link to the blog post.

Paula Deen used Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies instead of Nilla wafers...I most likely won't be trying this considering how much more expensive they are compared to a box of Nilla wafers.  Click here for Paula's recipe.

I'm excited to try the pudding after it's been able to chill over night.

Happy baking!

Cookie Pie

Growing up with a bakery in your backyard meant there was a good chance that there was cookie dough chillin' in the fridge.  I was never a big fan of cookie dough like others I know, but when the chocolate chips are crying out to you from the cold batter it's a hard temptation to resist.  One of my other favorite baked treats is pie....#1 favorite would have to be cherry, but I'm open to pretty much any pie, as long as it doesn't have meringue piled on it - I know...I'm weird.  Just don't get me started on pie crust.  And if you were to ask my dad what kind of pie he liked he would say, "there are only two kinds....hot and cold."

So, when I found this recipe combining two of my favorite sweets it was love at first sight...well, okay this isn't the prettiest pie you will ever see, but after cutting into it and lifting a slice out you'll see the beauty that will capture your heart and soul.

See, not so pretty.

And cue the angels....aaaahhhh!

Click here for the link to the Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie....the only thing I did differently was the pecans.  I didn't have any pecans, so I substituted chopped walnuts instead.  Thank you Bakerella for this amazing recipe!

Happy baking!

Dinner's ready!

Don't let my husband fool you...he can cook.  When he makes dinner, it always turns out really good and even better that I didn't have to come home and make it.  I had saved a recipe on Pinterest awhile back for stuffed peppers and it was my plan to make them this week.  Well, tonight happened to be a much later night for me than usual so I asked my husband to make the peppers.  He found his own recipe and as always, they turned out amazing!

take a look at these little beauties!

The recipe I found called for ground turkey, I was just going to crumble up some turkey burgers, which means that I didn't have any ground beef like the recipe calls for.  Paul seasoned up the turkey with some steak seasoning, garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce, and some onion powder.

So, like me, Paul didn't follow the recipe to a T, but I'm sure this recipe will get you a great meal.

A little something I like to do before testing a new dish is to compare recipes.  It allows me to see what some of the other recipes are using for seasoning or substitutes for various ingredients.  AND, if the recipe is online, it has most likely been reviewed by those who have previously tested it and you can use that to your advantage.  If multiple people are saying that it's too salty, you'll know to cut back on the salt or use ingredients that are low in sodium.  Some of the reviews also give great substitutions for things like sugar or cream of ... soups.

Click here for the link to the recipe.

Happy Cooking!

Easy Cinnamon Rolls

Growing up with a bakery in your back yard meant that you were never in short supply of cinnamon rolls.  And they were probably one of my favorite thing we made.  I remember rolling out the large ball of dough, covering it in softened butter, and then working in the brown sugar and cinnamon.  Every part of making them was an art...and the best of this art is that you could enjoy it warm out of the oven slathered with sweet icing.

The recipe I'm going to share in this post, isn't the recipe for those cinnamon rolls, but for some simple ones that can be rolled out and enjoyed even on a hectic Sunday morning.

Easy Cinnamon Rolls

   2 tubes of crescent rolls

   spreadable butter

   brown sugar

   cinnamon

   powdered sugar

   milk

   vanilla

   1. Preheat oven according to crescent rolls directions.

   2. Lay out crescent roll sections and spread on butter with a knife.

   3. Add brown sugar, just enough to cover the whole triangle.

   4. Sprinkle on some cinnamon.

   5. Then roll the crescents from large edge to small edge and lay on baking sheet.

   6. Bake according to crescent roll directions.

   7. In a bowl combine a little bit of milk, a couple of tablespoons of powdered sugar and a couple of drops of vanilla and stir together to desired consistency.  When rolls come out of the oven, let cool for a couple of minutes and then drizzle on the icing.

   Last, but certainly not least, enjoy!

Happy baking!

Sunday Dinner

In my quest to start using my crock pot, I searched for a recipe that would be easy and delicious for a Sunday dinner.  And the recipe I found has now become my favorite for BBQ Chicken.  And it went well with the leftover sides we had from the night before.

Click here for the link to the recipe that I used.

I followed the recipe this time (except for using frozen chicken, I thawed mine first after reading some of the comments), but here are a couple of things I'm going to try differently next time:
   - use less vinegar
   - cut small slits in the chicken so the sauce will go into the chicken and flavor it even more


And for a little something a little special, I also whipped up some of these Cheesy Garlic Biscuits.

I also followed this recipe, but here are some things I will adjust next time:
   - add 1/4 tsp of garlic salt to biscuit mixture, and only use 1/2 tsp garlic salt in butter mixture
   - use only 1 tsp of oregano

Happy cooking!

Quick Tips

Tip #1:   Whenever it's taco night at our house, I always run into the same predicament....do I want to deal with the messiness of a soft tortilla or the messiness of throwing all the ingredients on top of a bowl of tortilla chips?  I've  never been a fan of crunchy shell tacos.  Ever since my days at the Washington and Lincoln Grade School cafeterias I strongly dislike crunchy shell tacos.  I mean, come on, as soon as you take the first bite you're essentially eating your taco as nachos!  Anyway....we had tacos the other night and I decided to lightly toast up my soft tortilla.  I sprayed the non-stick skillet with some cooking spray, heated it up and then tossed it in.  I would let the air pockets inside the tortilla rise and then I would press them back down and flip it over, allowing for equal opportunity toasting.  When the tortilla had a nice golden color and a slight crisp, I prepared it for the taco ingredients.  BUT, I only put them on half of the tortilla!  I then, gently ran the pizza cutter across the center divide, which allowed the tortilla to be folded in half, allowing for easy consuming and almost no mess at all!  AND the toasting brought out the flavor of the tortilla and assisted in the melding of the topping flavors...like melting the cheese and meat together.  Taco night no longer has a predicament...it's toasted tortilla all the way!!!

Tip #2:   I love homemade potato salad....I have yet to find a store bought kind that even comes remotely close to good potato salad.  Say the weekly menu on your fridge says that on Friday you're having brats on the grill and potato salad....that probably means that on Thursday night you're going to clean and peel the potatoes, put them on to boil until fork tender, drain, let cool slightly, add other delicious potato salad ingredients, mix, cover and refrigerated until Friday at dinner time.  (That whole process just wore me out typing it!)  So, now say you forget to do all of that on Thursday night....oops!  And Friday when you get home you're not willing to sacrifice the greatness of homemade potato salad for the dire taste of something store bought :(  And then...like out of nowhere...an idea emerges...could I possibly pop them in the microwave as if to "bake" them, cut them up, allow for a quick cooling, then add other ingredients, pop in the fridge for chilling until the brats are done..and it actually work?!

So, maybe that story was about me and dinner from last night :)  Here's what I did:  cleaned 4 small potatoes (since it was just the two of us), I did not peel them, stabbed them with a knife (repeatedly), then put them in the microwave and pushed the conveniently created potato button and set it for 2 potatoes (I know, I said I cleaned 4 small potatoes, but my microwave feels that potatoes are the size of 2 of the ones that I have....4 divided by 2 is...2), which was equivalent to 9 minutes.  At 4 minutes, 30 seconds, I turned the potatoes over and allowed them to finish.  Once finished, I allowed them to sit and cool for a couple of minutes then started cutting them into small cubes, then put them in the bowl for more cooling....at this point I realized that we didn't have any mayo and my husband willingly went to the store to get some for me....(also at this point was when I realized that it might have just been less work to drive the half-mile to Walmart to get store-bought potato salad).  But I press on...after Paul gets back from the store, I proceed.  I had already hard boiled some eggs a couple of days before, so it was just a matter of cutting them up and tossing them in.  After the last ingredient was in the bowl, all were stirred together, taste-tested, then put in the fridge while the brats started grilling.  Even with the little misstep of not having any mayo, the homemade potato salad was still WAY better (in my book) than anything I could have easily picked up at the store.

Happy cooking!

Easy Weeknight Dinners

So, I realize I haven't been posting as much as when I first started this blog, but life gets crazy and hopefully it will all start to slow down in the next couple of weeks.

I wanted to share a couple of recipes with you that I have tried and are quite tasty!  I can't say that I've made both of them....my husband actually made the Easy Chicken Bake for us on a night when I didn't get off work until late.  I can tell you that if you make the Easy Chicken Bake and there is some left, the leftovers make a great lunch the next day!

The first recipe I made a few years back, but recently came across it again a couple of weeks ago and will be making it again soon.  Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo is an easy pasta dish that includes a vegetable!  Click here to go to the recipe site!

The second recipe is the one my husband made last week.  This recipe uses ingredients you are most likely to have in your pantry and freezer already!  Easy Chicken Bake is another one dish meal that includes the vegetables and doesn't necessarily need a side!  Click here to go to the recipe site!

Happy cooking!

Family Recipes

Growing up in a family surrounded by cooks/bakers, I was also surrounded by some amazing recipes.  Some of these recipes have been passed down on paper and others have only recently been written down, so the family could preserve a piece of history.

I'm not sure if there are any secret family recipes that my family has, but I've decided that I'm going to start stashing some for my family.  I love the idea of having something of just our own...I mean, I'll be making these recipes to share with others, but the idea of having a recipe that is kept secret holds a kind of charm that has been replaced with drive through meals.  Don't get me wrong, I love that I can make a quick stop and get something cheap and quick to eat, especially on a busy day.  I remember when eating out was something special...something we looked forward to at the end of a long week.

I know that it wasn't that long ago that I was a child, but the way I was raised was of a different time.  We didn't go out every other night for dinner, we didn't have that kind of money.  Instead, meals out were for special occasions and when the crops made a good profit.  I grew up in a live-of-the-land kind of family.  We planted gardens, canned on the hottest days and butchered on the coldest.  It never occurred to me that you could buy meat at the grocery store...we just went to the freezer.  And vegetables didn't come out of aluminum cans, but out of a mason jar.  These are the types of traditions I want to pass down to my family.

So...all that said, I finally found a recipe worthy of being a family secret!  Maybe your family already has some or maybe you're still looking for just the right one, but whatever the case may be, don't forget to pass along those secrets.

Happy Baking!

Brownies + Cheesecake + Snickers = Out of this WORLD!!!

Hello, bake sale goodness!!  I found this recipe on Pinterest and knew I had to give it a try...I mean, why not?  How could this recipe go wrong?!  As I've said before...I don't always follow recipes and this is one of those.  The original recipe calls for homemade brownies, which I'm sure are really good, but I was looking for easy...so, I just picked up a box of my favorite box mix.

Snickers Cheesecake Brownies

Brownie Layer: favorite from scratch recipe or box mix and ingredients needed to make brownies

Cheesecake Layer:

   1 egg

   1 Tbsp vanilla extract

   8 oz cream cheese, softened

   1/2 c confectioners sugar

   1 bag of fun size Snickers, chopped

1. Make brownies and bake according to directions.

2. While brownies are baking, mix up ingredients for the cheesecake layer minus the Snickers.  And then begin chopping all of the Snickers.

3. After brownies are removed from the oven, pour on the cheesecake layer and spread it evenly over the brownies.  Return brownies to the oven for another 10 minutes (my cheesecake layer started to brown on the edges).

4. Remove brownies from the oven and let cool for only a couple of minutes before evenly sprinkling all the chopped Snickers pieces over the brownies....then comes the hard part - let them cool before cutting.

Paul took these to a bake sale at his office and they went fast!

Click here for the link to the location of the original recipe...thanks, Bakers Royale!

Happy baking!