Hot & Hearty Loaf

This recipe comes from my friend, and super great cook, Kolette. It is very similar to my mom's Submarine Pizza, but this has more meat and the meat mixture has a lot more flavor. It is quite delicious!! And easy to put together too!

Here's what you'll need:

1 lb. ground beef
1/4 C. finely chopped onion OR 1 T. dried, chopped onion
1/4 C. chopped olives
1/3 C. Parmesan cheese
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 C. water
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. rosemary
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 loaf French bread (unsliced)
6 slices of cheese, whatever you like
10-12 slices tomato

Brown beef with onion. Drain excess fat. Add remaning ingredients. Warm through. Mixture should be thick enough to mound well. Slice loaf of bread horizontally into 2 equal pieces. (I had to cut my bread in half first since I had frozen it and that was the only way I could get it to fit in the freezer bag.) Divide meat mixture in half and spread onto bread halves. Preheat broiler. Top beef mixture with tomato slices and then cheese. Broil until cheese is melted. Slice into pieces and serve immediately.

Great flavor and quick and easy!! Love it!!!!

Barbeque Chicken

My whole family LOVED this recipe. My oldest would say with every bite he took, "Oh my gosh, this is soooooooooooooo good!" Or, "Wow, this is amazing!" Or, "This is the best dinner EVER!" Or, "Mmmmmmmmmm, WOW!!!" With every single bite. It was great to hear! And he was right, it was very good chicken!

Here's what you'll need:

3 - 4 lbs. chicken
Seasoned salt
1 T. dried onion
3/4 C. ketchup
1/3 C. vinegar
1/2 C. water
3 T. brown sugar
2 tsp. mustard
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. honey

Season chicken with seasoned salt, then cook through. I used my George Foreman grill (which I LOVE, by the way). Place chicken into a 9x13 inch pan. While the meat is cooking, in small sauce pan, combine the remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. Pour over the cooked chicken and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with rice or a baked potato. We REALLY enjoyed this!!!

Baked Beans

The recipe I'm sharing with you today is called, "Original Ranch House Baked Beans" in my new cookbook. Now, I've never heard of Ranch House before, but by looking at the ingredients, I thought this recipe sounded good. Well, it was. It was soooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!! It has such a wonderful flavor to it and is very hearty. Served with my breadsticks, it's a stick-to-your-ribs kind of meal.

Here's what you'll need:

2 (16 oz) cans pork and beans
1 (16 oz) can kidney beans, drained
1 (16 oz) can butter beans, drained
1 C. ketchup
1 C. brown sugar
1 T. liquid smoke
3 scant T. vinegar
1/2 onion, chopped OR 4 T. dried, chopped onion
1 lb. bacon
1 lb. hamburger

Brown hamburger, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder (a few shakes of each). Cook bacon; cut into 1 inch chunks. Drain all grease. Mix all ingredients together in a pot. Simmer for 1 hour (I only had 30 minutes and it was still great). Or use a crockpot and cook on low for 3 hours.

You really should try this. Especially if you live in Southeast Idaho where it's snowing right now. This will warm you right up!!

Garlic Cream Sauce

I have been going HOG WILD with the new community cookbook I helped put together last year. For the last two months I have been cooking with this book almost exclusively and have found that many of my neighbors are terrific cooks! So this week, hopefully everyday, I'll be posting a yummy recipe from my cookbook.

Today's recipe comes from my neighbor, Donna. In the cookbook she has a recipe called "Chicken Pasta" and it's a casserole. But when I made it, I didn't make it into a casserole. Instead, I made the pasta sauce and served it over Penne and a chicken breast. Oh my good heavens, the sauce was SPECTACULAR!!!

I'll give you the instructions on how to make the casserole too. But no matter what way you make this, you MUST try it!!!!!!!

Here's what you'll need:

1/2 C. sweet butter
2 garlic cloves, minced OR 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 C. heavy cream
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/2 C. grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 C. mozzarella cheese

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic, cream, white pepper and bring it to a simmer. Stir often. Add the Parmesan cheese and simmer sauce for 8-10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and is smooth. When sauce has thickened, add the mozzarella cheese and stir until smooth.

As I said earlier, I served it like this...



To make it as a casserole:

Cook a package of Penne pasta. In the mean time, cook chicken (probably 3 chicken breasts), seasoned with Italian seasoning and Lawry's Seasoned Salt. Cube once cooked through. Cube enough ham to make two cups. Saute ham with sliced, fresh mushrooms and sliced green onions (as many mushrooms and onions as you'd like).

Combine the cooked pasta, chicken, and the sauce above. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Top with the ham and mushroom mixture. Then sprinkle with shredded Swiss cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

It sounds delicious and I'll definitely be making this some day. But if you don't want to hassle with a casserole, definitely make the sauce to serve as I did! It is absolutely divine!!!

Oh, and just a note, if you have leftover sauce for the next day, it will separate. All you have to do is warm it up and whisk until it combines. Enjoy!

Chicken Fried Steak

On Sunday afternoons, we like to make a dinner that might take a little more time than what I might spend on a weeknight. A couple of Sundays ago, my hubby and I decided to make chicken fried steak since I have a TON of cube steaks in the freezer. So I started looking through recipes online. I found one on allrecipes that had a really good rating and wrote it down. Then I remembered watching Bobby Flay make some as I was laying in a hospital bed just after I had my baby. It looked good. So I looked it up too and compared the two recipes.

I couldn't decide which one would be better just by looking at the ingredients. I decided to make them both and have a taste-test. That was a lot of fun and my husband was so excited. After getting everything cooked, we sat down to eat. Brett said that the allrecipes CFS tasted like what you get at restaurants. But I never order it at restaurants because it's nothing special - bland really, which is what I thought of the allrecipes recipe.

Bobby Flay's, on the other hand, was VERY flavorful. I loved it! And I will take better tasting food than restaurants around here can make any day!! So, today I am sharing my version of Bobby Flay's Chicken Fried Steak. To see the original, click HERE. Enjoy!

Here's what you'll need:

1 - 1 1/2 lbs. cubed steak, cut into four sections

1 1/2 C. buttermilk (or milk, but buttermilk is better)

2 1/2 C. flour

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 T. garlic powder

1 T. onion powder

1 T. paprika

1 tsp. cayenne pepper, opt.

oil for frying

2 T. (heaping) flour

2 C. milk

2 T. heavy cream

salt, pepper, and thyme to taste

Pour the buttermilk into a shallow dish and set aside. In another shallow dish, combine the flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper, if desired.

Dredge the cube steak in the flour mixture and then into the buttermilk and then again in the flour mixture.
Fry in heated oil and cook over medium-low heat until golden brown on the outside and the meat is cooked through.
Remove from the skillet and place on a paper towel lined plate.

For the country gravy, pour off most of the oil from the frying pan, but keeping a little still in the pan. Add the flour and cook for one minute. Slowly add the milk, cream, and seasonings. Cook until thickened. Serve over the steaks and mashed potatoes.

Mmmmmmmmm!!! Much better than what you get at the restaurant!

French Breakfast Puffs

I so love breakfast foods! If I had the time to make breakfast everyday, I would. My whole family gets so excited when we all get to spend time making and eating a hot breakfast together. We love, love, love it!!!

Today's recipe was brought to my attention by one of my roommates in college, Rita. She had told me about a really good muffin recipe that her sister had made from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (which was the only cookbook I owned at the time). And I am a HUGE sucker for muffins. I see them as a cross between a roll and a cupcake - both things I am tickled pink to eat. Anyhow, she found it for me and we made it. It was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!!! Thanks to Rita, I've been making it since.

Try it out for breakfast tomorrow. You'll be glad you did!

Here's what you'll need:

1/4 C. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3 C. flour
1 C. sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 C. milk
2/3 C. butter or margarine, melted

Combine the 1/4 C. sugar and the 1/2 tsp. cinnamon in a small dish and set aside.

In a bowl, combine the flour, 1 C. sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and butter or margarine. Add to the flour mixture and whisk by hand only until just combined. It will still be lumpy.

Using the Pam baking spray with flour, grease muffin tins or line with paper baking cups and fill until almost full (I like mine nice and big).

(I doubled the recipe for this picture and ended up with 12 regular sized muffins and 6 Jumbo muffins)

Any unused muffin cups, fill halfway with water. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and immediately dip the tops in 4 T. melted butter or margarine and then in the cinnamon sugar. Serve warm.

I like doubling the recipe so that I can put half in the freezer for another time.

Yum, yum, YUM!!!

Quick & Easy Recipes

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have added a label to the right and down below for Quick and Easy recipes. These are for when you need to make dinner QUICK. And just so you know, I totally consider breakfast foods allowable for dinner!

I hope this helps!! Oh, and read on for the recipe I posted today.

Hannah

Beef Taco Skillet

Yet another quick and easy dinner for when you are in a pinch.

Here's what you'll need:

1 lb. ground beef
1 can tomato soup
1 C. salsa
1 can corn, drained
1/2 C. water
4 flour tortillas, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 C. shredded cheddar cheese

Cook beef in a skillet until browned. Pour off the fat. Add soup, salsa, corn, water, tortillas, and 1/2 the cheese. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Top with the remaining cheese and serve.

How easy was that?! Quick and easy - I LOVE 'em!!

Monte Cristo Sandwiches

The first time I tried a Monte Cristo sandwich was when my friend from home/old roommate, Nicole, and I went out to lunch after we both had gotten married. She told me I had to try this sandwich she had found that was so good. So I did, and it was so yummy! I loved the french toast-like exterior and the melted cheese and ham interior. It was served with raspberry jam on the side for dipping, but I wasn't too fond of that, so I just ate it plain and it was good.


Well, I came across a recipe from The Prepared Pantry for a Honey Ham Monte Cristo sandwich. The fond memories of that yummy sandwich with Nicole came flooding back to me. I decided to try it. The result wasn't quite the same, but still good none-the-less, so my hubby and I thought. My kids, not so much. But this really isn't a kids sandwich.


Give it a try and see what you think.


Here's what you'll need:


8 slices of bread
3 eggs
2 T. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. white pepper
8 slices of provolone or Swiss cheese
1/2 lb. thinly sliced deli ham (or you can use half ham and half turkey)
1/4 C. honey
2 T. prepared mustard


Mix the eggs, milk, salt, dry mustard, and white pepper together in a shallow bowl. Make the honey spread by mixing the honey and the prepared mustard. Set aside.


Spread honey mustard onto one or two pieces of bread. Top with ham, then cheese, and more ham.
Heat a griddle. Dip each sandwich lightly into the egg mixture on both sides of the sandwich. Place on the griddle and fry as you would french toast or a grilled cheese sandwich, turning when one side is golden brown.


Serve hot. You can serve it with seedless raspberry jam or honey, which is what I ate mine with. Yum!!

Poppy Seed Bread

Several years ago, I did one of those chain mailing things that asked people to send so many recipes to the two people on the list, then put your name in this spot and mail it to this many people. Well, I really like trying new recipes, so this fun game was just up my alley. So I did just what I was supposed to do. Now if every person participated how they were supposed to, I was supposed to get like 64 recipes. I didn't think I would and I didn't. But I did get some from my sister-in-law, Kasi.

One of the recipes she sent me was for a Poppy Seed Bundt Cake. It sounded really easy and I thought I'd try it. It was very easy and sooooooooooooooo good!! Now-a-days, I usually make the recipe into loaves rather than a bundt cake. But either way you make it, it's really great! So to my sister-in-law, Kasi, who thinks she can't cook, thank you for this great recipe. We love it!!!!

Here's what you'll need:

1 yellow cake mix
1 (3 1/4 oz) pkg. French Vanilla pudding mix, dry
4 eggs
1 C. sour cream
1/2 C. water
1/2 C. butter
1 tsp. almond flavoring/extract
1 1/2 - 2 T. poppy seeds

Mix everything together. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes in a bundt pan or 2 loaf pans for 45-50 minutes or 8 mini loaf pans for 25-30 minutes. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

And here's a little trick for you. If you use a towel or paper towel and wipe down the top inch of your sprayed pans, removing the non-stick spray, you'll get a loaf with a pretty rounded top. Not like these ones that turned out pretty flat. = )


These loaves are always so flavorful and moist. Like I said, we LOVE them!!

Herb Roasted Pork

Today's recipe comes from allrecipes. We had just had our pig butchered and so I had LOTS of pork in my freezer and I wanted to try something new. So I hopped on their trusty website and found this recipe. We tried it out and fell in love! It makes a soooooooooo delicious, juicy, flavorful pork roast with an incredible sauce to boot. I LOVE it!!!! And it's nice enough to serve for company too.

Here's what you'll need:

2 tsp. rubbed sage
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed OR 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 (5 lb) pork roast

Sauce:
1 C. brown sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1/2 C. vinegar
1/2 C. water
1/4 C. soy sauce

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a small bowl, combine first 4 ingredients. Rub all over the roast. Place roast in a roasting pan. Cover loosely and bake for 2 1/2 - 3 hours or until your roast reaches and internal temperature of 150 degrees.

For the sauce: Combine sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to bubble and thicken slightly. Brush roast with the glaze 3-4 times during the last 30 minutes of cooking time. Pour remaining glaze over roast and serve. Or reserve the remaining glaze to drizzle over the sliced roast, like I did here. And drizzle a little more over some mashed potatoes or rice. Then keep some glaze to dunk everything in while you're eating. It's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!!!!

This recipe freezes beautifully!  To freeze, place cooked, cut up pork roast in a gallon freezer bag and pour cooled sauce over all.  Shake and turn the bag until the pork is well coated with the sauce.  Freeze.

To serve:  Thaw and heat through.

Breakfast Burritos

My next door neighbor, Cortney, made our family dinner after I had our third baby. She made us a breakfast casserole that we ate as breakfast burritos. We LOVED it!! When I was asked to make our neighborhood's cookbook, I called Cortney and told her to include the recipe she made for us so I could have it. She did and we love to make and eat it!!! THANK YOU CORTNEY!!!!!!!!!!

Here's what you'll need:

3 C. cooked sausage or ham

1 pkg. frozen hash browns

3 C. grated cheese

1 can cream of mushroom soup

8-9 eggs

Mix hash browns, cheese, soup, and meat together. Spread out in 2 9x13 inch pans (or one bigger pan, like a big roasting pan). Beat eggs together and pour over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, depending on the size of pan you use, or until cooked through. Remove from oven and give it a good stir. Place in tortilla shells and top with Tabasco sauce or salsa and devour!

Very simple and very good!!

Hot Dogs with Mashed Potatoes and Cheese

I am so bad about having a variety of choices for lunch. Almost everyday, the options are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or macaroni and cheese. Whenever I venture out and really make something for the kids, I am so proud of myself. Today's recipe was one of those times I ventured. It's something I grew up on and it's so easy. I don't know why I don't make it more often. My poor kids.

Here's what you'll need:

Hot dogs
Mashed potatoes
Cheese

Make some mashed potatoes. Since I make these for my kids, they don't care if I use the instant mashed potatoes. So that's what I use. Or if you have some left over from dinner the night before, use them.

Slice your hot dogs in half lengthwise.

Top with mashed potatoes and top the taters with cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serve with ketchup to dip in.

Make 'em! You're kids will be so happy!!

Banana Bars with Browned Butter Frosting

I have a friend named Kolette. She's one of my exercise buddies and she's a fantastic cook! When the two of us get together, you know we're going to be talking about food. One day, she told me how much her family loves her banana bar recipe. So I looked it up in our neighborhood cookbook and gave it a whirl. And guess what, she was right. They were wonderful, very moist, tender, and so tasty!

Then I remembered a recipe my mother-in-law gave me for browned butter frosting and thought it would be a perfect pairing of flavors. I whipped it up and slathered it on my banana bars and then I was in Heaven!!! Oh my, let me tell you how good it was! The frosting has kind of a toffee flavor to it, I think, and it was soooooooooooo perfect for the banana bars.

There are two ways you can make this recipe. Either bake the bars in a 9x13 inch pan for thicker bars or in a large, rimmed cookie sheet, doubling the frosting recipe, for thinner bars. Either way, they are so very good. You must, MUST try them.

Here's what you'll need:

Banana Bars

1/2 C. butter, softened

1 1/2 C. sugar

2 eggs

1 C. sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

2 C. flour

1 tsp. soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and bananas. Follow with dry ingredients. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch pan or a large, rimmed cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow bars to cool.

Browned Butter Frosting

1/3 C. butter

3 C. powdered sugar

3 T. cream (or milk)

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Brown butter in a saucepan over medium heat until delicate brown in color.

Remove from the heat and add everything else. Combine well.

Frost cooled bars.

If you make your bars in a cookie sheet, make sure to double this frosting recipe.

Be careful, they disappear quickly!!!