Thursday, January 31, 2013

Biscuit Taco Cups


Biscuit Taco Cups
*Click Here This Recipe*

This is another recipe I tried from the Pillsbury company as part of my Brand Ambassador assignment through Allrecipes.com Allstars. This is chili in a biscuit bread bowl! How smart is that? 
I used my own *chili recipe here* .
It worked nicely to fill all 8 biscuit bowls! These bowls are a nice size...one per person. I served this with a salad and dinner was complete!

This was so delicious and so much fun to make and serve! Who wouldn't want to eat chili out of a buttermilk biscuit bread bowl! Try saying that 3 times, fast! You really can't go wrong whenever you use Pillsbury refrigerator biscuits! They are perfect every time...and I love cracking open the cardboard container!
Check out their Facebook page **here** for more great recipes! And stay tuned to my blog for more recipes that I'll be making with Pillsbury biscuits!

                            


                                                                   


Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Chicken Alfredo Biscuit Casserole

Chicken Alfredo Biscuit CasseroleThis was a whole lot of creamy, chicken and biscuit yumminess!!! I made this as part of my activities as a Brand Ambassador for Allrecipes.com. This month one of the sponsers is Pillsbury. They were generous enough to send all of the Ambassadors free coupons for their Grands Buttermilk Biscuits so that we could try some of their recipes and give them our feedback...no pun intended! One of the recipes I chose to make was this one.

Me and my family were very happy with this recipe...look how lovely it turned out! The biscuits are all golden and fluffy! I doubled the recipe and there was still NO LEFTOVERS!!! That large casserole dish only served 5 of us!

My family requested that I make this more often!

I'll be making a few more recipes using Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits in the very near future...probably this week! So stay tuned for those results!








Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Black Bean Hummus with Lemon, Garlic and Sesame!

Black Bean Hummus with Lemon, Garlic and Sesame

It was snack time at my house yesterday and I wanted something healthy, quick and easy! Then I remembered this recipe that I saw on a blog called 'Energize For Life'
Doesn't that sound like a VERY healthy website? Well that's because it is! 

I had all the ingredients to make the hummus, so I guess it was meant to be!

Monday, January 28, 2013

Cannoli Cream Dessert!

Cannoli Cream Dessert

With Valentine's Day approaching fast, I decided to share with you this simple and elegant dessert recipe.
I love to make desserts that look fancy but are easy and delicious! That's how I came up with this next recipe called 'Cannoli Cream Dessert'. I made it for my husband, on Valentine's Day, a few years ago....he was very impressed! 

My recipe was recently featured on this food blog called 'Leanne Bakes' ...She's a very creative and talented cook! Stop by her blog and drool over some of her recipes!

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese 
1/4 cup confectioners sugar 
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. pure almond extract
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbls. melted butter
1/4 cup chopped canned peaches or other fruit of your choice                                                 
2 Tbls. shredded semi sweet chocolate


DIRECTIONS:
In a medium size bowl mix together first 4 ingredients til smooth.
In a separate bowl mix together graham cracker crumbs and melted butter.
Take 2 wine glasses or other fluted stemware and place 1/4 of the crumb mixture in the bottom of each glass making a well in the center.
Add 1/4 the cannoli cream mixture on top. Repeat this one more time.
Garnish with chopped fruit and shredded chocolate. Chill til ready to serve.

Makes 2 servings
So make a nice candle light dinner for your sweetheart and serve him this sweet treat for dessert! Enjoy!


Sunday, January 27, 2013

Microwave Almond Brittle

Microwave Almond Brittle
When I first saw this recipe it was called Quick and Easy Peanut Brittle (Microwave)
But I didn't have any peanuts in the house so I used roasted almonds!
I was a little sceptical about making this recipe because I never thought you could make great brittle in the microwave! But I was so wrong! This was just as good as any other brittle, it was just quicker and easier! No candy thermometer needed!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Cucumber Sandwich Bites!

Cucumber Sandwich BitesI love tiny food! So I went looking for something I could do with a can of tuna fish and some seedless English cucumbers! And you know the first place I looked? You guessed it...Pinterest!

I loved the idea of using cucumbers instead of bread for sandwiches! The cucumbers added a nice fresh taste to the tuna salad. I topped these with baby spinach leaves and served the sandwich bites 2 ways!

My family thought it was cute and gobbled up a bunch of these as a snack! This is my recipe for the tuna salad...

Friday, January 25, 2013

Monday, January 21, 2013

Homemade Low Fat Bisquick Mix

Homemade Low Fat Bisquick Mix
 I found this recipe a few years ago on the GroupRecipes.com 
cooking site. I've made it many times and it always works perfectly! I make a batch of the mix and keep it in a zip lock bag, so that it's
Coypcat Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuitsalways ready when I need it for a recipe! You just add any kind of milk to moisten the mix and it's ready to go!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

A Cocktail That Will Knock You On Your Tail!

I was looking for a drink that was sweet and fruity but also a little unique! I didn't have a large selection of liquors in my cabinet. So I decided to create a drink with what I had on hand! That's how the 'Italian Cherry Bomb' was created! This drink will go down sooooo smoothly...but will definitely sneak up on you! So be careful!

Italian Cherry Bomb Cocktail
INGREDIENTS:
1 shot Galliano liquor
1 shot Amaretto liquor
1/2 shot Maraschino jarred cherry juice
1/2 shot sparkling water
1 Maraschino cherry - garnish
 1 cup crushed ice

DIRECTIONS:
Put crushed ice in a cocktail shaker.
Add Galliano, Amaretto, cherry juice and sparkling water.
Shake, shake, shake and pour into martini glass or other stemware.
Throw in a maraschino cherry.
Serve immediately!
 




Homemade Beef Jerky

More 'man food' in honor of the Super Bowl...but lots of ladies love this too!

I started making my own beef jerky about 10 years ago. A friend of mine turned me on to this and my family and friends are so happy she did! This is requested quite often! I usually make about 4 lbs of Top Round London broil at a time. Yes, I use the good stuff! When the meat is dehydrated it shrinks down to about 1 pound of beef jerky.
homemade beef jerky
This is my dehydrator.
It's nothing fancy. Just a  
Nesco brand. I bought 4 extra trays. The fan is on the top. It dehydrates 4 lbs of meat in about 7 hours. I rotate the trays every hour for even drying.
Homemade Beef Jerky
This is what the sliced London Broil looks like after being marinated for 24 hours and just before placing it into the dehydrator. The marinade is so dark and smokey flavored! It smells so good, even before it's dried!


Homemade Beef Jerky


This is 'tub o' marinated beef'...it soaks in there for 16-24 hours. 


Homemade Beef Jerky
And here is a nice plate full of the finished product!
This is about 1 serving in my house! So out of the 4 lbs of London Broil, I'll have 4 happy family members! They love this more than store bought beef jerky!  

Here is my recipe so you can try it for yourself!

INGREDIENTS;
4 lbs. top round london broil 
1 cup soy sauce - do not use light
1/3 c 'gravy master' browning seasoning - 2oz. bottle
1 large onion - chopped
3 large cloves of garlic - chopped
1 celery stalk - chopped
1/2 tsp.natural liquid smoke flavoring

DIRECTIONS;
                    Freeze the London Broil til hard. Then thaw slightly and slice across the middle (width wise) into very thin slices about 1/8 inch thickness for quicker drying.

 Put all the marinade ingredients in a blender(but not the meat of course) 
and blend til smooth.           
 
Dredge each slice of meat into the marinade and place in a wide, deep plastic container or large glass Pyrex casserole dish. Pour remaining marinade over top of the slices. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 16 - 24 hours.           
 
When ready to dehydrate, slightly skim the marinade off of each slice of meat and place each slice on your dehydrator tray. When all trays are full turn on the dehydrator and follow your instruction manual on how to dry meat. My dehydrator is a 700 watt unit with a fan to circulate the air. In my unit the meat will dry in about 6 - 7 hours.
 
When meat is completely dried and completely cooled, store in plastic storage bags or in an air tight container. This can be stored at room temperature for about 2 weeks. But it won't last that long because the jerky will probably be eaten up before then!
 
If you have a vacuum sealer, this jerky will have a much longer shelf life.

 

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Chili and Cheddar Cheese Dumplings!

Chili and Cheddar Cheese Dumplings
 
As you may have seen from many of my other posts, I love to combine my favorite recipes to make a new recipe! That's exactly what I did with this recipe! It's the perfect time of year for chili, because it's cold outside and Super Bowl season is here! And it's always the perfect time of year for dumplings, right?

This recipe makes it so much easier to have a fluffy, tasty, cheese bread, to dip into your favorite chili! Forget about cornbread! These cheddar cheese dumplings are so much better and very easy to make! They cook right on top of the chili during the last 25 minutes of the cooking time! 
I love one pot meals! 

Friday, January 18, 2013

Scallop Scallopini!?!?!

Scallop Scallopini

Well, why not....it has the word 'scallop' right there in the beginning of the word 'scallopini'!

Let me explain why I decided to create this recipe for 'Scallop Scallopini', with a little help from McCormick!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Tomato Mozzarella Toast!

I'm just totally loving simple and easy recipes lately! I'm finding that recipes don't need to have a long list of ingredients to be flavorful! As with this recipe from the 'Riches to Rags by Dori' blog.

This is my version of her recipe. I made this using white
Tomato Mozzarella Toasttoast sprinkled with shredded mozzarella cheese topped with chopped fresh basil, sliced plum tomatoes, minced fresh garlic and a pinch of salt. Then I put it in the toaster oven to melt the cheese and it was done. A very light but VERY flavorful fresh tasting open face sandwich!
 
I loved every last bite of this! Give it a try!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Instant Mac and Cheese in the Microwave!

I love Mac & Cheese and I love making quick food in the microwave, so this intrigued me! Can this really work? I've made coffee cake in a mug **see here** and loved it! Now I needed to try this new recipe!

Instant Mac and Cheese in the Microwave
It worked out pretty well! The mac & cheese was creamy but a little gritty. When it was done cooking it was soupy, but as it cooled it thickened up a bit. The flavor was perfect. It was slightly tricky to cook because the water kept bubbling over the mug, so I needed to keep turning off the microwave and stirring the macaroni. After reading all the reviews I decided to use a 'quick cook' pasta, which worked perfectly! Still bubbled over but at least the macaroni wasn't undercooked or pasty!

 I would make this again because it saves cleaning a pot! Check out the recipe here and try it for yourself...'Instant Mac & Cheese in the Microwave'

Monday, January 14, 2013

French Toast Muffins!

French Toast Muffins
 
I love French toast! I've had it stuffed with bananas ** see here** or blueberries **see here**... topped with different fruits, baked into a casserole, made into a bagel! You name it, I've tried it! So why not try a muffin version? I saw this recipe on Pinterest and knew it was destined to end up in my belly! And as soon as I snapped the above photo, that's where all 3 went!
 
The French Toast Muffin recipe was posted on this blog called
It was a very quick and easy muffin recipe! I had 12 of these whipped up in less than 30 minutes from start to finish!
Check out that blog and give these muffins a try!

Sunday, January 13, 2013

A Perfect Valentine Dessert!

Matrimonial Bliss
 
Isn't this a cute little dessert? I found the recipe on Allrecipes.com and I'm so glad I tried it! It's called 'Matrimonial Bliss'...cute name too, right? 

Thursday, January 10, 2013

I Just Love a Good Breakfast Casserole!

...And I think I've found one to make me happy for a VERY long time! This breakfast casserole has everything I could ever want in a breakfast casserole! It's quick & easy, can be assembled the night before, serves 6-8 people, it's very hearty and is perfect in flavor and texture! I love the layers of ham, egg, bread and cheese! I've tried MANY breakfast casseroles in the past 5 years and I can honestly say this is the best one!
 
Country Breakfast Casserole
 
I came across this recipe on the McCormick Spice Company website. The recipe is called Country Breakfast Casserole. It contains 8 simple ingredients! I used smoked ham, from the deli counter, instead of sausage, but other than that I made it as written. My ENTIRE family loved this so much that next time I'll need to make 2 casseroles because they were looking for more! I served this for dinner instead of breakfast. I think I'll make this once a week from now on!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Panakuchen ~ German Apple Pancakes!

Panakuchen ~ German Apple Pancakes
If this is the kind of breakfast they serve in Germany then I would be a VERY happy tourist! This was so light and fluffy! It puffed up so high while it was baking! And it's made with such simple ingredients! Not too much butter or sugar either! This reminded me of a combination of a filled crepe and stuffed french toast!

Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone so I had to tweak it slightly! I used bananas instead of apples and I added 1 tbls. of sugar to the batter of each pancake! And I used 1% low fat milk. I ate one whole 9 inch pancake myself...and I wasn't even full!!! So I would say this recipe only feeds two people!

I'll be making this again this weekend...and I'll be experimenting with different fruits! Of course I'll try it with apple next time, but maybe also blueberries!

Ingredients
1 apple
2 Tablespoons butter
 
Batter
4 eggs
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
 
Topping
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
 
Go to the link below to see how this easy and delicious pancake is made!
 

Recipes From Italy


Sweet and Sour VinaigretteThis month as part of my participation as a brand ambassador for Allrecipes.com I was asked to join their Italy site. I gladly agreed! One of my assignments for this month was to make, rate, review and photograph
faceless (recipes without photos) recipes from the Italy site.  Again, I gladly agreed! I choose these next two recipes! Sweet and Sour Vinaigrette and Toasted Bread with Lard ( bruschetta) Both of these recipe were just so simple and delicious!

BruschettaI served the vinaigrette with a mozzarella/tomato salad. Check out those recipe. I think you'll like them!       

My next assignment for this month is to create a recipe using any Sargento cheese product. They didn't have to twist my arm for that one either. And the Sargento company was generous enough to supply the brand ambassadors with 4 free coupons for their cheeses!  I'll be posting that recipe creation soon. So stay tuned for more Italian inspired goodies!

Monday, January 7, 2013

Cheeseburger Soup

I mentioned in this post...'Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joe's'...my dilemma with that particular recipe! Well I decided to use the leftovers from the Sloppy Joe's to make this next recipe called 'Cheeseburger Soup'.

Cheeseburger Soup

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Amazingly Good 'Easy Biscuits'

I've said it many times...I'm not much of a baker. So when I went looking for a biscuit recipe, I made sure to find the easiest one! That's exactly what I found with this recipe! It's only 6 simple ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, oil and milk) and only took 20 minutes to make from start to finish! But it was not only easy, it was also so perfect in taste and texture! Soft warm pillows of biscuit goodness! Look at how pretty my biscuits turned out...
Amazingly Good 'Easy Biscuits'

And look how pretty they are on the inside too...
Amazingly Good 'Easy Biscuits'

Friday, January 4, 2013

Thursday, January 3, 2013

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