Cheddar Bay Biscuits

I haven't been to Red Lobster's Restaurant in several years, but the one thing I remember about eating there is their blissful biscuits. This homemade recipe came out exactly how I remember them. Soo good. 

Biscuits:

2 1/2 cups Bisquick

4 Tbsp cold butter

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

3/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Butter Glaze:

3 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp garlic powder

3/4 tsp dried parsley flakes

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease or line one cookie sheet with parchment; set aside.

Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter (I just used a fork). Don't worry about mixing too thoroughly; there will be small chunks of butter in the mix about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and garlic powder. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix. Dough will be very dry and crumbly.

Drop 1/4 cup portions of the dough onto the lightly greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes in preheated oven until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

While the biscuits are baking, melt butter in a small bowl in the microwave. Stir in garlic powder and dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread the garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits (I just spooned the mixture on top). Sprinkle a little kosher salt on the freshly coated biscuits. Makes one dozen.

Monkey Bread

I tried a new recipe for hubby's Birthday breakfast and it was a hit (and super simple too). I found it on The Jones Way...

2 small tubes refrigerator buttermilk biscuits OR 1 tube Pillsbury Grands buttermilk biscuits
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 C. pancake syrup
1/3 C. packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions:
Spray a fluted pan with non-stick spray. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Place about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top. Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges (closely together) to form a ring. Top with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute in the pan, then invert onto a serving platter and enjoy!

Ham Sliders

I had some leftover ham in my freezer from Christmas (yes you heard me. Christmas.) and I figured it was about time I used it up. I went searching for a good ham recipe and found these delicious looking sliders. So I gathered my ingredients and made some up for lunch. They were so good! I will definitively be making these again.

The original recipe makes 24 sliders, I only made 5 to serve my husband and myself. Also, I strayed from  the recipe to use up what I had on hand.

5 dinner rolls
sliced honey ham
5 slices Swiss cheese
mayonnaise

1/2 Tablespoon yellow mustard
1/4 cup melted butter
1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
a couple dashes of onion powder

Cut the rolls in half and spread mayonnaise on the top and bottom of the inside of the roll. Layer ham and Swiss cheese and close up the sandwich. Place all of the sliders close together on a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a small bowl and pour over the top of all of the sliders. Let the sliders sit for about 10 minutes then cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 12 minutes until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for about 2 minutes longer to crisp the tops. Serve.

Sweet and Spicy Noodles

These noodles are so good and easy to put together. I changed up the original recipe just a little to fit my pantry.

1 lb noodles, fully cooked and drained (any kind you prefer)

In a small sauce pan brown 4 tsp minced garlic in some olive oil then add:

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1/3 c. white vinegar

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. sesame seeds

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. red pepper flakes

1 lb. fully cooked frozen shrimp
12 oz. frozen broccoli

Toss the shrimp, broccoli, and sauce together in a large fry pan or wok on medium heat. Let it all simmer together until the broccoli and shrimp warm up. Toss in the noodles and heat for a few additional minutes. Serve hot.

Yields 4 servings

Yogurt Covered Strawberries

I found this "recipe" the other day and immediately tried it out. I can't really call it a recipe because all you do is dip strawberries in yogurt and freeze them. I just wish I knew how they made theirs look so perfect. My daughter loved them and I will definitely be making them again especially because she is teething right now and these seem to help quite a bit.

 First clean your strawberries and cut the tops off.

Next dip them in yogurt (I used plain, full-fat) and place on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Freeze for a couple of hours and then you can transfer them to another container to keep frozen.

Enjoy :)

Homemade Gnocchi

I made my own gnocchi the other day... it was SO GOOD. Also, it was easy. I made marinara sauce the day before in my slow cooker. The recipe made enough for supper plus two more portions which I froze in ziploc bags. Like I said, the gnocchi was super easy. Stir the ingredients together, roll out the dough, cut off each piece, boil for a couple of minutes. While the pasta boiled I cut a loaf of french bread in half, added some slices of butter, garlic powder, and cheese, surrounded the bread in aluminum foil, and baked in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes until the butter melted. When the pasta was cooked and drained I added the marinara sauce plus a little fresh Parmesan. Yum. If you like gnocchi, you have got to try this yourself.

Banana Muffins

I found this great banana muffin recipe on Cooking On Clover Lane. I like to make these to keep on hand for snacks to give my daughter and they are great for road trips. She loves them and I feel good giving them to her because there is very little sugar in them compared to other recipes.

3 ripe bananas (the more ripe the better)
a little less than 1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream (I usually replace this with full fat plain yogurt... works great)
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix together banana, sugar, egg, and vanilla
Stir in sour cream (or yogurt)
Add dry ingredients

Scoop into muffin cups (makes 12. They will rise a lot)
Bake for 15 minutes

Sushi Night

I love sushi. Hubby supports my addiction and has one of his own. We have always talked about wanting to learn to make it ourselves, but never had the courage to until I stumbled on this post by Favorite Family Recipes.

It turned out so yummy and satisfying since we were able to do it ourselves. Here are the different rolls we have tried:

avocado

cucumber

tempura mini shrimp

sesame seeds

nori

rice

**for this one we had the nori on the outside which creates a nice little package which is easy to pick up with chopsticks.

Thai hot chili mayonnaise

celery

carrot slightly cooked with a little honey

mini shrimp

sesame seeds

nori

rice

**for this one we tempura fried the outside. Although it didn't look perfect, it tasted so good. Since doing this I have looked up how you are actually suppose to tempura fry a sushi roll and it seems like all we needed to do was dredge the whole thing in cornstarch. I'll try that next time.

jalapeno powder

cream cheese

tempura mini shrimp

celery

carrot

sesame seeds

nori

rice

**for this one we tried the rice on the outside and it was nice to switch it up, but we had a hard time keeping it all together and cutting the roll. Maybe there is a secret I am missing.

Serve with soy sauce and wasabi.

Now go be bold and try it yourself! Or am I the only one scared of rolling my own sushi?

Wingers

When hubby and I were dating we spent a lot of time at this restaurant called Wingers. The only thing we ever ordered were their sticky finger boneless wings. They are so good and even better cold the next day.

Then the other day I happened upon a new-to-me food blog: Favorite Family Recipes. And they happen to have a spot-on recipe to recreate those sticky fingers at home. They were perfect and really easy. And they would have looked perfect too if I could have found some decent boneless chicken wings at the store. I pared it with baked potato wedges which next time I'll add a little steak seasoning to them before baking and they will be perfect too.

Wingers Sticky Fingers:

For the sauce:
1/3 c. Franks Hot Sauce (You have to use Franks or it won't turn out just right)
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. water

Heat up hot sauce, brown sugar and water in a saucepan until all the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temp before adding to wings OR prepare ahead of time and refrigerate. The wings turn out best if you don't pour warm sauce over them. You want it nice and thick.

For the Sticky Fingers:
1 c. oil
1 pkg. frozen breaded chicken tenders

In a frying pan, heat oil and cook chicken tenders until crispy and warm. Dip each piece of chicken in the sauce so it is completely covered and move to serving plate, pour any remaining sauce over the chicken.

Calzones

I made this giant calzone the other day and it was really good and pretty simple to make. I also made a couple for my baby girl's birthday party and it was a hit.

Thaw, and let rise, a loaf of frozen bread dough on a greased cookie sheet.

Once bread has thawed and risen, dump about 2 TBS olive oil over the loaf then smash down like you are making a pizza. Flip over a couple times to make sure olive oil is coated everywhere.

 

Along one half of the dough layer:
1/3 lb. sandwich pepperoni

1/3 lb. cooked salami

1 small tomato sliced thin

Green and or red peppers sliced very thin

Onion sliced very thin

1/3 lb. provolone cheese

Shredded mozzarella cheese

 

Fold dough over to cover ingredients and seal edges all around.

 

Sprinkle the top with:

Parmesan cheese
Diced garlic or garlic powder

Italian seasoning

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Serves at least 4 adults

Dip in spaghetti or pizza sauce. (I used a little bit of a jar of Ragu)

Sweet Potato Pie

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! I was with some of the crazies last night out shopping the midnight deals with my sis-in-law. I hope if you are doing the same you will be safe and able to score some great deals :) For now I will leave you with a family favorite recipe.

In my family, we never make pumpkin pie. We all agree that sweet potato pie is much better and is a must around this time of year. Plus it seems to be a healthier recipe than pumpkin pie although nothing about it tastes "healthy".

2.5 lbs. orange sweet potatoes (about 3)
1 stick butter
3 large eggs
1/2 c. Evaporated milk
1 1/2 c. regular granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 Tbs flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
Peel and cube sweet potatoes. Boil in enough water to cover until soft, about 15 minutes. Use an electric mixer to blend potatoes and the rest of the ingredients.

This will be enough to make two pies. I always use pre-made pie crusts found in the refrigerated dessert isle at the grocery store. Fill pie crusts with the mixture and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. The middle of the pie should be cooked thoroughly, but not cracking. Top with cool whip if desired.

When I made these pies for Thanksgiving I totally forgot about them and ended up taking them out 25 minutes late. Luckily, they didn't taste overcooked although they did end up with large cracks throughout. And if you will notice, this pie ended up with two little three year old finger prints... and even through all that it still came out just as yummy as always :)

Chicken Bundles

I found this recipe while looking for something to use up some old ritz crackers. It turned out really good and definitely will be made again.

4 ounces Cream Cheese, softened

10 ounces fresh spinach, torn

1 1/4 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided

6 tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

6 small boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/4-inch thickness

1 egg

10 RITZ Crackers, crushed

1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce, heated

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cream cheese, spinach, 1 cup mozzarella and 3 Tbsp. Parmesan until well blended; spread onto chicken breasts. Starting at one short end of each breast, roll up chicken tightly. Secure with wooden toothpicks, if desired. Set aside.

Beat egg in shallow dish. Mix remaining Parmesan and cracker crumbs in separate shallow dish. Dip chicken bundles in egg, then roll in crumb mixture. Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake 30 min. or until chicken is done (165 degrees). Remove and discard toothpicks, if using. Serve topped with spaghetti sauce and remaining mozzarella.

Serves 6

*To make ahead: Assemble chicken bundles and place in baking dish as directed; cover and refrigerate up to 4 hours. When ready to serve, uncover and bake at 375 degrees for 35 min. or until chicken is cooked through.

Easy Birthday Cake

On to the all-important Birthday cake! I wanted to do something simple and pretty so this is what I came up with.

I alternated layers of homemade yellow cake and a boxed red velvet. The yellow cake was awesome for stacking and icing. The boxed cake, not so much. It's funny, before making this cake I never really thought about what buttercream icing was made of. Guess what? It is mostly butter. I almost died when I saw this recipe, but still wanted to try it so I tried to ignore the ingredients and carried on. I simply added a little food coloring and placed white chocolate chips all over to get my 'polkadots'.

yum.

Mexican Casserole

I tried a new recipe I found on Cooking On Clover Lane. It was good and simple to make. I had forgotten how nice making casseroles can be. I hardly use my oven during the summer and find myself cooking over the stove up until the minute we eat. When making a casserole there is time to clean up, set the table, and even sit down and relax for a minute. It was an unexpected treat to cook using my oven. And the best part about using an oven is how easy it is to make freezer meals :)

1 pound lean ground beef

2 cups salsa

1 16oz can chili beans, drained

3 cups tortilla chips, crushed

2 cups sour cream

1/2 cup chopped green onion

1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large skillet, brown beef. Stir in salsa, reduce heat, simmer until liquid is absorbed (about 10 minutes depending on how thick your salsa is.) Stir in beans, and heat through.

Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray. Spread crushed chips in a layer on bottom and then add ground beef mixture. Spread sour cream on top. Top with onion, tomato, cilantro and cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is hubby's favorite chocolate chip recipe:

Mix together:

1 cup sugar

 1 cup brown sugar

 2 cubes of butter

Add:

 2 eggs

 2 tsp. Vanilla

 1 tsp. Baking soda

 1 tsp. Baking powder

 1/2 tsp. Salt

 3 cups of flour

 chocolate chips (however many you prefer)

Roll into golf balls and bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet. You'll take them out before they look completely done and they'll finish baking while they cool on the cookie sheet.

This makes about 4 dozen.

 If I am just making these for us I usually bake a dozen and roll the rest of the batch and freeze them on a cookie sheet like you see above. Once they are good and frozen I put them all in a big ziploc bag and store them in the freezer until we want more cookies. I don't know how long they would last, probably a couple of months? We usually finish them off pretty quickly and to be honest, quite a few get eaten raw right from the freezer.

Slow Cooker Chicken n' Dumplings

It's that time of year again. The air conditioners are being moved out of the windows and I am pulling out our sweaters. Of course we still have been having some hot days, but some of the days are just perfect for something warm and yummy. This recipe is comfort-food good and so easy. Taken from allrecipes.com

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

2 tablespoons butter

2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup

1 onion, finely diced

2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces

Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough water to cover.

Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High. About 30 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center. 

**I usually cut the ingredients in half to serve hubby and me, but other than that this is a keeper.

Turkey Divan

Mix the following ingredients:

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp. lemon juice

Set mixture aside.

Cook and drain 32 ounce package frozen broccoli

Place in flat dish (one 10x14 or two 9x9)

Top with one package (2 lbs.) sliced and baked turkey loaf or left over turkey

than top with soup mixture

than top with buttered bread crumbs (I rip up a couple of slices of bread and mix it with about 1/2 a stick of melted butter)

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Serves about 8

Here's the turkey I use. It comes in white meat or white and dark meat. Either one is fine to use. In Walmart you can find it in the open-air freezers kind of in the middle of the hallway. (Does that make any sense?)

I stretched this recipe to make 3 dishes in disposable, aluminum containers about 8x8 each. It was a stretch, but still works and I got one more meal for my money.

*To prepare in order to freeze, I followed the directions up until you put on the bread crumbs and I froze it like that, uncooked. On the day I want to use this for supper, I will thaw it out in the refrigerator and top with the bread crumbs right before cooking. Cook as directed.

*If you are going to half this recipe, just use one can of cream of chicken soup instead of both soups.

This is SO good.

Freezer Heaven

When my mom came to help when my little girl was born she left us with a freezer full of meals. We have since eaten most of what she prepared, but she left me with the freezer bug. As you can see.

In my freezer right now I have:

chicken noodle soup

split pea soup (thank you mama)

soy chicken

bean and rice tortilla casserole

freezer jam

potato soup

cooked and sliced ham (thank you mama)

meatloaf (thank you mama)

turkey divan

lasagna

red sauce

funeral potatoes

It makes me SO happy to look into my freezer. I feel like a little chipmunk prepared for a long winter, ready to feed my family.

Chicken Enchiladas

Taken from allrecipes.com:

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon margarine
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers, drained
8 (8 inch) flour tortillas
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a small bowl mix the soup and sour cream; set aside.
3. Melt margarine in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add onion and chili powder, and saute until tender. Stir in the chicken, chile peppers, and 2 tablespoons of the soup mixture. Cook and stir until heated through.
4. Spread 1/2 cup of the soup mixture in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas, and place, seam-side-down, in the baking dish. Spoon remaining soup mixture on top, and sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

These enchiladas are so good and simple to make. They have kind of a bland, comfort-food kind of taste which is so yummy. Next time I think I'll try some jalapeno seasoning to spice it up though. Also, the recipe says it serves eight, but I'd say more like 3-4 adults.

A tradition

My mother used to bake fresh bread for her family of eight every single day. Completely by hand. Not even a mixer to help out. Can you imagine? I've done this once or twice before and believe me, you've got to have a lot of love and a strong back to accomplish this feat.

Needless to say, with all this whole wheat bread (which she ground the wheat herself btw) surrounding my childhood, I grew up with a real love and appreciation for real bread. Not that cheap stuff you buy at the store. And here is my attempt at carrying on that tradition:I just have to laugh at myself. Once in my marriage I have finally made my husband homemade bread and you know how I did it? I borrowed my sister's bread machine, poured all the ingredients in, and watched it knead, rise, knead, rise some more, and bake itself for 4 hours. Ta Da! Not quite the same accomplishment, but still worth the effort. I love simple homemade bread.

Here's where I found the recipe.