Saturday August 18, 2012
Are You Ready For This?
So I know you have all been waiting for my surprise ...well...I have been taking cooking lessons..ha jk I had to say it because today my post is about my 2 hours of cooking. Yes you read that right- 2 hours of cooking. Those that know me understand that 2 hours of cooking is very rare for me. Tonight I started homemade chicken enchiladas for tomorrow's dinner and baked my grandma's famous texas sheet cake. The cake had 12 ingredients and took over 1 hour to make, but I am soo excited to take a bite tomorrow. Ok really did you think I could wait??..nope I already had a bite!
Here is the homemade icing before I iced the cake.
Here is the finished product before I took a bite :)
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Applebee's "Copycat" Quesadilla Burger
Have you ever had these at Applebee's before? If not, you're missing out because they are Delish!!! I used to work there back in the day, and this is all I would eat. I love them so much, I started playing around with ingredients and making them myself since I knew what was in them. My version is not as spicy since Applebee's puts pico de gallo in theirs. But the favorite part of MY version is that everything is made on the grill! Easy clean up. Enjoy!!
Ingredients Needed: {makes 2 whole burgers}
2 - 1/2 pound burger patties {flatten as much as you can}
4 - small flour tortilla shells
Slice pepperjack cheese {2 slices per sandwich}
Colby shredded cheese {handful}
Diced tomatoes {as much as you want}
Real bacon pcs {as much as you want}
Diced red onion {as much as you want}
Thousand Island dressing {as much as you want}
Haul everything out to the grill. I love this platter I got at Ikea!
I made a "tinfoil bowl", in it is a little olive oil, the bacon pcs and red onion.
When the burgers are cooked, I place them on the top rack. The bacon and red onions should be about done too. With the Grill on Med.....This is when I throw on a couple tortilla shells {only leave on for seconds}, put the thousand island dressing and fresh tomatoes in with bacon and onions.
Flip the tortilla shells, put all the cheese on both of them....with them melting, place the other two tortilla shells on, flipping them in seconds. Place the burger on the cheese with some of the bacon onion sauce on top.
Add some shredded lettuce and but the top tortilla shell on and that's it!!
I'm having my girls over tomorrow {Heidi and her daughters} to come play, and I thought I would whip up some fun Easter treats {my cookie dough pops} for the girls. Making it small, light but still yummy as we have less then a month till Vegas!!
Ingredients Needed: {makes 2 whole burgers}
2 - 1/2 pound burger patties {flatten as much as you can}
4 - small flour tortilla shells
Slice pepperjack cheese {2 slices per sandwich}
Colby shredded cheese {handful}
Diced tomatoes {as much as you want}
Real bacon pcs {as much as you want}
Diced red onion {as much as you want}
Thousand Island dressing {as much as you want}
Haul everything out to the grill. I love this platter I got at Ikea!
I made a "tinfoil bowl", in it is a little olive oil, the bacon pcs and red onion.
When the burgers are cooked, I place them on the top rack. The bacon and red onions should be about done too. With the Grill on Med.....This is when I throw on a couple tortilla shells {only leave on for seconds}, put the thousand island dressing and fresh tomatoes in with bacon and onions.
Flip the tortilla shells, put all the cheese on both of them....with them melting, place the other two tortilla shells on, flipping them in seconds. Place the burger on the cheese with some of the bacon onion sauce on top.
Add some shredded lettuce and but the top tortilla shell on and that's it!!
I'm having my girls over tomorrow {Heidi and her daughters} to come play, and I thought I would whip up some fun Easter treats {my cookie dough pops} for the girls. Making it small, light but still yummy as we have less then a month till Vegas!!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Who Doesn't Love Comfort Foods?
Pizza & Chocolate Chip Cookies Anyone?
It's beginning to be that time of the year already........Planting Season! We pray that this year's crops will be just as successful as last years! With the hubs starting to work late hours getting equipment around and ready, I never know when he will be home. That's when I start making easy, not so healthy dinners since most of the time they will last a while on the counter or wrapped up in the microwave until he gets home. Or, what I like to call "fend for yourself" dinners happens more often this time of the year too. Or when they are actually in the fields, us women tend to take turns delivering meals to the guys.......so for a month or more I feed myself and Maddie only...that's when I eat a lot of sea food because Dusty won't touch that stuff :-).
By the way, I'm never blogging about appliances again!!!! Last week I had a post about giving my garage fridge a makeover....yah, that was a bad idea because the next day my fridge in my house {not even 1.5 years old} died!!! Of course, I didn't have a warranty on it either :-(. I was super sick to my stomach. So in other words, I'm really glad we had our garage fridge for back up because I just got my new one delivered this morning--You like?? Yes, this has the new deli/snack drawer!
Ok, so back to my post of the day...comfort food. I tend to make homemade Stromboli on occasions when I'm in a lazy mood and don't want to cook {not very often}. They are super easy and cheap to make!
What is needed:
Rhodes Frozen Loaf Bread
Shredded Motz Cheese (1 bag per loaf)
Pizza Toppings of your choice
Homemade Pizza Sauce, recipe Here
Put as many loafs needed each on a sprayed cookie sheet {I used parchment paper}. Cover each one with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for about 6-8 hours.
Roll out dough to a rectangle. I use my wonder mat, which is about 16" x 11".
Put a very thin layer of sauce, your toppings and cheese. Today my hubs wanted just pepperoni.
Fold in sides first.
Then fold over long sides, pinching everything together. Flip over and cut 3 slits on the top. I brush on a little olive oil on the top too. Bake 350 degrees for 25 min. Cut into strips.
And for dessert.......yes you always have dessert at my house. My favorite chocolate chip cookies; I added a little m&m's today. Of what my hubs doesn't eat tonight, he can take the rest to the farm tomorrow :-).
Sorry my friends, no recipe for these babies---this is my secret recipe BUT you can head over to my Shoppe to purchase a dozen {or more}.
Have a great weekend!
It's beginning to be that time of the year already........Planting Season! We pray that this year's crops will be just as successful as last years! With the hubs starting to work late hours getting equipment around and ready, I never know when he will be home. That's when I start making easy, not so healthy dinners since most of the time they will last a while on the counter or wrapped up in the microwave until he gets home. Or, what I like to call "fend for yourself" dinners happens more often this time of the year too. Or when they are actually in the fields, us women tend to take turns delivering meals to the guys.......so for a month or more I feed myself and Maddie only...that's when I eat a lot of sea food because Dusty won't touch that stuff :-).
By the way, I'm never blogging about appliances again!!!! Last week I had a post about giving my garage fridge a makeover....yah, that was a bad idea because the next day my fridge in my house {not even 1.5 years old} died!!! Of course, I didn't have a warranty on it either :-(. I was super sick to my stomach. So in other words, I'm really glad we had our garage fridge for back up because I just got my new one delivered this morning--You like?? Yes, this has the new deli/snack drawer!
Ok, so back to my post of the day...comfort food. I tend to make homemade Stromboli on occasions when I'm in a lazy mood and don't want to cook {not very often}. They are super easy and cheap to make!
What is needed:
Rhodes Frozen Loaf Bread
Shredded Motz Cheese (1 bag per loaf)
Pizza Toppings of your choice
Homemade Pizza Sauce, recipe Here
Put as many loafs needed each on a sprayed cookie sheet {I used parchment paper}. Cover each one with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for about 6-8 hours.
Roll out dough to a rectangle. I use my wonder mat, which is about 16" x 11".
Put a very thin layer of sauce, your toppings and cheese. Today my hubs wanted just pepperoni.
Fold in sides first.
Then fold over long sides, pinching everything together. Flip over and cut 3 slits on the top. I brush on a little olive oil on the top too. Bake 350 degrees for 25 min. Cut into strips.
And for dessert.......yes you always have dessert at my house. My favorite chocolate chip cookies; I added a little m&m's today. Of what my hubs doesn't eat tonight, he can take the rest to the farm tomorrow :-).
Sorry my friends, no recipe for these babies---this is my secret recipe BUT you can head over to my Shoppe to purchase a dozen {or more}.
Have a great weekend!
Dear Mother Nature: I Love You {this week}
I love Sunday's! Most of all, I love this weather, are you?!?! I just can't get over the mild winter we had, now it's March and it's going to be 72 degrees Wednesday!! We all know.......... don't get used to it, as I'm sure the hugest snow storm will appear on us before May {never fails}. Until then, I'm soaking it up. We spent almost the entire day outdoors; my husband even mowed the lawn {not kidding}, and my daughter got her first ride on the lawnmower {I was so into the moment I forgot to take a picture}. We took our first 2 mile stroller walk down our dirt road, gosh did that feel good! I also cleaned out our flower beds and we planned where I will have my very first garden--can't wait!
The best part of our{My} day was our very first cookout of the year {with many more to come}! We even ate outside on our picnic table {well......in the garage with the door open}. I LOVE to entertain. If it was my choice, I would invite our entire 2 mile stretch of neighbors over to eat {all 5 of them, lol} but my hubby says no. However, my dad does live across the road from me, so he's always invited :-).
Here was our menu:
Hamburger Sliders
Grilled Asparagus
Fresh Sweet Corn {from last fall @ farm}
Strawberry Shortcake {see recipe link below}
These are my husband's favorite rolls!
I love to grill all my fresh veggies! Easy clean up: put them on foil with some olive oil, salt & pepper and BAM!
You never go without dessert at my house. I had strawberries that needed to be ate up, so I started searching for some recipes. This recipe is now my favorite: simple, quick & yummy! You use Grands Biscuits--You can find the recipe Here. I didn't add the sugar with the strawberries, and I used creamy cool whip instead.
I hope everyone enjoyed their beautiful Sunday!
The best part of our{My} day was our very first cookout of the year {with many more to come}! We even ate outside on our picnic table {well......in the garage with the door open}. I LOVE to entertain. If it was my choice, I would invite our entire 2 mile stretch of neighbors over to eat {all 5 of them, lol} but my hubby says no. However, my dad does live across the road from me, so he's always invited :-).
Here was our menu:
Hamburger Sliders
Grilled Asparagus
Fresh Sweet Corn {from last fall @ farm}
Strawberry Shortcake {see recipe link below}
I hope everyone enjoyed their beautiful Sunday!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Meatloaf Cupcakes
Ok, so everyone knows I love cupcakes, right? I also LOVE meatloaf, so I thought I would make individuals just to be cute! I know, I'm weird--my mind goes round and round all day long thinking of creative food ideas :-). I think I may use this idea come spring time when my hubby and family are in the fields and it's my turn to make/deliver dinner to the guys! Here is my recipe, which I think I got years ago from the girls in the kitchen at HMIC.......love it!
1.5 pounds of ground beef
Diced Green pepper (I use a whole one because I love lots of veggies)
1/4 cup diced onion
1/2 sleeve of saltine crackers crushed
2 eggs
1/4 cup ketchup + some for the top
2 tbsp steak sauce
salt/pepper
Using your hands, mix all together in a bowl. Scoop into foil cupcake liners and top with ketchup. Bake 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or longer depending how crispy you like it! I was able to make 12 cupcakes out of this recipe.
I also purchased some yummy strawberries at the store this week. It's been a very long time since I've had a good strawberry, so I thought I'd make a new cupcake: Chocolate cupcake infused with chocolate chips topped with chocolate ganache, fluffy strawberry frosting and a fresh strawberry! I really made them so I could take them across the road to my dads house :-)
1.5 pounds of ground beef
Diced Green pepper (I use a whole one because I love lots of veggies)
1/4 cup diced onion
1/2 sleeve of saltine crackers crushed
2 eggs
1/4 cup ketchup + some for the top
2 tbsp steak sauce
salt/pepper
Using your hands, mix all together in a bowl. Scoop into foil cupcake liners and top with ketchup. Bake 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or longer depending how crispy you like it! I was able to make 12 cupcakes out of this recipe.
I also purchased some yummy strawberries at the store this week. It's been a very long time since I've had a good strawberry, so I thought I'd make a new cupcake: Chocolate cupcake infused with chocolate chips topped with chocolate ganache, fluffy strawberry frosting and a fresh strawberry! I really made them so I could take them across the road to my dads house :-)
Anybody else LOVE their crock pot like I do?! With how many hours I've been working, cooking dinner in the crock pot has been a life saver for me and our family!!
This recipe is SOOOO easy and SOOO delicious! I posted a picture on Facebook and promised to blog about it. So here you are!!
Our 4 year old son told me after dinner Wednesday night that dinner was "AWESOME!" So, with all of that said here is the recipe:
12-oz bag egg noodles
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (I used ground venison!)
32 ounces pasta sauce (any flavor - I used pizza sauce)
16 ozs mozzarella cheese, shredded (I used colby jack)
8 oz pepperoni (I bought a bag of mini pepperoni's)
Cook noodles according to package. Drain. While noodles are cooking, brown the ground beef, then drain off fat. Grease inside of slow cooker. Layer - sauce, noodles, ground beef and cheese. Keep layering then top with more cheese! Cook on low for 3 hours or until the cheese is melted!
Doesn't it look delicious!?!?!??!
Next time, I'm going to put cooked chicken, sausage and mushrooms in it! The options are endless!!
Enjoy!
Every Sunday morning, I make cinnamon rolls before church. It's a tradition my parents started when I was younger and now I make them for my family! I don't know if they meant to make this a tradition, but I know I looked forward to them!!
I am finally getting into a baking frenzy again, it's been awhile! So, after being reassured how easy this recipe was with a co-worker on Friday, I made homemade cinnamon rolls!!
Thanks Leslie!!
The recipe is from All Recipes and is super easy!! Here is a link for you!
And you know it's super easy if I can make them and Ryan wants to bring some to work! :)
I did use my bread machine to knead the dough, but I don't count that as cheating, just a little assistance! :)
Then after that part was done, Del and I rolled the dough out and mixed together the cinnamon ingredients!
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All rolled up, ready to be cut!
I put them in my greased 9X13 casserole dish and let them rise overnight, so easy Sunday morning to mix the frosting and bake them!!
End result! Delicious!!
Do you have any traditions that involve certain foods?
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Pizza Soup Recipe
This recipe goes way back for me. It's very unique since you don't really hear the word "pizza soup" -- And when you do hear it, the first thing that comes to mind is "gross", right? That's what I said too until I tried it! I immediately fell in love with it. It taste just like pizza! I don't make this that often but when I do, I make enough so I can eat on it for a couple days. The recipe will make a good amount; probably 5 big soup bowls full. Try it--you won't be disappointed!
What you will need:
3 cans of tomato soup (10-3/4 oz cans)
2 cans of water
1 pound HOT sausage (you can use regular but hot gives it a kick)
1 green pepper, diced
3 medium tomatoes, diced
8 oz pkg of fresh mushroom
1/2 cup diced onion
8 oz bag pepperoni
2 tbsp oregano
1-1/2 tbsp basil
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
Shredded Motz Cheese
In a large pot, brown the sausage. I usually leave the grease in the pot as there shouldn't be that much. Add the green pepper, mushroom & onion. Sauteed for a couple minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients except for the motz cheese. 
Stir occasionally and simmer on low for 30-45 minutes.
Add to a soup bowl and top with mozzarella cheese
Don't forget a napkin as the cheese will wrap around your chin!!
What you will need:
3 cans of tomato soup (10-3/4 oz cans)
2 cans of water
1 pound HOT sausage (you can use regular but hot gives it a kick)
1 green pepper, diced
3 medium tomatoes, diced
8 oz pkg of fresh mushroom
1/2 cup diced onion
8 oz bag pepperoni
2 tbsp oregano
1-1/2 tbsp basil
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
Shredded Motz Cheese
In a large pot, brown the sausage. I usually leave the grease in the pot as there shouldn't be that much. Add the green pepper, mushroom & onion. Sauteed for a couple minutes.
Stir occasionally and simmer on low for 30-45 minutes.
Add to a soup bowl and top with mozzarella cheese
Don't forget a napkin as the cheese will wrap around your chin!!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
S'mores Anyone?
I was inspired by Jenn's post on Monday about camping, as my family and I LOVE to camp too!
It's really all we've been talking about since this crazy weird winter we've been having!! Our favorite part of camping is sitting around a good campfire enjoying an old fashion s'mores--Yum! So yummy my husband has been craving them, so I built this.....
S'mores Cupcakes: A graham cracker cupcake topped with Ghirardelli chocolate ganache and toasted marshmallow frosting.
Also, I would like to say Happy Birthday to our Prodigy Momma friend, Jenn! I hope you have a great birthday!
It's really all we've been talking about since this crazy weird winter we've been having!! Our favorite part of camping is sitting around a good campfire enjoying an old fashion s'mores--Yum! So yummy my husband has been craving them, so I built this.....
Also, I would like to say Happy Birthday to our Prodigy Momma friend, Jenn! I hope you have a great birthday!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Topping a Cupcake
So my house has been really crazy this week besides that my daughter is about ready to crawl, my house is unorganized and under construction (again). You wouldn't think after building a brand new house not even a year and half ago that you would be doing construction again, but after some drywall issues, yup my house is a full of dust again!! All I can say is that I hope the painter gets here soon so I can put my house back together before my BIG cupcake project this weekend!!! Another baby shower, another Henney family member, and another March baby but this one is a BOY! While all the craziness was going on in my house yesterday, I found myself locked in our spare bedroom making the cupcake toppers and candy fondant toppers for the cupcakes. Again, I got the template for the paper toppers from Etsy, I just printed and cut them out myself........I so love that site!! I used small cookie cutters for the fondant bears and hearts. I thought I would share my creativity. These will be topping red velvet & snickers cupcakes as the mommy-to-be picked out! Pictures of the cupcakes to come soon!
I Luv Cupcakes
Last week was a very busy week for me with baking. I feel a bit overwhelmed as I'm still helping my old work out while I'm trying to find time to do all this baking! Yet, I'm also kind of excited as I got another cupcake job out of all the craziness! I just love the feeling when I overhear someone saying "gosh, these cupcakes look amazing, did you get them professionally done?" Love it. It so happened that one of my co-worker's(ALL men) birthday was last week. I thought I would surprise him by bringing in cupcakes, so I called his wife and asked what was his favorite flavor was. Chocolate?? It can't be, only women love chocolate right? Nope. She said chocolate cake with chocolate frosting!! So, there it was, a chocolate cupcake with ganache frosting topped with chocolate buttercream frosting and birthday sprinkles. I didn't have one, but let me tell you Trevor (another guy I work with) had 4 of them :-)
In March there will be another member of the Henney family having another baby (girl)!! Roni's baby shower was this past Sunday, and I had the honor of making 100 cupcakes for it. Yes, that was a huge shower! She wanted raspberry and chocolate. I came up with a vanilla cupcake with raspberry filling topped with raspberry buttercream frosting and a fondant heart. Next was a snickers cupcake, chocolate cupcake with caramel buttercream frosting topped with pieces of snickers candy bar and caramel drizzle. I also LOVE Etsy. I was able to find some cute DIY cupcake toppers for $3.50. I printed them myself and used a 2" scallop punch.
In March there will be another member of the Henney family having another baby (girl)!! Roni's baby shower was this past Sunday, and I had the honor of making 100 cupcakes for it. Yes, that was a huge shower! She wanted raspberry and chocolate. I came up with a vanilla cupcake with raspberry filling topped with raspberry buttercream frosting and a fondant heart. Next was a snickers cupcake, chocolate cupcake with caramel buttercream frosting topped with pieces of snickers candy bar and caramel drizzle. I also LOVE Etsy. I was able to find some cute DIY cupcake toppers for $3.50. I printed them myself and used a 2" scallop punch.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Cookie Dough Pops
So the hot new item these days are "cake pops", yah........ I haven't tried to make them yet because I'm still old fashion--I like to stick to the same old cookies and cupcakes! However, I thought, I love the looks of the cake pops, so instead why not make cookie dough pops? With Valentine's Day coming up, these would be a huge hit and they are so YUMMY!!! All I did was take one of my cookie dough recipes and tweaked it--very easy!!! I thought I would share it with you-Enjoy!
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp of salt
(mix dry ingredients in a small bowl and put aside)
1 stick VERY soft unsalted butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used the mini ones)
Colored candy melts
Beat wet ingredients together until creamy in a larger bowl. Slowly add flour mixture until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. If your mix seems dry, you might need to add 1-2 tbsp of water (I had to). I used my 2 tsp cookie scoop to make the balls. Roll them around in your hands. Lay them on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. I got about 32 cookie balls out of it. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 30 min or until very firm. Melt candy melts according to the package-put in bowl. Using a fork, place the cookie dough ball in the candy coating and let the access drip off before placing back onto the wax paper. To drizzle, melt some different candies and put in a zip baggie. Cut a TINY corner off and drizzle back and forth!!
I put mine in the fridge to store in a airtight container!
Who doesn't love frosting?
I LOVE to bake. There's just something about baking that gets me in a good mood. I just can't wait until my daughter is old enough to wear that little apron and help her momma in the kitchen! Cookies and cupcakes are my favorite sweets to bake. I'm always thinking of some new flavors and having my family test them out. My dad, who lives across the road from me gets the majority of my samples :-). Some day, I really want to own a bakery. I envison a cute little shoppe dressed up in brown, turquoise & pink with neatly decorated cupcakes all in a row......ahhhh. Anyways as I'm dreaming, I had recently made some cupcakes for a company potluck, and had some leftovers to share. I thought I would make this chocolate chip cupcake with fudgy frosting for my husband, who hates a lot of frosting :-)
