Cheesburger Pie

This is one of my all-time favorite suppers! It is so easy to make and super delicious :) I don't have a pic, because I haven't made it in a while...I might need to remedy that soon! Anywho, here's the recipe for my super easy Cheeseburger Pie:

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef (I use ground turkey)
1 1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 c. milk
3/4 c. Bisquick baking mix (DO NOT SUBSTITUTE)
3 eggs
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 c. grated Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

Heat oven to 400F. Grease pie plate. Brown beef and onion. Drain. Stir in salt and pepper. Spread in plate. Beat milk, baking mix, and egg until smooth (15 seconds in a blender on high or 1 minute with a hand mixer). Pour into pie plate. Bake 25 minutes. Top with tomatoes and sprinkle with cheese. Bake an additional 5 to 8 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Cowboy Cookies (a.k.a. THE Potty Training Incentive!)

So, my youngest is now in full potty training mode. I decided I needed a good potty training incentive to help her along. Since she is my little cookie monster, I figured I'd go with one of my favorite cookie recipes to encourage her in her endeavors ;) Without further ado, here's the recipe for my Cowboy Cookies!

Ingredients:

1 c. shortening
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla (I prefer maple extract)
2 c. self-rising flour
1 1/2 c. quick cooking oatmeal
1/2 c. chopped nuts (I use pecans)
6 oz. chocolate chips
1 c. raisins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream shortening and add sugars. Beat well. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Add vanilla. Stir to blend well. Add flour a little at a time. Mix to blend thoroughly. Last, stir in oatmeal, nuts, chocolate chips, and raisins. Mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet and bake for 13 to 15 minutes. 
BONUS: This dough freezes really well. Simply roll leftover dough into a log and wrap with plastic wrap. If your going to be freezing it for more than a couple of days, put the wrapped log into a freezer bag. When ready to bake, simply unwrap, slice off cookies, and bake.

Makes 4 dozen large cookies.

Chocolate Dumplins

So, this is a recipe that I created out of necessity. We were having a fellowship dinner at church and I had half of the ingredients for apple dumplins and half the ingredients for chocolate/peanut butter rolls. I figure, two halves make a whole so why not go for it! It must have been good, because I came home with an empty dish :)

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 bag chocolate chips
1 can crescent rolls
powdered sugar or chocolate syrup (for topping)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°. Unroll crescent roll dough into 8 triangles. Fill each triangle with 1 TBSP chocolate chips. Roll up and pinch ends shut so chips don't fall out. Place in a 13x9 baking dish. In a saucepan combine sugar and butter on medium heat. When butter is melted, add vanilla. Pour mixture over dumplins. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until brown. Top with powdered sugar or chocolate syrup.


Tips: I used 1 and a half tubes of crescent rolls to make sure I had enough for everyone. I used Ghiradelli chocolate chips

Ritz Chicken

This is my family's FAVORITE chicken dish. They beg for it (even the kids)! It combines 2 stapels of southern comfort food...ritz crackers and butter. How can you go wrong?

Ingredients:
5 Chicken tenders
Ritz Crackers (crushed)
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 375F. Dip chicken in egg, then coat with Ritz crackers. Place in baking dish and pour melted butter over. Cook for 25 minutes or until done.

Yup...it's that simple. You can also dap it with the butter instead of melting it. Also, it helps to double coat the chicken in order to get a better coating of the Ritz. To do this simply dip the chicken in the egg again and then re-coat with Ritz. Enjoy!

Skillet Cornbread

I'm not normally a huge cornbread fan...I just never liked it! But my dear hubby is a cornbread addict. So I resolved myself to finding a recipe I could stomach. And then I found this recipe! Not only can I stomach it, I'm now a cornbread believer :) Nothing says southern like a warm plate of cornbread with some pinto beans. And of course, this must be baked in an iron skillet...

Ingredients:
2-3 tsp bacon grease
2 c. buttermilk
1 large egg
1 3/4 c. cornmeal (I use self-rising)
If you don't use self-rising cornmeal you will also need:
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Coat the bottom and sides of skillet with bacon grease. Heat the skillet in the oven. While the skillet is heating, in a medium-size bowl whisk the buttermilk and egg together. Add the cornmeal and stir well. *If not using self-rising cornmeal whisk in the baking powder, soda, and salt.* Pour batter into the hot skillet. Bake the bread for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately place the cornbread upside-down on a plate. Serve immediately while it is still hot!

Now for the great debate...to sugar or not to sugar :) My husband is strictly anti-sugar in cornbread while I don't mind a tsp or so. This is entirely up to you and your taste preferences. For variety you can add jalapeños or corn. And don't forget that you never wash an iron skillet with soap! Simply wash with hot water (use salt to scrub).

Island Pie

I came across this recipe in a cookbook a while back (don't remember which one or I'd give credit). It's a super yummy pie. In fact my husband asks me to make this at least once a week. I confess that I use a store-bought pie crust :)

Ingredients:
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. butter, melted and cooled
1 c. walnuts (I use pecans)
1 c. chocolate chips
1 9-inch pie crust

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large bowl mix the sugar, flour, eggs, and vanilla. Stir until well blended. Add the cooled butter and stir until smooth. Add the walnuts (or pecans) and chocolate chips. Pour into pie crust and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Tips:

• I prefer to use chopped pecans, but you can use halves
• I add the vanilla to the eggs and then add that mixture to the sugar and flour.
• Make sure the melted butter is cool before you add it!

Blueberry Cobbler

I'm back! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. For those who don't know, we just had our third child! Now that we've adjusted to life with our new addition, I'm finally able to get back to my blog. So, here's my favorite dessert! And it's so easy to make :)

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh blueberries

1+1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup (1 stick) melted butter

1 cup self-rising flour

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Rinse blueberries and place in a 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar. In a separate bowl mix butter, remaining 1 cup sugar, and flour to make a pastry. Spread over blueberries. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

And there it is. A super easy, incredibly delicious dessert! Enjoy :)

Chicken Noodle Cassarole

This is a quick and easy dish. I love taking this to potluck (and it usually goes pretty quickly).

1 (16 oz.) container of sour cream
2 (10 1/4 oz.) cans cream of chicken soup
4 cooked chicken breasts, diced
1 (16 oz.) package wide egg noodles, cooked
salt and pepper
2 sleeves Ritz crackers, crushed
1 stick butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix the sour cream and soup. Add the diced chicken and cooked noodles. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Place in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Top with the Ritz crackers and butter. Cook for 30 minutes until hot and bubbly.

P.S. I sometime add steamed broccoli for a little variety. Feel free to add any other veggies that peak your taste buds :)

Chicken and Dressing Cassarole

This is a yummy cassarole that is perfect for potluck. It's a bit labor intensive, but well worth the effort.

1 whole chicken

½ c. (1 stick) butter

1 med. onion, chopped

1 (7 oz.) package dry dressing mix

1 (10 ¾ oz.) can cream of chicken soup

1 (10 ¾ oz.) can cream of celery soup 

Boil the chicken and set aside to cool, reserving the broth. Remove the chicken from the bones. Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF. In a large skillet on med. heat melt the butter. Sauté the onion in the butter. Stir in the dressing mix. In a bowl combine the cream of chicken soup, cream of celery soup, and 1 c. of the reserved chicken broth. In a 3 quart casserole dish layer the ingredients in the following order: chicken, dressing mix, soup mixture, chicken, dressing mix, soup mixture. Top with the remaining dressing mix. Bake for 35 minutes.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Icing

These are a bit time consuming, but SOOOOOO worth the effort :)

DOUGH

• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 1/2 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rise yeast (from 2 envelopes yeast)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray

FILLING

• 3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

GLAZE

• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

CRUST

• Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave on high until butter melts and mixture is just warmed to 120°F to 130°F, 30 to 45 seconds. Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add 2 1/2 cups flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. Form into ball.
• Lightly oil large bowl with nonstick spray. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

FILLING

• Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl.
• Punch down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15x11-inch rectangle. Spread butter over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over butter. Starting at 1 long side, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With seam side down, cut dough crosswise with thin sharp knife into 18 equal slices (each about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide).
• Spray two 9-inch square glass baking dishes with nonstick spray. Divide rolls between baking dishes, arranging cut side up (there will be almost no space between rolls). Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 40 to 45 minutes.
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto rack. Cool 10 minutes. Turn rolls right side up.

GLAZE

• Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until smooth. Spread glaze on rolls. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Oven Fried Chicken

Fried Chicken is a staple of good Southern cooking. This is a bit healthier of a recipe. It gives you the taste of fried chicken without all the fat (beware...it STILL has some fat in it).

2 Tbsp. butter

¾ c. all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. parsley flakes

2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. thyme or oregano

1 whole chicken cut into pieces (or just use boneless skinless breasts)

Pre-heat the oven to 425ºF. Melt the butter in a 9x13 baking dish. In a med. bowl mix the flour with the parsley flakes, paprika, salt, and thyme. Dredge the chicken pieces in the mixture. Place in the prepared baking dish. Bake for about 35 minutes. Turn and cook for about 15 minutes or so until fork tender.

Useful tip: I always line my baking sheets with foil...makes clean-up oh so easy :)

Apple Dumplins

Ya'll, this is such an easy recepie. You have GOT to try it!

2 Large Granny Smith Apples
1 can crescent rolls
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
3/4 c. water
1 tsp. vanilla
cinnamon sugar (to sprinkle on top)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel, core, and quarter the apples. Wrap the quarters in crescent rolls, pinch rolls to cover most of the apple (this will give you 8 dumplins). Place dumplins in a 13 x 9 baking dish. In a medium sauce pan heat butter and sugar, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. When butter is fully melted add water and vanilla. Stir until well blended. Pour butter mixture over dumplins and cook for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over dumplins before allowing to cool.

I like to serve these with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!