Cheesy Sausage and Potatoes

Before we talk about this recipe, I must warn you: it was not exactly what I had planned to make, but it turned out delicious and satisfying! I was intending to make a casserole-type dish in the crockpot, but time constraints and a spoiled bag of tater tots changed my plans. Instead, I winged it, so to speak - threw together some ingredients in an electric skillet and hoped for the best. And it turned out great!

If you prefer more of a sauce, add half a cup of milk and extra butter. If not, leave them out and the texture is more like a casserole.

Ingredients:

1 package smoked sausage
1 box of au gratin potatoes
2 cups water
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons butter
Garlic powder and dry ranch seasoning for flavor, or seasonings to taste
Optional: 1/2 cup milk

Slice smoked sausage into bite size pieces and toss in a buttered skillet. Add the dehydrated potatoes and about half of the au gratin flavor packet. Pour in water and stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for about 15 min or until potatoes are firm but tender. Add butter, cheese, and seasonings to taste, as well as milk if desired; stir and let simmer another 4-5 minutes. Serve topped with extra cheese!

Three Package Roast

Have you heard of the 3 package roast? It's a recipe that has been going around a lot lately and I decided to give it a try for our Christmas dinner. It came out great! The meat was tender and flavorful, and the juices were scrumptious. I'm a firm believer in plain buttered mashed potatoes, never ever any gravy, but I even poured some of the roast juices over my potatoes! The juices come out thin, but a little flour and cornstarch whisked in could easily make a delicious brown gravy.

A few quick notes before we begin. You can sear the sides of the roast before putting it in the crockpot if you like, but it isn't necessary. I didn't sear ours and it came out adequately tender. Also, it does not need salt - the mixture of seasonings in the packages are plenty. In fact, I recommend using low sodium versions, if available.

Christmas dinner

Ingredients:
1 3lb roast (any beef roast will work)
1 package dry Italian dressing mix
1 package dry ranch mix
1 package dry brown gravy mix
2 cups water

Whisk together the 3 packages of seasonings and the water in the crockpot. Take the roast from its wrapping and rinse off any excess blood. Place the roast in the crockpot and use a spoon, ladle, or baster to thoroughly coat it in the seasoning mixture. Let cook on high for about 5-6 hours, basting it in the juices every hour and periodically flipping it over to ensure it cooks evenly. When it is tender enough to easily pierce with a fork, pull it out of the crockpot. Slice it, baste it in the juices, and serve. Enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Crockpot Casserole

With colder weather setting in lately, we have been in the mood for comfort food. And I'm not sure what says "comfort food" better than chicken and rice, in a warm casserole-type dish. It's too thick to be called soup but too soft to be much else. If you find a better name for it, let me know!

On a side note, I used minute rice because it's easy to keep on the truck. You can use any brand of minute rice, or simply use cooked regular rice. Either way I'm sure it will be delicious! 

Ingredients:

3 large chicken breasts 

Can cream of chicken soup 

Can cream of cheddar soup

Dry ranch dressing mix 

Box of minute rice 

1 cup sour cream

Parmesan cheese to taste

Dab a little soup on the bottom of the crockpot. Lay chicken breasts on top and spoon the rest of both cans of soup on top, sprinkling in the dry ranch mix. Let cook in crockpot 3 hours on high, or whatever your crockpot needs to thoroughly cook chicken, while stirring occasionally. About half an hour before serving, use a fork or spatula to shred the chicken. Add the rice and sour cream and mix everything together. Let cook for another half hour to warm the rice. Serve and top with parmesan cheese. Enjoy! 

Easy Crockpot Ham

Our Thanksgiving was spent on the road, in the truck...but together, which is the most important thing! There is much that we have to be thankful for. I'm also thankful for the ability to cook for us in the truck. It is usually a challenge, but I have found ways to modify recipes and adjust cooking times to match the resources I have available. And of course, Thanksgiving was no different. We used pre-packaged Bob Evans mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese, picked up at WalMart (which I highly recommend, by the way! Very tasty and they keep well for a few weeks - something that is important when you visit a grocery store only once a month!).

Thanksgiving dinner

In an effort to have something special for the holiday, I decided to cook a quarter ham in the crockpot. Well, technically it's a 7-in-1 cooker, but it has a slow cooker function. Anyway, after a bit of research, and borrowing brown sugar from my mother (quite conveniently, we were sent to California about a week before Thanksgiving!), I decided to give it a go. The result...super amazingness. It was wonderful served hot on Thanksgiving, and it was great cold as sandwiches for the next week. It stayed moist and tender...in short, the perfect, easy ham!

Quick note: make sure it is a sliced, fully cooked ham that simply needs to be warmed up. If it is an uncooked ham, a quick Google search should reveal easy cooking methods.

Ingredients:
1 quarter ham
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar

Spoon about a quarter of the applesauce on the bottom of the crockpot and sprinkle a little brown sugar on top. Add the ham, rind side up, and allow any juices in the package to run into the crockpot. Spoon the rest of the applesauce over the top of the ham and add the rest of the brown sugar. Let the crockpot cook for about 3 hours, periodically spooning more sauce over the top of the ham to keep it moist. When fully warm, separate the slices and make sure each slice gets dipped in the sauce as you serve it, to keep it moist. Enjoy!

Broiled Pork Chops

Pork chops are one of my favorite meals - they are delicious, packed with protein, and usually relatively cheap. They are also versatile, taking on the flavors around them as they cook.

This variation was made very easily in my toaster oven on the broil setting. They literally cooked completely in 12 minutes and were juicy and tender. I let the toaster warm up while I put Zatarains garlic butter rice in my 7-in-1 cooker on rice setting, and we had a satisfying meal ready in about half an hour total prep and cook time.

I used garlic powder and Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning. You can use pork rub, cajun seasoning, dry ranch dressing mix - whatever stirs your imagination and gets your taste buds drooling.

Pork chop with garlic butter rice

Ingredients:
2-4 pork chops
Olive oil
Garlic, seasoning as desired

Turn your oven or toaster to broil setting and let it heat up as you prep the chops and start whatever side dish you desire. Rub the pork chops with olive oil on both sides and sprinkle the top with seasonings. Place on a foil lined sheet or pan and put it inside the oven. Thin chops take 6 minutes on each side, thicker chops need more time. When the top is golden brown, flip the chops over and sprinkle the other side with seasonings as well. When both sides are lightly browned and chops are cooked through, pull them out and let them rest about 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Salsa Taco Chicken

Another easy recipe for the road - or anyone with a crockpot who likes easy, no fuss meals! This recipe is very similar to the Shredded BBQ Chicken. It can be easily modified by using mild or spicy salsa and taco mix, and adding whatever toppings you like to the finished product. I highly recommend wrapping it in tortillas and adding cheddar cheese, sour cream, and taco veggies!

Ingredients:
1 jar salsa, any flavor
1 packet taco seasoning
2-4 chicken breasts

Pour about a quarter of the salsa jar into the crockpot and sprinkle a quarter of the taco seasoning. Lay the chicken breasts on top. Cover with salsa and taco seasoning, adding salsa and seasoning between layers if layering is necessary. For 2 chicken breasts, half of the jar of salsa and half of the taco seasoning is sufficient; for 4 breasts, use all of it.

On a crockpot, use the low setting for 2 hours or the high setting for 45 minutes. On our Farberware 7-in-1, the chicken setting pressure cooks the chicken in 25 minutes. Once thoroughly cooked, use a fork or spatula to shred or chunk the chicken. Stir it in the salsa seasoning mix and let simmer another few minutes to absorb more of the sauce. Taco night, here we come!

Muffin Pancakes

If you haven't heard yet, making pancakes from muffin mix is one of the best ideas of this decade. The texture comes out still very muffiny, and the flavor variations are ENDLESS. And they are super easy and cheap! The downfall? Each packet of muffin mix makes only 4 pancakes  (or 5 if you make small pancakes). Double, triple, quadruple, whatever you feel is necessary.

I did make these in our semi one morning, using an electric skillet. They were delicious, but waiting for them to cook feels like forever when you're hungry. The heat on the skillet needs to be low enough to cook them through as the sides turn golden brown - if the heat is too high, they burn before they are fully cooked.

Blueberry muffin pancakes

Ingredients:
1 packet muffin mix, any flavor
1 egg or 2 tsp oil
Enough water to bring the mixture to pancake batter consistency

Mix all ingredients while the skillet warms up. Pour by the ladlefull, spread out if too thick, and watch carefully. When the underside is golden brown, flip. Cook slowly to ensure they are thoroughly cooked without burning. Add butter or toppings as desired and enjoy!

Shredded BBQ Chicken

I'm all about simple recipes, and this one may be the easiest I've posted yet. Though it is easy, it is delicious! Whether at home in a crockpot or on the road in our Farberware 7-in-1, the smell of cooking will have you drooling by the time it's ready.

You ready for this?

Ingredients:
1 small bottle Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce
3 chicken breasts or 6-8 chicken tenders, raw boneless
Any other seasonings desired

Squirt sauce around the bottom of the pot until it is nearly covered. Lay raw chicken on top. If you need to layer chicken, squirt sauce between layers. Squirt more sauce on top to nearly cover the chicken. I usually use about 3/4 of the bottle altogether.

That's really it, folks. Use the low setting on the crockpot for a couple hours, the high setting or the chicken setting on the 7-in-1 for 30 minutes. Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked, shred the chicken (still inside the pot), stir in the sauce, and let simmer another 15 minutes. It will absorb a lot of sauce!

Serve over rice or with pasta. It's a little sloppy for sandwiches but a piece of bread to sop up the sauce always helps!

Pork Chops and Potatoes

For my first time cooking on the road, I decided to make a very simple recipe - just 4 ingredients! It turned out perfect. The potatoes were tender, the meat was falling apart, and I was drooling after 2.5 hours of driving while smelling it cooking!

I used my trainer's Roadpro Lunchbox cooker, but it can easily be made in a crockpot, or even in the oven at home. This serves 2, so feel free to double as needed.


Ingredients:
2 pork chops
3-4 small red potatoes
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 package garlic and herb dry salad dressing mix
Splash water

Scoop a third of the can of soup onto the bottom of a meatloaf sized foil baking pan, splash a little water, and sprinkle some of the dry soup mix. Place pork chops on top and repeat the soup and dry mix. Clean potatoes (I leave skins on) and chop into bite-sized pieces, and place on top. Add the rest of the soup and dry mix and another splash of water.

In a lunchbox cooker, 2.5 hours (checking every hour) was perfect. For crockpot or oven cooking, check every half hour. When potatoes are tender, sauce is thick and bubbly, and pork chops are cooked through, stir and serve.

Banana Orange Muffins

In the chaos of moving and getting ready for the new chapter of our lives that is about to begin... I needed a quick break, a spot of creativity, a glimpse of stability. I also needed to use some of what is still in my cupboards! Thus was born... Banana Orange Muffins.

You already know it's going to be quick and easy and tasty...and it's even husband-approved! For the guy who eats all things chocolate and rarely ventures into the world of fruit and healthy-looking snacks, that's a win.

If you want to make it healthier, you could always substitute egg whites for the egg, and applesauce for the oil, and a gluten-free cake mix if you're into that. For fall flavoring, add cinnamon or use a spice cake mix. Or use a chocolate cake mix, or a strawberry cake mix...seriously the options are almost endless! Feel free to modify!

Ingredients:
2-3 very, very ripe bananas
1 egg
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp each of vanilla extract and orange extract
1 vanilla cake mix

Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare muffin tins (or a bread pan, if you prefer). Peel the bananas and place in a medium mixing bowl. Mash with a fork, then mix in the egg, oil, and extracts. Add the dry cake mix and stir or beat until thoroughly mixed. Pour into prepared tins and bake for about 18-22 minutes, testing with a toothpick when done. Makes 12 muffins or one loaf of bread.

Soft Pretzels

I have no idea why we haven't done this before. Seriously. And when you try them, you will wonder the same thing! They are best hot and dipped in queso...or cheese...or ranch...or plain...they are straight up amazing!!

They're actually pretty easy too - you know I'm all about easy recipes! It just requires a little prep time.

For us, it's a joint venture. You got it - we like to make them together, as a team. I mix the dough, he heats the water. I roll it out, he twists it into pretzels. And we both eat them...oh my yes.

For the dough, you need:

2.5 cups all purpose flour
dash of salt
spoonful of sugar
package of yeast (either quick-rise or active dry)
1 cup warm water (about 110 F)

Mix the flour, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl. Pour the yeast into the warm water and stir until mostly dissolved. Pour the yeast water into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly - if you have a mixer with a dough hook, that would be best; if not, beat it roughly with a wooden spoon. It should be a soft, smooth lump of dough, not sticky. If it is too sticky, sprinkle with flour and keep kneading. When you have a nice tidy lump, dust with flour and cover the bowl with a towel.

Let's stop and talk about yeast for a moment. If you are using quick-rise yeast, half an hour should be plenty of time to rise. If you are using active dry yeast, somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour usually works best for me.

For the topping, you need:

1/2 cup warm water
1 tbsp baking soda
non-stick spray
coarse sea salt for sprinkling, if desired
2-3 tbsp butter, melted

Whisk the warm water and baking soda together and place in a cereal bowl. Spray a pan, and heat the oven to 450 F.

Lightly spray the countertop to help keep the dough from sticking. Take the dough out and use a pizza cutter to divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each section into a long rope and twist into a pretzel shape.

Now, believe me, it's a whole lot harder than it sounds! Easiest thing to do is to double it over, twist it together about a third of the way from the bottom, and roll the ends over. Just play around with it for awhile, you'll get the hang of it. And make sure to ask your sweetheart to try it too - it makes for a lot of laughs!

Dip the pretzels in the soda wash and place them on the sheet. Sprinkle with salt, if desired. Honestly, we find we don't really need it, they're good without, but it's up to you. Let them rest for 10 minutes.

Bake for 8-9 minutes until nicely golden brown. As soon as you take them out of the oven, brush with melted butter. Try to hold off eating them until they are cool enough to touch. Mmmm.

Tilapia and Rice

When my sweetheart and I have time together, one of our favorite activities is cooking as a team. We divide and conquer, each working on a part of the meal, so it's all ready at about the same time. We each have specialties, and this meal is one of the best we make together.

Now, for the record, I don't like most seafood. Besides shrimp, and a dish my friend Cristin makes with salmon her dad has caught fresh, I generally don't like anything fishy. But my honey decided that I should learn to eat tilapia - and surprisingly enough, I did learn to eat it the way he makes it, and I like it too!

We like Zatarain's Crispy Southern fish breading, jazzed up with a little garlic powder, a little Mrs. Dash onion and herb, and sometimes a dash of cajun seasoning for extra zing. My love dips the fish filets in egg white and presses them into the breading mix, thoroughly coating both sides. He then places them on a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. The oven should be preheated to 450. The tilapia bakes nicely on the top rack for about 15 minutes, coming out flaky and moist, with the breading cooked to a nicely crispy texture.

The basmati rice is my specialty. A few years ago, when I moved into my first apartment, a dear friend gave me a rice cooker and a 25 pound bag of basmati rice. Since then I have learned to tweak the way I make it to just the way we like it. First I measure out the desired quantity of rice, and rinse it twice to clean off any dirt, hulls, etc. Then I add water in the ratio prescribed in the directions on the bag, but I add an extra half cup of water because we like the rice moist. From there, I add seasonings based on what meals the rice will be complementing. Most of the time, it involves a spoonful of chicken bouillon, a healthy sprinkling of onion powder and garlic powder, and a dash of cajun seasoning or cumin, depending on the theme of the meal. I stir it up with a pat of butter or a teaspoon of olive oil, and let it steam in the rice cooker, stirring it occasionally to ensure everything gets mixed up.

The rice is usually done in about 20 minutes, perfect timing to be ready at the same time as baked fish, baked chicken, sauteed Italian sausage, chicken casserole, or whatever I'm pairing it with. Add french bread or sandwich bread, toasted or broiled, and some kind of vegetable, fruit, or dessert. With the two of us working together, it's a meal completely prepared and on the table in about 35 minutes!

Orange Dreamsicle Cake

If you've been reading my recipe blog, you have probably noticed by now that I like simple, easy recipes. My google search history is full of things like "quick and easy dessert" and "5 ingredient cookies." I ran across this recipe, tweaked it to make it my own, and it was a smashing success! I took it to a work pitch-in and it was completely gone in about 2 hours.

The cake part is a simple vanilla box cake mix, made to the instructions on the box in a 9x13 pan. The only thing I would change is to add a splash of vanilla for better taste. Oh, and separate the eggs in a small bowl and whip them with an electric beater for about a minute before adding them to the cake mix, oil, water, etc. The whipped eggs help make the cake very light and fluffy, which is rather important to the success of this venture. You can make a cake from scratch if you feel so inclined, but I guarantee you most people won't know the difference.

Once the cake is cool you're ready for the frosting. Here goes:

1 box orange Jell-O mix
1 box vanilla pudding mix
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
splash vanilla extract
splash orange extract
1 tub cool whip

In a medium bowl, whisk the Jell-O powder, pudding powder, and milk together thoroughly until it is well mixed and slightly thickened. Add the extracts, and extra red and yellow food coloring if you want it to look more orange. Fold the cool whip in and mix with a spoon or spatula.

It's best if you let the frosting sit in the fridge for an hour or two to set up nicely before frosting the cake. And then my advice would be to slice yourself a piece first, because once the cake is cut and everyone gets a taste, it will be gone before you know it! It's a wonderfully light, summery cake, with just the right mixture of orange and vanilla to remind you exactly of an orange dreamsicle.

The Best Cookies Ever

Hello again! I just made the most amazing chocolate cookies! Seriously...soft, moist, rich, and extremely amazing. Like can't stop eating them. Like someone stop me please. No seriously stop me.

Anyway, these cookies are some of my husband's favorites, and they're one of mine too because they're so simple. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter 
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp milk
1 box dark chocolate cake mix 

Heat oven to 350. Cream the butter (if it's a little bit melted, it's ok). Beat in egg, vanilla, and milk. Thoroughly mix in cake mix by hand. Drop by spoonfuls on a cookie sheet, then flatten with fingertips. These cookies spread a little but not much. Bake for about 7 minutes - do not overbake, they will look puffy when they are ready. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 4-5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to finish cooling. 

So here's some awesome things about these cookies. First, they are very soft and nice. Second, they actually taste better as cookies than as cookie dough, which means that more of them end up as cookies. And third, they don't have to be chocolate - they can literally be made in any flavor, for any occasion.

Think about it. The main ingredient is a cake mix. It can be customized to any taste or occasion. For Thanksgiving, use a spice cake mix. For Valentine's Day, use a strawberry cake mix, then dip half of each cookie in melted chocolate. During the summer, use a lemon cake mix, and in the winter use a vanilla cake mix and add mint extract and red or green food coloring. The possibilities are only as limited as your imagination - and the WalMart baking aisle. See why these are the best cookies ever?

Tuna Noodle Casserole

There came a time when my sweetheart told me that he remembered a tuna noodle casserole that his mom made. So of course, being a good wifey, I asked his mother (who, by the way, is a very wonderful, sweet lady and totally another mom to me - I'm so thankful for my relationship with my in laws!)...problem is she didn't really remember a specific dish like that. So she gave me some basic ingredients, I did some research, and came up with with a pretty reasonable facsimile.

I'll be honest. The casserole is really tasty. However, I have come to realize that I really don't care for tuna. I might try making this casserole with canned chicken though, because the casserole itself is pretty good.

A note on the soup. I've always thought it is weird to put cream of chicken soup in a tuna casserole, and my honey and I don't really care for cream of mushroom or cream of celery, so we like to use cream of onion. It's up to you, though, however your family prefers it.

So, ingredients...

1 can cream of onion soup
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup peas, frozen or cooked
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
Garlic powder
2 cans tuna
2 cups cooked noodles (egg noodles, elbow macaroni, bowties, whatever you like)
Optional: Seasoned breadcrumbs or crumbled crackers

Preheat oven to 350. Mix soup, milk, peas, cheese, and garlic in a bowl, then add tuna and mix thoroughly. Pour noodles into a casserole dish, spread soup mixture evenly on top and lightly mix in. Cook 15 minutes. Pull out and sprinkle breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs on top, and more cheese if desired, and bake another 4-5 minutes or until everything is hot and bubbly and the breadcrumbs are golden brown. Let cool a few minutes and serve warm.

Meatloaf

This is not your ordinary meatloaf. Not by a long shot! This is the best, most savory, most perfect meatloaf you may every taste. And it's rapidly becoming a staple in our house!

It is, of course, a simple recipe. And can pretty much be modified any way your family likes.

The way we like it is:

1 egg, beaten
1 lb ground hamburger
1/3 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
half package of dry ranch seasoning
dash of garlic, onion powder, Italian seasoning, and any other seasonings you like

Preheat the oven to 350 and mush all the ingredients together. This is usually the point where I ask my honey to mix it up for me since I really don't like mashing raw hamburger and he's just better at it anyway. But I digress. Once all the ingredients are thoroughly mushed together, shape into the general shape of a loaf, and place in a pan. I like to drizzle ketchup over the top, or sometimes cheese depending on my mood.

At 350, it usually takes my meatloaf around an hour. The main thing is that it needs to reach 165 degrees inside. After it's fully cooked, let it cool a little because it falls apart right away otherwise. Let it sit about 5 minutes, then slice and eat plain, drizzled in more ketchup, on a hamburger bun, etc.

It's good. It's really good. I promise.

Oreo Pie

Oreo pie. Oh yes. Oh myyyyyyy yes. So good!

And so easy! If you know me, you'll know that I prefer recipes with 5 ingredients or less, and as short of a preparation time as possible. And this definitely fits the bill!

It started when my dearest and I were grocery shopping and we happened to wander down the baking aisle. He happened to look at pie crusts, and next thing you know, we're discussing the makings of an amazing dessert!

It goes something like this:

1 chocolate graham cracker pie crust
1 package cookies and cream pudding
1 2/3 cup milk
About 10 oreos

Basically you make the pudding with a little less milk than usual so it sets firmer. If you want a very full crust, you can use 2 packages of pudding mix and about 2 1/2 cups milk. Crumble about 4 oreos into the pie shell before pouring in the pudding, then crumble about 6 oreos on top before refrigerating.

Let me tell you, this is amazing!!! :)

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter or margarine

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Pinch salt, if desired

1 egg

​​

Topping:

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, cream the butter, then mix in the sugar and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, salt if desired, and egg. Mix thoroughly. Dough should be sticky, place in freezer for 10-15 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon in a 2:1 ratio (twice as much sugar as cinnamon). Shape the dough into walnut-sized balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar mix. Place them about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet and flatten slightly. 

Bake for 8 minutes for soft cookies, 10 for crunchier cookies. Remove from oven, let cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then place on wire rack to finish cooling. Store in a sealed container.

Chocolate!

OK, my cupcake recipe is pretty simple - usually goes along the lines of: 1 box cake mix, mixed to directions and baked till just done but still moist, and frosted with a can of frosting! Pretty simple, yes? Still, it's easy to add your own touches!

For instance, a dash of vanilla and a tiny pinch of salt add more vibrant flavor to the cupcakes! And chocolate chips (or perhaps even white chocolate chips) added to the cupcakes and sprinkled on the frosting, well, that's just decadence.

That being said, a cake mix can also become brownies. How, you ask? Well I'm glad you asked!

Brownies are basically just richer, fudgier cake, right? So a simple chocolate cake mix (or devils food cake mix, or dark chocolate cake mix - you get the idea) can easily become brownies.

Ingredients:
1 box chocolate cake mix
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
Extra chocolate

So basically mix together, bake about 20 minutes at about 350 degrees. I say about, because of course that changes based on the size of your pan, the added chocolate, etc.

I added chocolate chips AND white chocolate chips, and ended up with triple-chocolate brownies that were to die for. Not even kidding.

Steaks on the Grill

Few things are as iconic of summer as the scent of meat on a grill...the smell wafting through the neighborhood, making everyone in the near vicinity begin to drool! My hubby is the grillmaster of the house, and wow does he know how to cook a fine piece of meat on the grill!

Last weekend we splurged on a feast: New York strip steaks, mashed potatoes, cheesy biscuits, and grilled carrots, with lemon squares for dessert. As I promised those protesting my facebook picture, here are the recipes!

Oh yes...oh my yes!

Steak Rub:
1/4 olive oil, a few splashes Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and a generous amount of steak seasoning, coated on the steaks before and during grilling.

Mashed potatoes:
Okay I confess, they were Betty Crocker dry mix garlic mashed potatoes...but I added extra melted butter and garlic to make them especially creamy and flavorful!

Grilled baby carrots:
2 Tbsp melted butter, a splash olive oil, a Tbsp lemon juice, garlic powder, and Mrs. Dash onion and herb seasoning; placed on aluminum foil and grilled about 10 minutes till barely tender.

Cheesy biscuits:
2 cups Bisquick, 2/3 cup milk, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, garlic powder and Italian seasoning, baked 10 minutes at 450 degrees, with garlic butter brushed on top.

Lemonade:
1 cup bottled lemon juice, 1 1/4 cup sugar, about 9 cups water, mixed and chilled


The meal was a success - a good deal of work but SO worth it. We'll definitely be doing it again!

Breakfast Egg Muffins

Once again, the idea started out when my honey made eggs, bacon, and sausage for breakfast one morning. We feasted like kings, then put the leftovers in the fridge. What to do with leftover breakfast? Make more breakfast, of course! And so, the breakfast egg muffins came into existence.



Ingredients:
1 cup hash browns, or 36 tater tots
1/3 cup cooked sausage patties, torn
10 bacon strips, torn
6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup Bisquick
1/4 cup cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 350. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray.

Lightly cover the bottom of each muffin cup with hashbrowns (or 2-3 tater tots). Distribute the sausage and bacon till the cups are nearly full. Mix the eggs, milk, and Bisquick and distribute* evenly among the cups. Sprinkle cheese on top, bake 20 minutes.


*After several messy attempts with a spoon, my honey brilliantly suggested a turkey baster. Much less mess, although a little more difficult to wash.

Breakfast Quesadillas

 The idea started when my honey made eggs, bacon, and sausage for breakfast one morning. We feasted like kings, then put the leftovers in the fridge. What to do with leftover breakfast? Make more breakfast, of course! And so, the breakfast quesadilla came into existence.

Of course, the best foundation to any quesadilla is cheese. Lots and lots of warm, gooey cheese. Several different kinds of cheese, preferably. I like to use American and Cheddar as my base, and add mozzarella and provolone or whatever I have handy.

I find it easiest to alternate ingredient types when making quesadillas: e.g., American cheese, scrambled eggs, provolone cheese, torn sausage and bacon bits, and a lot of Cheddar cheese. This keeps the quesadilla together by sealing in the ingredients between the melty cheese.

So, to recap:

Ingredients per individual quesadilla:
2 tortillas, burrito size
1/4 cup Cheddar cheese
1 slice American cheese
1/2 slice provolone, mozzarella, etc.
1/4 cup scrambled eggs
1 sausage patty, torn
2 bacon strips, torn

Cook on low heat till cheese is melted and both sides are crispy and lightly browned. Yum!

Pancakes with Bisquick

The basic Bisquick pancake recipe is simple:

2 cups Bisquick
1 cup milk
2 eggs

However, that's really bland. We like to add a little cinnamon, vanilla, and honey, which gives them flavor and texture.

My mom likes to add a dash of lemon juice and a sprinkle of baking soda to help them rise into fluffier, lighter pancakes.

However you adjust them, make sure you start your skillet or griddle at pretty low heat and adjust as necessary. We like our pancakes cooked through and golden brown on the outsides, and higher heat can lead to the outsides cooking too fast and burning. Remember to flip them when the edges turn light brown and they should flip with little to no mess.

Lemon Squares

1 cup butter, softened 

1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 lemons juiced or 2/3 cup bottled lemon juice

Powdered or confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray.

In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden.

In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust. 

Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool completely and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Original recipe credit: Allrecipes.com