Baked Ham and Swiss Sandwiches

1 stick of butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 T. dijon mustard
2 t. Worcestershire sauce
3 t. poppy seeds
1/2 lb. shaved ham
8 slices of swiss cheese
1 pkg. (12 count) Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

Melt butter in medium skillet.  Saute onion until tender.  Stir in mustard, worcestershire, and poppy seeds. Simmer for about 5 minutes.  Keep the rolls in one big section, like they're packaged, but take a large, serrated knife and cut the tops off (keep them together).  Put the bottom half into a 13 x 9 pan.  Spread about 3/4 of the onion mixture onto the bottom half of the rolls.  Layer on the ham and swiss.  Place tops of bread back on top and then spread the remaining onion mixture over top.  Cover tightly with foil.  At this point, you can refrigerate them until you are ready to bake.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and cut into individual sandwiches.

These are really yummy!  I made these the other night and everyone loved them.  I served them with a nice broccoli salad and some chips.  Easy and delicious!

Barbecue Chicken Dip

2 c. cooked, chopped chicken (I used part of a rotisserie chicken)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. sour cream

1/2 c. ranch dressing

1 c. barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's brand)

1 1/2 c. shredded, cheddar cheese

1 bunch of green onions, sliced

Mix together chicken, cream cheese, sour cream, ranch, barbecue sauce, and 1 c. of the cheese.  Spread into a 8 x 8 baking dish.  Top with remaining 1/2 c. of cheese and green onions.  Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, or until bubbly.  Serve with tortilla chips.

You could easily turn this from barbecue dip to buffalo dip by switching out buffalo sauce for the barbecue sauce. 

Sausage Cheese Balls

I've made this recipe for years, but recently found the same recipe with the addition of cream cheese.  I had to try it and was definitely skeptical.  I mean, if it's not broke don't fix it, right? But isn't everything better with cream cheese? So here you go.  You're welcome.

1 lb hot sausage, uncooked
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups Bisquick
4 oz cheddar cheese (sharp works best), shredded

Preheat oven to 400F.

Mix all ingredients until well combined. It will get messy and sticky.  Roll into 1-inch balls and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until brown.

Sausage Noodle Bake

1 lb. ground sausage
8 oz. egg noodles
1 can of cream of chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 c. crumbled blue cheese
1 small can of mushrooms, drained
1/4 c. chopped green peppers
1/2 c. bread crumbs
2 T. melted butter

Cook your noodles according to package directions.  I like to use the Amish noodles.  They really knock the "comfort level" of this recipe up quite a few notches.  While the noodles are cooking, brown your sausage until it is brown and crumbly.  Drain. Stir the mushrooms and green peppers into the sausage.  Once the noodles are done cooking, drain them.  Mix the soup, sour cream, and blue cheese in a saucepan.  I use the same pan I used to cook the noodles.  Why dirty up a whole new pan, right?  Stir continually over medium heat, about 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.  Dump the drained noodles right back into that soup/cheese mixture and then you might as well go ahead and dump in the sausage mixture, as well.  Give it all a good stir, then pour it into a greased 11 x 9 baking dish.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs and pour the melted butter over top.  Bake in a 350 oven, uncovered, for about 30 minutes.

I made this today and it is one of the first dishes I have made in quite sometime that was worthy enough to put on the blog.  So, you'd better make it!

Biscuits and Gravy

• 
  
• Biscuits:
• 
  
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon butter or margarine, melted
• Gravy:
• 
  
• 1/2 pound bulk pork sausage
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 
  
• In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Combine milk and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until blended. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
• Meanwhile, in a saucepan, cook the sausage over medium heat until no longer pink. Stir in butter until melted. Sprinkle with flour. Gradually stir in milk, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve over biscuits.

This was a super easy recipe.  I know if I can do this, you can.  It made just enough to serve 4 people, so if you want more, you may need to double the recipe.

Ranch Chicken Tacos

1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 packet taco seasoning mix, divided
1 tablespoon mild chunky salsa
1 rotisserie chicken, skin removed and shredded
8 flour tortillas
shredded lettuce
1 tomato, chopped
4 green onions, sliced
1 (4 ounce) can sliced black olives
1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced (optional)
1 cup shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese

 Combine ranch dressing, sour cream, 1 teaspoon taco seasoning, and salsa in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until serving. Toss chicken with remaining taco seasoning. Cover bowl loosely with wax paper or plastic wrap. Microwave chicken until chicken is heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Warm the tortillas in a skillet for about a minute on each side to make them pliable. Place a scoop of chicken on the tortilla and top with lettuce, tomato, green onion, olives, avocado, cheese, and a spoonful of the ranch dressing mixture. Super yummy!!

Lasagna

1 pound ground beef
1 pound Italian sausage
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup sliced black olives
1 pinch basil
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
2 (14 ounce) jars marinara sauce
1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles
8 ounces ricotta cheese
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded

Brown the ground beef and Italian sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drain excess grease. Stir in the water and black olives, and season with basil, garlic powder, oregano, sage, pepper, minced garlic, and onion flakes. Simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the marinara sauce, and remove from the heat. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place a layer of the meat and sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover with a layer of dry noodles. Spread a thin layer of ricotta cheese over the noodles, and sprinkle with a little mozzarella cheese. Cover with another layer of sauce, and repeat layering ending with the meat and sauce on top. Reserve about 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese for later. Bake, covered, for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, but check after 30 minutes depending on how thick the lasagna is. Lasagna is cooked when you can easily stick a knife into it. Sprinkle the reserved cheese over the top, and return to the oven for about 10-15 minutes for a nice melted cheese topping.

Twice Baked Potatoes

4 large baking potatoes
8 slices bacon
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
8 green onions, sliced, divided

Preheat oven to 350. Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour. You want them tender, but not mushy.
Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. If your potatoes are smaller then, instead of cutting them in half, remove only the top portion and discard it. To the scooped out potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.
Bake for another 15 minutes.

A Day in Paradise

This year's ladies meeting theme was, "A Day in Paradise". It was one of our best decorated themes, by far! However, it was a lot of work! Our initial menu for the meeting was the Cafe Rio Pork Salad. However, due to last minute budget cuts, we had to change the menu. Coming up with something three days before the meeting, added a little extra stress--all my planning went down the drain. We decided on Chicken Kabobs, Baked Potatoes, Salad, and Hawaiian Rolls. For dessert, we had a choice of cheesecake or pound cake with fresh berries. On the Kabobs we put: chicken (that I marinated in teriyaki sauce), red onion, green bell pepper, mushrooms, pineapple, and cherry tomatoes. I won't call it a complete disaster, but it wasn't one of my shining moments of my cooking career. For one, it was my first time making kabobs. Secondly, I had to leave the cooking up to a few 20-something guys on the grill. Thirdly, it was a LOT of tedious work getting it ready. So, if you are looking to do a luau theme for over 100 people (we had about 130), don't choose kabobs unless you have a LOT of help. Lesson learned!


We borrowed a huge umbrella from the local home improvement store to be our centerpiece for the platform. It added a really nice touch.

This was the registration area as you entered the church. The pergola was a lot of work to put up and take apart, but it really was the 'wow factor' when you entered.

All over the gym walls, we had the nets and leis along with several driftwood signs painted with exotic location names on them. The ladies did a really good job putting it all together.

The sand on the table was a nice touch, along with shells and miniature beach lounge chairs.

Cheesesteak Pizza

1 small green pepper, thinly sliced
1 small sweet red pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 small onion, halved and sliced
1 teaspoons canola oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 prebaked 12-inch pizza crust
3/4 cup pizza sauce
2 ounces cream cheese, cubed
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded provolone cheese, divided
1 cup shredded or julienned cooked roast beef
1/3 cup banana pepper rings
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

In a large skillet, saute the peppers, mushrooms and onion in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.
Place crust on an ungreased 12-in. pizza pan. Spread pizza sauce over crust and dot with cream cheese. Sprinkle with 1 cup provolone cheese. Top with pepper mixture, beef, pepper rings and remaining provolone cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and oregano.
Bake at 450° for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Note: It's important to slice the peppers and onions very thinly, otherwise, it will be messy to serve and eat. Also, I couldn't find shredded provolone cheese, so I bought a package that was sliced and layered it on. It worked great. For the roast beef, I used regular lunch meat that I shredded beforehand.

I made two pizzas with this recipe. I doubled all the ingredients, except the peppers, onions, and mushrooms. The size of the peppers and onion I used, I had plenty to split between two crusts. Super yummy!

Chicken Tamale Casserole

As you may have already figured out, I really like to cook casseroles. I found this recipe awhile back and finally got around to trying it. I tweaked a few things and it turned out fantastic! This one is a definite keeper. It was so easy and would be great to make when company is coming over. So delicious!


1 1/2 cups shredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 can cream-style corn
1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Jiffy)
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream


Preheat oven to 400°. Combine 1/2 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

Shredded Beef Tacos

I've been lagging on my posting lately. Please forgive me. I have been cooking, I promise. And while there have been no major cooking disasters, there haven't been any cooking triumphs, either. Nothing worthy enough of a blog post.
But here's one I really liked this week. Shredded Beef Tacos. Yummy. A lot of people like to make tacos or mexican night every week. It's an easy meal to make that each family member can tailor to their own tastes. Today's recipe is a nice twist on tacos. The same good stuff, but with a little jazz added to it!

3-4 lb. chuck roast
1 medium onion, sliced into rings
2 pkg. taco seasoning
1/4 c. of water
Flour Tortillas

Put the roast into a crock pot. Cover with onion rings, one package of taco seasoning, and water. Cook on low for 8 hours (or on high for four hours), or until tender. Shred beef with two forks and add remaining package of taco seasoning (I only used half the package). Stir together, add a little water if needed, and cover. Cook on high for another half hour, or so. I used this time to prep all my taco toppings.

For our toppings:
Shredded lettuce
Shredded cheddar cheese
Pico de Gallo (Wal Mart has some in the produce section that is super yummy)
1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
Sour Cream

These were super yummy and made taco night seem not quite so boring! Try this, you will not be disappointed!

Never underestimate the power of good equipment

I have been married for 12 years and have never owned a whole set of really good knives. I have a few pieces from Cutco and those have been really good to me. However, the few of those that I have are serrated. And when it comes to chopping certain veggies, trimming meat, and doing several other things, those type of knives just don't work, no matter how good they are! So, since I'm on a Wal-Mart budget, I went there and found a really nice chef's knife from Chicago Cutlery. I spent about $20 on it, but now that I have it, I don't know what I ever did without it! I've been flying through my chopping, cutting and prepping in half the normal amount of time it used to take me!
If you aren't a good cook, maybe you just need better tools.

Here are a few things I've thought of that every cook needs to have:

!. Cutting Board and Good Knives: If you can't get a whole set of knives, then start with the basics (i.e. paring knife, chef's knife, serrated bread knife, 6 inch chopping knife). Look for knives that are made from one piece of metal, they'll be sturdier and last longer.

2. Mixing Bowls: They're not just for mixing. You'll use these for a LOT of things. FInd a set that comes with three or four different sizes to nest inside each other.

3. Measuring Cups and Spoons: A 2 cup pyrex measuring cup is a must, along with a set of nesting cups (1 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/4 cup) and spoons (1 Tablespoon, 1 teaspoon, 1/2 teaspoon, 1/4 teaspoon).

4. A good set of pots and pans. These are worth the splurge, because they will last you a lifetime if you take good care of them.

5. Lastly, a timer! Don't assume you'll remember when to take it out. Especially if you have children. They suck every last brain cell out of your head and cause you to forget things you never thought you'd forget. Trust me.

Marinated Ranch Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 package ranch dressing mix
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil

Combine the dressing mix, vinegar, and olive oil in a large resealable plastic bag. Add chicken and toss to coat thoroughly. Marinate in refrigerator overnight, turning bag a few times. Remove chicken from bag and discard marinade. Broil on high (or grill it, if you prefer) for 10-15 minutes, or until no longer pink in the middle.

This chicken was SO moist and flavorful. A super easy recipe that you will not regret making!! I actually left in in the fridge for two nights, and it still turned out fantastic. This will be a new favorite with my family!

Amish Breakfast Casserole

1 pound sliced bacon, diced
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
6 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1-1/2 cups (12 ounces) 4% cottage cheese
1-1/4 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

In a large skillet, cook bacon and onion until bacon is crisp; drain. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; stir in bacon mixture. Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Super Yummy! A nice twist on a hash brown casserole for a breakfast or brunch. I actually made it for dinner one night and served it with a salad and some croissants.