Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps

I've had a few requests for this recipe.  Overall I thought it was very good, and Tony loved it.  Who knew??

I got the original recipe from Pioneer Woman's blog. 

Here's a little fun story to go with it.  I ran to the grocery store over lunch to pick up the ingredients.  I could not find tofu for the life of me.  As I'm checking out - please keep in mind that I choose my cashiers very carefully based on how speedy they look - I asked the guy if they carry it.  He calls another worker over to go grab it while he checks me out.  Here's how our convo went...

Cashier- 'why do you want tofu?  You look like a sensible gal.'

Me - I'm trying out a new recipe and I've never bought it before which I why I couldn't find it.

C - Well, it's not real food.

(I'm just staring at him)
C- anything with soy in it isn't real food. It's a form of birth control....

Me - (confused effing look on my face, then the lady brings it to me and I set it on the belt)

He goes on for about 10 minutes telling me about why it's bad, how it's made, where it's from. Meanwhile, the people in line behind me start leaving!! He would NOT shut up. Then he wrote a website down on my receipt so I could go online and read about it.  Yes sir, I'll get right on that.

C- well I hope your meal is good... if you come back sometime we can discuss it more.

Um, I can promise you the next time I go to Walmart, I'm using the self checkout....


If you are still interested in the recipe, here it is.  And don't go to the neighborhood market to buy your tofu.


Ingredients


2 teaspoons Peanut Or Olive Oil

1 package (about 12-14 Oz. Size) Firm Tofu

1 1/2 Cups Frozen Corn Kernels

1/4 teaspoon Chili Powder (more To Taste)

1/4 cup Soy Sauce

Red Pepper Flakes (I used a lot, it needed some heat!)

Romaine Lettuce Hearts

2 whole Avocados, Sliced

1 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Throw in the tofu, then break it up into very small pieces. Cook tofu for several minutes, until much of the liquid cooks off and tofu starts to turn golden.

Throw corn in with the tofu. Cook for a few minutes. 
Add chili powder and soy sauce, then cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Turn off heat and stir in balsamic if using.

Pile mixture into romaine hearts, then add slices of avocado. Fold up and chow down!

Roasted Cabbage

I made a new side dish last night.  Straight from Pinterest.  Well, I adapted it a little. 

I can tell you that I will be making it a lot.  It was super easy and my husband loved it.  Win-Win. 

Here's the recipe:
1 head of cabbage - cut into wedges (big or small)
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
S + P
Balsalmic Vinegar (optional)

Preheat oven to 400.  Drizzle olive oil on rimmed baking sheet, arrange wedges, drizzle wedges with a little more olive oil and lemon juice.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake for about 40 minutes. 
After they were done, I drizzled balsalmic vinegar over them b/c I love it.  I bet if I would have reduced it, it would have been even better. 

Yum!!!  Tony said he didn't know cabbage could taste that good.  I'm not sure he's ever had cabbage, but it exceeded his expectations which is a plus.  I fed him tofu lettuce wraps last week, and he liked those too.  It's fun changing his mind about certain foods... we're still working on mushrooms. 

Blueberry Heaven

I was craving something sweet last night and decided to make a dessert.  It was amazingly easy and amazingly wonderful. 
Make it tonight.  Or tomorrow.  Or this weekend.

Blueberry pie filling (21 oz. can) - you could use whatever flavor you want I'm sure

Yellow cake mix (9.oz)
Chopped Pecans (1/4 cup)
Melted Butter (1/4 cup)

Ice Cream

Put pie filling in crock, sprinkle with cake mix, pecans, and drizzle with butter. I also sprinkled on some oats that added a little texture.  Cook for 3 hours on high or until top is brown and cooked. Serve with ice cream.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Chipolte Chicken Salad

I sort of forgot about this recipe.  I'm not sure how, since Tony requests it every other week, but I finally made it last night. 

It reminds me of the chicken tortilla salad at Applebees that I used to order.  Speaking of, I haven't been to Applebees in like 5 years.  It was one of the only 'nice' restaurants in Great Bend.  Yes, Great Bend has an Applebees.  I think I got burnt out and after moving to the big city, there's just so many other options.  And speaking of Big City, I received this picture message from Meghan in Bartlesville, Oklahoma this morning...

Back to the point of this post.  Please make this salad soon.  It's super easy and super good.  You can omit the chicken and it's still super good.  I gave all my chicken to Tony.  He loves me. 

And please serve it in a tortilla bowl.  It's like heaven.  I couldn't find tortilla bowls at Price Chopper last night (actually I couldn't find anything at Price Chopper last night - confirmed my love for HyVee), so we just ate it with tortilla chips, but it wasn't quite the same.

Tip: I normally find the tortilla bowls in the refrigerated section, by the parm cheese, summer sausage, and classen pickles.  The brand is Azteca and they're in a cardboard box- you just bake them on the provided cutouts and they form to shape.

Ingredients

Dressing:
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2/3 cup light sour cream
1 tablespoon minced chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce (I never know what this is, so I just use chopped green chilies found in the mexican isle, but Emily says the adobo sauce is fab in this!)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
4 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Salad:
4 cups shredded romaine lettuce - I threw in a whole bag
2 cups chopped or grilled boneless chicken breasts (about 2 breasts)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup diced peeled avocado - I always add more avacado to anything
1/3 cup thinly vertically sliced red onion
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (8 3/4-ounce) can no-salt-added whole-kernel corn, rinsed and drained

Preparation
To prepare dressing, combine first 7 ingredients, stirring well.
To prepare salad, combine lettuce and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle dressing over salad; toss gently to coat. Serve immediately.

Tip: Add a spoonful of adobo sauce for a spicier salad.  Kidney or pinto beans also taste great in this dish.

Post to come on Gina's wedding.  I've got to combine the pictures!

Sneak Peek of Vegas & a Failure Bake Job

I'm still waiting on my friends to send me their pictures from Vegas so I can do an awesome post... until then, here's a sneak peak.

Here's the bachelorette in all her glory, walking down the Las Vegas strip, shoeless, and carrying a pillow case of beer she named 'Carlos'.  

It gets better folks.

On another note... yesterday I was craving something sweet all freaking day long.  Last night I decided to make Pioneer Woman's Pineapple Upside Down Biscuits. 

Here's how hers looked:

And here's how mine turned out...

Almost the same right?  I baked them and flipped them upside down onto a plate like I thought she told me to.  Apparently, I didn't do it right.  I believe the gooey pineapple topping is supposed to be facing upward.  Never-the-less, they tasted wonderful!  Even though I had to eat them off the platter.  With a spoon. 
I guess this solidifies why I don't bake often.  I think I'll stick with the main courses.

Garden Veggie Linguine with Cilantro Pesto

I tried out a new recipe last night that I need to share.  I adapted it from Better Homes and Gardens.  I adapted it because I thought I had everything I needed...and then I didn't.  But I did get to use my cilantro monstrosity that is growing on my deck.  Don't let the cilantro freak you out... I don't normally love cilantro, but it made this dish!

It was so light and fresh and I will be making this again in the near future.  The red pepper flakes give it an awesome kick!  Here's the grediants:

8-10 oz. dry linguine or fettuccine (I used fettuccine)
Small zucchini- sliced
Small bunch of asparagus - chopped to about 1 inch pieces
1/4-1/2 lb. cooked shrimp (optional)
1/3 of a lemon
1/2 c. olive oil
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. minced or dried garlic - I threw in a little more
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. crushed red pepper

Cook pasta according to the directions on the box, add the zucch and asparagus in the last 5 minutes.  Add shrimp (if using) in the last minute.  Drain, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water. 
For pesto, cut the 1/3-1/2 of lemon into small pieces (I kept some of the peel on).  In a processor, combine lemon, olive oil, cilantro, pasta water, salt, mustard, garlic, and red pepper.  I added some pepper too.
Toss all together and top with more cilantro if you'd like!  Serves about 4. 

The original recipe called for carrots and an orange instead of asparagus and a lemon, but that's all I had on hand.  It also didn't use shrimp, but I had some I needed to use. 

It only took about 25 minutes to throw it all together.  Enjoy!

Got Crabs?

The title might not make sense to you now, but hold your horses.

Yesterday was Administrative Professional's Day in case anyone didn't get the memo.  Every year my boss takes me and our receptionist out for a nice lunch to somewhere new that we haven't been.  This year we went to Avenues Bistro.  The new branch in Leawood at Mission Farms.  I guess there's one in Brookside, but I've never been.  I've had a little bone to pick with Avenues b/c they came in and replaced my beloved Zest.  However, after seeing their menu, I totally forgive them.  It is an AMAZING menu.  I told Tony that I need to go back at least 6 more times to try other things. 

I had kind of a hard time deciding what I should get, but a crabcake sandwich was listed and it made up my mind for me.  I would hand over my first born child for a good crabcake.  Well, probably not, but I like them a lot.  There was also a Crab & Avacado BLT that caught my eye.  Let me tell you something, that crab cake sandwich was heaven.  It was huge, but I probably could have eaten 2.  I also ordered a side salad with creamy balsamic vinegerette.  Glorious.  The Crab, Shrimp, Lobster salad with avacado and the BBQ Salmon Salad also got rave reviews.  I will defienitly be coming back to this place.  Give it a try!

Now for the second part of this post.  Last night I made crab cakes for dinner.  Yes, I already had it planned when I ordered one for lunch.  I just made the executive decision that I would eat the same thing for lunch and dinner.  Normal, right?  The thought did cross my mind that my crab cakes would probably not compare to the one I ate at lunch, but actually they turned out really good too! 

Soooo, here's the recipe.  Easy peasy!

2 cans of crab
1/2 - 3/4 cup of panko bread crumbs
1 egg - beaten
1/3 c. fresh parsley
2 Tbsp. garlic mayo (I've used regular before)
1/2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. stone ground mustard (optional)
S&P

Mix all together and make 4 small patties or 2 large patties.  Sprinkle onion powder and cayenne pepper on the top if you can handle the heat.  Refigerate for a little bit so the patties stick together.  Broil for 7-8 minutes per side until browned and firm.  Larger patties may take longer.
Serve plain or on a bun with lettuce, red onion, avacado and tarter sauce.  With a lemon for squeezing.

Snarf

Taco Soup

Hi, it's cold here in Kansas.  Still.  Weather guy says it's supposed to snow AGAIN today, but Friday should be 70 and sunny.  Sounds about right. 

While it's cold and yucky out today, I thought I'd share another soup recipe that will warm your tushes. 

Taco Soup
2 lb hamburger
1 onion, chopped
1 (46 oz) can tomato juice
1 tsp cumin
2 cans chili beans
1 pkg taco seasoning - more to taste
2 cups frozen corn
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (I usually leave this out)

Garnishes: Taco chips, sour cream, grated cheese, chopped olives, picante sauce, chopped onions

Brown hamburger and onion; drain. Stir in tomato juice, cumin, chili beans, taco seasoning, frozen corn and clilantro; simmer at medium heat for 20 minutes. Top with your choice of garnishes!

It's sort of like chili, but mexican.  Really really easy to throw together and it doesn't have a lot of ingrediants.  I've also made it in a crockpot, just cook it on low all day while your at work.  Wonderful as leftovers too!

Puppy & People Muffins

So Marg has had a rough week.  This weekend her ears seemed like they were bothering her, so on Sunday Tony cleaned them out with this solution we got for free from Petsmart in October to do a trial/report on.  We didn't really follow through do it at all which turns out is probably the reason for this whole situation.  Well, she hates this solution stuff and was still shaking her head after Sunday's cleaning, so Monday when Tony dropped her off at daycare he asked them to clean her ears out.  I picked her up and they didn't charge me for the ear cleaning.  Tony and I looked in her ears and they still looked waxy (sick), so we figured they didn't do it.  So Tuesday morning I took her to the vet.  They called me to report that Margo has an ear infection in one of her ears*.  They need to do a deep clean and give her medicated ear drops.  Great, just please fix my suffering dog.  I was super sad at this point thinking that we should have taken her in a lot earlier.  Then I was checking my banking online and noticed that Puppy's Playpen charged me twice for Monday's daycare, so I called them and was told one charge was for her ear cleaning.  Oh my.  Poor Marg got her ears cleaned Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  Needless to say that she sprints in the other direction when she catches a glimpse of me with the drops.  I don't blame her. 

I was feeling really sorry for her (probably b/c she has the sadest permanent facial expression ever), so I broke out some of my Rachel Ray magazines and was on a mission.  I heart RR's mags b/c they all include a fun recipe that is safe for your pet to eat too.  And since we find no problem in feeding our fur baby lots of things we probably shouldn't because I have a problem with discipline**, I wanted to make her something.  Ya know, something with love.  So I decided on Peanut Butter Banana Muffins.  Mainly because I had everything in my kitchen already. 

Here's the recipe:
2 bananas  - mashed with a fork
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp. honey
3 cups water
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg

Mix bananas, peanut butter, honey, and egg together.  Stir in water and mix until smooth.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.  Mix all together.  Pour in muffin pans and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until done. 




Mini muffins for Marg, big muffins for people



Consensis:  Dog likes the muffins.  Husband was not impressed.  Let's just say I didn't take the leftovers to share at work.  They were pretty bland, but not inedible.  I've had a couple of them, just because this recipe makes like a hundred.  No regrets though, anything for this puppy face. 

*Tony was on his way to put drops in her ear and said, 'I don't remember which ear it is!!'  I replied with 'her brown one.'  He looked at me like I was a genious.  No right and left for this girl, I'm totally color coded.

**Seriously, my kids are going to be so fat. Anytime I try to sooth Margo, I give her food. I may have brought her a McD's cheeseburger when I picked her up from the vet...

Crock Pot Potato Soup

Weather.com lied to me this week with talks of storms, rain, and tornado warnings (well, they might have been close with that one).  I have been wanting to make this recipe I came across in Taste of Home...crock pot potato soup.  What better way to get over an annoyingly rainy day than to come home to potato soup??  Fail.  It was gorgeous yesterday.  Hot and sunny.  After tasting the soup though, I didn't regret it one bit.  It was delish.  I'm a sucker for potato soup and this easy peasy recipe, compared to Panera... in my opinion (and my husbands).  Thick and cheesy.  Yum. 

Here it is:

1 bag (32 oz) frozen southern-style diced hash brown potatoes, thawed - (mine were frozen b/c I forgot to take them out of the freezer...)

1 cup frozen chopped onion (from 12-oz bag), thawed (see frozen potato comment)

1 medium stalk celery, diced (1/2 cup)

1 carton (32-oz) Progresso® chicken broth

1 cup water

S&P to taste

3 tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 bag (8 oz) shredded American-Cheddar cheese blend - I used a ColbyJack blend

1/4 cup real bacon pieces (from 2.8-oz package) - optional for topping

4 medium green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)  - optional for topping

In 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix potatoes, onion, celery, broth and water. Add salt and pepper to taste. I added a lot. It's my thing.

Cover; cook on Low heat setting 6 to 8 hours.  Add more S&P if you wish.  I did.

In small bowl, mix flour into milk; stir into potato mixture. Increase heat setting to High. Cover; cook 20 to 30 minutes or until mixture thickens. Stir in cheese until melted. Garnish individual servings with bacon and green onions. Sprinkle with pepper if desired.

Serve in a bread bowl if you wish

With a salad and some vino

So next time it gets cold out, which I hear might be this weekend (wtf!), or if you're like me - on any nice and sunny day, whip this up.  You won't regret it. 

Oh and it makes enough for leftovers... one batch is probably enough for 6 people.  I'm totally guessing on that by the way, but that's what I'm thinking.

Queserdillers

Here's a little somethin' somethin' I had for lunch most of last week. 

I made them for lunch for 2 reasons:

1. I was tired of salads and grilled cheesies.

2. They contain mushrooms and spinach and Tony would not have touched them with a 10 ft. pole.  

You start out with some white wine...

Keep in mind this was at lunch.  Dangerous territory opening a bottle of wine at lunch.  I resisted the urge to pour myself a glass and instead poured some into the pan to saute the shrooms.

Remove shrooms and add spinach leaves.  Cook until wilted (about 1-2 minutes)

Layer the wheat tortilla with cheese, shrooms, and spinach.  I used Munster and Provolone cheese (i heart cheese), but I'm sure you could use any kind.  I think Gina used mozz. 

Cook in a queserdiller maker and DIG IN!!

Yum Yum YUM!!!

P.S. I also added some red onion to it b/c I had some staring at me in the fridge.

Black Bean Burgs

Here's another no meat recipe that I made on Tuesday.  They were tasty!  I'm not going to lie and say they were better than a good ol' juicy hamburger, but if you are looking for something different, give them a try!! 

Tony thought they were 'good' which totally means 'they are okay and I will eat them to make you happy.  I want a real burger'. 

Grediants

 Saute onion, celery, and garlic

 Mash up the beans.  This made my arm sore.  Wuss. 

 Throw all ingrediants together and mix 'em up

 Make into 4 even patties.  Notice my patties are not even.  I suck at making patties.  I even tried Rachel Ray's method of patting down everything in the bottom of the bowl and then drawing an x with my hands so each would be the same size.  It clearly didn't work. 

Bake the evenly sized patties for 10 min. on each side

 Then jazz them up with whatever you like!

Cheese (duh), spinach, tomato, onion and chipotle mayo

 Tony wanted me to take a picture of his b/c he thought it was prettier.  He opted to go the spicy mustard route.

Black Bean Burgers

1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 onion - chopped
1 stalk celery - chopped
1 clove garlic - chopped (I would use more next time)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1 Tbsp cumin

Saute onion, celery, and garlic until tender.  Mash beans into paste.  Add everything to bowl, mix, make even patties.  Or if you like to live on the wild side, make them all different sizes.

Bake @ 325 for 10 minutes, flip burgs, and bake for 10 minutes again or until firm.




P.S.   I really want an effing taco.  Day 25.  Almost there.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna - Say What??

As I've said, eating vegetarian this month has made me branch out and try new things that I probably wouldn't have before.  I mean, I'm a pretty adventurous eater, but not really an adventurous cooker.  So when I got an email with a list of recipes (thanks Emily!) and one said Spaghetti Squash Lasagna, I was intrigued to say the least.

Here are the ingrediants...please ignore that can of tomato sauce in there.  It's a good thing I looked at the recipe again before I dumped that sucker in, but of coarse not before I opened it.  I guess I bought it for another meal down the road.

Think I like HyVee brand much? 

Here's the crazy squash...

I went to the store and found the Spaghetti Squash with no problems, so I thought this was going to be super simple... until I cut it open. 

What the?? I was soooo confused.  It looked like a pumpkin on the inside.  The directions said to 'seed' it.  I know how to seed a pumpkin, you scrape all of that stuff out, but I thought maybe those strands were the 'spaghetti' part of the squash.  I literally stared at this thing for a good 3 minutes before I decided to just pick the seeds out and leave the strands.

Then you bake it for awhile like this...

Meanwhile, saute some onion and garlic...

And add the tomatoes, basil, and the vegtable boulion cube.  I also added some red pepper flakes to kick it up a notch.  Cook for about 15 minutes and let the sauce thicken. 

Here's when I removed the squash from the oven and noticed that I should have gone with my first instinct and scraped out the strings, because THIS is where the 'spaghetti' comes from...after a few curse words, I decided that I could still remove the strands so I calmed down.

Shred it up with a fork leaving the shell

Spoon some of the tomato mixture into the shells

Top it with squash spaghetti

 Top with chopped olives if you roll that way.  Tony doesn't so I left them out of his.  Hey, I'm lucky he's eating tomatoes. And for that matter, squash.

Then top with mozz cheese and repeat layers until full or until you run out of ingrediants.  Bake for 20 more minutes until cheese melts.  Mine filled up fast so I had leftover tomato sauce.  I ate it straight from the pan, that's how good it was.

I also had leftover squash and I tried to feed it to Marg.

 She looked at me like I was crazy.

Dogs hate squash

Here's what the final product looked like.

Consensus on the meal??  I'll let Tony's plate do the talking.

Talk about a happy plate!

We were both very impressed!!  I will for sure make it again.  Especially now that I know what in the hell I'm doing.  I thought it had a ton of flavor.  Tony said 'It tastes just like spaghetti', so I encorage you to try this sometime. 

Here's the recipe:
Ingredients


1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded (please refer to my mistake above when 'seeding')
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 (14 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried basil or Italian seasoning
1 cube vegetable bouillon
black pepper to taste
red pepper flakes if you can handle it
1 (5 ounce) can black olives, chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (I didn't use parm, Tony would have ran the other way)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Spray a baking sheet with a thin layer of cooking spray. Place squash halves cut side down on the baking sheet. Make sure you 'seed' them first.

Bake squash 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife can be easily inserted. Remove from oven, and cool.

Meanwhile, spray a non-stick saucepan with cooking spray. Over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic until golden brown. Stir in tomatoes, basil, bouillon cube, and black pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until you have a medium thick sauce.

Shred and remove squash strands with a fork, reserving the shells. Layer each half with a spoonful of the sauce, a layer of spaghetti squash strands, olives, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers until shells are full, or until all of the ingredients are used. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese melts.

Then listen to your husband rave about how good it is.  And then 3 hrs. later tell you again how much he liked it. 




On the menu for tonight?  Black Bean Burgers, I'll report back.

Soup Soup A Loop

Sing it to the toon of Shoop please...

I love love love making soups.  From tortilla soup to chili and anything in between.  Love love love!  Probably b/c soup is hard to mess up and normally you can put it in a crock pot all day long. 

Last weekend some of my girlfriends came into town.  Frank Martin KSU was on at 12:30, so I invited everyone over to cheer on the cats.  Being that it was lunch time, I needed to provide something for our tums...
What's more perfect on a cold winter day than Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese??  Nothing. 

Gina has recently gotten me hooked on The Pioneer Woman's blog.  (I'm going to see how many links I can get in this post).  Her recipe's are pretty amazing and she spells out every single step with pictures.  Right up my alley.  I love pictures.

Back to the soup.  PW posted a Sherried Tomato Soup recipe on her blog, and that sounded about perfect.  My friends totally deserve homemade soup over Campbell's.  Spoiled bias.

Here's the recipe-
Ingredients:
6 Tablespoons Melted Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
1 bottle (46 Oz.) Tomato Juice
2 cans (14 Oz. Cans) Diced Tomatoes
1 Tablespoon (up To 3 Tablespoons) Chicken Base
3 Tablespoons (up To 6 Tablespoons) Sugar
1 pinch Salt
Black Pepper To Taste
1 cup Cooking Sherry
1-½ cup Heavy Cream
Chopped Fresh Parsley - I used a little less than a cup.
Chopped Fresh Basil - I used dry basil, about a tsp maybe?

Preparation Instructions

Sauté diced onions in butter until translucent. Then add canned tomatoes, tomato juice, chicken base, sugar, pinch of salt, black pepper and stir. Bring to a near boil, then turn off heat. Add in sherry and cream and stir. Add in parsley and basil to taste.

Omheavens, this was so so good!  And it only took about 20 minutes.  It was close to a tomato bisque.  I should probably admit that I couldn't find 'chicken base' or 'cooking sherry' at Walmart or HyVee and contemplated that maybe Campbell's was the way to go.  Is cooking Sherry like Brandy?  I saw that, but the thought of everyone getting hammered off of my tomato soup popped into my mind, and while that would be hilarious, I decided just to leave it out.  Good decision.  I didn't think the soup needed anything else.  Note:  It made a lot.  If you aren't serving it to 8 people you might want to cut it in half.  However, I had a cup yesterday for leftovers and it tasted just a good. 

Served with provolone, pepper jack, and chedder grilled cheesies on Italian bread!  DeLish! 

Do yourself a favor and try this!

Banana Pepper Roast

Ready for the easiest recipe ever??  Easy and SO good.
Tony's cousin Kim made it for us at Grand Lake this summer.  Threw it in a crockpot in the morning and it was ready when we got back from drinking  boating all day*. 

1 lb roast
1 jar banana peppers (with liquid)
1 pack of italian dresing (dry mix)
1 can beer
Put everything in crock pot 6 hours on low. Shred meat in liquid and serve on toasted hoagies with provolone cheese.


* I have since made this recipe and it's just as good as I remembered even while slightly pretty impaired. 

Seriously, try it.  I love crockpot recipes that you can come home from work to a dinner waiting for you!  This is also good for a crowd of people watching a game.  A good alternative to the chili I usually make.  However, if your feeding a crowd, you might need more than 1 lb. roast.  Obv.

Call me Betty

I had Christmas Eve off work and I chose to spend it cooking!  All day.  We had a few different Christmas dinners to attend and I had offered to bring things. 

First up?  Chex Mix.  I recently came across the best chex recipe ever!  Don't you worry, I will share.  Since Tony is a chexaholic, I decided to try and make it myself instead of buying the huge bags at the store.  It was just as easy as the reviews said, which made me happy.  Sometimes I think people's 'easy' isn't the same definition as mine.



Grediants..

 Here's whatcha need for Spicy Nut Chex Mix:
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
¼ cup butter or margarine
2 cups Corn Chex® cereal
2 cups Rice Chex® cereal
2 cups Wheat Chex® cereal (I overfill this one b/c they are my fav)
1 can (11.5 oz) mixed nuts  (or I've subsituted 2 cups of pretzels and it was just as good...and cheaper)


DIRECTIONS
In small bowl, mix sugar, chili powder and red pepper; set aside.

In large microwavable bowl, microwave butter uncovered on High about 40 seconds or until melted. Stir in cereals and nuts until evenly coated. Stir in sugar mixture until evenly coated.

Microwave uncovered on High 5 to 6 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes, until mixture just begins to turn brown. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container.

And there you have it!  Yum.

Scrumpsh

 Next up?  Sausage Cheese Balls (that's what she said).  I hadn't planned on making these, but I got an email from Pillsbury informing me that they were the #1 favorite appetizer.  So of coarse, I had to make them if they are 'the best'. 

Mix up everything and roll into balls...

saus & cheese balls

 Eh, they were alright.  See how nice and round the before shot was?? When I baked them, they all flattened out like mini biscuits.  They were ugly, but tasted okay.  Nobody likes ugly food... we had leftovers.  No after shot, as they took way longer to cook than expected and we were running out of the door as I was scraping them onto the serving platter.  Not worth posting the recipe, but if you want it you can go here. 


Now for the green bean casserole.  I am always in charge of the greenie casserole for Tony's side Christmas dinner.  I have made it the same for 3 years, so this year I decided to switch it up.  Bad idea.  I'm still mad at myself.  I tried a variation with cheese and stuffing for the top instead of the french fried onions.  Blah.  Not even linking the recipe.

Dumb Decision Dish

However, it looked nicer than the sausage balls

 Pineapple Pecan Cheeseball.  Always a hit!  This makes enough for 2 cheeseballs.  Great, I thought!  One for Christmas lunch and one for Christmas dinner with Tony's fam.  I forgot the one for our lunch.  I ate most of it for a snack Sunday night...

Mix together and refrigerate overnight



Great dippers!

Saved the best to share for last.  You are going to want this recipe.  I got it from Sarah (thanks Sarah!) and everytime I make it people want the recipe.  It requires a few steps, but the end product is SO worth it!

BEST Bruschetta Ever!


Cut french bread into thin slices and broil briefly until browned.

Prepare Wind Willow Tuscan Olive cheeseball mix by mixing with 1 block cream cheese.  (I find this mix at Ranchmart ACE hardware - random I know.  Some other specialty stores might carry it too)

Cut cherry tomatoes (about 2 boxes) into small pieces and marinate in zesty Italian dressing for 15 - 45 minutes. You can also chop some fresh basil and mix with the tomatoes. I usually add dry basil to the marinade, but I bet fresh basil would be awesome!

Spread cheeseball mix on the slices and top with tomatoes.

It makes about 50 smaller pieces of bruschetta.  If you get wider bread you can make bigger pieces if you don't need as many.  Enjoy!
I didn't take an after picture...I was finishing assembling these beauties at the same time I was getting pissed at the sausage balls.  You'll just have to trust me that they looked pretty.


Sooo overall I fared 3 out of 5, but I got to wear my pretty apron that Valerie got me last year.  Next year I'll be better.  Maybe try a pie or something... woah, let's not get too crazy...