Coffee Punch

I LOVE this punch! It tastes like a frozen cappuccino!


Ingredients
4 cups brewed vanilla-flavored coffee, cooled
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened
Ground cinnamon(maybe start with 1 tsp. and add more if you like)

Directions:
In a large container, combine the coffee, milk and sugar; stir until sugar is dissolved. Spoon ice cream into a punch bowl; pour coffee mixture over the top. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Serve immediately. Yield: 2-1/2 quarts.

Enjoy!!!

Buttermilk Pie

Wow!!! Can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted over here! So, this is something that I found off of another blog and thought sounded delicious, so I made it! It is SO good y'all! This is a southern thing too, so even better!

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/16 teaspoon salt

one unbaked pie shell

Directions:

Beat eggs, sugar, buttermilk, butter, vanilla and salt in a mixing bowl until smooth.
Pour into pie shell. (Cover edge until last 10 mins or so)

Bake in 350 degree oven for 40-45 mins or until light brown. (Mine had to go a little bit longer and remember, once it cools it firms up, so it's okay if it's a little jiggly!) Also, we think it's best served chilled with some whipped cream!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Dip

I made this for playgroup tomorrow and I might have to make another batch! Me and Josh have been eating it with apple slices and it is SOOO good!!!

Ingredients:

1 (15oz.) can pumpkin puree
8 oz. block of cream cheese
2 (7oz.) containers of marshmellow creme
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Soften the cream cheese and then combine all the ingredients in a mixer and mix until combined! Serve with apple slices, gingersnaps, or graham cracker sticks. It's so good you might end up eating it with a spoon!



Enjoy!!!

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup

Easy, delicious, and only 250 calories per serving. I'm not even kidding.




Ingredients:
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn
1 can green chiles
1 can of chicken broth
1 packet of taco seasoning mix
1 lb. chicken
1 cup sour cream
shredded cheese (for serving)
tortilla chips

Oh and you could also add black beans or olives! Beans give Josh TERRIBLE heartburn so we like to steer clear of that.

Directions:

Boil your chicken till it's done. Shred and set aside. Pour everything from tomatoes to seasoning mix in your crockpot. Add the chicken. Cook on low for 2-3 hours. Stir in sour cream right before serving. Garnish with cheese and chips!




Enjoy!!!

Beef Enchiladas

I've been on an enchilada kick lately, so we have this once a week. It's so good and easy! Oh and you could also substitute chicken for the beef!

Ingredients:
flour tortillas(I used 6 of the smaller sized ones)
1 lb. of ground beef (I actually used venison last night, because we have a whole freezer full of it!)
1 4oz. can of diced green chiles
1 10oz. can of enchilada sauce
1/4 cup of sour cream
packet of taco seasoning
lots of shredded cheddar

Directions:
Brown your ground beef with the green chiles. Drain. Put a few Tbsp. of enchilada sauce in the bottom of your square pan. Mix the sour cream with the rest of the enchilada sauce in a saucepan over medium low heat. (Or microwave it, you just want it to be hot.) Take a tortilla, put a couple of spoonfuls of the meat mixture in and sprinkle some cheese over the top. Roll up and place seam side down in the pan. I usually have some ground beef left over so I just pour that over the top of the enchiladas, then I pour the sauce, and then I top with about a cup of shredded cheddar. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 375!

Enjoy!!!

Sausage Bake

This is my go to 30 minute meal, my go to company's coming dinner, and a meal that just says fall to me. It's so easy and so good! Try it!

Ingredients:
1 lb. smoked sausage
1 red pepper
1/2 onion
2 medium yellow squash
salt
pepper
olive oil

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375. Cut the sausage and veggies into chunks and toss them in the olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Enjoy!!!!

Chicken Stir Fry

I started making this after I had chicken fried rice at Pei Wei. It's so good, so simple, and probably best of all this version is very healthy! Shocking I know!

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked rice
1 red bell pepper (diced)
1 1/2 cups of cooked diced chicken
1 head of broccoli (chopped)
1/2 bag of shredded cabbage and carrots
soy sauce
sesame oil
garlic powder

Optional:
onion-I have been really squeamish over onions lately so I left this out.
egg-just crack an egg into the mix about halfway through cooking, I just forgot about this one!
mushrooms
baby corn
water chestnuts
fresh garlic (just didn't feel like chopping tonight!)

Directions:
I do a combo of half olive oil, half sesame oil because the sesame oil has a really strong flavor. Use about a Tablespoon of each and heat your pan over medium high heat. Throw in your broccoli, red pepper and if you want to add any of the other options, now is the time to throw it in.

Let that cook for about 5 minutes, then throw in your cabbage mix. The cabbage will start to brown and get really soft after a few minutes. Toss in your chicken and this is where I sprinkled a little bit of the garlic powder in. Let that go for another couple of minutes, shake a couple of dashes of soy sauce in and stir. I honestly don't know how much soy sauce I added. Taste as you go!

When your mix looks like this...


Stir in your rice, add soy sauce to taste and your done!!!

Enjoy!!!

Brownie Pillow Cookies

These are SO good and SO easy!!!

Ingredients:

box of brownie mix-bake as normal, in an 8x8 pan.
tube of chocolate chip cookie mix.

Bake and cool your brownies, then cut them into 1 inch squares. Preheat your oven to 350. Take 1/2 cup of cookie dough, make an indentation in the middle and smoosh a brownie square in the middle. Form the cookie dough around the brownie to form a ball. Mine only made 6 cookies, but they are huge! Bake for 13 minutes, or until they start to brown up around the edges.

Enjoy!!!

Croque Monsieur

I made these for dinner tonight and oh my word, these are seriously delicious. I used gruyere because we had some in the fridge, but you could use any type of swiss.

Ingredients:

sliced Italian style bread
shredded gruyere
sliced ham
honey mustard
butter
eggs

Directions:
Assemble your sandwich: put a dab of honey mustard on each piece of bread, layer the ham and the cheese.

melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a saute pan and get it to where it's starting to bubble up a little. Crack an egg in the pan and then put your sandwich down on top of the egg. Flip after two minutes and then remove when cheese is melted.

Enjoy!!!

Amazing slow cooker chicken

This might not look too spectacular, but trust me this was some of the best chicken and sauce we have had! And it's super easy to make and only takes four ingredients! Can't beat that!

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts (I used frozen)
1 block of cream cheese
1/2 stick butter
1 pkg. Italian dressing seasoning mix

Toss all of that in a slow cooker and put it on low for four-five hours. We served it over rice, because it makes the most amazing sauce.

Enjoy!

Taters Precious!

These potatoes are a spin off of Pioneer Woman's fluffy new potatoes. I just changed it up a bit.

Ingredients:

10 red potatoes
3/4 tub of cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 stick of butter
salt
pepper
1/3 cup mozzarella

Directions:
Boil or bake your potatoes till they are almost cooked. I did both, I boiled them for about 15 minutes (mine were HUGE) and then baked them in the oven for 10 minutes. I then sliced them in half and scooped out most of the filling. You have to be careful here, because you want to leave a little bit of potato in the skin so it can hold the mashed potato mixture.
I melted the butter and cream cheese together, and then added the sour cream and salt and pepper. I mashed the insides of the potatoes with about half, maybe a little more of the butter and cream cheese mix.
Put the potato mixture back into the skins and then I spooned a little more of the cream cheese/butter/sour cream mix onto the potatoes. Then I topped it with a little mozzarella.
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is a little golden.

I got several comments saying these were the best potatoes EVER!!!

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Chicken that doesn't have a name...yet

Ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I put mine in frozen.)
1 can of golden mushroom soup
1 pkg. of Italian dressing mix
1 green bell pepper
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Put the chicken in your slow cooker. Put the soup through chicken stock over the chicken. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. You have to watch it because the chicken can easily overcook! When it's done, stir in the heavy cream. Serve over rice!

Enjoy!

Taco Ring

This is so good! It's also very easy to make which makes it VERY good!

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 can diced green chiles
3/4 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can crescent rolls

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Brown your meat with the green chiles. Stir in the taco seasoning.

3. Drain the grease and then stir in your cheese and sour cream.

4. Unroll crescent rolls and separate. Arrange triangles in a circle on a greased baking sheet with wide ends overlapping in center and points toward the outside. There should be about a 5 inch diameter in the center.
Scoop meat mixture evenly onto widest ends of dough at center of ring. Bring points in and over and tuck underneath the wide end.

5. Sprinkle a little more cheese on top.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Enjoy!!!

Green Chile Bacon Mac and Cheese

I made this over the weekend using things in the pantry and fridge. You could definitely adjust this to whatever cheeses and meats you have.
Again, there was no measuring, so I'm trying to estimate how much I used.
Start by boiling 4 cups of elbow macaroni until al dente.

Then you basically, you make a roux out of the flour and butter.
Ingredients:
5 Tbsp. flour
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cup milk

Melt the butter in a saucepan and then add your flour. Whisk till all the lumps are gone. Keep whisking until the flour/butter mixture starts to get some color to it. Then, add your milk! Start with 1 cup, then add more if necessary. You want it to be a sauce like consistency, but not too thick because you still have to add your cheeses. That is your basis for any sauce you want to do. After you make that, you can add your cheeses and whatever else you want.

I added:
1 cup mexican four cheese blend (shredded)
1 cup grated parmesan
1 can of diced green chiles (drained)
1 bag of Hormel bacon bits
2 Tbsp. cream cheese

Just add all of these into your sauce and stir until melted. Drain your pasta and stir in the sauce. Pour into a greased casserole dish. Top with more shredded cheese.

I made a cracker crumb topping using club crackers.
Just melt a stick of butter and crush up half a package of club crackers (ritz would be good also!) and mix together then sprinkle over your mac and cheese.

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

Hope you enjoy! I'm going to try to start writing down how much I use of things, because it's really hard to think back how much I used.

Spinach Artichoke Dip Lasagna

Okay so I'm going to attempt to re-create the lasagna I threw together the other night!

First, I boiled a package of lasagna in lightly salted water. While that was cooking I made my fillings.
The first filling was the ricotta mixture.
-15oz. container of ricotta
-1 egg
-1 Tbsp. oregano
-1 Tbsp. dried basil
-1 tsp. rosemary
-1 tsp. thyme
-1 tsp. garlic powder
-1 tsp. black pepper
-1/3 cup grated Parmesan
Mix together and set aside.

The next filling was the spinach artichoke dip.
-1 jar of alfredo sauce
-1/2 8oz. package of frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
-15 oz. can of artichoke hearts (drained and chopped)
-8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
-2 Tbsp. sour cream
-1/3 cup grated Parmesan
-1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

I also had two cooked chicken breasts that I had chopped.

So....to assemble!

In your pan, lay down four lasagna noodles. Put half of your ricotta mixture on top of the noodles, then scatter half of the chicken over that. Then put half of the spinach dip over the chicken. Now for the good part, layer sliced provolone over the artichoke dip! Repeat.

Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 40 minutes. Take foil off and bake another 10 minutes or until cheese is a little browned. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

Southwestern Grilled Skirt Steak

Josh made this steak last weekend for our fajitas and it was probably one of the top five steaks I've ever had. It was so flavorful and juicy. Sooo good! It has a smoky southwestern kick, but it's not spicy at all. You could also use flank steak, but I think the skirt steak has more marbling (more fat) and that's another reason I prefer it, more flavor!

First, you make the marinade!
1/4 cup of vegetable oil (I used EVOO because I was out)
juice of one lime
*1 bunch of cilantro
*1 serrano or jalapeno pepper
*I put these two in the food processor together
1 1/2 Tbsp. of ancho chile powder

Whisk all together and then pour over your skirt steak and make sure all of the steak is covered.


We only marinate the steak for an hour since the lime juice in the marinade can start to "cook" the steak because of the acidity.
Okay so preheat your grill to medium high heat and toss the steaks on for three minutes per side for medium rare. The good thing about these steaks though is if you want more of a medium well you can just heat your grill higher on one side.

We made fajitas out of these and they were SOOOO good.

Hope you enjoy!!!!