Tamale Casserole

Hi there Friends! Sorry it's been so long since my last post. Life have been throwing my a few curve balls lately. Most of them good, but, I am glad to be back. Here is a recipe by Tracy, from The Kitchen is my Playground. For this recipe you will need to go to the source this time. But not to worry just click the link here and have fun!

This recipe is delicious and great for feeding a crowd. We had leftovers for lunch for days after. You start with sausage, corn, tomato sauce, peppers and lots of spices. Top that with a wonderful corn bread topping and bake. It's a little bit spicy, so it's not for those that don't like heat in their mouths. Though my husband who doesn't like spicy things did enjoyed it. He did say, however, that it might have tasted better with ground beef instead of sausage. So make what you will with it, and as always-- Enjoy!

Tags: crowd -. tamale, tamale casserole, casserole, quick meals.

Frozen burritos that you actually want to eat.

As I may have mentioned here before I like to be prepared and make things ahead of time whenever possible. This often means making thing myself but that is no issue for me. I like knowing how to do lots of things. Today's experiment is making home made refried bean and lots of frozen burritos.

For this you will need:
10-12 flour tortillas
1 lbs dried pinto beans
2-3 tbs pinto bean seasoning (recipe below)
2 tsp salt
2 tbs lard or bacon grease
2 cups cheese

In an earlier post is described a quick cooking method that involves using the oven. Today I will describe how to cook them on the stove and in the crock pot with two different soaking methods.

Stove top method:
Preform a quick soak by placing 1 lbs of rinsed beans in a medium sized pot with enough water to cover it by three inches. Bring this to a boil. Place a lid on the pot and remove from heat. Let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse the beans and the pot. Place beans back into the pot with 2 tsp salt and enough hot water to cover by about 2 inches. Simmer till desired tenderness is reached, with lid vented. Roughly 2-3 hours.

Crock-Pot method:
Rinse 1 lbs pinto beans and place in a large bowl with enough water to cover it by two inches. Let soak overnight in cool place. In the morning drain and rinse the beans then place in the crock-pot with enough water to cover it by two inches, and 2 tsp salt. Leave on high heat for 6 hours

I know it may seem pointless to rinse the beans in between the soak and cooking but do it anyway. The rinse actually help wash away the natural compounds that make eating beans uncomfortable, a.k.a give you gas. It won't get rid of it totally but it does helps a lot. Also feel free to mix and match soak and cooking methods they do work either way.

Here is my pinto beans seasoning:
1 tbs Garlic
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 chicken boulion cube

Mix together all ingredients thoroughly. You'll need about 2-3 tbs for every one pound of cry beans you started with.


Once beans are cooked drain them, but keep 1 cup of the liquid. In a large bowl mash the beans. (A hand mixer makes quick work of it.) Once mashed add the cup of cooking liquid, 2-3 tbs seasoning and 2 tbs bacon grease or lard if desired. That's it! You just made your very own batch of refried beans. Step back and give yourself a round of applause.

Consume right away or store in plastic bags in the freezer. Keeps for 2 months. I'm making frozen burritos with mine. Yummy!! Great for a weeknight meal or a quickly made lunch.

Enjoy!

Easter: Resurrection Rolls

Hey everybody! For Easter this year I am going to be making resurrection rolls. There are a number of recipes on the web but I will refer you to the dinner roll recipe I posted in march here.  If life is too crazy to allow time for bread dough making not to worry. Use frozen rolls instead.

You will need:
Half of the roll recipe
1/2 cup sugar
2-3 tbs cinnamon, depending on your taste
1/4 cup butter, melted
10 oz bag large marshmallows

Mix up one half of the bread dough recipe as outlined. After the dough has risen once punch it down and make into 2 inch ball. Flatten each ball. Mix up the cinnamon and sugar together and melt the butter in a separate bowl. Place inside each flattened dough ball one large marshmallow dipped in butter and cinnamon sugar. Pinch closed and place on a greased cookie sheet.
You can either let them rise overnight in the fridge or let them rise right away . Remember to cover them so they don't dry out.
Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

This a great object lesson for Easter. Just as Christ was laid in to tomb when His disciples came after the Sabbath he was not there for he had risen.

Enjoy!

Tags: Easter, resurrection, resurrection rolls, Christ centered Easter. 

Chocolate Eclair Cup-Cakes

Hi there everyone! This recipe comes from Christy at The Girl Who Ate Everything. You can find the direct link to her blog here. Christy makes it as a cake but today we are going to make individual dessert cups. The shell for this is not cakey, but the same dough you would make eclairs from: light fluffy and buttery. My mouth is watering already. Lets cook!

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
4 large eggs

Filling:

2 small boxes of instant french vanilla pudding
3 1/2 cups cold milk

Topping:
cool whip
chocolate syrup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease thoroughly one or two cupcake pans and set aside. (I was able to make about 18cupcakes) In a medium-sized pot bring to a boil both the butter and water. Remove from heat and add flour. Then stir in one egg at a time completely mixing in each egg before adding the next.

Place about 3 tbs of the dough in each cupcake form. Try to spread the dough onto the edges to make it form a cup shape. Do not use cupcake liners, it does not yield very good results. Bake for 15 minutes, or until puffy and just golden. Remove immediately from pan and let cool completely on a cooling rack.

Mix up the two packets of pudding and milk and beat for 2 minutes. Let it firm up in the fridge.
Once the pudding is firm and eclair cups are cool place about 2 tbs pudding in each cup. Add a dollop of whipped cream and drizzle with chocolate syrup. Prepare only as many as you need and store the rest of the eclair cups in a plastic bag and pudding in the refrigerator.

Aren't they just delicious! I could only have one at a time because they are so rich. I hope you like these and share them with everyone you know.

Enjoy!

Tags: eclair, cupcakes, chocolate eclairs, vanilla pudding.

Red Velvet Cake

This is Alton Brown's Red Velvet Cake. It takes about 2 hours from start to finish, and it is worth every minute. I cannot share the exact recipe with you on my blog but if you search on the Food Network website you are sure to find it. The chef, Alton Brown, is a genius when it comes to creating things in the kitchen. I highly recommend his recipes and his show Good Eats which is both quirky and insightful. Check those both out if you get the chance.

I find that store bought red velvet I don't like. Is it trying to be vanilla and just coming up short? Is it trying to be chocolate and failing? I don't know anymore. This makes it clear to me it's a light chocolate and it's sticking to it. (Although if you use half a cup of chocolate powder instead of 1/4 cup it doesn't hurt)

I hope you enjoy it!

Baked Potato Soup

This recipe comes from allrecipes.com. I'm sure that you've noticed by now that I use allrecipes for many of the new recipes that I try out, and for good reason. Not only is it a treasure trove over flowing with all sorts of recipes, but their are videos instructing how to make certain dishes and there are reviews and ratings on the recipes that also give advise So I know I'm going to get something good every time. Allrecipes is also a magazine. I still have yet to check it out, but if its anything like the website it is sure to please.

But lets move on to the recipe at hand: Baked Potato Soup.

Ingredients:
12 slices bacon
2/3 cup margarine (or butter)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
7 cups milk
4 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed.
4 green onions chopped
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 sup sour cream
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper


1. Brown the bacon, drain and crumble. Set aside.
2. In a large stock pot melt margarine over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth, then gradually add the milk. Whisk until thickened.
3. Stir in potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes
4. Mix in bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Keep stirring until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Candy Crunch Pudding Pie

If you are not aware this Saturday is Pi day. A celebration for math enthusiasts, and geeks in general. Why call it March fourteenth pi day? It's the first three digits of pi, 3.14. So in celebration of a rely cool number here is a pie recipe from the Cool-Whip company just for you.

Ingredients:
2 (3.9 oz) packages of instant chocolate pudding
2 cups cold milk
1 tub (8 oz) whipped cream
2 chocolate covered toffee bars, crumbled
1 chocolate pie crust
1 oz chocolate melted.

1. In a medium bowl whisk the two pudding packets and cold milk for roughly 2 minutes.
2. Stir in half of the container of whipped cream and 3Tbs toffee bits.
3. Pour into chocolate pie crust and top with remaining whipped cream, toffee and melted chocolate.

There you are it's that simple. The candy could be substituted for any hard candy you think would be a good fit.You can see I used chocolate chips.

Enjoy!

Tags: Chocolate Pie, pie, Pi Day,