Week 13: Crock-Pot Cheeseburgers

Recipe: Crock-Pot Cheeseburgers

From: Hubbard-Radcliffe Elementary School 2007 Cookbook (Submitted by: Lane R.)

Category: Main Dish

Rating: It was rated as "one of the top 5" by my husband.  Miss P had seconds, and the Twiggs ate most of theirs.  Woo-hoo!  It was super easy and would be super easy to double or even triple to feed a large crowd.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pound lean ground beef (I used 20 oz. lean ground turkey)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
8 oz. Velveeta cheese, cubed
2 tablespoons milk
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 large garlic clove, minced
8 sandwich buns, split and toasted
Additional condiments, as desired (we had pickles)

Directions:

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef with garlic powder and black pepper until beef is cooked through.  
2.  Drain off excess fat and transfer beef to a 3 1/2 - 5-quart crock-pot.  
3. Add cheese, milk, green bell pepper, chopped onion and minced garlic to the beef.  
4. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 7 hours.  
5. Serve the beef on toasted sandwich buns with additional condiments, as desired.

I know, it doesn't look great here, but I could have easily doubled the recipe in this crock-pot without having to pull out my big one.

 Still not looking great, but you can see the pretty toasted bun.

 Here's the cheeseburger ... Yummy!!

Week 12: Mozzarella Ham Stromboli

Recipe: Mozzarella Ham Stromboli

From: Ultimate Five Ingredient Recipes (Taste of Home)

Category: Main Dish

Rating: Gavin said it was the best thing I've made.  I thought it was a little bland.  The kids ate it.  :-)  The author said that she usually served it with tomato soup.  That would have been good!

Ingredients:
1 tube (11 oz.) refrigerated crusty French loaf
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 pound thinly sliced deli ham
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. On a lightly floured surface, unroll dough at seam.  Pat dough into a 14 x 12-inch rectangle.  
2. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over dough to within 1/2 inch of edges.  Top with a single layer of ham.  
3. Roll up tightly from a shore side; pinch seam to seal.  Place seam side down on an ungreased baking sheet.  Brush top of loaf with butter; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.  Cut stromboli with a serrated knife.

 Before I rolled up the stromboli.

 Here it is cut and ready to serve.  It was pretty good!

Week 11 (Bonus): Pecan Pie Muffins

Recipe: Pecan Pie Muffins

From: Country Door Catalog

Category: Breakfast

Rating: Sinful!  Really!  You can't eat just one. :-)

Ingredients:
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs (beaten)
2/3 cups softened butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a mini-muffin pan.  
2. Mix together the brown sugar, eggs and butter.  Then add flour and nuts.  Mix by hand, and then pour mixture into hte mufin pan until each muffin cup is 3/4 full. 
3. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light brown. 

 Popular little muffins.

 Super yummy little muffins.  It made about 36 mini muffins.

Week 11: Creamy Chicken & Noodles and Easiest Muffins

Recipe: Creamy Chicken & Noodles

From: Gooseberry Patch's Slow-Cooker Recipes (Submitted by Melissa D.)

Category: Main Dish

Rating: Even pretty good the next day!

Ingredients:
3 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 10.75 oz. cans of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup butter, sliced
42 oz. chicken broth (4 10.5 cans)
24-oz. package frozen egg noodles

Directions:

1. Combine first four ingredients in a slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.  
2. One hour before serving, remove chicken, shred and return to slow cooker.  
3. Stir in frozen noodles; cover and cook on low setting for one hour.  Serve in soup bowls.

Creamy Chicken & Noodles

Recipe: Easiest Muffins

From: Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood

Category: Side Dish

Rating: Actually made this the next day to have with the Creamy Chicken & Noodles leftovers.  Gavin wasn't a big fan.  They definitely take on the sour cream flavor, but I thought they were good, and they were super easy!


Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 cups self-rising flour

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  
2. In an electric mixer, mix the butter and sour cream.  Add the flour and mix well.  
3. Drop large spoonfuls of the dough into a muffin pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray or lines with muffin cups.  
4. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins are golden brown.

 Easiest Muffins

 The combination ... so good!

Week 10: Whole-Grain Pancake Mix and Whole-Grain Pancakes

Recipe:  Whole-Grain Pancake Mix

From:  Make-A-Mix (Eliason, Harward & Westover)

Category: Breakfast

Rating: The mix was easy to make.  It made five 1 1/2 cup batches.  I used one for the pancakes and put the other five in the freezer.

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 1/4 cups white flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.  Stir with a wire whisk until evenly distributed.  
2. Pour into a 10-cup container.  Label with date and contents.  Store in a cool, dry place.  Use within 6 months.

Note:  I only had about a cup of whole-wheat flour, so I used rice flour for the remaining 2 1/2 cups.  Shhhhh ... don't tell Gavin.

Recipe:  Whole-Grain Pancakes

From:  Make-A-Mix (Eliason, Harward & Westover)

Category: Breakfast

Rating: This got rave reviews from the family!  Gavin liked the creaminess of the pancakes ... I give nutmeg all the credit.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Whole-Grain Pancake Mix
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil.  (I don't remember which I used.)

I also added a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg. :-)

Directions:

1. Put pancake mix in a small bowl.  Set a side.  
2. In a small bowl combine buttermilk, egg and melted butter or vegetable oil.  Add all at once to dry ingredients.  Blend well.  Let stand 5 to 10 minutes.  
3. Cook on hot, oiled griddle 3 to 4 minutes, until browned on both sides.  Makes about 12 4-inch pancakes.

Yummy Pancakes!

Week 9: Candy Bar Cookie Squares

Recipe:Candy Bar Cookie Squares

From:  allrecipes.com  (I know, not a cookbook, but I would guess that my 101 Things to do with a Cake Mix cookbook would have something similar; I just can't find that cookbook right now.)

Category: Dessert

Rating: Yummy!!!
WW PointsPlus: 4 (30 servings)

Ingredients:
1 (18.25 oz) package yellow cake mix
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 Snickers candy bars (2.07 oz each), chopped (I used 4 Rolo candy bars)

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, brown sugar, eggs and butter.  Beat on low speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally.  Stir in chopped candy.  Spread into an ungreased 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  Cut into squares.

So I cut out a few circles with a biscuit cutter; I am working on my food styling.  Mostly they have just been cut out of the pan and eaten a little bit at a time.  :-)  I also used 4 Rolo candy bars instead of Snickers, as we had a handful left over from Miss P's Valentine's.

Week 8: Chocolate Cake (Gluten, Dairy and Egg Free)

Recipe: Chocolate Cake

From: Youth Enrichment Services We're Cookin', Submitted by Jim A.

Category: Dessert

Rating:  The people I made this for:  my nephew, sister-in-law and supervisor at work all thought it was fabulous!  I also thought it was pretty good. 
WW PointsPlus:  6 (24 servings)


Ingredients:
3 cups brown rice flour
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
5 Tbs cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups cold water
2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbs vinegar


Directions:

1. Mix everything together and pour into a 9 x 13-inch greased pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Note:  If you don't need this gluten free, you can use regular flour.  I would like to add a little cinnamon and try using half applesauce/half oil next time.  And, I would like to remember to take a picture next time.  Sorry!  There was a lot going on last weekend when I made this.  Also, I made a 9-inch round cake and an 8-inch square cake (instead of a 9 x 13) and topped them both with powered sugar.  Rest-assured, it looked like a chocolate cake!

Week 7: Antipasti Pull-Apart Pizza

Recipe: Antipasti Pull-Apart Pizza

From: Pampered Chef's Fall/Winter 2010 Season's Best

Category: Main Dishes

Rating: It was a great supper!
WW PointsPlus: 4 (16 servings; 4 pieces per serving), as written below

Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil, divided
2 pkg (11 oz. each) refrigerated French bread dough
1 jar (12 oz.) marinated artichoke hearts, drained and patted dry
1 8 oz. block mozzarella cheese
1 medium red bell pepper
1/2 cup pitted ripe olives
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 oz Parmesan cheese, divided
Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Brush large pizza stone with 1 tsp of the oil.  Cut the dough lengthwise, then crosswise into 16 slices (will have a total of 32 half moon type pieces).  Repeat for remaining dough.  Arrange dough on baking stone leaving 1/2 inch border around the edge and spacing 1/2 inch apart; brush with remaining oil.  Bake 14-16 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
2. Meanwhile, for antipasti, coarsely chop artichokes.  Dice mozzarella cheese into 1/2 inch cubes and dice bell pepper.  Slice olives.  Combine artichokes, mozzarella cheese, bell pepper, olives, garlic, salt and black pepper; mix well.
3. Remove baking stone from oven.  Grate half of the Parmesan cheese over crust; top with antipasti.  Bake 5-7 minutes or until mozzarella cheese is melted.  Remove from oven; grate remaining Parmesan cheese over the top and sprinkle with parsley, if desired.

Okay, folks ... while I would really love to say that I made this as written; I did not.  I only used one loaf of French bread, and topped it with a mixture of pasta sauce, cheese and mini pepperonis. I have to serve this food to kids!  However, it was Valentine's Day, so I made the best of it!  It was actually the "right" amount of food for our family, and everyone appreciated the shape of our V-Day supper.

 Before the dough met the oven.

The final dish.