Big Bears Wife

What you need:

Makes 12 servings

Adapted a little from Cook Yourself Thin
Calories per serving: about 330 according to Cook Yourself Thin
*I left out the milk from the original recipe*

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 pounds mushrooms

1 teaspoon dried thyme

Pinch of Salt

1 (15oz) container part-skim ricotta

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3 cups shredded, part-skim mozzarella cheese

1 (10oz) box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained

2 tablespoons dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Pinch Black pepper

5 cups tomato sauce

12 sheets lasagna noodles

Nonstick cooking spray

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Fill a a 9x13 casserole dish with hot water. Place the noodle into the hot water and let them soak for about 10 minutes.

While the noodles are soaking, start cooking the mushrooms.

In a large sauce pan heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, thyme and a pinch of salt. Cook for about 12 minutes. Mushrooms will be soft and tender when done.

In a large bowl, combine the ricotta and eggs. Mix well. Add 1 cup of mozzarella, spinach, basil and oregano; season with salt and pepper and stir.

(When defrosting the spinach, make sure that after it is defrosted that it is drained really really good. Use a paper towel to squeeze all of the water out before adding it to the mixture)

The noodles should be done soaking by now. Drain the water from the noodles and lay the noodles out on a paper towel.

In the dry casserole dish, spread 1 cup of tomato sauce into the bottom of the pan.

Layer 4 sheets of lasagna on top, on the sauce.

Spread half of the ricotta mixture onto the noodles. Next, cover with half the mushrooms.

Next, layer with 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce.

Next add 4 more sheets of lasagna noodles. Add the remaining ricotta mixture and remaining mushrooms. Cover with1 1/2 cups tomato sauce.

Layer with the remaining 4 sheets of lasagna, 1 of tomato sauce and 2 cups mozzarella cheese.

Lightly spray a sheet of aluminum foil with nonstick spray and cover the uncooked lasagna, place the spray-side down.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Remove foil and bump the oven temperature up to 450F.

Cook for about 10 minutes until cheese browns a little.

Remove from the oven and let stand for a few minutes before cutting.

Show us your favorite " Recipe from your favorite Cook-Book " ;)

_______________________________________________________________________________

This Week's Cravings Upcoming Linky "THEMES"

Here is a complete list of the past and what's coming up next on THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS!

February 6th- Nutella DAY (Peanut Butter, Almond Butter & More)

February 13th- Valentine's Day Treats or Romantic Dinners

February 20th- Avocado Recipes and Homemade Salsa

This is a BLOG Party hosted by MOMS CRAZY COOKING , Big Bears Wife , The Daily Dish and Veggie Converter .

If you are a regular link-up we're excited to see what you made this week. If you are new please read and follow the simple rules, so that everyone can enjoy the linky party! If you forget to follow the theme, your post will be deleted. Please don't feel hurt, just come back and link up a recipe that follows the theme. Thanks a million, we look forward to blogging with you!

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.

This week's theme is: Recipe from your favorite Cook-Book

Please only link recipes with our theme!

Secret Recipe Club Twitter Party Chat {Recap}

2012-01-27T15:57:00.001-05:00

Secret Recipe Club Twitter Party Chat {Recap}

Last Wednesday, January 25th, The Secret Recipe Club had a twitter party to talk about Recipes, Dinner Ideas and to Swap Some Ideas around. We were very please at the turn out and hope to have more Secret Recipe Club Twitter/Chat Parties in the Future.

Krista from Kid Smart Living and Simply Smart Living, was the sponsor of the twitter party this week and gave away some wonderful prizes to a few lucky chatters. Thank you Krista.

Amanda from Amanda's Cookin , Suzanne from Thru The Bugs on my Windshield and Myself , hosted the chat with a few questions to get everyone talking. **With the Help from Bobbi ( Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen) and Rhonda ( The Kitchen Witch Blog ), because I exceeded my twitter chat limit for the day right at the end of the chat and Bobbi and Rhonda stepped up and helped me get the last few things out... who knew there was a limit? haha**

Just wanted to do a little run down of some of the tweets from the Chat! :) To see them all check out the #SRCchat thread from twitter :) Besure to click "See All Tweets" at the very bottom of that link. :)

Some random Links and Tweets that were shared:

***

Also I found this from http://tweetreach.com:

TweetReach for #SRCChat

Reached 10,373 people via 50 tweets

Searching a maximum of 50 tweets

Pretty Cool :)

We're Going to be planning some more Twitter Parties In the Future. Did you attend this one? What did you think?

Thanks To Everyone That Was There!!

Jack Daniels Bread Pudding

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

{ Jack Daniels Bread Pudding }

Today is my Blog's 3rd Birthday/Anniversary :)

3 years ago Today I wrote my first post, and I started a small little blog to store my Recipe and Craft Files. It's amazing how much you can learn and change in 3 years.

I actually started my blog because I saw Julie from Peanut Butter and Julie on a Food Network Challenge. Once I found her site online I fell in love, and knew I wanted to have a blog too. Before starting my site, all of my recipes and crafts were stored in binders and shoeboxes. This was a perfect way to organize them all and have them in one place. I started sharing craft files with people through the site, and then sharing recipes. Before I knew it, I was engulfed in the Foodie World.

I was learning to cook amazing food and learning different techniques about cooking and baking.

Finding new recipes that my husband loved became a new mission. I was hooked.

I've met so many wonderful people since I started this site. Even though a lot of them are friends that I've only met through the computer screen, they are still friends, friends that I talk to almost everyday, friends that encourage me, and have the same love of cooking that I do.

I won't name them all, because I'd be typing all day and I'm scared that with all the people I would be listing that I would leave someone out and hurt feelings. But you know who you are loves! *WAVE*

All of my Foodie Friends are amazing but, I have to give a special blog hug to

Amanda from Amanda's Cookin. She has been such an amazing teacher and friend. I met Amanda through The Secret Recipe Club (she started it, and I'm a host now). She's helped me grow my site over this past year. Giving me advice with taking pictures of food, helping me make my blog more "user friendly" haha, and daily chats that make me laugh. Thank you :)

And of course I have to think my wonderful husband for putting up with me and our flour covered kitchen. My kitchen meltdown, in the middle of the floor with chocolate cake and icing everywhere. To: my families that have always given me just the most positive feed back on recipes I've made. And I want to thank them for their love and support, when they tell me that I can do anything. Exp to my little brother Adam who not stop telling me I need my own bakery.

I am Thankful for all my friends that " ooo and ahh" over things, I thankfulk for the friends that even pick on me and call me the Betty Crockery and Martha Stewart's Love Child

Since today is my "Blog's Birthday", I want to share a recipe with you that I have been meaning to share with you for almost 2 years. That's right. I've had this recipe in my clutches for 2 years waiting to the "right" time to make it. You see, this recipe is for an amazing dessert called Jack Daniels Bread Pudding. I use to get this dessert for every holiday at my favorite local place called The Yancey House.

The first time I had it was in Dec. 2009, I emailed the chef as soon as I got home and told her how amazing it was, and she responded with the recipe :) The Yancey House is now closed, and the only way I'm getting Jack Daniels Bread Pudding now is out of my own kitchen.

It was my special dessert, my favorite restaurant, the one I wanted for all my special events, for my birthdays, anniversary dates, Christmas lunch, Mardi Gras...... um.. yeah... I used any holiday to get there and have bread pudding. So what better dessert to make for my blog's birthday/anniversary? None :)

Jack Daniels Bread Pudding it is :)

Jack Daniels Bread Pudding

Serves 8

A Beginner’s Guide to Twitter Parties
How to Participate in a Twitter Party

What you need for bread pudding:

12 Hawaiian Bread Rolls (or any kind of soft roll)

6 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons of vanilla

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1 pint whole milk

1 pint half and half

1/2 cup raisins (optional)
Butter or cooking spray to grease pan

What you need for Jack Daniels Sauce:

1 pint heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar

3 1/2 tablespoons of Jack Daniels Whiskey (add more or less to taste)

4 tablespoons of corn starch and about 1-2 teaspoons of water mixed together to make a thick paste

What to do:

Generously butter a 9-inch square baking dish.

Cube the rolls, I got about 4-6 cubes from each roll. Toss cubed rolls into baking dish.

In a bowl, mix together the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Mix well.

Add in the half and half, stir. Stir in the milk.

Pour milk mixture over the bread crumbs and toss well. Make sure all of the bread is nicely coated.

Gently press down the bread crumbs and sprinkle with raisins.

Cover with foil and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight (I let mine sit overnight).

When ready, pre-heat oven to 325F and bake for 1 hour or until set. The edges should be browned and the center still a little jiggly when moved.

What to do for Jack Daniels Sauce:

In a saucepan, heat the cream and sugar until hot. (do not boil) While it is heating up whisk the sugar to help is dissolve.

Once the cream and sugar mixture has gotten hot, add in the cornstarch paste and cinnamon. Whisk until thickened.

Add in the Jack Daniels to taste and whisk.

Drizzle over bread pudding. (I drizzled the sauce over each individual serving instead of the whole dish at once)

Serve Warm

So here we go Jack Daniels Bread Pudding

Big Bear's Wife

The Yancey House

HAPPY BLOGGING BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY TO ME!!!

We're Having A Twitter Party

2012-01-23T16:27:00.001-05:00

In case you don’t follow The Secret Recipe Club on Facebook or Twitter and you haven’t heard already, we’re having a twitter party! The Secret Recipe Club twitter party is this Wednesday, January 25th from 2:00 pm EST- 4:00 pm EST and everyone is invited! You do not need to be a member of SRC to join in the fun. There will be prizes too, courtesy of our sponsor (and our good friend) Krista from Kid Smart Living andSimply Smart Living.

Share Your Opinion
We are also tossing around the idea of a weekly twitter chat. We know a lot of people work during the day, but some also work in the evenings and on weekends. So feel free to use this opportunity to voice your opinions in the comments. Would weekday twitter chats work for you, or do you prefer weekends or evenings? We’d love to chat with you about recipes, kitchen tips, blogging, whatever!

Never been to a twitter party? Check out these helpful links!

SRC TWITTER PARTY

HASHTAG: #SRCchat

TOPICS: We will be talking about food, gathering ideas from each other and sharing recipes!

PRIZES: 3 beautiful Recipe Card-Sized Binders (3 separate winners)

DATE: Wednesday January 25th, 2012

TIME: 2pm EST – 4pm EST

YOUR HOSTESS: Angie – @bigbearswife (that's me! hee hee )

CO-HOSTESSES: Amanda- @secretrecipeclu and Suzanne- @ThruTheBugs

HINT: If you use Tweetdeck, go into your preferences/settings, then under Twitter tick the box that says “auto include hastags when replying” to ensure that all your replies will go to the group!

Please join us for foodie tips, foodie talk, amazing recipes from our SRC reveal days and a few giveaways too. If you’re coming, we’d love it if you let us know – Facebook us, tweet us or e-mail us. Invite your friends, readers, twitter followers and facebook fans! Don’t worry though, no RSVP is needed if you forget. Just show up!

Don’t forget, we’re giving away three of these awesome recipe binders to keep all your secret recipes in! :)

We can’t wait to “see” you there!

Caramel Apple Pie

2012-01-23T09:25:00.000-05:00

{ Caramel Apple Pie }

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party #65

The Theme is: Homemade Pie Recipes
(Please share with us your favorite Homemade Pie Recipes )

I've made a few pies in my life. Most of them start with a pre-made pie crust and then consist of me mixing some things together, throwing them into that pie crust and baking them.

Well, I'm proud to say that this is my first pie that is totally from scratch. Well.... I mean I didn't churn the butter or grow the apples, haha but it's as close to "from scratch" as I'll ever get.

Apple Pie probably isn't suppose to look like that.... but that's ok.

I'm not really sure as to what an apple pie is "suppose" to taste like. Before this apple pie, the only type of apple pie I've ever tasted and liked was the Apple Crisp, that Amy taught me to make.

But Regular Apple Pie? I've tasted apple pie before, maybe once. I remember it was hot and gooey and mushy and not so wonderful.

But this apple pie... oh this Caramel Apple Pie was so good. I don't know if it is what apple pie is suppose to be like, but whatever, I don't care. It was really good. The apples were crisp but soft.
The caramel nicely coated on the apples. Not to thin but not to thick.

The crust is a cream cheese crust. Melt in your mouth crust.
**want an arm workout? Make this crust. haha**

Caramel Apple Pie

What you need for the crust:

**This will make 1 pie crust. You will need to do this twice. You will need 2 pie crusts, one for the bottom and one for the top**

1/2 cup cream cheese (about 4 oz)
1/2 cup room temperature butter
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

What to do for the crust:

In a stand mixer, mix the cream cheese and butter. While it is mixing, add the flour a little bit at a time. Continue to mix until everything is combined. Dough will be very crumbly. I let mine mix for about 5 minutes so that it would come together more.

Shape dough into a round disk with your hands. Roll it out in between 2 sheets of wax paper until 1/8 inch thick.

Freeze the crust for about 15 minutes.

(Make 2 of these for this recipe)

Once they have been in the freezer for 15 minutes, remove 1 crust and gently press it into a pie pan.

Prick the bottom of the pie crust with a fork and bake at 350F for 15 minutes.

Make pie according to directions below.

What you need for the pie:

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoon flour

Pinch of Salt

1/4 cup heavy cream

4-5 Granny Smith apples, sliced

3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into bits

1 tablespoon heavy cream (for top of crust)
1/4 tablespoon brown sugar (for sprinkling on the top of crust)

What to do for the pie:

Pre-heat oven to 400F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the 3/4 cups of brown sugar, salt, flour and cream.

Peel and slice the apples. Place the apples into a large bowl.

Pour the brown sugar mixture over the apples and toss. Make sure all of the apples are coated.

Pour the apples into the pie crust. (the one that was slightly baked earlier in the recipe)

Scatter the bits of butter over the top of the apples.

Brush the rim of the pie crust with a little water and apply the second pie crust over the top of the pie.

Crimp the edges and make a few slits in the top of the pie to let it vent.

Brush the top of the pie with a little heavy cream and sprinkle with brown sugar.

Bake for 45 minutes until the crust is golden and the apples are tender. Cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Show us your favorite " Homemade Pie recipes " ;)

_______________________________________________________________________________

This Week's Cravings Upcoming Linky "THEMES"

Here is a complete list of the past and what's coming up next on THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS!

Janurary 30th - Recipe from your favorite CookBook

February 6th- Nutella DAY (Peanut Butter, Almond Butter & More)

February 13th- Valentine's Day Treats or Romantic Dinners

February 20th- Avocado Recipes & Homemade Salsa

This is a BLOG Party hosted by MOMS CRAZY COOKING , Big Bears Wife , The Daily Dish and Veggie Converter .

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.

This week's theme is: Homemade Pie Recipes

Please only link recipes with our theme!

Fried Catfish

2012-01-20T11:58:00.012-05:00

{ Fried Catfish }

I've never liked frying food at home. Fried Chicken, Nuggets, Fries.. what ever it was, I was not excited about. I mean I like to eat those kinds of things once in a while, but making them...I hated it.

Because, frying food at home usually went like this:

~~Drag 500 lb cast iron skillet from pantry and try not to hurt myself by dropping it~~
I mean...Carefully remove huge Cast Iron skillet from the shelf.
Heat oil slowly ...which really means heat the oil as quickly as my stove top will heat it. Keep oil so hot that it starts to smoke. Set off fire alarm in house. Call dispatch and tell them not to send fire dept.
Dump hot oil.
Clean out Cast Iron Skillet. Add more oil. Slowly heat oil. Get annoyed because it's taking to long.
Start frying thing slowly... get impatient but have overly paranoid fear of eating something raw... burn things.. give up.
Eat Something else.

Yep... haha that's how it was. Until hubby got me a deep fryer for Christmas :)
Granted we've only used it twice since Christmas but that's ok because I'm not trying to eat fried food everyday :)

But it is SO much easier with the deep fryer.

This recipe is from a cook book that my Mom and Dad Ordered for me after eating at Mrs. Rowe's Family Restaurant & Bakery.

The Food was so good that my dad asked if they sold cookbooks, they did but you could only buy them online. So when they got back dad went online and bought me one for Christmas.
He knew I'd love it and he was right :)

So far I've made 3 or 4 recipes from the cookbook and they are delicious!

You Can Buy It Here

Fried Catfish
Serves 2-4
Adapted just a little from Mrs. Rowe's Restaurant Cookbook

What you need:

2 pounds of catfish fillets
3 eggs lightly beaten
4 cups milk
1/4 cup hot sauce
1/4 cup A1 Steak sauce
1 table spoon Worcestershire
1 tablespoon freshly squesed lemon juice
3/4 cup seadfood breading mix
1/2 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon white pepper
Vegetable Oil (for frying)

What to do:

(You can pan fry these if you do not have a deep fryer, but I'm the worst pan fryer ever so I can't help with that)

Cut catfish into strips or nuggets.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, hot sauce, steak sauce, worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice. Stir well.

In a spereate bowl combine the seafood breading mix, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Place the catfish pieces into the egg mixture. Let them soak in this for a few minutes while the oil is heating up. (you can put it in the fridge, but I just left it on the counter because my oil heated in about 2-3 minutes)

Add the oil to the deep fryer and set the deep fryer to 350F.

Next, working with a few pieces at a time, dip the catfish into the breading mixture. Make sure that the pieces are well coated. Shake off an excess and drop a few pieces into the hot oil. (fry about 2 or 3 at a time, you don't want to over crowd the pan and make the oil temperature drop)

Let them cook for 4-5 minutes, until they become golden brown. Cook longer if you want them to be extra crispy.

Remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and lay them on a paper towel lined plate to drain the excess oil. Repeat until all catfish pieces are done.

Do you have a deep fryer? What do you use yours for? We've made this catfish and Sweet Potato Chips in ours so far.

One Dish Pasta and Vegetables

2012-01-16T08:00:00.001-05:00

{ One Dish Pasta and Vegetables }

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party #64

The Theme is: CHEESE LOVER DAY... YUMMY Cheese recipes
(Please share with us your favorite Cheese recipes )

Most of the time I am the one cooking in the kitchen. But lately hubby has been getting in there and making some great food, which makes me very very happy. :)

So this weekend, while flipping through some cookbooks I got for Christmas, I found this recipe and knew that it would be perfect for This Weeks Craving's Post. Simple, Easy and Cheesy!

Hubby picked up the stuff I needed from the store when he went to the gym and I was going to make this after Church for lunch. Well, I had to get some things straight with the site before starting lunch and while I was working on something, Hubby got busy in the kitchen :)

When I got done with my work and went to the kitchen to start making lunch, hubby had already made everything haha.

He had gotten my recipe cards and made this pasta and he grilled some chicken with the No-Salt Seasoning Salt I made a little while ago.

It was really good. :)
Oh and he insisted on taking some pictures for my site too :)

That would be his below :) I like it.

by: Big Bear :)

Oh ... yeah... and did I mention that he came home from the gym with his head shaved.... yeah...

When he left home he had hair... when he returned he had none. I was not a happy camper. Not to mention we had a Fire Dept Dinner last night, he got an award and had to have his picture taken... grr hubby grrr...

I think this was his way of sucking up. ;)

One Dish Pasta and Vegetables
(From the Campbell's Kitchen)

What you need:

1 1/2 cups uncooked corkscrew-shaped pasta
1 1/2 cup baby carrots
1 cup broccoli florets
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon prepared mustard

What to do:

In a large pot bring 5-6 cups of water to a boil. Boil the pasta for about 10 minutes or until tender.

Add the carrots and broccoli and boil for 4 more minutes.

Drain the pasta mixture well.

Return the pasta mixture to the saucepan.

Stir the soup, cheese, milk and mustard. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until thickened.

Show us your favorite " CHEESE LOVER DAY... YUMMY Cheese recipes " ;)

_______________________________________________________________________________

This Week's Cravings Upcoming Linky "THEMES"

Here is a complete list of the past and what's coming up next on THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS!

Janurary 23rd - Homemade Pies

Janurary 30th - Recipe from your favorite CookBook

This is a BLOG Party hosted by MOMS CRAZY COOKING , Big Bears Wife , The Daily Dish and Veggie Converter .

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.

This week's theme is: CHEESE LOVER DAY... YUMMY Cheese recipes

Please only link recipes with our theme!

Mini Bacon and Egg Tarts -- From Kelly at Eat Yourself Skinny

2012-01-15T13:57:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone! I've got a special guest today for you and I know you're going to love her as much as I do.

Kelly is a super sweet blogger that writes over at Eat Yourself Skinny .

Her blog is full of delicious but healthy recipes including some yummy cocktail recipes!

Plus she always breaks down the recipes into calorie counts and weight watcher points!!

How awesome is that! She's also gotten me hooked on to the Cooking Light Website! haha Oh and she has the cutest little dog named Oliver! :) Reminds me of my Jasper ;)

Be sure to go visit her over at Eat Yourself Skinny, I know that you'll fall in love with her and her site.

Check out these Mini Bacon and Egg Tarts that she is sharing with us today!

---------------

Hello there lovely readers of Big Bear’s Wife! I’m Kelly from Eat Yourself Skinny and I’ve been a huge fan of Angie’s blog for a while now! If any of you are like me, you come across numerous blogs pretty much daily that you comment on, reply to various tweets and leave fun Facebook messages for them too. Then there are those few bloggers you meet that make you feel like they’re you’re next door neighbor and you pretty much become BFF’s!

Yep that would be Angie.

Seriously she’s one of the sweetest bloggers I know and I feel like I’ve really gotten to know her in these past few months. So you can imagine how excited I was when she asked me to guest post for her this weekend! I thought long and hard about what I would post for her and since this IS a Sunday post and one of my New Year’s resolutions is to eat more breakfast, I thought I HAVE to post these Mini Bacon and Egg Tarts!

I got this recipe from my Cooking Light magazine and absolutely fell in love with them. They’re bite-sized, yummy and contain every ingredient you could ever want in a breakfast…just perfectly portioned of course. These little tarts satisfy that gotta-go-to-IHOP-and-get-the-biggest-breakfast-sampler craving without all the unwanted calories.

Here see for yourself!

Mini Bacon and Egg Tarts

_________________________________

Servings: 4

Serving Size: 2 tarts

Calories: 316

Fat: 8.8 g

Carbs: 31.2 g

Fiber: 3 g

Protein: 18.3 g

Old Points: 6.6 pts

Points+: 8 pts

________________________________________

Here are your ingredients:

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

8 (1 oz) slices whole-wheat white bread, crusts removed

1/2 cup fat-free milk

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp chopped green onions

2 slices smoked bacon, cooked and crumbled

½ cup (2 oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly coat both sides of bread with cooking spray. Press each bread slice into the cup of a muffin tin. Bake at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes or until bread is lightly toasted. Cool slightly.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Combine milk and eggs, stirring well with a whisk. Divide the egg mixture evenly among bread cups. Sprinkle onions, if desired, and bacon evenly over tarts; top each tart with 1 tablespoon cheese. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until set. Enjoy!

Thanks again for having me Angie! For more skinny recipes or if you just want to make a new friend, feel free to stop by my blog any time!

XOXO

-----

Hope you enjoyed meeting Kelly and getting this yummy recipe for Mini Bacon and Egg Tarts!

I also need to start eating breakfast more and I know these will be on our menu soon! They look so good!

Thank you Kelly for being a guest! HUGS!

Cheesy Tomato Basil Dog Treats

2012-01-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

{ Cheesy Tomato Basil Dog Treats }

My dogs are spoiled. There is no chance in the world that I can deny it.

I normally can not resist their pitiful looks for a treat. Sadly though, they can not eat everything that I do, because "people food" isn't the best for little pup tummies.

So when I started my board on Pinterest for Jasper, Bella and Chloe I mainly started pinning dog treat recipes.

I found this recipe over at Doggy Dessert Chef.

I'm still on the hunt for more treat recipes as well, but this is #1 on Jasper's treat list so far.

Jasper Fell in love with these. Bella and Chloe liked them, but not as much as Jasper did haha.

I made a double batch and gave some away to my mom and dad's dog and brother's dog.

Cheesy Tomato Basil Dog Treats
Adapted from Tomato Cheesy Dog Treats from Doggy Dessert Chef

Makes about 6 dozen (all depends on what size you make them)

What you need:

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 cup Milk
1 Egg
5 tablespoons Butter
1 can Tomato Paste (6 ounces)
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese

2 teaspoon dried Basil
1 teaspoon dried Parsley

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350F.

In the bowl of a mixer, mix everything together. Once everything is mixed well. Scoop the dough out onto a work surface dusted with a little extra whole wheat flour.

Knead dough into ball. Add a little extra whole wheat flour while you work, if the dough gets to sticky.

Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut out shapes with a cookie cutter.

I used a bone shaped cookie cutter for the pups :)

Use a fork poke holes in the tops of the biscuits.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack.

Keep these in the fridge (you don't want them to go bad and mold)

Sausage and Cheese Grits Casserole

2012-01-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

{ Sausage and Cheese Grits Casserole }

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party #63

The Theme is: COMFORT FOOD: Soups and Casseroles
(Please share with us your favorite COMFORT FOOD: Soups and Casseroles Recipes)

Have I told you before that I am not a breakfast person?
I like to eat in the morning sometimes...but I am not a fan of "breakfast food".

(Really the only breakfast I really like to eat, would be sausage gravy and biscuits)

Big Bear likes to eat things like: eggs, sausage, bacon, etc

Sometimes that means I make things that he loves that I am just "ok" with. haha

This would be one of those things. Not because it tasted bad. Because it didn't. I was actually really good, for a breakfast food. ;)

Sausage and Cheese Grits Casserole

Serves 6-9

What you need:

1 lb. sausage (we used hot sausage)
1 1/2 cups grits
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs, beaten

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large skillet brown and crumble the sausage. (Drain the grease from the sausage once browned)

While the sausage is browning, bring 4 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Once the water reaches a boil, stir in 1 1/2 cups of grits.

Turn the temperature down to simmer and stir. Let Simmer for 5 minutes and stir occasionally.

Add the cheese and vegetable oil and stir until the cheese is melted. Stir in milk and eggs. Mix well.

Spread the cooked sausage on bottom of a casserole dish.

Spoon the grits over the sausage.

Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Remove from Oven and let set for 5 minutes (while the grits set)

Show us your favorite " COMFORT FOOD: Soups and Casseroles Recipes " ;)

_______________________________________________________________________________

This Week's Cravings Upcoming Linky "THEMES"

Here is a complete list of the past and what's coming up next on THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS!

Janurary 16th - CHEESE LOVER DAY... YUMMY Cheese recipes

Janurary 23rd - Homemade Pies

Janurary 30th - Recipe from your favorite CookBook

This is a BLOG Party hosted by MOMS CRAZY COOKING , Big Bears Wife , The Daily Dish and Veggie Converter .

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.

This week's theme is: COMFORT FOOD: Soups and Casseroles Recipes

Please only link recipes with our theme!

Pommes Anna (Potato Cake)

2012-01-07T11:55:00.000-05:00

{ Pommes Anna (Potato Cake) }

My brother's girlfriend. Meghan, knows me to well. Actually we are pretty much the same person. Our personalities are almost identical.

(oo Adam, sorry that you're dating someone so much like your sister haha)

For Christmas, Meghan bought me Chef Anne Burrell's Cook Book, "Cook like a Rock Star". I love this cook book. I also love Chef Anne Burrell so yes... this was perfect for me.

The first thing I made from the cookbook was the " Pommes Chef Anne"

"Pommes Chef Anne" is really Pommes Anna but with no butter. Chef Anne uses extra virgin olive oil instead of the traditional butter.

It was certainly a keeper, as far as recipes go. We loved it. I served it alongside our dinner and it turned out to be a perfect side dish.

When I first removed the dish from the oven and flipped it over, I was worried a little that I had burnt the top of the dish to much. But thankfully it was just a little "browner" than Anne's.

Also Anne doesn't state how long to brown the top on the cake in the skillet. I would recommend about 5 minutes, when you get to that part in the recipe. When you're heating this on the stove top, you can't actually see the top of the cake (which is upside down in the pan..so the top that you are looking at will really end up as the bottom. Once I could smell the potatoes and cheese baking I knew it was done on top.

Anne also says that the recipe serves 4. But we had the slices as a "side dish", and we got about 6 slices from the cake. I also added a little more cheese to mine and left out the salt.

Pommes Anna (Potato Cake)

Serves 4-6

What you need:

3 russet potatoes
1 cup grated Parmigiano
Extra-virgin olive oil

You will also need:
Extra-virgin olive oil
8-inch nonstick saute pan
Mandoline

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Thinly slice the potatoes with a Mandoline.

Brush an 8-inch nonstick oven-safe saute pan with olive oil.

Take the potato slices and place them one at a time into the pan. Starting from the center of the pan make circles with the potatoes slices. Layer them as you go.

Don't forget that the bottom will be the top when everything is done, so make sure that this looks nice and pretty.

As you're making the circle layers, brush each layer with olive oil.

Sprinkle the cheese in between every other layer.

After the last layer is placed, and the olive oil has been brushed on sprinkle with more of these cheese. Press the cake down to compact everything.

Over medium heat, cook the potato cake for about 5 minutes so that the potatoes on the bottom can brown. After 5 minutes the potatoes should be sizzling.

Place the pan into the oven and bake for 20.

Remove the pan from the oven and place a lid on top of the pan.

!!THIS STEP IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!

Drain the excess oil out the side of the pan. Once all of the extra oil has been drained out, flip the pan so the potato cake is turned out onto the bottom of the lid.

Carefully slide the cake off the lid back into the pan so the brown side of the cake is now upwards.

Return the potato cake to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Cut into wedges.

No-Salt Seasoning "Salt"

2012-01-02T19:45:00.004-05:00

{ No-Salt Seasoning "Salt" }

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party #62

The Theme is: Let's Get Healthy... Healthy Meals & Snacks
(Please share with us your favorite Healthy Meals & Snack Recipes)

Happy New Years!
It's the first week of the New Year which means a lot of people go into "Super Healthy Food Mode".

Well... I don't. I mean, I'm always trying to balance my good and bad foods, but I don't automatically start eating super healthy on January 1st.

But since today is : "This Weeks Cravings's Let's Get Healthy... Healthy Meals & Snacks" I want to share with you a No-Salt Seasoning "Salt".

We all know salt isn't the best thing you can load up on.

When BigBear went to a nutrition class, when he was in the military, they gave him a few different recipes for No-Salt Seasoning "Salt" to use in our cooking.

So here is one of the recipes that we use. We still use salt, just not as much anymore. Most of the time in recipes (not baked goods), I like to use this instead of salt.

No-Salt Seasoning "Salt"

Makes a Small Jar (around 4 oz)

What you need:

5 Teaspoons onion powder
1 Tablespoon paprika
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon ground mustard
1 Teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 Teaspoon dried basil
1/2 Teaspoon pepper

What to do:

Mix everything together. Place in a small shaker or container.

Add in place of salt in recipes (not in baked goods though...eww)

Show us your favorite " Healthy Meals & Snack Recipes " ;)

_______________________________________________________________________________

This Week's Cravings Upcoming Linky "THEMES"

Here is a complete list of the past and what's coming up next on THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS!

January 9th - COMFORT FOOD: Soups and Casseroles

Janurary 16th - CHEESE LOVER DAY... YUMMY Cheese recipes

This is a BLOG Party hosted by MOMS CRAZY COOKING , Big Bears Wife , The Daily Dish and Veggie Converter .

If you are a regular link-up we're excited to see what you made this week. If you are new please read and follow the simple rules, so that everyone can enjoy the linky party! If you forget to follow the theme, your post will be deleted. Please don't feel hurt, just come back and link up a recipe that follows the theme. Thanks a million, we look forward to blogging with you!

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.

This week's theme is: Healthy Meals & Snack Recipes

Please only link recipes with our theme!

Homemade Vanilla Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

2011-12-29T11:51:00.007-05:00

{ Homemade Vanilla Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream }

~~{ plus a Vanilla Giveaway! }~~

I have been living under a rock. We'll not really, but as far as using Vanilla extract, I have indeed been living in a pile of imitation vanilla bottles my entire life. I know right.. *GASP*

What was wrong with me?

It's not that I didn't want to use the real stuff. It always smelled so much better than the stuff I was using but I could not for the life of me pass up the huge bottle of Imitation Vanilla for 99cent, when the same size bottles of real Vanilla were going for $11.99. That sadly was the poor person in me taking over, telling myself that I could use that $11.99 for something better, something I actually needed.

Well my friends, after this weekend real Vanilla is a necessity! Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract to be exact! I don't think I'll be the same without it. oo..umm... I mean I don't think vanilla ice cream will be the same without it...or cookies...or brownies...or cakes...or whatever else I can get this stuff into.

Oh and this isn't just any ol' vanilla ice cream. Not only does mine have Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla, it has also be graced with Chopped Reese Cups mixed in.

(I'm pretty sure I saw BigBear growling at the dogs when they came near his ice cream last night, or was that me? I can't remember) ;)

The Vanilla that I used was from Wild Bean Vanilla Co. They sent me a lovely bottle of their Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract to try out. As you can probably tell, I loved it. We loved it. The Vanilla smelled so wonderful and made our homemade ice cream burst with flavor.

When Wild Bean Vanilla Co.contacted me about reviewing their vanilla, I jumped at the offer. As I have actually never bought real Vanilla for the fact that It cost so much more than imitation and I wasn't sure I would be able to taste enough of a difference to make the switch and pay more for the real stuff.

So I really need to decide on what to make with the vanilla to really test it and see if I could really tell a difference I voted for Vanilla Ice Cream. What more perfect way to test vanilla, than on something that is mainly "Vanilla".

I am normally not a fan of just plain vanilla ice cream. BigBear loves it, so I knew he could give me a true answer on how good this was in ice cream, and I'd surely be able to pick out the real vanilla in such a clean dessert.

We made the ice cream with a 2qt Ice Cream Machine. Adding the Vanilla and Some chopped Reese Cups.

(I gave hubby a package of Reese Cups for Christmas that came wrapped as two (2) half pound Reese cups, so we chopped up 1 (half pound cup) of the Reese cups and added it to the ice cream.

It was a hit! The vanilla was amazing. Such a crisp but warm vanilla flavor. So perfect that I didn't even pay attention to the chopped up pieces of chocolate and peanut butter.

I'll share the recipe below for this wonderful yet simple ice cream, but don't forget to keep reading below the recipe because I going to giveaway a bottle of Wild Bean Vanilla Co : Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract for you to try for yourself; in your favorite recipes that call for Vanilla.

This Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract will make all the difference.

Homemade Vanilla Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

Makes 2 quarts

(Printable Recipe Here)

What you need:

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/8 cups sugar
3 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract (I used the Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract)
1 cup of roughly chopped chocolate peanut-butter cups

What to do:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. ( a hand mixer can also be used for this)

Once the sugar is dissolved, mix in the heavy cream and the vanilla.

Turn on the ice cream maker and pour the mixture into the ice cream machines freezer bowl. (Make sure the freezer bowl is already frozen) (check your ice cream makers instructions for your exact model)

Turn the ice cream maker on and let it churn for about 10 minutes. Slowly add in the chopped chocolate and peanut-butter cups.

Let it churn for about another10 -15 minutes.

The ice cream will now have a soft, creamy texture.

Transfer Ice Cream to a airtight container and place into the freezer to harder. (this made take anywhere from 2 hour to overnight, depending on your freezer).

Once the ice cream is frozen to your liking, remove, scoop and enjoy :)

The Giveaway winner is :

Vanessa Austin

· 1 week ago

I'm following you on Twitter! @ScrapperSkiNTX

Congratulations Vanessa!!

Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract Giveaway***

~~Up for Grabs:~~

~~One (1) 4 fl oz bottle of Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract from Wild Bean Vanilla Co.~~

~~How to Enter:~~

~~All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me, what would be the first thing that you~~
~~would make with this Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract.~~

~~For Extra Entries:~~

~~(leave a separate comment for each thing you do)~~

~~(leave the comments on this blog post, comments left on Facebook to enter WILL NOT be counted)~~

~~Follow BigBear'sWife on Facebook or let me know that you already do.~~
~~Follow Wild Bean Vanilla Co. on Facebook or let me know that you already do.~~
~~Follow BigBear'sWife on Twitter or let me know that you already do.~~
~~Follow Wild Bean Vanilla Co. on Twitter or let me know that you already do.~~
~~Tweet this: "Enter to win this amazing Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract from @bigbearswife & @wildbeanvanilla http://bit.ly/uF9VrJ #Vanilla #giveaway "~~
~~Pin This Recipe/Giveaway on Pinterest~~

~~That's 7 ways to enter :) Have Fun and Good luck!~~

***Wild Bean Vanilla Co did provide me with a bottle of Vanilla to review and has provided an additional bottle for the giveaway. All opinions are 100% mine. Open to US residents only. Contest Ends Friday Jan 6th 2012

Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

2011-12-26T21:16:00.004-05:00

{ Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms }

Macaroni and Cheese Portobella Mushroom

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party #61

The Theme is: Macaroni and Cheese
(Please share with us your favorite Macaroni and Cheese Recipes)

Twitter has become one of my favorite social media outlets. I get to chat with other food bloggers, grab ideas from them, give ideas and just interact with other foodies on a daily bases.

I also love the random topics and conversations that can go from chicken and hot dogs to mushrooms stuffed with macaroni and cheese.

Smaller Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

The other day I was chatting with, Julia from Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body and Lenore from Insatiable/Orlndofoodie and through a series of food comments, started talking adding stuff to pasta. I said I added Peas to my Mac and Cheese. Julia mentioned that she loved to add mixed frozen veggies to noodles and Lenore said she added mushrooms to hers. Well, then Rachel from Baked by Rachel saw our twitter conversation and though we were talking about Macaroni and Cheese stuffed into mushroom. So, that turned into... oooo that sounds so good. We need to make that.

Since today's "This Weeks Cravings" was Macaroni and Cheese, I knew I had to try these. They did not disappoint.

So thank you Rachel. :) Thank you for miss-reading and putting the idea of Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms in my head. We loved it.

I made large Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Portobella Mushrooms and Smaller Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms. I loved the larger Portobella ones, while BigBear favored the smaller ones.

Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Makes about 10 Large Stuffed Portobella
(half for a smaller amount or small mushrooms)

What you need:

10 Portobella Mushroom Caps (steams removed)
4 tablespoons butter
8 oz Cream cheese
8 oz 2% Milk Velveeta Cheese
1 box mini shell pasta
4 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Cooking spray (I used a butter garlic spray)
salt

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Boil the pasta in lightly salted water for about 12 minutes. Drain.

Return pasta to pot and mix in cream cheese, Velveeta cheese and butter. Stir until melted and mixed well.

Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Spray each mushroom cap lightly with the spray.

Scoop the macaroni and cheese into the mushroom caps.

In a small bowl mix the panko and Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle onto the macaroni and cheese.

Bake at 350F for about 12 minutes. Mushrooms should be dark and tender and the panko should be a bit browned.

Remove from oven and place each mushroom onto a cooling rack to drain for just a few seconds.
(place a paper towel under the cooking rack to catch the mushroom juice)

Show us your favorite " Macaroni and Cheese Recipes " ;)

_______________________________________________________________________________

This Week's Cravings Upcoming Linky "THEMES"

Here is a complete list of the past and what's coming up next on THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS!

January 2nd - Let's Get Healthy... Healthy Meals and Snacks

January 9th - COMFORT FOOD: Soups and Casseroles

Janurary 16th - CHEESE LOVER DAY... YUMMY Cheese recipes

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.

This week's theme is: Macaroni and Cheese

Please only link recipes with our theme!

Banana S'more Popcorn Trail Mix

2011-12-22T13:11:00.002-05:00

{ Banana S'more Popcorn Trail Mix }

If you know anything about me, you know that I am a sucker for anything with the word "S'more" in it.

Campfire S'mores, S'more Cake, S'more Cupcakes, S'more Poptarts, S'more Hot Chocolate Mugs,
S'more Ornaments.... yes.. I have a collection of S'more Ornaments. It's True.

So S'more Popcorn Trail Mix. Yes. I love it as well.

I've seen S'more Popcorn around before without Bananas.

For some odd reason when I wanted to make this popcorn trail mix, I had the song " Mele Kalikimaka" stuck in my head and at that moment needed a bit a "Hawaii" in my life haha. So I grabbed the closet thing to Hawaii I have in Southern Virginia....Banana Chips. These yelled "tropical" for some reason. Perhaps it was the pictures of palm trees on the bag or the sunset. Not sure, but I'm glad it did :)

My S'more Popcorn NEEDED THEM.

So then, I'm looking at all the popcorn choices. Ok.. like the 3 choices. Butter, EXTRA Butter, or EXTRA EXTRA Movie Theater Butter.

Eeek.

OK, maybe those are kinda good once in a while watching a movie at the movie theater, but I don't want extra buttery greasy popcorn in my s'more trail mix.

So I went after the next best thing, brown paper bags and corn kernels.

Brown paper bags + corn kernels + microwave = beautiful low calorie non- greasy popcorn.

Banana S'more Popcorn Trail Mix
Makes about 12 cups

(Printable Recipe Here)

What you need:

1 cookie tray
1 Brown Paper Bag
1/2 cup dried Corn Kernels (they come in a bag, usually near the popcorn)
1 box Cinnamon square cereal (Cinnamon Toast Crunch)
1 bag mini marshmallows
1 bag banana chips
1 cup melted Milk or Dark Chocolate

What to do:

To make the popcorn:

Fill a brown lunch bag with 1/4 cup of corn kernels. Fold top of bag over 2 or 3 times. Place the brown bag into the microwave.

Heat for about 2 minutes. Listen to the corn popping, once the popping slows down remove the bag from the microwave and carefully open and dump popcorn out onto a cookie tray.

Melt the chocolate and drizzle it over the popcorn.

Stick the cookie tray into the fridge for about 10 minutes to harden the chocolate.

In a large bowl mix together the cereal, marshmallows, banana chips.

Remove the popcorn from the fridge and break apart. Toss into the bowl. Gently mix everything together.

**for more trail mix, try adding dried pineapple, nuts, or crasins.

I packaged up some in glass jars for a little treat for some special people for Christmas ;)

Roasted Mashed Potato Swirls

2011-12-19T20:05:00.003-05:00

{ Roasted Mashed Potato Swirls }

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party #60

The Theme is: Christmas Dinners and Holiday Food Traditions
(Please share with us your favorite Christmas Dinners and Holiday Food Traditions)

We have less than a week before Christmas is here. Wow... really... I thought I just got done cooking Thanksgiving.

This year we aren't really doing that much for Christmas. It's been a long hard year. We even opted out of having a real tree this year. (we just don't have the space here)

But we did set up my little blue ceramic tree that I made when I was 12.
HAHA

See that adorable Ornament? It's a Wooden German Ornament from Cat over at No Wooden Spoons.
It came in my Christmas card from her this year. I love it so much.

One thing that we will not hold back on though this year is our family Christmas dinner. I've been looking at different ideas for this years Christmas meal. I always like finding new ideas and recipes.

I love traditional foods that can be tweaked into new and different things. Like mashed potatoes. We have to have mashed potatoes at every big holiday meal.

Maybe it's a southern thing? I don't know.

I just know it has to happen. Not to mention, to me I want the sides more than the main dish haha.

Of course you never want to try a new recipe the day of Christmas, so that means I have to do some testing in the weeks beforehand.

So, that's what I did :)

These are a mix between my favorite loaded red skin mashed potatoes and The Pioneer Woman's Duchess Potatoes.

Roasted Mashed Potato Swirls

Makes 48 Mini Roasted Mashed Potato Swirls

What you need:

6-8 Medium red skinned potatoes

1 stick Butter

1 cup Milk

1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper
8 oz Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Bacon Bits
3 Eggs
2-4 tablespoons of panko bread crumbs

What to do:

Preheat oven to 375F.

Cube the red potatoes. Boil the cubes of red skinned potatoes for about 10 minutes or until tender.

Drain the potatoes and lay them out onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes. The potatoes should be tender but a little crisp on the outside.

Pour the roasted potatoes into a large bowl and mash.

Add butter, milk, grated parmesan cheese, cream cheese, bacon bits.

Mash well and taste. Add pepper and salt if needed.

Add 2 eggs. Stir well.

Scoop the potatoes into a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Pipe potato swirls into the mini muffin tin.

In a small bowl, whisk the remaining egg. Sprinkle the panko bread crumbs over the swirls. Drizzle the beaten egg over the swirls and the bread crumbs.

Bake at 375F for 10 minutes until tops start to crisp and brown a bit.

Remove from oven and let cool for a minute or two and then carefully remove from pan.

Show us your favorite " Christmas Dinners and Holiday Food Traditions " ;)

_______________________________________________________________________________

This Week's Cravings Upcoming Linky "THEMES"

Here is a complete list of the past and what's coming up next on THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS!

December 26th - Macaroni and Cheese

January 2nd - Let's Get Healthy... Healthy Meals & Snacks

January 9th - COMFORT FOOD: Soups & Casseroles

Janurary 16th - CHEESE LOVER DAY... YUMMY Cheese recipes

This is a BLOG Party hosted by From My Tiny Kitchen , MOMS CRAZY COOKING , Big Bears Wife , The Daily Dish and Veggie Converter .

If you are a regular link-up we're excited to see what you made this week. If you are new please read and follow the simple rules, so that everyone can enjoy the linky party! If you forget to follow the theme, your post will be deleted. Please don't feel hurt, just come back and link up a recipe that follows the theme. Thanks a million, we look forward to blogging with you!

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.

This week's theme is: Christmas Dinners and Holiday Food Traditions

Please only link recipes with our theme!

Pork Chops with Maple-Ginger Pan Sauce

2011-12-19T05:00:00.003-05:00

{ Pork Chops with Maple-Ginger Pan Sauce : Secret Recipe Club }

I really like the fact that Secret Recipe Club brings new blogs into life every month, blogs I may or may not have found and fallen in love with. Had it not been for Secret Recipe Club, I may not have met some wonderful blogging friends!

Sometimes you get a blog as "your assignment" that you may have seen but never really looked deep into, and then sometimes you get a blog in your e-mail as "your assignment" that you have loved for a while and already know that you're going to find something amazing to make for the challenge.

That was the case this month. :) I was given Christiane's blog Taking on Magazines.

I've been in love with this site for a while now. Not only for the recipes, but because of the way Christiane delivers each recipe. She gives what she loved about the recipe, what she didn't love and what she would do different next time.

She gave this recipe rave reviews and she had every right too! It was so good.

Maybe you're wondering about The Secret Recipe Club....

Amanda from Amanda's Cookin, has created an amazing Club called The Secret Recipe Club. We have a ton of members and 4 different "Groups".

We get to find new recipes each month and support other bloggers. It's a great club, that I love.

Find out more about it here .

Today is Group C's Reveal Day!

Groups A and B have already posted for December. You can see their recipes here:

Group A

Group B

Be sure to check them out! (And next Monday Group D will reveal their recipes!)

I choose Taking on Magazine's Pork Chops with Maple-Ginger Pan Sauce.
I changed up the amounts of some things and left a few out, but over all I think I stayed to pretty much the same. I also changed some of the directions to the way I made mine. ok.. so maybe I didn't stay the same, but I tried... I just had to go with some things I had on hand at home.

Pork Chops with Maple-Ginger Pan Sauce
(Over Rice with Mixed Vegetables)

Adapted a little from Taking on Magazine's Pork Chops with Maple-Ginger Pan Sauce

(Printable Recipe Here)

What you need:

4 thin boneless pork chops
1/2cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup chicken broth
4 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoon maple syrup
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons butter, more if needed
2 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon garlic powder

Optional: White Rice and Mixed Vegetables, I plated mine over white rice and mixed vegetables.

What you do:

Rinse the pork chops and pat dry.

In a shallow dish, mix the flour and 1 tablespoon of ground ginger.

In a separate bowl, mix the maple syrup, rum, and 1 tablespoon of ground ginger. Set Side.

Season both sides of the pork chops salt, pepper and garlic salt. Dredge the chops in the flour.
Set aside.

Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of butter, and melt.

Once the butter is melted and sizzling, place 2 pork chops into the skillet.

Cook the first side for about 2 minutes.

Turn the pork chops over and cook the other side until lightly golden and the meat is cooked through, should take another 2-3 minutes. (This will all depend on how thick the pork chop is)

Move the cooked chops to new clean plate and add the next 2 pork chops. Cook just like before.

Remove all of the pork chops from the pan once they have been cooked.

To the pan that they were cooking in, add the maple-rum mixture. Stir a bit and add the chicken broth. Simmer for about 4-5 minutes, tiring occasionally. (Do not let this burn)

Once the sauce has thickened just a little, turn the heat off.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To finish the dish off, I dunked each pork chop into the maple rum mixture for about 30 seconds, before plating on-top of mixed vegetable and white rice.

(leaving some of the sauce on the side in case anyone wanted extra)

Check out all the other awesome recipes from Group C below:

$3.00 Dinner - Edamame Parmesan Chicken Pasta

2011-12-15T17:08:00.010-05:00

{ $3.00 Dinner }

{ Edamame Parmesan Chicken Pasta }

There are 4 things that I am certain of in life right now.

#1. I love BigBear
#2. I love my Pups
#3. I love cooking, baking and writting about food
#4. I'm Poor

Man.... that sucks. It kinda sucks to say that,.....ok it really really sucks but at least I can admit it.
It didn't use to be like that.

Between hubby getting out of the military and his back problems, to him trying to go back to school, to him trying to find a job, I've been working again trying to make ends meet. I've been reading the news a lot about the average person, how much they make and how it's getting harder and harder to make it. I agree. Because most of these "average" people are making a heck of a lot more than I am.

I use to take money for granted, normal spending use to be on things like manicures and getting my hair done. Buying new outfits for summer and winter. Eatting at nice restaurants and going to the movie.
Somethings that are not normal anymore, this things are a luxury to us now.

But even with the lack of funds, I still think it's important to be able to feed myself and BigBear foods that are tasty, good for us (sometimes haha), and dont' always come out of a box or freezer section.

So the majority of any extra money I get goes to food.

And sometime I do get to splurge on things to make awesome meals.

One of the reason's I love being a part of the foodie community, is that I've learned so much about food, and cooking, learned tips and tricks and gathered ideas that will last me a life time.

But a lot times I have no money to "splurge" on food.
(makes food blogger a little hard haha)

So what about when I am a few days from payday, hungry and super broke?

Eat as cheaply as possible, that's what. haha

So for Under $3.00 and for 3 ingredients I bring to you:

Edamame Parmesan Chicken Pasta

OOO and did I mention that this is about 345 to 350 calories per serving :)

That's almost the same as those boxed frozen meals but taste so much better.

(I am aware that some people will not want to eat chicken from a can... I get it... I really really do.... sometimes you just have to do what ya gotta do lol)

What I used and Price:

Pasta Roni Parmesan Cheese Noodles -- $1.00
PictSweet Edamame -- .98 cents
Walmart Chuck Chicken Breast (rinses and drained) -- .98 cents

so... yeah.. it's not really a recipe... more like an idea.

Edamame Parmesan Chicken Pasta

Makes 2 Servings

What you need:

Pasta Roni Parmesan Cheese Noodles

Edamame beans (I used the kinda that you heat in the microwave from PictSweet)

Walmart Chuck Chicken Breast (rinses and drained)

Optional:

Salt, Pepper, Parsley

What to do:

Heat the Edamame and remove from the pods.

Open Chicken and Rise and drain.

Prepare the Pasta Roni according to the box's directions.

Before the sauce thickens add the chicken and edamame.

Stir and let sauce thicken.

Add salt, pepper and parley if desired.

Christmas Appetizer and White Cheddar Reindeer

2011-12-12T17:01:00.002-05:00

{ Christmas Appetizer and White Cheddar Reindeer }

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party #59

The Theme is: Christmas Appetizers and Party Platters
(Please share with us your favorite Christmas Appetizers and Party Platters)

"Christmas Christmas time is near
Time for joy and time for cheer
We've been good, but we can't last
Hurry Christmas, hurry fast"

Christmas is almost here! We have 12 days and a wake up before it's time to Celebrate.

But who says you can only celebrate on the 25th? Not I.

I celebrate the holiday all month long. That includes: The Festival of Lights, Christmas Shopping, Christmas Cookie Swaps, Tree Lightnings, Holiday Dinners and Holiday Parties.

When you're in charge of bringing a holiday dish to a party, most people want it to have a bit of a holiday feel.

Or maybe look like the holidays, taste like the holidays, something along those ideas.

For THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party I want to share with you a Christmas Appetizer Cheese and Ham Tray with White Cheddar Reindeers.

May not be the most elegant party tray, but it works for me.

Of course for the actual party I would add a lot more ham and a lot more cheese :)

Christmas Appetizer and White Cheddar Reindeer

Includes: White Cheddar Reindeer, Ham Rolls, and Festive Holiday Cheese Cutouts

For The White Cheddar Reindeer:

What you need:

Small Cheese Triangles

(I used the white cheddar triangles from Weight Watchers, in the section with the Babybel Cheese)

Mini Pretzels

Red Hots (or any small round red candy)

Chocolate Icing or round chocolate Sprinkles

What to do:

Carefully unwrap each cheese triangle.

Break the mini pretzels in half to create the antlers.

Press 1/2 of the pretzel into the top right of the cheese triangle and the other pretzel 1/2 into the top left of the cheese triangle.

Add the red hot (or any small round red candy) to the tip of the triangle for the nose.

Use chocolate icing for eyes.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the Festive Holiday Cheese Cut outs:

What you need:

Cheese slices

Holiday Cookie Cutters

What to do:

Place cheese slices on to a cutting board in a single layer and press holiday cookie cutter down onto cheese. Remove excess.

I used provolone cheese.

I know... that's easy, but It's really just the idea :)

Plus I made these Present Sandwich Breads for the tray as well. I just used French bread dough shaped in a square and baked until golden. They are perfect to make little sandwiches.

Show us your favorite "Christmas Appetizers and Party Platters" ;)

_______________________________________________________________________________

This Week's Cravings Upcoming Linky "THEMES"

Here is a complete list of the past and what's coming up next on THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS!

December 12th - Macaroni and Cheese

December 19th - Christmas Dinners and Holiday Food Traditions

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.

This week's theme is: Christmas Appetizers & Party Platters

Please only link recipes with our theme!

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Crasin Cookies

2011-12-12T00:00:00.009-05:00

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Crasin Cookies

for the

Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011

It's time for the 1st Annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, hosted by Julie of The Little Kitchen and Lindsay of Love and Olive Oil.

I am so excited to be a part of the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap this year! I love the food blogging community!

So what is the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap?

Back in November Bloggers from all over the world signed up to be a part of the 1st Annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap on Julie's site, The Little Kitchen and on Lindsay's site, Love and Olive Oil.

Then Julie and Lindsay mixed up all of the names up and secretly gave each blogger the names and addresses for 3 other bloggers.

Once we received our names, we were to start baking our cookies!

Each blogger baked 3 dozen cookies and packaged up 1 dozen for each name they received and shipped them off.

So I baked 3 dozen White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Crasin Cookies (ok, really I baked like 9 dozen... I had to share with family and friends after they found out what kind I was making), I packed them up and shipped them out. :)

Then I got 3 dozen cookies from 3 other wonderful bloggers!
(Ive got pictures of the cookies I got and links to their blogs at the end of this post)
THANK YOU!!!

So on December 12th, everyone participating in the 1st Annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap will post the recipe for the cookies they baked on their own blogs. Lindsay and Julie will be posting a full round-up of all the participating bloggers and their cookie recipes

I think there were about 625 Bloggers that are in this swap, so over the past few weeks... let's see... 625 bloggers... 3 dozen cookies each.... 22,500 cookies flying through the mail!!!

Lindsay and Julie will be posting a full round-up of all the participating bloggers and their cookie recipes shortly after the big reveal day!

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Crasin Cookies

What you need:

2 sticks butter (room temperature)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups white chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups chopped macadamia nuts

2 cups crasins (dried cranberries)

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

With a mixer, cream the butter and sugars together.

Add the vanilla.

Add the eggs, one at a time.

Mix well.

Mix in the flour, baking soda and salt.

Mix in the white chips and nuts and crasins.

Drop tablespoons of dough onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool for 2 minutes.

Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

These were some of the best cookies that I think I've ever made for the holidays. My family loved them. Not to mention I had to keep fighting Big Bear Off of them while I was trying bake them for the cookie swap.

My cookies went to: Katie's Cucina, Rosy girl baked goods, and Carrie's Sweet Life

Ooo yes :) the cookie swap. As you read above, we each had to send out 3 dozen cookies :) Well of course that mean that I got 3 dozen cookies in the mail from other bloggers :)

I LOVED ALL THREE of the types of cookies that showed up at my door. And yes I did share them :)

My first package to arrive was from

Courtney from Sweet Tooth Sweet Life

Courtney Made Black and White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies.

They came in a cute little cookie tin with a sweet little card!

My second package to arrive was from:

Jill from Home Sweet Hopkins

Jill made Tuxedo Brownie Hug Cookies.

They came in a red sack with snowflakes on it and a cute tub and handmade card!

My Third package to arrive was from

Tran from Think Tran

Tran Made made Rocky Road Cookies.

They came in a cute cookie tub with a sweet card, glittery ornament and homemade hot chocolate with peppermint marshmallows on a stick!

Thank you everyone!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I enjoyed this cookie swap so much! Can't wait to be a part of it next year!

Minnie Mouse Oreo Cookies

2011-12-10T00:00:00.004-05:00

{ Minnie Mouse Oreo Cookies }

A few weeks ago, My mom and I were able to go NC for Tara's Little girls birthday party.

Karter was turning 1!

You see Tara use to work for my parents, she worked in the office for almost 10 years. She became like a second daughter to my dad and mom.

When she got married a few years ago, Tara and her daughters moved to NC to live at a Military base where her husband was.

This year was their daughter's first birthday.

Jon is overseas.

:(

When we were at the party, they were able to bring Jon up on the webcam, so that he could be a part of his little girls birthday! He got to sing Happy Birthday to her and watch her blow out her candle and eat....play in cake. haha.

Her theme was Minnie Mouse.

I wanted to help make this birthday even more special for Miss Karter, and since I love making stuff for parties, I offered to help with some of the food.

I've got Minnie Mouse Oreo Cookies for you :)

Minnie Mouse Oreo Cookies

Makes 25

What you need:

25 Oreos (or a cookies like them)
25 Mini Oreos
Vanilla Icing
Red Melting Chocolate

What to do:

Twist and pull part each Oreo Cookie. Separate the Large and Small Oreos.

Each Mouse will have a total of 1 large Oreo and 1 small Oreo.

Take half of a large Oreo and add 2 small Oreo halves to the top for the ears. Add a dab of icing to the center of the Oreo, and place the other half of the Large Oreo on top. Hope that made sense.

(Looking at the pictures should give you an idea of what to do)

For the bows, I just put the melted red chocolate into a plastic bag and piped little bows onto wax paper. Let them cool and then peel them off, attach them to the Oreos with a dab of the melted chocolate.

For Mickey Mouse, Just don't add the bows :)

Snowmen Oreos

2011-12-08T18:53:00.004-05:00

{ Snowmen Oreos }

Chocolate Covered Oreos ... they can be fun, elegant, and festive.

Some stores even sale OREO chocolate molds so that OREOS can have all kinds of designs on them. Well those are really awesome, but I have a cute design for you that doesn't require any type of mold.

Here are some Snowmen Oreos that I made last year and wanted to share :)

Snowmen Oreos

What you need:

1 package Oreos
Melting Chocolates
--White
--Red
--Orange
--Chocolate

What to do:

Melt your white chocolate. Dip your Oreo's one at a time into the white chocolate. Lay on wax paper.

Once Hardened, dip top half into melted red chocolate for the hat.

Add Details with milk chocolate and orange :)

Let them rest for about 10 minutes to harden.

Dreamsicle Orange Punch

2011-12-08T00:00:00.013-05:00

{ Dreamsicle Orange Punch }

I've never really been a fan of punch at parties. I suppose it was the recipe they used.
I always felt like the punch was sucking the moister out of my mouth.

But when my cousin Melody found out she was expecting and I went into baby shower planning mode, I had to find a punch recipe for the party that would match the baby shower colors and not taste awful.

I looked a while, but then asked friends for help. My friend Judith sent me a recipe for punch, I made it for the baby shower, and that was the end.... it was a favorite.

Well this year when I was planning the Thanksgiving day menu, I knew I had to include this punch.
Meghan (my brother's girlfriend), loves this punch, so yeah, it ad to make an appearance.

But who wants green punch on Thanksgiving? No... It needed to match... color wise.

So I just changed up the flavor :)

Plus it's super super easy to make, so that's no big deal.

SO again, Thank you Judith!

Orange Punch / Sherbert Punch

Save this Orange Punch

1 quart Orange Sherbet

2 Liters of Sprite

Pour 1 liter of sprite into a large punch bowl.

To soften the Sherbet straight from the freezer, stick the carton (without the top on) into the microwave.

Heat the Sherbet in 30 second intervals until you can scoop the sorbet into the punch bowl.

Add the second liter of Sprite and stir!

Orange Punch!

Mod Podge Tissue Paper Ornaments

2011-12-05T15:23:00.002-05:00

{ Mod Podge Tissue Paper Ornaments }

I need no more sweets in this house. Ok.... well to be honest there have not actually been that many sweets staying in the house lately, and that a good thing, so I'd like to try and keep it that way.

So instead of another holiday sweet, I wanted to bring you an easy Holiday Gift Idea.

Not to mention I love to give Ornaments as gifts to my family. Personal Ornaments. Something that involves their hobbies, or favorite colors, maybe something that has to do with their favorite pet...ones that are like "Yes that was made or bought for me!" Ornaments.

I've been a fan of Mod podge for a while now, and when thinking of ideas, I was at a cross between my love of the Glitter Ornaments I made last Year, painted ornaments, and Ornaments with the tissues paper photo technique I used on my photo drink coasters a while ago.

But since I don't have a printer hooked up here, the pretty designed tissue paper was the next best thing.

The best thing about this project is that you can do any type of design that you can find in tissue paper (or paper napkins! those work too!)

A quick, easy, and inexpensive ornament.

Mod Podge Tissue Paper Ornaments

What you need:

Clear Glass Ornaments (from the craft store)

Decorative Tissue Paper (mines from the Dollar Store)
Mod Podge
Ribbon (optional)

What to do:

Cut the tissue paper into squares . I used about 1/2 a sheet on each ornament.

Cover the ornament in Mod Podge with a brush or with your fingers.

Carefully lay the tissue paper over the mod podged ornament.

Brush on another layer of mod podge and use your fingers to smooth out the tissue paper. Do this gently so that you do no rip the paper.

Hang (or turn upside down with top silver part removed) and let try. Should take about 12 or so hours.

Add ribbon.

Christmas Baking: Sweets, Treats, Candy and Gift Ideas

2011-12-05T00:00:00.003-05:00

{ Christmas Baking: Sweets, Treats, Candy and Gift Ideas }

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party #58

The Theme is: Christmas Baking: Sweets, Treats, Candy and Gift Ideas
(Please share with us your favorite Christmas Baking: Sweets, Treats, Candy and Gift Ideas)

For THIS WEEKS CRAVINGS I wanted to share a few of my favorite Christmas treats that I've made over the years.

I made a few of these as gifts and a few for holiday parties.

Click on each one for the Recipe :)

I think the Melting Snowmen and the Santa Chex Mix where my favorites!

Show us your favorite "Christmas Baking: Sweets, Treats, Candy and Gift Ideas" ;)

_______________________________________________________________________________

This Week's Cravings Upcoming Linky "THEMES"

Here is a complete list of the past and what's coming up next on THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS!

December 12th - Macaroni and Cheese

December 19th - Christmas Dinners and Holiday Food Traditions

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.

This week's theme is: Christmas Baking: Sweets, Treats, Candy and Gift Ideas

Please only link recipes with our theme!

Homemade Skillet Creamed Corn

2011-12-02T19:50:00.003-05:00

{ Homemade Skillet Creamed Corn }

When looking for side items for our Thanksgiving feast, I of course turned to some of my favorite food blogs. One of those blogs was Kevin and Amanda.

Amanda's blog was one of the first food blogs I ever read, and I fell in love with it . When I saw her recipe for Southern Skillet Corn, I knew I wanted to have that for Thanksgiving.

Mainly it is homemade creamed corn! Yes please.

I love anything that can be homemade, I mean sure you could by a can of creamed corn, heat it and pour it into a bowl. But I think that everything taste better when it is fresh and homemade.

Not to mention that within the last month I've really been into creamed corn. I get on little "food kicks" and this is one of them.

Like last for my last Secret Recipe Club reveal I made Kimberly's Creamed Corn Cornbread, and it became a family favorite right away!

It wasn't a lot of work and the results were worth the little work I did have to do.

Amanda says that you should cook this for 45 minutes. When I made it for Thanksgiving, I was using a gas stove and it only took it about 20 minutes to thicken, so I suppose it just depends on what type of heat you're using.

I also doubled her recipe because I was feeding about 15 people.

Homemade Skillet Creamed Corn
From Kevin and Amanda's Southern Skillet Corn