Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

I was trying to decide on an easy dessert for Easter and came across this recipe on Pinterest. It is so yummy, definitely not Paleo friendly, but it was yummy and worth it. Everyone loved it and raved about it. Definitely something I will make again, plus it is so easy.

Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars



Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) can crescent roll
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping
½ cup melted butter
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Unroll 1 can of crescent rolls and lay flat in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Stretch the rolls to cover the bottom of the pan. Pinch any seams closed.

3. In a mixing bowl combine cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla until combined and smooth. Spread this over top of the crescent roll.

4. Unroll your remaining can of crescent rolls and lay this on top of the cream cheese mixture, again, pinching closed any open seams.

5. Pour your melted butter on top of the crescent roll. In a bowl mix the remaining sugar and tablespoon of cinnamon together and sprinkle that evenly on top of butter.

6. Bake for 30 minutes until top is golden brown. Let cool for approximately 20 minutes and then put in refrigerator to completely chill before cutting into squares.

Source: Cookies and Cup

Easter Dinner 2013

For Easter Dinner I made roast beef and a chimichurri sauce to go along with it. It was a tasty little sauce. Every thing was paleo friendly

Roast Beef

 


Ingredients

2 1/2 lbs. boneless rump roast at room temperature (round roast or sirloin tip will work)
1-2 tbsp. olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup beef stock
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried tarragon
1 tsp. dried rosemary

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Make several (8-10) small incisions (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep) around the meat and then insert a slice of garlic into each. Place the roast, fat side up, on a rack over a roasting pan. Pour water and beef broth into the pan (not over the roast) to very lightly cover the bottom of the roasting pan.

3. Rub the roast with olive oil until coated. Sprinkle salt, pepper and herbs all over the roast and spread to evenly coat with your hands.

4. Place in the oven and roast for 45 minutes (or until temperature in the deepest part of the roast registers 125 degrees). Do not open the oven during these 45 minutes to baste or check on the roast.

5. After 45 minutes, reduce heat to 250 degrees and cook an additional 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until thermometer reads 135 degrees. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes.

6. Remove the slices of garlic, if desired. Slice across the grain in very thin slices.

Source: A Sweet Pea Chef

Chimichurri Sauce

 


Ingredients

1 1/2 C chopped parsley
1 1/2 C chopped cilantro
1/2 C loosely packed oregano leaves*
2 T fresh lime juice
1 T red wine vinegar
3 T chopped garlic (6-7 cloves)
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1 t kosher salt
1/4 t black pepper
1/2 C extra virgin olive oil

*Fresh is best, but if you don’t have access to fresh oregano, you could use fresh cilantro and parsley and add in 1 Tbs plus 1 tea dried oregano leaves.

Directions

1. Place parsley, cilantro, oregano, lime juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Pulse several times until finely chopped.

2. Transfer to a bowl and throw in some red pepper flakes

3. And then stir in the extra virgin olive oil by hand. Don’t put the olive oil in the food processor because you run the risk of turning the entire sauce bitter.

Source: Our Best Bites

Balsamic Mustard Chicken and Roasted Veggies

I am doing the Whole Life Challenge once again and enjoying the Paleo recipes that I find. I tried this one and it was very yummy.



Balsamic Mustard Chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breast (each cut in half long way)
1/4 cup Balsamic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of minced (or chopped) garlic
2 1/2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Place them in a ziplock bag add the balsamic, extra virgin olive oil, spicy brown mustard and garlic. Zip up the bag and massage the chicken in the bag to ensure it all gets coated nicely! place in the refrigerator and let marinade for as long as you want (mine marinated for about 3 hours, the longer the better).

2. Heat a medium size sauce pan on medium high heat and let the pan get nice and hot! Place chicken breast in the pan and brown on both sides. Once you have browned both sides you can turn your heat down just a little to about medium and add in some of the marinade juices cover with a lid and let the juices reduce down in the pan with the chicken. Occasionally checking on the chicken and stirring around the sauce to make sure to pick up all the yummy chicken bits on the bottom of the pan until the chicken is fully cooked and no longer pink on the inside (you can flip the chicken one more time if you would like).




Oven Roasted Bacon Veggies

11 strips of your favorite bacon (one package)
3 zucchini’s (4 if they are smaller)
1/2 lb of Brussels sprouts
extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cut your bacon into bit size pieces and fry them up till they are nice and crispy.  Set them aside.

2. Cut the Brussels sprouts in half place on a cookie sheet  that is already covered in foil (easy clean up!!).  Next cut the end of of your zucchini’s cut them in half length wise then cut them into half circle shapes and place them on your cookie sheet with your Brussels sprouts.

3. Drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven at 350 for about 20-30 minutes or until they are starting to get a little golden brown color to them and the Brussels sprouts are tender.

4. For the last 5 minutes you can add your bacon on top of your veggies just to rewarm your bacon. When the veggies are done take them out and sprinkle them with salt and pepper to taste.

Source: Everyday Paleo

Baked French Toast

For Christmas breakfast, I made some Baed French Toast. What I loved about this recipe was that I could prepare it the night before and then just stick it in the oven the next morning. Plus, it is just really yummy. It makes a lot, but is even yummy the next day.



Prepped the night before.



Baked French Toast

Ingredients

1 loaf Crusty Sourdough Or French Bread
8 whole Eggs
2 cups Whole Milk
1/2 cup Whipping (heavy) Cream
3/4 cups Sugar
2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract

Topping
1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
1/2 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 stick Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces
Fresh Fruit (optional)

Preparation Instructions

1. Grease 9 x 13-inch baking pan with butter. Tear bread into chunks (or cut into cubes) and evenly distribute in the pan.

2. Mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread. Cover tightly and store in the fridge several hours or overnight.

3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add nutmeg if desired. Add butter pieces and but into the dry mixture until mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in a Ziploc in the fridge.

4. When you're ready to bake the casserole, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove casserole from oven and sprinkle crumb mixture over the top. (If you're using fruit, sprinkle on before the crumb mixture.) Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more bread pudding texture. Bake 1 hour or more for a firmer, less liquid texture.

5. Scoop out individual portions. Top with butter and drizzle with maple syrup.

Recipe Source: Pioneer Woman

White Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies

I had to start my holiday baking a little early so that I could get gifts out to Baby Bear's teachers and my students and co-workers. So last week, I baked 18 dozen cookies and this week, I have more to bake. These cookies are really yummy and festive looking with the peppermint M&Ms. I love the peppermint and it is even better as M&Ms.



Cookies packaged and ready to go.


 

White Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 bag white chocolate peppermint M&Ms

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a seperate bowl and set aside.

2. Cream butter, oil, and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy.

3. Add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Do not overmix.

4. Stir in white chocolate chips. Spoon onto cookie sheet. Add 3-4 M&Ms.

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Makes 3-4 dozen.

Source: Adapted from Lil' Luna

Monkey Bread Muffins

We were having a little celebration at our early morning meeting with graduate students at work and I decided to make a little breakfast treat. I had pinned this recipe on pinterest and have been dying to try it. I did a test run and made it for the family on Sunday morning. I receive the seal of approval on this one. It is just so easy and quick to make which makes it a keeper. No mixing or measuring involved. I used buttermilk biscuits in a can and it couldn't be any easier. The kiddo could help me out with this as well as she loved to sprinkle the cinnamon into each muffin.



Monkey Bread Muffin

Ingredients

Leftover Bread Dough (or Refrigerated Biscuit Dough)
Butter
Sugar
Ground Cinnamon
Sweetened, Condensed Milk

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add 1/2 teaspoon butter to muffin tins. Sprinkle in sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough into walnut sized balls (or cut refrigerated biscuit dough into thirds). Place three into each muffin tin.

Top with 1/2 teaspoon butter. Sprinkle on more sugar and cinnamon. Allow dough to rise, if applicable, or just go ahead and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.

Remove from oven and immediately drizzle plenty of sweetened condensed milk over the top of each one. Be generous! Allow rolls to sit for a little while to absorb sweet, sticky milk.

Source: Pioneer Woman

Paleo Beef Stew and Mashed Cauliflower

I have been wanting to try to make some mashed cauliflower as a substitute for mashed potatoes and decided to pair it with a beef stew that was Paleo friendly since I happened to have all the ingredients on hand and wanted to bust out my crockpot. It was a perfect meal for a cold day.




Paleo Hearty Beef stew

Ingredients:

1.5 lb stewing beef
1 cup beef or chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
4 celery stalk, chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
6 mashed cloves of garlic
1 can of tomato paste
Trader Joe’s 21 Salute seasoning and other seasonings
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Put veggies in pot, then add meat on top of veggies.
2. Season generously with salt, pepper, and seasonings.
3. Mix together soup stock and tomato paste. Pour over meat & vegetables in crockpot and stir to combine. Cook on low for 7 hours.



Mashed Cauliflower



Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp sea salt
2 tablespoons grassfed butter
¼ cup of coconut milk
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Wash the cauliflower, remove leaves and bottom of stem and cut into large florets. Peel the garlic cloves. Place the florets and garlic cloves in a steamer basket inside a large stock pot with an inch or two of water. Salt liberally. Steam until soft (~10 minutes). You won’t over cook it.
2. Drain in a colander and place into food processor. Add pepper nutmeg, and butter.
3. Process everything until smooth.

Source: Beef Stew adapted from Everyday Paleo; Mashed Cauliflower adapted from Nom Nom Paleo

Paleo Chocolate Chili

It was a nice cool day and I decided to make some chili. I found this Paleo Chili recipe that used cocoa powder and thought that was a little different and gave it a try. I added some carrots and celery that I had received from my fruit and veggie deliver the other day. I also added kidney beans since I had some on hand, so it was not totally Paleo. It would have been fine without the beans as well. A recipe that is a definite keeper.

Paleo Chocolate Chili
Prep 20 min | Cook 2-3 hours | Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 large red onions, diced (about 2 cups)
4 cloves garlic, minced (about 4 teaspoons)
2 pounds ground turkey
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon ground allspice (I used Traders Joe's 21 Salute Seasoning)
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrots
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes w/ juice
1 can (14.5 ounces) beef broth (I used chicken broth)
½ cup water

Directions:

1. Heat a large, deep pot over medium-high heat, then add the coconut oil. When the oil is melted, sauté veggies and add onions, stir and cook until onions are translucent, about 7 minutes. Add garlic and as soon as it’s fragrant, about 30 seconds, crumble the ground meat into the pan, mixing with the spoon to combine. Continue to cook the meat, stirring often, until it’s no longer pink.

2. In a small bowl, crush the oregano between your palms to release its flavor, then add the chili powder, cumin, cocoa, allspice, black pepper, and salt. Combine with a fork, then add to the pot, stirring like you mean it. Add tomato paste and stir until combined, about 2 minutes.

 3. Add the tomatoes with their juice, beef broth, and water to the pot. Stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat so the chili enjoys a gentle simmer. Simmer uncovered for at least two hours. Do not skimp on the simmer! Serve in deep bowls with big spoons.


Source: Adapted from The Clothes Make the Girl (From cookbook: Well Fed: Paleo Recipes For People Who Love To Eat)

Banana Crumb Muffins

I volunteered to bake some muffins for Baby Bear's Preschool Harvest Sale. I decided to bakes some banana muffins since I had a bunch of bananas. Baby Bear really enjoyed the muffins!



Banana Crumb Muffins

Ingredients:
For the muffins:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, melted

For the topping:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°. Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

 In a large bowl, mix together 1½ cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, cinnamon and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Source: Annie's Eats

Cayenne-Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa

I was in search of something to do with the really ripe avocado I had and this was a really tasty recipe from Martha Stewart. I wish I had taken a picture, but it was just so good I forgot.

Cayenne-Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Ingredients

Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, (6 to 8 ounces each)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 Hass avocado, pitted and cut into chunks

Directions

In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cayenne; rub all over chicken.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add chicken, and cook until browned on the outside and opaque throughout, 8 to 10 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine onion and lime juice; set aside. Just before serving, fold avocado chunks into onion mixture; season with salt and pepper. Serve chicken topped with salsa.

Recipe Source: Martha Stewart

Paleo Banana Muffins

So I have been doing a challenge that has me on a Paleo-like diet, which means no dairy, no grains, and no sugar. Well I have been craving some baked goods and went on a search for a Paleo muffin recipe. This one fit the bill and turned out pretty good.




Paleo banana muffins

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
3 eggs
4 Tbsp butter (or coconut oil)
splash of vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups almond meal
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place muffins cups in muffin tin and set aside.
 
In a large bowl, sift together almond meal, sea salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, mashed the bananas, then add eggs, softened butter, and vanilla – mix well.

Add dry ingredients little by little into the wet ingredients. Add in chopped pecans. Stir until combined. 

Fill the baking cups about 3/4 full. Bake muffins for 15 minutes or insert a toothpick into the center and if it comes out clean.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes and enjoy!


Recipe Source: Adapted from Frisky Lemon Nutrition

Chocolate Birthday Cake

For my father-in-law's birthday, Baby Bear wanted to bake a cake. She wanted to bake him a chocolate cake. I have been trying out a lot of cake recipes from scratch, but found this recipe that doctors up a box recipe and since I had much of the ingredients already on hand I decided to give it a try. He requested whip cream frosting and so the birthday boy got what he wanted.

It was a very yummy cake for sure. I love the whipped cream frosting with the moist chocolate cake. Very yummy.



The Best Chocolate Cake Ever

1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 small pkg Jello instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a very large bowl, mix together everything except chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into cake pan of choice (I normally use two 9-inch pie pans). For cooking time, I use the cooking times on the back of the devil’s food cake box as a guide and usually add 10 mins to whatever it says. Then I do the toothpick check, and if it’s not done, I check on it every 5 mins after that. It usually takes around 45 mins for two, 9-inch pie pans.

Whipped Cream

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla or vanilla paste
pinch of salt
2 cups heavy cream

When cake is cooled, place cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk at medium high speed until light and fluffy for about 1-2 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low and add heavy cream in a slow steady stream. When almost fully combined, increase speed to medium high and beat until mixture holds stiff peaks, 2 to 3 minutes more.  You should have a total of about 4 1/2 cups of the cream mixture when finished.

Recipe Source: Cake - http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dessert/the-best-chocolate-cake.html
Whipped Cream Frosting - What's Cooking, Chicago?

Vanilla Cake

Earlier this month, we volunteered to donate a cake for the cake walk at Baby Bear preschool fundraiser event. I decided to make a vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting. The thing is I have no idea if the cake was any good since, I never had the chance to sample it. I hope that whoever won the cake enjoyed it. I thought that it was the prettiest cake I've ever made.

I followed the directions to decorate the cake with the petal effect from Glorious Treats blog. I think it came out really nicely. The photo was take before the sprinkles that Baby Bear added.

Vanilla Cake

2 1/2 cups cake flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (or 2 teaspoons extract, and 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste)

1 cup oil (vegetable, canola, or extra light olive oil)

1 cup buttermilk (can be made with 1 cup milk and 2 teaspoons vinegar or lemon juice, add acid to milk and set aside for 5 minutes before use)

Directions-

* Preheat oven to 350*F.

* Prepare cake pans (line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper, butter and flour the sides of the pans)

* In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together with whisk, and set aside.

* In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds. Add vanilla and oil, beat.

* Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture. Add half of the milk, then the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk. Beat until just combined. Scrap down the side of the bowl.

* The batter will be thin. Pour batter into prepared cake pans.  

* Bake cakes until cake is slightly domed, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only moist crumbs, no wet batter.  Depending on the size pans you use (6", 8" or 9"), the baking time will vary between 22-30 minutes. 

* Cool cakes about 10 minutes in pans, then remove from pans.  Wrap warm cakes in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil and place in freezer about 20 minutes.  This will help them cool fully, but stay nice and moist.

* Frost as desired when fully cool.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

½ cup (1 stick/8 Tablespoons) butter (set at room temp about 10 minutes, but should still be cool)
8 oz. cream cheese (directly from fridge)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (always use pure vanilla extract if possible)
4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
1 to 4 Tablespoons heavy cream, heavy whipping cream (or milk- although I do like the richness that cream adds)

Directions:
*Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.
*Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
*Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don't add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)
*Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
*Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)

Recipe Source: Cake - Glorious Treats
Frosting - Glorious Treats

Stove top Mac and Cheese

Decided the other day to try a stove top mac and cheese recipe, something easy. This was a pretty good recipe and easy to whip up. I added some peas to make it a little "healthier."  Haha, like mac and cheese can be healthy.



Stove Top Mac-n-Cheese 

Ingredients

1/2 pound elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
6 ounces evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
10 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded

Directions

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Return to the pot and melt in the butter. Toss to coat.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir into the pasta and add the cheese. Over low heat continue to stir for 3 minutes or until creamy.

Recipe Source: Alton Brown

Sangria

I decided I wanted to make some Sangria for Easter. I love sangria ever since I first had it while I studied abroad in Spain while in college. I looked through pinterest for different recipes and settle on a very simple one. It was quite good.



Sangria

1 bottle red wine, chilled
lemon juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar ((or less..to taste))
1/2 lemon, sliced
1/2 lime, sliced
1 small orange, sliced
1/2 cup strawberries, cut in half
10 oz. ginger ale

Directions:
Pour bottle, or three cups, of wine into large pitcher. Stir in sugar, orange juice, and a few squirts of lemon juice.

Take sliced lemon, lime, & orange and put into pitcher. Stir.

Let chill in refrigerator for several hours, or overnight.

Just before serving, add strawberries & ginger ale.

Recipe Source: Adapted from Oh Sweet Joy!

The original recipe calls for club soda but other recipes I looked at used ginger ale and I like ginger ale so I went with that instead. I also didn't have any orange juice on hand, so I used a tropical juice that I already had.

Easter 2012: Easter Egg Rice Krispie Treats

Baby Bear and I made some Rice Krispie Treats for our Easter Celebration. She really loved them.



Inspired by various pins found on Pinterest, we made them into Easter eggs shapes and added a little stick and dipped them into chocolate and gave them some sprinkles for fun.

Easter 2012: Potato Rounds

Another recipe that I found on Pinterest. Simple and a good side dish. The original recipe calls for bacon, but I totally forgot to prepare the bacon, so I went without it. It was very good and I imagine with bacon it would be really good. We will have to make it with bacon next time.



Potato Rounds

Ingredients

4 baking potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/4 cup melted butter
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onions

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Brush both side of potato slices with butter; place them on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned on both sides, turning once.

When potatoes are ready, top with cheese, and green onion; continue baking until the cheese has melted.

Recipe Source: Adapted from All Recipes (Bookmarked via Pinterest)

Easter 2012: Prime Rib and Roasted Veggies

The main course was prime rib. No special recipe since I bought the meat already marinated with seasoning from Costco. It was easy and so yummy.



Prime Rib

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Bake the roast uncovered in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, decrease the heat to 200 and continue cooking the roast uncovered for about 20-30 minutes per pound.

Remove roast from oven and allow it to rest at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before carving.

Roasted Vegetables

Preheat oven to 350. On a lightly greased baking sheet, place all vegetables on single layer. Drizzle vegetables with Italian Salad dressing (I often prepare the night before). Bake vegetables for 30 minutes until slightly al dente (or preferred softness).

Easter 2012: Deviled Eggs

We used the eggs that we colored for Easter the day before to make deviled eggs. I made them more festive by giving them little chick faces something that I had seen around Pinterest. I use olives for eyes and bits of carrots for the beak. Fun and yummy.



Ingredients

12 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover with enough water that there's 1 1/2 inches of water above the eggs. Heat on high until water begins to boil, then cover, turn the heat to low, and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and leave covered for 14 minutes, then rinse under cold water continuously for 1 minute.

Crack egg shells and carefully peel under cool running water. Gently dry with paper towels. Slice the eggs in half lengthwise, removing yolks to a medium bowl, and placing the whites on a serving platter. Mash the yolks into a fine crumble using a fork. Add mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper, and mix well.

Evenly disperse yolk mixture into the egg whites. Sprinkle with paprika and serve.

Recipe Source: adapted from Food Network (bookmarked via Pinterest)

Easter 2012: Bacon and Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

This was a huge hit! How can you go wrong with cream cheese and bacon. I will be making this again. In fact, my father-in-law already requested that I make it for his birthday in May.



Ingredients

8 oz bacon
1/2 cup finely minced sweet onion
1 clove garlic, minced
16 oz white button mushrooms
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Using scissors or a sharp knife, cut raw bacon into small pieces. In a large saute pan, over medium heat, cook bacon until nice and crispy. While bacon is cooking, remove mushroom stems from caps and chop stems into small pieces. When bacon is done, remove from pan and set aside; reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease and pour the rest from pan. Saute onion until soft about 5 minutes, scraping up any brown bits on bottom of pan. Add chopped mushrooms stems and garlic and cook a few minutes longer. Reduce heat to low. Add cream cheese and Parmesan cheese and stir until cheeses are melted. Add reserved chopped bacon and season to taste with salt and pepper. (Mixture can be made, cooled, and stored, covered, in the fridge for up to two days.) Remove mixture from heat and stuff each mushroom cap generously with mixture. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes or until mushrooms are soft and filling is nice and hot.

Recipe Source: Mountain Mama Cooks (bookmarked via Pinterest)