Taco Salad

As I mentioned in my post about Jordann's birthday, I made Taco salad for her dinner.

Here is the recipe for it



Ingredients:



1 Ib. Hamburger Meat

1 can Kidney Beans, drained

Bag of cheese

Lettuce, to your liking

Pico de Gallo, to your liking

Fritos

Taco Seasoning

Directions:

1. Brown Hamburger and season with taco seasoning.

2. Add in Kidney beans till warm.

3. Place hamburger & beans in big bowl, add cheese and mix together. Once cheese is melted add lettuce, Pico and Fritos.

Taco Seasoning:

1/2 tsp. Onion Powder

1 tsp. Paprika

1 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 tsp. Chili Powder

1 tsp. Red Pepper

1 tsp. Cumin

1 tsp. Jalapeno Pepper

Pico de Gallo:

1 medium tomato, diced

1 onion, finely chopped

1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

2 sprigs fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1. In a medium bowl, combine tomato, onion, jalapeno pepper (to taste,) cilantro. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir until evenly distributed. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cheese & Bacon Potato Rounds

A few weeks ago I found these yummy looking things on pinterest and just had to try them!. They turned out really good and we have made them one other time. :) We have added a new potato side to our recipe book. The second time we made they I put garlic butter on them to give them a little more flavor.



Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 whole potatoes depending on size and how many you want to make. I just used 1 big potato.
• Cheese
• Cooked Bacon
• Small amount of butter, melted
• Garlic Salt, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Brush potatoes with butter on both sides.
3. Place on un-greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until lightly brown. Turning them at half way.
5. Once potatoes are ready top with cheese & bacon. Bake another minute or so until cheese is melted.
6. Serve and Enjoy!

Mini Garlic Monkey Bread

I have been trying to get back into trying new recipes lately, I have missed cooking and trying new things. For a while there we were making different things each week, then it kinda stopped. I have been trying at least once a week to try something new. Let's see how long that last. LOL 

When I made spaghetti I also wanted to try these mini garlic monkey breads that I found on Pinterest. They looked so yummy and easy to make. They were very good but next time we make them we are going to use more garlic. There was a little garlic taste but I need more garlic favor to them. :) 

This was the mixture you tossed the biscuits in.

 The final outcome. I added butter and garlic to the top of them. Yum! 

Ingredients:

• 2 (7.5 oz) cans buttermilk biscuits
• 6 tbsp. butter, melted
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. dried parsley flakes
• 1/8  cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp Garlic salt

Directions:

1. Pre-Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut biscuits into 4 pieces and place in bowl.
3. Combine remaining ingredients together and pour over biscuits
4. Gently toss to evenly coat.
5. Use a greased 12-cup muffin tin and place 6-7 pieces in each cup.
6. Sprinkle the garlic salt on top.
7. Bake for 12-14 minutes
8. Serve warm

Makes 12 

Cranberry Sauce

A few years ago we were left with the task at Thanksgiving of bringing the cranberries. Well Shane didn't want to just get cranberries and dump them out of a can, so he went on a hunt for a good cranberry sauce recipe. And let me tell you he found the best one! This is requested as a must every year. It's super good. I recommend that everyone try it at least once!

Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

• 5 (3in) Cinnamon sticks
• 8 whole allspice berries
• 8 whole cloves
• 6 cups fresh cranberries (2 bags)
• 2 1/4 cups orange juice
• 4 Gala apples, peeled, cored and diced
• 4 Bosc pears, peeled, cored and diced
• 3 cups white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1. Place cinnamon sticks, allspice berries and cloves onto the center of an 8 inch square of cheesecloth. Gather together the edges of the cloth and tie with kitchen twine.
2. Place the sachet into large saucepan along with cranberries and orange juice
3. Bring to boil over heat and cook until berries burst, about 10mins
4. Stir in apples, pears, white sugar and brown sugar. Return to boil then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until apples and pears are slightly soft, 25mins
5. Remove and discard the spice sachet.
6. Pour into bowl and over
7. Refrigerate overnight
8. Serve cold

Green Bean Casserole

This year at Thanksgiving at my Grandma's I got asked to make the green bean casserole. I had no clue how to make this but everyone said it was very simple.

A girl I work with gave me her recipe she uses every year that is a big hit. So I decided to try this out. And it turned out to be great! :)

Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

• 3 cans french style green beans (Drained
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can French's dried onions
• 1 1/2 packages saltine crackers (Crushed)
• 1 small thing of Velveeta cheese (Sliced)
• Butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix the green beans and cream of mushroom soup together. Layer in a baking pan then layer with slices of Velveeta cheese.
3. In a bag crush the saltine crackers
4. In small pan/cup melt butter. I prolly used about 1/2 cup. You need just enough to cover the saltine crackers. Pour butter into baggie with crackers and mix together.
5. Spread the crackers over the green beans and cheese.
6. Bake for 30 mins and then cover with dried onions and bake another 5 mins or until brown..

Sorry I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of this done. I was in a hurry trying to get out the door.

Next time I will have one! :)

Sweet Potato-Pecan Casserole

This was the first time we made this recipe at Thanksgiving. Shane decided he wanted a sweet potato recipe so he found this casserole one. It turned out to be really good! I'm sure we will be having this again.

Sweet Potato-Pecan Casserole

• Cooking Spray
• 3 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• Kosher Salt
• 1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat over to 350 degress. Mist 8-inch baking dish with cooking spray
2. Bring a few inches of water to boil in a pot with large steamer basket in place. Put the sweet potatoes in the basket, cover and steam unit tender, 20-25 minutes. We didn't have a steamer basket so we just boiled the potatoes and it worked just fine.
3. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl and let cool slightly. Add the honey, egg, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, the nutmeg, ginger and 1/2 teaspoon of salt; whip with an electric mixer unitl smooth.
4. Spread the sweet potato mixture in the prepared baking dish.
5. Mix the brown sugar, pecans, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl, sprinkle over the potatoes. Bake unit hot and beginning to brown around the edges, 40-45 minutes.

Ingredients

Slow Cooker Stuffing

I mentioned a few weeks ago in my Thanksgiving post that I would post the recipes to all the yummy food that we made for our dinner. Now finally that I got some time to get these posted here is the first one I wanted to share.
Shane found this Slow Cooker Stuffing recipe. We decided to make this for the first time this Thanksgiving. We always had the problem in the past where we didn't have enough room in the oven or on the stove to keep everything warm. We thought this slow cooker recipe would be great since it cooks in the crock pot and would free up some space for us to cook other things. It turned out wonderful! I can't wait to make this again.

Slow Cooker Stuffing

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 12 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 12 cups dry bread cubes
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 1/2 cups chicken broth, or as needed
• 2 eggs, beaten

Directions

1. Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, celery, mushroom, and parsley in butter, stirring frequently.
2. Spoon cooked vegetables over bread cubes in a very large mixing bowl. Season with poultry seasoning, sage, thyme, marjoram, and salt and pepper. Pour in enough broth to moisten, and mix in eggs. Transfer mixture to slow cooker, and cover.
3. Cook on High for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to Low, and cook for 4 to 8 hours.

We had so much cooking to do I didn't have time to take a lot of pictures while making this.
This pictures is when it's completely done and ready to eat!