Cheesy Sausage and Potato Casserole‏

Saturday night was a blast! It was my girlfriends annual joint birthday party, Maggie and Nessa, and it was so much fun. I did not take pictures (duh!) and even if I had I wouln't be posting them on this post. What happens at the birthday party stays at the birthday party, lol. Anyhow, the point I am getting to is that I am a firm believer in eating before you go drinking. Some people are and some people aren't, I find that it saves me from a Jack-in-Box drive through mishap at 1 or 2 a.m. in the morning. (Now to anyone who is thinking that I drive while intoxicated you are wrong, my husband does not drink, not a sip, ever!, so he would have been the above said driver in the above said scenerio. Just saying.)

I knew I wanted and truly needed something simple and quick to make for supper. My older brother was over because he was taking advantage of the designated driver and my couch that night. So I also knew that I had two men to feed. Enter Cheesy Sausage and Potato Casserole. (Of course we used venison pan sausage as we have just picked up this years batch from the processors.) This recipe was found over at Lisa's blog The Cutting Edge of Ordinary on yet another amazing culinary blog adventure.


Cheesy Sausage and Potato Casserole‏
adapted from Cheesy Kielbasa and Potato Casserole‏

‏1 pound of breakfast sausage
1 bag (20 ounces) frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, plus extra for the top
1 cup sour cream
1 medium onion, chopped
2 small cans mushrooms, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with cooking spray.

In a skillet brown the sausage. Add the chopped onions and cook with sausage until the onions cook clear. Add the mushrooms and cook until warmed. Transfer to a large bowl.

To the bowl add in the cheese, sour cream, hashbrowns and salt and pepper and stir gently to combine. Spread into the greased pan.

Bake about 25 minutes, then top with some cheese and cook for another 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.



You can tell from the pictures that the cheese on top looked a bit crisp and it was hence the fact that I put on the recipe to put the cheese on top for the last 15 minutes. This is one that I am going to keep playing with perhaps add a can of cream of something next time. Despite my want to play around with it the recipe itself was very good and I would gladly eat it if it were served the exact same way.

Yummy once more,

BBQ'd Pork Ribs

Ever since I met my Husband he had been telling me about his grilling abilities. When we were dating we always went out to eat or had dinners at either of our parents houses. Even when we moved in together into our old apartment (I've only been moved out of the apartment for a week tomorrow and I am already referring to it like we lived there years ago) we weren't allowed to have a pit, although truth be told it wouldn't have fit anyway, BCakes has an enormous grill. The week before we moved into the new house he got the grilling bug and on the very first day we offically moved in he lit the pit. The result? He wasn't fibbing, the man can grill.

Now I don't know much about grilling and well, I don't even know the recipe, neither does he since he just did a little of this and a little of that, so this post is more of a shareing post and an eyewitness account of what I saw him doing. Bear with me here. (grin)


BBQ'd Pork Ribs

Rack of Pork Ribs, thawed
BBQ Sauce (Sweet Baby Rays Honey BBQ Sauce)
Shaker of BBQ Seasoning Blend

Place thawed ribs into a shallow baking dish and sprinkle on seasoning blend and some BBQ sauce. Set in fridge and let sit overnight.

The next morning fire up the pit, we use charcoal and get the heat up to the optimal temp. for grilling ribs (he hasn't answered the phone yet so I don't even know the correct temp to put here, as soon as I do I will come and edit this).

Once your heat is right place the ribs onto the grill and brown/sear it until the outside it cooked.

Now wrap the ribs in foil, and add some more BBQ sauce in there too, wrap it up and put back on grill, shut the lid and let it cook all day long (around a temp. I will disclose later today).

That's pretty much it. When he took them off the pit that night they were smokey and sweet. The man can cook.


Speaking of the man, when I told him I wanted to take a picture of the ribs for the blog he smiled big and held the plate up. How could I not?


I promise to come back here tonight and put the correct temps and cooking time.

XOXO,

Honey Glazed Curry Chicken

So we're all settled in, for now, there are so many things we still have to purchase but enough about all that, this blog is all about what's going on in the kitchen. On with the show...

This is not the first meal we cooked/enjoyed in the new house. No, infact BCakes BBQ'd some pork ribs on Saturday. It was sooooo good. You guys BCakes hardly ever cooks. (why does he need to, I Love Cooking!) I have heard since first meeting him about his grilling skills but never actually tasted, because our apartment porch was #1 too tiny and #2 grills were not allowed, his skills. (I know, I married him anyhow, risky!) But now that we have a back patio to store his big ol' grill it has been placed, lovenly cleaned and has now grilled for us. I do intend to post his recipe but we have dial-up *gasp* at the new house so I apparently have to upload pictures at work now. Damn Dial-Up, I don't know how long I can survive with it! So be looking for BCakes recipe to be on here soon.

I found this recipe, once again, on the world wide web. Actually let me be more specific it is from Kara's Kitchen Creations, I just recently found her and I must say she is one heck of a cook.

This chicken dish is wonderful even though you have to flour it (despise breading things, it's messy and I have a clean hand complex), poor Baby Cakes never gets fried foods in our house. Anyway back to the chicken, it is soooo yummy and gooey. Every ingredient in this recipe lends something to the dish. Even I cocked my head when I read 1/2 cup lemon juice and the soy sauce yuck but somehow some magic happens while it's baking and it turns out ah-maze-ing!

Go on cook this for dinner tonight and while your at it spend a little time over at Kara's Kitchen.

Oh and almost forgot, BCakes gave this one 2 thumbs up!


Honey Glazed Curry Chicken
adapted from Honey Glazed Chicken

1 stick butter, melted
1 cup flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp red pepper flakes
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp curry powder

Preheat oven to 350°.

Melt butter and pour into a 9x13" pan.

Mix flour, salt, and the red pepper flakes in a shallow dish.

If you choose to, half each chicken breast and then pound it out about an inch or so thick. Coat the chicken in flour mixture, one at a time, dip the chicken into the melted butter and then back into the flour. Make sure to do both sides.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for about 20 minutes.

Mix remaining ingredients (honey, brown sugar, lemon juice, curry, soy sauce) in a saucepan and heat until bubbleing.

Pour this sauce over the halfway cooked chicken and then continue baking for 30-45 minutes, basting every 15 minutes or so.


We enjoyed this dish, and I do not say enjoyed lightly, along side some mixed veggies as you can see in the picture and BCakes had some french fries, although I did sneak some fries too, as you can once again see in the picture.

Make it!,

Kool-Aid Pie

Because Baby Cakes and I are in the process of moving into our new house I had to find something easy to make and take to Easter this year. It didn't take very long to find something thanks to the wonderful cook over at Mommy's Kitchen. Another lady you must check out if you haven't.

Anyway this pie is creamy, smooth, flavorful and cold. They are great. I made a Strawberry and a Pineapple but my favorite is the Strawberry. There are so many options think of all the diffrent kinds of Kool-Aid.

Strawberry Kool -Aid Pie

1 - 8 ounce tub of Cool Whip Whipped Topping
1 - 14 ounce can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 - pack of Kool -Aid (unsweetened)
1 - 9 inch Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Add all the ingredients together and pour into a prepared graham cracker crust. Chill about 2 hours then serve.

I actually froze mine and then the day before I needed it took it out of the freezer.

I took 2 to my husbands Nanny's house and tomorrow I'll be taking 2 my to my parents house. So busy!


Yummy,

Plum Chicken over Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Today was a beautiful day. The hubs woke me up early with the smell of sausage and eggs cooking. (That's right ladies eat your hearts out, not only does my husband hunt and gather he cooks and cleans too. How I got him I don't know. Seriously.) So anyway after the not so good looking but actually quite tasty breakfast that I didn't have to cook the hubs took me, wait for it, garage saleing. I know!

We haven't been in quite some time what with buying a house and all but I had cash in my pocket, money to burn. I found 4 things but nothing I was looking for, I found 2 recipe books, a book about low maintenance gardens and a very heavy cast iron outdoor candle holder (keep the skeeters away). Baby Cakes found a deer feeder and an old glass coleman lantern, he looooovvvesss old coleman lanterns, I don't even know how many he has. The truth is it doesn't even matter if we found a thing to buy it's just one of our favorite things to do. Spring really is for lovers.

After all he had done for me today I decided to cook him some dinner to show my appreciation, I say that because I am usually off on fridays and saturdays. Remember Black Cherry Chicken over Sweet Potatoes well this evening I made a version with plum jelly instead of black cherry jelly. So without further ado Plum Chicken over Mashed Sweet Potatoes...


I know it looks just like the other but the taste is so not like the other. If you want to try it just click on, well click this and make it with that recipe only with plum instead of black cherry. (I also pounded out the chicken this time to cut down on cooking time.)


Baby Cakes likes this one over the other. I like both, I'll let you decide for yourself which one you like. Check check check it out (trying to rap there, gosh I am so caucasian).

Until next time,

Chocolate "Cheat" Cake

Okay, get ready y'all, I know this looks like any old ordinary chocolate cake but it's not. It's stealthy. There's no way to know by just looking at it. It is the only chocolate cake that I have ever made and fallen madly in love with. (I have a confession- I am not a chocolate person. Crazy I know. Occasionally I'll drink chocolate milk or eat a truffle but that's about it. Bringing me to the reason why I love this cake sooooo much...) The icing on this baby tastes just like the inside of a Lindt Truffle (please tell me you've had one of these before, Please?!!). In fact I am thinking I could probaby chill this icing and scoop out little balls of goodness, dunk them in a chocolate coating and serve them as truffles. But you know what? Who cares about any of that stuff... you have to make this cake. I promise all of you, that everyone, will love it!

It's called a Chocolate "Cheat" Cake because all we are doing is jazzing up a boxed cake mix (I won't tell if you won't) with some pudding and sour cream. The pudding makes it super moist and I don't know a single person who doesn't love a moist cake. The cake could survive on it's own but when pared with this icing, oh lord forgive me for I know not what I do. Yes, it's that good. Baby Cakes took a spoon to it telling me sarcastically all the while that "it's no good, you shouldn't use this on the cake, I'll get rid of it (with his what you looking at pretty boy smirk)". He's silly but he's cute and gosh darn it I like him.

Now on with the show, drum roll please...

Chocolate "Cheat" Cake


Ingredients

1 (18 oz.) box of any Chocolate Cake Mix
1 (4 oz.) box of any Chocolate Instant Pudding Mix
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
4 large eggs

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F and grease you sheet pan.

Put all of the ingredients into the bowl of your mixer, or just any big bowl, and mix on low for about a minute. Scrape down the sides of your bowl using a rubber spatula and mix again on low for 2 or so minutes. (The batter will be super thick but combined.)

Pour the batter into your pan and smooth it out with your rubber spatula.

Bake for about 30 minutes (mine took about 27 minutes) and just set aside for as long as it takes to cool completely on the counter at room temp.

Fudge Icing


Ingredients

Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (6 oz.)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup room temp. butter, 2 sticks
2 1/2 cups of confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon corn syrup

Directions

Get a large bowl, fill it with ice and then set it in the sink.

In a mid size saucepan over medium low heat melt the chocolate, cream, butter and corn syrup together, stir constantly.

As soon as the mixture is smooth and completely melted turn off the heat and stir in the powdered sugar, until you can see no tell tale sign of there having been powdered sugar. (About 1 minute)

Take the saucepan and nestle it into the bowl of ice- DO NOT GET AN ICECUBE IN THE CHOCOLATE, LORD HAVE MERCY- and beat with a electric mixer on low speed for about 5 minutes. It will be smooth and really thick but still pliable.

Spread it onto the "cheat" sheet cake and you have yourself a winner. Yum-eee! Yum.


(and I know, after seeing all the steps there's no way this could be classified as a "cheat" cake, I just liked the name. XOXO.)

You know, I made this for my father-in-laws birthday and really didn't get to see or hear anyone trying it, other than the BCakes and me, so I don't know that anyone even liked it but it's hard to imagine that they wouldn't. I am making this one again, SOON and I will let you know what my chica's say about it.

Oh and just in case anyone was wondering, this is a mixture/combo from so many diffrent recipes (not one from other bloggers!) that I have tweaked so many times that it has offcially become my own. Wink.

Love.

Chicken Tortellini Bake‏

Baby Cakes has never had tortellini before and this was the perfect recipe to introduce him to it. He loved it, I loved it. You'll love it.

I got this recipe from Camille over at My Kitchen Cafe and I've been meaning to make it for some time now but I just got around to it. (Honestly? The Hubs said I had to cook something good because he is sick of take-out. I know, such a bad wife!) If this is a prelude to what her recipes always taste like (what I really mean is if all her recipes are this freakin' GOOD), then I will spending much more time scrolling through her blog. Go check her out and check this recipe out. She's got my full attention now. Seriously Yummy!


Chicken Tortellini Bake
barely adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

24 ounces of cheese tortellini
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoons butter
3 or 4 cups (about 4 chicken breasts) of chicken cut up into bite size pieces
1 onion chopped
1 tablespoon seasoning blend (your choice)
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons flour
8 ounces (1 cup) chicken broth
small can sliced mushrooms
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup sour cream
8 oz (2 cups) shredded cheese, any kind you prefer

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook tortellini per package directions. Drain and set aside.

Heat the oil and butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium/high heat. Cook the chicken and onion until done. Add the mushrooms and cook a minute or two longer. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 1-2 minutes, just to get the flour taste out. Add the chicken broth and stir until thickened, this will happen pretty quickly. Mix in the sour cream until the mixture is creamy and slightly thickened. Mix in the frozen peas, they will thaw on in no time at all in the hot mixture. Turn off the heat.

Mix together the chicken mixture and tortellini in the saucepan. Add the cheese and mix it all together.

Spray a 9X13 pan with cooking spray and spoon the mixture into the dish.

Bake covered with tin foil at 350 for 30 minutes, uncover and bake for additional 20 minutes until bubbly and golden brown around the edges.



This is excellent. There really isn't anything to say other than that,

Burger Delight

Here's another one for y'all from who else but the lovely English Kitchen once again. She calls it Marie's Burger Delight and it is just as she says on her post, "Yes, this is an unusual list of ingredients, but trust me when I tell you that this is fabulously delicious. Everyone loves this. You will too." I agree 100%. Even the hubs agrees 100%. He gives this one a "this stuff is the bomb" two thumbs up.

I am going to be completely honest here and tell you guys that at first, while cooking this dish, I was a bit peeved about all the pots and pans it takes to make it. All I kept thinking was if I had made regular spaghetti it would only take 1 pan and 1 pot, this recipe just adds another dish to the sink, it better be worth it. And even while tasteing I kept turning up my nose and asking what the big deal was. Let me tell you though, that some kind of magic happens while it's in the oven and when you taste it- oh my goodness!, knock your husband out good. (Food doesn't make me hit people, promise, well, maybe some things would but I can't think of anything right now.) Not kidding this recipe is that good. Who knew that all the odd items thrown together in this dish would be this yummy. I can't explain it but you have to try it.


Burger Delight
tweaked a tiny bit from Marie's Burger Delight

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 beef bouilon cube
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
salt and pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes
1, 00 oz. can of creamed corn
1, 00 oz. can of condensed tomato soup
1/2 jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce
box of spaghetti noodles, broken into small peices
1 1/2 cups, grated, of a italian cheese mix

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the beef, onion, garlic, crumbled beef cube, red pepper, salt and pepper to taste. Cook, and stir until the meat is nicely browned and the vegetables are soft. Stir in the corn, tomato soup and the spaghetti sauce. Mix together well, taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Cook your pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente, according to your package directions. Drain well and then stir the cooked spaghetti into the meat mixture.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.

Stir half of the cheese into the spaghetti mixture. Lightly grease a casserole dish. Pour the mixture into the dish and then cover with the remaining cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 to 20 minutes longer, until nicely browned on top.

Remove from the oven and serve hot with some crusty bread and a crisp green salad.



Once again nom, nom y'all,