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Monday, February 17, 2014

Biscuit Breakfast Bake




Biscuit Breakfast Bake:



Ingredients:
_ 1 can Grands Biscuits
_ 1/4 cup milk
_ 6 eggs
_ 1 cup shredded cheddar
_1 cup shredded mozzarella
_ 1 lb ground sausage

*Preheat Oven to 350*


Step 1:
Cook the sausage until brown and drain
Step 2:
Cut Biscuits into 8 pieces







Step 3:
Put biscuits into bottom of pan






Step 4:

Put drained sausage over biscuits then top with cheese


Step 5:
Whisk together the eggs and milk



Step 6: Pour eggs over biscuits and sausage













Step 7: Stick it in the Oven! Bake for 35 to 40 minutes on 350

Step 8:
Voila!!!! Eat Up


Biscuit Breakfast Bake:
_ 6 Eggs
_1/4 cup Milk
_ 1 cup shredded mozzarella
_1 cup shredded cheddar
_ 1 lb ground sausage 
_ 1 can Grands Biscuits

Preheat Oven to 350
Cook and Drain Sausage
Cut Biscuits into 8 pieces
Put biscuits into deep baking dish, top with sausage, then shredded cheeses
Whisk together eggs and milk and pour over cheeses
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden 



Friday, February 14, 2014

Home Made World Showcase Passport for Epcot

So this will be my boys first real trip to Disney, the first time my oldest son went he was 11 months, but now he is 7 years old and this could not be a more perfect time to take him. His excitement is through the roof and if big brother is pumped about something than so is little brother! However I know that I can't guarantee that every moment of Disney will be "magical", as much as I would like to contest that. I know that Epcot is not the most exciting park for kids, but with a little creativity I think I can increase the fun factor to at least an 8. I refuse to pay $12 to $20 a piece for two books so that my boys can get a stamp.....Now I am not totally mean, I wouldn't dare rob them of the World Showcase Experience, I just want to give it to them at a lesser price and customize it  a bit. So after a little bit of "Pinteresting" I found an amazing Photo Bucket Site with a full World Showcase Passport that you can print out. 
Click the Photo 
Not to mention each country has a custom Mickey, adorned in country appropriate attire with a matching Tinkerbell.


So here is what I did, I went to Michael's (craft store) and bought 2 4x6 clear plastic photo books for $1.00 a piece and 1 pack of card stock. I spent $7 total. I printed each one twice size 4x6 on one piece of card stock and stuck those bad boys in the photo album.  Voila! The kids each have a passport that they can have stamped and an extra page. My hope for this extra page is to get a Cast Member from each country to write the boys a message in the different languages or even their names. It will give them a goal at each country while me and daddy eat and drink our way around the world.
Want the other countries?



Let the Disney Obsession Begin

Ahhh in just 7 short months I will be in the happiest place on Earth with my the hubs and my two gremlins. Any vacation in my near future inspires this crazy person to fester inside of me and create The Trip Folder, but a trip to Disney World creates a whole nother monster.....Duh Duh Duh (pause for effect) The Magical Disney Vacation Binder! It also morphs the crazy person into an obsessive freak that thinks of nothing but the pending Disney trip and all things Disney, thus dragging everyone in her path down in to the sparkly Disney hole. Now I know that I am not the only one of me out there, various Google and Pinterest searches have proven that, but let's be honest. Not all Disney vacations were created equal and you can't have too much Disney information. So I will spend the next 7 months sharing my OCDD (Obsessive Compulsive Disney Disorder) with you. I will discuss topics like packing lists, meal planning, pre-trip shopping tips, and of course The Magical Disney Vacation Binder and all of it's components. Note: This is my first official attempt at blogging so I am not completely up to date on my blogging etiquette so please feel free to share constructive criticism in the comments. 
As for now I will leave you with a link to my Disney Pinterest Page so that you can see my research so far. 
http://www.pinterest.com/kristilland/disney/

Monday, February 13, 2012

Roo is 5!

Sweets and Skating!
Birthday Boy and his candy cake



Candy Bar

Candy Cake


BooBoo's is 1!!!!!

Mommy's Little Monster Turns 1!








Superbowl Sunday

Buffalo Balls and Fried Pickles

Fried Pickles


Buffalo Balls

Ratings:
Me: The yumminess is worth my house stinking
Hubs: If its fried I love it
Kids: "I don't like pickles" "These are too spicey"
Friends: "Where did you find this little peice of Heaven"


Recipe Fried Pickles:

Ingredients:
- 1 jar sliced dill pickles
- 1 small bag white cornmeal with flour mixed in (amount will vary depending on how many pickles you want to fry)
- Lowry's Seasoning Salt (to taste)
- Vegetable Oil (for frying)

Steps:
1. Drain pickles and pat dry with a paper towel
2. Pour 1 cup cornmeal into ziploc bag and Sprinkle Lowry's in, genourously.
3. Dump pickles into bag and shake em up, shake off excess mixture before cooking
4. Heat Oil in a deep pot to 350, but for those of you who don't know to measure the temperature of oil just set your stove top to medium. You will smell the oil heating up.
5. Drop the pickles in and flip after 1 minute, the cornmeal will turn golden when they are done.
6. Drain on to a paper towel

Tips:
* The pickles must be drained and dried off thouroughly otherwise your batter will become gummy
* If you plan to fry anything else with this oil, save these for last, the batter tends to separate from the pickles leaving cornmeal in the oil, you don't want that getting on anything else.
* A great way to test to see if oil is heated is to drop a pinch of flour into the oil, if it sizzles then you're ready to go, if it doesn't do anything give it another couple of minutes.
* To make sure you have enough seasoning in your flour mixture, taste it! That's right taste it! If you can taste the salt, you're good.

Not ready yet....another minute!




Recipe Buffalo Balls:
I can't take all the credit for these amazong little bites, I actually saw these on an episode of Big Daddy's House in my hotel room while on a business trip. I came home and immediatly made them. Then I I kept having Buffalo Chicken Dip at various party's so I decided to merge the 2. If you would like to watch Aaron McCargo's video for his recipe please visit: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aaron-mccargo-jr/buffalo-chicken-cheese-balls-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:
- 1 rotisserie chicken
-1/4 cup Frank's Hot Sauce
-2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
-1 8 oz cream cheese cubed
- garlic salt
-onion powder
- salt
-pepper
-1 cup ap flour
-3 eggs beaten
- 2 T milk
- 1 box Progresso Panko Bread Crumbs


Steps:
1. Remove as much meat as possible from the chicken and dump it in the food processor, blend until chicken is fine chopped
2. Pour chicken into a large bowl and mix with hot sauce, both cheeses, and seasonings. Blend well, mixture will be orange in color.
3. Roll mixture into 1 inch balls and place on a sheet pan.
4. Heat oil in a large pot to 350 degrees or medium to med high
5. Beat eggs and milk together in one bowl, in another bowl pour in flour, and finally put panko into another bowl. So you should have 3 dredging bowls.
6. Roll each ball into the flour first, then egg batter, and finally panko bread crumbs.
7. Drop into hot oil for 3 to 4 minutes each or until golden brown. Filling should ooze out when done.
Drain on paper towels.

Tips:
* Refrigerate the chicken over night before removing it from the bones, it makes it much easier to pull off.
* you can sub canned chicken or chicken breasts for the rotisserie chicken, however you will need to compensate for the flavor you will missing so season the chicken.
Before going into the hot oil

Cook until golden
Yum!


Mo's French Toast~ for the birthday boy

Mo's French Toast


Ratings:
Me: I could eat this every morning
Hubs: He ate 2 pieces before I could put the bacon in the microwave
Kids: The baby was covered in syrup and the birthday boy wanted more sugar and syrup
There were NO leftovers






Ingredients:
- Eggs (1 egg will coat 2 pieces of bread front and back)
- Milk (use 1 TBSP per egg)
-Bread (I usually fix 2 pieces per person)
-Cinnamon
-Butter
- Powdered Sugar
-Syrup



Steps:
1. Beat together eggs, milk and cinnamon in a shallow dish until well blended
2. Heat butter in a skillet, enough to coat the bottom when melted
3. Dip both sides of the bread into the egg batter and place in the skillet
4. Cook bread on both sides until eggs are cooked and toast is no longer mushy
5. Top with Syrup, Powdered Sugar and more cinnamon!





A little more:
* This may seem like a "duh" recipe but surprisingly not a lot of people know how to make french toast.  Plus the secret to making this recipe so special is putting the cinnamon in the egg batter so that it cooks into the bread. My mom used to fix this every birthday when I was little and now I am passing the tradition to my boys.
* If you don't like for your bread to be too eggy add some more milk to the batter, but I love it so I save the eggy pieces for me :)
* If you don't want your powdered sugar to slide off of your bread then put it on before the syrup
* Nothing goes better with Mo's French Toast than some crispy bacon dipped in syrup of course!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Stromboli
(It tastes better than it looks)


Ratings:
Me: I mean its pizza rolled up why would it not be good!
Hubs: "Wow this is pretty good, I wish I hadn't eaten lunch so late"
Kids: "Mommy it tastes just like pizza, I love it"



Ingredients:

1 ball Publix pizza dough
1 package large sliced pepperoni
1 package large sliced salami
1 2 cup bag mozzarella cheese shredded
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1/2 stick melted butter
Garlic Salt
Italian Seasoning


Steps:
1. Let dough rest on counter top for an hour. Sprinkle a little flour on your counter top. Roll out dough flat into the biggest circle/ rectangle you can form. Trust me it won't get very big.
2. Spread pizza sauce evenly over dough leaving about an inch around.
3. Spread the ricotta cheese over the sauce, then sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella on top.
4. layer up the meats, but make sure to spread then all over, don't pile them all in the middle.
5. Top with remaining mozzarella and sprinkle Italian seasoning and garlic salt on top.
6. Take one side of the "pizza" and start to roll it towards the other like a jelly roll. Roll it as tight as you can without squeezing out any of the filling. Pinch the ends when finished and transfer to a  sprayed cookie sheet or pizza stone.
7. Melt butter with Garlic Salt and Italian seasoning and brush over dough covering as much as you can.
8. Bake for 30 minutes on 400, then reduce heat to 325 and continue to cook for 15 minutes. The center will still be a little "moist", but as long as its not gummy in texture it will be ready to eat.

Tips:
* I bought the pepperoni and salami at the dollar store! It was the Hormel brand. At Publix it was $4.99!!!!
* I re buttered the Stromboli before I stuck it back in to cook for the last 15 minutes.

Doesn't this look amazing!

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Easy Peasy Monday Meal

Chicken Rice A Roni Casserole

Ratings:
Me: Super easy and yummy!
Hubs: "You can make this one again"
Kids: "Mommy I love it" And the baby clapped for it!

Ingredients:

1 box chicken flavored Rice a Roni (prepared according to directions on box)
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts boiled (I boil mine in chicken broth, water, and seasoning salt)
1 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 small container French's  french fried onions


Directions:
Shred chicken and season with seasoning salt and pepper. Mix in soup and sour cream, then add to fully cooked rice. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients and pour into 9 x 13 lightly greased casserole dish. Top with onions and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. (until onions are browned)


Notes:
So this was one of my Pinterest finds. I find all kinds of yummy recipes from there. This recipe is so easy and perfect for Monday nights when you don't feel like cooking but you know you have to. I served it with creamed corn and green beans. My kids cleaned their plates. The baby just kept opening his mouth as wide as he could for me to keep shoveling it in. So needless to say this was hit.

The official "tester"
"Good Job Mommy"

Monday, January 30, 2012

A Sunday for Soup~ Lasagna Soup

Lasagna Soup

Ratings:
Me - Love Love Love
Hubs- " I am eating this for every meal until its gone!"
Kids: " I don't like soup"
Anna: (my bud) "The soup and noodles part is really good I just don't like sausage"


Ingredients:
1 package Italian Sausage Mild
1 T olive oil
1 box mini farfalle noodles
1 bag mini pepperonis
1 can tomato paste
2 boxes chicken broth
1 large can italian style tomatoes chopped
1/4 onion chopped
1 T chopped garlic
1 Knorr concentrated chicken stock
Crushed red pepper flakes
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Salt
Pepper


Steps:
1. Roll sausage into miniature balls and cook until light brown in olive oil. Add onion and garlic and continue to cook until onion is transparent. Set aside.
2. In a large crock pot combine broth, stock, tomato paste, tomatoes, red pepper flakes, italian seasoning, garlic salt, and pepper. Turn heat to low for 8 hours. You do not need to cook this for 8 hours, but the longer you cook it the better it will taste. Add sausage mix to the crock pot and then pepperonis. Cover and let cook for at least 2 hours.
3. When you are ready to eat, boil the noodles and add to the crock pot.




Ricotta Topping

Ingredients:
1 container ricotta cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella
1/2 cup Parmesan
garlic salt
italian seasoning
Mix all ingredients together. Serve over, under, or mixed in with soup.


Italian Toasties
Ingredients:
1 loaf french bread sliced
Butter
Garlic Salt
Italian Seasoning
Parmesan

Spread butter on each piece of toast then sprinkle with remaining ingredients. Cook at 350 for 5 to 8 minutes until you reach desired crispiness.



Lasagna Soup with Ricotta Topping mixed in



Lasagna Soup with Ricotta Topping






Notes:
This soup is spicy and may not be suitable for those who don't enjoy spicy foods or kids. 

Date Night with the Hubs Friday 01/27/12

At least once a month, Jared and I try to escape ours hectic lives and devote a night to each other. Friday just so happened to be our night to do that! On these nights you will not find me in the kitchen creating a craving, instead I'll just be out enjoying one. This particular date night was centered around going to the Comedy Club at 7:30 so Jared and I needed to pick somewhere that had a great Happy Hour. Somewhere cheap, that offered a variety of choices, and great atmosphere. Naturally we chose the Cheesecake Factory. Now normally I would not put the Cheese cake Factory and cheap in the same sentence, but they have a surprisingly reasonable Happy Hour menu with a wide variety of choices. If I had to guess I'd say anywhere from 30 to 50 "small plates" ranging from $3 to $7. Not to mention Happy Hour Includes $5 specialty drinks, $5 well drinks, $4 wines, and $3 beers. It lasts from 4 pm to 6 pm Monday through Friday, but if you get there any later than 4:00, you might as well just turn around and leave. Happy Hour is first come first serve tables and CCF fills up fast!
Now for the food. my husband and I share the same theory, "When its cheap, eat eat eat!" And we did. We started off with the Tex Mex Egg rolls and Buffalo Blasts. These were roughly around $5 a piece. In my mind I'm thinking there will be 2 or 3 pieces to a plate....wrong! There were 6 egg roll halves and 6 buffalo blasts that were the size of Jared's hand. This literally was a meal in it self but we weren't stopping there.

Tex Mex Egg rolls with spicey avocado ranch

Buffalo Blasts with Ranch
We decided to go a little lighter for round 2, we ordered the house salads on the Happy Hour menu, $3.50 and substitute ranch for the house vinaigrette. As for drinks I had J.W.'s pink lemonade and 2 margarita's. The lemonade was okay, but the margs were Delicious. Jared had a Long Island Iced Tea which he wasn't a fan of and a beer. So 2 apps, 2 salads, and 5 drinks later we were at $46.00. I'd say that's pretty good.

I will be on the look out for a copycat recipe for the Tex Mex egg rolls. I think I found one for the buffalo blasts. I will give it a try and let you know. Maybe Super Bowl snack?
CHEESECAKE FACTORY'S BUFFALO BLASTS(copycat recipe)

pack of wonton wrappers (large squares)
one egg white
1 chicken breast or canned chicken for a short cut
frank's buffalo style hot sauce
grated cheese (I'm gonna try the Kraft Mexican Blend with Philadelphia)
bread crumbs (both plain large crumbs and italian style)

Bake the chicken breast at 375 until done. Shred the breast (I only use the inside because it's the most tender).

Lay out the wonton wrapper and lay chicken breast inside with cheese and drizzle hot sauce over it. I like to add a little garlic powder to mine. Moisten the edges of the wonton with water or egg white and fold it horizontally, pressing the edges closed. Use a pastry brush and brush egg white over the outside and cover with a mix of the italian and plain bread crumbs.

Place them two at a time into a deep fryer at 375 until they're golden brown. Make sure to turn them. Place on a napkin or paper towel to drain excess oil off.

Serve ranch or blue cheese dressings
 
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