Stuffed Pizza Rolls

 I found this recipe on my cousin Candra's blog, and she got it from Our Best Bites-which is where this picture comes from. IT IS SOOO GOOD! I don't think I could do it justice, so I am just posting the link: 
Stuffed Pizza Rolls

Heather's Homemade Salsa

Finally! I've finally gotten around to making something I can actually post. This recipe is a spin off my aunt's recipe. I just changed things to fit my taste. It has been a hit everywhere I've made it. And it is requested a lot! Tyson and I often double this recipe and it's gone in ONE week. (And we make it weekly).

• 1 can mexican style stewed tomatoes
• 1 large red pepper (It has to be red or your salsa turns out a disgusting color! cut up but keep in bigger chunks)
• 5-6 green onions (cut up but keep in bigger chunks)
• 1  4oz can diced green chilies
•  1 heaping tsp. minced garlic
• 1 1/2 TB vinegar
• 1 TB sugar
• 2 TB lime juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 of a bunch of cilantro

Blend in blender and serve. 

Banana Bread

4 ripe Bananas mashed
1 1/2  Brown Sugar
3 TBL Milk
1 Tsp Salt
3 TBL Butter
1 Egg beaten
2 Cup Flour 
1/2 Tsp Soda
1 Cup Nuts (optional)
Mix everything together. 
Bake at 350 for 1 hour

Peanut Butter Popcorn

Kinda has the consistency of a chewy caramel popcorn.

• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup light corn syrup
• ½ cup creamy peanut butter
• ½ cup unpopped popcorn kernels

Pop corn in an air popper and place in a large bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and corn syrup over medium heat. Stir until bubbly and sugar is completely dissolved. Remove the pan from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth. Evenly pour the mixture over the popcorn and combine well. Let cool for 2 minutes before serving.

I have also been toying with the idea of adding plain M&M's in the mix. Will report back on if it is as yummy as I think it may be.

Best blueberry muffins

I got this recipe from America's test Kitchen. They really are the BEST blueberry muffins in my opinion.

Lemon-Sugar Topping

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lemon

Muffins

• 2 cups fresh blueberries (about 10 ounces)
  
• 1 1/8 cups sugar plus 1 teaspoon
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

• 1. FOR THE TOPPING: Stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined; set aside.
• 2. FOR THE MUFFINS: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
• 3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)
• 4. To divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.
• 5. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Pulled-pork Tacos

2 c. salsa, plus more for serving
2 tbsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. dried oregano
2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
salt
2 1/2 lb pork butt or shoulder
about 12-18 corn tortillas (or flour if you prefer)
Fresh cilantro
Sour Cream
Lime, cut in wedges

Combine salsa, chili powder, oregano, cocoa, and 1 tsp salt in crockpot. Add pork and turn in mixture until coated.

Cook, covered, until meat is tender and pulls apart easily (about 7-8 hours on low or 4-5 on high)

Twenty minutes before serving heat oven to 350. Stack corn tortillas and wrap in foil and bake til warm around 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, using two forks shred pork and stir into the cooking liquid. Serve with tortillas, cilantro, sour cream lime and extra salsa

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

Way cheaper and healthier (yeah because from my previous dessert post you know I am super healthy! :)

• 1/3 cup popcorn kernels
• a little bit of olive oil (maybe a teaspoon or so)
  
• salt

Add all of the ingredients to a brown paper bag. Fold over the paper bag twice. Place upright in microwave. Every microwave is different but my popcorn is done in about 2 minutes.

Add butter & salt.

Brownie Stuffed Cookies

post edit: my sources (nikki/andy) have found that 2 cups of chocolate chips is a little much so i have edited the amount.


Here ya go Linds!
These are ridiculously good.

1 brownie mix

2 sticks softened butter

1 Cup granulated sugar

3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla

3 1/2 Cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 Cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare brownie according to package directions. Let cool completely then cut into 1 1/2 inch squares.

Beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, continue to beat until well combined.

Place flour, salt and baking soda into a bowl; mix to combine then add slowly to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips.

Place a large cookie scoopful of dough on top of a brownie square and another large scoop on the bottom.

Gently press and enclose brownie with dough adding pinches more dough to cover sides if needed.
Place 6 filled cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15-22 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from baking sheet.

Make sure you have milk on hand. You're gonna need it.

Shrimp Tacos

***IS IT OBVIOUS YET THAT I LOVE MEXICAN FOOD?**

1 lb medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp chile powder
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 lime

For serving:
Warm tortillas
Shredded lettuce
Salsa
Avocados
Lime wedges

Add the shrimp to a large bowl. Add the garlic, cumin, chile powder, pepper and salt. Toss well until all the shrimp are coated. Let sit for 15 minutes.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil. Once the oil runs quickly in the pan, add the shrimp. Cook, tossing often, until shrimp are cooked through, 5-8 minutes. Remove pan from heat and squeeze lime over the shrimp and toss.

Serve shrimp in a tortilla with whatever condiments you want.

**I have also used already cooked shrimp. Just thaw shrimp, mix spices and let sit as instructed above. Easy and delish.

Sticky Finger Quesadillas

So I think this is what Derek and I have decided for dinner tonight. This is one of our all time favorite meals.

-Chicken breasts cut into strips (do as many as you would like)
-Shredded cheese
-Tortillas
-Winger's original sauce (if you don't have access to the actual kind, I'll put the one that we use occassionally)
-Flour
-Salt
-Pepper

I first defrost my chicken breast and cut them into strips. I then bread them with a combination of flour, salt, and pepper. You could really use any type of recipe that you have for breading chicken, this just seems to be the easiest.

I then fry my chicken with canola oil. I let my oil get pretty hot and then keep it on medium heat to cook my breaded chicken strips.

After my chicken is cooked, I coat the strips with the Winger's sauce. If you do not have access to a Winger's, you can use the following:
-1 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce
-1 cup brown sugar
You then let those two ingredients come to a boil, then place on low heat.

Once chicken strips are covered with sauce, start making your quesadilla. I use the tortillas that you cook on a pan from Costco. Those are the BEST!!!

You just then put the chicken strips and cheese inside the tortillas...and VOILA. Delicious. This would also be really yummy with Camey's potato wedges.

Easy Breadsticks

We also use this as a pizza dough. Yum Yum!

1 1/2 c. warm water
1 Tbsp. yeast
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 1/2 c. flour plus more for handling

In a glass measuring cup combine water, yeast and sugar. Let sit until frothy; about 5 minutes. Add salt and flour. Mix in an electric mixer with dough hook or by hand until dough pulls away from sides of your bowl. Roll out dough and put in a greased cookie sheet with sides. Cut into sticks using a pizza cutter. Spread 1/2 stick of melted butter over dough (Omit this step if using as pizza dough). Top with grated cheese, garlic salt, sesame seeds, whatever you prefer! Bake about 15-20 minutes at 350.

Brown Sugar Muffins

love this recipe. Easy and I always have the ingredients on hand. We probably make it once a week

2 c. flour (we use 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 cup white)

1 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1 stick butter, melted and cooled

1 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. soda

1/4 tsp. salt

Yummy crumble topping

1/4 c. butter

1/3 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon


Combine and sprinkle on each muffin

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into muffin tins (either lined or greased). Make sure each muffin is adorned with yummy topping.
Bake at 350 for 13-15 mins or until tops are springy.

This makes about 18 muffins so be prepared to share or cool and place in a ziploc bag. I think they are better day 2 anyway!

Million $Dollar Cookies

this one takes a little more effort (ie chilling time) but is worth it!

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar, plus 1 Tbs
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1⁄2 cups flour, plus 1⁄4 cup
• 3⁄4 cup cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 Heath candy bars
• 1 bag Rolo chewy caramels

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugars until fluffy, then add eggs and vanilla and beat well.

In a separate bowl, mix 2 1⁄2 cups flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture a little bit at a time and blend well. If the dough feels too sticky, sprinkle in a little extra flour. Cover and chill dough in fridge for about 30 minutes.

Chop Heath bars into small pieces. Place in a small bowl and toss with 1 Tbs sugar.

Once dough has chilled, wrap a piece around each caramel, forming a 1-inch ball and covering the candy completely. Dip top of the dough ball into the candy topping and place on parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake for 7 to 10 minutes. Cookies will look quite soft, so be careful not to overbake. Cool in pan slightly, then move to a rack or the counter to finish cooling. Store in a covered container.

Crock Pot Pork Chops

This recipe comes from http://realmomkitchen.com/ and I got it from my cousin Candra. And let me just say, IT IS SO YUMMY! I found it to be really easy as well! The most work you do is whipping up those mashed potatoes for the side. 

• 4 pork chops
• 4 T soy sauce
• 1 1/2 C sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 tsp pepper 
• 2 T Worcestershire sauce
• 2 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 medium onion, sliced or diced
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp parsley

Place pork chops in crock pot. Place onion and mushroom slices on top of pork chops. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over pork chops. Cook on low in crock pot for 5-6 hours. Then remove the pork chops and strain the gravy. You may have to thicken the gravy a little but not much, it comes out pretty close to perfect. Top your pork chops with the onions and mushrooms. yum!

Chicken Lasagna

8 oz lasagna noodles, cooked (about 6)

Sauce layer:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup half & half
3 cups diced cooked chicken (3-4 chicken breasts)

Make a white sauce with flour, butter, broth, and half & half. Add basil, salt, and chicken.

Cheese layer:
16 oz. cottage cheese
1 egg
10 oz. pkg. chopped frozen spinach
1 cup grated mozzarella
1/4 cup Parmesan

Mix all.

In greased 9x13 pan layer 1/3 sauce, 1/2 noodles, and 1/2 cheese. Repeat. End with sauce. Bake 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

****** I like to top it off with more mozzarella and Parmesan but I love cheese!******

Philadelphia Cheesecake Brownies

I love cheesecake and I love brownies, so what could be better than this? Cheesecake Brownies!

1 package brownie mix (do not use mix that includes syrup pouch)

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Prepare brownie mix as directed on package. Pour into greased 13x9 in baking pan or 9x9 (for thicker brownies).

Beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Mix in sugar until blended. Add egg and vanilla; mix just until blended. Pour cream cheese mixture over brownie batter; cut through batter with knife several times for marble effect.

Bake at 350* for 35 to 40 minutes or until cream cheese mixture is lightly browned. Cool. Cut into squares.

Potato Wedges

4 large baking potatoes, unpeeled
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Set the oven to 425 degrees F.

Scrub the potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise, then cut each half in thirds lengthwise. You'll have 6 long wedges from each potato. Place the potatoes on a sheet pan with the olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary. Toss all the ingredients together, making sure the potatoes are covered with oil. Spread the potatoes in a single layer with 1 cut side down.

Bake the potatoes for 45 minutes to an hour, turning to the other cut side after 25 minutes. Bake until they are lightly browned, crisp outside, and tender inside. Sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Mom's Finger Steaks

This one is a favorite of my meat-and-potato loving husband.

1 round steak
1 egg
1 c flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 t. garlic salt

Mix all but steak together. Mixture will look really dry. Cut steak into bite-sized pieces. Let meat soak in batter at least an hour. Fry in hot oil. Serve with ketchup and potato wedges (see above recipe.)