Crescent Dogs

EXHAUSTED!  The hubby has been out of town off and on for two weeks and between that and the working thing, the kid thing, the working out on my lunch break thing, soccer, football, school meetings, closing on our house (yay), and every kid of mine packing around a fundraiser kit, I think it is fair to say I feel like I am LOSING MY MIND!!  Ridiculously Delicious has been getting ridiculously ignored and so while I am finally sitting down to watch the redbox movie I rented two nights ago I am going to share a quick kid-friendly food on here that I fixed this week for my kiddos.  Hot dogs, cheese and crescent rolls...yep it was a hit!

CLICK HERE AND ORDER FROM E's SCHOOL FUNDRAISER AND SAVE ME FROM HAVING TO SPEND $50+ DOLLARS BUYING COOKIE DOUGH SO HE CAN GET A DIME SIZED BOUNCY BALL!!  (I'm being serious, btw). ;)

okay, to the dogs...

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what you need:
8 beef hot dogs
4 slices of cheese cut into 6 strips
1 can of crescent rolls (8 oz)


what to do:
1.  Heat over to 375 degrees F.  Slit hot dogs to within 1/2 inch of ends; insert 3 strips of cheese into each slit. 
2.  Separate dough into triangles. Wrap dough triangle around each hot dog. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, cheese side up.

3.  Bake at 375°F. for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

thanks pillsbury.com for some great food.

I was feeling EXTREMELY lazy and absent-minded when I made these and didn't cut the slits in the dogs. Instead i just laid half a slice of cheese on the crescent roll and wrapped it along with the hot dog.  I don't think the kids noticed and they still tasted great. 

PENNE WITH ROASTED ASPARAGUS

I am in LOVE with Pinterest and have a board FULL of fabulous foods to cook.  With that said, I am so over this "temporary living" situation we are in and SO ready to have my kitchen back...my cooking utensils...my pampered chef knives....*sigh.


Long story short, we moved to WY from TX in August, we are having a house built and my family of six is in a 3 bedroom company townhouse which is fullY furnished....but for a family of four.  We close on our house Sept. 30 and the movers will be arriving with our stuff Oct 1.  This gal will be getting her cook on come October, so y'all get ready!!


Now, to this incredibly tasty pasta.  Found this Penne on Pinterest and Pinned it.  Thank you Food and Wine for this delicious dinner idea.  The balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and pepper makes such a unique sauce, and paired with the asparagus just makes it incredible.  My mouth is watering just thinking about  it.


PRINTABLE VERSION
What you need:
1 pound asparagus
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh-ground black pepper
1/2 cup PLUS 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 lb penne
1/4 pound butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving


PUTTING IT TOGETHER:

1. Heat the oven to 400°. Snap the tough ends off the asparagus and discard them. Cut the spears into 1-inch pieces. Put the asparagus on a baking sheet and toss with the oil and 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Roast until tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, put the vinegar in a small saucepan. Simmer until 3 tablespoons remain. Stir in the brown sugar and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove from the heat.
3. Cook the penne in a large pot of boiling, salted water until just done, about 13 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss with the butter, vinegar, asparagus, Parmesan, and the remaining 1 3/4 teaspoons salt. Serve with additional Parmesan.

Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are some pretty fantastic cookies.  I really enjoy trying out new recipes I find on the back of products, which is where I found this recipe, on the package of some Ghirardelli Premium Baking Chips.

The only thing I changed up was instead of two cups of the Milk Chocolate Chips I used one cup of the Milk Chocolate and one cup of some white chocolate chips I had on hand that needed to be used.  The combo of the white and milk chocolate was pretty yumtastic...just ask my kids!

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the yummies:
2 1/4 cups unsifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2.  Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside.
3.  Beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy.
4.  Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed until incorporated.
5.  Gradually blend dry mixture into cream mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if desired).
6.  Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheets.
7.  Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown.

Pesto Pasta Salad

I love Pesto and one of my favorite side dishes to prepare is Pesto Pasta Salad with feta cheese and halved cherry tomatoes.  Yummo!

Last night we attended a school picnic with the five year old and our last name fell into the 'bring a salad' category, so i opted to take a pasta salad.  I would say that it was a hit because the bowl was all but licked clean.

This is a REALLY basic and EASY recipe and it is so very tasty.  Sure to be a hit at any picnic or dinner at home.

slicing the tomatoes 

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here's what you need:
12 oz box of Tri-Color Rotini
1 jar of Pesto (Classico is my favorite because I love to re-use the little Mason jars when entertaining)
4 oz package of Tomato and Basil Feta Cheese (crumbled)
10.5 oz package of cherry tomatoes.

what to do:
1.  Boil pasta until tender and then drain. Let pasta cool. (i usually put in the fridge for about 30 minutes)
2.  While pasta is boiling cut the cherry tomatoes in half.
3.  Once pasta is cool, toss with tomatoes, feta cheese and pesto sauce.

Serve as a side dish or with garlic bread and a green salad.  It is fantastic either way.

Pesto Pasta Salad

Rocky Road Brownies

Little Jaxon and I went grocery shopping yesterday at Wal-mart and before I knew it we were strolling down the Halloween Candy Aisle.  Isn't it funny how those shopping carts seem to have magnets on them and just steer themselves? I grabbed some Halloween fruit snacks and that is when the package of Hershey's miniatures caught my eye.  Actually, the bag I saw was flipped over and the recipe on the back is what I noticed.  "EASY ROCKY ROAD BROWNIES".  Needless to say, miniature marshmallows, pecan pieces  and brownie mix found their way onto my shopping list.  I don't even know words to describe how sinfully delicious these brownies are.

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the stuff to get:

11 oz bag of Hershey's Miniatures

2 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 cup chopped nuts

1 package (13 x 9 size) brownie mix

how to make them:

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Cut each Hershey's miniatures Chocolate Bars into about 8 pieces.  Stir together marshmallows, chocolate bar pieces and nuts; set aside.

2.  prepare brownie mix according to directions.  Bake brownies 2 minutes LESS than recommended baking time; take pan out of oven and sprinkle marshmallow mixture over brownie surface.  Continue baking 3 minutes or until marshmallows are puffed and lightly browned.  COOL COMPLETELY in pan on wire rack.  Using wet knife, cut into squares.  Makes 3 dozen.

the chocolate bars. YUM!

cut each bar into 8 pieces

add marshmallows

add pecan pieces

bake and enjoy!

Cheesy Cheeseburger Macaroni

Goes great with a side salad and garlic bread

 This turned out really great and I think my husband ate at least 4 servings.  The kids were wanting Mac and Cheese for dinner and so I used products I had on hand and boy did this turn out DELISH!  It is easy, a very quick meal and I promise the kiddos (and spouses) will eat it up.

PRINTABLE VERSION
the yummy stuff:
16 oz box of Elbow pasta, cooked and drained
1 lb Ground Chuck
32 oz box Velvetta (yes, I used the entire box)
3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced (optional)
1 TBsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

what i did:
Saute onion, garlic and parsley in the skillet for a couple of minutes and then add the ground beef, cooking until thoroughly done.  Drain fat.

**While you are browning your ground beef go ahead and boil your elbow pasta.

I melted the cheese over the stove, but this can also be done in the microwave.  Cut up the cheese into squares and add the whipping cream.  Heat until completely melted.  If cooking on the stove be sure to stir frequently so that the cheese does not burn.  If cooking in the microwave I would heat in 30 second intervals, stirring after each 30 seconds.

Drain your pasta once it is done and then add your browned ground beef to the pasta and stir in your melted cheese.  This is deliciously cheesy and goes well with a side salad and garlic bread.

PRINTABLE VERSIONS

COMING SOON:  PRINTABLE VERSIONS TO ALL RECIPES.

I am slowly but surely getting all my posts set up with printable versions.  If you see one that you want to print and it doesn't have the "PRINT THIS RECIPE" button yet, shoot me a message on here and I will prioritize that one.  I will get them all done...eventually! :)

Nutella Pizza

If you're friends with me on Facebook, or you follow my blogs, you know all about my recent obsession with Nutella.  To quote Julie Powell, "Yum!"  It really is quite ridiculous because I do find myself eating it on everything.  Toast, homemade breads, on strawberries, with bananas....just right off the spoon.  Did I actually admit to that?  Actually, as I am reading what I am typing it sounds like I might be going a little overboard with my Nutella consumption and it possibly may be one of the contributing factors to my jeans being just a little too tight here lately.  Hmmmm.....

Now that you know all the background info, I am sure you can ONLY imagine the pure joy I felt when I ran across the idea for Nutella Pizza.  Thank you, THANK YOU Katerina, from Diethood , for posting this fabulous recipe!

It really is so simple to make and it will be gone before you know it.....

PRINTABLE VERSION
the basics:
your favorite pizza dough
1/2 cup of Nutella (or as much as you want!)
white chocolate chips
hazelnuts (I used almonds because that's what I had in my pantry)

making it:
1.  prepare your pizza dough and spread it as thin as you possibly can.
2.  put it on your baking sheet and bake at 400 for 10 minutes (or what your pizza dough instructions recommend)
3.  When the crust is baked, take it out of the oven and spread the Nutella over the crust and top with nuts and chocolate chips.
4.  Place back in the oven and bake for 5 more minutes.  (if you want the chips to melt, then crush them before placing them on the pizza)
5.  After five minutes take back out of the oven and let cool for a few minutes before slicing.

There you have it, Chocolate Pizza.  Try it, you'll love it!!

FREEZING POTATO FRIES

CUTTING UP IDAHO POTATOES TO MASH AND FREEZE

Whenever I make mashed potatoes I usually cut up about 7 Idaho potatoes.  I add to the boiling water the amount of potatoes I think I need for the meal and the potatoes that are left over I season and freeze.  Now, keep in mind I am fixing mashed potatoes for 6 people, 5 of which are boys), so you may end up freezing a lot more fries than I have pictured. 

So, after I cut up my potatoes, (I leave the skin on) I simmer them in salt water until partially cooked.  Not too long, you don't want them to be mushy!! Drain them, put them in a bowl and toss them with seasoning.  (I use seasoning salt, ground pepper, and a little Cajun seasoning to spice them up).  

Then I place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Normally I cover the pan in wax paper and then put the potatoes down, but i totally forgot when i did these and they still came off the pan easily.

Then I place them on a rack in the freezer for about an hour or until frozen through. Don't forget about them because you don't want them to get freezer burn!!

After they are frozen, take them off of the pan and place them in a zip lock bag, labeled with the date.

When you are ready to cook the potatoes toss them with 2 tbs of olive oil, put on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees until golden brown (about 15-20 minutes).  Don't forget to occasionally turn them. 

Fried Rice

Easy Fried Rice

A dish that my family loves, but I have only made once.  Why?  Because it is Fried Rice and Fried Rice is hard to make, right?  No, I was wrong..(yes, this occurs every now and then), it is just the opposite.  Easy and delish! Excited I have a new dish to go along with my egg rolls!!

FRIED RICE
PRINT THIS RECIPE

What you need:

1/3 cup chopped, cooked chicken, Beef, pork of fish, if desired. (I didn't use any meat)

2 tBsp olive oil

3 cups cooked, cold Rice (white, brown or instant) *I cooked my rice the morning of and then placed it in a covered dish and let it sit in the refrigerator all day until I was ready to stir-fry it. 

3 green onions, sliced

2 tsp soy sauce

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup frozen peas (peas or carrots), cooked

1 packet of Sun-Bird Fried Rice seasoning (any brand will do)

Preparing it:

1.  In a large skillet, heat oil; stir-fry rice and green onions.

2.  Add seasoning and soy sauce; stir-fry 1 minute.

3.  Push Rice to the side, add eggs, scramble; stir into rice.

4.  Add peas and meat if desired.

Makes 5 servings, about 1 cup each as prepared above.

Mimosas

Mimosas make a delicious brunch beverage for any special occasion.
photo by: ccharmon

Makes 8 servings 

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Ingredients

• 3 cups of your favorite champagne, chilled
• 1 cup orange juice

MIXING:

Mix champagne and orange juice together, pour, and garnish with your favorite fruit. Enjoy!