Spinach Dip (Warm)

Speaking of Tossie and her church, I had the honor of going to her baby shower given by ladies from their Sunday school class. This was a phenomenal spinach dip. Now that I know what goes in it...NO WONDER!! Usually I prefer to make a cold spinach dip, which reminds me that I need to share that one. The only time I have ever had a warm spinach dip, it usually contains artichokes. I dont mind artichokes but this was a nice change for a warm spinach dip. It was so good that I could have easily eaten the whole bowl right then and there. I didn't want to embarass Tossie in front of her friend! HA! Maybe all of this enthusiasm for food is also why I now have a sign on my fridge saying "You are fat! Your clothes don't fit!" and one on my pantry "And you aren't buying new clothes, so suck it up!" I can still dream...

Spinach Dip from my Shower (Michelle Burns' recipe)

The recipe is doubled..
2 frozen chopped spinach
1 softened 8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup of mayo
2 cup of shredded mozzerella
1 cup grated parmesean
2 tbsp. of garlic salt

Stir together. Cook at 400 for 20 min. Voila!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

**ANOTHER GUEST POST FROM TOSSIE**

This is a recipe from the Apples of Gold Bible Study I did in '07. If you ever have one at your church, do it. You could teach the cooking part (the majority of my group knew how to cook but it was good to get new recipes and have someone cook for you). The lady that cooked for us looks like Paula Deen and cooks like her too!!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas (Billboard Man loved these)

8 oz. pkg of cream cheese
1 small can of chopped Green Chilies
3-4 Chicken Breasts, cooked and chopped (I used 3)
1 pkg. Large Flour Tortillas
Salsa
1 pkg. Mexican Cheese
1 small (1/2 pint) container Whipping Cream

Combine in skillet cream cheese, green chilies, and chicken; cook until creamy. Soften tortillas according to package directions. Roll up tortillas with chicken mixture, 1 tsp. salsa and Mexican cheese. Place filled tortillas in greased 9x13 or two 9x9 pans, seam side down. Pour whipping cream and remaining Mexican cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

**I put the salsa in the chicken mixture - I used about 2 tablespoons.

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Back to Diana: This one sounds easier than the Chicken Enchiladas in Tomatilla Sauce I made earlier.

Lazy Girl's Green Bean Bundles

I lied! I did make something tonight that hasn't been on the blog yet! I love Green Bean Bundles, but they can be "fussy" just for the two of us to eat at home. I like to take my favorite bundle recipe and just throw it in a dish and bake. Less trouble = same great taste! I'm going to give the true bundle recipe, and then I will tell you what I did.

Green Bean Bundles

2 cans whole green beans
1 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. mustard
Bacon to wrap

Drain beans. Mix sugar and mustard. Pour over beans and mix well. Divide into bundles and wrap 1/2 slice bacon around each bundle and secure with a toothpick. Bake 30 minutes at 350.

**Since this is the lazy version, the beans don't have to be whole. This time I happened to use cut beans. (That I got on sale for $.36/can!) I drain and put in baking dish. Then I sprinkle the brown sugar and mustard and mix right in that dish togehter. Then I lay some bacon on top and bake following above directions or until bacon is crispy.

Enjoy!

Layered Salad

Saturday night was our supper club and I took this salad. (It went with a yummy Chicken Spaghetti, bread and chocolate!!) Sunday morning we woke up to our backyard looking like this:

Such a fun treat! There are still a few snow patches in the shaded spots, but for the most part all gone! That's southern snow for you! Now onto this recipe: Sister used to make this all the time for our family cook-out. I think it is supposed to be 7-layers, but she probably didn't like whatever that 7th layer (probably peas or something like that) was and decided to leave it out. That's why I just decided to call it Layered Salad.

Layered Salad

1 bg. lettuce

1 bg. spinach (end stems pinched off)
1 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled

8 eggs, hard boiled and chopped (original recipe called for 10)

Layer in order given. Mix the following and spread on top:

1 c. mayo

1/2 c. sour cream

1 pkt. ranch dressing mix

Toss with cheese before serving. (I went ahead and added my cheese to the layers and it turned out fine.)

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I am attempting to cut our grocery bill in half or better! So far pretty successful and now I am completely addicted to couponing! (Even though I just really started this weekend!) My favorite blog to read about couponing and saving is Southern Savers because everything is completely mapped out for me. I learn by doing, so this is teaching me how to look for and get the best deals! I was so sad to think about it because I like to cook such fun things on the spur of the moment and was thinking that was going to come to a screeching halt...UNTIL I saw this! She is teaming up with Southern Plate and will be coming up with recipes using all of our sale items! I'm so excited!! Check 'em out! The Dish Washer says I am the new CFO of our household and he is the CEO! I was cracking up thinking about this on the way to work this morning!

Cheesy Chicken Tortellini Bake

Two friends from high school had their first child, a very cute little girl, a month ago. I wanted to make dinner for this new family and have waited my turn while their church family has fed them over the last month. I haven't seen them since they were in the hospital, so I was dying to get my hands on that baby! She was very alert when I got there and then went right to sleep while I was holding her! Isn't that the best? I made this because it came highly recommended from Tossie. Someone from their church made this for them after Little Sister arrived this month. The Billboard Man highly recommended it, and he is one picky eater, so I knew it had to be good. It was very easy to make.

I stopped in the recipe before baking it off since I was taking it to them after work so would have no way to keep it warm. I included the ingredients and instructions on how to top it and bake it. The picture above is without the topping. This is the exact recipe I was given...I made a few (very minor) changes of my own.


Cheesy Chicken Tortellini Bake

1/2 c. chopped onion
1 tsp. olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (16 oz.) jar white Alfredo pasta sauce
20 oz. pkg. refrigerated cheese-filled or spinach tortellini
1½ c. cubed cooked chicken
1 c. milk
1¼  c. water
1 c. frozen peas
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Topping:
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
½ c. panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. For pasta mixture, chop onion. Heat oil over medium-high heat; add onion. Cook until onion is tender.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute until aromatic.  Stir in pasta sauce, tortellini, chicken, milk, water, peas and black pepper. Heat until mixture just comes to a boil; remove from heat.

Meanwhile, for crumb topping, place butter in microwave on high for 30-45 seconds or until melted. Stir in bread crumbs and cheese; mix well.

Spoon pasta mixture into 9x13 casserole dish; sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake 15-20 minutes or until edges are bubbly and topping is golden brown.

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I also made a yummy Sheath Cake.

Sheath Cake

Let me first say, I have no clue why this is called Sheath Cake. Anyone?

Mom needed some redemption after I said she never made homemade biscuits. Well, it is true, she never did, but we also loved canned biscuits in our family. I'm sure if I had asked, she would have made them from scratch. Is that better? She made this cake a lot when we were kids. It is so very good. However, it was a bit of a disaster when I was making it this time. First, my cheap aluminum "to go" pan had a hole in it, so batter started leaking. Luckily, I had two small cake pans, so I decided to just make two small cakes with plans to take one to my friends and one to work. I started the icing too early and ended up letting it go a little too long on the heat, so then it was not the right consistency. I managed to save the one pictured above to give to my friends (although not exactly how I would have like it), but the other was a complete mess. I didn't bother taking it to work. (I did have a few bites of my own though!) My favorite thing about this cake is the icing! When I have a real craving for chocolate, I've been known to just make a small serving of icing and eat off it. Terrible for me? YES! So good? YES!! I have an incredible sweet tooth.

Here's the recipe:

Sheath Cake

2 c. sugar
2 c. flour
1 stick butter
1/2 c. Crisco
4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 c. water
1-1/2 c. buttermilk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Icing:

1 stick butter
4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
6 Tbsp. canned milk
1 (1 lb.) box powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift the sugar and flour together in a large mixing bowl. In a saucepan, bring butter, Crisco, cocoa powder and water to a boil. Pour over flour and sugar mixture and mix well. Add buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Mix well; pour into greased and floured 9x13 pan.  Bake 20 minutes at 400.

For icing, mix together butter, cocoa powder and milk. Bring to a rapid bowl and remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients and spread on hot cake directly from the oven.*

*If done right, it should be "melty" looking on the cake but will cool nicely.

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NOTE:  I made this again later using a SHEET pan to bake in instead of 9x13 pan.  MUCH BETTER!!

Pioneer Baked Beans

I'm blogging from the kitchen this morning. I've got to get two breakfast boys (The Dish Washer and his cousin) on the road for their Annual Road Trip to Duke Basketball. Let's hope they win so they come home happy...not looking too good though! I have tons of new breakfast recipes to try, but I have managed to wake up this morning without any cheese in my house! All the recipes call for cheese. So this morning, we are just having breakfast sausage and frozen biscuits. But these are delicious "taste like mama's" biscuits...well not my Mama's because she never made homemade biscuits (that I remember anyway), so tastes like MeeMaw's for me!

Anyway, I got to thinking that I forgot to post the baked bean recipe that I promised. These are from Super Social Worker and she wanted to call them "Pioneer Baked Beans" because she is loving to read the Pioneer Woman's website. Apparently it is motivating her to cook in the kitchen. Speaking of PW, check this out...she and my favorite magazine are about to collide. I can't wait until that issue comes out!! The Dish Washer and I would LOVE to live on her ranch! Back to the beans - she didn't give me any exact measurements, but here is what she did.

"Pioneer" Baked Beans

2 cans Bush's baked beans
1 lb. breakfast sausage
green bell pepper
onion
ketchup
mustard
brown sugar
barbecue sauce

In a skillet, she browned sausage with an onion and bell pepper. Then she drained it and added it to the cans of beans. Then she added the other ingredients until she got the taste like she liked it. That's all I know. I don't even know if she baked hers...I did mine. Hey SuperSW, how about telling us what you did after putting it all together?

I did the sausage, bell pepper and onions. I used my recipe as a guide for baking, using pork n beans instead of baked beans. I also used the barbecue sauce. It was very good and The Dish Washer absolutely loved it!