Slow Cooker Swiss Steak

This was VERY yummy. It gave me a different way to prepare swiss steak to change it up a bit!

It was GREAT served with mashed potatoes!

Ingredients

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 pounds round steak, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 cup baby carrots
2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons brown sugar, or to taste

Directions

1.In a shallow bowl, mix the flour, salt, and pepper. Lightly coat the round steak pieces in the flour mixture.
2.Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, brown round steak pieces until lightly browned.
3.Place the vegetables and steak in a slow cooker. Mix in the tomatoes with juice, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar.
4.Cover, and cook 8 to 10 hours on Low, until the round steak is very tender.

Lollipop Snacks

1 bag (16 oz) large marshmallows
1/4 c butter or margarine
1 box (15.6 oz) Rice Chex
about 24 wooden sticks with rounded ends



Butter a 15 x 10 x 1 in. pan.


In large microwaveable bowl, microwave marshallows and butter on High 2 to 3 minutes, stirring every minute, until mixture is smooth. Stir in cereal. Using buttered back of spoon or hands, press firmly in pan.



Cool 2 to 3 hrs before cutting into shapes. Cut into shapes with 2 1/2 to 3 inch cookie cutters that have lightly been sprayed with cooking spray. Insert wooden sticks about 1 inch into bottom of shape.



Decorate as desired.

Taco Lasagna

Ingredients:

2 pounds lean ground beef2 (1.25 ounce) packages taco seasoning mix
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 cup water
18 (6 inch) corn tortillas
1 (24 ounce) jar salsa
1 cup sliced green onion
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:

1. Place ground beef in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, then season with taco seasoning, garlic, cayenne pepper, chili powder and water. Simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Place 6 tortillas into the prepared baking dish. Spread 1/3 of the salsa on top of the tortillas. Spread 1/2 of the meat mixture evenly over the salsa. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the green onions. Drop 1/2 of the sour cream randomly over the green onions. Top with 1/2 cup Cheddar and 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese. Repeat layers. Top with 6 tortillas, spread with remaining salsa, and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
4. Bake in a preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes or until cheeses are melted.

Cute Pig Cookies

1 c. butter

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 c. (8 0z) sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

FROSTING:

4 c. powdered sugar

1/2 c. butter, melted

6 Tbsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

5-6 drops red food coloring

pink sugar wafer cookies
36 large marshmallows, halved

Butterscotch chips

miniature semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients, gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

For frosting, in a large bowl, combine the powdered sugar, butter, milk, vanilla and food coloring. Frost cookies

Cut sugar wafers into triangles, place two on each cookie for ears. With a toothpick, poke two holes in each marshmallow half for nostrils and place butterscotch chips into holes. Place nose on cookies. Add chocolate chips for eyes.

Rainbow Cake

Eating the rainbow is a ton of FUN!

Here's how you can do it...

RAINBOW CAKE

2 white cake mixes

Wilton Icing Colors in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple (the drop food coloring WILL NOT work - it won't make your cakes bright enough)

FROSTING:

2 sticks butter, softened

powdered sugar

vanilla extract

milk

whipped topping

Make the cake mixes as directed on box. Divide cake mix into 6 seperate bowls and put a tsp of color into each bowl making up your six primary colors of the rainbow. Bake each cake seperately in 9 in round cake pans that are heavily greased with cooking spray. Let each cake cool completely before beginning to stack your cakes.

Meanwhile, cream two sticks of butter. Add a tsp of vanilla and about 1/2 - 3/4 of the bag of powdered sugar. Mix together until it's thick. Add about 1-2 Tbsp of milk to get frosting to the right consistency. (start with 1 Tbsp at a time - you don't want your frosting too thin). Then add 1/2 of a container of whipped topping to the frosting. This was AWESOME! It had the perfect amount of sweetness, but was light and fluffly like whipped topping is. GREAT IDEA!

When your cakes are completely cooled, stack them starting with purple (on the bottom) and frost a thin layer of frosting between each layer of cake. Once all layers are on, frost entire cake - top and sides (which by the way is NOT easy - you have to be patient)!

WALLA! You're done to enjoy your beautiful cake!

PS. This cake was SOOOOO moist! We loved it! It honestly tasted as good as it looked! And the frosting was perfect too! DELICIOUS!

Halloween Cupcakes

These were so much fun to make. PS. the web is edible...the spiders were just cutesy decoration!

INGREDIENTS:

1 box German Chocolate cake mix, prepared as directed on box
1 tub Dark Chocolate Fudge frosting
2 cups white chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. To Make the Cupcakes: Place 24 paper liners in muffin pans, then fill each liner two-thirds full with prepared German Chocolate Cake mix . Bake at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes, then set aside until cool.
2. Transfer a container of Dark Chocolate Fudge frosting into a bowl, microwave for 10 seconds, and stir; repeat until thin enough to pour. Dip cupcake upside down into frosting, submerging the top but not touching liner to frosting. Let excess drip off before turning upright. Continue until all cupcakes are glazed.
3. To Make the Web Topper: Microwave white-chocolate chips in a bowl for 30 seconds and stir. Continue to microwave in 20-second intervals until almost melted. Stir again until chocolate is completely melted. Pour inside a freezer bag with one tip snipped off to create a piping sleeve. (I used a decorators bag with a #3 tip)
4. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Slide spiderweb template underneath paper. To make each web, use piping sleeve to trace white chocolate along design, making sure to connect all lines. Repeat process until you've created 24 toppers. Chill them in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Then, using a spatula, remove webs carefully from parchment and position one on each cupcake.

Tacos in a Pasta Shell

Sounds wierd huh? I thought so...I was really nervous about this one. I just couldn't quite see myself eating mexican with pasta...it just doesn't go!

However, I was pleasantly surprised! This turned out to be really good...and relatively easy to make, which was another one of my hesitations. Chris and I couldn't get over how tasty the meat was! Yum. Another one to add to our regular supper menu items!

Here is the recipe...

Taco Pasta Shells

1 1/4 pounds lean ground beef
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
18 jumbo pasta shells
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips
1 cup sour cream

In a large skillet, brown beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add cream cheese, salt and chili powder; mix and simmer for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. Toss cooked shells in butter.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Fill shells with beef mixture and arrange in a 9x13 inch baking dish; pour taco sauce over shells. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove dish from oven and top with Cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese and tortilla chips; return dish to oven to cook for 15 minutes more.
Top with sour cream and black olives; serve.

Baked Ziti

Wonderful!!! This is sooooo good!!!

1 lb. hamburger
1 small onion, chopped
2 jars spagetti sauce
6 oz of sliced provolone
1 cup sourcream
1 lb. ziti
1 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)

Pre-heat oven to 350. Brown hamburger and onion in skillet. While hamburger is browning, cook ziti per package instructions. Drain hamburger then add sauce to hamburger, simmer until sauce is well heated. When ziti is done, drain. Layer in 9 x 13 pan in this order: 1/2 of ziti, provolone cheese, sour cream, half of hamburger/sauce mixture. Then the rest of the ziti, the rest of the hamburger/sauce mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese. (we usually use more than it calls for because we like it very cheesy. Bake for 30-40 minutes, just until cheese is started to brown.


YUMMY....YOU MUST TRY IT!

Alfredo Mostaccioli

Wow, I am late getting this posted this week...but, I did just start my daycare, so my days have been a little more busy than usual. So, I know you all will give me a break this time.

This recipe was VERY, VERY good. I am not usually one to "make" my own Alfredo sauce...I usually just buy a jar of Ragu's premade Alfredo sauce, which is really not that bad tasting. However, I wanted to try it and I was very impressed. No more RAGU for me!

This sauce tasted so good - Chris LOVED it and asked that I use it from now on. For this particular recipe, I did make a few changes...or really additions. First, I would love to know where you can actually buy mostaccioli! I couldn't find it ANYWHERE...so I improvised with fettechini, which always works with Alfredo sauce. And, I added cooked, cubed chicken to the recipe as well...to give it an all around balanced meal! Lastly, I only added 1/4 c. parsley because it looked like a lot and if I would have added more, I think the Alfredo sauce would have turned green. So, here is the recipe as it was originally written....

Alfredo Mostaccioli

1 - 16 oz pkg. mostaccioli
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 c. chopped parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic powder

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook until tender, approximately 8-10 min; drain. Combine heavy cream and butter in a dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat. Heat until butter melts, stirring occasionally; do not let mixture boil! Stir in Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Toss with cooked pasta and serve immediately.

Oh, one last thing... the sauce seems to be kinda runny at first... so my suggestion would be to let it sit for at least 5 min as it thickens as it sits. It was at the right consistency for us about halfway through the meal...but we didn't let it sit at all!

Sour Cream Enchilladas

Okay, I know I am late getting this recipe up! Sorry. I have had lots of request for it, which makes me smile knowing that my new blog is being read! Yay!

This is a very good dish! It has been added to our regular supper menu choices!

Sour Cream Enchilladas

6-8 tortillas
3/4 c. onion, chopped
2 c. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
4 oz. can green chilies
2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 c. flour
2 c. chicken broth
1 c. sour cream

Put 2 Tbsp. cheese and 1 Tbsp. onion on tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down in baking dish. Melt butter; blend in flour till thickened; add broth, sour cream, chilies, and remaining onions and cheese. Pour over enchillada. Bake 20 minutes at 425 degrees.

A First: Meatloaf!

In all the years that Chris and I have been married, I have never fixed meatloaf for any meal that we have eaten at home. In fact, I can't say it is all because Chris hates it....I really didn't care for it either. But, in my quest of trying a new recipe each week - I did the unthinkable today...I made MEATLOAF!! Applesauce Meatloaf to be exact. And...it actually tasted very good! Chris even said it could be made again. So, here is the recipe...I dare you to try it. If we can like it, I bet you will too!



Applesauce Meatloaf


1 lb ground beef
1/2 c bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
3/4 c applesauce
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c chopped onion
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c ketchup
1/8 c mustard


Mix ground beef, onion, bread crumbs, seasoned salt, salt, eggs, and applesauce together. Spoon into an ungreased 9x5 loaf pan; set aside. Combine ketchup, mustard & brown sugar and spread over meatloaf. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Chicken Casserole

This is the new recipe for this week. I'll let you know how it goes!

Chicken Casserole

4 chicken breasts
4 slices swiss cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/3 c. water
3/4 c. bread crumbs
1/3 c. melted butter

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Put in baking dish. Cover each chicken with swiss cheese. Mix soup and water together and cover chicken. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.


simple...easy....sounds good!