Perfect Home Made Brownies

One night recently I had a brownie craving.  Honestly, most nights I have a brownie craving.....this night though, I acted on it.  I didn't have a boxed mix on hand, so I got on pinterest in search of an easy home made recipe that I could make with what I already had in my pantry and stumbled upon this.  I will never buy boxed mix again.  And I'm not knocking Betty crocker or Duncan Hines because they are good....but these are great.  The best thing....they take 2 minutes.  Really, the site I found them on cooklikeyourgrandmother.com actually has a video posted of them making them with a timer set, in under 2 minutes.  Now this lady was moving freakishly fast, but it can be done!  I highly recommend using a better quality chocolate (I had Ghirardelli), it makes a big difference. 

You will need:

-1 1/2 cups sugar

-3/4 cup flour

-3/4 cup cocoa powder

-3 eggs

-3/4 cup butter, melted

-1/2 tsp salt, if using unsalted butter

-3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

*Preheat oven to 325.  Line a 12x8 inch glass baking dish with parchment paper overlapping the sides.  (Once brownies are cooled you will use this to remove them from the dish. 

*In a large mixing bowl combine sugar, flour, cocoa, eggs, melted butter, and salt.  Mix by hand with a wooden spoon just until dry ingredients are incorporated.  Don't over mix. 

*Stir in the chocolate chips.  Pour batter into dish and gently spread it out.

*Bake for 30-40 minutes (Note:  the original recipe used a 13x9 inch dish and a shorter baking time.  I like my brownies thicker so I opted for a smaller dish, but increased the baking time.  Whatever you choose, test it with a toothpick until it comes out clean)

*Once they have cooled for a few minutes carefully lift brownies out of dish using parchment paper and let cool, or if you are like me start slicing!

Sausage and Cheese Mini Muffins

I discovered these awesome mini sausage cheese muffins on plainchicken.com a few months ago, and am seriously addicted to them.  They perfect for breakfast on the go, game day snacks, or cute appetizers. I prefer to grab a couple in the morning and eat them on my way to work. The nice thing is that the recipe makes a ton, so I store mine in a large ziploc bag in the fridge, then when you need a couple, wrap them in a paper towel and stick them in the microwave for a few seconds.  I won't lie, I ate one cold.....it was still pretty good:) 

 

You will need:

-1 lb. ground pork sausage (I used mild)

-1 tsp onion powder

-3 cups all purpose baking mix

-1 (10.75oz) can condensed fiesta nacho cheese soup ( I used Campbell's)

-2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

-3/4 cup buttermilk (you can substitute regular milk and it works just fine)

*Pre heat oven to 375.  Spray a mini muffin pan very well with non stick cooking spray. 

*Cook sausage and onion powder in large skillet over med-high heat until no longer pink.  Drain and cool. 

*Combine sausage, baking mix, and shredded cheese in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center of the mixture.  Stir together the soup and buttermilk.  Add to the sausage mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. 

*Spoon into greased muffin tin, filling to the top.  Bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned.  Let cool in muffin tin for a few minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.  Store in refrigerator. 







Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice

Here's another slow cooker recipe for y'all.....I've been making good use of my crock pot the last few months!  I absolutely love being able to come home knowing that dinner is ready and waiting for us already, and this is one of those super easy "throw it in and turn it on" recipes.  The only thing you have to do is make the rice when you get home, which you can easily do the night before and reheat when you need it.  I made it when I got home, doesn't take long at all.  This picture doesn't do this dish justice, it's not the prettiest meal, but it's really good.

You will need:

-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 3 really big ones)

-1/2 large onion, chopped

-1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

-1 (10.5oz) can cream of chicken soup

-1 (15oz) can whole kernel corn, drained

-1 (8oz) box Zatarain's Yellow Rice Mix, cooked according to directions

*Place chicken breast in slow cooker.  Scatter chopped onion over the top.  Spoon cream of chicken soup over the top of that.  Put the lid on :)

*Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.

*A few minutes before serving add cooked rice, cheese, and corn.  Stir well to combine and let it warm back up for a few minutes.  



Pancake Squares

This is just a quick and easy breakfast recipe I thought I would share....found it a while back on pinterest and can't believe I've never thought to do this.  I hate making pancakes for two reasons: 

1.)  I'm not good at making them....they come out looking funky

2.)  they take too long....I want to sit down with my family and eat, not stand by the stove all morning

Now, Kevin is an awesome pancake maker, but when he's not around or doesn't feel like making them, I will be using this recipe from now on.  Take a couple minutes to put it together, bake it, and cut it into squares....so easy.  I forgot to take a picture of the whole thing, but I used a 9x9 inch baking dish, and it was enough to feed our little family of four perfectly.

You will need:

-3/4 cup milk

-2 tablespoons melted butter

-1 large egg

-1 tablespoon sugar

-1 cup flour

-2 teaspoons baking powder

-1/4 teaspoon salt

 

*Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a square baking dish with non stick cooking spray.



*In a large mixing bowl, beat together milk, butter, and egg.  Add sugar, then gradually beat in the flour.  Stir in baking powder and salt. 

*Pour batter into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes

this recipe was found on bigredkitchen.com



Firehouse Spaghetti

 

Firehouse spaghetti....it's our new favorite casserole.  It's kind of like chicken spaghetti, but spicy....and with beef, not chicken!  I got this recipe from my co-worker Jenny, who likes to cook like I do, and who described this dish as "man food".  Well, my man was sure happy with this recipe.  So was my little man!  Hunter has "casserole issues" sometimes and doesn't like things mixed together, but I told him that this is what the firemen eat, and he gobbled it right up.  I'm sure at one point a real fireman has eaten firehouse spaghetti, so technically it might not be a lie? 

 I used the original rotel flavors, and it gave it a nice kick....not too spicy for the kids though.  If you want is less spicy, use the mild rotel.  It also calls for 2 containers of Old English Sharp Cheddar Cheese, but you can easily interchange this for cheese whiz.  I used one container of Old English, and half a jar of cheese whiz. 

 

You will need:

-12 oz spaghetti noodles

-1 lb. ground beef

-2 cans rotel

-2 containers Old English Sharp Cheddar Cheese (I found it by the cheese whiz)

-2 cans cream of mushroom soup

-onion

-garlic (I didn't measure the onion or garlic, just finely chopped a little of each)

-shredded cheddar cheese (if desired for topping)

 

*Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 13x9 inch dish with cooking spray

*Brown ground beef, along with garlic and onion in a large skillet.  Drain fat from the beef and return to the skillet

*Meanwhile, cook spaghetti noodles according to directions (I always save a little pasta water before you drain the noodles, in case you need to add more liquid to the pasta)

*Add rotel, cheese, and cream of mushroom soup to the beef mixture in skillet and heat over med-low heat just to melt the cheese and soup a bit.

*In a large bowl place cooked spaghetti noodles.  Pour beef mixture on top of noodles and mix well.  You can add a little of the reserved pasta water if you need to thin it out. 

*Pour mixture into baking dish and sprinkle on extra cheese if desired.

*Bake for 20-25 minutes. 



 

7 Up Biscuits

After seeing these 7Up Biscuits floating around the pinterest world for a while, I decided to give them a try.....and now I'm seriously addicted.  These little biscuits are super light and fluffy on the inside, with a little crunch on the outside, and the 7up gives them a little bit of a sweetness.  The best thing is they are so easy to prepare....they literally take about 5 minutes!  I changed up the original recipe and chose to use an ice cream scoop to make "drop" biscuits, and brushed a little butter on top to make them golden brown.  These are perfect to go along with just about anything on your menu:)

 

You will need:

-2 cups Bisquick mix

-1/2 cup sour cream

-1/2 cup 7Up

-1/4 melted butter

 

*Preheat oven to 450

*With a pastry cutter (or fork), cut the sour cream into the bisquick mix.  Add 7Up and gently stir until a soft, sticky dough forms.

*Melt butter and pour into a 9x9 inch dish.  With an ice cream scooper, drop scoopfuls of batter into baking dish on top of melted butter.  I usually get about 9 biscuits total....and it's ok if they are close together.

*Right before putting them in the oven I use a pastry brush (or spoon) to get a little bit of the melted butter from the bottom of the baking dish and spoon over the top of each biscuit. 

*Bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown.

*

Lasagna Roll Ups

I found a recipe for these easy lasagna roll ups a while back on life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com and decided to finally try them out.  They are really simple to prepare and super tasty!  Both Kevin and the kids really liked them, and it was a nice variation on plain old lasagna:)

 

You will need:

For the filling-

-1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

-15 oz container Ricotta cheese

-1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

-1 egg, beaten

-1 1/2 tsp dried parsley

-1/2 tsp onion powder

-1/4 tsp garlic powder

For the sauce-

-24 oz jar of spaghetti sauce (I used Classico Four Cheese)

-1 lb. ground beef

 

9 lasagna noodles

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

 

*Preheat oven to 375

*Mix together all of the filling ingredients in a small bowl and place in fridge until you need it

*Boil lasagna noodles according to package directions, gently drain and lay out on nonstick foil or wax paper (I spray mine with PAM so they don't stick)

*Brown ground beef in large skillet.  Drain beef and return to skillet.  Add jar of spaghetti sauce and cook over low heat for 5-6 minutes or until heated through.  Pour 1/3 of the sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish and set aside.

*Grab the filling from the fridge.  Spread about 1/4 cup of filling onto each lasagna noodle, roll up, and place seam side down in baking dish.

*Pour or spoon remaining sauce over roll ups and sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.

*Bake for 30 minutes