meatball rolls

meatball rolls
1 batch bread dough
1 bag store-bought meatballs
12 slices string cheese, diced into bite-size pieces
pizza sauce

prepare dough and roll out flat on countertop.
cut dough into 2 inch squares.
place one frozen meatball and 2 pieces cheese in each square and shape into rolls.
place in greased 9x13 baking dish.
(rolls can be frozen at this point, and then thawed for 4-6 hours before baking)
bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
serve alongside pizza sauce as dip.

Mashed Potatoes

After making potato skins, I had the insides of 17 potatoes all soft and mushy just begging me to make them into mashed taters.  These were incredibly simple!

Here is what you need:

About a pound and a half of potatoes (I used russet potatoes because I had just made potato skins, but if I were making them without making skins first, I would probably use Yukon Gold)
4 TBSP Butter
4 TBSP Heavy Cream
1 TBSP Milk
Salt and Pepper

Peel and quarter your potatoes.  Boil them until tender (easily penetrated by a fork).  Drain the water and set the potatoes aside in a bowl.  Heat up the butter, cream and milk on the stove top.  Once it is hot (not boiling though), mix it in the bowl of potatoes using a potato masher or a hand mixer.  If it is too thick, you can add more milk until you reach the desired consistency.  Salt and pepper to taste and you are done!

These turned out really good.  Carlee ate most of them in one sitting.

After making potato skins and mashed potatoes, I'm thinking these would be the perfect combination for Thanksgiving Day.  Potato skins while the guys watch football and mashed potatoes with dinner.

Potato Skins

When I was invited (okay, I invited myself) to a friend's house for the BCS Championship game, I decided that potato skins would be the perfect thing to bring to the party.  I had a whole sack of potatoes sitting on my counter just begging to be used.  These were pretty easy and I think they turned out pretty good.

Here is what you need:

Russet Potaotes
Butter
Seasoned Salt
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
*Bacon, cooked and crumbled
*Sour Cream
Chives, chopped

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Wash as many potatoes as you would like to make (each potato makes 2 skins).  Poke the potatoes with a fork and lightly grease them (I just used some butter).  Bake them for about 45 minutes.  Take them out and let them cool.  When they are cool (about 15 minutes), cut them in half long ways and scoop the insides out leaving a thin layer of potato along the inside of the skin.  Brush the inside and outside with melted butter.  Put the potato skins on a greased cookie sheet.  Sprinkle seasoned salt and shredded parmesan inside each potato half.  Bake for about 8 minutes or until bubbly inside.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon in each potato.  Bake for another 3 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Top with a dollop of sour cream and chives and enjoy.

Healthier alternatives would be turkey bacon and fat free sour cream.  I used these and heard things like "I couldn't even tell this was turkey bacon".  Apparently, they taste just as unhealthy with turkey bacon, but you save a few calories.

Copycat Outback Alice Springs Chicken

Last year, I didn't make any baking/cooking resolutions.  Sure, I tried new things, but it wasn't on my mind very often.  Well, this year, I resolved to make a new recipe each week, or 52 new-to-me recipes over the year.  I started off yesterday by making Copycat Alice Springs Chicken.  This is Brian's favorite thing to order at Outback, but after last night, he said I could make it for him any time he felt he needed to go to Outback.

Here is what you need:
1 c. Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard
1 c. Honey
1/2 c. Miracle Whip Lite*
1 tsp. lemon juice

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tbsp vegetable oil
salt, pepper, paprika
8 strips turkey bacon*
1 c. monterey jack cheese
1 c. cheddar cheese
fresh parsley, chopped

With a hand mixer, mix together the grey poupon, honey, miracle whip and lemon juice.  Put the chicken breast in a gallon ziploc bag and pour in about a third of the mixture.  Marinate in the fridge for 2 hours and refrigerate the rest of the mixture.  Shortly before the 2 hours is up, cook the bacon strips.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and heat a skillet over medium heat with the oil in the skillet.  Pan sear the chicken breast for about 3-4 minutes on each side.  If your skillet is oven-safe, leave the chicken in the skillet.  If not, transfer to a baking dish.  Slather some more of the honey mustard on each chicken breast.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and paprika.  I was really generous with the paprika.  Put two slices of bacon on top of each chicken breast in a criss-cross formation.  Top each breast with 1/4 c. monterey jack cheese and 1/4 c. cheddar cheese.  Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until the cheese is all melty a gooey.  Remove from the oven and top with some freshly chopped parsley.  Serve with the leftover honey mustard.

Each chicken breast is about 753 calories by my calucations (that includes the dipping sauce).  Steamed broccoli was an excellent side dish.

This was really really good and filling.  To be honest, half a chicken breast would probably be filling enough without too many calories.  I will definitely be adding this one to my regular dinner rotation.

*The recipe actually called for regular bacon and regular mayo.  To make it a tad healthier, I substituted these lower calorie foods.

Bacon and Cheese Quiche

A few days ago, I was feeling like I was in a dinner rut. I made the same few things or we would go out to eat. I asked Brian what I should make for dinners before I went grocery shopping and he gave me the same few dishes that I generally make. He couldn't really think of anything else.

So, I went searching for new ideas, and I stumbled upon Bacon and Cheese Quiche. This is probably not the most healthy of recipes, but it was definitely delicious and even Carlee gobbled it up.

Here is what you need:

1 9-inch unbaked pie crust
1 tbsp butter
12 bacon slices crumbled
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
4 eggs
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 tsp salt (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Put the pie crust into a pie plate. Spread the butter on the crust (I put my butter in the microwave on defrost for about a minute to make it more pliable). Sprinkle the bacon crumbles and cheese into the pie plate. Beat the eggs, cream and salt and pour into the pie plate. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees and then turn the oven down to 325 degrees and continue to bake for 40 more minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and eat.

Cooking bacon isn't something I'm really good at. I got out a pan and started pan frying half the package and it was taking forever. While the first 6 pieces were slowly cooking, I decided to microwave the rest. It was so darn easy and those pieces crumbled a million times better. I put the bacon slices in between two paper towels on a microwave safe plate and microwaved for 5 minutes. So easy! To crumble the bacon, I put it in a Ziploc bag and just crunched it. I thought about letting Carlee do it for me, but she would have tried to eat the bag...

Oh and cooling for 10 minutes is so very important. The eggs and cream need that time to set. I was hungry and impatient, so I cut right into it and it was very runny. A few minutes later, it was more solid.

Enjoy! :)

Cookie-Brownie-Butterfinger Bars

So, we all know that cookies are delicious. Brownies are heavenly. And who doesn't like a Butterfinger? So, what happens when you combine the three? You get an AMAZING dessert.

Call me a glutton for punishment, but I make everything (except the Butterfinger) from scratch.

Go here for the cookie recipe.

For the brownies, here is what you need: (or you can use a mix)

1 stick butter
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour

Melt butter and chocolate together. Remove from heat and let cool about 5 minutes. Add vanilla and sugar and stir. Add eggs and stir. Add flour and stir.

If you are making the brownies on their own, spray an 8x8 pan and bake them at 350* for about 20 to 25 minutes.

For the Cookie-Brownie-Butterfinger Bars, preheat the oven to 350*. Spray a bars pan with cooking spray. Press a ball of cookie dough into the bottom of each bar on the pan. Place a fun size Butterfinger (unwrapped of course) on top. Top with brownie batter to cover the candy bar. Bake for 23 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool about 10 minutes.

These suckers are tricky to get out of the pan. I don't know how to get them out easier. I usually end up using a butter knife to loosen the bars from the pan. Then I tip the pan upside down and shake them loose.

Let the bars cool completely before eating. The Butterfinger becomes *very* hard when it is hot. It could be detrimental to dental work if this warning is not heeded. Once they are cool, enjoy! These are kind of a pain to make, but so incredibly worth it.

If you wanted to take major short cuts, you could use ready made cookie dough and buy a box of brownie mix. I also bought a second bars pan so I can now make them faster. Waiting for one batch to cool before being able to get the next one started makes this drag out for quite a while.

The Best Cookie Recipe Ever!!!

For years, I have struggled to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. For a long time, I resigned to purchasing tubs of Nestle Tollhouse Cookie Dough and just scooping and baking. While that is incredibly easy and results in a near perfect cookie, the recipe I found is so much better in my opinion.

Here is the scoop!

2 sticks of softened butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons hot water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
1 bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350*. Cream together the butter and sugars. I never plan ahead long enough, so I usually pop the butter in the microwave on defrost for about a minute. Mix in the eggs one at a time. I mix it just long enough so the egg disappears into the mixture. Add the vanilla. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water and mix in. Mix in salt. Add 3 cups of flour. Dump in a bag of chocolate chips. Spoon the dough onto a cookie sheet and bake for 11 minutes.

When they come out of the oven, they might seem a little underdone, but they aren't. Let them cool for a few minutes and they will set. Depending on how much cookie dough I eat while I'm baking, I can usually squeak out a little over 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

PS - This cookie dough works great in my cookie-brownie-Butterfinger bars. :)