Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole

This was a Pinterest find as well (here)..but next time I am definitely mixing everything before putting it in the oven. It ended up being a lot of hashbrowns with creamy mix on top and cheese. 

Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole

Ingredients:

*1 (2 lb.) bag frozen Hash Browns 
* 8 oz. Sour cream
* 1 can cream of chicken soup
* 1 stick butter
* 1/2 C. Chopped onion
* 2 C. grated Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

1.  Place potatoes in 9x13 dish (or in bowl first). Salt and pepper as needed.

2. Melt butter in the microwave. 

3. In a bowl add minced onions, sour cream, and cream of chicken soup, and melted butter. Mix these items together. 

4. (This is where I would say mix soup mixture with potatoes and pour in greased pan, but the directions say...) Pour soup mixture over potatoes; sprinkle with Cheddar Cheese. 

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until all is completely warm, and the cheese begins to melt.

6. Serve Immediately. Mmm!

Candy Cane Cookies

This is another cookie from my favorite cookie book! (P. 74) 

My grandma (the best cook EVER) even commended me on how well these came out! It was a HUGE compliment! 

The directions on this cookie were a little funky. I think I was actually supposed to save the candy cane/sugar mix to scatter on the end..but I mixed it in the dough...Next time I will try it the right way!

Candy Cane Cookies

Ingredients:

* 1/3 cup finely crushed peppermit candy

* 1/3 cup sugar

* 1/2 cup shortening

* 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

* 1 cup sifted powdered sugar

* 1 egg, slightly beaten

* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* 1 teaspoon almond extract

* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring

Directions:

1. Combine candy and sugar and set aside.

2. Cream shortening and butter in a large mixing bowl.

3. Gradually add 1 c. powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy.

4. Add egg, beat well. Stir in flavorings (I'm assuming this means extracts, but I added extracts AND candy..only add extracts!). Add flour and salt; mix well.

5. Divide dough in half. Tint half with food coloring. Shape a pinch of each into logs and then twist together.

(Flour helps during this process--but because I added the sugary mixture, the dough kept falling apart, so I gave up and did 2 balls of each color) Place cookies on an UNGREASED cookie sheet.

6. Bake at 375 for 9 minutes or just until edges brown. Remove cookies from sheets while warm; immediately coat with candy mixture (yea..this is when I was like, oops!). Cool completely on wire racks.

Yield: 4 dozen

Stove Top Chicken Pot Pie

This recipe is a funny story. I was floating in one of the pre-k rooms during nap and was bored so I decided to flip through one of the random old magazines from the art center. It was a Southern Living magazine from fall. This recipe looked too good to pass up!

Stove-top Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

* 8 frozen biscuits (I used 1 can of crescent rolls that I sliced)

* 1 small sweet onion

* 1 T. Canola Oil

* 8 oz. fresh mushrooms

* 4 cups cooked, chopped chicken (it suggested rotisserie chicken)

* 1 (10.5 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup

* 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

* 1/2 cup dry white wine

* 4 oz. Reduced Fat cream cheese

* 1/2 envelope italian dressing mix

* 1 cup frozen peas (ew..I left this out)

Directions:

1. Bake bread according to directions.

2. Saute onion in oil over medium/high until golden. (~5 minutes)

3. Add mushrooms and saute another 5 minutes, or so.

4. Stir in chicken and the rest of the ingredients. Stir continuously (until all cream cheese is melted), then cook 2 minutes.

5. Serve over bread. YUM!

Crock Pot Broccoli Casserole

This recipe comes from Taste of Home: Best Church Supper Recipes (p. 67). Brian really liked this one!

Slow-Cooked Broccoli

Ingredients:

* 2 packages (10 oz. each) frozen chopped broccoli, partially thawed

* 1 can condensed cream of celery soup

* 1 1/2 cups (6 oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided

* 1/4 cup chopped onion

* 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

* 1/4 teaspoon pepper

* 1 cup crushed Ritz crackers (~25)

* 2 Tablespoons butter

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine broccoli, soup, 1 cup cheese, onion, Worcestshire sauce and pepper.

2. Pour into a 3-qt. greased slow cooker.

3. Sprinkle crackers on top; dot with butter.

4. Cover and cook on high for 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

5. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

6. Cook 10 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted.

Yield 8-10 servings

Cheesy Potato Casserole

Potato Casserole

 

Ingredients:

* 2 lb bag of frozen hash browns, thawed (get the bag that has hash browns in the little cubes)

* 1/2 c. melted margarine

* 1/2 tsp pepper

* 1 tsp salt

* 1/2 c. chopped onion

* 1 c. sour cream

* 1 can cream of chicken soup

* 2 c. grated cheddar cheese

 

Topping: 

*2 c. crushed corn flakes

* 1/4 c. margarine

((OR JUST USE RITZ CRACKERS CRUMBLED))

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix everything together and put in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Sprinkle topping.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Thanksgiving Leftovers Made Yummy!

So every year after Thanksgiving, I like to see what I can make with the leftovers, so here is a breakdown (which I will most likely be adding to as the week goes on).

For the next 2 recipes I shredded turkey in a blender as a first step

Turkey and Rolls:

BBQ Turkey Sliders

Ingredients:

* Turkey (shredded)

* Rolls

* BBQ sauce

Directions:

1. Put shredded chicken in a bag and add BBQ sauce.

2. Shake bag and squish in the BBQ sauce.

3. Toast a roll on the stove in a buttered pan.

4. Add meat and enjoy!

Turkey and Corn:

Quesadillas with Taco Cream

Ingredients:

* Turkey (Shredded)

* Salsa

* Leftover corn

* Beans (optional)

* Tortilla

Directions:

1. Add salsa to shredded turkey in blender. Blend in. (This can also be stirred)

2. Heat Pan over low-medium heat with butter spray. Heat both sides of 2 tortillas.

3. Place one tortilla into pan and add cheese.

4. Add generous amount of turkey/salsa mixture.

5. Top with corn (and beans if you have them, which I did not).

6. Add more cheese. (We LOVE cheese!)

7. Remove bottom from pan to plate, add top tortilla shell and place a plate on top. Then put the hot pan on the plate to ensure the quesadilla gets heated through out.

8. Cut with a pizza cutter.

(Optional) I whipped up some Taco Cream that was just taco sauce and sour cream mixed.

1. Combine equal parts of taco sauce and sour cream.

2. Mix and serve!

Ham and Rolls:

Grilled Ham and Cheese Sliders

Ingredients:

*Rolls

*Ham

* Cheese (I used Sprinkle Cheddar cheese because it was leftover from casseroles)

Directions:

1. Cut the roll in half and place in melted butter in pan over medium heat. Make sure to coat both sides evenly.

2. Flip one side up and sprinkle cheese.

3. Add ham and top with cheese, then bread.

4. Remove from oven and place on plate (or napkin if you are sick of doing dishes). Cover with hot pan to ensure melted cheese and heated ham.

5. Enjoy!

Creamed Spinach:

Spinach, Mushroom and Egg White Omelet

Ingredients:

* Leftover creamed spinach (courtesy of my MIL)

* Egg white
*Canned or fresh mushrooms

* Garlic

Directions:

1. Spray pan with olive oil and bring to medium heat. Add some mushrooms and a little bit of garlic (I always use the jarred stuff). Saute about 5 minutes.

2. Pour about 1/2 cup of egg whites over mushroom and let cook until bottom seems firm enough to flip.

3. Once flipped spoon on creamed spinach.

4. Flip one side up, put on plate, and invert pan over omelet to make sure spinach gets heated enough.

5. Serve!

Corn Pudding

I was in charge of the corn side this Thanksgiving, so I decided to try out yet another Pinterest recipe. This one was yummy and turned out kind of like a corn souffle, which we LOVE! The recipe originally came from here, and I pretty much followed it to a T.

Corn Pudding

Ingredients:

* 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted (plus more for the pan)
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 8 eggs, beaten
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 cup flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 4 cups 2% milk
* 4 cups corn (we used 36 oz. thawed corn)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and butter a 9x13 dish well.

2. In a large bowl combine melted butter with sugar and mix well.

3. Beat in eggs, then add baking powder, flour and salt.

4. Stir in milk, then add corn and stir to combine.

5. Pour into prepared dish (I did this IN the oven to minimize spillage getting it TO the oven).

6. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour or until the pudding just begins to brown on the top and when nudged the corn jiggles a bit.

7. Serve immediately or cool and reheat for 15 minutes prior to serving. (I just kept mine in my hot bag and it was fine!)

Lemon Chess Pie

My dad doesn't like pumpkin pie, so for Thanksgiving this year I tried something outside of pecan pie...and it was yummy! The recipe came from here, again, thanks to pinterest. I used a store-bought pie crust instead of making my own, so I used this video tutorial on finishing the crust in a design!

Lemon Chess Pie

Ingredients:

• *6 tablespoons butter (melted)
• *3/4 cup fresh lemon juice; the juice from about 3 lemons (I used a little less)
  
• * 1/2 teaspoon salt
• * 1 2/3 cups sugar
• * 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• * 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• * 5 large eggs
• * Pillsbury Pie Crust
  

Directions:

1. Unroll your Pillsbury pie crust onto your pie plate. Fix the edges how you want them (I used the crinkle method).

2. Stick the crust back in the fridge to cool.

2. Juice lemons, then stir all ingredients (besides pie crust). Whisk until well combined.

3. Pour filling into chilled pie shell. (I went on and put the shell on the bottom rack in the oven and poured the filling that way so I didn't have to try to balance it into the oven).

• 

4. Bake in preheated oven on bottom rack for 45-50 minutes, or until the center is set and the top is golden brown. (I used a crust shield so the crust wouldn't overcook)

5. Remove pie from oven and let cool before serving.