Delicious French Dip

I love french dip sammies! They have always been a favorite of mine. I modified this recipe from one I found on http://www.allrecipes.com/. We ate it with some sweet potato fries and lots of Au Jus....

French Dip with Au Jus

3-4 lb beef roast

1 onion thinly sliced

1-2 cloves garlic, smashed and skins removed

1 T. tomato paste (or ketchup)

2 T. worcestershire sauce

2 cans beef broth

2 cans beef consumme soup or 2 cans french onion soup

1 12 oz bottle or can of beer (don't freak out - the alcohol cooks out, and the flavor it makes is to die for!!)

Season the roast with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Add the roast and all the rest of ingredients to your favorite crock pot and cook on low for about 7-8 hours. (until you can shred the roast with a fork). Shred the roast and put back in the Au Jus.

Hoagie rolls

melted butter

provolone cheese, sliced

Split Hoagie rolls, brush with melted butter and broil in oven until lightly toasted. Add provolone cheese and continue broiling until melting (1 or 2 minutes). Place shredded beef on each hoagie and serve with juices left in crock pot for dipping!

Pasta with Veggies and Parmesan

This is one of our all time favorites! Delicious in the summer with garden fresh veggies! Works in the winter too for a comfy cozy meal by the fireplace. This is an old pampered chef recipe and one I use over and over again!

3 c. (6 oz) bowtie pasta
1-2 c. cherry tomato's, sliced in half
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 small bell pepper cut into thin strips (I like green, but you could use red or yellow)
1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
2 t. olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 c. frozen peas
1 t. italian seasoning
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and keep warm. Heat oil in skillet until hot, add garlic and chicken. Stir fry 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Reduce heat until medium, add onion, zucchini, bell pepper, peas, seasoning mix, and salt, stir fry 2 minutes. Add tomatos; heat 1-2 minutes, stirring gently until heated through. Remove from heat. Stir in warm pasta. Sprinkle cheese over pasta. Serve immediately.

*I usually use more than 1/2 c. parm cheese

Becca's Buffalo Wings

With the superbowl coming up, I thought I would share my favorite wing recipe. It came from my Aunt Becca, who makes the greatest wings in the world!!! Serve up with carrot sticks, celery sticks and your favorite bleu cheese dressing and you've got a winner every time!!!

1 bag wings (I usually get mine in the frozen foods aisle at the grocery store).
1 bottle Franks Red Hot sauce
1 cube butter
2 T. grape jelly ( I know it sounds wierd, but just trust me...)

Season chicken wings with garlic salt, salt and pepper and broil in the oven until cooked through, turning several times. This usually takes between 30 -45 minutes. Mix other ingredients in a sauce pan and cook until butter is melted and grape jelly is incorporated. Place wings and sauce in a large bowl and gently stir until combined. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

The Ultimate Cheeseball

This is the greatest cheeseball ever made! We have it at almost all big family gatherings and it never lasts long!

2 8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 T. onion, minced

1 T. worcestershire sauce

1 bottle Kraft Roka Blue cheese

1 bottle Kraft Old English cheese (These are just in the regular grocery store, like velveeta, but in bottles.)

1 t. accent seasoning

Mix all together in mixer until smooth and then shape into balls and roll in finely chopped walnuts. Serve with a variety of crackers to dip in.

Orange Ginger Cookie Sandwiches with Orange Cream Cheese filling

I found these cookies on RecipeGirl.com and decided to make them for Christmas goodies this year. They are sooooo yummy! My kids were so mad that we didn't keep more for ourselves! If you don't want to make them into sandwiches, you can just spread the frosting over the top and enjoy one at a time!!!

COOKIES:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp salt
12 Tbs (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup molasses
1 large egg
½ tsp vanilla extract

FILLING:
¼ cup (4 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
2 Tbs unsalted butter at room temperature
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated orange zest
1 tsp orange juice
½ tsp ground ginger
1¾ cups powdered sugar, plus more as needed

To make cookies: In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, brown sugar, and ½ cup granulated sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add molasses, egg and vanilla, and beat at medium- high until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture and mix until well combined. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.

Ready to bake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Place remaining ½ cup granulated sugar in a shallow bowl. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat. Arrange about 2 inches apart on 2 ungreased baking sheets. Using the bottom of a glass that has been lightly greased, then dipped in sugar, flatten dough into ¼-inch-thick disks. Bake 13 to 15 minutes, or until firm. Remove from oven and immediately transfer cookies to a cooling rack.

Make filling: In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients; mix until smooth, adding more powdered sugar as needed (filling should have consistency of very thick frosting). With a small spatula, frost bottoms of half the cookies (about 1 tsp. filling each); top with remaining cookies (so bottom sides are together) to make sandwich cookies.

Yield: 2 dozen sandwich cookies



Probably my new favorite cookie!!!

Pizza Night!!!

We try to have a weekly "make your own pizza night". The kids love it, even the picky ones, because they get to design their own! Have fun with it! Its a quick fix for a busy night's dinner! A couple of the finished products:

Here is What we like to use for our toppings: (we usually have pineapple, too, but I forgot to pick some up from the store!)

Make your own pizza night:

Boboli pizza crusts ( I like to use the personal size ones, so we can all make our own! You could also make homemade pizza dough if you'd like, but that would take the "quick" part out of the equation!)

pizza sauce - this you can buy premade, but I like to make my own: just take a can of tomato sauce and add garlic salt, italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste and mix together.

Cover the crusts with pizza sauce, cheese and the toppings of your choice and bake at 450 degrees for 8 minutes. Enjoy with some garlic bread and a green salad!!

Cheese suggestions:

mozzarella

parmesan

colby jack

Topping suggestions:

tomato's

green peppers

mushroom's

green onions

pineapple

ham

pepperoni

olives

I'd love to hear about your families creations.....

Fudge....yum,yum

Passing on the Christmas candy tradition!!! Me and Ellie baking fudge!!!

My mom makes pan after pan of this every Christmas.....It is so rich, creamy, and delicicious! My family could go through a pan in a night easily!!!! This year, I let my daughter help make it, to start passing down the tradition!!

4 1/2 c. sugar

1can evaporated milk

2 squares butter

pinch of salt

Bring to a boil, and boil for 8 minutes, stirring frequently.

Then add:

5 Hershey bars

1 12 ounce bag chocolate chips

7 ounces marshmallow cream

1 t. vanilla

chopped nuts (optional)

Turn off heat, stir together until creamy and pour into a buttered cookie sheet. Let cool. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container. Enjoy!