Spicy Cheeseburger Soup

This soup left us screaming for more!  It is delicious.  Smooth and creamy, yet a little spicy at the same time.  We will definitely be making this again. 

Spicy Cheeseburger Soup

Ingredients:

1½ cups water
2-3 cups cubed peeled potatoes
2 carrots, grated
1 small onion, grated
¼ cup chopped green pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp beef bouillon granules (I put in 4 cubes because I didn’t have granules.)
½ tsp salt
1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained
2 ½ cups milk, divided
3 Tbsp all purpose flour (For gluten free, use rice flour.)
8 oz. processed American cheese, cubed
½ tsp. cayenne pepper (You can decrease or increase this depending on how spicy you want it.)

½ pound sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled

Directions:
In a large saucepan, combine the first 8 ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir in beef and 2 cups milk; heat through. Combine flour and remaining milk until smooth; gradually stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; stir in cheese until melted. Add cayenne if desired. Cook bacon and crumble. Add in to soup and mix. Now serve! 6-8 servings.

Recipe Source:  Kari Kleinman

Toffee Fondue

I love fondue!!! We just had a fondue girl's night, and I made a toffee fondue. It's a tasty little treat.

1/2 cup butter
2 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup white corn syrup
2 Tablespoons water
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter in a bowl over a pan of hot water, and add all the other ingredients except the vanilla extract. Stir until thick, then add the vanilla extract. Place in a fondue pot to keep warm, and serve with pieces of apple, pear, banana, strawberry, rice krispie treat, angel food cake, or whatever else your heart fancies.

3's Jello

I first encountered this dish at a huge Thanksgiving dinner with friends in Kentucky.  I remember thinking, "What's that pink fluffy stuff?"  Then as I tasted it, my mind shouted, "Only one of the best things you've ever tasted!!!"  Is it weird to think that about jello?  This jello is fabulous!  It makes it appearance at all the best occasions like Christmas, Valentines, Thanksgiving, and just when we have that cravin'!
1 - 3 oz. box raspberry jello (NOT instant)
1 - 3 oz. box vanilla cook and serve pudding
1 - 3 oz. box tapioca cook and serve pudding
1 - 12 oz. bag frozen raspberries
1 - 8 oz. tub of cool whip

Add the boxes of pudding and jello to 3 cups of water.  Boil for three minutes and let cool (in pan, not in fridge) for 3 hours.  Thaw and drain the berries.  Put the pudding mixture in a large bowl.  Mix cool whip and berries into the pudding mixture. You can use a hand mixer or just do it by hand. Enjoy!

Recipe Source:  Our fabulous friend, Sherstine Mortensen

PHILLY Brownie Cheesecake

I got this recipe from Kraftfoods.com. It's really easy to make and really tasty. Especially for Mike and I since we both love brownies and cheesecake.

What You Need:
1 pkg. (19 to 21 oz.) brownie mix (13x9-inch pan size)
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
3 eggs
2 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Make It:

PREHEAT oven to 325°F. Spray 13x9-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Prepare brownie batter as directed on package; pour into prepared pan. Bake 25 min. or until top of brownie is shiny and center is almost set.

MEANWHILE, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Gently pour over brownie layer in pan. (Filling will come almost to top of pan.)

BAKE 40 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen side of dessert from pan; cool. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

MELT chocolate as directed on package; drizzle over cheesecake. Refrigerate 15 min. or until chocolate is firm. Cut cheesecake into 16 pieces to serve. Store any leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

French Breakfast Puffs

2/3 cup butter or magarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup milk

Topping:
¾ cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix shortening, sugar, and egg. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Stir in alternately with milk. Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Take out of oven and immediately roll in melted butter, then in the sugar which has been mixed with cinnamon.

I made a batch of mini muffins.

Waikiki Meatballs over Rice

This is a super delicious, sweet and sour type meatball recipe. I got it from my momma's cookbook.

1 ½ pounds ground beef
2/3 cup cracker crumbs
1/3 cup minced onion
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons ginger
¼ cup milk
2 tablespoons ginger
1 15-20 ounce can pineapple tidbits or chunks (reserve juice)
1/3 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/3 cup chopped green pepper

Mix thoroughly beef, crumbs, onion, egg, salt, ginger, and milk. Shape mixture by rounded tablespoons into balls. Cook meatballs over medium heat ‘til done. Remove meatballs; keep warm. In a separate saucepan, mix cornstarch and sugar. Pour juice from pineapples in the saucepan, along with the vinegar, and soy sauce until smooth. Cook on medium to high heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Add meatballs, pineapple tidbits and green pepper; heat through. Serve over Rice.

Cooking up the meatballs in a pan.

The finished product

BBQ Smothered Chicken

This is one of my own little creations. So I'm going to give you the basic ingredients. I don't measure anything out so I don't really know how much I use. Anywho...

It's called BBQ Smothered Chicken because it is smothered with BBQ sauce and some other goodies.

Ingredients:
Chicken
Tomato, diced
Mozzarella Cheese
BBQ Sauce
Seasoning for Chicken

Cook the chicken in a frying pan and season with whatever goodies you like. I usually use some garlic salt, pepper, and sometimes chicken seasoning. When the chicken is cooked, lather on some BBQ sauce. Then add some tomatoes and cover with cheese. Then I put a lid on the frying pan so everything heats up and the cheese melts. It doesn't take long for everything to heat up. It turns into quite a tasty dish.

Rolo Cookies

Mike has officially declared these to be his favorite cookies. They are especially delicious warm because the caramel from the Rolo is all soft and gooey. MMM mmm!

2 ½ cups flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 ½ cups butter
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 bag of Rolos

Cream the butter and both sugars together in a mixing bowl. Add the vanilla and eggs, then mix. Add the flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Mix ‘til blended. Take a spoonful of dough and put an unwrapped Rolo in the center. Make a ball around the Rolo. Cook at 375 for 7-10 minutes. After cookies have cooled, melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave. Then drizzle over the top of the cookies. (I melt the chips in a glass bowl for about 45 seconds. Then I transfer the white chocolate into a freezer bag and cut a corner off. I squeeze it out of the bag and onto the cookies.)

Vegetable Pizza

1 1/2 cans refrigerated crescent roll dough (8 rolls per can)

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 packet Ranch Dressing mix

shredded cheddar cheese

choice of chopped veggies: broccoli, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, green onions, shredded carrots, radishes, cauliflower

Place crescent dough out on a cookie sheet and spread until it makes one whole crust. Bake according to package directions or until light brown. Mix together softened cream cheese and ranch packet and spread over crust carefully. Sprinkle cheese over the top and then top with veggies. Press the veggies down into the crust a little so they don't fall all over the place when serving and cut into squares.

Ice Cream Pie

1/2 cup chocolate syrup
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups crisp rice cereal
1/4 cup sour cream
1 quart cookies and cream ice cream (or any other flavor you want)
caramel syrup
butter

1. Coat bottom and sides of a pie pan lightly with butter.
2. Combine chocolate syrup and chocolate chips in a small bowl. Microwave until hot, about 45 seconds. Stir until smooth. Reserve 1/4 cup of the chocolate mixture.
3. Combine remaining chocolate mixture and cereal in a medium bowl and mix to coat cereal. Press mixture over bottom and up sides of prepared pie pan. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
4. Combine reserved chocolate mixture and the sour cream in a small bowl and mix well. Spread half the ice cream in the pie pan. Drizzle with half the sour cream mixture. Top with remaining ice cream and drizzle with remaining sour cream mixture. Freeze pie, covered, until firm, about 1 hour.

Side note: I added caramel syrup to the top of mine. It was delicious. When I make it again, I will add caramel to the middle layer also. The best thing about this dessert is you can use whatever kind of ice cream you like and you can also add any toppings to the middle and top layer.

Pork Chop and Potato Bake

This is one of those easy, tried and true, whole family enjoys it type recipes. 

Ingredients:
6 Pork Chops
Vegetable oil
Seasoned salt
1 can cream of mushroom or celery soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 pkg. (24 oz.) frozen hashbrowns, thawed
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1-2 cup French fried onions (depending on how much you like)

Directions:
Brown pork chops in lightly greased skillet. Sprinkle with seasoned salt and set aside. Combine soup, milk, sour cream, pepper, and 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt. Stir in thawed potatoes, 1/2 cup cheese, and 1/2 of French fried onions. Spoon mixture into 9x13 baking dish. Arrange pork chops over potatoes. Bake covered at 350 for 40 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and French fried onions; bake uncovered 5 minutes longer.