Peppermint Red Velvet

I have to find the recipe. But this was easy and delish....I swapped out the traditional cream cheese icing for the simplest butter cream icing I have ever come across....

Leftover potpie

So everyone is already turkied out...I decided to do a turkey potpie to use up some of the leftovers. Just so I can say I didn't throw them out.

The recipe:
2-3 c turkey (chopped up)
2 cans cream of soup
2 cans diced potatoes (you could peel, dice, boil ect.) but I wanted easy
1 can corn
S&P
Garlic powder
Mix all together.
Pre heat oven to 350
1 package ready made pie crusts
Place one crust on bottom
Fill with mixture
Second crust on top crimp edges.
Use egg wash for top
Cut small slits in top.
Bake for about 45 mins.

Caramel cake

OMGoodness this will be a repeat....to include homemade caramel icing....

Dessert

I totally made this one up.

2c flour
2c sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c water
1/2 oil
Chocolate chips
Mix and bake at 350 for 25 mins.

My favorite soup

This is a knock off on carrabbas spicy sausage and lentil soup. I used:
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 containers of beef stock
1 package lentils
1 onion
2 cloves garlic minced
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
Red pepper
Thyme
Oregano
Cook sausage and onions drain off fat. Add to all other ingredients in stock pot and simmer all day....

Beef Stew/Pressure cooker style

Mom made beef stew last saturday night when I was up there, she used her pressure cooker...which scares me to death to use...but I did a repeat.

Add whatever you want and let it go....

Leftovers

Leftovers seem to stump me--I always have them, never know what to do with them.  So as I usually do, I got on Pinterest to see what they have for chicken leftover recipes and merry that with what I had in the pantry already.  This is what came about.  The beauty of this "pie" you can change it up so easily. Substitute chicken for beef or ham or turkey. I omitted the cheese and added a second can of cream of soup....

Here is the recipe.

http://www.food.com/recipe/leftover-stuffing-quiche-271313

Apple Cobbler

So this is my version of Pioneer Woman's Peach Cobbler.  This is by far the easiest cobbler I have ever tried to make.  Since I published the peach cobbler recipe earlier I won't repeat it.

Spicy sausage and pasta

This was/is a perfect winter recipe...I changed just a few things.

http://highhopesandheartbreak.blogspot.com/2013/03/spicy-sausage-pasta.html

I omitted cheese, but it would be wonderful--
I added some sage to the sausage while cooking, brings out the flavor
I didn't use spicy diced tomatoes but it would have been even better with them...
Added a few dashes of Krystals hot sauce...and some red pepper flake.

Who wouldn't love cupcakes and pie?

So how about cupcake pie??? Its so pretty....

http://thedomesticrebel.com/2013/08/30/cupcake-pie/

Today is....

Today is...
     I wanna cry day
     I want my pj's day
     I want to sleep away the day day
     I want the time back I have wasted worrying day
     I feel like I have been run over day
     I feel taken advantage of day
     I don't think you listen to me day
     I don't seem to matter EVER day
     I need a break day
     I want a vacation day
     I'm disappointed day
     I need a friend to just listen day
     I don't need you to fix everything day
     I don't ever want to hear again I don't need you in my life I want you in my life day....because you do need me and words come back and haunt you....

    I'm tired and I have nothing left to give day
    I'm beyond exhaustion and my reserve tank is running on low
    I need for someone to understand how I feel day
    I need to run away and have some ME time before I loose it day
    My faith is shattered day...
    Why don't you listen to me day
    You don't have all the answers day
    You're not always right day
     I don't talk to hear myself talk day...

Dinner

Last night I made homemade sloppy joes, care of the Pioneer Woman's recipe. I totally forgot to take a picture.  They turned out awesome, but what we do, to sans the mess--we eat them open faced.  If I had thought about making potato salad it would have topped it off, but it was good none the mess.


See Ree's recipe below, and I will say you will NEVER go back to the can! 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/sloppy-joes-recipe/index.html

Success in small packages...

Patti's birthday pinata cupcakes.....

The container they end up in...

Coring out the center, stuffing them with Peanut M&M's...Patti's favorite yummy!

Finished product.  There were A LOT of causalities along the way, including my icing bag, the counter and a ton of cupcakes that just couldn't hang.... they all taste great and Happy Birthday to my Best Friend! 

Mongolian Beef

I love to cook this dish.  It is almost a one pot wonder, but you end up with (3) if you count the rice.  Next time I will thicken up the sauce even more, I will also add some red pepper flake which I totally forgot this last time.http://cookbook-recipes.org/mongolian-beef-3/

Today is a somber day...

As we all take time from our lives to remember those that gave and give their lives everyday, but today especially being 9/11...I never thought 12 years later I would be married to a first responder, where you have that moment--at times--in the pit of your stomach wondering, will he be ok, is this the call that he doesn't return from.

I have been blessed lately to meet 2 recent widows (both of whom were married to first responders), meeting Alisa and Keri has shed some light on what they are now living with daily.  Thank you to our first responders all over the world.  Thank you to the military!  Thank you all for being the brave, the proud, and the free!

FOOD
So my best friend has a birthday this week. And I don't have her cake made...yet, I am honoring her by creating (re-creating) a dish she turned me on to.  They are called Patti's empanada's. Patti is a wonderful cook, who can take a recipe and turn it into gold. I changed her recipe by using carne-ascada in lieu
 of hamburger meat.  So it is simple really. Brown the meat, add in onion, tomato sauce, worchester sauce, hot sauce and garlic powder. I changed it by marinating my meat for several hours in cilantro, white wine, and a mild salad dressing just to loosen the fibers of the skirt steak.  I bought the empanada wrappers, they are now selling the larger sizes so YAY! and use an egg wash on top.  Bake them at 350 for about 15 mins.  Before I did the empanadas I made YUCCA, I chopped it up and turned the oven to 350, placed them on a cookie sheet, used olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper and baked them for about 45 mins.  That's the meal. 

Success is PINK!

From epic failure to success...

Epic Fail

It is often that I fail so eloquently at something, but last night I did. I failed at making a pinata cake. I didn't really understand the concept, but I got it now, I think.  I will try again.

 

This is how the cake is supposed to look

That is how mine turned out....it is in pieces in there. TASTE'S great though.

SHELIA's dessert

Our friends Ruthie and Rusty's daughter and son in law are in town from PA.  So it is all about Shelia--LOL--and I made dessert for Labor Day dinner.  A tasty pie I turned into a pan cake. Much easier as a cake than a pie.
A huge hit! Like I said it is supposed to be a pie, but it transports much easier as a cake!

http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/3875/impossible-pie.aspx

Hillbilly dinner

This is a hearty thick somewhere between a soup and a stew meal. And there is nothing to it.

1-2 lbs. Ground beef
1 onion
1 can drained corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2-3/4 c pasta maccroni or shells minis, use whatevere is on the shelf.
Garlic powder, s&p
Cook pasta to just al dente'
Drain
Cook ground beef and onion
Add s&p and garlic powder cook until done. Drain.
To a pot add EVERYTHING! Stire stir stir.
So I also added some beef broth, just a splash and cajun heat hot sauce. See link to that below. My friend Clem makes it.

Stir turn to low and let it simmer for about a half hour done!!!

www.cajunheat.com

http://www.allthecooks.com/hillbilly-dinner.html

Creamy pasta, leeks and BACON...yes I said BACON

This dish is supposed to be made with panchetta, well you can't find panchetta in POLK county, so I used the next best thing....B A C O N!!!

I threw in some green onion as well...  I really don't think it matters at all!  Well I will say this--make sure you soak your leeks before hand and get the grit out.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/pasta-with-pancetta-and-leeks-recipe/index.html

Again HATS OFF to @Ree Drummond for making a wonderful/easy dish....