GOING, GOING…..GONE!

Man, a lot of you are busy this weekend and a gorgeous weekend to get some things done!  Not too hot, not too cold!  

Thanks for responding and for those who did, here’s the results:

#2 – cassieappleton – I will be sending you the Hot Pink spatula with the oven mitt and the note pad 

#13 – selected second, Madison Andrade, will be receiving those precious kitchen towels, along with the oven mitts and the cute little box with the kitchen dish cloths.  Again, love the birds!

And last, #8, melinda – gets the Miss Kate cookbook (from Duck Dynasty) along with those cute little salt and pepper shakers.

 

I will email all of you to get your goodies to you!

 

Thanks for following and have a wonderful weekend.

Thursday Flash Giveaway

Quick – if you want one of these cuties, sign up today – cause in the morning they are given to someone!  This is a 

THURSDAY FLASH GIVEAWAY

which means, now you see it, now you don’t.

I was in the local Family Christian Bookstore the first of the week and could not pass up these cute kitchen gadgets they had and thought they would make a cute quick giveaway to brighten up the week. 

First…..

How cute is this?  Each time you stir with this spatula you will be reminded of one of my favorite scriptures “Taste and see that the Lord is good”. And how true that is.  Along with it comes this brightly colored paisley pot holder and a cute note pad – perfect for jotting down that grocery list.  Love the colors….just in time for Spring.

 

This second quick flash giveaway has all you birdwatchers in mind…

Two cute dish towels and matching pot holder with another dish towel tucked in! And don’t forget the little box with 3 kitchen dish cloths. Love the birds.

And finally, we can’t get away without getting Ms. Kay from Duck Dynasty involved.

Here’s her cookbook along with these adorable salt and pepper shakers.   I couldn’t resist these.  Too, too cute!  Takes you back to the diner days.   I flipped through the cookbook and man, the recipes.   You will love it.  

Want to get in on today’s flash giveaways?   You have only today to get in – winners posted in the morning (Friday morning).  Just leave me a comment and tell me your weekend plans.

And don’t forget, I do ship these items to you.

Have a great “chilly” day!

Brian’s Bread

Hey Brian….wherever you are.   

Brian was a dear friend of one of our girls.  He, surprisingly, shared some awesome recipes.  While in high school.  And are we glad he did.   Man, oh, man, the number of times we have made Brian’s Bread.   And man, oh, man, the number of times I have made it at work.  (in case you haven’t noticed, we eat at work a lot!) 

For those of you who may have this recipe, this will be a great reminder to pull your recipe out and make it again.  It may have been a while since you have done so.   And for those poor souls who have not ever made, or have never had, Brian’s Bread, rush to the store, get the ingredients, and make it.   Serve it with steak.  Serve it with chicken.  Serve it when you grill outside.   Serve it with bbq.  Eat it all by itself!  Just give it a try.   And it will soon become a favorite of yours, too.

Brian’s Bread – (shared knowing Brian would be proud to know so many are liking his recipe!)

2 loaves of French/Italian bread 

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

2/3 cup chopped black olives

6 green onions, chopped fine

1 Tsp garlic powder

Mix all ingredients. Spread on two loaves of French/Italian Bread.  Bake at 400 degrees for approx. 15 minutes.

(my notes: Slice your french/italian bread long way in half – divide mix in half between the two loaves and place in loaves, spreading evenly over loaf.  We like to go ahead and slice our loaf then almost all the way through in slices – and then we like to wrap each loaf in foil – then place in oven – YUM)

Variation:  Stuff hard rolls with about 3 rounded teaspoonfuls and place in pan covered with aluminum foil.  

 

On another note:   Look for a Thursday Flash Giveaway!   In other words, some cute little items I saw, of all places, in our Family Christian Book Store…for the kitchen! Ain’t that precious?  And you will like them!  Thursday Flash will go quick!  Sign up Thursday – they are gone and won Friday!  

 

Guess what day it is?????   Hump Day! woot woot!   Half way through the week!  Have a great rest of the week!

 

 

 

Who’s getting cake?

Someone gets to have their cake and eat it too and don’t have to bake!  Who did random.org select this morning?

Well, Happy Monday to……..

 

#8……John…….

and #11……Cody!

 

Must be guy day today and y’all picked some good flavors!  I will get these ordered and shipped out to the “guys”!

Happy week!  And get ready to bundle up!

BabyCakes! Sweet Babycakes!

Cakes in a jar?? Never had one.  But after seeing these I want every flavor offered.  And because these look so good, and sound so good, let’s share!

This one is Peanut Butter Cup.  How good does that look?  You can’t imagine the combination of flavors they have!  

Today, because, YEA! its Friday, I am giving two people the chance to win their choice of 4 flavors!  That’s right.  Take a look. Go to http://www.smallcakestogo.com and see for yourself how delicious these little babies look!   What 4 flavors would you choose if you win?

To have a chance to win, just visit the site, select your 4 favorite flavors, and leave a comment listing your four selections!  Two winners will be named first thing Monday morning!  

Have a great weekend!

Sugared Jalapenos

Some of you have my recipe I use for these.  Some of you have eaten them.   And some of you, like me, can’t get enough of them.  For those of you who don’t have the recipe, here it is….make them.   Serve them over a block of cream cheese.  Serve them on a burger.  Serve them on a hot dog.   Serve them with some black eyed peas and corn bread with a side of collards.  Throw in a piece of fried chicken if you want.  Or, like some of us, eat them straight out of the jar.  You heard me right.  They are that good, they are that addictive.  Put them on a cracker and go to town.   

And they couldn’t be easier.  

Sugared Jalapenos

1 (12 oz) jar sliced pickled jalapenos

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp grated lime rind (or better known as lime zest)

Drain jalapeno slices, discarding liquid and reserving jar and lid.  Toss together jalapeno slices, sugar and lime zest in a small bowl.   Let stand 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Spoon jalapeno mixture into reserved jar.  Scrape remaining sugar from bottom and sides of bowl into jar.  Cover jar with lid and chill 48 hours or up to 1 week. , shaking jar occasionally.  

Rule of thumb;  Wake up, shake jar and turn jar over.   Come in from work, play, etc.  shake jar and turn jar over other direction.  Do this for a couple of days or until the sugar dissolves.  Then the magic has happened.   Open, and enjoy.   Oh, my, oh, me.   

Go for it.   You won’t be sorry.   

Can you stand one more biscuit recipe?

I had to try this biscuit recipe from my favorite cookbook—– it contains two of my favorite ingredients-crushed red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese.  And we were not disappointed.   They were so good, and so flakey.The said it would be good with country ham.  Since I don’t eat country ham, I served it with a big bowl of soup.   What a great substitute for crackers!   Make these and see what you think.

Cheese Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable shortening (the Crisco kind – yes, I know……enough said)

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I actually added more for more heat-I mean, 1/4 tsp just wasn’t enough for me!!!) 

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan (I like to grease mine by just melting about 2 -3 tbsp butter in the pan).  In a large bowl, sift the flour, salt, and baking powder.   Cut in the shortening just until the mixture resembles small peas.  Stir in the cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes.   Add the milk, stirring well to make a soft dough.  Knead slightly.  Roll or pat the dough to 1/2 inch thickness (I may pat mine to 3/4 inch next time) and cut with biscuit cutter or just cut into square biscuit shapes (like I did) and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.   I did let mine bake for about 14 minutes.  I think it will depend on your oven.

How good do these look?    I hope you will try these and like them as well as we did.   I may even play around with the recipe and exchange the red pepper flakes for ground cayenne pepper.  Yum!

Krystal Burgers…..make them yourself

I came across this recipe in one of my cookbooks and am making these little scutters!  I am making one recipe the regular way with ground beef and one recipe using ground turkey (my choice of meat!).  When I read the method of preparing this tasty little burger, I knew it was just like eating a Krystal, only better.  

So get ready, oh you brave souls at work! You will be taste testing these little beauties sometime in the next week or so.  I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait.  And if you are watching carbs, have it served as a lettuce wrap – using your lettuce as your bun!  

Sorry for the side view – I could not for the life of me get this photo to turn around!

Petite Party Burgers

1 1/2 lb ground beef (or 1 1/2 lb ground turkey)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup finely cup chopped onion

paper towels

1 – 20-count package party rolls (small size rolls)

1/3 cup mustard

20 dill pickle slices

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Flatten the ground beef on a 13 x 9 x 1 inch cookie sheet to 1/4 inch thickness.  Season the beef with the salt and pepper.  Press the chopped onion into the meat.  Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and using a spatula, place the beef on paper towels to absorb the grease.  Cut the beef into 20 little burgers, or cut to the size of the buns.  Split the buns in half, spread one side with mustard, top with meat, and pickle slice and top with other bun.  Enjoy!

If you need to, you can wrap these individually in aluminum foil and refrigerate until time to reheat.  

How easy is that?  Man, could you feed a hungry crowd of teenagers, or a youth group with these!  And I don’t even want to think about taking these tailgating and just throwing on the grill to reheat! Man, oh, man!

Have some extra sides for those who just want extra stuff on theirs – there you go!  

Try these – I think you will like them.

 

Crockpot cooking and bandaids

What a combo!  But it happens to the best of us…..you are dicing, your hubby is talking to you…..you look away, only for a split second, and that knife, that very sharp knife, blast it! There goes the end of the thumb!   Off to the bathroom before hubby sees the slice – he gets upset when wifey gets hurt…. anyhoooo, its ok, not the first time, won’t be the last.   I guess I have to get like hubby…..not listen! HA!

Now….on to good stuff.  This recipe has been on my radar to make for a while, and with my schedule lately, I haven’t had a chance.  Now, tell me, who doesn’t have the time to make a crock pot recipe??? Come on.   This would be so easy.  So, this weekend, while no travel is in the forecast, this will be Sunday Dinner.  Put it on in the morning, come home from church, and there you go.  DONE!

Have I told you lately that if I buy BBQ sauce that my favorite is Sweet Baby Ray’s?   Well it is and this recipe calls for just that.  And for the brown sugar, you got it.   I use Splenda Brown Sugar.  Make it and save you some time this weekend.

Sweet Baby Ray’s Crockpot Chicken

4-6 Chicken breasts (I will be using skinless, boneless chicken breasts)

1 bottle Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce (I assume you can use whatever flavor you wish)

1/4 cup vinegar

1 tsp red pepper flakes (yea – some heat!)

1/4 cup brown sugar (Splenda Brown Sugar – my choice in the matter, thank you)

1 tsp garlic powder

Place chicken in the crock pot.  Mix all other ingredients together in small bowl and pour sauce mixture over chicken.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until chicken is done.

 

This would make some serious good sliders.   Let the chicken cook until falling apart – shred, place on some small buns, pour some of that sauce the chicken cooked in over the chicken and on buns, and enjoy!

Chiles Rellenos Casserole….the easy way

Here’s an oldy but a very goody…and an easy week night to make – and one you can custom to your heat level and taste level.  I will be making this one soon and lightening it up by using ground turkey (hope hubby doesn’t mind) and using the light cheeses.

Make some and see how you like it.  If you do not need a 9 x 13 dish of this, cut the recipe in half and make in a casserole dish.  a very versatile recipe.  Did I mention it was good????

Chiles Rellenos Casserole

(following makes a 9×13 pan – cut in half if you don’t need this size – I will be cutting my recipe in half for us)

4 cans chopped green chiles (found in the Mexican section)

1 8-oz. block Colby cheese, shredded

1 8-oz block Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

2 lbs ground beef (like I said, Ii will be using ground turkey for ours)

1 onion, chopped

2 cups milk (I will use skim milk which will work fine)

8 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp salt (or to taste)

1/2 tsp pepper (or to taste)

1  Tbsp chili powder

1 1/2  tsp  cumin (if you cut in half I would use 1 tsp – I like cumin)

1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground red pepper (or to taste – depending on heat level you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray (or if you are cutting the recipe in half, spray a casserole dish or at 9×9 pan).    Drain the green chiles and spread on bottom of pan.   Layer shredded cheeses on top of chiles.  Brown ground beef (or turkey) and onion in skillet.  (I like to sprinkle a little chili powder and cumin and salt and pepper on my meat to give it a little Mexican flavor while browning – I don’t measure – I just add a little)  Drain and spoon on top of cheeses. 

In a mixing bowl, mix flour and milk until smooth.  Add eggs, salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and ground red pepper and mix well until smooth.  Pour over beef mixture.   Bake,uncovered, for 45 to 50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.  

To serve, I like to chop some green onions, a side of sour cream to dollop on top, and some fresh cilantro to sprinkle on top.   

A good, easy week night casserole…serve with some tostito chips and salsa and you have a great supper!

Have a great weekend!