There’s no place like home (and the kitchen table!)

My kitchen is finally organized and stocked with the necessities, so I felt it was time to break out our favorite Saturday morning recipe: Egg and Sausage Bake. This is a staple in my mother-in-law’s breakfast menu, and my children will always request it if asked what they would like to eat. Doesn’t matter if it is breakfast time or not…..:-)

It is so easy to whip up, and with a side dish of fruit salad, you have a complete breakfast. Hope you enjoy it as much as my children do!

Egg and Sausage Bake

1/2 roll of ground sausage (we like the spicy kind)

1 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella and cheddar)

4 eggs

2 cups milk

1 cup Bisquick

Spray bottom of 9×13 pan. Cook meat and put in bottom of pan. Sprinkle cheese over meat. Mix together eggs, milk, and Bisquick. Pour over the top.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes for serving.

From a different part of the pig

Tomorrow, most people will be feasting on the traditional Easter dinner–a nice spiral ham, glazed in a honey sauce, served along side tender red potatoes, deviled eggs, roasted asparagus…..the list could go on and on.

Our family will be dining on bbq pork sandwiches. This may not seem odd to some of you; but for me, it is a very upsetting scenario. I do not consider myself to be a traditional person, but when it comes to traditional holiday meals, I stick with the “tried and true”. I like to dine on Reuben sandwiches on St. Patrick’s Day, watermelon and hamburgers on the 4th, and the whole turkey/stuffing/mashed potatoes combo on Thanksgiving. Likewise, on Easter, I really try to prepare the aforesaid Easter menu.

But the fact that we are moving in 7 days (aaaaahhhh!!!) throws Easter traditions out the window. As I came to grips with the fact that we would not be dining on the traditional fare, my mind began to contemplate the easiest slow cooker recipe I could think of. And the perfect one came to mind…..I think I can work through the steps to prepare it, and hopefully my family will not be as bothered as I am with the unconventional Easter menu.

Here is the recipe for Kimberly’s BBQ Pork Sandwiches:
1) Put one pork roast in the crockpot (or slow cooker, depending on how you were raised).
2) Turn it on low for 8-10 hours.
3) Shred the pork with a fork. (That rhymes!
4) Mix in one bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce.
5) Serve on your favorite rolls, with a salad and favorite veggie.

There you have it–the easiest Easter dinner I have ever made! And I have an excuse for this mediocre holiday meal–I just have to keep telling myself that. And I must remind myself that it is still from a pig.….just a different part of the pig……

Today’s project: Answer life’s deep questions

I think one of the biggest controversies in life is over the issue of cookie textures. You are either a chewy cookie person or a lover of crispy cookies. I, personally, adore soft, chewy cookies. But my best friend and her family love to bake thin, slightly crispy cookies. It is a debate that can become quite heated, if held between the right people. I have learned to stay away from the topic, and just quietly sit back and savor my lusciously chewy homemade cookies.

Also, everyone has a different “secret” or tip for their cookies. Mine is Crisco Butter-flavored sticks…..my two favorite cookie recipes come from the cover of these wonderful creations. (I seriously think Crisco sticks are some of the best things invented–I always hated digging down into the Crisco vat and scooping out heaps of greasy lard.) My family is thrilled when I bake either of these cookies: Chewy Oatmeal or Chocolate Chip .

When I do bake cookies, I make sure that I have a reason to give some of them away—or we would eat them all in a matter of days (or even hours, if I am going to be honest with you.)
What are your best cookies?

In the words of the Little Einsteins…..

…”Mission Completion!!” (Have I ever mentioned that Little Einsteins is one kid’s show that I really do not mind??)
So, the princess party went off without a hitch…..well, without too many hitches, and I will post pictures of the royal celebration tomorrow. But I wanted to share the recipe for the royal main dish that we ate today.
It is another famous family recipe. My kids pick this dish every time, when given a choice. My hubby’s Aunt Janis shared it with my MIL, who shared it with me. It is the perfect comfort food on a frosty Saturday afternoon. Enjoy!

Aunt Janis’ Mac & Cheese

2 Cups elbow macaroni
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
1 t. salt
1 t. dry mustard (I use prepared mustard!)
1/2 t. pepper
1 3/4 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2) Cook and drain the macaroni.

3) In saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Remove from heat, blend in flour, salt, mustard, and pepper. Return to heat, gradually add milk; stir often until sauce thickens. (Usually about 3 or 4 minutes) Add cheese and stir until melted.

4) Combine sauce and macaroni and pour into lightly greased 2 qt. casserole. Top with more cheese if desired. Sprinkle bread crumbs over top.

5) Bake 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.

The secret’s out…..

Since this is Saturday, I figured I should keep up with my weekly theme of “Somethin’s Cooking Saturdays” and post a recipe. (Even though I already posted today…..I tell ya, the demands of blogging!)

And now, my dear readers, you should all feel extremely blessed and special at this moment because I am going to let you in on a famous family recipe. Well, at least a family recipe….er, well, actually just one I made up. But “family recipes” have to start with someone, right? I am hoping to pass it down for generations to come.

My sister and I actually collaborated on this recipe, and I have perfected it over the last (almost) 7 years of marriage. It is the only recipe I make that I actually feel proud of. I know that it is not right to be prideful, but–after you try it, you may be proud of yourself too. It is one of the only dishes I make that I–without fail–get asked for the recipe. The only drawback is that you have to like spicy foods. DO NOT try this if that is not the case!

So, without further adieu…….

Sarah’s Famous Chicken Enchiladas

*2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
*1 large (or 2 small) can(s) green enchilada sauce
*1 cup sour cream
*1 cup Ro-tel (diced tomatoes and green chilis)
*2 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese
*7-8 taco-size flour tortillas

To prepare:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Pour one cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 pan.
3) Fill each tortilla with: 3-4 spoonfuls of cooked chicken, one T. of sour cream, 1 T. of Rotel, and 1 small handful of cheese.
4) Roll up tortilla and place vertically in pan. Cover with remaining enchilada sauce. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
5) Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes (until edges of tortillas get brown).
6) Enjoy!!!

(I sometimes fill the tortillas with black beans or rice to make the dish more filling. You can also top with sliced olives before baking.)

Gobbling up what??

In an attempt to be more frugal (yet creative) with my food budget, I have been planning my weekly meals around the meat that is on sale that week. It has been working out very well actually….I will post more on this subject later….but today, I wanted to talk about my turkey experience of a few weeks ago.
There are several problems that arise when you think of me cooking a turkey. The main one being, as only this friend’s husband can understand, that I am petrified of fowl. It doesn’t matter–adorable little chickadee at the feeder, small ducks at the park, Polly sitting on your shoulder—they all creep the living daylights out of me. I cannot explain why. I have just been scared of birds ever since I can remember. Irrational, I know, but paralyzing nonetheless. Secondly, I have never been a big meat eater. I have never resorted to a full-blown vegan state like this friend, but I have been borderline several times in my life. After meeting and marrying my husband though, I have slowly acquired a taste for meat. I must admit that I now crave a juicy burger every once in awhile. I even order steak–gasp!–about once a year. That was never done pre-hubby.:-) I can even speak the lingo…..”I will have a filet mignon, medium well.” (I think that is right, right???Maybe not…..)
The third reason that turkeys and I do not mix is that I am lazy. The thought of preparing the disgusting carcass, getting it in the pan, waiting for hours, and then having to baste it and carve it is just TOO MUCH! Way too much work for something that is not on the top of my “best foods ever” list. Jenny-O Turkey is my kind of turkey dinner. . .
All of this to say that when we received a huge fresh turkey in a Thanksgiving basket, I placed it in the freezer and chose to forget about it. It sat in there for several months, until one day–I was running very short on grocery money and found that I needed to utilize the turkey.
I dug it out, defrosted it for days on end (another reason that I hate turkey), then proceeded to get it oven-ready. I was careful not to make the same mistakes I had made my first time of turkey roasting. Finding the bag of “parts” (don’t keep reading Gret if you can’t stomach it!) as well as the neck, etc. after baking it was not appetizing, to put it mildly.
So, I dug out all of the parts that I do not know of anyone who eats them anyways! and threw them away. (After having a dry-heaving moment over a mental image of the neck being alive….) Then I prepared the turkey a new way that my precious dad taught me: rub butter all over the turkey–another repulsive feeling!–and place it in the pan, breast-side down. This keeps in the moisture and produces a very tender meat. I plopped it in the oven for 2 1/2 hrs. on 300 degrees, and then turned the oven down to 140 degrees and left it in there for another hour.
I must say, it was worth all of the pain and agony that I went through to roast it! It was moist (hate that word, but that is another post entirely!), and supplied us with 3 or 4 meals.
Because this post is WAAAAYYY too long, I will save the recipes that I prepared with the leftovers from this bird and share with you tomorrow. They were very good! And my husband was very proud of me for stretching a meat dish into 3+meals. That is worth the nightmares, I suppose……

Keeping warm on a winter day……

As I type, the temp outside is -2 degrees; it feels like -19 with wind chill. If you are not from the Midwest, you may not understand these kind of conditions. About 10 years ago, I did not either. In fact, I detested this kind of weather and was not prepared to face it in any way, shape, or form!
After marrying my dear Midwestern husband and deciding (together, of course) to make our home in the Midwest for now, I have become accustomed to the cold. In fact, I actually enjoy snow storms and I find days like today “fun”…..it gives me a chance to throw together a yummy pot of soup (I have a new Midwest Living recipe to put in the crockpot tomorrow–in honor of you, Danielle!–Kansas City Steak Soup), put on my coziest hoodie and best slippers, and make a pot of my favorite coffee.

I hope you are all keeping warm today, wherever you might be. I am going to go surf my favorite blogs with my large latte mug in hand, keeping me warm inside. But I will leave you with these recent pictures, which are warming my heart on a day like today. ~~~~

Snowy Cousins

Uh-oh! Look who learned to stand up!

Bundled up with my favorite guy