Southwestern Breakfast Casserole

For a few years before I got married I would stay the night at my Grandma's house Christmas Eve and she would always make the best breakfast Christmas morning. She would make this breakfast casserole and an amazing cream cheese crescent bake (recipe to come soon). I would look forward to Christmas breakfast every year because it was the only time of year I had either of these dishes which are two of my favorites. I now like to make this breakfast casserole not only for breakfast on the holidays but it is a great "breakfast for dinner" meal. I used turkey bacon this past time to make a little "healthier" and it tasted great! You can use the left over cooked bacon for BLT's the next day :)

Ingredients:
 
1 pkg (12 oz)  frozen hashbrowns, thawed
5 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup picante sauce
1 cup (4 oz) shredded monterey jack or swiss cheese
1/2 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
2 green onions including tops sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 crisply cooked bacon strips crumbled

Directions:
 
Combine all except bacon; mix well.  Pour into lightly greased w/butter 9" pie plate or quiche pan.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until set and golden brown.  Remove from oven; sprinkle with bacon.

Continue baking 5 minutes.  Serve with additional picante sauce.  Makes 4-6 servings.

You can double and use an oblong baking dish or 2 pie plates. 

Chocolate Cake Cookies

Warning: These cookies are seriously addicting and they are the easiest cookies to make next to the already prepared nestle cookie squares.  It is the perfect combination of a moist chocolate cake and a chewy chocolaty cookie. The only problem is they are so light and fluffy they are hard to stop eating :)

Ingredients:

1 box Devils Food Cake mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl manually stir cake mix, oil, eggs, and vanilla  together until dough forms.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Put powdered sugar in shallow dish. Roll the balls in powdered sugar until covered and place on non-greased cookie sheets.

Bake 10-12 minutes.

Pretzel Jello

Yes, you read the title of this post correctly. It's the perfect combination of salty and sweet. If you have never had this before bring it to your next gathering and I promise it will be a hit. I personally prefer my pretzel jello with raspberries but if you are not a fan you can use frozen strawberries and strawberry jello instead. The key to this dish is making sure you crush the pretzel's well enough. I have found that using a food processor works best, you just don't want big chunks of pretzels in the crust. While writing this post I really wish I had a piece of pretzel jello mmmm.

Ingredients:

2 cups of well crushed pretzels
3/4 cups melted butter
3 tbsp granulated sugar
8 oz softened cream cheese
1 cup confectioners sugar
8 oz cool whip
1 large box of raspberry jello
2 cups boiling water
2 packages (10 oz each) frozen raspberries

Directions:

Combine pretzels , butter, and sugar and spread over the bottom of a greased 9x13 dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 6 minutes. Let cool completely.

Beat cream cheese and confectioners sugar until fluffy. Fold in cool whip and spread over cooled crust. Make sure the crust is completely cooled because if it is warm it will lift as you spread the cream cheese mixture. Place in refrigerator (this is important, it needs to set)

Boil 2 cups of water and stir in jello until dissolved. Stir in frozen raspberries. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Spoon the jello and raspberry mixture on top of cream cheese layer. Do not try and pour the jello on top it will sink to the bottom and you will have red jello mess. Refrigerate overnight.

**If the top layer doesn't look pretty after refrigerating overnight, you can spread cool whip on top. I had to do this my first couple times making it.

White Bean Chicken Chili

Its official, soup does not photograph well. Not that my photo's are ever anything spectacular but this was a tricky one. Soooo don't judge this soup by the picture because it is outstanding. This is a great slow cooker chili that is probably a little different than the white bean chicken chili you are used to.The ingredients might make it sound like its really spicy but it isn't, I think it has the perfect kick to it. I typically won't eat the same thing back to back which is why I am terrible with left overs but with this its different. When I make it I have if for dinner that night and then for lunch the next 3 days.

Ingredients:

5 cups chopped cooked chicken

3 15 oz cans of Great Northern Beans, drained

1 32 oz box of chicken broth

1 16 oz jar mild salsa

1 8 oz package Monterey Jack cheese with peppers, cubed

2 teaspoons ground cumin

Garnish with shredded cheese of your choice, sour cream, and jalapenos

Directions:

In a 6 quart electick slow cooker combine chicken, beans, broth, salsa, cheese, and cumin. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat to low and cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Pistachio Cake With Fudge Frosting

Every year for my birthday I pick pistachio cake for my birthday cake. The cake is so moist and like I have mentioned in previous posts the chocolate fudge frosting is pretty much the most amazing thing ever. I always thought this cake looked difficult with the way the yellow and chocolate cake are marbled but it is really simple. Now all I have to do is find the will power to not make this cake on a weekly basis. 

Ingredients:

Pistachio Cake:

1 package Duncan Hines yellow or butter cake mix
1 small package of instant pistachio pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup no pulp orange juice
1/4 oil
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup chocolate syrup

Fudge Frosting:

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup crisco shortening
1/2 cup milk
1 square semi-sweet bakers chocolate
Dash of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Pistachio Cake:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients except chocolate syrup in a stand mixer or in a bowl using a hand mixer. Reserve 1 cup of batter and set aside. Spoon the rest of the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan.

Mix remaining 1 cup of batter with a 1/4 cup of chocolate syrup.Pour over top of yellow cake in the pan. Use a knife and swirl the two mixes together.

Bake for 50-55 minutes. Let cool completely and then top with fudge frosting.

Fudge Frosting:

In a sauce pan, combine all ingredients except vanilla on medium high heat for 1 minute stirring constantly.

After it has boiled for 1 minute add 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

Fill kitchen sink with cold water and submerge 1/2 the pan in the water stirring constantly until thick, pour over cake.

Raisin Bran Muffins

Since I can remember my husband has always raved about his grandmas bran muffins and I thought he was crazy, what could be so great about bran muffins? Well I was the crazy one because they are delicious. I was a little apprehensive about making these myself afraid that I might ruin one of his favorite recipes but they turned out to be just as delicious. This recipe makes a large batch, probably close to 36 muffins. You can refrigerate the unused dough and make the rest within a few weeks or you can make the entire batch and just freeze half of the muffins.

Ingredients:

1 15oz box Raisin Bran Cereal
1 cup cooking oil
3 cups sugar
4 eggs beaten
1 quart buttermilk
5 cups flour
5 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt

Directions:

Mix bran cereal, sugar, flour, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Add beaten eggs, oil, and buttermilk. Mix well with a large spoon (do not use an electric mixer).

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. Fill greased or paper filled muffin tins 2/3 full with dough. Bake 15-20 minutes.

Store unused dough in a covered container in the refrigerator and use as desire. The dough will keep for 6 weeks.

BBQ Mini Meatloaves

This is one of my husbands favorite meals and if it were up to him we would eat this weekly. It is a great alternative to the traditional meatloaf and is quick enough to make during the week. Even though these are "mini" meatloaves they are actually quite filling so I typically just serve them with a vegetable. Enjoy! :)

Ingredients:

1 pound extra lean ground beef

1 package Stove Top Stuffing Mix

1 cup water

1 tsp garlic powder

3/4 cup BBQ sauce

3/4 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

Heat oven to 375°F. Mix meat, stuffing mix, water and garlic powder until well blended. Roll into balls and press into 12 muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray. The meat should almost fill to the top of the cup.

Make indentation in center of each with back of a spoon; take the bottle of BBQ sauce and squirt enough on each meatloaf to fill the indentation.

Bake 30 min. or until meatloaves are done (160°F). Top evenly with 3/4 cup cheese; bake 5 min. or until melted. Let stand 10 min.