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Archive for March, 2012

Sloppy Joe Bake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on March 31, 2012| 9 Comments »

I love being able to take one recipe and make multiple meals from it.  Last week, I posted about slow cooker sloppy Joes and mentioned the recipe for this week.  It is so quick, easy and good!  I found this on Pinterest and it was pinned from the blog Life as a Lofthouse.  She has her own sloppy Joe recipe which looks really good, too, but since I had the leftovers I used my own.

2 cups sloppy Joe mix

2 cans Pillsbury, Big & Buttery crescent rolls

2 cups shredded cheese

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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a 13×9” baking dish with nonstick spray.  Roll one can of the crescent rolls in the bottom of the baking dish.  Layer the sloppy Joe mix and cheese next, then top with the remaining crescent roll dough.

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Bake for 30-35 minutes.  This needs to bake for at least 30 minutes so the bottom layer of dough can fully cook.  Slice into squares and enjoy!

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Please join me at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday.

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Almost Wordless Wednesday

Posted in Fun, tagged , , on March 28, 2012|

Kentucky Wildcat fans are not called the Big Blue Nation for nothing…

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Menu Plan Monday

Posted in Menu Planning, tagged on March 26, 2012| 5 Comments »

Another week has flown right by and we tried to make the most of last week’s unseasonably warm temperatures by getting outside as much as possible. The next few days look really promising, too, so maybe I can actually get ahead on some of the gardening plans I have.  C & I did manage to plant the two grapevines and 25 strawberry plants that I purchased this year and have grand plans to build another raised garden bed and a raised flower bed beside the sidewalk we had installed last year.  Can’t wait!  I will be sure to have before, during and after photos for you.

It is the end of the month so that means it is grocery buying time. Can I get a groan to go along with mine?  Oh, well, it has to be done sometime.  We will celebrate C’s birthday next weekend (Happy birthday a little early, my love!) so I will be making two Oreo pies for his birthday “cake” since they are one of his favorite desserts.

Italian Crescent Casserole (new)

Grilled Hamburgers with Oven Fries

Taco Ring

Pizza Night

Grocery Night

Cheeseburger Bundles

Brown Sugar & Red Wine Vinegar Glazed Pork Loin (new)

Oreo Pie

Please join me at I’m An Organizing Junkie for mine and many other’s menu plans.

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Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on March 24, 2012| 5 Comments »

Today’s recipe comes from the great blog, Real Mom Kitchen!  Laura always has delicious recipes that are simple and easy on the budget and today’s is no exception.  I love slow cooker recipes and this batch makes enough for multiple nights.  We ate regular sloppy Joes one night and I used the leftovers for sloppy Joe bake which you will see here next week. 

2 lbs. ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

15 oz. can tomato sauce

10.75 oz. can condensed tomato soup

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/8 cup ketchup

1 1/2 tbsp. worcestshire sauce

1/2 tbsp. dry mustard

1/2 tbsp. prepared mustard

3/4 tsp. chili powder

buns and cheese (I used American and provolone.)

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In a skillet, brown the ground beef and onion together until the beef is cooked through.  Drain off any fat.

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Place the beef/onion mixture in your slow cooker and add the remaining ingredients.  Stir until well combined and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

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Please join me over at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday!

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Book Beginnings

Posted in Books, tagged , , on March 23, 2012| 7 Comments »

Hello, my fellow book lovers and welcome to this edition of Book Beginnings.  Pop on over to A Few More Pages to see this and other blogger’s posts about books they are reading now.

My first lines come from “Explosive Eighteen” by Janet Evanovich.  Ms. Evanovich is great at cranking out funny and entertaining easy reads, and this is no exception.  All of the Stephanie Plum books are great!  If you want to laugh out loud, try her books.

“New Jersey was 40,000 feet below me, obscured by cloud cover.  Heaven was above me, beyond the thin skin of the plan.  And hell was sitting four rows back.  Okay, maybe hell was too strong.  Maybe it was just purgatory.”

What has Stephanie got herself into this time?  Well, you will just have to pick up this book and find out.  It is a heck of a ride!

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Menu Plan Monday

Posted in Menu Planning, tagged on March 19, 2012| 2 Comments »

Can you tell that it is March Madness time where you live?  If not, then you must not live in Kentucky!  A lot of us (myself included), love this time of year because of several different reasons and one of those reasons is the University of Kentucky basketball team…GO CATS!  I watch their games all season long, but at tournament time, I will watch just about every game I can.  All of the teams, even the lowly underdogs, will play above and beyond to try to advance to the next round.  There are always exciting games and a few upsets along the way.

March madness also means that it is springtime or at least almost.  It will be official tomorrow, but we have had spring-like and some summer-like temperatures around here for a while now.  Hopefully the rain will slack off a little this week and allow C & I to clean up the yard a little.  I need to weed, weed and weed some more so I can sow my early veggie crop seeds.  Also, last week I received a very special package containing 25 strawberry plans and 3 grape vines that will need to get in the ground as soon as possible.   All of this outside work means that this week’s menu will be filled with simple, quick suppers that I know we will enjoy. 

Here’s hoping your week is filled with lots of fun and sunshine!

Shredded BBQ (leftover) and oven baked fries

Tacos and fruit salad (These didn’t get made last week.)

Sausage bake (2 nights)

Pizza Night

Baked pasta with Simple Spaghetti Sauce (new)

I am now linking up my menu plan every week over at I’m An Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.  Come and check it out!

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Peanut Butter Blossoms

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on March 17, 2012| 2 Comments »

Last Christmas, I was looking for a few new sweets to try and I kept seeing this recipe again and again.  It looked so good and pretty simple, too, so I decided to add it to my holiday cookie/candy tray.  You can’t go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate and this little cookie is no exception.  I really liked it and will definitely be making it again!

40 HERSHEY’S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.  Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

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Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

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Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Unwrap the chocolate Kisses while the cookies are baking.  Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. I had to play around with my camera while I was waiting for the cookies to bake.

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Please join me and other wonderful cooks over at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday.

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Thoughtful Thursday-Travel Edition

Posted in My Thoughts, Travel, tagged , , , , , on March 15, 2012|

Last week, C & I traveled to Louisville, Kentucky, for his annual work conference presented by KySTE (Kentucky Society for Technology in Education).  C is the technology coordinator for our local school system and this conference is held to present new ideas for technology in the classroom and schools.  I tag along every year for a mini-vacation that is partially paid for and I always get a lot of good rest and get to eat a lot of great food.

The conference is held at the Galt House Hotel which is in the heart of downtown Louisville right up the street from Fourth Street Live and other big public venues.  I like to pick one new restaurant every year to try out and last year we ate at Bistro 301 and it was so good!  This year I picked Impellizzeri’s which is an Italian restaurant on West Main Street. We had a short walk from our hotel on Fourth Street down past the Actor’s Theater of Louisville and the KFC Yum! Center to get the what is known as “Whiskey Row”.  Let me just say that it is a beautiful urban area that is perfect for walking.  In fact, we parked our car on Tuesday night when we arrived and didn’t move it until Friday at lunch to head home.  Whiskey Row is just a short section of West Main Street that has been refurbished with remodeled apartments and many eateries.  Impellizzeri’s is one such eatery and I picked that one to try.

A lot of the NCAA conference tournaments were going on during that time so all of the televisions in the restaurant were tuned it to those which didn’t bother us a bit.  This is more of a family/social kind of restaurant and the ballgames were good entertainment.  We ordered bread sticks with pizza sauce and garlic butter on the side for dipping and these were out of this world good!!  The breadsticks come swimming in garlic butter while still in the pan and they are fresh made and steaming hot when you get them.  I could have made a meal just with them and a salad, and that’s probably what we should have done.  That would have been the smart and “healthier” thing to do, but no, we also ordered a small pizza with Italian sausage.  We were just a little disappointed in the pizza.  I thought it needed more sauce and the sausage was spicier than the Italian sausage I am used to and not quite as sweet.  The crust was great…thin and crispy on the bottom and just a little chewy around the edges. Yum!

Now, don’t come here if you need to get in and out in a hurry.  They make everything as it is ordered so there will definitely be a wait time, but it is worth it just for the breadsticks.  I could eat a few right now!

I was a bad food blogger though because I forgot to take a camera with me.  Oh, well, just take my word for it and go to Impellizzeri’s and order the breadsticks. With pizza sauce and garlic butter. Then dip the sticks in both of them with each bite.

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Menu Plan Monday

Posted in Menu Planning, tagged on March 12, 2012|

Good Monday morning to everyone!  Sorry I skipped out on last week’s plan, but C and I traveled most of the week for his annual work conference so there wasn’t much cooking going on around here.  We traveled to Louisville, KY and ate at a great Italian place there so check back on Thursday and I will tell you all about it. 

Since C & I indulged last week while eating out, I am going to try to go a little lighter this week.  We have both put a few pounds back on this winter so it is time to lighten the load a little bit especially in the sugar department.  I am a big sweet and carb eater so that is where I am going to cut back.  Now instead of heading for the chocolate for a sweet tooth fix, I will be heading for the fruit bowl!

Salisbury Steaks with Oven Fries

Homemade Tacos with Fruit Salad

Slow Cooker Meatball Sandwiches (new) with Oven Fries

Pizza Night

Slow Cooker Shredded BBQ

Cheesy Steak Sandwiches with Oven Fries

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Quick Peppery Cheese Bread

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on March 10, 2012| 6 Comments »

Some things just go together naturally like peanut butter and jelly or chips and dip.  Well, this recipe goes great with the lasagna soup that I wrote about last week.  This recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs, The Southern Lady Cooks, who happens to be a fellow Kentucky blogger.  She has some wonderful recipes over there and all that I have tried turn out great.

You could easily modify this bread to suit your tastes by adding different cheeses or even some cooked crumbled bacon.  Mmmm!  I may have to try it with bacon.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 cup buttermilk (I used powdered buttermilk and water. The measurement conversion is on the back of the package.)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

2 eggs

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Prepare a loaf pan by spraying with non-stick spray and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, cheese, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper, and powdered buttermilk.

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In another bowl, combine the water (for the powdered buttermilk), butter and eggs.  When that is mixed, add it to the dry ingredients; stir just until combined and make sure there are no dry spots in the batter.

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Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.  Cool for about 10 minutes and turn out of the pan. 

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Please join me at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday.

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