Cheesy Bratwurst Soup

My Mom gave me this recipe, and it's really delicious on a cold winter night! You can take the skin off your potatoes if you prefer, I just left mine on.

1 package of bratwurst, browned and cut into 1/2 inch slices
4 medium potatoes, cubed
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup celery
1 can of corn, drained
1 cup cheddar cheese
8 oz of Velveeta block cheese
1 (10.75 ounce) can of cream of mushroom soup
1 (10.75 ounce) cheddar cheese soup
2/3 cup beer

Place all the ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover, and cook on medium to high for 3 hours, or until potatoes are tender.

French Onion Stuffed Mushrooms

I found this on the Pioneer Woman's website:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/. I discovered her a couple months ago, and her recipes are great!

French Onion Soup Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 whole Large Onions, Halved And Sliced Thin
• ¼ cups Beef Broth
• 7 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
• Splash Of Red Or White Wine
• ½ cups Grated Gruyere Cheese (can Use Swiss)
• Kosher Salt
• 24 whole White Or Crimini Mushrooms, Washed And Stems Removed
• Minced Parsley

Preparation Instructions

In a medium skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add onions and saute for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very soft. Splash in wine, broth, and Worcestershire. Cook for another 5 minutes, or until liquid is cooked down. Set aside.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Throw in mushrooms and toss around for 2 minutes, just to start the cooking process. Sprinkle mushrooms with salt.

Place mushroom caps face down in a baking dish. Heap cavity with sauteed mushrooms, then sprinkle Gruyere over the top. Bake at 10 minutes on 325 degrees. Turn on broiler and broil for a couple of minutes, until the top of the Gruyere starts to bubble and slightly turn brown.

Sprinkle minced parsley over the top and serve.

Jamie's Huevos Rancheros

I got this one from Paula Deen's The Deen Family Cookbook. I love Paula Deen, her recipes are so delicious! We just moved about 45 minutes from Savannah, so last summer we got the pleasure of eating at The Lady and Sons restaurant. It is worth the trip if your ever close to Savannah. Anyways, this recipe was really simple, and did not take long at all. Good for a night when you don't have a lot of time on your hands. If your not big on spicy food, leave the jalapeno out. I used half and it was still really spicy.

Jamie's Huevos Rancheros

Ingredients

• 1 (15-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
• 1/4 cup diced yellow onion
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, plus more for garnish
• 1 large clove garlic
• 1 jalapeno pepper (seeded if desired)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 ounces chorizo, casings removed, diced
• Vegetable oil
• 4 (6-inch) corn tortillas, plus more for serving, optional
• 1 (16-ounce) can refried beans, optional
• 4 eggs
• 1 avocado, pitted, peeled and diced, for garnish
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled queso fresco or grated Monterey Jack, for serving
• Sour cream, for serving

Directions

In a food processor, combine the tomatoes (with juices), onion, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; puree until smooth. Transfer mixture to a small skillet and simmer over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Cover and keep warm over low heat.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the chorizo until browned. Add to the sauce and cover again.

Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to the fat in the large skillet. Place a tortilla in the skillet and cook until light golden but not crisp, about 30 seconds. Flip and cook for 30 seconds more. Transfer to an individual plate. Cook the remaining tortillas, adding a bit more oil to the pan, if necessary.

Heat the refried beans (if using) in a large skillet. Spread the beans on the tortillas.

Add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet. Working in batches, crack the eggs into the pan. Cook until the bottoms are set and the edges golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until set, about 1 minute more. Place one egg on each tortilla and spoon the warm sauce over the eggs. Sprinkle with the avocado, cheese, and additional cilantro. Top with a dollop of sour cream

Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pulls

I made this the other night with our Steak dinner, it was good, especially if you have a husband that loves Ranch as much as mine does! I couldn't find sourdough bread at our commissary, so I used ciabatta. I got this off of Pinterest, it came from plainchicken.com!

Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pulls
1 unsliced loaf of (round is preferable) sourdough bread
8-12 oz cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
3 oz bag Oscar Mayer Real Bacon bits
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp Ranch dressing mix

Using a sharp bread knife cut the bread going both directions. Do not cut through the bottom crust. Place slices of cheese in between cuts. Sprinkle bacon bits on bread, making sure to get in between cuts. Mix together butter and Ranch dressing mix. Pour over bread. Wrap in foil the entire loaf in foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Valentine's Day Wreath

I decided to make a Valentine's Day wreath, after not wanting to pay $75 for one. It was really simple, unfortunately our town is small and Walmart had no wreath base to work with. So I had to be creative and cut out a circle from a paper plate.

About 2 yards of fabric, I had 3 different colors.
Wreath Base, or a paper plate.
Scissors


If you couldn't find a wreath base, cut the middle out of your paper plate. Start by cutting out rectangular pieces of your fabric about 4 to 6 inches long. I tried the scissors that make the designs, but mine weren't the best quality so I gave up. So if you want to add an extra touch, you can buy the designs scissors and use that to cut out your pieces. Once you have cut your pieces, tie them around your wreath base in knots. Cover the whole wreath base, and then fill in where it looks like there are gaps.

Chicken Rice-A-Roni Casserole

What's not to love about Rice a Roni? So when I saw it in a casserole, I knew it had to be good. This one is from plainchicken.com. My French fried onions got a little brown on top, so make sure you watch it towards the end. It still tasted really good!

1 box chicken flavor Rice-A-Roni

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream (can use low fat)

3-4 cups cooked, chopped chicken (or 1 whole Rotisserie Chicken)

1 (6oz) can French friend onions

Preheat over to 350 F.

Prepare Rice-A-Roni according to package directions. Add soup, sour cream, and chicken. Stir to combine. Spread rice mixture in a lightly sprayed 9x13 pan. Top rice with fried onions. Baked uncovered for 30 minutes. 

*To cook my chicken, I always put in a pan; season with onion powder, garlic powder, garlic salt, and pepper. Top with about 1/4 cup of chopped onion and 2 tbsp of minced garlic. I cover it  with foil and bake at 325 F for about 1- 2 hours. This is how I cook chicken for any recipe that needs cooked chicken, it comes out really moist and nicely seasoned. I also added a half of can of cheddar cheese soup, because it seemed like it needed a little more soup when I mixed the ingredients together.

Feta and Caramelized Onion Pizza

I made homemade pizza last night and it was so yummy! I found a recipe on Pinterest, but changed it a little. Usually I make my own dough from Fleischmann's Pizza Yeast, but since my babies have been teething I didn't have the time. If you make your own dough from the Pizza Yeast just follow the directions on the back, I also use whole wheat flour to make it healthier.

Feta and Caramelized Onion Pizza
1 pack of Johnsonville Italian Sausage
2 medium onions
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of honey
1 cup of tomato sauce
1 premade pizza dough (I used Publix brand, which you can find in the bakery)
1 container of feta cheese
1 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese

Cook the Italian sausage in a large pot over medium heat, till cooked through. Drain the sausage, and set aside. In the same pot add the onions and olive oil, and cook for about 1-2 minutes, until tender. Add the honey, and reduce to low. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. While onions are cooking, spread out pizza dough on a pan. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Layer the sauce, and cooked sausage. When onions are done, spread on top. Then sprinkle with the feta cheese, and cover completely with the mozzarella. Cook in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until crust is down. You may need to cover with foil, to keep the top from burning towards the end.