Chili Cheese Hash Brown Bake

Another hearty, delicious recipe I recently added to my weeknight easy menu. Not only is so simple to put together after a long day, but you can spice this up or down as much as you want. I wanted to keep this family friendly so Spencer could enjoy it to. 


To kick it up a notch, just add some cayenne pepper or replace the chili beans with hot ones.


Ingredients:
1-1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 (15.5 oz) can original sloppy joe sauce
1 (15 oz.) can chili with beans
1/2 bag (30 oz.) frozen country-style shredded hash browns (about 4 cups)
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded medium cheddar cheese


Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brown beef in a large skillet. Break it apart well until crumbles. Stir in sloppy joe mix and chili.


Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Top with frozen hash browns.


Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes, uncover and bake 10 minutes more or until edges are brown and crisp. Sprinkle with cheese and bake 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted.


Biscuits or bread-sticks are a great side too!

Make Your Own Restaurant Style Garlic Bread

Good morning, friends! 

A recipe I am always experimenting with is garlic bread/garlic sticks. One, I am a starch nut and two, all three of us love our garlic and bread. Often times when I am at a restaurant, while I am savoring all the good flavors, I am also trying to figure out what ingredients they have used. All it takes is an extra ingredient, or two, to really make some breads mouth watering. You know what I mean, right? Right.

Some garlic breads are sweeter than others and I think I have found out why. Honey. Simple as that. Adding a little honey gives your bread just enough sweetness to compliment both the garlic and the cheese. Don't knock it until you try it! 

Here is a quick, easy recipe if you want to give it a try.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup margarine, softened

1 tsp. fresh minced garlic

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 prepackaged pizza crust

1 tsp. honey

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine butter and garlic. Spread over pre-made crust. Top with mozzarella cheese. Drizzle with honey.

Bake 10 -15 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown and melted. Slice and enjoy!

Photo Challenge ~ Love

My sweet Spencer wearing his Valentine headband he made in school. The two upside down hearts in the middle, yep, that's my boy!


I linked up with Spun With Tears, Thursday Photo Challenge: Love.

Slow Cooker Meatballs ~ Appetizers

I love trying new appetizer recipes. Who am I kidding, I love trying any new recipe. Even better if I can use my slow cooker! A couple of weeks ago when I went to clean mine out, I realized it had a huge crack down one side. I seriously felt like crying. Sure it is just a slow cooker but I had had it since I moved out of my mom's house when I was 18. It had brought many great meals to my table and traveled with me during my many moves. I was sad to see it go, really.

John bought me a shiny new black one I have yet to try out. Can't wait though!

This meatball recipe requires a little more effort than my past meatball recipes. More prep time and ingredients. While they are meant to be appetizers, with the thick, hearty sauce they produce while cooking, they can also be used over potatoes or pasta. Might also work in small buns as sliders. 

Meatballs:

3 lbs. lean ground beef

4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1/2 cups seasoned bread crumbs

1 1/2 cups tomato juice

2 small onions, minced

4 tsp. salt

4 tsp. prepared horseradish

pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine all ingredients and shape into 1" balls. Place in deep baking dish and brown in oven for 10 minutes. Remove and drain. 

Sauce:

1/4 cup butter

2 Tbls. lemon juice

2 small onions, chopped

1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 cup flour

2 tsp. salt

3 cups beef broth

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup red cooking wine

pepper, to taste

In a large skillet, melt butter. Add onions and saute until golden brown. Blend in flour. Add broth, stirring until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Add meatballs. Simmer about 5 minutes more.

Pour into slow cooker. Heat on low. Use toothpicks to serve.

Photoblog Challenge ~ Romantic

Happy Valentine's Day! 

I linked up with Photoblog Challenges. Make sure and stop by to see all the entries in their Romantic Challenge. Some very talented photographers!

Pepperoni Crescent Roll Calzones

 recipe from themenumom.com

We have come to love crescent roll recipes in this house. Since we are already pizza lovers, these pockets of pepperoni and cheese were a nice change to our menu.

Easy to make, you can serve these for lunch or dinner with a side dish or alone as a snack or appetizer. Either way, you can't go wrong!

Ingredients:

1 can refrigerated crescent rolls

pepperoni slices

shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup pizza sauce, plus more for dipping

garlic powder

dried oregano

dried basil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or spray cookie sheet.

Unroll dough on cookie sheet and separate into 4 rectangles. Press each into a 7 x 4 inch rectangle, firmly pressing perforations to seal. Spread 1 TBLS. sauce on each triangle. Place 4 pepperoni slices on top of each sauced triangle. Sprinkle 2 TBLS. cheese over each triangle. 

Fold dough over filling; firmly pressing edges with a fork to seal. Sprinkle the top of each calzone with garlic powder, dried oregano and dried basil.

Bake 15 - 20 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove immediately from cookie sheet. Serve warm.

Little pockets of goodness!

Photo Friday ~ Handsome Pug

Dexter ~ a.k.a., Al Pugcino~ 

One of the rare moments that Dexter is sitting still.

I linked up with Photo Friday's challenge, Handsome.