Quick Apple Crisp

This was very yummy. This is another Pampered Chef recipe. It is indeed quick. My 11 yr. old helped me make it & it took us about 15 min. to prepare while our dinner was baking. That was from start to finish, peeling the apples to it being ready to go in the oven. This time I didn't use the nuts & I think I liked it better without them.

Quick Apple Crisp

5 Granny Smith apples

1 package (9 oz.) yellow cake mix

2 Tbs. sugar

1 T. ground cinnamon

1/4 c. butter or margarine, melted

1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Vanilla ice cream or thawed, frozen whipped topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Peel, core and slice apples using Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer. Cut apples in half with a sharp knife. (I cut mine into quarters). Place apples in deep dish baker (or a pie pan or 8x8 pan).

Combine cake mix, sugar, cinnamon, butter & nuts in a bowl (I used walnuts, but pecans would be good too). Mix until crumbly then sprinkle evenly over apples.

Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped topping, if desired.

For the greatest Pampered Chef consultant in the Phoenix Metro Area contact Kelly!

Spaghetti Sauce Casserole

This is a very yummy casserole that most of my family loves. I got this recipe from my sil, Kristi.

Spaghetti Sauce Casserole

1 lb. hamburger

1 pkg. Spaghetti Sauce Mix

2 eight oz. cans tomato sauce

3/4 pint sour cream

1 can refrigerated crescent rolls

2 Tb. butter

mozerella cheese

parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375°. Cook hamburger. Mix in Spaghetti Sauce mix & tomato sauce. Pour mixture in bottom of a deep dish baker (or pie pan). Spread sour cream on top. Spread cheese over, then lay out raw crescent rolls flat on top (do not roll them just lay them flat), putting the wide end of the rolls at the outside. The points of the rolls will overlap a little in the middle but that's alright. Melt butter & drizzle on top, then sprinkle parmesan cheese all over the top.

Bake at 375° for 18-25 min.

Darin's Super Scrumptious Spaghetti

Darin made this spaghetti for me on our second date & I joke with him that I fell in love with him for his spaghetti. (which of course isn't true - I love the man and the sketti)


Ingredients:

1 - 16 oz package Spaghetti

1 - can Spaghetti sauce any flavor

1 - can Italian diced tomatoes

1 - green bell pepper (diced)

1 -red bell pepper (diced)

1 - med. onion (diced) - I prefer a sweet onions or the purple kind

1 lb Mild Italian Sausage (you can use hamburger if you prefer)

Directions:

Brown Sausage in a skillet.

In a separate skillet grill the onion and peppers till slightly caramelized.

Add them to Sausage after it is fully cooked.

Add Sauce and Tomatoes. Mix Well. Let simmer while you boil spaghetti

I usually add a little salt to the water and 1 tsp E.V.O.O. while spaghetti cooks.

Drain but don't rinse (helps the pasta absorb more of the sauce).  You can either add spaghetti directly to sauce or put back into pot with 1 tsp of E.V.O.O. mixed in and serve separately.  I was cooking for a large group when taking these photos so I missed getting the pasta (maybe I'll add later) - that is also why it appears to be more in skillet then what recipe calls for.

Arizona's Beauty

After seeing Rachelles beautiful sunset photos, I thought I'ld add this one
I recently shot while going out to my Sister Bridgette's home.

Baked Mac-n-Cheese

My hubby hates the boxed Mac-n-Cheese, but he loves it when I make my baked version.


Ingredients:
3 - boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (I like the Rotini style)
1 - 8 oz bag of Shredded Cheese
1 - 11 oz bag of Potato Chips (I like the Wavy Lays for this dish)
1 - pkg bacon (optional)
Butter & Milk (I don't measure so you'll have to eyeball it)

Directions:
Preheat Oven
Boil Pasta - Turn off burner, then drain (don't rinse - a little tip I learned from Alton Brown - this will help the sauce cling to the pasta), let pasta sit in strainer. Rinse out sauce pot, place back on warmed burner and add about 2 Tablespoons of butter - once melted add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk. Stir in all three cheese packets. Whisk until smooth. Pour Pasta back into pot and stir cheese sauce with pasta until well blended. Spray Pam into 9x13 casserole dish. Pour 1/2 pasta into dish and spread evenly in dish.

Sprinkle 1/3 of cheese over pasta. Spoon remainder of pasta over cheese and spread in dish. Sprinkle the last 2/3 of cheese evenly over pasta. Use about 3/4 of the Potato chips and crumble them over all the cheese. Bake at 350' for 25 minutes - Cheese should be melted and chips slightly browned.

Extra: My hubby likes his with Bacon. I prefer mine without.
I cook bacon in the oven to help take some of the grease away from it. Use a cooling rack ontop of a cookie sheet - lay bacon across cooling rack. Bake at 350' for about 20-30 minutes. Keep an eye on it - it wont take much for it to burn. Take it out when it looks browned and crispy. Once bacon is done and cooled down. Blot with Paper towels, then crumble about 8 slices over 1/2 of the casserole before baking.

Enjoy!

Fry Bread/Navajo Taco's

This is another of my family's favorite recipes! I love it when the kids come & ask me what I'm making for dinner & when I tell them they get excited. So here's the recipe for this yummy dinner/dessert! I got this recipe from a recipe book that several ladies from church put together. This one comes from my friend Nalene Dobbins.

Fry bread

4 c. flour

1-1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 T. sugar

1 T. shortening

1 T. (or 1 pkg.) yeast

1/4 c. warm water

1-1/2 c. scalded milk

Scald milk, then allow it to cool to lukewarm. Combine water, sugar and yeast. Set aside. Combine milk, shortening, salt, baking powder and 1/2 of the flour. Add the yeast mixture and mix well. Add the remaining flour. Knead 20 times. Let dough rest for 10 min. Roll dough 1/4 in. thick and cut into squares. Fry in a hot oil at 365°. This recipe makes about 12-15 small to medium size pieces.

Hints:

I scald my milk in the microwave. Measure the correct amount, then put it in the microwave for 3 min. Then I put it in the freezer to cool to lukewarm. While I'm waiting for the milk to cool, I begin to mix the other ingredients as the recipe says to do. I periodically check on the milk so it doesn't get too cool. This is the way I've done this many times & it works for me so hopefully it will for everyone else as well.

I don't roll my dough out this way, I seperate them into balls & roll them out individually. The size just depends on how large of a piece you want. I generally make mine a little smaller since I have some small children that don't eat much. Then the older kids can have 2 or 3 if they want more.

Also, we eat this for dinner with beans, cheese, lettuce & tomatos. You can add salsa & any other toppings you may like. You can also eat it plain with just butter or as a dessert with butter & powdered sugar or honey. Yum Yum, enjoy!

Rachelle S.

http://www.chelstamps.blogspot.com/

Menu Plan Monday

Well, it's a new week & that means a new menu! Here's mine for this week! We almost always have veggies so I don't add those to the list (we don't have them with pizza or breakfast though).

Monday: Spaghetti Sauce Casserole & homemade tortilla chips

Tuesday: Cheesy Tortellini Bake & garlic bread

Wednesday: Fried Chicken (easy, out of the box from Banquet) & french fries

Thursday: Chicken & Rice Casserole (we were going to have this last week but didn't)

Friday: Pepperoni Pizza Twist

Saturday: Breakfast (scrambled eggs, fried potatoes & bacon)

Sunday: Our turn for extended family dinner~~Cheesy Potato Soup & homemade rolls

Bow Tie Alfredo

This is a very simple recipe. I'll tell you right up front that I don't make my alfredo sauce from scratch.

12 oz. bow tie pasta

15 oz. bottle of Bertoli Garlic Alfredo sauce

Garlic powder

Salt & pepper

Boil pasta. Warm Alfredo sauce. The sauce is a little bland so I add a little bit of garlic powder, salt & pepper. The sauce I buy does say garlic alfredo but I still add more. It would probably be better to add a clove of fresh garlic pressed. I'll have to try that next time. Once pasta is done, drain it & pour it back in pot. Add sauce to pasta & your done. Most of my family loves this one, especially my 7 yr. old.

Southwest Taco Pie

This is a Pampered Chef recipe for Southwest Taco Pie! Most of my family liked it (I'm not a big red meat eater so that much hamburger was a little too much for me).

Crust

1/4 c. plus 1 Tbs. cornmeal, divided

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1-1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1/3 c. milk

1 Tbs. vegetable oil

Filling

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 c. chunky salsa

1 c. (4 oz.) shredded colby-jack cheese

1 c. shredded lettuce

1/2 c. chopped tomato

1/4 c. sliced, pitted ripe olives

sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 450. Lightly spray 9" stoneware pie plate with vegetable oil. Sprinkle 1 tbsp cornmeal evenly on bottom and sides on pie plate. Combine the remaining cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. Add milk and oil, stir with fork until mixture forms a ball. Roll out to create crust, shape into pie plate. For filling, brown ground beef, drain. Stir in salsa. Spoon beef mixture into pie crust; sprinkle with cheese. Bake 12-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown & cheese is melted. Top pie with lettuce, tomato and olives. Garnish with sour cream & additional salsa, if you'd like.

For the greatest Pamered Chef consultant in the Phoenix Metro Area contact Kelly!

Menu Plan Monday

Here's our menu for this week...

Monday~Southwest Taco Pie (this is a Pampered Chef recipe)

Tuesday~bowtie alfredo

Wednesday~mock tacos (these are so easy) I completely forgot to take a picture of these, so next time!

Thursday~chicken & rice casserole (this didn't happen, we had leftovers)

Friday~family style calzones (this didn't happen either, we had pot pies instead)

Saturday~Navajo tacos

Sunday~ Extended family potluck (homemade pizza)

Pictures & recipes to come throughout the week!