Tag: Cooking

Win an 8″ Kitchen Knife!!

Woman seasoning food

Woman seasoning food

Keep your edge in the kitchen. It’s easier than you think, especially when the J.A. Henckels 8-Inch Chef’s Knife is part of your arsenal. It is good for fruits, vegetables, meats; mincing, slicing, and dicing. This chef’s knife does it all. It’s sure to become your best friend in the kitchen. I love a good sharp knife! I primarily do the cooking in this house and this is a phenomenal piece of cutlery!

Enter to win!

Delicious Bacon Recipes

Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, Bacon!!! That is what the commercial says and that is what this post is about.  Always and forever bacon will be a crowd pleaser.  Here are a handful of recipes that are surely going to get the crowd amped for mealtime. Let me know if you have had these, or if you are going to try them. I’d love to know your feedback!! I can personally attest to the jalepeno poppers, and I’m dying to try.. well.. everything else!! Enjoy!!

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Bacon Pancakes Recipe

  • 12 slices of bacon
  • 2 cups prepared pancake batter (from a mix or from scratch)
  • softened butter
  • maple syrup
  • Here’s a recommended recipe for making pancake batter from scratch.

Instructions:

  1. Prepare the pancake batter with slightly less water or milk than instructed. A thicker batter will help prevent the pancakes from flowing into each other.
  2. Set your griddle to medium-high.
  3. Fry the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon from the griddle and lay slices on stacked paper towels to remove excess grease (and to get more crispy).
  4. Carefully, wipe down the griddle with wadded paper towels, leaving only a very thin layer of grease to cook the pancakes.
  5. Return the cooked bacon to the griddle with at least two inches of space on both sides of the slices. (You’ll probably have to work in two batches.)
  6. Slowly pour batter over each bacon slice. After one minute, check the bottom side of the pancakes. Once browned, flip the pancakes and cook the other side to golden brown.
  7. Serve immediately with softened butter and warm maple syrup.

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Bacon, Egg and Toast Cups
Serves 6 or more

Ingredients: 

  • Cooking spray
  • 6 slices white or whole-wheat sandwich bread
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 6 slices bacon, preferably thick cut
  • 6 large eggs
  • Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375o F. Spray 6 standard muffin cups with cooking spray.
  2. With a rolling pin, flatten bread slices slightly and with a 4-1/4″ cookie cutter, cut into eight rounds. (Now, most of us don’t have a cookie cutter that large.
  3. Flatten your bread and place your largest round cutter on the bread and use as a guide to cut that size hole. 4-1/4″ is pretty much what a piece of sandwich bread will measure when flattened.
  4. So, you are essentially cutting the largest round you can minus any crust.)
  5. Cut each round in half, then press two halves into each muffin cup, overlapping slightly and making sure bread comes up to edge of cup.
  6. Use extra bread to patch any gaps on bottom or sides.
  7. Brush bread with melted butter.
  8. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium, until almost crisp (I cooked my bacon in the oven for 6 minutes on 375o F.)
  9. The bacon will continue to cook in the oven.
  10. Lay 1 bacon slice in each bread cup and crack an egg over each.
  11. Season with salt and pepper. 
  12. Place muffin tin on a rimmed cookie sheet to catch any bacon fat. 
  13. Bake until egg whites are just set, 20 to 25 minutes.

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Bacon Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

  • 1 can Pillsbury™ Grands!™ cinnamon rolls with icing (5 count)
  • 5 bacon strips

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Place bacon strips in skillet and fry for 2-3 minutes until still soft but slightly cooked. Remove bacon and pat dry with paper towels.
  3. Pop open the can of cinnamon rolls and unroll them into long strips. Lay one strip of bacon on each cinnamon roll strip, then roll them back up. Place each bacon roll in a greased pie pan.
  4. Cook according to package instructions, then drizzle with icing from the package.

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Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Jalepeno Poppers

Ingredients
  • 9 jalapeno peppers
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • ¼ cup salsa verde
  • ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 9 slices bacon cut in half
 Instrutions
  1. Cut the jalapenos in half and remove all of the seeds.
  2. Combine the cream cheese, salsa verde and shredded cheddar in a small bowl. Once combined, add to a pastry bag or a sturdy 1 quart ziplock bag and cut off one corner so you can squeeze the cheese out of the hole and into the peppers. Fill the peppers with cheese mixture.
  3. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in the microwave or saute pan for a few minutes until it’s starting to brown a little but is still soft and pliable.
  4. Cool and then wrap each jalapeno half in one piece of bacon. Secure with a toothpick. Place on a foil lined cookie sheet (with sides) and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 15 minutes.
  5. Set the oven to broil and cook for 2-3 minutes, watching carefully to make sure they don’t burn! This gives the peppers a nice roasty flavor and ensures that your bacon will be crisp.
  6. Remove the jalapeno poppers from the oven and cool slightly before eating. Super low carb and soooo delicious!!!!

Win a Kuhn Rikon 12 Piece Cooking Prize Pack – Perfect for any Chef!

Rikon

Win a Kuhn Rikon 12 Piece Cooking Prize Pack – Perfect for any Chef! With all these great cooking tools and gadgets any chef would love to win this. This gift is so nice you could keep it or give it to the chef you know to make their day!

Enter for your chance to win the following prize package: Duromatic Top Model 7 Qt Pressure Cooker (item # 3918), Epicurean Garlic Press, Epicurean Ratchet Grinder, Stainless Steel Julienne Peeler, Essential Swiss Peeler Set, Colori+ Large Prep Set, Large Silicone Collasible Colander, Swiss Pull Chop, Ultimate Auto Safety Opener, Tong Tools, Corn Zipper and Large Foldable Splatter Guard.

One winner will be selected at random. Giveaway ends Friday, February 19.

Enter Today!

Scrumptious Banana Nut Bread Recipe!

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Scrumptious Banana Nut Bread Recipe!

This recipe is a favorite of mine that is useful for banana, zucchini, carrot, sweet potato, and even pumpkin bread!

2 Cups banana, pumpkin or sweet potato or shredded zucchini or carrots.
3 Cups sugar (I sometimes use 1/2 brown sugar so then 2 1/2 white)
1 Cup water
1 Cup cooking oil (I don’t know what it would taste like if you wanted to substitute applesauce for part of the oil)
4 eggs

Mix all of them together in a bowl and mix well.

3 1/3 Cups Flour
2 Tsp baking soda
1 Tsp salt
1 Tsp baking powder
3 Tsp cinnamon
1/4 to 3/4 Tbs cloves (to taste)
1 Cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
1 Cup cranraisins (optional)

Stir these 8 ingredients together and then add to the mixing bowl of the wet ingredients mixing well.

Pour into 2 5″x9″ loaf pans (greased) and Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 70 minutes!

If you want to make a double batch then just double it all and then freeze the loafs in saran wrap.

This is a great treat for fall and your friends and family will devour them.

Classic Italian Style Cheesy Lasagna Recipe

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Here is a Classic Italian Style Cheesy Lasagna Recipe that my mom used when I was a kid. So now it’s my turn to bring this delicious and simple recipe for my family.

The entire family gobbles this one up and I double the ingredients to make 2 of them. One to eat the same night and one to freeze for a night I don’t want to cook. Just take it out and thaw in the fridge for about 10-12 hours and then pop into the oven. Super easy.

lasagna-recipe

Ingredients for Meat Sauce:
1 pound ground meat or Italian Sausage
30oz of Tomato Sauce
1 8oz Can of Tomato Paste
1tsp Oregano
1tsp Basil
1tsp Parsley Flakes
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

Ingredients for Cheese Filling:
1 15oz container of Ricotta Cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese (I grate by hand)
1 tbs Parsley Flakes
1 egg beaten

2 cups of Shredded Mozzerella Cheese

1 Package of Lasagna Noodles

Remember to double everything if you want to make 2 lasagnas.

First I brown the ground meat and drain out the fat. I then add 60oz of tomato sauce, 2 cans of tomato paste, and the seasonings and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While that is simmering, then I cook the noodles. Once the noodles are boiling I make the cheese filling. Add the 32 oz container of Ricotta to 2 beaten eggs in a medium sized bowl. I hand grate 1/2 cups of Parmesan Cheese and add the parsley. Once it’s all mixed up, I put it to the side. Once the noodles are drained and cooling off, I make an assembly line to make the 2 lasagnas. The mozerella cheese is in it’s package. I use 9×13 glass casserole dishes or pans. I prefer glass for more even cooking.

I take 4 noodles to make the first layer, then add the cheese filling which is kind of like frosting a cake. Then I add a layer of the mozerella cheese and top it off with meat sauce layer. Then repeat and I can usually get 2 nice layers. Then bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees and should be bubbling when done. Slice and enjoy. I cut them into squares.

BBQ Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites Appetizer Recipe

BBQ Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites Appetizer Recipe

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The recipe is super easy.

Either cut boneless chicken breasts into cubes if you wants bite sized or use tenderloins for more of a meal.

Then cut bacon in half and wrap it around the bites or keep full pieces for the tenderloins.

Then use toothpicks to secure and dip it in seasonings like salt and pepper, garlic, or whatever you like.

I used BBQ sauce and you can either bake it in the oven at 450 for 20-25 minutes or grill it.

Here is a picture of what they look like before you put them in the oven. The top picture we grilled them.

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Awesome Ramen Noodle Cake

Awesome Ramen Noodle Cake

ramen-noodle-cake

I actually don’t know who made this cake or instructions but I had to share it.

It’s so realistic looking and I really hope those are rice krispies and not made to taste like actual chicken.