Monkey Bread aka Pull Apart Bread

Hello, how is everyone doing? I am excited because this past weekend was my nephews 7th birthday. We had an amazing time at Cedar Point and I cannot believe my nephew turned 7! I remember holding him in my arms when he was just a baby.

My sister, my nephews mother, loves Monkey bread, and well so do I of course, so every time I visit I am asked to make it. This recipe cannot be simpler. This is a great dessert as well as a great brunch dish. I hope you guys try this and enjoy.

Here's how to do it:

Ingredients/recipe

4 cans of biscuits
1 cup of sugar
2 ts of cinnamon or more to taste
1 cup of butter (2 sticks of butter)
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 ts of vanilla

Pre-heat your oven to 350.

Cut each biscuits into four quarters. Mix the 1 cup of sugar and 2 ts of cinnamon in a zip lock bag or a dish. Put the cut biscuits into the zip lock bag and shake or dip them into the dish. Place the coated pieces into a bundt pan or a 9x13 (its easier to turn over if made in the bundt pan).

Melt the butter, brown sugar and what is ever left of the cinnamon sugar mixture in a pot. Heat until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Take off the heat and add in the vanilla. Pour over the coated biscuits. Place in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes or until bubbly and brown.

Once it is cooked, take out of the oven and let sit for about 5 minutes that flip onto a large plate or board. Pull apart, or cut into pieces and enjoy!

Enjoy!

Creamy, Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese

Hello everyone! I can be the most indecisive person ever. No really, I am. I can go back and forth in my head all day about if I should do this or that, or buy this or that. I don’t know if its because I don’t want to be let down, or if I am just very cautious on what I am doing/buying.

Unfortunately last week my phone stopped texting and I decided it was time to upgrade. The only thing was I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a new phone. They always break or something goes wrong, newer  phones come out with better features, the list goes on. I have done some research this past week and decided on two phones, but when back and forth even at the store. I played with the phones, but it I couldn’t decide. This was a hard choice. I have to have this phone for two years. Yuck. 

Anyways I decided on a phone and I am happy with my choice…I guess. I could have spent more money and got the latest and greatest, but I didn’t. I settle for something a little less and I am praying this works out. I really like it and hope this lasts and works for my needs, which really isn’t much beside’s some texting.

I can also go back and forth with what meal to show you guys. It’s another thing I go back and forth with. I always want to show you guys something good and worth trying. I think this meal is a great one to show you guys.

I called this one a slow cooker meal, but I mainly used the slow cooker to keep it warm. This is slow cooker mac and cheese. I still prepared the pasta in one pot and the cheese sauce in another, but I mixed it all together in the crockpot and set it on warm. I did have to keep stirring it once in a while and even turn if off, but it is well worth it. I brought this in for a pot luck and everyone enjoyed it. Here is how you do it.

Ingredients/recipe

Adapted from Paula Deen

16 oz of elbow macaroni

1 can 15 oz of evaporated milk

2 cans of condensed cheddar cheese soup

1 stick of butter (you can go a little less)

2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup of monetary jack cheese

½ cup of sour cream

4 oz of cream cheese

½ ts of dry mustard

½ ts of paprika

½ ts of garlic powder

First, boil a pot of water and cook past until shy of al dente. Remember you are keeping it warm in the crockpot so it will keep cooking. 

While you are cooking your pasta in another pot, melt your butter and add your can of evaporated milk. Stir in your two cans of condensed cheddar cheese soup, your cheese, dry mustard, paprika garlic powder and cream cheese. Let all melt together and simmer on low. 

When the pasta is done, mix in your sour cream into your cheese sauce and season with salt and pepper. Pour your pasta into your crockpot and pour your cheese sauce over that. Mix well and turn on your slow cooker to warm. Let warm for about ½ hour and enjoy!

Remember to stir your mac and cheese so it doesn’t stick. Also you may have to turn off your crockpot if it gets too hot.

I hope you guys try this and enjoy!

Easy Tomato, Onion, Basil and Swiss Cheese Frittata

Hello. How was everyone's Easter? Mine was really nice and I ate a ton of food, which I enjoyed very much. I was really tired for some reason too. I found myself nodding off the whole day. I guess I was in a real food coma all day.

I started my day off with an easy frittata.  I love frittats. They are great make ahead meals and great for breakfast or brunch. I wanted to make a super simple one with just a few flavors, but I wanted the flavors to really stand out and work well with each other. With my roommates help, I decided on green onions, tomatoes and Swiss cheese. I had some basil sitting in the fridge so I used that too.

I love how the cheese on top forms a nice crust, yum!

That is what I call breakfast

Here is how you do it;

Ingredients/recipe

Serves 4-6 people

12 eggs

4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
5 green onions (scallions), chopped
4-6 basil leaves finally chopped
1/2 cup of Swiss cheese, shredded

Start off by chopping your tomatoes and onions and saute those in a pan for a few minutes 3-4. Break all your eggs and season with pepper. Whisk your eggs together until all mixed. I add in the black pepper with I do this. Add your chopped basil and give it a final whisk. Add to the pan, stir everything together and let the frittata set up for 2 minutes.

While your frittata is setting up, spread your cheese and right before your put it into the oven, sprinkle your cheese all over the top. The cheese will get nice and bubbly, and form a nice crust.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Take out, let rest for a few minutes and enjoy!

You guys this is a super easy meal and would be perfect anytime. I hope you guys try this one. 

Enjoy!

Indulgent Pancakes with Bananas, Caramel and Maple Syrup..Happy Easter!

Hello everyone! I wanted to do something really indulgent for Easter and since I don’t have many springtime recipes I wanted to share this one with you. Sometimes after a long week you just need to indulge yourself. Some may have a glass of wine or beer, some may have sweets (my favorite) and some may even bake or cook. 

This idea came from my roommate and I put it together for you. Now this isn’t your healthiest meal, but hey we all deserve things in moderation, right? 

I did use no sugar maple syrup, only because I wouldn’t buy flavored maple syrup because that very fakey tasting and real maple syrup is expensive. Plus with me being pre-diabetic, I had to cut corners in some places.  This is super simple and very affordable. I feel weird even typing directions but hey this is for you guys.

yeah I like bananas

Here is how do make these delicious pancakes.

Ingredients/Recipe

Pancakes made from scratch or a mix (I used a mix)

Caramel Sauce

Maple Syrup

Bananas

Make your pancakes according to package direction. When your pancakes are done and plated, top with bananas, caramel sauce, and maple syrup (all to taste). That’s it. Nothing major or grand, just simple delicious  pancakes with a little extra to take it over the top.

You could also add some walnuts too, I think that would also taste great with these. 

I hope you guys try these and have a Happy Easter, safe holiday.

Enjoy!

New Year’s Resolutions and a Turkey Egg and Cheese Bake

Hello everyone! How’s it going? 

I was thinking today about being healthy, saving money, and New Year’s Resolutions. Have you made any Resolutions this year? I would like to say I did, but I really didn’t. In my mind I made a list of things I need to take care of such as; getting ready for taxes, cleaning my room, cutting coupons and many more. What I also planned on doing is practicing the piano again because I used to be very well at it. Many of the things I planned or thought about haven’t been done.

What about you? Are you following your New Year’s Resolutions or are you planning on getting things done that need to be taken care of?

A few other goals I am trying to set for myself are food goals. I want to bake more bread and learn how to decorate cakes. These are just some of my food goals that I hope to accomplish. 

So enough of goals and resolutions (and if you do have any stick to them, you  can do it!) let’s talk food.

How does a really good BLD sound? BLD if you don’t know is a Rachael Ray term for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner. I saw this recipe in her Everyday With Rachael Ray magazine months ago and though it sounded delicious. It’s a Ham, Egg and Cheese bake. It is soo simple your kids can do it with a little help. This is a really nice breakfast and healthy. It has yummy English muffins on the bottom topped with ham, eggs and cheese. You cannot go wrong with that in my book. I made a few changes to make it slightly healthier but pretty much kept it the same. I really hope you guys try this one. 

This is right before you add the extra cheese, omg I could have eaten this than!

Adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray

Ingredients/recipe

• 4 to 6 whole wheat English muffins cut into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
• 8 ounces sliced deli turkey, coarsely chopped
• 2  cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 cups milk
• Salt and pepper
• 2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced

.

Directions:

1.      Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 13x9 baking dish. Layer the English muffins on the bottom top with, ham, 1 ½ cups cheese and 2 tablespoons chives in the dish. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Pour into the dish and top with the tomato slices in an even layer.

2.      Bake the eggs until nearly set, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheese and 1 tablespoon chives on top and bake until golden.

I cannot tell you how much I love this dish and how good it is. It is also very changeable and you can do almost anything you want with it.

I hope you try this and like it. Enjoy!

Easy Brunch Egg Frittata Recipe

Happy Friday everyone!!! So yesterday I asked what you would like to see today and someone mention brunch, so I will give you a great brunch item. It is so good and it would be great for breakfast , lunch or dinner, but it is especially great for brunches and easy on the pocket.

So what is it???

A frittata!

I was actually making these quite a bit earlier this year because I wanted to “bulk up.”  It is super simple and requires very few ingredients unless you want to go all out.  Now when I was bulking up I would use 16-18 eggs in mine and make it last 5-6 meals.  I am giving you a scaled down version that you can make that will feed 4-6.  It really depends on how many eggs you use. I figure two eggs per person.  If you do not know if your skillet is oven safe either put it in a cake pan or wrap the skillet handle with tin foil (this is what I do, which I learned from Rachael Ray). 

Ingredients

• 8 eggs, beaten
• 1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Pinch salt
• 2 TBS EVOO
• 1 medium Onion chopped
• 3-4 Roasted Red Pepper  thinly chopped
• 1 Cup of French style Green Beans
• ½ cup of Black Beans
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

In medium size bowl, using a fork, blend together eggs, pepper, and salt. Once the eggs are beaten add the cheese.  Heat a large non-stick, oven safe sauté pan over medium high heat. Add EVOO to pan. Add chopped onion, roasted red pepper, black beans and green beans to pan and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour egg mixture into pan and stir with rubber spatula. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until the egg mixture has set on the bottom and begins to set up on the sides and top. Sprinkle with parsley.

Place pan into oven and back 25-30 minutes until set firm.

Slide out using a spatula, cut into pieces and serve.  I love topping my eggs with salsa so enjoy any way you like!

I hope you guys enjoy this one!