Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

I don't often make things up off the top of my head; usually I'll get an "inspiration recipe" and take it from there. Last week, I was feeling adventurous and decided to flex my creative muscles. What resulted was a super-tasty casserole that the hubby demanded I make again. Awesome!

1 lb ground beef, browned
6 medium potatoes, scrubbed and diced
6 strips of bacon, browned
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup beef broth

The best part of this recipe was how easy it is. I used ground beef from the freezer and crisped the bacon in the microwave (5 minutes on high should do the trick), so no pans required! Dumped everything in the crock and cooked for 8 hours.

The casserole was good cooked as listed above, but if you're feeling extra cheesy, or if you just want to jazz it up, make this cheddar cheese sauce and pour it in during the last hour of cooking.

2 tbls butter
2 tbls flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cheddar cheese

Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Add flour and stir till smooth. Add milk. Cook for 3-4 minutes on low, just until it begins to thicken. Add cheddar cheese and stir until cheese is melted. There you go! Easy cheddar cheesy! I guess you could probably use a can of condensed cheddar cheese soup if you wanted it to be even easier, but I didn't have any.

Buttermilk Blueberry Coffeecake

Coffeecakes have always intrigued me. They SOUND good. They LOOK good. But so often when sampling one at a potluck, I've found myself disappointed. They just usually don't taste as good as they look.

Thanks to this recipe, however, that's all about to change! I didn't change a thing from the recipe, except that I had to substitute regular milk with a tablespoon of vinegar for the buttermilk, since I didn't have the real deal on hand.

The picture is stolen, but I do have a good reason! My stupid digital camera is off at the repair center. After going around and around with the tech support people at Kodak, they decided to fix my warrantied camera. Thanks so much.

My Big, Fat, Delicious Banana Bread

And now...the bundt cake! Sorry. Whenever I use a bundt pan, I always think of that scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. You know the one...where the dry as toast white lady brings her little bundt cake to the lamb-roasting-on-a-spit Greek party. Gets me every time!

But anyway, back to the banana bread. Banana bread has been my Achilles heel as a cook. No matter what I do, it always turns out AWFUL. The inside is mushy, the outside is burned--yuck, yuck, yuck. I can't tell you how many banana breads I've thrown away, uneaten. Well, I guess technically I could tell you, but I won't. Because it's just plain embarrassing.

Today, I am thrilled to announce, I did it! I made a banana bread that was not only edible, it was enjoyable! Even if I don't do anything else that's useful today, I'll go to bed with a smile on my face tonight.

1 3/4 c flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar (I used raw sugar)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4tsp cream of tartar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup applesauce or oil
1 tbsp vanilla
2-3 ripe bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 400. Mix dry ingredients. Make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients well. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir. Do not overbeat. Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes for a bundt pan, 18 minutes for muffins (I did a bundt and mine was done at 32 min). Enjoy!

And We're Back...with Waffles!

It's not that I haven't been cooking lately, because I have! I've tried lots of yummy recipes lately! For instance, we had a fantastic pasta tonight, pasta with butter beans and red wine that was simple, healthy, and so yummy. I've also made an excellent Grasshopper Pie (recipe will follow, maybe on Saturday). But tonight I'm excited about breakfast, which will be waffles made with my new waffle iron! I decided to buy myself one with my birthday money. For my first waffles, I'm making a yeasted waffle based on the recipe found here.

1 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 c bread flour
1/2 c almond meal
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
4 tbsp butter, melted & cooled
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

The original recipe called for separating the eggs and beating in the whites the next morning. Phooey on that! The idea behind "overnight" waffles is the "set it and forget it" mentality. So I just mixed up the whole lot and set it in the fridge. Tomorrow, we bake! And then I'll update and let you know how they turned out.

Update:
While these waffles were certainly tasty (and definitely better than cold cereal for breakfast), I think that I prefer regular old, non-yeasted (un-yeasted?) waffles. Allen thought they were great, but on a scale of 1-10, I'd put them somewhere in the 6.5 range. Nothing to scream about, but didn't make me want to hurl either.

Creamy Potato Soup

We've had a crazy amount of snow days lately. Of course, we expected it this week; it is lectureship after all! But let's recap the snowiness of the past couple of weeks:

Friday, Jan 29--Snow day!
Monday, Feb 1--Snow day!
Tuesday, Feb 2--Snow day!
Wednesday, Feb 3--Snow day!
Monday, Feb 8--Snow day!
Tuesday, Feb 9--Snow day!

All this snowiness necessitates soup. Last week we had chicken with 40 cloves of garlic soup and a fantastic beef stew. Yum yum. This week, we're going with potato soup.

1 onion, diced
6 potatoes, diced
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried dill weed
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

Cooked in the crockpot about 7 hours on low. 30 minutes before serving stirred in

1/2 cup flour mixed with
2 cups half and half

Pureed some of the potatoes to enhance the creamy factor. Served with crumbled bacon and cheddar cheese. This one's a winner!

Italian Bread Bowls

So student teaching is pretty much taking over my life for the next few months. The blog has definitely been put on the back burner. I'm still cooking, but mostly crock pot recipes. Some have been new, but mostly sticking to easy recipes that I've made before. However, yesterday Henderson got snowed in! My first snow day as a teacher! To celebrate, I made Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic Soup and Italian Bread Bowls. Both were EXCELLENT!

I also made really tasty Blueberry Muffins for breakfast. Feeling somewhat remorseful at my lack of posting lately. The whole point of this blog was to help me remember which recipes and I liked and which I didn't, so I guess I should make more of an effort to chronicle my cooking adventures. Still, we've only got so much time, and those lesson plans aren't going to write themselves.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Spinach artichoke dip is one of my very favorite foods. Whenever we go out to eat, I'm always tempted by this appetizer. I hardly ever order it, however, because I hate paying 6-8 bucks for two little scoops of dip! Hardly enough to whet anyone's appetite, if you ask me! I had a perfect excuse to make these tonight, however. We were having two friends over for dinner (spaghetti and meatballs), and this dip seemed a perfect addition to our meal.

Now, I've tried quite a few recipes for spinach artichoke dip over the years. I think I'm officially done looking. This one is my favorite!

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese (I used all Parmaggiano Reggiano here with great success)
  
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a small baking dish.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic, basil, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.
3. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.

I think the real star in this recipe was the basil. I've never seen it in a similar dip, but it made the whole thing pesto-ish. Totally fabulous! Filing this one away under "Make Often."

(PS--Sorry there's no picture! I was too hungry to wait! Blame it on the pregnancy...)