Redneck Rigatoni

Dad, this one's for you.  My dad told me about an "appetizer" he'd created on the fly for some hungry kids at the house one day.  You think I'm kidding?  I'm not.  This appetizer is seriously easy.  I can't believe I'm even writing a post about it; I'm totally giggling right now.  Here's what you do.  Pay close attention because this is REALLY complicated.  Take a box of rigatoni (I used the smaller rigatoni size) and boil it to al dente. Let it cool slightly so you can handle it. Open a can of Easy Cheese (you choose the flavor), hold your finger over one end of the rigatoni and put the spout of the Easy Cheese can in the other end.  Fill. Now you're done.  Eat it.

Fancy I know.  Aren't you jealous that you didn't think of it?  Or maybe you did.  My co-worker has given me some good ideas on how to take this one step further; when that happens you'll be the first to know.  Well, second to know since I'll tell my co-worker first since he thought of it.

Enjoy.

Sweet Cornbread

I realize that living in the South means I should be making cornbread about once a week; but I always forget about cornbread as an option.  It's so weird too because I love it! Now, I'm not the traditional "no sugar" cornbread fan but I'm not really from the South either so I guess I'm excused.

I've tried a lot of different recipes for cornbread but I'm really liking this one.  It comes together quickly and bakes up perfectly.  Just sweet enough without being too sweet.  Even my picky eater likes this.  Perfect along side a big bowl of chili or your favorite fried chicken!

Sweet Cornbread

Recipe from AllRecipes

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup milk or buttermilk
• 1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Spray a 9 inch round cake pan with non-stick spray
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients first, then add the wet and stir until incorporated.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Black Magic Cake

This recipe claims to be the "Best Chocolate Cake Ever"!  I'm not even sure if I'd be able to identify the best chocolate cake ever because my tastes change depending on my mood.  However, I will say that this is an amazing cake. I think the frosting was good but more middle of the road, but the cake was moist and chocolaty and delicious!  Definitely a keeper in my recipe book.

Easy to put together.  I was happy that the addition of coffee didn't come through in the taste of the cake since I'm not a coffee drinker. There was also buttermilk added which is a different ingredient than most of other chocolate cake recipes but I think it was yummy.

The frosting was good also, I think I can find a different frosting for the next time I make this as the recipe provided was just enough for the cake.  I wished I had more for the middle. :) I likey frosting.

I found the recipe on the "Just a Pinch" site here

Cake
1 3/4 c all purpose flour
2 c sugar
3/4 c cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 c strong black coffee, cooled
1 c buttermilk
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 tsp real vanilla extract

Frosting
1/2 c margarine, softened
2 oz melted unsweetened chocolate, cooled
3 c powdered sugar
3 Tbsp milk
2 tsp real vanilla extract

In the bowl of your stand mixer; combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a medium sized bowl combine the eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla.  Mix well and then incorporate into the dry ingredients.  Mix for two minutes.  Mixture will be thin.
Grease and flour a 9x13 in pan OR two 9 inch round pans.  Pour the batter in the desired pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes for a 9x13, or 30-35 minutes for layer pans.

Cool the cakes completely before frosting them. I think this would be plenty of frosting for the 9x13 inch pan but if you're doing two 9 inch pans you might want to double it knowing you'd have some extra.

Bacon Wrapped Smokies with Brown Sugar

Have you ever had appetizers for dinner? I love doing that, it's my favorite type of dinner although I don't get to do it very often. Well I invited a friend of mine over recently to do just that.  She made a couple, I made a couple and then we sat around and stuffed ourselves.  It was great fun. I'll be posting the rest of them on here in the next week or so. When trying to find the perfect appetizers for our little get-together I decided one should be meat.  This one was super easy and super yummy.  You only need three ingredients!

Get a package of little smokies, a package of bacon and some brown sugar.  Cut the bacon in thirds and wrap around each wiener and put them onto a kabob stick.  Sprinkle with brown sugar and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until the bacon is cooked and the brown sugar has melted.

Recipe found here

1 - 16 oz package of little smokies
1 package bacon - not the thick cut bacon
1/2 to 1 cup of brown sugar - depending on your taste

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the bacon into thirds and wrap each smokie link with the bacon.  Pierce several of the bacon wrapped smokies onto a skewer and place onto a cookie sheet.  After all smokies have been wrapped and skewered, sprinkle the tops with brown sugar.

Cook for about 20 minutes or until the bacon is cooked and the brown sugar has melted.

Stuffed Shells

I'm always on the lookout to try something new.  I think I've made stuffed shells in the past but can't really remember...hence this blog!

Stuffed shells sort of remind me of handy little lasagnas, any I the only one who feels that way? I guess because the ingredients are often time the same.  Anyway, these were awesome.  I loved the creamy ricotta filling smothered in meat sauce. This recipe made plenty for my hubby and I and leftovers for several days afterwards; which is a good thing.  Luckily we both like leftovers but this would be great if you wanted to break it up into to 8x8 pans and freeze one of them for another time. 

First things first, you need to make the filling.  You can just whip this up while the shells are cooking.  Mix the eggs, ricotta, half the mozzarella, half the Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper together in a bowl.

Fill each of the cooked shells full of the mixture and place them in a 9x13 inch dish.  You want the shells to be al dente and slightly cool before stuffing. I leave my shells in some water so they don't stick together.

I sort of over crowded mine in a 9x13 inch dish, but they all turned out nicely so I guess you can just pack them in there.

In a bowl, mix together your pasta sauce and the reserved mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.  Pour over the top of the shells.

Bake in a pre heated 350 degree oven for about 45 to 60 minutes. 

I served mine with a nice big salad - because that totally cancels out all the calories in the stuffed shells....right? Huh? Never mind.

Recipe found here

1 (12 ounce) package jumbo pasta shells
2 eggs, beaten
1 (32 ounce) container ricotta cheese
1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
8 ounces grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (28 ounce) jar pasta sauce (I used homemade pasta sauce)
8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms (our homemade sauce had mushrooms in it already)

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Start a large pot of salted water to boil over medium heat.  Add the shells and stir to ensure they aren't sticking together. Cook until Al Dente. I add cold water to my shells so they cool off enough for me to handle but also stay wet so they don't stick together.

Mix together the ricotta cheese, eggs, half of the Mozzarella cheese, half of the Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. When the noodles are done and cool enough to handle, begin filling them with this mixture.  Place each shell in a 9x13 inch pan (or two 8x8 inch pans if you plan to freeze half).

In a separate bowl, mix the sauce and the leftover mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.  Pour the sauce over the shells and then bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until the cheese is melted and it's beginning to get golden brown on top.

Old Fashioned Fig Bars

I have to be honest.  I'm a sucker for recipes that say they're "old fashioned", I just can't help myself.  I feel like I'm going to like it more if it tastes anything like my gramma used to make.  Most of the time it's true too.  I found some fresh figs at Trader Joes the other day and decided to give them a try.  I've never actually bought fresh figs before so this was a new one for me.  Turns out there are some mighty tasty options out there but the word "old fashioned" got me hooked on this one.

Look at all that beautiful color!

OK, take some of these beauties and dice them up.

Put them into a large pot with the lemon juice and sugar and cook over medium heat until they've reduced to about 2 cups.

Remove from the heat and let cool.

In a large bowl combine the sugar and butter and cream together. In another bowl add the other dry ingredients except the oats.

Add the dry ingredients to the sugar/butter mixture and mix to combine; now stir in the oats.
Take half the mixture and press it into a 9x13 inch pan.

Spread the fig mixture on top of the oat mixture.

Spread the other half of the oat mixture over the top and press down lightly.  Bake at 400 for about 20 - 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. 

Let cool before cutting.  The top and bottom crust gives a wonderful texture to the sweet center.  I brought the rest of these to work with me and they were a big hit!

I found this recipe from JustaPinch

Fig Center
2 lb figs (3c) fully ripe - cut into pieces
2 Tbsp lemon juice concentrate
1/2 c sugar

Crust and top
3/4 c butter softened
1 c brown sugar, lightly packed
1 3/4 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c oats
1/4 c coconut (optional)


Combine the figs, lemon and sugar in a large pot and cook over medium heat until they've reduced to about 2 Cups. Take off the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Pre-heat the oven to 400.

Mix the butter and sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer.  In a separate bowl add the flour, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl combine the oats and coconut (if you're using it).

Slowly add the flour mix into the butter/sugar mixture and mix until combined.  Stir in the oats (and coconut) by hand.  Take half of this oat mixture and press it into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.  Spread the fig mixture over the top and then top with the remaining oat mixture.  Press down slightly.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Cool completely before cutting.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Looking for something light and easy for dinner.  You gotta try these!  Totally delicious and full of flavor.  You will need to have some Asian condiments on hand but after you taste these you'll go back to making them over and over.

The recipe is the P.F. Chang's recipe that seems to be all over the Internet.  I just chose one that had most of the ingredients I already had. :) You can have these babies on your table in less time then it would take to get them at a restaurant.

Some of the cast.  Sorry that I didn't take very many pictures for this post.  Things moved along pretty quickly and I wasn't as prepared as I (usually) try to be.

I didn't use any Chili Pepper Sauce because I was hoping my daughter would give these a try (she didn't). My husband it's a huge fan of ground chicken but even he found these delicious! Yay!

Recipe found here

Boston, bibb or butter lettuce leaves
1 pound ground chicken breast
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Asian chili pepper sauce (I didn't use this)
1 can (8 ounce size) sliced water chestnuts, drained, finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil


Rinse the lettuce and let them drain.

Cook and break apart the ground chicken.  Add onion, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar and chili sauce and mix well. Cook until the meat is fully cooked, brown and well broken up. Add the water chestnuts and green onions and cook until the onions begin to wilt.

Stir in the sesame oil last and remove from the heat.

Serve by placing a spoonful of filling into the center of each lettuce leaf and eat like a taco.  Enjoy!