French Dip Sandwiches (Slowcooker)

We seem not to eat enough sandwiches for dinner around this house as often as we should. One of my favorite (and super easy) sandwich recipes involves a crock pot, beef and using the juices for a dipping sauce when it's time to chow down.

4 pound Roast
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1 tablespoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Thyme
1 teaspoon Rosemary
1 Bay Leaf
1/3 cup Soy Sauce
Beef Broth
1/2 cup Water
1 Beef Bullion Cube
Sandwich rolls
Mozzarella cheese


Place roast in slow cooker. Sprinkle with pepper, garlic powder, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and soy sauce. Add beef broth until the roast is just covered in liquid, then add water and bullion cube. Cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours (until meat is cooked through). Once cooked, shred the meat and serve on sandwich rolls with cheese. Use the left over drippings for dipping.

Slow Cooker Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (Pigs in a Blanket)

On the way to my in-laws house several years ago, my husband mentioned his mother was fixing 'Pigs in a Blanket'. When we arrived, I was confused when I didn't see any hot dogs or breading anywhere on the table. Instead, his mother served what looked like rolls of cabbage leaves in a red tomato sauce. It was good and something I had never seen before. After we left I explained to him what MY 'Pigs in a Blanket' were: hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls with ketchup or mustard for dipping. He ended up finding (through Google, of course) that the Pennsylvania/Dutch version was what he grew up on- but most photos and recipes had come up as the hot dog snack I was used to.

I decided to search the web for what sounded the best to me for HIS kind of 'Pigs in a Blanket'. After coming across Melissa Norris' Cabbage Roll Recipe, I made some minor tweaking and ended up with something both my husband and I could agree was tasty. (And I even gave him my word I would include HIS name of the dish in my blog title. How sweet am I, right?)

I am sure you could bake these in the oven, but I always trust my crock pot to cook things tender and extra delicious.

12 leaves of Cabbage
1 lb Ground Beef
1/2 cup Jasmine rice, uncooked
1/4 cup Milk
1 Egg, beaten
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
2 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
2 (15oz) cans Tomato Sauce
4 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
4 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
4 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce

Boil cabbage head in large pot of water for a few minutes until leaves are soft enough to wrap. (I had to boil mine for about 5 minutes, peal off 5 leaves- and then return the head to boil another 5 minutes and peal off a few more)

In a medium bowl, mix ground beef, rice, milk, egg, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Spoon beef mixture into cabbage leaves, tuck in the sides of the leaves and roll tight. Place in crock pot with the seam side down.

In separate bowl, combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well then pour over the cabbage rolls.

Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or on LOW for 8 hours.

Birdie Clusters (Cookies and Cupcakes)

It's the first day of Spring and I am so ready to share these 'promise-of-some-warmer-weather' treats with you!

I decided to venture into the world of videography and put together a little 'How To' YouTube tutorial featuring these delicious and super easy goodies (as well as my adorable little girl). I really hope you enjoy it! Click HERE or watch below!

My Birdie Clusters recipe is CRAZY simple.

You can surely substitute the chocolate egg candies for jelly beans or other small egg shaped candies- but why pass up an opportunity to slip in some cocoa?

11 oz Butterscotch baking chips
6 oz Chow Mein Noodles
Small Chocolate Egg Candies

Empty butterscotch chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute and stir until smooth. Pour noodles into the melted butterscotch and stir until the noodles are covered evenly. Spoon small clusters onto wax paper lined baking sheets. For cookie sized clusters, make larger- for cupcake topper sized clusters, make smaller. I made my cupcake toppers to fit only one of my candy eggs each. Allow to cool and harden. Either enjoy the Birdie Clusters by themselves or place them on the top of cupcakes as an extra sweet treat.

Lemon Honey Tea

This past year has been a sick one. Seriously. So many germs and so many people to spread them. With the ever changing North Carolina weather- I caught my share of cooties and was left with a sore or scratchy throat many a days. My favorite way to ease my vocal chords is to drink myself a great big double cup of this Honey Lemon Tea. The warm lemon and honey help to clean, clear and soothe your aching throat.

Yes I know.. there technically is no tea in this drink- but its so warm and delicious..  and I call it what I want!

I make mine strong so this is something you may have to play around with a bit to get it to your liking. Don't get discouraged if you don't like it at first try. Too bland? Add more honey and lemon. Too sweet? Add more lemon. You'll figure it out and just remember what you altered for the next time you make it. (Because if you are like me, there will surely be a next time.)

1 cup Hot Water

1 Tablespoon Sugar

3 Tablespoons Honey

3 Tablespoons fresh Lemon Juice

Place a hot water in a mug. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Next, add both the honey and lemon juice and mix well. Then- enjoy!

Cheesy Bacon Jalapeno Poppers

Cheese? Bacon!? Jalapeno Poppers??! Just you TRY to pass these puppies up! Who says these are only for parties or football season? I make these as a dinner side whenever my little heart desires.

I made mine without any chicken, but you could easily add some cooked chicken to this (chopped or shredded) if you had some on hand.

As a friendly reminder- be careful handling these peppers as they are spicy and if you happen to wipe your face with a jalapeno juiced hand you will be very sorry. I choose to wear gloves just to be safe! If you don't wear gloves remember to wash your hands throughly. No burning eyes, please!

10 Jalapeno Peppers
8oz Cream Cheese
1 cup Mexican Shredded Cheese
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1 tablespoon Garlic Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
4 strips Bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese


Mix cream cheese, mexican cheese, sour cream, garlic powder, salt and crumbled bacon in bowl. Slice peppers in half (lengthwise) and remove all the seeds. Spoon cream cheese mixture into each pepper half and place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and then return to oven. Broil on High a few minutes until cheese is melted. Try not to drool and serve them warm.

Twice Baked Potatoes

I am not the biggest fan of plain old baked potatoes, but for some reason I love, Love, LOVE if they are twice baked! They really are not difficult to prepare and are super tasty. You can add whatever garnishes you wish- just keep those little green chives to yourself. I prefer my plates chive free!

Start these off by baking some generously washed and forked potatoes in your microwave or oven.

While the potatoes are cooking, grab yourself some of your favorite variety of bacon and fry it up.

We will use this to top our masterpieces in the very end, and also as a bonus air freshener while they are frying. Bacon on the stove always beckons even my laziest dog to get up off her ever-so-warm-and-comfy spot on the sofa to offer her test testing assistance in the kitchen. Too bad that never really works out in her favor.

Once the potatoes are tender, cut off the tops and spoon out their innards for us to work our magic on.

They look kind of sad all empty, but once they are done they will be over flowing with potato innards of flavorness.

YUM.

Bake them once more with some cheese and bacon toppings and voila! Spud heaven!

Twice Baked Potato Recipe
by: MamaHoots... Food is Love

4 Russet Potatoes
Olive oil
Salt (1/2 teaspoon for inside, plus extra for seasoning skins)
Garlic Powder (1 Tablespoon for inside, plus extra for seasoning skins)
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 stick Butter
1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (plus extra for garnish)
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Wash potatoes thoroughly and prick with fork. Drizzle the outer skins with olive oil and season with some garlic powder and salt. Either bake the potatoes in an oven at 350 for 1 hour OR heat in microwave for about 10 minutes until soft. Slice a section lengthwise off the top of each potato and spoon out the inside into a mixing bowl. Be sure to leave enough around the edges to help the potato shells keep their shape. Add sour cream, milk, butter, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 Tablespoon garlic powder and 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese into the mixing bowl. Mash potatoes until fluffy and all ingredients are blended throughout. Spoon the potato mixture back into the potato skins and place the filled potatoes on a baking sheet. Top the potatoes with cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Frozen Butterbeer: A Tribute to Harry Potter

In our house we are huge Harry Potter fans and are not afraid to admit it. I think the series is very positive for many reasons and enjoy both the books and movies. We were lucky enough to be able to visit Florida this year with my family and on the very first morning we went straight to Universal to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. They did a great job with the park and we were all really impressed. Walking down the streets of Hogsmeade looking through all the shops and listening to the familiar tunes straight from the Potter movies really brought it all to life. The Forbidden Journey ride was a good one. I would recommend to everyone even if you do not ride the ride to take the trip through the line so you can experience the inside of Hogwarts. They did an awesome job with the props and effects.

I have to say, one of my favorite things at the park was the Butterbeer. Butterbeer was the beverage of choice throughout the books the students would enjoy while in Hogsmeade and I could not wait to try it. The frozen Butterbeer was hands down my favorite and as the Hogwarts Express conductor pointed out to me: it is not proper to drink Butterbeer out of a straw. Be sure to get the butterscotch cream on top with every sip. 

As a tribute to the series I searched for and tweaked recipes to get what I thought was easy and the closest thing to the Butterbeer I had while at The Wizarding World and will share my recipe here with you. Please enjoy! This will make 2 delicious servings. 

For drink:

1 can/bottle Cream Soda (I used Dr. Brown's)- frozen (pour contents of can into freezer safe container for an hour or so until almost frozen) OR straight from the can

1 cup Ice (crushed if possible) 

6 Tablespoons Smuckers Butterscotch Syrup (or more to taste)

For cream topping:

1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

1 1/2 to 2 Tablespoons Smuckers Butterscotch Syrup

In a blender, blend the soda, ice and 6 Tablespoons of syrup until it is the consistency of a soft slushy. 

With an electric mixer, beat the cream and up to 2 Tablespoons of syrup for a few minutes until light and almost whipped. 

Pour drink into serving glasses and top with the butterscotch cream. Serve immediately.