Cracker Barrel's Hash Brown Casserole & Marie Callender's Famous Golden Cornbread

Evening lovelies!
Time for another Tuesday with good food and good commentary brought to you by yours truly. This week's agenda comes from this chick right here. Now, while I am always on the food trail for something new, funky, and fun I kinda went down the path of comfort foods. Well, comfort foods in the sense they are knock off's of certain items on restaurant menu's. Yep, you read right. I know, I was kinda shocked too but don't even think about leaving just yet. Stick around, I promise this one is for the books.

So I picked up the book known as "Top Secret Restaurant Recipes" by a Mr. Todd Wilbur. I was going through it and BAM there it was in all of it's potato glory. Cracker Barrel's Hash Brown Casserole. I am beyond in love with this creamy but also crispy delight. It's even an on going inside joke between my Auntie Dee and myself. I knew this is the recipe for me to rock this week. Oh, and to balance this out (There are 4 people eating and they don't believe in having only hash browns for dinner. What planet are they from? Geez!) I also picked Marie Callender's Famous Golden Cornbread. Time to see what goes into all this:


Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole
Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish


1 26-ounce bag frozen country-style hash browns
2 cups shredded Colby cheese
1/4 cup minced onion
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup beef stock or canned broth
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Dash of garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper



Instructions:

*Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

*Combine the frozen hash browns, cheese, and onions in a large bowl.

*Combine the milk, beef stock, half the melted butter, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Mix until well blended then pour the mixture over the hash browns and mix well.

*Heat the remaining butter in a large oven proof skillet over high heat.

*When the skillet is hot spoon in the hash brown mixture. Cook the hash browns; stirring occasionally until hot and all of the cheese is melted (about 7 minutes).

*Put the skillet into the oven and bake for 40 to 60 mins. or until the surface of the hash brown is dark brown.

(Side Note)
**If your skillet isn't oven proof (because it has a plastic handle for example) you can spoon the potatoes into a glass 9X9 inch baking dish and microwave the potatoes until they are hot and the cheese has melted. Then put the baking dish into the 425 degree oven until the surface of the hash browns have browned.






Marie Callenders Famous Golden Cornbread
Makes 9 pieces


1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg


Honey butter

1/2 cup of butter (one stick softened)
1/3 cup honey


Instructions

*Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

*Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.

*Add the milk, shortening, and egg. Mix only until the ingredients are well combined.

*Pour the batter into a greased 8X8 inch pan. Bake for 25 to 30 mins. or until the top is golden brown.

*Let the cornbread cool slightly before slicing it with a sharp knife into 9 pieces.

*For the honey butter use a mixer on high speed to whip the butter and honey together until smooth and fluffy.









So kiddies how did it turn out? It was a major home run. The cornbread was ridiculously good (that honey butter makes it) and the hash brown casserole is pretty epic. All in all a pretty damn good pick this week. THANK YOU, THANK YOU. Please send compliments this way. ;D.



Tid Bits:

*To go with the side dishes we made tonight I had chicken, Aunt Jane and Geoff had pork steak, and Ma had meatloaf but you can make whatever you like with these dishes.

*If you can't find Colby cheese then cheddar is a good substitute but Colby is preferred.



Ma's Spot: I first got to known Cracker Barrel's Hash Brown Casserole when we went on vacation when Dinah Jane was young. Everytime we stopped to eat we would go to Cracker Barrel and all she would eat is their hash brown casserole. I can't believe how much this version we made actually tasted like it. I like it alot even though it has cheese in it. I like it best because the cheese isn't overpowering. It's a great side dish to any meat or poultry you'd wanna fix. It's easy to make, so give it a try. Now the cornbread, it was delicious! It came out golden brown and fluffy. The honey butter was delicious on it. I have to say it's my 2nd favorite cornbread recipe. My favorite cornbread recipe goes to Dinah's recipe. It's unbelievably good.



*SNACK CORNER:*

It's time for snack corner! Where we take new snacks in the grocery store and break it down for you. We tell you which are hot and which are not. Let's get to this week's picks:




Dinah: Tonight we are showcasing another do-it-yourself baked good (hey, your gal is talented in this area lol). We decided on Pilsbury's New Funfetti Whoopie Pie Kit. I gotta say that these were really fun to make. I'm thinking next time my adorable 3 year old nephew is over I'm thinking he can help me make a batch of these. He'd get a kick out of the frosting and sprinkles. So the taste was good. I enjoyed them except for the icing. As you guys know this gal right here is not a fan of the taste of pure sugar and canned frosting seems like a canister of sugar cane. I loved the idea of the whoopie pie and the "cookie" part was really yummy. So next time I think I'll get it and swap out the icing for whipped cream or marshmallow fluff.



Ma: This product was delicious and easy to make. I think it would be great to make up this recipe with your children. I am a big advocate on teaching kids to cook early. Even when you're kids are grown it's fun to do. Look at Dinah and I. So grab your child (young or old) and make this recipe with them.




Alrighty guys, that's it for this week. We'll see you here next Tuesday for more recipes we have to send your way. Have a great week!


Spoons & Spatula's
~Dinah & Ma

Hamburger (not helper) Stroganoff

Welcome back lovelies!
It's another Tuesday for us foodies. Gotta say I always have the blog going on during the 6 other days in the week. Last Wednesday I went out and had a fun day with my mother in law. While at this (AMAZING) bookstore I came across 2 cookbooks so I nabbed them up and Ma and I are already on the research hunt for more food goodness. A blog mistresses work is never done ;D. So let's get cracking to this week's pick. Ma has chosen an old comfort food classic. Ever had Hamburger Helper? You know the stuff in the box that promises a meal in one pan with just the box of ingredients and a pound of meat? Well, we decided to cut out the middle man (sorry, hamburger helper hand, you're cute but not needed this time) and make our own stroganoff. YES! Stroganoff, that tangy, pasta filled, mushroom soaked dish. Come on who doesn't love this stuff? I know I do and ours has left out all that mumbo jumbo salt that they fill helper with (I am not a HH hater, I just think if you can cut down the salt and make it your own then why not?). I'm sure the hand helper will understand. Let's get things started:


(This recipe was written on an extremely old piece of paper so yours truly will be writing this one out. No link this week)




Hamburger (not helper) Stroganoff
(Makes 5 servings)

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup minced onions
1 clove garlic minced
1lb ground beef
1lb mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 cup sour cream
1 can of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
Egg Noodles


Directions:

*In a skillet over medium heat in hot butter or margarine cook onions and garlic until golden (3 minutes). Stir in ground beef, mushrooms, flour, salt, pepper, and paprika. Cook stirring often, until meat is brown (about 7 minutes).

*Stir in undiluted soup. Heat to boiling then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes to blend flavors. Stir in sour cream and heat (DO NOT BOIL).

*Serve over noodles or rice.






So this was yum city! I actually had 2 helpings (HA! Get it? Helpings? As in hamburger helper...No?) and Geoff looked pleased with it. Can't go wrong there lol.



Tid Bits:
*Honestly, we don't have a lot of tid bits this week. I really think the recipe is spot on. So kiddies, follow it.
The only thing we suggest is you can change the beef or turkey and not a fan of mushrooms? Try leaving out the actual mushrooms and just using the cream of mushroom soup. Oh and one last one, you can certainly put this over rice.




Ma's Spot: I got this recipe MANY years ago from a friend and loved it. Of course for Dinah Jane we changed the beef for turkey and it turned out really good. I liked this recipe because it's a lot cheaper to make with the ground beef or ground turkey than the standard stroganoff recipe using stewing meat. So if you're looking to feed the family on a budget and have a tasty dinner I encourage you to try this.




*SNACK CORNER:*

It's time for snack corner! Where we take new snacks in the grocery store and break it down for you. We tell you which are hot and which are not. Let's get to this week's picks:




Dinah: This week's snack is a newbie from Hershey's. The new Air Delight Kisses which has something to do with aerated air in it? I'm guessing it means it was whipped? Anywho, I liked them nonetheless. When I got the middle of the kiss it made me feel like I was eating chocolate air but in a good way. I know that sounds odd but gotta say I'm a fan. So, if you'd like a chocolate fix and want something different than the norm then try these.


Ma: I have to say my taste buds really enjoyed this snack. It was light on texture but not light on taste. Whether you suck on them or bite right in the airy texture of them was a big hit with me. I encourage you to stop reading this now and go out and get some!



That's it folks, we'll see you back here in 7 days. Next week is my pick and as always it's going to be something out o left field. What exactly? You gotta come back and see. ;].
Have a great week guys!




Spoons & Spatula's
~Dinah & Ma

Vidalia Onion Pie

Good evening our lovely blog readers!
Please excuse the chipper mood. Glee came back tonight after a LONG Summer hiatus. Ma and I are hardcore Gleeks so we are in geeked out moods tonight. Now onto the reason you guys come by our lovely space of food writing, this week's recipe. It was my pick and its something out of left field (as always lol). Let me tell you a little story about a blog mistress, a food network pie showdown, and some onions. I, Dinah love the pie competitions on Food Network. There, I said it. Hey there are worse things in the world to be addicted to. So while watching one of the pie competitions I noticed this pie that seemed out of place. It was made by this guy who used to make onion pies with his grandma. At first I was like A: I hate onions. I mean if it came down to me kissing a toilet and eating a raw onion I think I need the right shade of lipstick for the bowl to lay a pucker on. & B: He's got to be kidding. He's not going to win against these women with their cherry and peach pies. So as the show went on he began cooking the onions and making this quiche pie thingy and the dreaded onions? they didn't turn out so bad looking. I thought "Hmm, I'll try that one day". So I stored the recipe in the "Maybe I'll try it one day pile" and went along with my day. That day turned into 5 years later and I ran across a vhs tape in my room that had the competition on it. I then realized I still had the link for the recipe the blog was the perfect chance/excuse to give it a go. So that's what we did. Everyone was huffy all week and I even heard a few grunts about my choice but I stand by this concoction. I have onion faith.

Let's get started:

Vidalia Onion Pie

Total Time: 2 hr 0 min
Prep: 20 min
Inactive: 1 hr 0 min
Cook: 40 min
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

Crust:

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 tablespoon sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher or Hawaiian salt
* 1/4 cup cold all-vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
* 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
* Cold water


Filling:

* 1/4 egg yolk and 1 teaspoon water for egg wash
* 1/2 cup unsalted butter
* 2 pounds Vidalia onions, thinly sliced
* 3 large eggs, beaten
* 1 cup sour cream
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon kosher or Hawaiian salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* Freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

*For the crust: All ingredients should be cold. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add shortening and butter. Using a pastry blender cut in the shortening and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Drop by drop, add cold water. Mix in with the fingertips, not with the hands as the palms will warm the dough. Continue mixing water in until the dough begins to hold together without being sticky but not crumbly. Place dough in plastic wrap. Fold over plastic wrap and press down to form a disk. This will make rolling out easier after chilling. Finish wrapping in plastic and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

*Lightly spray a deep 9-inch pie pan or an 8 1/2-inch fluted flan pan. Roll out dough and place in pie plate. Return to the refrigerator until filling is ready. Makes pastry for a 9-inch single crust pie.

*Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

*For the filling: Brush egg wash on the inside of pie crust. Return to refrigerator until filling is ready. Over medium heat, melt butter. Add onions and saute until translucent. Do not brown. Combine eggs, sour cream and flour. Add onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper and pour into chilled pie crust. Top with Parmesan. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F for the last 20 minutes or until center is set.









How did this one work out? Well here goes:
Dear Mr. John Michael Lerma,
While I am a raw onion hater for life...you have changed my views on cooked onions. Your pie was super yummy, it was super easy to make, and it made me feel like I was eating an onion ring pie (love love love onions rings). So no more will you hear from me how your odd choice would never measure up to the ladies who bring in their cherry and peach pies. Keep fighting the good onion fight sir! XOXO~Me



Tid Bits:
*If you go looking for vidalia onions at your local grocery store and they don't have them ask the workers there what kind of sweet onions they carry and just use what they have on hand.

*Not into baking your own pie crust? Try refrigerated pie dough. Works just as good.



Ma's Spot: When Dinah brought up this recipe of an onion pie the first thing I did was run for the hills. I have to say though that after we made the recipe and I tasted it amazing was the word that came to mind. I loved ratio of onions to the eggs to the sour cream. It was just great and came together for me. It made one fantastic dinner. Prepare it with a nice little salad on the side and your family will love it. I encourage you to give this a try.



*SNACK CORNER:*

It's time for snack corner! Where we take new snacks in the grocery store and break it down for you. We tell you which are hot and which are not. Let's get to this week's picks:




Dinah: We've got something tonight that I was a little jazzed about buying. It's a snack that can show off yours truly's skills in the baking world. My pick this week is from the lovely lady who goes by the name Betty Crocker. She has put out a new thing by the name of FundaMiddles. Cute name eh? So the idea of it is no frosting on the top and frosting melted in the middle. Now that's my kind of cupcake cause as crazy as it sounds I am just like my grandma and I am not a fan of frosting (well buttercream is amazing but that's as far as it goes) or the taste of pure sugar. These were FANTASTIC! I loved even after letting them cool for a few hours the middle was still gooey. Thumbs up my friends, a must pick up.



Ma: I have to say I really enjoyed this weeks snack especially when I didn't have to make it. I left it up to my baking daughter. It was like eating an inside out cupcake. It tasted like the frosting was on the inside. If you don't like like a lot of frosting or anything with tons of sugar (like my Dinah) then these cupcakes are for you. I on the other hand like a lot of frosting so I was skeptical of these but I have to say with each bite of these you get the frosting. So it would be great for a nice treat for kids to have and parents will love the no frosting mess. So go out to your local store, buy a box, and enjoy!



That's all folks, we'll see you here next Tuesday for more food goodness. Have a great week guys!


Spoons & Spatula's
~Dinah & Ma

Ranch-Style Turkey Chili

Hey hey guys and dolls, Tuesday has rolled around so we've got another yummy recipe to send your way. First how do we like the new layout for fall? I'm digging it and I hope you guys do too! Now onto the food: Ma's choice comes to us from Rachel Ray. Left field eh? We like Rachel but we don't usually profile her on the blog. Weird, but we've just never found anything that sparked our interest while doing food research. Well that changed this past week when Ma stumbled on tonight's dish and we knew we had to give it the good ol' college try. Let's get started:


Ranch-Style Turkey Chili

Total Time: 35 min
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

4 poblano peppers
2 large corn muffins, store-bought
2 tablespoons EVOO
2 pounds ground turkey
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons cumin, a couple of palmfuls
1 tablespoon coriander, a palmful
One 14-ounce can pinto or white beans
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup fresh chives, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
Hot sauce
1 cup sour cream

Optional Toppers:

Shredded sharp Cheddar
Minced red onion
4 to 5 slices crispy bacon, chopped

Directions
*Char the peppers over a gas flame on high heat or under the broiler with the oven door cracked for steam to escape, turning with tongs. Place the charred peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam. Let them cool, then peel, seed and finely chop.

*Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

*Crumble the corn muffins, arrange on a cookie sheet and toast until crispy and extra golden, about10 minutes. Set aside.

*Heat the EVOO in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the turkey and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown and crumble the meat. Add the garlic and onions to the pot and cook to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the cumin and coriander, then stir in the chopped peppers. Add the beans, stock and herbs and simmer 5 minutes. Season with hot sauce.

*Turn off the heat and stir in the sour cream to combine. Serve topped with the crispy corn muffin crumbles and any of the other toppings you like.




So how did this one turn out? It's pretty yum! It reminds me of Hamburger Helper Stroganoff. Weird, I know lol but it does. I'd say it's a keeper. :].



Tid Bits:
* We took sour cream and added dry ranch dressing mix.
*You can take it off the burner and let it cool a bit before adding in the sour cream mixture.
*We left out the cumin and coriander (due to allergies) so we used a little chili powder and oregano.
*Instead of buying store bought corn muffins we used Dinah's corn bread recipe (Check back in the archived recipes on the side of the page for that recipe).


Ma's Spot: The minute I saw 30 Minute Meals with this recipe I knew we had to try it and I wasn't wrong. This was delicious and comforting soup. I really liked the taste of the ranch in the chili. I love chili's but the fact that it didn't have any tomatoes gave it a different taste. I love the idea of doing the corn muffins (or corn bread) and putting them back in the oven to crisp up then putting them on the chili. It made for a delicious chili. So if you're looking for a different kind of chili and you also happened to love ranch dressing you will love this recipe. I encourage you to try it.





*SNACK CORNER:*

It's time for snack corner! Where we take new snacks in the grocery store and break it down for you. We tell you which are hot and which are not. Let's get to this week's picks:




Dinah: This week's snack is Quaker Chewy Chocolatey Mint Bars. First off I am biased. I love mint. It's amazing and one of my favorite things to pair with chocolate so I'll try and not fall instantly in love without knowing all the facts. You get 10 bars in one box, the bars themselves are slender, and each bar has mint chips in them. Yeah, this whole not falling instantly thing isn't working out for me so much. I love these, they are chewy and the mint flavor is really good. Even during my snacking of this item I kept peeling off the mint chips and eating them first. Hey, there are worse habits in the world lol. These are a definite buy.



Ma: In this snack I love the cocoa and mint together. I love Quaker snacks anyways and for them to combine cocoa and mint, winner winner a snack after my dinner. I encourage you to buy it and your taste buds will enjoy it!




Okie guys, that's it for this week but as always come back next Tuesday for more food goodness. What's on next week's menu? It's my pick and I have to words for you: ONION PIE. WAIT! Don't go...oh...shoot! I knew that would freak you guys out but I promise it looks good and I don't even like onions all that much. So, you're gonna come back right? Like next Tuesday? Thought you would, we won't disappoint. ;D. Have a great week guys!



Spoons & Spatula's
~Dinah & Ma

Asian Sloppy Joes

Good evening blog readers everywhere! Happy summer is over which means it's almost fall! Excuse the excitement, it's our absolute favorite time of the year. Ma and I are not fans of summer (minus the addiction that is Big Brother) so autumn to us is amazing. So what do we have up our sleeves this week? Something Asian style that I came across while watching my favorite tv lush Miss Sandra I-need-another-cocktail Lee. Aw, I'm only kidding. I love Sandy. Without her we wouldn't have tonight's recipe. Speaking of tonight's recipe hows about we get to it?

Asian Sloppy Joes

Total Time: 35 min
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 25 min

Ingredients
Sauce:

One 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1 teaspoon hot sauce

Sloppy Joes:

2 teaspoons canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 pound ground pork
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small head green cabbage
4 hamburger buns, toasted

Directions

*For the sauce: In a bowl, whisk together the tomato sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, tomato paste, vinegar, garlic, ginger and hot sauce until blended. Reserve 1/2 cup for the Round 2 Recipe Stuffed Cabbage Rolls, or another use. Set the rest of the sauce aside.

*For the sloppy joes: In a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil. When it is hot, add the onions and peppers and cook until they are soft, about 5 minutes.

*Push the vegetables to one side of the pan and add the ground pork. Break up any lumps and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until the pork is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. If there is a lot of fat in the pan, spoon some of it out and discard.

*Add the sauce to the pan, bring to a simmer and cook until the pork mixture has thickened but is still a bit loose, about 15 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of the mixture for the Round 2 Recipe Stuffed Cabbage Rolls, or another use.

*To serve, remove 2 leaves from the cabbage, roll them up like a cigar and slice into very thin strips. Reserve the remaining cabbage for the Round 2 Recipe

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls, or another use. Divide the sloppy joe mixture onto the hamburger buns. Garnish with the sliced cabbage. Top with the bun tops and serve immediately.




So did Sandy steer us wrong?
Not so much, our girl deserves a pat on the back. Now, I am a complete sloppy joe snob. Hey, blame Ma for making amazing sloppy joes all my life but I gotta say these were great. Sweet and tangy but not too much. I'd eat them again so this one was a decent hit.


Tid Bits:
*As always we used turkey instead of pork.

*You can use apple cider vinegar.




Ma's Spot: I liked tonight's dinner. It gave a different twist to sloppy joes. I would probably try it again but when it comes to good sloppy joes I'll stick to my recipe but I encourage you to try it. Especially if you like Asian food.




*SNACK CORNER:*

It's time for snack corner! Where we take new snacks in the grocery store and break it down for you. We tell you which are hot and which are not. Let's get to this week's picks:




Dinah: Tonight's snack is a bit on the heavier side for a snack but these are new and could be a snack. Totino's Pizza Stuffers scared me at first. I thought "okie, here are these hot pocket looking thingy's and if they taste like Hot Pockets I am going to be super disappointed" but they are pretty awesome. The crust is golden, buttery, and crispy. The filling is pure pizza toppings. So this is a definite buy!



Ma: I really enjoyed this snack. Instead of having 4 or 5 pizza rolls you can have one big one. My suggestion is to spray the stuffer with butter spray and put it in the oven to bake it comes out crispy and golden. I really really enjoyed it! So go get it and try it.



And that's all she wrote folks. Come back by next Tuesday for the next recipe. It's ma's pick and...well...I don't know what's on the menu yet but as always it'll be something new and (hopefully) good! Have a great week guys!



Spoons & Spatula's
~Dinah & Ma

Pizza Macaroni Bake

Evening guys, it's Tuesday which means it's time for another feel good recipe to fill your tummy's with. This week is all about comfort food. What is comfy food exactly? Well it's the food that makes you want to jump in your pj's, grab your fave comfy blanket, and watch a lifetime movie. Okie okie, maybe not the last part...well for me it is haha. You get the idea. It also could be foods you loved from your childhood or foods that are just so yummy you feel good eating them around people who warm your heart. So, Ma went down that path this week with this recipe. It involves macaroni, pizza, and cheese. YES. I just said Ma and cheese. As our faithful readers know Ma isn't the biggest cheerleader for the cheddar variety but she took one for the team this week. Well "took one for the team" seems a little harsh since mac and cheese isn't really a chore to eat. I don't care what the crazy non-cheese loving lady says lol. So wanna know what makes it comfy follow me:


Pizza Macaroni Bake

Ingredients
*1 package (7-1/4 ounces) macaroni and cheese dinner mix
*6 cups water
*1 pound ground beef
*1 medium onion, chopped
*1 small green pepper, chopped
*1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
*1 jar (14 ounces) pizza sauce
*1 package (3-1/2 ounces) sliced pepperoni
*1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese





Directions

*Set the cheese packet from dinner mix aside. In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add macaroni; cook for 8-10 minutes or until tender.
*Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Drain macaroni; stir in the contents of cheese packet.
*Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Top with the beef mixture, pizza sauce, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese.
*Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 6-8 servings.










Yeah this was a definite winner! I actually went back for seconds. To me it reminds me of comfort foods I grew up with which is nice.



Tid Bits:
*We used the creamy box mac and cheese. The powdered isn't our fave.
*We of course used turkey but you could switch it up and do half turkey and half beef or all beef



Ma's Spot: When I picked this recipe EVERYONE was surprised because I HATE no, I loathe mac and cheese but it is our intent to explore new things so I figured I would give mac and cheese prepared this way a try. So bloggers if you like mac and cheese and pizza you will love this recipe. I have to be honest I only had 4 bites of the mac and cheese compared to the whole top of the casserole. It was good and I enjoyed my limit of mac and cheese. So even after trying it this way I still do not like mac and cheese.






*SNACK CORNER:*

It's time for snack corner! Where we take new snacks in the grocery store and break it down for you. We tell you which are hot and which are not. Let's get to this week's picks:







Dinah: So this week's snack corner comes to us from Land O' Lake. Yep, we went the butter and biscuit route because let's be honest who doesn't love cinnamon, sugar, butter, and biscuits? I know we're fans and after having the Land O' Lake's cinnamon sugar butter I'm sure you guys will be fan too! It was smooth, creamy, and reminded me of cinnamon rolls. Not bad, not bad at all. :].


Ma: I wanna start my review off with a little story. When I was little and was sick or after one of my many ear surgeries my ma would always make me tea with honey and lemon and butter and toast with cinnamon and sugar on it. I don't know if it was all in my head but it always made me feel better. As an adult I still do it and the feeling I get reminds me of my mom. This butter gave me that feeling so please pick this one up. Whenever it's on toast, bagel, or biscuits you will enjoy it. The package also says you can put it on hot cereal, haven't tried it yet but I will soon.



As promised we redeemed ourselves from disaster food 2011 (AKA: last week). We''ll see you here next Tuesday, Have a great week guys!




Spoons & Spatula's
~Dinah & Ma

The Sad Story of the Bean and Cheese Burrito Casserole Slow Cooker Recipe That Never Was

Hola chicos & chicas, it's your lovely blog mistress back for another week of yum. Okie, that may be stretching it because this week the absolute WORST thing happened. The dish itself turned out to be a disaster. It was so bad we made a run to the grand place known as Taco Bell to recover our dinner options for the night. I myself take full responsibility for picking this dish and while this one was a complete dud I encourage you to stay until the very end simply because we A: Love you guys! and B: I promise to dazzle you with my whit and charm...even if the recipe was dazzle free.

Okie I'm going to set the scene: It was last Wednesday morning and as usual I was dragging in the "looking for the next recipe" department (I LOVE this blog but sometime I need inspiration to hit for it to click with me. I don't want to pick anything lack luster)and Ma was getting impatient with my procrastinating booty so I grabbed something from my tab of "recipe" bookmarks. The recipe is from a woman's 365 slow cooking blog (If you're not familiar with a 365 blog of any type it's when you do one thing each day for a whole year. Whenever it may be recipes, pictures, or something else.) and the recipe was for Bean and Cheese Burrito Casserole Slow Cooker Recipe (Click the name for the recipe) I thought "This sounds yummy and it'll appeal to my vegetarian friends (Hi Judi!) as well. Double score!". So Ma picked up the ingredients for us and we started the cooking. I placed the items in the slow cooker exactly how it was listed in the directions, turned it to low, and went back to my studying. After a few hours I noticed when I checked on the dish that the tortilla's were extremely mushy. I'm talking pizza dough sitting in water all day. I thought "Well, maybe it'll get crispier as the day goes on". Turns out I was wrong. I showed Ma the outcome and she was puzzled. If I had done everything correctly then why did we end up with mushy tortilla soup rather than crispy lasagna? The picture on the site and what ares turned out to be are completely different. Also, her followers made this dish and it seem to turn out perfect. So what had gone wrong? All the way to Taco Bell we were trying to figure it out and...nothing. I decided finally that it just wasn't meant to be in Mexican food destiny. Maybe in the future we'll try the recipe out again but for now I think our food hearts are too broken to try it again soon. I'll say this though, we are not food wasters around here so Ma tried her damnest to salvage this messy concoction but by then it had met it's soupy mushy death. R.I.P. Bean and Cheese Burrito Casserole Slow Cooker Recipe...you had a good start at least.

PS. Just because this recipe turned out horribly train wreck bad doesn't mean it will for you guys. It has to be said that while it was a mushy disaster the flavors were delish. We want to encourage you guys to try it. It may turn out great for you, and we hope it does!

Here's the damaged goods:


It started out so promising...




This looks and tasted like raw pizza dough. Mushy and gross!


The damaged slow cooker. It's going to take days of soaking this to get the burnt tortilla out of the bottom and sides. Isn't that weird the bottom was burnt but the rest of the dish was mushy?


Ma's Spot: First of all I have to say this recipe confuses me. The lady got 5 stars out of 5 by her readers. We followed this recipe exactly how it was supposed to be prepared and it's the worst thing we've ever made. The tortilla shells were like raw pizza dough. So I thought okie why not put it in the oven and it still didn't work. I don't know how this got 5 out of 5 stars because for us it just didn't work out. To me the concept of the recipe sounds good so if I was to redo this recipe it would go in the oven and never in the slow cooker. And so to our readers we are extremely Disappointed as you must be without a recipe tonight.


So no tid bits tonight BUT we have snack corner that is our saving grace this week!





*SNACK CORNER:*

It's time for snack corner! Where we take new snacks in the grocery store and break it down for you. We tell you which are hot and which are not. Let's get to this week's picks:




Dinah: Tonight's snack was a no brainer. I was down the frozen food section at Krogers and I passed by the Edy's® Black Raspberry Ice Cream and my mouth dropped. I LURVE raspberry's and this just sounds yum. That ice cream was coming home with me for snack corner. It's ridiculously creamy and smooth and the flavor is amazing. $3 for a gallon of epicness? Sign me up! Down side? It's only available until August 31st. I know, I weep for it's retirement also.


Ma: I have three words for this: Delicious, creamy, and smooth. Oh, and if it's not known I loved this. Run, do not walk, and pass go to get you this ice cream,





So, I hope this week's mishap doesn't have you running for the hills. I promise next week will be better. Ma's already got her pick so stick with us kiddies we'll redeem our foodiness. Have a great week!




Spoons & Spatula's
~Dinah & Ma