Italian Sausage Melt

Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 45 min
Makes: 4 servings (1 cup each)

1 1/4 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 tablespoons very hot water
1/2 lb bulk spicy Italian pork sausage
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup Alfredo pasta sauce (from 16-oz jar)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, cut into strips


Total Time: 5 min

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly spray bottom of 8-inch square (2-quart) baking dish with cooking spray. In medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix, butter and water until dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan.
2. In 10-inch skillet, cook sausage and bell pepper over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sausage is no longer pink; drain if necessary. Spread sausage mixture over crust; spread pasta sauce over sausage. Sprinkle with cheeses.
3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until mixture is bubbly around edges and cheese is lightly browned. Sprinkle tomatoes and basil over top.

Monte Cristo Sandwich

Serves 1

Ingredients:

2 slices bread
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
2 slices cooked ham
2 slices cooked turkey meat
1 slice Swiss cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup milk


Directions:

Spread bread with mayonnaise and mustard. Alternate ham, Swiss and turkey slices on bread.
Beat egg and milk in a small bowl. Coat the sandwich with the egg and milk mixture. Heat a greased skillet over medium heat, brown the sandwich on both sides. Serve hot with berry jam.

Chicken Fajita Casserole

Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 1 hour 15 min
Makes: 6 servings

1 can (16 oz) Old El Paso® refried beans
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 package (1 oz) Old El Paso® fajita seasoning mix
1 package (9 oz) frozen cooked Southwest-seasoned chicken breast strips, thawed
8 Old El Paso® flour tortillas for soft tacos & fajitas (6 inch; from 8.2-oz package)
1 bag (1 lb) frozen stir-fry bell peppers and onions, thawed, drained
2 cups shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese blend (8 oz)


1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In medium bowl, mix refried beans, tomato sauce and fajita seasoning mix. Stir in chicken.
2. Spread 1/2 cup of the bean mixture over bottom of baking dish. Arrange 4 tortillas, overlapping if necessary, in baking dish. Top with half of remaining bean mixture, half of the stir-fry vegetables and 1 cup of the cheese. Repeat layers with remaining tortillas, bean mixture, stir-fry vegetables and cheese.
3. Cover baking dish with foil. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Roasted Garlic

Ingredients

1 medium head garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions

Method 1: Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (125 degrees C). Slice 1/4 inch off top of garlic bulb. Place in a small baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until outside is lightly browned and garlic cloves are soft. When cool enough to touch, squeeze each clove to extract softened garlic.
Method 2: Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (125 degrees C). Peel each garlic clove. Place in a single layer in a small baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes, until garlic is soft.

Chocolate Chunk Blondies

Betty Crocker's Chocolate Chunk Blondies

Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 2 hours 10 min
Makes: 24 bars


1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® French or Golden vanilla cake mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 eggs
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks (from 11.5-oz bag)
1/3 cup Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy chocolate frosting (from 1-lb container)


1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large bowl, mix cake mix, butter and eggs with spoon. Stir in chocolate chunks. Spread evenly in pan.
2. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
3. In small microwavable bowl, microwave frosting uncovered on High 20 to 25 seconds or until melted; stir. Drizzle over bars. Let stand about 30 minutes or until frosting is set. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Or for triangles, cut bars into 6 rows by 2 rows, then cut each bar diagonally in half to form triangles. Store covered at room temperature.

Portobello Penne Pasta Casserole

Allrecipes.com's Portobello Penne Pasta Casserole



Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package uncooked penne pasta
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 pound portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/4 cup soy sauce


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the mushrooms, cook 1 minute, and set aside. Melt margarine in the saucepan. Mix in flour, garlic, and basil. Gradually mix in milk until thickened. Stir in 1 cup cheese until melted. Remove saucepan from heat, and mix in cooked pasta, mushrooms, spinach, and soy sauce. Transfer to the prepared baking dish, and top with remaining cheese.
Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and lightly brown.


Nutritional Information: Amount Per Serving Calories: 380 | Total Fat: 21.3g | Cholesterol: 23mg

Sausage-Cheese Balls

With the holidays already here I thought I'd offer a recipe a day (or every other day) to maybe give some of you ideas if it's your turn to bring something to the party!

Betty Crocker's Sausage-Cheese Balls

Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 45 min
Makes: About 8 1/2 dozen cheese balls

3 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1 pound bulk pork sausage
4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (16 ounces)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley or 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
Barbecue sauce or chili sauce, if desired


1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease bottom and sides of jelly roll pan, 15 1/2x10 1/2x2x1 inch.
2. Stir together all ingredients, using hands or spoon. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls. Place in pan.
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brown. Immediately remove from pan. Serve warm with sauce for dipping.

Cheese-Garlic Biscuits

This is one of my favs from Ms. Crocker! I've made them several times and its a really quick recipe. :)


Betty Crocker's Cheese-Garlic Biscuits:

Prep Time: 5 min
Total Time: 15 min
Makes: 9 biscuits

2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder


1. Heat oven to 450ºF.
2. Stir Bisquick mix, milk and cheese until soft dough forms. Drop dough by 9 spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Stir together butter and garlic powder; brush over warm biscuits.

No way dude! I am NOT getting sick...

There's a cold going around at my office and I thought I was clear until this morning when I woke up with a terrible sore throat, nasty cough and sneezing fits!

I NEVER get sick anymore. I was such a sickly child and somehow within the past 5 years I've built defenses against the "germies" of the world by eating healthier and taking care of myself.

I'm praying this is just my body's response to the little bonfire we had last night and its just allergies or something.

Zzzzzzz.....

It's about time!!! :)

Saturday (opening day of rifle season) I killed my first deer of the season....

and the second.....not to mention, my first buck (120 lb 7 point)!

Yes, 2 in one day!



I was totally happy with the doe, which is the first one that I killed. Then 2 hours later, this 7 point walked out and I had a perfect shot.

I even took a picture of myself in the stand after killing the doe. I was super pumped up!


What a fabulous day! No, I didn't hunt there with the old bow. The deer were all 50 yards or farther from my stand so I'm so glad I brought Josh's rifle or I would have gone home empty handed.

There was plenty of activity. I saw four deer.




These were two young does that came up to my dead doe and sniffed and pawed at her. I didn't get pictures as they were doing that because Lucky #7 walked out at the same time!

Anyway, I was the only one to see deer this weekend. We even went hunting Sunday morning and nobody saw anything but a coyote. Maybe it was the first cold front that made them bright eyed and bushy tailed!



We had a deer cleaning party afterwards...it really wasn't a party, just a bunch of friends who came to see my deer. And no, it doesn't go by faster with more hands helping. I had to see the anatomy of each deer and what organs I hit inside. The whole fiasco started at 8:18 with the first kill and ended at 4pm and that was when we were so exhausted we had to stop. We didn't finish picking up everything until after dark.






Here's a little video for your entertainment:


As I say all the time, "yaaaaaaaaay me!"

Patience pays off!

I just wanted to drop in and say that tomorrow will be a week at my new job and I love it!!!!! Definitely the fresh start and happiness that I needed in my life.

God has answered my prayers and the reason I know he did is because I met him half way. We can't just pray for something and sit back and expect it to happen. We have to do at least half of the work and believe in him to do the rest.

I've always had a passion for animals and I've been so excited every morning going to work. I'm not nervous at all, just anxious to learn more!!!

Have a great rest of the week!!! :)

I start my new job today!

I'm so nervous!

But anyone that knows me well knows that I always get so worked up and make myself sick for nothing! That doesn't mean that I'm pessimistic, I just have a hard time with change. Am I getting older or what?!?!

Wish me luck today!

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken, wow!

I made this last night. OMG! It was awesome! Let's face it, a recipe with less than 10 ingredients is so FABULOUS. :)

Betty Crocker's slow cooker salsa chicken:
3-4 boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts (I used breasts!)
seasoning (Tony's or just salt and pepper)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup Thick 'n Chunky salsa
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained, rinsed
1 can (11 ounces) whole kernel sweet corn, drained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh or dried cilantro
sour cream
avocado
brown rice


1. Sprinkle chicken with seasoning. In 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in oil about 4 minutes, turning once, until brown.
2. In 3 1/2- to 5-quart slow cooker, mix salsa, beans and corn. Top with chicken.
3. Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 9 hours or until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (180°F).
4. Sprinkle chicken and vegetable mixture with cilantro, sour cream and avocado and serve over brown rice.

Serves: 3 to 4

Hello Hello....I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello!

What a great Beatles song right?

Well, They were right!!! Instead of saying goodbye to my old job today I'm going to say hello to the new one.

That's right, I found a new job working with one of my greatest passions; animals.

I start next Wednesday and I'm scared, nervous and happy all at the same time.

Wish me luck!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYANE!

3 WORDS TO DESCRIBE MY FRIEND RYANE:

INTELLIGENT, CRAZY, BEAUTIFUL....

I HOPE YOU HAVE A TERRIFIC 25TH BIRTHDAY.

Remember when you were just a pup?



:)