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Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Easter Nest Cookies

Posted in Cookies, Desserts, Easter, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Recipes, tagged , , , , on April 3, 2012| 4 Comments »

Easter nest cookies made with Chinese noodles and some sort of chip are a fun and easy treat. I’ve seen these made with chocolate and butterscotch chips, but never white chocolate, so I decide to give it a whirl.

It whirled really well.

Try these fast-to-make goodies for a kid (and adult) pleasing surprise.

Ingredients

 

Melt white chocolate chips with just a little bit of cream. I nuked mine for about 10 seconds in the microwave, stirred and continued nuking in short intervals until melted.

 

Place coconut in a ziploc bag.

 

Sprinkle in a little food coloring.

 

Seal bag and work around massage bag to disperse coloring throughout the coconut without turning your fingers sickly shade of green.

 

Melt chips. Use melting discs for best results. If you're like me and don't have any when you get the wild idea to make these, chips work fine, just remember you'll have to stir the lumps out.

 

Coat noodles with the melted chocolate then drop into nest-sized lumps onto a piece of waxed paper or parchment (or foil if you happen to be out of the previous options).

 

Fill the center of your nest with coconut then top with jelly beans.

 

Enjoy!

 

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Cowboy Nachos

Posted in Main Dish, Quick and Easy, Recipes, tagged , , , on March 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

A couple of months ago, I noticed cowboy nachos on a menu and the thought intrigued me. Not enough I ordered them, but it piqued my interest and I started looking up recipes online.

The two things I learned from all the recipes I found were:

1. You must include beans

2. You can use cheap cuts of beef

So I decided to make up my own recipe and give this a whirl. Captain Cavedweller was pretty glad I did.

The recipe is easy and really quite tasty. Give it a whirl!

Ingredients

 

Start by cooking your brisket.

 

I cut mine in half, stuffed it in the slow cooker, added a can of chicken broth and some seasonings. Eight hours later, I had perfectly tender meat.

 

Bake fries in a single layer in the oven.

 

Start building your nachos with the fries first.

 

Followed by the chili beans.

 

Dollop on sour cream.

 

Layer on slices of meat and sprinkle (or drench if you are Captain Cavedweller) with barbecue sauce.

 

Top with cheese and olives - then enjoy!

Cowboy Nachos

beef brisket, cooked and sliced thinly

waffle fries

can of chili

shredded cheddar cheese

sour cream

barbecue sauce

sliced olives

Start by cooking the brisket. I put mine in the slow cooker for eight hours with a can of chicken broth and some salt and seasoning. If you have a good barbecue joint in your town, you could also pick up brisket already cooked if you are in a hurry to put this together.

About 20 minutes before you are ready to serve, pop the fries in a single layer in the oven and bake until golden (following package directions).

Ten minutes before the fries will be done, remove the meat from the slow cooker and let rest for about five to seven minutes. Cut into thin slices.

Cook chili according to can directions (I nuke mine since it takes less time and then I can serve in the same bowl!).

You can let people put on their own toppings or you can make a huge platter – your choice. Just layer on fries, chili, sour cream, meat, barbecue sauce, cheese and olives.

That’s it.

Hearty, flavorful and so good!

Enjoy!

She Who Will Be Making These Again

 

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Gnocchi and Cheese

Posted in Easy Recipes, Entertaining Ideas, Fast Recipes, Recipes, Sides, tagged , , , , on March 23, 2012| 1 Comment »

The other day I saw a recipe on Pinterest for Gnocchi Mac N’ Cheese.

I thought it looked divine. Captain Cavedweller turned up his nose at it. He doesn’t like Mac N’ Cheese.

So of course I decided to make it anyway. I tweaked the recipe , which originated from Cuisine at Home, and came up with a dish that both of us really liked. As in we ate way to much of it. As in couldn’t stop taking one more bite. As in really good.

It was really simple to make and didn’t take long either, always a plus in my book.

Enjoy!

Ingredients for Gnocchi. You can use whatever assortment of cheese you like - this is what I had on hand.

 

Start your sauce by melting butter in a heavy saucepan, then adding flour. Stir until it gets thick and bubbly. Add in milk and continue stirring until it starts to thicken. Then add in cheese.

 

Cook your Gnocchi according to package directions, drain, and place into a shallow baking dish.

 

Top Gnocchi with sauce.

 

Sprinkle Gnocchi with cheese and bake at 375 until golden brown and Gnocchi puffs up - about 20 minutes.

 

Restrain yourself and let Gnocchi rest for a few minutes before serving.

Gnocchi and Cheese

1 pound gnocchi

2 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. flour

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup grated Myzithra Cheese

1/4 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese

salt

1/3 cup shredded Romano or Parmesan Cheese

Parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 375.

Cook gnocchi according to package directions. Drain and place gnocchi in a single layer on a shallow baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and stir until it thickens and bubbles. Continue to whisk, adding in milk and cook until it begins to thicken. Add in cheese and salt to taste. Pour sauce over gnocchi and sprinkled with Romano cheese over top. Bake about 20 minutes or until gnocchi puff up and cheese turns a delicious golden brown. Let rest a few minutes before serving.

*Note – you can use any assortment of cheeses like Fontina, Parmesan, Feta – whatever floats your boat.

She Who Liked This Way Too Much

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Chocolate Raspberry Ritzy Pie

Posted in Desserts, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Pie, Recipes, tagged , , , , on March 16, 2012| 5 Comments »

The other day I ran across a jar of Chocolate-Raspberry Sauce that had been languishing in my cupboard for way too long.

Deciding something must be done with it, I came up with the following recipe.

Warning: it is rich, and chocolate-y and pretty tasty, if I do say so myself.

Ingredients

Chocolate covered Ritz crackers - hello yumminess!

Smash them into tiny little pieces. I used a Ziploc bag and a the flat side of a measure cup as my preferred method of whacking them to bits.

 

Mix Mousse according to package directions. Try not to lick the beaters.

 

Sprinkle crushed Ritz crackers on the bottom of a pie pan.

 

Spread half of the Mousse onto the cracker crust.

 

Mix remaining Mousse with 1 1/2 cups of whipped cream of whipped topping. If you use fresh whipped cream, make sure it is stiff. Spread over top of Mousse in pan.

 

Pour Chocolate-Raspberry Sauce over the top of the pie. I nuked mine for just a few seconds so it would actually pour.

 

By the time the sauce was on, it was this beautiful swirl of chocolatey goodness.

 

Top with berries then line crackers around edge of pan.

 

Ta Da!

Chocolate Raspberry Ritzy Pie

1 box Fudge Covered Ritz Crackers

1 package Mousse Mix

1 1/2 cups whipping cream or whipped topping

1 jar chocolate-raspberry sauce

Raspberries

Smash 12 of the crackers then line bottom of pie pan with crumbs.

Make Mousse mix according to package directions. Pour half into pie pan. Mix remaining half with whipped cream. Layer on top of Mousse mix in pan.

Top with chocolate-raspberry sauce. (If you can’t find chocolate raspberry sauce, mix raspberry syrup with chocolate sauce. You’ll need about 1 cup).

Garnish with raspberries and remaining crackers.

Refrigerate for at least two hours or until Mousse is completely set .

Serve and enjoy!

She Who Loves Chocolate and Raspberries

 

 

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