Reuben Crescent Bake

While the name has "Reuben" in it, this does have a different taste, but if you like Reubens, you will probably enjoy this too!

 INGREDIENTS:
2 8oz tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
16 oz sliced Swiss Cheese
14 oz thin sliced Pastrami
14 oz can Sauerkraut, drained
2/3 cup Thousand Island dressing
1 egg white
2 teaspoons celery seeds

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Mix together the sauerkraut and dressing.

Roll out one tube of crescent rolls into pan, pressing seams together. Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown.

Layer half of the cheese onto cooked crescent rolls, followed by all of the pastrami, sauerkraut mix, and the rest of the cheese. Top with the 2nd roll of crescent rolls. Brush with egg white and sprinkle celery seeds evenly over top.

Bake for 12-16 minutes until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Parmesan Meatloaf Muffins

One of my favorite meatloaf recipes (okay, okay, only 1 of 2 I eat haha - the other is Taco Meatloaf!).

Italian flavor meatloaf, topped with tomato sauce and cheese. Yum!

This recipe makes 12 regular sized muffins and 12 mini muffins (much easier for the kids), or you could do approximately 16 regular sized.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground turkey

1 lb ground beef

2 eggs

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup pasta sauce (I usually use tomato sauce with some Italian seasonings mixed in)

1/2 cup shredded Italian cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Grease muffin tins with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the meat, eggs, breadcrumbs, seasonings, and Parmesan cheese.

Fill muffin tins almost full of the meat mixture, packing it down.

Spread a spoonful of sauce over the top, followed by the shredded cheese.

Bake at 350F for about 25 minutes, making sure meat is cooked through.

Let stand for 5 minutes and Enjoy!

adapted from HERE

Pecan Tassies

I had never even heard of these until I met Matt. They are his favorite Christmas sweet, so I had to learn how to make them. Turns out, it isn't that hard haha. It definitely is time consuming, but worth it!

The wrappers are not necessary, but make clean up about a million times easier. It also makes making them go quicker, because you don't have to clean the pan between batches. I recommend having at least a couple mini muffin tins so you can get a batch ready to go while another is baking. This recipe makes roughly 90, depending on how thick you make the crust (they freeze well too!).

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups butter or margarine, softened, plus 3 Tablespoons melted

12 ounces cream cheese, softened

4 cups flour

3 eggs

2.5 cups brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.5 cups chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, mix 2 cups butter and the cream cheese. Beat in 1 cup of flour at a time to form the dough.

In another bowl, combine eggs, brown sugar, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Stir in pecans. 

Roll dough into small balls and press into mini muffin pans, spreading the dough up the sides.

Fill the crusts with the pecan mixture.

 Bake around 18 minutes, until crust is lightly browned and filling has puffed up.

Let cool for a few minutes and remove carefully from pan. Enjoy!  

Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

These are some of the best sugar cookies I have had! They are soft, moist, and delicious! The frosting is awesome, too. It gets hard enough to stack the cookies (some frosting sticks to the bottom but not very much...and it might not if a person waited a little longer to stack them), but stays soft too, if that makes any sense. 

INGREDIENTS:

For the cookies:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1.5 cups white sugar

2 eggs

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2.5 cups white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup shortening (I used butter flavor)

2 Tablespoons milk plus 1.5 teaspoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

food coloring, if desired

DIRECTIONS:

For the cookies:

In large bowl, cream sugar and butter together until smooth.

Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Refrigerate dough for at least one hour for easier handling.

Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Use a cookie cutter, and place cut out shapes onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake @400F for about 6 minutes, until bottom edges are just beginning to brown (the tops will still look white). Remove from oven and off of baking sheet immediately. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

In large bowl, cream together the powdered sugar and shortening.

Slowly mix in milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until stiff and smooth.

Add food coloring if desired.

I found this recipe here and made a few adjustments, including cutting down the servings.  I made 25 good-sized cookies with this. If you need more, its easily doubled. The frosting recipe (from here) makes enough for all of the cookies plus a couple more.

Crockpot Breakfast Casserole

I hate making breakfast in the mornings. I am tired and would rather just sit on the couch. This is the perfect solution. Throw it all together the night before, wake up and eat! The original recipe (found HERE) called for 12 eggs, but I knew we would have way too many leftovers so I cut down on them, plus I made a few other small changes based on what I did or didn't have. I haven't tried it the original way, but this way is definitely a keeper!

INGREDIENTS:
32 oz bag frozen hash browns
10 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 Tablespoon dried chopped onion
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3/4 cup shredded cheddar
3/4 cup shredded monterey jack
7 eggs
1 cup milk
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried dill
salt and pepper (I didn't measure these, just used what I thought looked good)

DIRECTIONS:
Spray crockpot evenly with cooking spray. 
Pour half of the hashbrowns into crock pot, followed by half of the bacon, onion, bell pepper, and cheese. Repeat layers.
Mix eggs, milk, garlic, dill, salt and pepper in large bowl. Pour evenly over top of ingredients in crock pot.
Cook on low for about 8 hours (thermometer placed in center should reach 160F when done).

NOTES:
I have also made this using 2 bags of real bacon bits (they come in a zip lock 3 oz bag) instead of taking the time to actually cook up some bacon. Much easier and tastes just as delicious!

Mini Corn Dog Muffins

Delicious and perfect for little hands! This recipe makes about 36 muffins. My first batch turned out awesome and stayed together perfect, but of course I didn't snap a picture (Matt was too hungry haha). The 2nd batch tasted just as yummy but fell apart more, so the picture doesn't look so great. Oh well!

INGREDIENTS:
2 boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
4 hot dogs, cut into bite sized pieces (I used all beef dogs, but any will obviously work)

DIRECTIONS:
Mix the muffin mix, eggs, and milk. Add cheese and hot dogs. Mix well.
Pour into greased mini muffin tins. 
Bake @ 350F for 8-10 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Adapted from HERE

Spiral Pasta Pizza Bake

This is easy to make despite the long list of ingredients.  It makes a large amount (9-12 servings probably), so it would be good for a pot luck, or any group of hungry people! :)

INGREDIENTS
12 oz Tri color Rotini
2 lbs ground beef
1 large onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 8oz cans tomato sauce
1 6oz can tomato paste with pesto
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup Parmesan (I used half shredded, half grated)
3 cups Mozzarella
Pepperoni slices (I had a 6oz package, I used roughly half)

DIRECTIONS:
Cook pasta according to package directions.
In large pot, cook the beef, onion, salt, and pepper til no pink. Drain. Stir in tomato sauce and paste, garlic salt, and Italian seasoning. Mix well.
In medium bowl, eggs, milk, and Parmesan cheese. Drain pasta. Pour egg mixture over pasta and stir. Transfer to a greased 9x13 pan. Pour beef mixture over pasta. Top with Mozzarella and pepperoni. 
Cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes @ 350F. Uncover and bake additional 20-25 minutes, til cheese is golden brown.

Chicken Tamale Pie

One of Matt's favorite meals! He took leftovers in to work and it is now a favorite among co-workers. I made 2 just for him to take in the other night. He managed to get 2 pieces of them, and the rest was gone!

**Updated to include green chilies. Makes it even tastier!**

INGREDIENTS:
8.5 oz packet of corn bread mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (plus a little extra for topping)
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup chopped green onions (green and white parts)
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 tsp chili powder
small can of chopped green chilies

DIRECTIONS:
In mixing bowl, combine muffin mix, egg and milk. Add cheese. Spread into bottom and up sides of a greased 9 inch pie plate.
In saucepan, combine remaining ingredients. Heat through. Pour into crust. Sprinkle with cheese.
Bake @ 400F for 20-25 minutes or til crust is golden and filling is hot.

NOTES:

I boil the chicken, and I add salt, pepper, and a dash of chili powder to the water for more flavor. I have also used canned chicken. Matt said he couldn't tell a difference (I could though. Still good, but not my favorite).