M&M Oatmeal Bars

I recently found another great foodie blog, Southern Plate. She is the real deal. Her site is huge, with lots of recipes- she even has her own cookbook out!! I really like her recipes, and her southern charm, of course!! I have to love another southern gal! So, I recently subscribed to her blog and when I got this recipe, I knew I'd be making these soon.
They were so easy, I made them in the morning, while I was getting myself and the kiddos ready for school. Usually, I barely have extra time to brush my own teeth in the morning, but these were a snap!!
M&M Oatmeal Bars
1 stick butter, melted
I cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup M&Ms
2 cups baking mix (she recommends Pioneer, I only had Bisquik)
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine everything but the candies in a bowl. Mix until well blended.
Add in most of the candies, then press down in greased 8x8 pan.
(I didn't have 1/2 cup candies, I had about 1/4 cup, so I saved all mine for the top.)
Press the rest of the candies on top of the batter.
Bake for 20 minutes (mine needed 23) at 350.
The edges will get brown, mine took 23 minutes.
Let cool for 5-10 minutes, then cut into squares.
These are yummy, and not too sweet. I like the oatmeal flavor, they actually remind me of a shortbread. They did need more M&Ms, but next time I will make sure I have 1/2 cup.

King Ranch Chicken

This is one of those things I used to not like as a kid, but now that I am older, it's so yummy!! Also, I saute my onions and pepper to death, so that they are super soft and you never get a crunchy bite of onion or pepper. I love the taste that onions add, I just don't want to bite into one.
This recipe is for a 13x9 size pan. I divide it into two smaller pans, cook one, and freeze the other for when we need a meal.

King Ranch Chicken
2 cups chicken, cooked and cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 can Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chiles)
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
12 tortillas, torn

Saute onion and green pepper in butter until soft. Let cool slightly.
Mix soups, Rotel, chicken and onion mixture in a bowl.

In a 13x9 pan (or 2 smaller pans, if dividing), spread a layer of tortillas
Top with the chicken mixture
Top with cheese
Repeat with tortillas, chicken mixture and cheese.
Bake for 20-30 minutes in a 325 degree oven.

Ham and Cheese Paninis

There is something about Sunday nights- I just don't want to cook. I'm not sure why, but I never have any inspiration or desire on Sunday nights. Enter panini press. Now, I can make a decent dinner, without a lot of exertion. It's not just a sandwich, it's a panini. I don't feel like I am selling my family short, but I also don't have to put a whole lot of work in. :) I am looking forward to playing around with panini ideas this year.
We had ham and cheese paninis and salad with homemade Thousand Island dressing.

I spread Dijon mustard on both sides of the panini bread

I used Provolone cheese. My mom made these for me a while back and used fontina. They were way better with fontina. I'm saving my fontina cheese for another recipe this month.
Ham
I butter the bread on both sides. You can do olive oil, too. Cook for a few minutes.

Sprinkles Chocolate Cupcakes

There is a bakery in Beverly Hills called Sprinkles Cupcakes. They make cupcakes, and that is it. They have become very popular, and have since started opening bakeries around the country. I have never been to one, I just heard about the famous bakery from cooking blogs and I read and cooking shows I watch. Anyway, moving along to why all this is relevant to you...
I got a really cool gift for Christmas. My mom got me a terra cotta pot and filled it with kitchen and cooking stuff. It was the funnest gift to get and go through!! Gourmet cooking mixes, fancy utensils, gift cards to the nice grocery stores (that I never let myself go to anymore :( It was great!!! Well, in the basket was Sprinkles Cupcake mix, actual Sprinkles Cupcakes mix. They sell it at Williams-Sonoma.
I got two mixes- dark chocolate and red velvet. I know!!! I was very excited, especially about the Red Velvet. This is what comes in the container. A package of cupcake mix, instructions for make the cupcakes AND for instructions for making the icing that they make with that cupcake at their bakery. It also comes with their signature candy that they put on all their cupcakes.
So cute!!!
I made the chocolate cupcakes a few days ago. Mmmm
All you need is the mix, butter, milk and ingredients for frosting.

Line your 12 cup muffin tin with liners.

Cream the butterAdd in the mixPour in the milk
Give your son a beater because he is NUTS about batterBake for 20-22 minutes at 350
I frosted them with my vanilla icing. I knew it would be too rich for me with the chocolate frosting they give you a recipe for on the sheet.

YUM!! The chocolate cupcakes are rich, moist and decadent. I can't eat more than one. One for breakfast, one after lunch, well, you get the idea.
What a great gift idea for a baker! The mixes are $14, which is way more than you would spend at the grocery store, but also the cupcakes are so much better than what you would get at the frocery store.

Poor Man's Steak

I got this from one of the cooking blogs I look at frequently (I want to say it was Sunday Baker, but I'm not 100% sure) and I tried it because I am always looking for new ground beef recipes/ideas. We have now had it twice, and it is pretty good.

Poor Man's Steak
1 lb ground beef
1 cup crushed Saltine crackers
1 cup water
1 tsp. salt
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk

***This meal takes two days. Or an early morning start. You prepare the meat, and then it needs to refrigerate overnight or all day- several hours.

Mix the beef, water, salt and saltines and form into a loaf. Refrigerate overnight
Slice the loaf.
Dredge in flour.
Heat 2 Tbsp. butter in a skillet. Brown the beef slices on both sides.
Make the sauce. Mix the soup and milk and stir well.
Place the beef in a baking dish, pour the sauce over the meat.
Bake for 35-45 minutes at 350.

Last time, instead of forming into a loaf shape, I formed it into a square shape and then divided it into 4 smaller squares to brown and bake. I liked that much better. This time the meat fell apart on me. I also think it is too much sauce. I don't know what you do with a half a can of cream of mushroom soup, but personally, it's too much sauce for me. I still like this recipe, mainly because it's not meatloaf or hamburgers, and will make it again- eventually.

Tip for Today

Since I go to the grocery store twice a month, I buy alot of meat at one time and freeze it until we need it. It used to drive me crazy, because I always got ice on my meat, and I would swear it tasted different. I finally found a good way to freeze the meat, no ice and it still tastes the same. This is a simple tip, but it saved me from icy, yucky meat so I think it is worth mentioning.

This is the meat I bought today for the rest of January meals.

I cut the beef into 3 parts (it is a 3 lb. package)

Put one section, press it down and wrap in plastic wrap

Put all 3 sections in ziploc bag, and into the freezer

I separated the chicken into 2 sections, wrapped them, and put them in a freezer bag, too

**I put all the meals for the rest of the month on the sidebar over there. If I have already done a post on them, you can click and see it. As I cook the other things, I will post them. I think I like this better than the weekly menu posts. Those were just too long. Tonight is Poor Man's Steak and broccoli.

Gruyere Puff Pastry Muffins

I made these little lovelies to go with the Pasta Fagioli soup (see post below). I didn't just want to have bread (although it would be great, too) and I had puff pastry. So, I used Allrecipes and their Ingredient search tool. I put in puff pastry, and I found this recipe.


Gruyere Puff Pastry Muffins
1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp. flour
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1 pinch nutmeg
2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese (you could also use Swiss)

*I halved this, I only had one sheet of puff pastry left

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out the puff pastry to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 3 inch squares. Press the squares into 12 cup muffin tin
Make filling. Mix egg, milk, flour, pepper and nutmeg. Stir in cheese.
Fill cups evenly with filling.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

I liked these very much as did the fam. I wanted more filling in it, though. They totally deflated after that picture above, and it didn't seem like their was enough filling. I made the kids grilled cheese sandwiches to go with the soup, so they would keep their paws off our puff pastries. Of course, they wanted to try one, and they liked them, too.

Pasta Fagioli Soup

This soup is a copycat version of Olive Garden's Pasta Fagioli soup. I hope you have had the pleasure of trying this soup, because it is delightful. Hearty, tasty, and also healthy! When I found this recipe, and saw that it didn't have any crazy, expensive ingredients- I knew I needed to try it. I am not a big soup lover, but this is one of my favorites (this, broccoli cheese soup from Black Eyed Pea and baked potato soup). I was so excited this turned out well. It tasted great and very similar to the soup at Olive Garden. I hope you enjoy this on a cold, drizzly day like we did.

Pasta Fagioli soup
*this makes a TON. I halved it- it fed us, and filled 4 tupperware bowls*
3 tsp. oil
2 lbs. ground beef (I used 1 lb.)
14 ounces carrots, slivered (I did 2 carrots)
12 ounces onions, chopped (I used one large onion)
14 ounces celery, diced (I used 5 or 6 ribs)
48 ounces diced canned tomatoes (I used one large can)
2 cups red kidney beans (I do not care for red kidney beans, so I used one can pinto)
2 cups white kidney beans (I used one can northern beans)
88 ounces beef stock (I used up all the beef stock I had in the house, about 40 ounces. It wasn't enough, it was more stew-like than soup-like.)
3 tsp. oregano
2 1/2 tsp. pepper
5 Tbsp. parsley, chopped (didn't have any)
1 1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
48 ounces spaghetti sauce (didn't have much, used the rest of my homemade sauce, maybe 12 ounces?)
8 ounces dry pasta shell macaroni (I used this much pasta, even though I halved evreything else, I like my soups with lots of pasta)

Brown the hamburger meat in large stock pot

Chopped onions, slivered carrots and diced celeryAdd onions, carrots, celery and tomatoes to meat and simmer for about 10 minutesDrain and rinse beans. Add to pot.Add beef stock, oregano, pepper, Tabasco, spaghetti sauce and noodles.These are the small noodles I used.
Simmer for about 45 minutes.
Enjoy!
I served this with some gruyere puff pastry muffins that I will post separately.
This post is long enough...