Baked Pigs in a Blanket

I have a confession. Hotdogs are my go-to meal with the kids. They are easy, ready quickly, and cheap. Nutritious? eh... probably not so much.

Still, even hotdogs need spruced up every once in a while. This recipe takes about 25 minutes, start to finish, and the end result is yummy enough for even the adults to enjoy.

Baked Pigs In A Blanket

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted cold butter cut into small pieces
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
3/4 cup buttermilk
8 long hot dogs

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degree F and grease a large baking sheet.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a bowl.
3. Add the butter and and rub it in until the dough becomes crumbly.
4. Stir the cheese in the dough and make sure it is evenly distributed.
5. Create a crater in the dough and add the buttermilk. Using a wooden spoon, stir well and let it stay for around 3 minutes.
6. Turn the dough on floured surface.
7. Pat the dough in a rectangle that is about 15 inches by 7 inches.
8. Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough into 8 rectangles.
9. Roll the rectangles around the hotdogs and seal edges. Place seam-side down on baking sheet.
10. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Crockpot Breakfast Casserole

For years, I have looked for a breakfast that I could put in the crock pot the night before. It had to be something the kids would eat but not too loaded with sugar. And, I didn't want bread pudding. After many failed attempts, I found this one. It's simple and tasty.

Breakfast Casserole

12 eggs, beaten
14 slices bread
2 1/4 cups milk
2 1/2 cups Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 pound sausage, cooked and drained
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard

1. Grease the sides of the crock pot with butter.
2. Spread mustard on one side of the bread and cut bread into fourths.
3. Make layers in the crock pot of bread, followed by sausage, followed by cheese, ending with a cheese layer.
4. Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper together. Pour over crock pot mixture.
5. Cover and cook on LOW heat setting for 8 to 12 hours.

Tortilla Roll-Ups

Easy Roll-Ups

The girls wanted roll-ups for supper tonight, so I made my usual pickle roll-ups. Knowing Natalie doesn’t like things too spicy, I made a second kind of roll-up with turkey meat. While I love the pickle ones, the turkey roll-ups were delicious!

Corned beef lunchmeat
Deli turkey, extra thin
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup miracle whip
2 tablespoons Ranch dip mix
shredded cheddar cheese
7 tortilla wraps

1. Mix together the cream cheese, miracle whip, and ranch dressing.
2. Spread cream cheese mix over tortillas.
3. For pickle roll-ups, place corned beef on cream cheese mix and spread pickle relish on corned beef.
4. For turkey roll-ups, place turkey on cream cheese mix and sprinkle shredded cheese on turkey.
5. Roll tortillas, jelly-roll style.
6. Place in refrigerator for at least one hour.
7. After an hour, cut tortilla roll-ups into 1-inch pieces. Serve cold.

Celebrating with food

I love the Fourth of July! Not only do you get to make things explode and spend as much time outside as possible, but you get the celebrate with friends, family, and food!

Our holiday menu includes Stuffed Hamburgers, red and blue potato chips, lots of cherry tomatoes, and frozen bananas with chocolate shell over them.

How about you?

Cheese-Stuffed Zucchini Squash

It's that time of year, when zucchini is almost as plentiful as mosquitoes... almost. I try to find as many creative uses for zucchini as possible, for ourselves and for those who are buying the produce at our farmers markets. This one was DEEE-licious!

Stuffed Zucchini Squash

4 large-ish zucchini, about 3 inches in diameter
1 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon parsley
1/2-3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 onion, diced
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sour cream
3 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup mozerella cheese

1. Boil zucchini, whole, for 10 minutes. Remove from water and let cool to the touch.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Cut zucchini lengthwise and scoop out all the pulp. Save the pulp for later! Place zucchini in a casserole dish. (I needed to use two because I had such large zucchini halves.)
4. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add onions and carrot and cook until onions are translucent. 
5. Meanwhile, mush the zucchini pulp with a potato masher or fork.
6. Stir the zucchini pulp into the skillet with the onions and carrots. Add the bread crumbs, sour cream, cream cheese, 1/2 cup cheese, parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir over low heat until cheeses are melted. 
7. Spoon the cheese-zucchini stuffing into the zucchini halves.
8. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
9. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup mozerella cheese on top of the zucchini. Broil for 3-4 minutes, until cheese is melted and stuffing starts to golden.

Summer Garden Casserole

We picked a Napa cabbage this week and, it was so huge, I stretched it out into three meals. The first meal, we made a Napa cabbage salad. The second, we had cole slaw. And the third, I intended to make cabbage rolls. But, the leaves remaining weren't big enough to roll around the meat. So, I put together this summer garden casserole from a few different recipes.

Summer Garden Casserole
2-3 cups of cabbage leaves
4-5 carrots, cut matchstick-style
4-5 small onions, diced
2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 1/2 cup cooked steamed rice
10-12 small new potatoes, cut in half
1 pound ground beef, thawed
1-2 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Sweet and Sour Tomato Sauce
1 can pureed tomatoes
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar

1. Sauted diced onion in olive oil until translucent. Set aside to cool.
2. Mix together ground beef, onion, minced garlic, rice, salt, and pepper.
3. Place cabbage leaves in a microwave-safe bowl with 3-4 tablespoons of water.
4. Microwave cabbage leaves in covered dish for two minutes.
5. Make sauce by combining tomatoes, garlic powder, white vinegar and sugar in a saucepan. Heat to a simmer.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. In a dutch pan, place carrot matchsticks.
   
8. Layer steamed cabbage leaves on top of carrots.
9. Place new potatoes on top of cabbage leaves.
10. Mix meat mixture with 1/4 cup (or so) of tomato sauce. Mix well and form into 1-inch balls. Place meat balls on top of cabbage leaves.
11. Pour remaining sauce over meat balls.
12. Cover the casserole and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
13. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese for the last 5 minutes, if desired. And we desire it, because we are a cheese kind of family.

Weekly menu, June 13-19

Sorry I haven't been posting many recipes. We've been on rerun mode, as far as cooking. Most of what I've made lately are things I've already posted or are old standbys. But, I do still have our menu to share, and this week has some new items on it. I'm just hoping Sunday night is a bit cooler, so I won't mind heating up the oven for baked potatoes and yummy chicken! The good news is that, despite our go-go-going and K&M home from school, our grocery bill has dropped considerably. That is due in large part to our garden veggies.

Sunday, June13
Chef salad
Twice baked potatoes, parmesean chicken

Monday, June14
Dipping lunch
Tacos

Tuesday, June 15
Taco salad
Vegetable stir-fry

Wednesday, June 16
Hot dogs, Mac-N-Cheese salad
Picnic supper

Thursday, June 17
Sandwiches
Fish sticks, mac-n-cheese

Friday, June 18
Cheesy tacos
Tater tot casserole

Saturday, June 19
Leftovers
Stuffed pasta shells