Cheesy Biscuit Dogs

For lunch the other day, I tried this fun little twist on the usual pigs-in-a-blanket and it turned out great! The kids liked it too!Cheesy Biscuit Dogs

Ingredients:
2 cups Bisquick
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
6 hot dogs

(These directions are adapted from the Bisquick box for making cheese biscuits.)
Mix the Bisquick, milk, and cheese for about 10 strokes until the ingredients are all blended together, then knead on the countertop dusted with more Bisquick until the dough is a good consistency, just don't over knead or the dough will become tough. Roll it out to be about 1/2 inch thick and as square as possible. Cut the dough in six strips (mine were about 1 1/2 inches wide). Roll the strips around the hot dog and place on a greased baking sheet (I baked mine on a Silpat). Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Banana Bread

I made some more banana bread this week, and I just love this recipe, it's so moist and yummy, and a great way to use those bananas that seem to get brown before the kids eat them up. Did you know you can store bananas in the freezer? Just put the ones that are about brown in a Ziploc bag and keep it in the freezer until you have enough to make banana bread. It will be black, but will taste just fine. Just let it thaw an hour or so to make it easier to peel. Also, those stick blenders work fabulously well to mash bananas (much better than using a fork!). But you probably knew that already. :)

Moist Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 3 medium bananas (mashed)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar

Grease pan. Beat eggs, butter, milk, sugar, and lemon juice. Mix until smooth. Add bananas and mix. Add dry ingredients and mix until flour is moist. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes if in one pan, or 30 minutes if using smaller loaves.

Crock pot meatloaf

Have you ever made meatloaf in the crock pot before? I hadn't until this week, but now I'm wishing I would have started doing it a long time ago, it was wonderful! Here's what I did:

Mix meat loaf ingredients together:

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1/2 oat meal
• 1 egg
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 Tablespoon powdered parmesean cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Good squirt ketchup

Coat crock pot with nonstick cooking spray. Pour a layer of tater tots on the bottom of the crock pot, then spread the meat loaf on top of the tater tots, spread flat on top. Coat top of meat loaf with ketchup or BBQ sauce. Cook on high heat for 3-4 hours.

Craisin Spinach Salad

Looking for a wonderfully refreshing, easy to make (and healthy!) salad for your summer picnic? This one is a sure winner, I hope you love it as much as we do! (Picture is without the almonds, sorry!)Craisin Spinach Salad

Ingredients:

• Package of spinach
• 1 to 2 apples cut in bite sized pieces
• Strawberries
• Fresh oranges slices or can of mandarin oranges
• Caramelized slivered almonds
• Handful of dry craisins

Dressing:

• Zest of 1 to 2 lemons (about 2 Tablespoons)
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed

Toss all the salad ingredients together. Set aside. Mix the dressing ingredients together in a separate bowl. Pour evenly over salad. Top with caramelized almonds.

Caramelized Almonds:
Cook and stir half cup sugar and 6 oz package of slivered almonds in medium to medium high heat until sugar dissolves and coats almonds, stirring constantly. Spread onto waxed paper or Silpat sheet until cool.

Cap'n Crunch Chicken & Sauce

Ok folks, here it is! The famous Cap'n Crunch chicken is here! I made this again for recipe group which forced me to type it up making it a lot easier to finally get it on my blog! This is another fabulous recipe from 52 weeks of Proven Recipes for Picky Eaters. LOVE that book.

Cap'n Crunch Chicken

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Cap'n Crunch cereal
• 1 cup Cornflakes cereal
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces (partially frozen chicken is easier to cut up)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put the cereals in a Ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin or a cup. Combine crushed cereals with other dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In another medium mixing bowl, beat the egg with a fork and stir in the milk. Dredge the chicken in the milk and egg mixture. With a slotted spoon, remove the chicken from the egg mixture, then toss in the dry mixture until the chicken is evenly coated. Place the chicken pieces on a cookie sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray and bank for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Serve with Tangy Mustard Sauce or your favorite BBQ sauce.

Tangy Mustard Sauce

2 Tablespoons Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon creamy style horseradish sauce (or more if you like it hot)
1 teaspoon honey

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Chill until ready to serve. If you are a "saucy" person, double or triple the recipe - it's that good! You can also serve it on grilled chicken or atop a green salad.

Pasta with Sausage and Peppers

My friend found this recipe in the latest Kraft Foods magazine and told me how yummy it was, so I pulled out my magazine and made it too. Now, my husband enjoys my cooking and appreciates a home-cooked meal as much as the next guy, but he doesn't always comment much about the food unless it's really fantastic. Let's just say, he couldn't stop raving about this meal all during dinner! It is super easy to make, just a few ingredients, and is a sure hit! The best part? Even my 4-year-old and 1-year-old loved it! (sorry there's not photo, the food was gone before I could get any pictures taken!)

Pasta with Sausage and Peppers

Ingredients:

3 cups rigatoni pasta, uncooked

1 lb. Italian sausage, sliced

1 each: red, green and yellow pepper, coarsely chopped

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained

1-1/2 cups KRAFT Shredded Italian* Mozzarella-Parmesan Cheese Blend

1/4 cup KRAFT Shredded Parmesan Cheese

COOK pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, cook sausage in large skillet on medium heat 10 min. Stir in peppers; cook 7 min. or until sausage is cooked through and peppers are crisp-tender. Stir in tomatoes; cook 2 min. or until heated through.

DRAIN pasta. Add to sausage mixture with shredded cheese; mix well.

TOP with Parmesan.

**My notes. I didn't have any diced tomatoes, so I used 2 cans of tomato sauce and just let the spice from the sausage flavor the dish. I went to the store this week and got some diced tomatoes so when I make it again at the end of the week, I can see how it tastes with the other kinds of tomatoes. My husband really liked the sauciness of the tomato sauce though, so I might try adding a small can of that in addition to the diced tomatoes just to give it a little more sass. And for the sausage, I got the sausage that looks like Bratwurst, then cooked it whole about half way before cutting it up into slices, then continued along with the rest of the directions.

I'd love to hear what your family thinks when you make this for them!

French Toast Souffle

I found this tasty little gem a few weeks ago and I made it on Memorial Day and was BLOWN AWAY by how delicious it was! The recipe makes a huge batch (12 eggs?!?) so I made a half batch and it still made quite a bit, but the leftovers were still fabulous. I just halved the recipe and baked it in an 8 x 8 pan. I just got a loaf of cinnamon bread from Walmart, and and the loaf must have been smaller because it nearly filled the pan. I assembled everything the night before to let the bread soak, then cooked it in the morning and it worked great! This would be a fun recipe for Christmas morning or a fancy brunch!

French Toast Souffle

8 oz cream cheese softened
1 cube butter
1 cup maple syrup

Microwave above for 30 seconds and beat until smooth

1 1oaf of cinnamon bread (from your local bakery)

Break into 1 ½ inch pieces and put in a 9 by 11 inch baking pan.
Pour cream cheese mixture over the top of the bread.

12 eggs
2 cups half/half, milk, or cream (or any combination of those to equal 2 cups)
1 tsp vanilla (more if you like)

Beat until frothy, pour over cinnamon bread in pan.

Bake at 350 for 60 minutes.
Dust with powder sugar, fruit, or syrup. Serve hot.

Can be assembled the night before, then cooked in the morning.