Song of the Day

Lucky Now - Ryan Adams

Double Cheese Sandwiches

I served these to go with the white chicken chili tonight. They were really good! And again, really easy. Great little side item for soup. This also serves 4.

What you need:
1 can (8oz) Crescent rolls
4 slices cheddar cheese
4 slices mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted (I just used spreadable country crock and didn't melt mine)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

What you need to do:
Separate dough into 4 long rectangles and press perforations to seal. Place cheeses on one side of each rectangle. Fold dough over cheeses; press edges with fork to seal. Place on cookie sheet. Brush tops with melted butter (I just spread country crock over the top with a knife). Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes.

I then cut them in half diagonally bc they looked cuter that way. I had a problem with cheese spilling out all over the cookie sheet. I must not have sealed the edges good enough. They still looked and tasted fine, but lost a lot of cheese.

White Chicken Chili

This is a recipe from Sara that I tried tonight for the first time when having the in laws over. It was awesome and so easy!! The only problem was there were no leftovers! Serves 4.

What you need:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I actually used one pound of ground chicken instead)
1 package McCormick White Chicken Chili Seasoning Mix
1 cup water
1 can (15oz) white beans, undrained
1 can (8 3/4 oz) corn, drained
Assorted toppings (Shredded cheese and sour cream)

What you need to do:
Heat oil in large skillet on medium high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 3-5 minutes or until no longer pink. Stir in seasoning mix, water, beans, and corn. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer on low ten minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Serve with desired toppings.

Snickers Surprise Cookies

These little gems will be perfect for the holidays, just wait until you try them. YUM!! I also made these with mini twix's in them and I actually think I like those better? This recipe tells you how to make the cookies from scratch but I actually just bought a tube of peanut butter cookies and used that as the dough instead of making my own. Thanks for the pic Lindsay!

What you need:
1 tube of peanut butter cookie dough
sugar
24 Snickers miniature candy bars
OR
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
24 Snickers miniature candy bars
extra sugar to roll cookies in

What you need to do:
Preheat oven to 300°F. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, mix together butter, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and combine thoroughly. Then mix in flour mixture. Cover and chill dough 2-3 hours. To form cookie, scoop a tablespoon of chilled dough and flatten. Place a miniature Snickers in the center and form the dough into a ball around the Snickers. Roll in sugar. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-20 minutes. (I probably baked mine for 16 minutes??) Cool cookies on a rack. Optional: Decorate cookies with powdered sugar or drizzled melted chocolate or both.

Brook's Ribs

This is my brother in law's rib recipe and everyone just raves over them. This picture is from a time when tommy made them, the white stripes are bones, not fat. These just fall off the bone and are so tender.

What you need:
1 rack of pork (baby) back ribs
1 bottle of malt vinegar
1 bottle of dale's seasoning marinade (you can get low sodium but its not as good)
Aluminum Foil (You use a lot)

What you need to do:
Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Cut ribs into quarters. Cut piece of tin foil that can wrap around quarter. Pour vinegar and dale's onto foil into a tiny pool. Gently rub the meat side of the ribs onto the pool. Place bone side on top of the pool. Wrap ribs with tin foil. Double wrap with a second piece of foil to contain heat and juice spillage; foil can tear easily. Add more dale's or vinegar before closing up wrappings if desired; brown sugar also works well on top if desired. Place on top of cookie sheets with flanges due to possible juice spillage. (FYI, I always have aluminum foil in the bottom of my oven for such spills as well. Quite handy.)

Cook ribs on 300 for 3 hours.

After 3 hours, pull the ribs out and let them sit for as long as you want; the foil will contain the heat for well over an hour.

Creamy Chicken Fajitas

This is like the fastest dinner ever, and really good. I'm not a huge fajita fan but I loved these bc of the cream cheese probably!

What you need:
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips (I cheated and got the frozen precooked fajita strips)
1 cup each thin onion slices and green pepper strips
1 tub(10 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Santa Fe Blend Cooking Creme
8 flour tortillas (6 inch), warmed
1 cup Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese Blend

What you need to do:
Cook chicken and vegetables in large nonstick skillet on medium heat 6 to 7 min. or until chicken is done. (I actually cooked longer than this bc the veggies didn't seem tender enough for me.) Add cooking creme; cook and stir 2 min. Spoon down centers of tortillas; top with shredded cheese. Fold in half.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This one is super easy, and super yum. Just requires a few canned goods and some chicken and cheese and voila!

What you need:
3 chicken breasts cooked (I cooked mine in the crock pot, probably an hour and a half on high)
2 cans of chicken and rice soup
2 cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 tsp chili powder
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
Cheese to put on top
Tortilla Chips to put on top or eat soup with

What you need to do:
Put all ingredients in large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes. Top with shredded cheese and tortilla chips.

Sassy Tailgate Sandwiches

I found these in the cream cheese cookbook and made them for dinner instead of a tailate. Pretty dang good! And I mean with butter poured over the sandwich in the end, whats not to love?

What you need:
1 (12 count) package Hawaiian bread rolls
1 pound shaved Black Forest ham (I kinda thought this was too much ham, but I'm sure my husband would disagree)
12 slices Gruyere cheese
1 (8 ounce) tub Chive & Onion Cream Cheese Spread
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon dried minced onion
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

What you need to do:
Cut all rolls in half. Place roll bottoms in 9x13-inch pan. Place equal amounts of ham on each roll bottom. Top with Gruyere. On each of the roll tops, spread a generous amount of the cream cheese spread. Return the tops to the bottoms making sandwiches. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter, Worcestershire sauce, onion and Parmesan cheese. Pour over your sandwiches and let sit for at least 20 minutes. (You can make these ahead of time and allow to sit in fridge overnight.)
Place sandwiches, covered in foil, in a preheated 350 degrees F oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until warmed through.

Song of the Day

Golden - My Morning Jacket

Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos

These are absolutely fantastic. And require very few ingredients. Throw em in the crock pot for the afternoon, bake some taco shells, and dinner is served!

What you need:
1 can (10 1/2 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed French Onion Soup
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 boneless beef chuck roast (about 2 pounds)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
16 taco shells
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)
Shredded lettuce
Tomatoes
Sour cream

What you need to do:

Stir the soup, chili powder and cumin in a 4-quart slow cooker. Add the beef and turn to coat. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours or until the beef is fork-tender. Remove the beef from the cooker to a cutting board and let stand for 10 minutes. Using 2 forks, shred the beef. Return the beef to the cooker. Stir the cilantro in the cooker. Spoon about 1/4 cup beef mixture into each taco shell. Top each with about 1 tablespoon cheese. Top with the lettuce, tomato and the sour cream, if desired.