Crack Potatoes

I kept seeing a pin for Crack Potaotes all over Pinterest. My sister-in-law (SIL) was the first to tell me about them and with the way I love potatoes, I figured it was best to just steer clear of them. Which I did... until last night!

K, the SIL and I have taken up to bbq'g in the weekends. I am loving it, but last night, I said to my SIL, "I want to try an new recipe to go with dinner tonight." Her face lit up and she said, "Crack Potatoes?"

How could I resist that? So I headed to Pinterest to get the recipe. The recipe comes from the Plain Chicken blog. And let me tell you, there's nothing healthy about this recipe, but boy, was it mmm-mmm good!

Here's the recipe:

• 2 (16oz) containers sour cream
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 (3oz) bags real bacon bits
• 2 packages Ranch Dip mix
• 1 large (28 - 30oz) bag frozen hash brown potatoes - shredded kind

Combine first 4 ingredients, mix in hash browns.  Spread into a 9x13 pan.  Bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes.  

 

 

Incredibly simple, spectacularly delicious.  

 

Only one complaint... It was a bit salty. Not sure if it was from the bacon or the Ranch Dip mix. When I make it again, I may forgo the bacon all together or make it fresh and see if it helps with the salt factor. Other than that, the Crack Potatoes were sinfully delicious. And don't worry if you have a smallish family and think there's not enough of you to make such a large serving -- according to the originating blog, it freezes well!

Not So Extreme Couponing

I don't know about you, but for me... The economy sucks and so does my bank account. In attempt to save a penny where I can, I started clipping coupons. I question if the time and energy spent on it is really worth the savings, but even if it's not... I do feel a small sense of accomplishment when I check out at the grocery store and hand them a stack (and by stack, I mean 3-4 coupons max) of coupons -- even if it is just a couple bucks in savings.

I used to coupon all the time. My sister would even send me coupons in the mail to help out, but for some reason I got away from it. I guess I started making enough money, I didn't think it was necessary anymore. Anyway, when I couponed before, it was organized. I had a little wallet sized accordion file thing that was labeled with different categories so it made it easy to look for the coupons.

Since being back on the couponing wagon, my coupons have been a frustrating mess! Every time I wanted one, I literally had to stop in the middle of the aisle, grab my stack of coupons, and begin shuffling through them - dropping several in the process. It was painful. One or two times to the store with K experiencing my coupon mess and she insisted something be done.

The whole point in couponing is saving money, right? So I was having a hard time justifying buying a coupon organizer. I did buy one lame thing that didn't work at all for like $1 somewhere, but I wouldn't allow myself to spend more than that.

So I got resourceful. I googled DIY Coupon Organizers.

The coolest coupon organizer I found was this one to the right.

But - forgive me if any of my (four) readers out there has one - it's a little dorky. I'm not sure I would have the guts to walk around the store with it attached to my cart.

I definitely needed something small enough to fit in my purse because I can't tell you the number of times I have gone into a store and bought something I knew I had a coupon for, but it was sitting at home or in the car I didn't drive that day.

I needed something simple, easy, cheap, yet durable. That's when I found this one:

 Perfecto! I knew I had all of the supplies at home. Even if they were white envelopes, I didn't need it to be fancy. As soon as I got home, I checked our supply of envelopes and ended up finding some old purple ones that would work great!

 Please check out the Paper Source website for more detailed instructions, if you need them.

Here's what I did:

1. Glued the envelopes together with a glue stick - put the glue on the flap part of the envelope and attach it to the "front and bottom" of the envelope (by front, I mean the side that you put the mailing address on.)
   
   Side note: the original instructions said you need an odd number of envelopes between 5-9. I used 9 envelopes on mine.
   
2. Once all the envelopes are attached, I let the glue dry and then grabbed the exacto knife. Make a small slit (the width of the ribbon you chose) in the bottom of the last envelope and also through the top part of that same envelope.
   
3. String your ribbon through, fold it like an accordion, and tie the ribbon.
   

Vuala! You have your un-labeled coupon organizer! :o)

You could step it up and really embellish it if you wanted to. I just got some labels I had, printed out the labels I thought would work best, and slapped 'em on.

I should have staged this one different so you could see how the ribbon is strung. Go to the Paper Source I linked above for a better picture of that step.

For the most part, I like it. K says I didn't make the ribbon long enough. (OH! I also put a little anti-fray stuff on the ends of the ribbon so it didn't become an unraveled mess.) My only complaint is that to have to tie a bow every time you want to re-close it is kind of a PITA (Pain In The Arse). Especially when you have a shopping basket in one hand and your cell phone, wallet, and coupon organizer in the other hand. It's another stop-in-the-middle-of-the-aisle scene. Granted, less of a mess, but still a nuisance.

This could be used for other organizational things too. Like if you're one of those people that breaks out your budget in categories and allows a certain amount of cash for each thing. You could separate and keep your cash in the different envelopes.

Possibly a daily to-do organizer. Keep a piece of note paper in each one and make to-do lists for each day of the week. Might make your to-do list feel less overwhelming.

Anyway, that was my most recent project. Nothing spectacular, just a little organization. It was free (kind of - I mean I had to have bought all the stuff at some point, right?), took me less than an hour to make, and my grocery shopping and couponing experience is much more pleasant. Well worth it.

Spaghetti with a Twist

Of course I saw the picture above on Pinterest. Most people that know me, know I love pizza (particularly Round Table Pizza), so I thought this would be a fun, experimental twist to spaghetti... and it WAS! 

 

I got the recipe for "Pizza Spaghetti Casserole" from this site. It's really just spaghetti with pepperoni, but it sounds much fancier. LOL I did my own variation from the original recipe, but it was definitely delish. I highly recommend checking out the original recipe too because it's a little more than just spaghetti with pepperoni! 

Here is my version: 

Ingredients

• 12 ounces uncooked spaghetti 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pepperoni slices cut in half, amount used at your discretion
• 1 (26-oz.) jar tomato-and-basil pasta sauce (I just used Ragu's Traditional -- It was on sale.)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
• 8-oz. of shredded Mexican cheese blend 

Preparation

1. Cook spaghetti with 1/2 tsp. salt according to package directions. Drain well, and place in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.
   
2. Add spaghetti noodles to the backing dish; pour pasta sauce over the noodles. Arrange half of the pepperoni slices evenly over pasta sauce. Sprinkle evenly with cheeses. Arrange remaining half of pepperoni slices evenly over cheese. Cover with nonstick or lightly greased aluminum foil.
   
3. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes; remove foil, and bake 10 more minutes or until cheese is melted and just begins to brown.

 

The original recipe called for Italian Three Cheese blend, which I couldn't find at my store. Come to find out, I was looking in the wrong section all together. :o| That's why I just did the Mexican blend, but next time I make this I will be sure to try the Italian blend. 

The variations are endless... you could throw in mushrooms, olives, bell peppers... and anything else you might like on a pizza! The only ingredient I would be skeptical about (and I am not really sure why) is pineapple. This dish is fun, easy, and tasty!! 

My Pics:

 

My First Cake from Scratch

I have mentioned before, that just a few years ago, if it didn't come from a box... I wasn't cooking it! It was the same for baked goods. I would play the "No one ever taught me how to cook" card all the time. Well, I am still waiting for someone to teach me and since no one seems to be jumping at the opportunity, I have ventured out and attempted to teach myself. :o)

There have been some successes and some failures... this venture was definitely a success!!

I love, love, LOVE all things banana - as long as it's not in it's original banana form. I mean, I don't dislike bananas, but they're not my favorite and I like them much better baked in something. :o) Browsing Pinterest the other day, I came across this pin that leads to this Bake or Break blog with the recipe.

Here is what a professional photo of it looks like:

Here's the recipe:

Cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 large egg white, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375°. Spray an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter, oil, and sugar. Beat in eggs and egg white, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mash bananas with milk. Set aside.

Gradually mix half of dry ingredients into butter mixture. Mix in bananas. Mix in remaining dry ingredients.

Pour cake batter into prepared baking pan.

Bake 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack.

Frosting

• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 & 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons chopped toasted nuts (optional - I opted out)

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese and vanilla. Reduce speed and gradually add confectioners’ sugar.

Spread frosting on cake. Sprinkle with nuts (optional).

And.... here's what my lame photos of it look like:

 

It was delicious. It has more of a banana bread texture than a light and airy cake texture, so a little goes a long way. Only negative - we were all left wanting more frosting. I think next time, I will double the frosting, cut the cake in half horizontally, slather some frosting, but the top half of the cake back on and slather some more frosting. MMMMM! I cant wait to make this again!

 

Chicken & Dumplin Casserole

I love... I mean, LOVE, comfort food. One of my favorites is Chicken & Dumplins. A friend of ours makes some of the best. She's given me the recipe, but it intimidates me. Boil a whole chicken? I've never even boiled a chicken breast. LOL

So when I found a pin for a Chicken & Dumplin Casserole, I was pretty stoked to try it out.

I got the full recipe from the Plain Chicken blog, which I copy and pasted below:

• 3-4 cups of cooked chicken (I use a rotisserie chicken)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 can Campbell's cream of chicken soup
• 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables (optional)

Preheat oven to 400.

Melt butter in the microwave and pour into bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Shred the chicken and spread it on top of the butter.

Whisk together the milk and the flour, baking powder and salt.  Slowly pour over the chicken.  Don't stir.

Whisk together chicken broth and cream of chicken soup. Pour in veggies and gently stir in broth and soup mix. Pour soup over the flour and milk mixture.  Don't stir.

Bake uncovered for 35 to 45 minutes, or until dumplings are golden brown.

The original recipe didn't call for mixed veggies, but K loves a veggie and always says Chicken n Dumplins would be better with veggies in it, so I tried it. It turned out OK, I think next time instead of  mixing the veggies in with the chicken broth and cream of chicken soup, I will probably put it in the bottom layer with the chicken. 

Overall, it was a pretty tasty dish. Next time, I might take the extra step to do fresh veggies instead of frozen. Key word there? Might.

Bon Appétit