SpicyCorn Dip

Spicy Corn Dip

This recipe was given to me by my good friend Belinda, I love to get good recipes from my friends and family.



Ingredients:
1 14 oz. can niblet corn, drained
1 14 oz. can cream style corn
1 Jalapeno, seeded and Chopped
1 8 oz. package cream cheese

Be sure to wear a glove or be careful to wash hands thoroghly to make sure to get all pepper juice off hands.

Put all ingredients in a crock pot, on high heat until hot, turn down and simmer.This is ready for Tortilla Chips. This is a good mildly spiced corn dip.
I love fresh frozen corn, so I used corn I had in the freezer.
My Cream Style corn was in a larger bag, so I doubled the ingredients. Thomas is my biggest food CRITIC, He said I needed more spice and seasoning, so I added:
1 Taco Bell seasoning package
1 Tbsp. Jalapeno juice from pickled jalapenos
1 10 oz. can Rotel Tomatoes

After I spiced it up for him, he said it would be a good Soup.
I think you would have to add several cups milk for that.

Apple Bread Pudding

Apple-Bread
Pudding

This is so moist and
flavorful with 
Granny Smith Apples
and cinnamon.









Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup sugar (divided)
2 cups Granny-Smith apples, peeled. cored, diced
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon (divided)
2 tsp. vanilla
3 large eggs
1 quart milk
1 loaf Italian or French Bread, cubed
3 Tbsp. Butter
11x9 inch pan sprayed with Pam

Mix in a medium bowl 1-1/4 cup sugar with 1 tsp. cinnamon, toss apples and coat so they won't brown while preparing other ingredients.

In a large bowl whisk eggs and combine, milk and vanilla.
In baking pan pour melted butter in the bottom and swirl to cover bottom of pan.

Combine bread with milk mixture, with back of large spoon press bread into milk, then fold mixture together until thoroughly incorporated.

Pour at once into buttered pan.

 Mix 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, sprinkle over bread mixture before cooking.

 Let set for 20-30 minutes before baking.
Preheat oven 350 degrees before cooking.
The pudding will start puffing up around the edges, then in the middle, It will take 45-60 minutes to fully bake. Check in the center with a fork and pull back the bread to make sure the liquid is set.
As soon as you take it from the oven it will fall.
The cinnamon mixture over the top gives a sweet touch, and I don't use any sauces.

Flatbread Pizza

FLAT BREAD PIZZA

                                                

I found a flat bread called Lavash, it is so thin, and it is a wonderful crust for a quick pizza. This Pizza is so simple, and Delicious 

Ingredients:

Flat bread, or Pita Bread

Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup
Mozzarella, or 5 cheese Italian  Blend, Feta
Onions sliced
Mushrooms
Green Peppers sliced
Pepperoni slices
Ground Sausage
Your favorite toppings
Place flat bread on a cookie sheet or baking stone, spread 1 1/2 heaping Tbsp.
 Cream of Mushroom Soup for the base, add toppings of choice, and sprinkle cheese over.  

This was the first
time to use this bread, I only put
a heaping Tbsp. of Soup,
next time I will put more.

I used Spicy Sausage, bell pepper, onion, mushrooms with a combination of Mozzarella, Blend Italian and a sprinkle of Feta cheese

Bake 400 degrees 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

Cream Cheese Sausage Dip

                         

Cream Cheese
Sausage Dip

A friend of my brother Eddie,
 made this for his birthday party.

I think the flavors from the spicy

sausage and Rotel Tomatoes are

more prevalant with the cream cheese.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Hot ground sausage, browned and drained.

2-8oz. (cream cheese) or 2 lbs of Velveeta cheese

2-10 oz cans rotel tomatoes

In a large microwavable dish, heat everything until the cream cheese has turned to a liquid state and the mixture is smooth.

 I usually put half of the sausage package in the freezer, after dividing, for later. 

I had always made the dip with Velveeta, This looked a little strange to me with cream cheese. It is very good and my family loves it. 

Tator-Tot Casserole

Tater- Tot Casserole


This isn't the most beautiful
picture, but it sure is GOOD!

 Mrs.Pearlie Mae Palmer use to make this when I worked in Brewton, Alabama. I just loved it, and she shared the recipe with me. Mrs. Pearlie Mae has been gone for about 25 years now but I still have fond memories of her, and her fine cooking.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb lean hamburger meat
1 tsp. onion powder
light sprinkle of salt and pepper
2 cans cream of celery or mushroom soup
2 lb. bag of Tater - Tots

                                        

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease a 9x11 pan, and layer in this order:

 Lightly separate ground beef into tiny pieces, there will be gaps in between the pieces of meat.

 Sprinkle: onion powder, small amount of salt, pepper, (or seasoning of choice.)

2-10 oz. cans Campbell's Cream of Celery Soup (Undiluted) spread lightly over the top.

Tater-Tots arranged over the top.
Bake 375 degrees 60-75 minutes. Tater-tots should be brown and soup bubbly all over.

Optional Stroganoff Recipe:

Hamburger

Onion powder,  (No salt, because of bouillon)

10 oz. cream of mushroom soup mixed with

1 cup sour cream and

1 beef bouillon cube (crumbled), spread evenly over the seasonings and meat.

Tater tots arranged over the top

Bake 350 for 1 hour, or until bubbly.

Orange Honey-Mustard Vinegarette

Orange Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette
I kept seeing Chefs on TV making simple Vinaigrette's, I got inspired and tried my hand at it, with good success.
This is very a very light vinaigrette, you can actually taste all the ingredients.

   The first time I made this for my family I made individual salads for everyone, Wendell sat down at the table and informed me he didn't like fruit on his salad. I just smiled and said to rake it to the side.
A few minutes later we all turned to look in his direction, he had raised his plate to lick the last of the dressing off his plate.
Oh yea! he even ate the fruit!
 Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:

The apple and

nuts are for the salad.

1 orange,(Jest, segments, and juice)
1 clove of garlic crushed2 Tbsp. Course Mustard like Dijon

2 Tbsp. Honey

2 Tbsp vinegar

1-2 Tbsp. light olive oil (optional)

Pinch salt and pepper or  ½ tsp.Tony Chatcheries or Papa Gators Seasoning

Put orange jest onto a cutting board, smash clove of garlic with Chef knife, and mince garlic and orange jest, with knife scrape both into a bowl.

On cutting board cut the top, bottom, and sides off orange.

Hold orange over bowl and carefully go along membrane of orange to cut segments out, after cutting all the segments out squeeze  whats left of orange into bowl. The pieces of rind that had small amounts of orange, squeeze into bowl, this should make about 2 Tbsp. juice. reserve segments for salad

Add rest of ingredients except orange segments and whisk in bowl.

Make a green salad of choice. Place segments of orange over the top. (if desired)

 Drizzle about 2 Tbsp of dressing on each individual salad, just before serving.

*I have keep this in a jar or bowl up to a week in the refrigerator.
I sometimes put this in an old mustard bottle.

This would be wonderful with grilled chicken strips on the salad.

Loaded Baked Potatoe Soup

Loaded Baked

Potatoe Soup

I've been seeing bread bowls loaded with soup and topped with cheese, so I just had to try making this for my family. I made the soup and had the bread ready for everyone to fill their bowl and top with their favorite toppings. Everyone really liked the bread bowls, but they said the soup was REALLY GOOD without the bread bowl.

Either way I hope you ENJOY!


Ingredients:
2/3 cup butter
1 Tbsp. bacon grease

1 large yellow onion chopped

2/3 cup flour

3 cups Chicken broth

3 cups 1/2 &1/2 or milk
2 chicken bullion,crushed (if your broth is salty, omit)

4 cups baked potatoes, 8 small-medium

3 green onions chopped
1/2 lb bacon cooked, crumbled and divided

8 oz. cheddar cheese, grated and divided

1 cup sour cream
Pepper Jack Cheese( to garnish)

In a large stock pot over medium heat melt butter and add bacon grease, and onion, cook for about 5 minutes, stirring about every minute.

 Add flour and continue stirring for 2-3 minutes.

 Slowly whisk in chicken broth and milk until smooth, making sure to continue whisking, the flour will get thick on the bottom of the pan.

Add the bullion and potatoes,1/2 of bacon,and continue to stir every minute, as the milk heats up the soup will become very thick.

 This takes about 10 minutes. 

I have a large paddle type spoon that I went around the pot and chopped the potatoes some, I wanted to break them up, and left some chunky.

After the 10 minutes it was thick and just starting to boil,

 DO NOT LET THIS COME TO A FULL BOIL,  turn the burner off, add the sour cream and 1/2 of the cheddar cheese. Stirring well to incorperate.

Laddle into bowls and garnish with cheese, green onions and bacon

I looked around and couldn't find the bread I wanted for my breadbowls, I ended up at Panera Bread, they had the perfect bread bowls. They are already cut about 2 inches down. I wanted them more hollowed out so I used a grapefruit spoon to dig more bread out, being sure not to go through the outside of the bread.

I had all the fixings for the top, everyone fixed their own, they put colored toothpicks in the side, to mark them. Put the bread bowls on a baking stone in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. The soup was extremly hot, let it cool for about 10 minutes before eating.

I cut the caps off the bread inserts, buttered and toasted them in the toaster oven while the bread bowls were in the oven.

Linda's Strawberry Spash Margaritas

Linda's
Strawberry
Splash
Margarita's





Ingredients:
30 oz. Jose Cuervo Margarita Mix (or Half bottle mix)
2/3 cup Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 quarts ice cubes
1 cup  fresh or frozen sliced strawberries in juice
In a 2 quart pitcher add ice, then rest of ingredients
stir and let set for 15-20 minutes before serving if possible.

 I know it may be hard but they really are better after setting. It gives the strawberries time to seep into the mix.

I don't like my glass salted, but if you do:
take a lemon or lime wedge and rub around the top edge of your glass, then dip, top edge of glass in a saucer with kosher salt, then fill glass with Margarita.
I LOVE JIMMY BUFFETT, but his mix is NOT as good as Jose's.

One of my clients knows, I don't drink often, but when I do, I like to enjoy a delicious Strawberry Splash Margarita. She gave me Jose Mix for Christmas, Thank You, Stacy!
Don't forget! Drink Responsibly!

Black Bean Mexican Rice

                        Black Bean Mexican Rice                                                                                      

This is a stepped- up version of Mexican Rice, its NOT what you will get at any Mexican restaurant around here. I made this recipe up for my family one day and it was requested for a Birthday Dinner, so I wanted to share, hope you enjoy.

My Grandparents traveled alot and I was given this set of pottery dishes my grandmother got in South America, I like to serve from them when I make spicy dishes and it reminds me of her.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. oil
1/2 to1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 fresh jalapeno chopped or about 7 slices, pickled jalapeno chopped
1 1/2 cup long grain rice
10 oz. Rotel tomatoes with juice
15-oz. black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn or 15 oz. can drained
3 chicken bullion or 1 Tbsp. Better than bullion diluted in
3 cups hot water
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. Taco Bell Taco Seasoning Mix
10 oz Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup
1 cup Daisy Sour Cream
8 oz. Hell of Good Pepper Jack Cheese Grated (divided)

In a large pan, over medium heat, saute onions and jalapeno,let that cook while you gather other ingredients, about 5 minutes.

Add rice, stirring to coat all the grains of rice with small amount of oil in the pan.

Add, tomatoes, beans, corn, water with bullion, and seasonings, Stir well to incorporated all the seasonings. Turn on Medium high heat until it comes to a boil. Stir well scraping the bottom, making sure it hasn't stuck.
Turn to lower heat and simmer, 15 minutes. Do Not Stir.

The water should be absorbed and the rice should almost be completely cooked, it will cook longer when baked.

Mix the sour cream, soup and 1/2 of the cheese into the pot and stir until well combined.

Grease 10x13 inch baking dish and spread rice mixture evenly, sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.
Bake 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. You want it bubbly around the edges.

I think I'm going to try this with a lb. of taco meat, or Chicken Breast cut into strips mixed in soon, it will be wonderful wrapped in a tortilla with the fixings.