French Dip Subs

OK, barely making the deadline here... sorry about that ladies!

These are a hit at our house, and I often take them to others when providing a meal. It's an easy, go-to slow cooker meal.

Ingredients:

3-4lb sirloin tip roast (any other cut will be tough - yuck!) trimmed of excess fat

1 can beef broth

1 can French onion soup

1 cup water

4-6 ciabatta bread rolls (Wal-Mart sells these, not sure where else...)

4-6 slices Swiss cheese

Salt and pepper your roast and add the beef broth, french onion soup, and water. Set your slow cooker to low and let cook for 6-8 hours. (If you're in a hurry, 4-6 hours on high should do the trick.) Once your roast has cooked to your desired tenderness, take it out of the slow cooker and set on a cutting board to cool for 10 minutes. Slice the ciabatta rolls and layer with cuts of your roast. Place 1-2 slices of Swiss cheese on the slices of roast and butter the other slice of roll. Place under the broiler to melt the cheese and brown the other side of the roll. Once you've created your sandwich, cut in half and serve with the remaining au jous for dipping. Yummy!

I'm making this Wednesday, so I'll add pictures then!

Red Velvet Waffles

Here is a recipe for Red Velvet Waffles with a Cream Cheese Frosting and Butter Pecan Syrup! I modified a recipe that I found online, and here was the result. It claims to make 4 servings, but mine went much farther than that. Store leftover mix in an airtight container in the fridge for breakfast the next day or two!

THE WAFFLES


What you'll need:
2 cups flour (I used Whole Wheat)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 cup butter, melted, cooled
1/8 cup vegetable oil
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tablespoons red food coloring

Directions:
1. Separate eggs.
2. Beat egg whites until stiff.
3. Mix dry ingredients together then add wet.
4. Mix all ingredients together THEN fold in the egg whites.
5. Heat waffle iron and spray with non-stick cooking spray
6. Pour mix into waffle iron and cook until done!

THE FROSTING

What you'll need:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp. sugar
Cool whip

Directions:
Mix it all together, soften in microwave if necessary. I layered small square waffles with the frosting and topped with Cool Whip.

THE SYRUP


What you'll need:
1 1/2 cups of maple syrup (I used a sugar-free, butter-flavored syrup with Splenda)
1/8 cup of butter (If you are not using butter-flavored syrup, do 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup of pecans

Directions:
1. Melt butter.
2. Add syrup and mix together.
3. Add pecans.

As I mentioned, my waffle iron is square shaped, so I layered 2 small waffles with frosting in the center, plopped a dollop of Cool Whip on top, then drizzled the butter pecan syrup. It was a fun change to the traditional waffle. Unfortunately, my Red Velvet Waffles have completely cleaned me out of red food coloring. Now I'm considering Blue Suede Pancakes?

Miniature Sausage Muffins

1/2 pound bulk pork sausage
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1 (6-oz.) package biscuit mix
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese

Combine sausage and green onions in a skillet; cook over medium heat until sausage is browned, stirring to crumble. Drain well.

Combine biscuit mix, dry mustard, and red pepper; add milk, stirring just until moistened. Stir in sausage mixture and cheese (mixture will be thick). Spoon into greased miniature muffin pans, fillin two-thirds full. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 14 miniutes or until muffins are golden. Remove from pans immediately; serve warm. Yield: about 2.5 dozen

These are great for brunches, showers, or breakfast! I usually double the recipe!! :)

~Tara T.

Chicken Enchiladas

1 can enchilada sauce (19 oz)

1 block of cream cheese

1 (8oz.) sour cream

1 can of corn-or 1/2 bag of frozen is what I prefer

2 cups shredded cheese

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

8 soft tortilla shells

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook chicken breasts (boil or on a griddle). Let chicken cool and then shred it. Mix cream cheese, sour cream and 3/4 can of enchilada sauce. Add corn, 1 cup shredded cheese and chicken to the mix. Put mixture in tortillas and roll up (use toothpicks to hold it together). Grease a 9X13 glass dish and place tortillas in the dish (usually holds between 4-6). Drizzle the rest of the enchilada sauce over the tortillas and sprinkle with the remainder of shredded cheese. Bake for 20 minutes! The mixture is usually enough for 6-8 enchiladas depending on how full you want them to be!

The Best Blueberry Scones in the World!

I found this recipe here (source: Ben Millett) a few months ago while I was preparing to host my first extra fancy tea party (I love all things tea parties).  I've modified the instructions a little; feel free to use either mine or his.  They are simply divine.

Ingredients:

2 sticks of frozen, unsalted butter -you actually only use 10 tbsp
1 1/2 C fresh or frozen blueberries (or whichever fruit you prefer)
1/2 C whole milk
1/2 C sour cream
2 C unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for work surface
1/2 C sugar, plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp grated lemon zest (optional)

1.  Preheat your oven to 450 F
2.  Remove 1/2 the paper from your sticks of butter, grate the unwrapped ends (total of 8 tbsp) into a small bowl.  Freeze grated butter until ready to use.  Melt and set aside an additional 2 tbsp butter.

3.  Whisk together milk and sour cream in bowl, refrigerate until needed.
4.  Whisk flour, 1/2 C sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest in large bowl.  Add frozen butter to flour mixture and toss by hand until butter is mixed well.

4.  Add milk mixture to flour mixture and fold with spatula until just combined.

5.  Liberally flour a work surface and knead your dough 6 to 8 times.  Add flour as needed to prevent sticking.  Roll dough into a 12 inch square.

6.  Sprinkle blueberries evenly over your dough and press them into the dough.  Loosen the dough from your work surface, you may have to use a metal spatula.

Roll your dough into a tight log then lay it seam-side down and press into a 12 by 4 inch rectangle.
Using a sharp knife, cut the rectangle crosswise into 4 equal rectangles, then cut each diagonally to form 2 triangles.

I actually went back and smushed it all together and followed my directions, made 8 instead of 6.

7.  Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of sugar.  Bake until tops and bottoms are golden brown, 18-25 minutes.

*Please don't judge that I used my countertop, I do not have a fancy work surface ;)  Also, please forgive that I only edited the last picture-too lazy and excited to finally post this!

*If you are making these ahead, you can freeze them.  Wrap them individually in aluminum foil and skip the butter/sugar sprinkle step and you should do this immediately before baking (freezing the scones with butter on top will make them gooey when they bake).  You can bake frozen scones on 375 F for 25-30 minutes.

Yummy Chicken Alfredo and Garlic Bread

So I am addicted to Olive Garden's chicken alfredo dish so I attempted to make it today and turned out perfect! No leftovers even. I forgot to get garlic bread when at the store so I improvised when I got home and it was so yummy!






(Oh and I forgot to take a picture at first so I just did it with my phone, sorry doesn't look all cute on a real plate, no time for that with 2 kids!)




Chicken Alfredo (Serves about 4)


1/2 cup butter


1 pint heavy whipping cream


1 tsp garlic salt


salt and pepper to taste


2/3 cup fresh grated parmesan


1lb box fettuccine noodles (prepared as box says)


2 large chicken breast (boiled)


3oz of cream cheese (pinched into small peices)





Over medium-low heat melt butter, add cream, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Simmer 20-30 mins, stirring constantly until thick. After hot can add the cream cheese to help thicken up some. Remove from heat, add parmesan and mix. Cut chicken into small pieces once done. Mix in fettuccine noodles with the sauce and chicken pieces.








Sweet Garlic Bread


Sweet Hawaiian Rolls (cut in half)


Shredded cheese (whichever your family keeps in the fridge should be fine, ours was colby and monteray jack mix bag)


Garlic Salt


Butter





Spread small amount of butter on roll halves. Top with sprinkle of garlic salt and then cheese. Bake at 350 for about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.