Extreme BLT

Hey Guys, Just thought I'd quickly shoot one more recipe your way before Father's Day tomorrow. My man is in love with all things spicy, so the thought hit me to put a little spin on one of our all time favorite sandwiches. I resisted the urge to throw some jalapenos on there, being that it's kind of a breakfast sandwich, and I felt that might have been a little too much. But the pepper jack cheese and spicy ranch does give a really yummy kick to this traditional favorite.

Let me know what you think!! Enjoy your Saturday and Happy Father's Day!!

Printable Recipe

Extreme BLT
serving size: 1 large sandwich

2 pieces of Sheepherder Bread or bread of your choice
Mayo
Spicy Ranch Dressing
1 tomato, sliced
1/2 an avocado, sliced
3 or 4 leafs of iceberg lettuce
2 slices of pepper jack cheese
6 pieces of bacon
ground black pepper

Prepare and slice tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, and pepper jack cheese. Set aside.

Coat 1 side of each slice of bread with first a thin layer of mayo, and then a little bit thicker layer of spicy ranch.

Here is about what you want to aim for. Thicker then the mayo, but just enough to give your sandwich some pop. Probably about 1 tablespoon of mayo to 2 or 3 tablespoons of spicy ranch per slice. Set aside.

Begin to brown bacon over medium to medium high heat, seasoning each side with ground black pepper. Flip as needed.

As bacon is cooking, start assembling sandwich by first layering lettuce over the bottom slice of bread. Then topping with sliced avocado. Set aside.

Place cooked bacon onto a plate lined with paper towels. Pat off access grease then immediately place onto avocado slices and top with pepper jack cheese.

Top cheese with tomato slices and add final slice of bread. Serve immediately while bacon is still hot.

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Recipe from RecipeSnobs.com.

4th of July Line Up!!

What are you doing for the 4th of July?! Not sure yet? Well, here are some recipes to get your creative juices flowing. Chances are that you are either throwing, or going to a barbecue. So here are some awesome dishes and sides for a barbecue. Not to mention some super yummy patriotic desserts ;) Hope this gets you thinking, and will have more 4th of July recipe's to come in the next week!! (Please forgive the quality in some of the pictures. Some are from when I started the blog, but I wanted to include them cause I still absolutely love the recipe.)

Barbecue Dishes & Sides

Jack Daniel's Glazed Ribs

Frog Eye Salad

Creamy Pasta Salad

The Man-Burger (Favorite Burger Recipe of All Time!!)

Cranberry Broccoli Salad

Rich 'n' Cheesy Macaroni

Patriotic Desserts

Ooey-Gooey Rice Krispie Treats

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

S'mores Stuffed Brownies

Death By Oreo Cupcakes

Fireworks Cupcake Towers

Honey Baked Ham

Today I have to sickies laying on the couch home from school, so I'm thinking, it's a bread baking day. I've been eyeballing this amazing looking Berry Mini Bread Loafs. So I think today I'm gonna finally get to make those since we're home-bound today.

I made this for dinner last night though. It's amazing!! You would think with the red pepper flakes and cayenne it would have a little kick to it, but not at all. It balances out the sweet honey glaze perfectly, giving it amazing flavor. I did have a problem with the amount of time it said to bake this for though. It says to bake for 1 hour, then 30 min., then another hour. That last hour, I only baked for 30 minutes and mine was done. So something to maybe keep in mind when your cooking.

I also change this a little bit. When applying the glaze before baking for the last time. I took about 2 or 3 tablespoons of brown sugar and rubbed it all over the glaze. This caused a little bit more of a crunch on the exterior of the ham from the melted sugar. I know that's what I like, so do what your personal taste calls for. This recipe was amazing either way though, and a lot easier then I thought it would be. Enjoy :)

Printable Recipe

Honey Baked Ham
     6 pounds bone-in ham
     1/3 cup brown sugar
     1/3 cup honey
     2 teaspoons cornstarch
     1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
     1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place ham on a rack in a foil lined roasting pan. Bake the rounded side up for one hour.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix all ingredients together. Stir until it forms a nice this glaze.

Rub on half of the glaze and bake for 30 minutes more. Flip the ham over and rub on remaining glaze and bake for 1 hour more. Remove from oven and allow the ham to rest for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Yield: 8 servings.

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Recipe from foodnetwork.com.

Jambalaya with Shrimp and Andouille Sausage

Finally home!! It was such a fun weekend, but man oh man, it was so nice to sleep in late this morning and to sleep in my own bed last night! We didn't get called up in The Price is Right :( but it was still a super fun experience being in the audience. Here are some fun picture from this weekend:

At Bubba Gump's Shrimp

"I mustache you a question"

Waiting to get in The Price is Right!!

Such a fun weekend, with such a fun group of girls!! But it's good to be home with my babies, and I seriously missed my own cooking. It's fun to eat out and all, but!! there is only so much junk food one can take. Not to mention, I like having control of what I put into my food. And since I have done nothing but eat crap this weekend, time for some low calorie meals!!

We'll start out with this one! I've been dying to try a Jambalaya recipe, because it's all over Food Network, and everyone is always saying how amazing it is. It is pretty amazing!! Tons of flavor. The only thing I wasn't the hugest fan of was the shrimp, but I'm a snob when it comes to seafood, so don't listen to me on this issue. This was delicious!! And I love how much flavor this dish packs for being low in calories. Definitely a must try recipe!! Enjoy!

Jambalaya with Shrimp and Andouille Sausage
     1 tablespoon olive oil
     1 cup chopped onion
     1 cup chopped red bell pepper
     1 tablespoon minced garlic
     6 ounces andouille sausage, sliced
     1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
     1 teaspoon paprika
     1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
     1 teaspoon dried oregano
     1/2 teaspoon onion powder
     1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
     1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
     1 bay leaf
     2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
     3/4 cup water
     1 tablespoon tomato paste
     1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
     1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
     1/2 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp
     2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped bell pepper, minced garlic, and sausage; saute 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add rice and next 7 ingredients.

Cook for 2 minutes.

Add broth, water, tomato paste, hot pepper sauce, and diced tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

Add shrimp; cook 5 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Stir in parsley. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups = 426 calories).


foodsnots.com


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Recipe from Cooking Light: Comfort Food.

Garlic-Rubbed Grilled Cheese with Bacon and Tomatoes

I'm posting this in a bit of a rush today. We are having my daughters 6th birthday party today, so in about 3 hours I will have about 15 little girls going crazy at my house. My daughter insisted on a Valentines theme, so I still need to finish up her cake and make the frosting for the sugar cookie decorating station, and clean. So I'm a little stressed right now. It will be fun though!! Lots of amazing goodies to snack on, but lots of work.

This recipe was so good though!! Whoever made it is a genius. I'm normal not a huge fan of grilled cheese sandwiches, but this caught my eye, and when I saw all the different stuff that went into this I had to try it. It's amazing! It's got this Italian feel flavor from all of the cheeses and garlic, with just a slight spicy kick to it from the red pepper flakes. And lets be honest, I'm a country girl at heart, so anything with bacon is going to win awards in my book. Like a gourmet BLT, but substituted with cheese instead of the lettuce. It's to die for!! Enjoy!


Garlic-Rubbed Grilled Cheese with Bacon and Tomatoes
     8 slices bacon
     3 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) grated Gruyere
     3 ounces (about 1 cup) grated fonina
     2 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
     1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
     8 1/2-inch-thick slices Italian bread
     2 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
     2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
     1 to 2 large cloves garlic, halved and peeled for rubbing

Cook the bacon in a heavy-bottomed skillet until browned and crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate. Pour off the grease from the pan and wipe clean.

Combine the cheeses and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Lay 4 slices of the bread on you work surface, and distribute half of the cheese evenly among the bread. Top the cheese with 2 slices of bacon and then 2 or 3 slices of tomatoes (enough to cover the cheese and bacon). Evenly distribute the remaining cheese among the 4 sandwiches. Lightly butter one side of the remaining four slices of bread, and put them on top of the sandwiches, butter side up.

Heat your heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Place the sandwiches butter side down in the pan and cook on the first side until the bread is golden brown and toasted. Meanwhile, butter the top slice of bread on each sandwich. Flip the sandwiches using a spatula and continue to cook on the other side until the bread is golden brown. You can use the spatula to compress the sandwich as it cooks on the second side. Remove the sandwiches from the pan and immediately rub both sides with the cut side of a garlic clove. Cut the sandwiches in half and serve.

Makes 4 sandwiches

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Recipe from traceysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com.

Sausage-Cornbread Dressing

Yay, finally back to normal!! I don't know about everyone else, but I have been having such a hard time getting anything done with hubby and kids home over the Christmas break. My husband is like having a 4th kid. Between all four I am constantly having to entertain and get them out of the house, but yesterday was my kids first day back to school so now I feel like I can actually get stuff accomplished (including my list of recipes I'm dying to try).

Thanks to everyone that voted on "What Dessert I Should Make Next?" The Salted-Caramel Six-Layer Chocolate Cake won. So I made it on Sunday, since it is a lot of cake and I know my hubbies family is always more then willing to try my goodies. First the first time I actually had people moaning while eating. I felt so proud!! LoL! That is probably the best complement you can give a cook is moaning while eating their food (sorry if that sounds weird, but it's so true!!). So I will be posting that recipe on Thursday.

The Homemade Samoas Cookies came in a very close second though, so I might just have to make that recipe this week too. But for now, enough with the goodies and onto something super savior delicious!! I grew up eating more country/southern styled meals, so this recipe was so homey and comforting to me. I love Love love cornbread!! So anything that gives it a twist of flavor, while still staying true to it's initial taste is a winner in my book. With this recipe you still get the cornbread flavor, while getting an awesome balance of the sweetened onions, celery, and sausage. Seriously, such an amazing side for any country meal!! A complete must try recipe!! Enjoy!


Sausage-Cornbread Dressing
10 (2-inch) cornbread muffins, crumbled (about 5 1/3 cups)
6 white sandwich bread slices, torn into small pieces
2 (14-oz.) cans chicken broth
3 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, chopped
4 celery ribs, chopped
1/2 (1-lb.) package mild ground pork sausage
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

Soak cornbread and sandwich bread in chicken broth in a large bowl 10 minutes; stir until liquid is absorbed.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add onions and celery, and saute 10-12 minutes or until tender.

Add sausage, and cook, stirring often, over low heat 8 minutes or until sausage crumbles and is no longer pink; drain.

Add sausage mixture, eggs, and pepper to bread mixture; stir well. Spoon dressing into prepared dish.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until lightly browned. Makes 8 servings.

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Recipe from Southern Living Heirloom Recipe Cookbook.

Slow Cooker Texas Pulled Pork

Hey everyone!! I'm kind of starting my New Years resolution early. It's probably obvious by now that I love to bake, I really like to cook, but I absolutely love to bake. But this year I really wanna work on cooking more. I feel like the more you do something, the easier it becomes, and the more you will enjoy it. So, this year I really want to perfect my cooking skills.

Not that I wont be posting tons of yummy desserts, cause it's kind of my thing ;) But, my goal is to post  at least two new dinners a week. So here is the first of hopefully many delicious dinners to come.

I love barbecue!! So this recipe is right up my alley. I did make it a little differently though. I prefer to cook my meat on low for 10-12 hours, rather then on high for 5-6 hours. I usually start my meat the night before, like I said on low, and then it just falls apart by 2pm the next day. You just have to be sure to check the liquid the next morning. Sometime you'll need to add more water, just to prevent the roast from dry out. But this recipe is super simple!! And delicious!! Enjoy!!

Slow Cooker Texas Pulled Pork
     1 teaspoon vegetable oil
     1 (4 pound) pork shoulder roast
     1 cup barbecue sauce
     1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
     1/2 cup chicken broth
     1/4 cup light brown sugar
     1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
     1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
     1 tablespoon chili powder
     1 extra large onion, chopped
     2 large garlic cloves, crushed
     1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
     8 hamburger buns, split
     2 tablespoons butter, or as needed

Pour the vegetable oil into the bottom of a slow cooker. Place the pork roast into the slow cooker; pour in the barbecue sauce, apple cider vinegar, and chicken broth. Stir in the brown sugar, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, onion, garlic, and thyme.

Cover and cook on High until the roast shreds easily with a fork, 5 to 6 hours.

Remove the roast from the slow cooker, and shred the meat using two forks. Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker, and stir the meat into the juices.

Spread the inside of both halves of hamburger buns with butter. Toast the buns, butter side down, in a skillet over medium heat until golden brown. Spoon pork into the toasted buns. After assembling sandwich, top meat with additional barbecue sauce if desired.

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Recipe from allrecipes.com

Jack Daniel's Glazed Ribs

First, Bravo to you Mr. Wilbur!! (author of Top Secret Restaurant Recipes) I don't know if anyone has checked out these books. I was super spectacle about these recipes being as good as the originals, but this copy-cat recipe blew my socks off! If I wasn't the one that made it, I wouldn't have believed it didn't come from TGI Friday's. If you haven't tried this recipe either at the Friday's restaurant or through this recipe you are missing out. And since Father's Day is in a week I thought I would post something that would be an awesome meal to celebrate! I don't know about your man, but mine is all about meat, so what better to make then ribs. For me, I'm super picky when it comes to ribs. This recipe gave the meat a super yummy flavor, and the glaze is amazing. The only thing I didn't like is that the meat didn't fall off the bone. Which in my opinion, if they don't fall off the bone they aren't true barbecue ribs, but these were super good for home made ribs. And my hubby loved them. Definitely an awesome dinner recipe!!

Quick Tip: If you are like me, you're gonna make the glaze at the same time you are cooking the ribs. So when I was roasting the garlic for the Jack Daniel's glaze I just threw it in with the ribs for just over an hour since your baking at 300 degrees with the ribs instead of 325 by itself (like 10 to 15 minutes longer).

Estimated Cooking Time: About 3 hours

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

• 2 full racks baby back ribs
• 1/2 cup Jack Daniel's glaze cone

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Combine all seasonings in a small bowl.

Sprinkle on both sides of each rack of ribs. Place the ribs on a baking sheet and bake for 2 1/2 hours (for easier clean up, cover caking sheet with tin foil). Preheat the barbecue grill (or an indoor grill pan) to high heat.

Grill the ribs for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until grill marks form. Immediately after removing the ribs from the grill, brush with Jack Daniel's glaze and serve with extra glaze on the side.

Jack Daniel's Glaze

Ingredients

• 1 head of garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 cup pineapples juice 
• 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 1/3 cups dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons minced white onion
• 1 tablespoon Jack Daniel's whiskey
• 1 tablespoon crushed pineapple
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cute about 1/2 inch off of the head of garlic. Cut the roots so that the garlic will sit flat. Remove the excess papery skin from the garlic, but leave enough so that the cloves stay together. Put the garlic into a small casserole dish or baking pan, drizzle the olive oil over it, and cover it with a lid or foil. Bake for 1 hour. Remove the garlic from the oven and let it cool until you can handle it.

Combine the water, pineapple juice, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar in a medium saucepan and place over medium/high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil, then reduce the heat until the mixture is just simmering.

Squeeze the sides of the head of garlic until pastry roasted garlic is squeezed out. Measure 2 teaspoons into the saucepan and whisk to combine. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan and stir. Let the mixture simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced by about half and is thick and syrupy. Make sure it doesn't boil over. Makes about 1 to 2 cups of glaze.

If desired, strain chunks out of glaze for a smoother consistency.

Recipe from Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3

Smoked Sausage Rigatoni Bake

My kids have been having swim lessons every morning, so it's been tricky to find the time to post right before I leave. But I wanted to quickly post another dinner recipe, especially since this is such a yummy and easy meal!! You just cook the noodles, cut up the sausage, throw it all together in a casserole dish and bake it. Super simple and super delicious!! Enjoy :) (Makes enough for about 4 adults)

Estimated Cooking Time: About 50 minutes.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces (3 cups) uncooked dried rigatoni pasta
• 1 (14- to 16-ounce) package cooked smoked turkey sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 1 (14- to 15-oune) jar pizza sauce*
• 1/4 cup whipping cream**
• 1 (2.25-ounce) can (1/2 cup) sliced ripe olives, drained
• 4 ounces (1 cup) Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

*Substitute 1 1/2 cups of your favorite spaghetti sauce.

**Substitute 3 tablespoons milk and 1 tablespoon melted butter.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions (Tip: Pasta shapes can be substituted as long as you choose another that is similar in shape and size. Mostaccioli, penne or ziti are great substitutes for rigatoni. Because pasta will continue to cook when used in baked recipes, cook it the minimum amount of time listed on the package). Drain; set aside.

Combine all ingredients except cheese in greased 3 quart casserole. Cover; bake for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with cheese. Continue baking, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes or until rigatoni mixture is heated through and cheese is melted.

Recipe from Land O' Lakes Recipe Collection Baking and More

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Hey Everyone! I wanted to add a fun breakfast recipe before Saturday, since that's my day to have everyone sit down in the morning and actually start the day together :) I love biscuits and gravy! And it is so quick and easy! I think a big problem that people incur is that they make their gravy too runny, but this recipe is pretty much mistake-proof. If you do by chance add to much milk, just keep some cream of tartar close by. Add like 1/2 a teaspoon and boil for a couple minutes, that will thicken it up. Also, don't be afraid to get flavored sausage if you are wanting something a little different. I used italian ground sausage and it turned out really yummy. Enjoy!!

Estimated Cooking Time: 20 minutes if you bake biscuits, and 10 minutes if your biscuits are already made.

Ingredients

• 1/4 pound bulk pork sausage
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/4 to 1 1/3 cups milk
• Warm biscuits

In a skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add butter and heat until melted. Add the flour, salt and pepper; cook and stir until blended.

Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve over biscuits.

Recipe from The Taste of Home Cookbook

Country Pinto Beans

It's about time for another dinner recipe. My mom made this for me growing up and it's awesome and super healthy for you. Just a few little hints before you start. First, you need to sort through your beans and make sure there are no bad beans, rocks, or foreign objects.

You don't want these to go into your pot. Once you've done this, wash your beans and put them into the pot. Something else you should know is that you want your water to reduce in the pot, but not get so low that the beans burn. So get a big pot! Your gonna want about a 1 to 3 ratio of beans to water. So 3 cups of beans needs about 8 to 9 cups of water. But what I do is in a big pot I fill the pot about 3/4 the way full, that way I know I wont have to add more water. Try to avoid adding more water unless it has reduced to the point that it is no longer covering the beans or is barely covering the beans. This shouldn't be a problem if you cook the beans at a low simmer. I know this all sounds complicated, but it is actually really simple. Just check on it every couple of hours and give it a stir. This recipe is also awesome with fresh tortillas.

Ingredients

• 3 to 3 1/2 cups pinto beans
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1/2 to 3/4 cups chopped onion
• 1 jalapeno, chopped and seeded
• 2 garlic clovers, minced
• 5 slices of bacon, cut up
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• sour cream and cheese to top with

Directions
Sort through pinto beans and remove any foreign objects. Wash and place into a large pot.

Take butter and melt into a small saucepan. Add chopped onions. Saute onions until they have become translucent. Add to the pot.

Then add chopped jalapeno, garlic, bacon, salt and pepper. Quick Tip: The easiest way to cut up your bacon is to use kitchen shears if you have them. Also, you don't need to waste the time and separate all of your bacon. They will separate in the cooking process.

Fill pot 3/4 full with warm water. Place on the stove on high until mix comes to a boil. Boil for about 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat to bring water to a light simmer. Stir then cover. Cook for 6 to 8 hours. Check on beans about every 2 hours to make sure that water level hasn't dropped below the beans and to stir.

My favorite way to serve this is with a dollop of sour cream and topped with a little cheese. Enjoy!!