Waffle Fries as the Dipping Device? You have to be Kidding!

The Superbowl has come and gone. I was happy to see that Tom Brady, all by himself, did not win the Superbowl. I can not stand that smarmy face and just to see him lose at something made me feel good and tingly inside. I know, what a bitch. Oh well, that's what I am and apparently his wife is too. Ok, enough about that, let's get to what is most important on Superbowl Sunday.

You got it, the schnacks! Oh how I love a good schnack. I could live on them as meals. Yes, cream cheese is a household staple over here. I use the 1/3 less fat. It makes me feel slightly, slightly less guilty about the dips made over here. I am not alone in this love. My true love, Jasen, also loves a good schnack. Maybe that's why we go together so well. We LOVE to eat. It's on the verge of being a sickness. Over eaters anonymous, hi, my name is Dana and this is Jasen. Hello Dana and Jasen.

I am always looking for a great new schnack. Something a little different. Something fun. As I was on Pinterest, I was browsing around, (insert the sound of tires screeching to a hault here), waaaaaiiiit!!! What is that?! Loaded baked potato dip! And you use whhhhaaat to dip in it?? This can't be real! Waffle fries as the dipping device. You have to be kidding me!!

Yes people, this one is a keeper. It is really good. It made Tom Brady's loss even better. Do I even need to say it again, waffle fries as the dipping device!!

Loaded Baked Potato Dip
3 TBS of REAL bacon bits, not those crappy fake ones
16oz sour cream, I used the light. I always use the light.
2 cups of finely shredded cheddar
1/3 cup of chives
2 tsp of hot sauce
Garnish with bacon bits and some chives and a little cracked pepper on top.
A bag of waffle fries, I suggest two bags, made to the directions on the bag.

Stir together the bacon, sour cream, cheddar, chives and the hot sauce. Cover and chill for at least an hour.
Garnish with the chives, bacon and cracked pepper.

Serve with waffle fries out of the oven.

Sopa Whhhaaat???

Pinster, Pin Nailer two names Jasen has come up with for my latest obsession. Pinterest. Yes, me and millions of women across America are obsessed or addicted to Pinterest. I pin tons of stuff, but if you look at my boards you will see that the majority of my pins are, you guessed it, food. Imagine that.

I pin just about anything that I think looks good and hope that some day I come back to it and actually make it. As you well know, one of my requirements on cooking is it must be easy. Yes, there are times that I do extend my self and make a time intensive recipe, but usually, it is fast and easy. Go ahead, snicker, fast and easy. This recipe is just that.

Sopapilla Cheesecake. Sopa whhhaaaattt? That's what I thought at first. What the heck is this? I have never heard of it before, but the cinnaminny goodness on the top just pulled me in. I had to make this and eat this. Eat ALL of this. I took a look to see what it was going to take to whip up this delightful concauction and guess what?! It's easy! Uh oh, this could be dangerous. Fast, easy AND delicious. Shit, I'm doomed.

I quickly slapped this together and baked it and the smell in my house made me gain five pounds. I could not wait for the timer to go off and dig in. BBBBBEEEEEEEPPPPP! There it is! The timer is going off. Get out of my way! Here I come my sweet little sopa whatever the heck you are.

I set this onto the stovetop to cool and I could barely control myself. Let's just say Jasen and I did not let it cool all the way and we dug in while it was warm, actually steaming. Hey everyone, listen to me when I say, blow on it! For real. You are going to be tempted to take that first bite while it is molten lava, blow on it.

This sopa whatever it is, is so damn good hot right out of the oven or ice cold out of the fridge the next day. If you are looking for a super easy, super duper yummy little treat, you have found it here. My only warning blow on it and prepare to gain five pounds, at least.

Sopapilla Cheesecake from pinster
3 cans of cresent roll dough
2 blocks of cream cheese, soft
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
1/4 cup of melted butter
1 TBS of cinnamon for topping
3 TBS of granulated sugar for topping

Be sure to seal it up good.
Do the same when working
on the top.

Unroll and spread 1 1/2 of the cans of cresent rolls on an ungreased baking dish 13x9. Make sure you seal together where they are scored to separate.

There it is, that five pounds,
straight to my rear end.

Combine cream cheese, a cup of sugar and the vanilla until smooth. Spread this over the cresent crust.

Unroll and seal together the remaining cresent rolls and then put them on top of the cream cheese mixture.

Fresh out of the oven. OMG I want to lick the screen!

Now use your melted butter and a basting brush and butter the top. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the entire top. Coat that baby good.

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. You will see the bottom getting nice and brown. Let it cool until it is not molten lava and eat it up! Store in the fridge.

Wanna Snnnnaaaaaccckkk????

Last weekend we went camping. This sounds like a pretty normal statement had it been July or August, maybe even September, but this was October. Not the beginning of October, the END of October. You know what happens at the END of October? It's cold! FRICKIN COLD!

Now I knew it would be cold. Don't get me wrong, I knew it would be cold. I knew we would be in a tent, I knew we would have a heater and warm sleeping bags. All of this I knew. What I didn't know was that the wrong rain cover for the top of our tent, which coincidentally is all screen, was packed. Our tent is a 12 man tent. The cover we had with us in the dark of a cold October night was made for a six man tent. At first we thought we just had it the wrong way on the tent. Round and round we went trying to make that cover fit. Why isn't this working? Hmmmmm...BECAUSE IT GOES TO THE OTHER TENT!

We made due and did our best to get it to cover as much screen as we could. Let's just say that once you were inside the ventilation was superb and the view of the stars was good too on one side of the tent. Anyway, we blow up the air mattresses and get all of the blankets set. Turn that little heater on full blast. My famous last words, I think it is getting warmer in here already.

We were there with Kim, our sitter, and her family and some of their friends. They all had campers, so no one else had any tent drama. We go and enjoy a nice WARM campfire, which always includes lots of yummy snacks. We may not have been prepared with the tent, but we were prepared with the snacks. All of you that know me know that I always am ready with snacks. Wanna snnnnnaaaaccck?

They look innocent, but so do babies and any mother
knows how innocent babies really are.

I busted out the pretzels. You may be thinking pretzels, really? Yuck. I know that is what I usually think about pretzels unless they are dipped in chocolate, but these are no ordinary pretzels. These pretzels come straight from Noni's kitchen. I have no idea where or when she got this recipe, but I have been eating these pretzels as long as I can remember. These pretzels are addictive. You will not be able to eat just one. I challenge you to try.

Here is what I did:

2 bags of pretzels, those mini ones,  not sticks or rods, regular pretzels
1 1/2 cups of Butter flavor Orville Reddenbacher Oil, the kind you use to make popcorn in a pot
1 tsp lemon pepper, heaping
1 package of powdered ranch dressing like Hidden Valley


Whisk together the oil, lemon pepper and the powdered dressing so there are no clumps. Put the bags of pretzels into a really large bowl. I actually used my roasting pan, so that I could easily mix them with out them spilling everywhere. Take the liquid mixture and pour it over the pretzels and then mix. I like to use a rubber spatula to mix, so that I can scrape the bottom and get the pretzels fully covered. You are going to let them sit and then turn them again, trying each time to get them covered with the oil mix. This is going to take some hours, yes hours, so do it on a day where you have time or will be in and out. Continue to turn them until all of the oil has absorbed into the pretzels. Store them in a ziploc bag.

That's it! Go ahead and try to eat just one. You won't be able to.

Although camping was freezing at night and NO it was not getting warmer in there, we did have an absolute blast on Saturday. The kids loved it and so did we. Thanks Kim for all of the fun!

Paula Deen, don't do me dirty.

I've been into comfort foods lately and who does comfort foods better than Paula Deen? No one is the correct answer. The woman uses real butter and sugar without apologizing. Why should she? Everything she makes always tastes great, right?

We took a family trip out to County Line Apple Orchard in Hobart, Ind. I love this place. It is super cute, the kids love it and the apples are so good. They are at the right height for picking, even for the smallest of kids and watching the kids munching away right there in the orchard is just the best. I think everyone who has ever been apple picking starts out by saying "We aren't going to get too many." We all know what happens to best laid plans. Another year of going to the orchard, not to pick too many, and we have come home with a HUGE amount of apples.

Little picking machines. Even munchkins can
reach the apples!

Wondering what the H-E-double hockey sticks (GO HAWKS) we are going to do with all of these apples I turned to my trusty internet. I know, I know, I need an intervention, but come on already, if you don't know what to do, Google it. I made my way over to www.pauladeen.com when I came across a lovely little recipe for Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes. First thought, my God, that would be good with a cup of coffee or after dinner for dessert or maybe just for a snack or you know, anytime at all.

Since I was already on her site, I remember my friend Stacey telling me just how delicious the Ultimate Lady's Cheesy Mac and Cheese was on Paula Deen's site, so I made my way to that too and thought, let's do this! I was on a mission. A mission from, butter, sugar, more butter and cheese. Sounds like heaven right? Well, you might have a grabber after eating this, but still it's heaven.

I started with the cupcakes because the dough is the kind that has to rise with yeast and they sounded time intensive, but it was PAULA DEEN, so I made an exception.

This is what I did:
For the Roll
2 cups 2%milk
1Tbs dry active yeast
1/3 cup white sugar
2tsp salt
6 1/2 cups flour, divided
2 eggs
1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temp

Warm the milk to about 110 degrees in the microwave and in a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar into the milk. Give it a few stirs and let it sit for a few minutes. Add the salt and 2 cups of flour and beat for 2 minutes. Then beat in eggs and butter and stir in remaining flour a half cup at a time. (Don't loose count, I did, but it was ok.)

Once everything is in and mixed well, you should have a sticky dough ball. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed until elastic, about 5 minutes, adding a little flour until not sticky to the touch.

Put the dough back into a bowl and cover with a towel in a warm place for about 40 minutes until it has doubled in size. Then roll it out onto a floured surface into the shape of a rectangle about 1/4" thick. Now, this is where I started, just started getting nervous because this was one whopping piece of dough. Oh, Paula!

Filling
1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 TBS cinnamon
1 cup loosely chopped pecans
2 cups finely chopped tart apples(like golden delicious or granny smiths) Next time I would use more apples.

Take half of the melted butter and brush it over the top of the dough. The whole thing should be a glistening slab of rectangle shaped dough. Then mix both sugars, cinnamon, pecans and apples in a bowl and then spread this over the dough leaving an 1" empty around all edges.

This is where it gets tricky. You now have to roll this monstrosity along the LONG side into a huge log of sugary goodness. Paula, what the heck? This is enormous! How in the world is this EVER going to fit into cupcake tins. There is no way. NO WAY. Paula, I love you and all, but I am starting to think. Paula don't do me dirty.

Ok, you have this huge log of dough and you are supposed to slice it 27 times and stuff these slices into cupcake tins. Sorry everyone, I never thought I would say this, but Paula was wrong on this one. Quick thinking, quick thinking, quick thinking...Cinnamon ROLLS! YES! ROLLS!

Yeah, there was no way those were fitting into
cupcake tins. Kinda like me into skinny jeans.

I get out my glass pie dishes and I spray them so nothing sticks and start cutting and placing all of these rolls into the dishes. There we go. Crisis averted, Paula you are still on my good list. Now cover these with a towel and let them sit for another 40. Yes, time intensive, but still hopeful for a good turn out. Paula, don't do me dirty.

40 minutes later, brush the tops with the remaining melted butter and bake. Now if these were cupcakes it says 20 minutes. Nope, these are rolls all packed together. It took about 40 minutes at 350, I think. I ended up even having to cover the edges with foil because they were browning to fast and the center wasn't done. Paula, don't do me dirty was just repeating over and over in my head by this point.

Beep beep beep, the sound of my timer. Finally, done. Now for the glaze.

The finished product. OMG, give me a fork.

1 cup of powdered sugar and 2 TBS PLUS 1 tsp of apple cider. Mix this all up and it will be a yummy glaze to top off the cinnamon rolls. Drizzle away. Yummy.

I must have been feeling a little nutty by this time or maybe I wanted to see how this other Paula recipe was going to turn out, Paula don't do me dirty, but I thought let's do this Mac and Cheese.

This is what I did:
2 cups dried elbow mac
1/3 cup of grated cheeses, swiss, jack, colby, munster, gouda. So, I couldn't find all of these grated, I had to do it myself.
1/2 cup sour cream
4TBS butter in pieces
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cup milk
non-stick spray
Cook pasta al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain and place into a large bowl. While pasta is hot, add all of the cheeses and stir. In a separate bowl, whisk sour cream, butter, eggs, salt, pepper and milk. Add this to the mac. Spray the 13x9 casserole dish and pour everything in. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until bubbly, top with more cheese.

CHEESE makes everything better.

After my cinnamon rolls, all I could think is, this better be good. Paula, don't do me dirty. My motto is cheese makes everything better and in this instance, it was better. So better. So, so better. This mac and cheese is really really good. We had it with jumbo hot dogs and chips. It was perfect. We had cinnamon apple rolls for dessert and YES, they too were delicious. I came, I made and modified and it was a success.

Oh, my, yummy.

Thank you Paula Deen for being the queen of all things good.

We are all skeptics.

Looks like apples, tastes like apples,
but it's not apples!

My work friends are cool. They are the reason I semi-like going there. They give me great ideas for many of the things on my blog and they are usually the taste testers. My friend Carl, from work, eats a lot of "fake" things and tells us how they taste just like something else. For example, the fake Big Mac. He keeps on telling all of us about the fake Big Mac and how it really does taste just like the real thing. I'm skeptical. How in the world does fake meat ever really taste like a real Big Mac?

This is zucchini,
not apples. Skeptical.

Sliced up and ready to go.
Fake apples.

Well, now that it is fall and everyone's gardens are overflowing, there was a giant zucchini left on the table in the staff lounge, free for the taking. Seriously, this thing was huge. We split it in three and of course, Carl is telling us about this fake apple crisp that you make out of zucchini and that I should try to make it. Skeptical, but intrigued.

Wait! Could it be?
Apple or zucchini?

He emails me the recipe and I take it home, still skeptical, but since I had all of the ingredients, I thought, what the hell. I told Jasen all about this because I sometimes try to trick my family into eating things that they end up loving, but have no clue what's actually in it. Turkey Tacos. He is instantly in for this little journey down the fake apple crisp road. Skeptical.

Here is what we did:
8 cups of thinly sliced zucchini, like you would slice apples if it was real apple crisp.
3/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon, I actually messed up here and put in 2 Tbs and it was delicious.

topping
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cups of butter, room temp

My favorite part, the crumbly topping.
Oh how I love you crumbly topping.

Place the slice zucchini and lemon juice in a large sauce pan and cook over medium heat stirring occasionally until they are tender. It takes about 15 minutes. Add the nutmeg, sugar and cinnamon and blend until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and pour into a greased 13x9 glass baking dish.

Make the topping by combining the brown sugar, flour, oats and butter. Mix this all around until it is crumbly. This takes a little work to get it all crumbly, but it is worth the mixing. Sprinkle this over the top of the zucchini and bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until the top is golden. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

The house smelled like lots of cinnamon and we took this out of the oven a little less skeptical because it smelled sooooo good. We scooped it into bowls and topped it with ice cream. Even less skeptical because it looked soooooo good. Then we tasted it. Maybe that fake Big Mac really does taste like the real thing.

What's Up? Chicken Butt!

Looks like you got a corn cob stuck up
your butt.  Nope,that's a beer can.
Butt, seriously, look at the
placement of the thermometer.

My friend Tracy, who is also my cousin which is a whole different story, sent me a link to Beer Can Chicken. I have seen this one before and have always wanted to make it. I have no idea what has been holding me back, but now that I have made it and it was DELICIOUS, I will be making it again, but with one of my little changes, of course. I might just do this rub to wings because the skin is so good.

My little helpers were in the kitchen today delegating and supervising when I had to rinse the chicken. I turn on the cold water, cut open the wrapper to the chicken and both kids said, "What are you going to do with that??" Logen also wanted to know where the chicken's head was. That alone turned into an interesting conversation. I start washing the outside of the chicken and tell the kids he is getting a bath and the both laugh. Then, I rinsed out the inside and the water started flowing right from where the chicken's head should be, Logen informed me, right out of his butt. When the shower of water came rushing out of that chicken's butt, the kids busted out! It was more than a 3 and 5 year old could handle. Imagine Hyenas. That is what these two sounded like. I can't knock them. Just hearing someone say fart still makes me giggle. Yes, I know, very sixth grade of me, but come on people, you know you laugh at fart too. Fart, fart, fart. Ok. Back to the story.

The little helpers
yucking it up for
the camera.

So the kids are busting up about this chicken's butt and I pat him dry with paper towels only to put a half of a can of beer onto a plate. Again, "Mommy what are you going to do with that?" Payten did ask if she could have a sip. Yes, I know, she is the one that is going to give us the problems. We three are standing at the kitchen counter staring down the can of beer, me wondering how the hell this chicken is going to stand with this can up its butt and the kids wondering what the heck is about to happen.

Coat that little butt good. You will
be happy you did when you
get a taste in about an hour!

That's when it did happen. One can of beer right up the butt, of the chicken that is. What's up? Chicken Butt! Again laughing and giggles. Then we put the rub on and when I rubbed the chicken's butt, that's when the shit hit the fan. Not literally, of course, I did just get done washing his little butt out. Every and all butt joke they could muster up came out. Mommy is rubbing a chicken's butt, ahahahhaha! Yes, I rubbed that chicken's little butt. Patted him all up with seasoned rub, just like talcum powder onto a baby.

Now it was time for the big transfer to the grill and the moment of truth. Will the lid shut with the beer can up the butt chicken on it? I set it on the grill, started closing the lid and trumpets sounded! Yes! It fit in the grill.

That chicken sat uncomfortably for about an hour with that beer can in his butt and he was done! We carved like it was Thanksgiving and I will tell you, Beer Can Up the Butt Chicken is AWESOME! So the next time you hear someone say What's up? You go right ahead and tell them Chicken Butt!

Here is what I did:

Heat the grill to medium heat, around 375.

Rub:
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs Chili powder
2 Tbs Paprika
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Mix all of the above together.

1/2 can of beer
2 Tbs melted butter

Place the can of beer onto a plate. Rinse the chicken well and pat dry, then place the chicken onto the beer can, leg to the bottom. Sprinkle about 1 Tbs of the rub into the chicken from the top, then baste the entire chicken with the melted butter. Take the remaining rub and coat the entire chicken, top to bottom, with the rub.

Take this to the grill and put it on there. Place the thermometer into the chicken by the thigh, but not close to the bone, close the lid and let it cook. When the temp reaches 180 on the thermometer, the chicken is done. It is soooo good.

Let's Get Choppin

I said to Jasen last week while swinging on the lounge swing, Auntie and Uncle Bob know how to throw a party. We were sitting there eating poorboy sandwiches, drenched in Merichka's garlic butter (the bestest most yummy garlic butter anywhere), watching all of our family and friends eating and have a good time. The pool was a perfect blue and the kids were having fun too. What more could you want?

Auntie Janice wrangling the beasts in the pool.
Thanks Auntie and Uncle Bob for always
having the best pool parties! We love you!

This weekend rolls around and we are all in denial that summer is coming to an end, so what are we to do on a bright sunny late August afternoon? Pool Party! That's right, the weather is still warm and we are going to take full advantage of that. Auntie sends out the weekly text, pp on sat. can you bring bruschetta? My thought, consider it done. It is the absolute least I could do for all of the weekends of fun we have had over there at their house.

There it is. Bruschetta before it knew it was bruschetta.

Now, you may think that bruschetta is a challenge to make with all of the chopped veggies, but let me tell you, it's not. This is something that looks like you spent a lot of time on, but if you have the right tools, you won't. I know that I go on and on about things I like and love on my blog and I know that, if you read my blog, you have already heard about the Vidalia Chop Wizard. You may be scared because it is one of those "As Seen on TV" products. I too would have been skeptical if it weren't for Grandpa Bob buying me my first one, but believe me, this is a GREAT product. BUY IT!

After years of use, I dropped and cracked my first one. I thought, hmmm, I am going to see if I can live without it. Three days went by and I was on target.com buying myself a new one. Seriously, I use this about three times a week or more. Get it.

Ok, back to bruschetta. If you have this chopper this is a cinch.

That's it! Super duper easy and super duper delish!

Here is what I did:
Good Seasoning's Garlic Herb Dressing you will need 2 pouches and the ingredients to make the dressing.
3-4 tomatoes, they are in season and coming out of every one's ears
Peppers, 3, I used, green, red and a little yellow, but use what you like
1 Onion, but not a big one because you don't want the onion to over power everything.
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic Bread to serve it on.

Ok, first, chop all of the veggies and I did mine on the small square chopper. Using that chopper, it took me less than 15 minutes to dice all of the veggies. Put them into a bowl.
Make the dressing according the the recipe on the pouch, but instead of the water it calls for, I used more vinegar. Use both dry pouches, but only the wet ingredients for one pouch. Pour that onto the veggies and stir. Then, add some salt and pepper to taste and mix. I also added a little extra dash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Nothing too major, just a little shot of each.

Cook your garlic bread of choice and that's it!
Boom! Done! Bruschetta!