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Recipe: Pasta Salad

Recipe: Pasta Salad

5 cups Elbow macaroni

Half large onion, diced

Large red pepper, diced

Large tomato, diced

¾ cup sour cream

¼ cup mayo

Half packet ranch seasoning

12 oz can chicken

Garlic pepper seasoning to taste

I didn’t measure anything when I made this so these measurements are all estimations. Of course everything is to taste and you can put whatever you want into the salad. I made this for Father’s Day to go with our roasted red pepper chicken sausage sandwiches and maple sugar bourbon marinated chicken wings. Delicious! Let me know what you think!

Pizza Roll-Ups

Recipe: Pizza Roll-Ups

1 can crescent rolls

1 package sliced pepperoni

12 sticks mozzarella string cheese

1. Lay crescent rolls on greased cookie sheet.

2. Place 3 slices of pepperoni on each crescent roll.

3. Cut each string cheese in half. Lay one piece on the wide end of each crescent roll.

4. Roll each crescent roll starting from the wide end.

5. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Tips: You can melt butter with some garlic powder in it and coat the tops of the rolls for some extra flavor.


My Interpretation:

We saw a picture of something similar to this on Tumblr and thought it would be a wonderful easy lunch to make. It was cheap and simple to make and everyone loved it. This would be great to make for kids or as a party favor. You can use any kind of string cheese you want, whether it's mozzarella, cheddar, etc.

[Chopped]

So I'm sitting here watching Chopped with my cooking buddy (Josh!) and it has inspired me to practice my cooking to the point where I could hypothetically compete on the show. I love cooking with whatever random, obscure ingredients I can find in the kitchen. I eat the weirdest, most random foods that most people would consider disgusting together. With enough practice, I could do pretty well on that show.

Lemon Pepper Mason Jar Chicken

Recipe: Lemon Pepper Mason Jar Chicken

Source

1 (3-4lb) fryer chicken

1 whole lemon, cut in half

2 tablespoons freshly cracked black pepper

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup chicken stock or water

1 pint sized mason jar

1 small bunch thyme (optional)

1. Heat grill over low heat (350-400 degrees F). Add chicken stock or water, lemon and optional thyme to mason jar. Salt and pepper chicken. Place chicken on mason jar, and then place on grill. (Depending on chicken size, you may have to slightly force your chicken on the jar).

2. Grill chicken over 350-400 degrees F, or until chicken is golden brown, juices run clear, and internal temperature is 165 degrees F.

My Interpretation:

First of all, I cooked the chicken in the oven in a stock pot as opposed to on the grill. Cooking it this way made it take a little longer, but it still turned out just as tender and delicious. The meat literally fell off the bone when I pulled the chicken out of the pot. And the house smelled amazing while it was cooking. If you only have time to throw something in the oven for a  while without tending to it constantly, this is definitely a great recipe to try.

 

This is not my photo. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. :( But it looked pretty much the same!

Hawaiian Baked Ham and Swiss Sandwiches

Recipe: Hawaiian Baked ham and Swiss Sandwiches

From: The Kitchen Life of a Navy Wife

1 12-pack of King’s Hawaiian Original Rolls

1 ob. Deli ham, shaved

1 lb. Swiss cheese, thinly sliced

1 ½ sticks butter

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

3 teaspoons of poppy seeds

1 onion, chopped

1. Heat oven to 350. Melt butter and mix in mustard, Worcestershire sauce, onion and poppy seed. Simmer for several minutes.

2. Cut the entire pack of rolls in half, horizontally (keeping all top and bottom halves intact).

3. In greased 9x13 pan, place bottom half of rolls and spread 1/3 of the onion mixture over the bottom of the rolls, followed by the ham and cheese.

4. Replace the tops of the rolls and spread the remaining onion mixture over top.

5. Cover and bake for 15-20 minutes and, once finished, separate for serving.

My Interpretation:

Very delicious and very simple to make. I did not have poppy seeds, but it was still very good. Also, I used onion rolls instead of the Hawaiian ones in the recipe, but it was still very delicious. If you don’t have a lot of time to make dinner, I highly recommend this. You just mix it all together and pop it in the oven for about 15 minutes. Boom. Done. It is a wonderful spin on your average ham and Swiss sandwiches. Very filling, too! Eat up!

 

Warm Chocolate Pudding Cake

Recipe: Warm Chocolate Pudding Cake

From Cookingwith Joey

1 pkg chocolate cake mix

1 pkg (3.9 oz.) instant pudding mix

2 c. sour cream

4 eggs

1 c. water

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Whipped cream or ice cream

In a mixing bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into a 5-quart crock pot that has been coated with nonstick cooking spray. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs. Serve it while it’s still warm in bowls with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.

Tips: Usually when you cook something in a crock pot, you don’t have to be so exact with the time. If it’s an extra hour on low, it’ll still turn out fine. But with a crock pot cake, you want to try to hit the mark a little more closely. In other words, plan your time so that it’s finished cooking around the time you’ll be wanting to serve dessert. Otherwise the cake might begin to burn a little around the edges. If this happens, don’t fret. Just scoop it out of the center.

For an easy variation, try different combinations of cake flavors and kinds of chips. How about white chocolate, peanut butter, or caramel chips?

My Interpretation:

We used fudge brownie mix instead of cake mix and it turned out even more decadent than expected. We turned out crock pot off at exactly 6 hours and it came out very moist and pretty much perfect. We topped it with some fudge swirl ice cream and by golly was that delicious. We put the leftovers in the fridge and might I say, the refrigerated version of this recipe is like eating the softest, most delectable fudge you’ve ever had. Sure this recipe takes longer than your average cake recipe, but it’s well worth the wait. This cake came out better than any cake I’ve ever tasted. I don’t think I’ll ever look at a cake the same way again, haha. I would highly highly highly recommend this recipe to anyone who wants to show off some cooking skills or someone who is trying to impress a friend, relative, love/lust interest, etc.