Cheese & Green Onion Drop Biscuits

These were inspired by the cheese biscuits a local restaurant has on their menu. I used the exact same garlic cheese bread recipe from a previous post, click here to get it. I just added green onions, dropped them biscuit style instead of making a loaf, and then topped each biscuit with melted garlic butter. They were a big hit!

Taco Soup

Best comfort soup ever! Also one of the easiest. You could personalize this more with your own blend of taco spices and fresh chopped onions and garlic if you have the time and want to experiment. I went with the straight recipe for the first time. It was great! Of course mine was venison taco soup ;)

Taco Soup
Source: my mom

2 lbs ground chuck, drained (I used ground venison)
2 packets ranch dressing
2 packets taco seasoning
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can RoTel
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cans white shoepeg corn
2 soup cans of water (You can use less depending on how thick you like your soup)

Mix all ingredients together. Bring to a boil. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes. I did all this in the crockpot. Even on high for 30 minutes it never boiled, but it still tasted awesome!

My bowl topped with chopped cilantro and cheese:

Green Rice

I got this idea from Rachael Ray, but hers had a lot more green. This is a great side dish for any meal or even by itself if you are going meat-less. Forgive the picture, all I had at the moment was my iphone.

Green Rice
Source: Me, inspired by Racheal Ray

rice
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1 cup of cilantro, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Prepare two servings of rice according to the package directions. I like to use jasmin rice, but you can use whatever you like. Set aside to cool. In a large skillet, heat olive and sesame oil over medium high. Add shallot, garlic and jalapeno. Sautee for a minute or so, then add the rice. Toss to coat the rice and let it sit for a few minutes before you toss it again. It should develop a little crunch. After about 10 minutes or less depending on how much rice you have, remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Serve immediately.

Happy 2010!!

I can't believe another year is beginning. I guess the old adage is true; the older you get the quicker time passes! It seems like we were just celebrating the new 2009 new year. I am looking forward to a fantastic 2010 though!

This year, my hubby went hunting on New Year's Eve after work, so dinner was just me and the little man. L ended up taking a late nap, so I decided to make something I'd been craving for a while now: dumplings!

I'm not sure if this dish is really redneck or really lazy but I know it is really good! I absolutely love dumplings, but have never made them. I heard of people using canned biscuits to make quick and easy dumplings, but just wasn't sure how they would taste. Since I had some on hand, I decided to try it out. The only chicken I had was frozen and I was just too tired to defrost it and then worry about cooking it. Therefore, this is what I came up with and I will definitely make it again! Not sure if the hubby would like it though. It's not substantial enough for him. Maybe I'll use this recipe and add some chicken next time. I do love chicken and dumplings. :)



Dumpling Soup
Source: Me
Serves 1

1 1/2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Stock
2 canned biscuits
1 dash each of salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, dried Italian herb blend

Combine stock and seasonings in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Pinch off pieces of the biscuits and drop into the stock. Move dumplings around as they cook to make sure they don't stick to the bottom of the pan.

You may not want all the broth as soup, but you need at least a cup and half to get the dumplings to move around while they cook. You can refrigerate the broth and use it again later though. Or just eat all of it. That's what I did. ;)

All in all, Pretty easy, right? No muss, no fuss. I was really surprised at how good this turned out and really enjoyed my dinner!

Baking Again

I know it comes as a shock since I am always bemoaning how much time and measuring it takes to bake. And usually I am a huge failure in this arena. For some reason, most of my adventures in baking have ended badly. However, this December I am 2 for 2! My previous post about cookies was a hit and now I have made bread. This is the second time I have ever even attempted making bread in my entire life, and of course it is another quick bread. No time for yeast and rising and all that for this girl. When I want something, I don't want to wait forever!

This is another recipe I bookmarked a really long time ago and I recently came across it again when looking for a bread recipe to make for one of my family Christmas gatherings. The need was born of necessity since I forgot to get dinner rolls at the store. I am not even a big bread eater, but I do love any kind of garlic cheese bread.

This bread was dense, cheesy and garlicy with a nice crunchy outside. Yum! Everyone loved it and I will definitely make it again. This loaf served 9.

Find the original recipe here. The only changes I made were adding a tbsp of garlic powder and not using the dill. I think the dill would be awesome, but it called for fresh dill and I just didn't think the dried stuff would taste as good.

Best Christmas Cookies Ever!!

I am a bit ridiculous when it comes to cookies. I don't like "brown" cookies. I like them white and soft. For this reason, I don't eat them very often. Which is not really such a bad thing. You know, when you consider the whole trying to lose weight thing.

But alas, it is Christmas time which definitely calls for cookie baking. I had bookmarked this cookie recipe ages ago and came across it again recently. These cookies looked so cute and fun. They would be great to do with kids, but not my kid. At only 18 months, he was a little less than enthused. When I told him we were going to make cookies, he did not understand why we could not eat them right then. There was a lot of waiting involved, which he is not so great at. I did give him some cookie dough while we waited for them to cook. Yes, I gave my child cookie dough with raw eggs in it. Trust me, I am sure it is not the worst thing he has eaten.

I am not even going to try and do this recipe justice. Click here to see the original post from Pioneer Woman. She is awesome. And so are these cookies!

A Healthy Twist

I am mildly obsessed with The Biggest Loser tv show, and now I have the wii game which is one of the hardest work outs I've ever done! On the game, they even have a section of recipes and healthy living tips from the trainers and past contestants. One tip is to take a recipe you love and find a way to make it better for you. I recently did this with my hamburger hash. Click here to get the original version. In this twist, I used ground turkey instead of ground beef and substituted black beans for the potatoes. I would love to tell you that I calculated just how much fat and calories you saved, plus you added fiber by adding the beans, but I can't. I just didn't have time. I was too hungry. Ha!

It turned out awesome though! And, I didn't even miss the ground beef or potatoes. The ground turkey tasted almost the same. I just bumped up the seasonings a little more. And I love black beans, so that was an easy swap. Logan also loves beans or peas of any kind, so he was all over this dinner. Plus, this fed all 3 of us for dinner, plus it fed Logan and I for lunch for 2 or 3 more days!! It re-heats perfectly.

Ground Turkey Hash
Source: Me

1.25 lbs ground turkey (Make sure they didn't grind the skin up too. Jenni O makes a great one!)
1.5 tbsp chili powder
1.5 tbsp paprika
.5 tbsp cumin
1/2 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can corn
1 can black beans
1 can stewed tomatoes

Brown turkey over medium high heat. Once almost cooked through, add spices and garlic/onion. Cook a few more minutes, then add corn, black beans and tomatoes. Stir and turn heat down to low. Let simmer about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up the tomatoes. The longer it simmers, the better it tastes!!