Sweet Potato Crumble Casserole

 Thanksgiving is almost here! It really is one of my favorite holidays. There's just something so warming about the smells and tastes of fall. One of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving meal is the sweet potatoes. My family has quite a few different types of sweet potato dishes and all of them are delicious. This one is one I have been wanting to try for quite some time and it cam out very tasty.

I love the traditional marshmallow topped casserole, but I wanted to make a new twist on the same flavors. There has never been a streusel topping I haven't loved and this one was no exception.


 For this recipe you will need:
2 medium sweet potatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup butter, divided
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar, divided
3/4 cup flour



First, microwave the sweet potatoes for 5 minutes, or until they are very tender. Let them cook until they are easy to handle.

Take the skins off of the sweet potato and mash them with 1/4 cup of the butter that has been melted. Add in the cinnamon, salt and pepper. I added about 1/2 teaspoon of each. Add the sugar now as well.










Pour the mixture into a greased casserole dish.








Combine the flour as well as the remaining butter and sugar.


Combine until it feels almost like sand. Then sprinkle it over the sweet potatoes.








Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. It should be heated through and browned on the top.



Happy Thanksgiving!

Baked Green Chile Macaroni and Cheese

 Hip, hip, hooray! It's casserole season. I love a good casserole. It's easy to make, transport, and freeze for later if you need to. Plus, I know few people who don't love casseroles. How can you resist them with their yummy sauces and crispy edges? This one has all of those things, and it doesn't use any processed canned soups either. Plus it has a nice spice and flavor.

To make delicious green chile macaroni and cheese you will need:

1 12 oz can of evaporated milk
1 or 2 small cans of diced green chile
1 teaspoon of garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional)
1 cup of grated cheddar
1 cup of grated Mozzarella or Monterrey Jack cheese
1/2 lb cooked macaroni




Begin by boiling the milk for about ten minutes. Evaporated milk is just like regular milk, but some of the water boiled out. We are going to encourage a bit more water to come out with this step.







 

After about ten minutes of being at a rolling boil, it should look like this. Turn down the heat as low as it will go before you add the cheese.

 Add the garlic salt, cayenne pepper, and green chiles. 

 Slowly add in the cheeses, reserving a few sprinkles for the top. If the sauce gets too thick, you can add a little milk to thin it out.

Combine with the cooked macaroni and put into an oven safe dish. Sprinkle on some of the cheese. OK, so I used a little extra cheese for this step.  I am also guilty of putting some green chiles on the top before baking as well. It's totally legal in all states.

Bake the macaroni for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until the cheese is browned and the center is bubbly and hot.

Perfect Hot Cocoa

 I have to admit, when the snow starts to fall and the temperatures drop I am a big baby. It's always been this way really. When I was a kid, all my friends would want to go sledding in the fresh powdery wonderland. I was not interested. Instead I would make them some tasty hot cocoa afterwords. It's a much more enjoyable wintertime activity, don't you think.

There are tons of recipes for hot cocoa and different mixes floating around out there. The biggest problem I have with them? They are all designed to keep a family with a circus of children in the cocoa business for over a year. Sometimes it's just nice to have one or two cups. This is by far my favorite recipe for hot cocoa. It's super chocolatey and doesn't have any silly filler ingredients in it. If you are a chocolate fan, this is for you. Plus, it's super easy!


For this yummy winter symptom elixir you will need:
1 cup of milk (whole,1%,2%, or skim)
1 Tbs cocoa powder
2 Tbs sugar

Start by putting the milk in a microwave safe mug. Then microwave it for about a minute. This will make the cocoa powder dissolve a little easier.

For the cocoa I made I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa. Not because I'm fancy, but because I don't read labels at the grocery store well. Just make sure you are using pure cocoa powder or else it will be super sweet. 

Plop in the cocoa and the sugar. Microwave for another 1 to 2 minutes more.



Stir, stir, stir. The cocoa takes some encouraging but it is worth it. If it is being stubborn, heat it for another 30 seconds or so.




Sit back, relax, and enjoy the good parts of winter.

 Easy Cheesy Rolls

 Every soup needs a good dipper, it's just kind of a requirement. These are super easy and taste delicious in any soup. You can change up the ingredients a bit to fit the soup you are serving them with. I added a good sprinkle of Italian seasoning to these since I made them with my tasty minestrone soup.

For these yummy rolls you just need:
1 can of regular crescent rolls
1/2 cup of grated cheese (I used mozzarella)
Italian Seasoning to taste

Unroll the crescent rolls and roll them out just a touch. I like a good amount of surface area for cheese!




Sprinkle on just a little cheese and seasonings of your choice.

Take a rolling pin and lightly squish down the toppings onto the rolls, this keeps them from falling off while you roll it up.

Roll up the crescents and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.


Serve with any delicious meal!

 Minestrone Soup

 Fall soup season is here! There are few things I love more than having a big bowl of warm soup at the end of a day of cold weather. This soup is perfect to warm up with. It's an easy and very healthy dinner you can make in no time!

For this recipie you will need:
1/2 lb Italian sausage
1/2 lb hamburger (you could just use one full pound of either one of these but I like the combination)
3 ribs of celery
3 carrots
2 green or red peppers
1/2 red onion
1 32 oz can of whole tomatoes
1 14 oz can of kidney or white beans
2 cups cooked short pasta (ditalini or penne)
3 chicken flavored bollion cubes

Brown the ground beef and sausage until it is no longer pink. Add salt and pepper to taste

 

Chop all of the vegetables into bite sized pieces. They shouldn't disappear in the soup. 

Add the vegetables and cook until they are tender, but not falling apart. 

Add in the can of whole tomatoes and the juice they come in. Squish the tomatoes until they are broken into smaller pieces.

 I use the whole tomatoes because they seem to have a sweeter flavor and I like the texture better for this recipe. Feel free to used diced or stewed tomatoes instead.



Fill up the 32 oz can with water and add it to the pot with the beans, pasta and bullion cubes. Simmer for about 20 minutes and serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.   

This soup goes so well with my garlic cheesy crescents. Come back on Thursday for the recipe!

 Oatmeal Raisin Bars with Cinnamon Ganache

 I often ask people this important question " Put these in order of most delicious: cake, cookies, and pie." People almost always say cookies. I would have to agree with them on that. Cookies are just so tasty and portable.

 Oatmeal raisin is one of my all time favorites, but this recipe uses a very special ingredient: cinnamon chips. I first heard of these when my dear friend Emily gave me a Hershey's dessert cookbook for Christmas. Hershey's made a thing of beauty with these little gems of cinnamon.

 I have had the best luck of finding the cinnamon chips at Albertson's stores, but I have seen them at other places as well. If you are unable to get your hands on some cinnamon chips, you can use white chocolate with a full teaspoon of cinnamon stirred in for the cinnamon ganache.



For this recipe you will need:

Bar ingredients
1/2 cup of butter, softened
1 cup of brown sugar*
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup of raisins





Combine the butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until the mixture is light and fluffy.



Then combine the cinnamon, flour, baking powder, raisins, and salt.

Add this to the butter mixture in two parts. Mix just until it is combined.



Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown and delicious.

Cinnamon Ganache

6 oz cinnamon chips
2 tbs milk

(you can just use white chocolate with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon if you are unable to locate the cinnamon chips)

Microwave the chips in 30 second increments until it is melted and drizzles easily

Pour the ganache over the bars and allow them to cool fully. You can serve these with the ganache all ooey gooey or let it set up depending on your preference. Cut and serve these to all your friends, they will love you for it!

* You will see in the picture showing all the ingredients that I have included molasses. I actually don't buy brown sugar, I just use white sugar and add molasses to it. It's essentially the same thing and less to store in my cupboards. I also have more control over if I want to have light or brown sugar in a recipe.

Stuffed Cabbage Soup

 

This is part two of my post on krautburgers from Thursday. You will most likely have leftover filling from the krautburgers and this is a great way to use it up in a different dish. If you did not want to make the krautburgers and just the soup, just follow the recipe until it instructs you to fill the rolled out biscuits.

I always think it would be a great idea to make stuffed cabbage rolls. It has quite a few things I love and it comes in a cute little package. However after I try to steam a few of the whole leaves I think to myself  "Oh yeah, this is why we don't do this." This soup is a great alternative to actually stuffing cabbage leaves. Its a very simple and quick way to get the same flavors and none of the fuss!

For this yummy soup you will need:

hamburger, cabbage and onion mixture from the krautburger post (at least 1 cup)

1 14 oz can of condensed tomato soup

1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes

1 cup of cooked white rice

HEat up the canned soup and tomatoes in a small pot. Add the hamburger and cabbage filling. When this mixture is simmering add in the cooked rice. Let this simmer for about ten more minutes and add any additional seasonings you want. Serve with crusty bread and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.