Bacon Cheddar and Ranch Potato Salad

Recipe and photo from Jamie Cooks It Up!

8 large russet potatoes
1 (16 ounce) package bacon
1 C mayonnaise
1 C sour cream
2 (1 ounce) packages Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix
1 C celery, chopped
1/4 C green onions
1 C cheddar cheese

1. Grab 8 large russet potatoes. Wash and peel them.
2. Chop them up into pieces that are relatively similar and toss them into a large pot. Run cold water over the potatoes and then drain the water off. Fill the pot with hot water and set it on the stove top.
3. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. When you have a nice rolling boil, lower the temperature to medium high and cook the potatoes until they are fork tender.
4. Cook the bacon, either on the stove top or in your oven.
5. Dump the potatoes and hot water into a colander you have placed in your sink. Run cold water over the top to cool the potatoes down, then pour them into a large mixing bowl.
6. Into a small mixing bowl place 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 cup of sour cream and 2 packages Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix. Stir everything around to combine well.
7. Wash and chop about 1 cup of celery. Add it to the potatoes.
8. Chop up a little more than 1/4 cup of green onions. Add 1/4 to the potatoes and reserve some to sprinkle on top.
9. Take  bacon and crumble it up into small pieces. Save a handful to sprinkle on the top of the salad before you serve. Put the rest of the bacon along with 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese into the mixing bowl.
10. Pour the Ranch/Mayo mixture over the top and stir it all in, making sure everything is well coated. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
11. Just before serving add a few chopped green onions, a bit of bacon and a little cheddar cheese over the top.

* This was really good!  I loved the "Ranch" taste.  My kids don't love potato salad, so I didn't ask for ratings from them.  Kile liked it, but wanted the green onions left out- he's weird like that....just kidding!  I highly recommend it for a different twist on Potato Salad.

Quick and Easy Breadsticks

Recipe and photo from: Jamie Cooks It Up!

1 1/2 C warm water
2 T sugar
1 T yeast
1/2 t salt
3 1/2- 4 C flour
1/4 C butter (not that nasty margarine crap)
3/4 C grated Parmesan or mozzarella cheese
Johnny's Garlic Seasoning

1. Mix the water, sugar and yeast together in a measuring cup or in the bottom of your mixer. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
2. Add the salt and the flour, one cup at a time, until it is well incorporated. Mix on high for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
3. Melt the butter and pour half of it into a  large cookie sheet.
4. Place the dough in the center of the pan. Let it sit for 2 or 3 minutes. Letting the dough rest makes it MUCH easier to shape.
5. Spread the dough out flat onto the pan until it reaches all of the edges. 
6. Pour the other half of the butter onto the dough. Spread it around. Sprinkle the Johnny's Garlic Seasoning all over the dough, and then the Parmesan cheese.
7. With a pizza cutter cut the dough into three rows lengthwise, and then into about 12 little height wise rows.
8. Put the pan into a 170 degree oven for about 7-10 minutes. The breadsticks should rise about 1 inch.
9. Turn you oven up to 350 and bake for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
10. When they come out of the oven let them sit and rest again for about 5 minutes. Then redefine your cutting lines with the pizza cutter.

Bacon in the Oven

My new favorite way to cook bacon.....

1.   Line a baking sheet with foil. This will make cleanup easier later.
2. Arrange bacon slices on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack of a cold oven. Close oven door. Turn oven on to 400°F.
3. Come back 17 to 20 minutes later. As soon as the bacon is golden brown, but not excessively crisp, it's done. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the bacon slices, and also on how quickly your oven reaches the target temperature.
4. Remove the pan from the oven. Transfer the bacon to another sheet pan lined with paper towels to absorb the fat.

Reeses peanut Butter Cookie Dough Dip

 Kiley found this recipe on Pinterest and she made it for our father's day cookout...YUM!

 Recipe and Photo from: Shugary Sweets

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips
• 8oz pkg Reese's peanut butter cup Minis (or about 1 1/2 cup chopped Reeses cups)

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Whisk in the sugar and bring to a boil. Once it boils, remove from heat immediately add vanilla and allow to cool to room temperature (very important).
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with powdered sugar and peanut butter until creamy (about 3-4 minutes, don't skimp on the beating time). On low, add in brown sugar mixture (that has cooled to room temperature). Mix until combined. Fold in mini chocolate chips and mini Reese's cups. Serve immediately or store in refrigerator until ready to serve. Enjoy with pretzels, animal crackers,  graham crackers, or vanilla wafer cookies.

Blackberry Crisp

Destrie was a  "Junior Chef" today and this is what he made!

Ingredients

• 5 cups blackberries (or any other berry combination you may have.)
• 5 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch (for thickening if using frozen berries)
• 1 C flour
• 1 C oats
• 3/4 C packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 C butter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a bowl combine berries and sugar. Mix and set aside
• If using frozen berries add in 2 Tbsp of cornstarch for thickening.
• In another bowl mix together flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Add in butter using a pastry mixer until crumbly.
• Put berries into a 9 x 13 pan and add crumble on top.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the fruit is bubbly and the topping will be golden brown 
• Serve while warm and top with vanilla ice cream.  YUM!

Recipe idea  from  YourHomeBasedMom

Rate It!

Jen: 8.5

Kile:

Kiley: 7

Madee:

Destrie: 10

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

*Recipe from Vanessa Jarrett

Ingredients:
16 oz.  penne pasta (cooked)
2 chicken breasts-cooked and cubed
2 jars Alfredo sauce
1/2 cup Hormel real bacon bits
1 cup chopped ham
1 bunch green onions-thinly sliced
sliced mushrooms
swiss cheese

Directions:
Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.  Combine all ingredients, except swiss cheese.  Transfer ingredients to baking dish.  Bake for 30 minutes @ 350 degrees.  Top with swiss cheese and return to oven for 5 minutes until cheese is melted.

Rate It!
Jen: 9
Kile: 8
Kiley:
Madee: 8.5
Destrie: o.k.

Turkey Steak in the Crockpot

 This is a picture of what they will look like if cooked in a pan.  However, this recipe is for the crockpot and there is a white sauce on the Turkey Steak, so obviously they won't look like the above photo.  The crockpot recipe was pretty good, but didn't produce a pretty picture!!  Give it a try...it's easy and I got no complaints here.



Ingredients:

5 Madoxx Turkey Steaks
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can milk
1/4 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Spray crockpot with nonstick cooking spray.
Layer turkey steak in bottom of crockpot.
In a bowl, stir together, soup, milk and sour cream.
Add salt and pepper-stir to combine.
Pour mixture over the turkey steaks.
Cook on low for 5-6 hours.

* The sauce would be good served on mashed potatoes.

Rate It!
Jen: 7.5
Kile: 7
Kiley:
Madee: 7
Destrie: 7