re: Looking for a recipe? Check this thread! :D

BLT Smashed Potatoes (Bacon, Leek, Tomato)

2 1/2 pounds small red skin new potatoes
1 leek, trimmed of tough tops
4 slices thick cut smoky bacon, chopped, such as applewood smoked bacon
1 cup chicken broth or stock
1 vine ripe tomato, seeded and chopped
Salt and pepper
1 cup sour cream, to pass at table


Cut larger potatoes in half, leave very small potatoes whole. Place potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook potatoes 12 to 15 minutes until tender.

Cut leek in half lengthwise. Chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Place leeks in big bowl of water and release all the dirt from them with a good swish, separating all the layers. Drain leeks in a colander.

Put a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil into a hot nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Cook bacon 3 to 5 minutes until it begins to crisp and has rendered most of its fat. Add leeks to the skillet and cook 3 to 5 minutes more until the leeks are tender.

Drain the potatoes and return them to the hot pot. Smash the potatoes with the chicken stock. Add the BLT: bacon, leeks and tomatoes to the potatoes and continue to smash. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper to your taste.

BLT and P (Bacon, Leek, Tomato and Potato) Soup

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
6 slices lean, smoky good quality bacon, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
3 small ribs celery from the heart of the stalk, finely chopped
2 small to medium carrots
3 leeks, trimmed of rough tops and roots
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
3 medium starchy potatoes, such as Idaho, peeled
2 quarts chicken stock
1 (15-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, drained
Handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Crusty bread, for dunking and mopping

Heat a medium soup pot or deep sided skillet over medium-high heat. To the hot pan add a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and the bacon. Cook bacon until brown and crisp. Add the chopped celery. Take peeled carrots and lay flat on cutting board. Hold each carrot at root end and use the vegetable peeler to make long, thin strips of the carrot. Chop the thin slices into small carrot bits or carrot chips, 1/2-inch wide. Add the chips to celery and stir. Cut leeks lengthwise and then into 1/2-inch half moons. Place the leeks into a colander and run under rushing cold water, separating the layers to wash away all the trapped grit. When the leeks are separated and clean, shake off water and add to celery and carrots. Stir veggies together, add a bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. While the leeks cook to wilt, 3 to 4 minutes, slice the potatoes.
Cut each potato across into thirds. Stand each piece of potato upright and thinly slice it. The pieces will look like raw potato chips.

Add stock to vegetables and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add potatoes and tomatoes. Cook 8 to10 minutes until potatoes are tender and starting to break up a bit. Add bacon and parsley and stir. Adjust seasonings. Serve immediately with crusty bread.

Baked Leeks

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
4 medium leeks, halved lengthwise
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 9x12 inch baking pan.
Melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk and cheese until cheese is melted. Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Remove from heat. Arrange the leeks in a single layer in the prepared pan and cover with the cheese sauce.
Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until leeks are tender and sauce is bubbly.

Pizza Pasta

elbow macaroni, spaghetti or pasta of your choosing
1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup milk
pizza sauce
cheese
pepperoni
other pizza toppings

Cook the pasta as directed and drain. (I cooked 2 cups dry elbow macaroni but probably only used half of it.) Mix egg and milk together andcombine with noodles. (If you use more of the pasta you'll need more egg-milk mixture.) Warm frying pan on medium and spray with non-stick spray. Pour noodle mixture into frying pan and let set for a minute or two.

Top pasta with pizza toppings, sauce, and cheese. Cover and let heat through.

If there's enough egg-milk mixture to hold noodles together you can serve this in slices. Mine came out better with a spoon! SO good!

White Trash (lol this is just what my family calls it, but its DELISHOUS!)

2 bags of White chocolate morsels (or 1 big bag)
1 big box of Rice Chex
1 bag of reeses pieces
1 bag of pretzal gold fish (cuz they are adisons favorite, and its the perfect ammount)
3 small boxes of raisons
1 small can of penuts (optional, i dont use them ick)

Melt Chocolate in a large pot on LOW heat on the stove, stiring slowly contstantly as to not burn the chocolate

add the rest of the ingrediants, and mix well.

let the chocolate harden, and serve as a snack or dish it up for party's.



for holidays, throw some food coloring into the melted chocolate (before you mix the rest in). Orange for halloween, Red and/or green for christmas, blue and yellow for easter, or for foot ball games use your teams colors!

when using multiple colors, you will need more than one pot, mix it all together after the chocolate hardens.

i made some today, i decided i wanted it when i walked through the baking isle past the white choc. chips! lol

Pasta
Two can of your fav tuna any kind of pasta[I use bow tie ] curry powder , one small onion finely chopped, mayo, salt pepper , celery,one chopped red bell pepper mix it all together salt, pepper, curry, mayo to taste the more curry the better I think serve cold

Chicken Veggie Parmasean Pasta Delight

This is something that I experimented with in the kitchen one day and it came out great..so now I decided to show all you Babygaga'rs( LOL) Hope you enjoy..IT IS GREAT! Might seem difficult but its really not..just alot of prep work


2 small tomatos
1 bunch of fresh broccoli
1 clove of fresh garlic
2 pinches of garlic powder
1 pinch of pepper
1 pinch of crushed pepper(omit if u dont like spicyness)
1 bag of shredded provalone
half cup of parmasean
butter milk ranch
1 stick of butter
**chicken breast(boneless)
Penne Pasta



Prep

Boil the pasta cook by the directions on box or however firm that you want it

Cut chicken breast into bite sized pieces place a little bit of olive oil or veggie oil in pan
heat up grease and then cook chicken until halfway done
add garlic salt. Fresh garlic, pepper, crushed pepper, and then continue to cook till done

while thats finishing start to boil the broccoli until almost done(when done cut off the stem and just use the broccoli florets)

heat up butter in microwave

Cut up tomatoes in bite sized pieces

get a pan and put some cooking spray in it..then after you are done cooking the pasta and chicken toss the pasta with the melted butter..the half cup of parm..2 squirts of ranch..the tomatoes, then the broccolli and the last the chicken...sprinkle the provalone on top( or mozzerla(sp?) cook for about 5 mins without aluminum foil @t 350 then for the remaining 10 mins cook put the foil on and continue to cook @ 250

*edited to add you can also use breaded chicken*

New England Flank Steak

1 1/2 lbs flank steak
3/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
freshly groud black pepper to taste

1. Combine Maple syrup, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and pepper in a bowl. Place flank steak in plastic bag and marinate in refridgerator for 2 hours or overnight.

2. Remove steak from marinate; strain marinate and pour into a saucepan and place over low heat. Meanwhile, heat the barbeque (I use my griddle pan) to medium-high, place steak on the barbeque and cook 5 minutes per side (or Longer if you want it medium/well done).

3. Let meat rest. Cut into thin slices against the grain. Serve w/ the heated marinate and a side of mashed potatoes. Serves 4.

FRIED OKRA SALAD
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1 sm. or med. size pkg. frozen breaded okra
1 lb. bacon
2 lg. or 3 med. tomatoes
1 bunch of green onions (chives)
2 lg. or 3 med. bell peppers
Garlic salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Onion salt to taste
(If you don't like garlic or onion salt use season salt or lemon pepper)
2 to 3 c. shortening for frying okra

Fry 1 pound bacon, cut in 1/2 strips. Fry until done. Drain about 1/4 cup of bacon grease or little less if you prefer. Put bacon grease aside. Leave remainder of grease in pan and add shortening. Fry your okra until done. After okra has been cooked, drained of all oil, place in large bowl. For making salads, your bacon should be to the side. then cut up all your vegetables, bell pepper, tomatoes, green onion, chopped up finely and diced. Once vegetables are chopped add to fried okra, then crumble 1 pound of cooked bacon onto mixture and pour bacon grease that you put aside over salad. Then add seasonings to taste and mix well. Ready to serve.

FRIED OKRA
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1 lb fresh okra
1/2 c. seasoned fish fry mix
1/2 c. Wesson oil

Wash okra and remove ends. Cut into slices. Add okra to fish fry mix and toss until thoroughly coated. Heat oil in large skillet (cast iron is best). Add okra to hot oil. Turn okra to brown on both sides. 4 servings.


Here is a link for more recipes for Fried Okra...
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1-1,fried_okra,FF.html

Scalini's Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients

3 medium sized eggplants
1 cup flour
6 eggs, beaten
4 cups fine Italian bread crumbs, seasoned
Olive oil for sauteing
8 cups of marinara sauce (recipe below)
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 pounds of mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 cups of ricotta cheese

Directions

1. After you wash the eggplant, slice them into 1/4-inch thick slices. You may choose to peel the eggplant before you slice it. However, you may want to leave the skin on since it contains a lot of vitamins.

2. Place the eggplant slices on a layer of paper towels and sprinkle with a little salt, then cover with another layer of paper towels and hold it down with something heavy to drain the excess moisture. Let them sit for about an hour.

3. Working with one slice of eggplant at a time, dust with flour, dip in beaten eggs, then coat well with breadcrumbs.

4. Saute in preheated olive oil on both sides until golden brown.

5. In baking dish, alternate layers of marinara sauce, eggplant slices, ricotta, Parmesan and Romano cheeses, until you fill the baking dish, about 1/8 inch from the top. Cover with shredded mozzarella cheese, and bake for 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Scalini's Marinara Sauce

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons of chopped garlic
3 Tablespoons of olive oil
8 cups chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
1 cup onions, chopped
1/2 cup of fresh chopped parsley
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1/8 cup of fresh chopped sweet basil
Pinch of thyme
Pinch of rosemary
One teaspoon salt
One teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Lightly saute the onions in olive oil in large pot for a few minutes.
2. Add garlic and saute another minute.
3. Add tomatoes and bring sauce to a boil, then turn heat low.
4. Add remaining ingredients, stir, cover and let simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally.

Cake mix muffins...

these are very sticky, but yummy.

You can use whatever cake mix you like (I've tried it with vanilla, spice, cinnamon swirl, and chocolate). 16 ounce can of pumkin. 2/3 cup water.

Mix the ingredients together and put into cupcake pan lined with wrappers. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes...the chocolate usually takes closer to 25 while the other kinds are closer to 20 minutes.

You'll definitely have to lick your fingers because these are so moist, but you'll enjoy!

Pumpkin Roll

Cake:
powdered sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Filling:
1 pkg. (8ozs) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
6 Tbsp.butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
powdered sugar

For cake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 15x10 inch jelly roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in a large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with the narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

For filling: Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla extract in a small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unrool cake; remove towel. Spread cream chees mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

The above recipe can be easily doubled (tripling is not recommended). Once doubled, 2 1/2 cups of batter will be needed for each prepared jelly-roll pan; 1 3/4 cups filling for each roll. Bake time remains the same.

My mom used to make this amazing cake and mind you I hate cake!! So you guys have to try it. AMAZING

1 chocolate Cake box (and all ingredients they say)
1 Can condensed milk
1 Jar of Carmel
1 container of whipped cream
1 bag of heath candy

Cook the cake as you would

When the cake comes out puncture holes all over it (I use the tip of a mixing spoon)
pour the can of condensed milk over the cake and let cool

Once the cake has cooled, pour the jar of carmel over the cake and spread around

Next spread a layer of the whipped cream over the carmel

Now sprinkle the bag of candy heath bar's over the cake

Now it's ready to eat!! (It's best when it has been refridgerated a couple hours)