Cranberry Salsa

Someone from the family made this at our Christmas Eve gathering, and it was quite amazing.
Perfect treat for the holidays serves with some tortilla chips!
Thanks for sharing Amy!

CRANBERRY SALSA

Prep: 10 minutes.

Yield: Makes 12 servings (serving size: 1/4 cup)

Ingredients
1 (12-ounce) package fresh cranberries, picked over and stems removed
2 finely diced large celery stalks
1 finely diced small white onion
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced*
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Preparation
1. Process the cranberries in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Transfer the cranberries to a medium bowl, and add the remaining ingredients. Stir the mixture well to combine.

2. Transfer the cranberry mixture to a serving bowl; cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

* For spicier salsa, include the seeds and ribs from the jalapeño. Or use a serrano chile, which has more heat.

Sausage Cheese Balls

Im going to make these to freeze so that the kids and hubby acn take them out as they please to snack on. Better than that frozen junk you buyin boxes YUCK!

Might not be healthy but atleast its home made right?

3 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1 pound bulk pork sausage
4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (16 ounces)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley or 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
Barbecue sauce or chili sauce, if desired

How to make:

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease bottom of pan.
2. Stir together all ingredients, using hands or spoon. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls. Place in pan.

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brown. Immediately remove from pan. Serve warm with sauce for dipping.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft) Heat oven to 375ºF. Decrease Bisquick to 2 1/2 cups; stir in 1/2 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour. Bake 25 to 30 minutes.

And then there is my picture. Not as great as the professionals ...LOL

Do-Ahead Tip
Want to make these savory cheese balls ahead? Your options are many! You can:
Cover and refrigerate unbaked balls up to 24 hours. Bake as directed.
Cover and freeze unbaked balls up to 1 month. Heat oven to 350ºF. Place frozen balls on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until brown.
Bake as directed; cover and freeze up to 1 month. Heat oven to 350ºF. Place frozen balls on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until heated through.
Bake as directed; cover and freeze up to 1 month. Place 6 frozen balls on microwavable plate. Loosely cover with waxed paper. Microwave on High 45 seconds to 1 minute or until heated through.
Success
It's true. You don't need to cook the sausage before using it when making this recipe.

Southern Pulled Pork

I love a pulled Pork Sandwich, but no clue how to make it. Im going to try this recipe and see if its as good as everyone elese reviews!
Ill be buying the BBQ sauce from our local BBQ joint to go with it!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Southern-Pulled-Pork/Detail.aspx

Dana's Cheese Ball

Its the best. You cant deny it.
Im trying to get creative on how I take pictures of my food.


What do you think about this picture? Cute bowl too huh



This is a cheese ball my mom has made time and time again at parties and get togethers.


Ingredients:

2-3 spoon fulls of Rajin Cajan Spicy Sweet Jalapeno Pickle Relish
(can be found at H-E-B's in east Texas or Central Markets)
I small pkg of chopped pecans
1 block cream cheese
1 cup Monterrey Colby Jack cheese OR cheddar blend

Directions:
Reserve enough pecans and cheese to roll the ball in.
Mix it all ingredients together, roll in cheese and pecans and serve with Tollhouse crackers.
So good.

Taco Cups

I make this taco ring that everyone raves about (super easy--but whatever)
I just saw these cute taco cups. I mean I did say cute---people eat with their eyes so I do always try to make my food look appealing.

I thought to use the same mixture of the taco ring which is:

1 lb. ground beef cooked and crumbled, mixed with a few tables spoons of water and 1 pkg. taco seasoning and 1 cup Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend.

Then use a mini muffin pan to make the taco cups. Spray cooking spray into the mini pan.

Use a pizza slicer to slice a pkg of crescent rolls into 24 squares and place into the mini muffin pans. Place a tbsp of the mixture in each.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until golden.Taaddaaaa--- taco cup appetizers!



I'm defiantly making these this week and will let you know how they turned out!

However here is my inspiration. Perhaps I might try the mini muffins and the regular sized muffins?? For a party the mini would be great but for dinner- I think the reg pan would be awesome.

Serve with a bowl of salsa sour cream and lettece! Delicious!

Chicken, Cheese & Spinach Manicotti

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups finely chopped cooked chicken breasts
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
1 container (16 oz.) BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN 2% Milkfat Low Fat Cottage Cheese
2 egg whites
1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
10 manicotti shells, cooked, drained
1-1/2 cups spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions:

COMBINE chicken and garlic in large bowl. Add spinach, cottage cheese, egg whites and 1/4 cup mozzarella; spoon into manicotti shells.
TIP: PIPE mixture into manicotti with a small slit in the corner of a sandwich bag. Much easier than shoving the mix in with a spoon! What a mess

PLACE in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with spaghetti sauce.

BAKE 25 to 30 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining mozzarella; bake 5 min. or until melted. Sprinkle with basil.

Roasted Red Potatos with Bacon & Cheese

To spice this up, dont cut the potatos, but peel them around the middle. They look fancier that way!


What You Need!
1/2 cup KRAFT Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup KRAFT Finely Shredded Italian* Five Cheese Blend
1/4 cup OSCAR MAYER Real Bacon Bits
2 lb. small red bliss potatoes, quartered (about 6 cups)
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Make It!
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Mix dressing, cheese and bacon bits in large bowl. Add potatoes; toss lightly.

SPOON into lightly greased 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with foil.

BAKE 40 min. Remove foil; bake an additional 15 min. or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with parsley.

Easy Layered Chicken Bake Amandine

Oldies but Favorites

Easy Layered Chicken Bake Amandine
I used to make this pre Pampered Chef and when I didnt really make anything but stuff out of KraftFood magazines and such.
I have made this a few times and its REALLY good considering its make with a box of stuffing~
I would sub the frozen green beans for fresh ones.
I do not use any frozen or cans veggies except corn (on occasion)

This is great when you are needed something easy and quick!

Amandine
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup mixed with 1/2 cup milk
2 cups frozen green beans
1/2 cup KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese,
1/4 cup toasted PLANTERS Sliced Almonds

Then follow our 3 simple steps:

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces; spread onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with seasoning. Spread add-ins over chicken. Add topping.

STIR 1-1/2 cups water into dry stuffing mix; spoon evenly over chicken.

BAKE 30 to 35 min. or until chicken is cooked through.

10$ MEALS??

Cant wait to start watching this or following her
so I can get some good cheap meal ideas. Im on a NO FAST FOOD challange. For as long as possible not only will I lose weight but I will save money. Its so darn expensive to eat out these days. Its just insane that 2 adult meals and 2 kids meals cost up to 20 bucks plus! I could make a ton of food with that kind of money!!!
I dont understand how some poeple only eat out and dont cook. Wowers. Im all over left overs lately they are NOT going to waste.
A great left over meal is the Chicken Bistro Twist! Were just about done eating ours from the other night, and left overs are even better than the first night! Man you can just freeze it in indivudual slices and bake/microwave it. Its like an american calzone! So delicious! And it makes a ton.
Hope that this is a good show!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/ten-dollar-dinners-with-melissa-darabian/index.html

Cupcakes and Fudge

Well sorry Santa this year is gonna be a fudge and cupcake kinda year. No cookies for you, LOL.




Im a fan of getting recipes off the back of cans. I used the recipe onthe back of the condensed milk can. However that meant that I couldnt by the cheaper no name brand cause I wouldnt get the recipe. Bummer. I added walnuts and the fudge was awesome.



I never realized how to make the cupcakes frosting look good. So I never made them much before. Now using a plastic bag and piping them onto the cupcake, ill never do the old fashion way of frosting them with a knife or spatula

Cranberry Turkey Wreath.

This looks amazing however, my wonderful husband does not like cranberries. Boy is he missing out. This looks devine.
Thanks Donna for posting this



Cranberry Turkey Wreath.

2 pkg refrigerated crescent rolls
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp grey poupon
1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper
2 cups cooked turkey (or chicken), chopped
1/2 cup celery, sliced
3 Tbsp fresh parsley, snipped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 1/4 cup Swiss cheese, shredded (divided)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 egg white

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Unroll crescent dough; separate into 16 triangles. With wide ends of triangles toward the center. arrange 8 triangles in a circle on Large Round Stone. Corners of wide ends will touch and points will extend 1 inch beyond of baking stone. Arrange remaining 8 triangles in center. matching ends. Seal seams using pizza roller. (Points will overlap in center; do not seal.)

Mix turkey, mayonnaise, mustard, celery, parsley, cheese walnuts and black pepper into a bowl. Scoop filling over seams of dough, forming a circle.

Beginning in center, lift one dough triangle across mixture. Continue alternating with outer triangle, slightly overlapping to form wreath. Tuck last end under first.

Separate egg over bowl. Beat egg white lightly; brush over dough. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

*This is a recipe for leftover turkey after the holidays. During the year you can make it using chicken. This recipe is delicious before and after it’s cooked so you can stir it up and serve it on toast as well. I personally think the filling tastes better before it’s baked.

tree brownies

So I made them and they were prety darn cute!

Pizza Party (old)

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING, Me and your brothers had a pizza making party.... while you were snoozin'

roll the dough

mix the dough

Gotta have some seasoning yummm

Some Cheese

Add pepperonis

bake the pizza only on stoneware! the only way

bake bake bake

let it cool off on a rack

dig in

who needs to cut their pizza. not REESE

silverware is overrated

Seriously Sweets

Really, why did my friend have to show me these and now I have to make them!
Good thing im not one to eat all the sweets I make, I usually just give them all away and dont even get to try it!

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes.aspx/holiday-tree-brownies/058237a7-ae5c-435e-b9cc-b01af1d412e7