My favorite brand of flour tortillas

OK I don't know if any of you have this problem, but some brands of flour tortillas leave a bitter taste in my mouth sometimes. Even after they are heated/cooked. Am I the only one this happens to? Anyway.. I have found this brand of tortillas that doesn't leave that taste, and they really do have a much more "homemade" taste to them than others. I can only find these at Wal-Mart at the moment, so if you spot these somewhere else let me know. Try these next time around! Here is the website for more info- http://www.mimamas.com/mi-mamas-taco-flour-tortilla.html

Even Easier Chili Dogs

OK So we don't have chili dogs very often. But some nights I am just too tired to cook after I get off work and on those nights I need something super easy to avoid getting take out. I saw this one pinterest- I know, shocker right? My first thought was, how much easier can it be to make chili dogs? Because if I am making chili dogs, I am not making home made chili for them- I buy some good canned chili. If I am going to the trouble of making home made chili- it isn't going to be for chili dogs. Anyway I read the pin and thought, ya know I feel kinda stupid thinking this, but I think I am going to try this one. So later that week I tried it and wow did it make a difference in how good the chili dogs were! Everyone agreed this is the new way to make chili dogs, and believe it or not, it is even EASIER than it was before! So on those tired end of the week nights when you want something fast and easy (and cheap.. but sorry- not healthy!) then try this one. It may surprise you! :-) 

Even Easier Chili Dogs! 

From: Pinterest! 

Hot dog buns

Hot dogs

Canned chili

Shredded Cheddar

Onion, Diced (if desired) 

Preheat oven to 350. 

Place opened hot dogs buns in the bottom of 9x13 pan. 

Place cold hot dogs in buns. 

Pour canned chili over top

Cover with shredded cheese and diced onion

Cover with foil and place in oven for 45 minutes. 

Serve while hot! 

Breakfast Casserole

Another Pinterest recipe! Gotta love Pinterest! Ha! This was a simple and delicious recipe. I think it would be great for feeding a large group of people breakfast, or for Christmas morning because most of the ingredients could be prepared ahead of time and just thrown together. The original recipe, found at Bubble Crumb called for bacon, but I had sausage already so I used that instead. I also used a few more eggs, onion, and peppers than the original called for. This is a keeper! 

Breakfast Casserole 

From: Bubble Crumb

3/4 bag frozen tator tots
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 package sausage, cooked and crumbled
10 eggs
2 cups milk
3 cups shredded cheddar (or colby jack)

Preheat oven according to directions on tator tots package. Place tator tots in a layer on bottom of 9x13 pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake until tots are golden brown, according to package directions. Remove from oven and set aside. Lower oven temp to 350. 

In a mixing bowl combine eggs, milk, and cheese. Mix well and set aside. 
In a frying pan cook sausage and crumble (or use a broiler pan and bake it along with tots) 
Reserving some bacon grease (about 1 T) and add onions, bell peppers and saute' until soft. 
Layer cooked onions on top of tator tots. 
Then add a layer of sausage or bacon. 
And finally pour the egg and cheese mixture over the top. 
Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. 
Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes. 
Serve while hot. 

Pumpkin Cake with Apple Cider Glaze

This is the easiest recipe ever. Of course I found it on pinterest! Mom and I made it the other night and it was delicious. I was being lazy and didn't get my mixer out to mix the cake batter, so it came out a little thick. I think it would have been a little more fluffy if I had used my mixer like I should have. I think this would make great pumpkin muffins too and just skip the glaze. You could do muffins and add raisins or nuts.. lots of variations on this one. so easy- for the cake you just mix the pumpkin and cake mix and nothing else. Forget all the water, oil, eggs, etc. the box calls for. If you have ever had my Mom's cinnamon cake this is a LOT like that with pumpkin flavor added in. Yummmm. 

Pumpkin Cake with Apple Cider Glaze
From: Noble Pig Website

1 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix.. just pumpkin)
1 box yellow cake mix
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 T apple cider
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together pumpkin and cake mix. Pour into 9x13 pan and bake for 28 minutes. Mix together powdered sugar, apple cider, and pumpkin pie spice. The glaze should be thick but pourable. Pour glaze over cake while hot from the oven. Let cool before serving. You can reserve some of the glaze to add to cake pieces as you serve, but I didn't find that it needed more glaze, it was pretty rich. Enjoy! 

White Chocolate Pretzels

I absolutely love white chocolate covered pretzels. It was an easy sweet dish I could make when I was younger so at Christmas time I would make them and feel like I was contributing to the sweet table. But now that I am older it isn't Christmas without the white chocolate pretzels. So every year I melt almond bark and start dipping. I have to make quite a few for the crowd that we have during the holidays so I stand and dip FOREVER. Well I saw on pinterest a much easier way to make them and decided today to try them to see if they were as good as the traditional ones. They taste EXACTLY the same and are SO much easier to make. Yep. I won't be standing and dipping pretzels for hours this year! Yay! Last year my Sister-in-law, Jamie, made a recipe from pinterest where you take a pretzel, place an unwrapped rolo on top and melt it, then finish it off by squishing a pecan half down on top gently. Ta-da you have turtles pretzels. They were so good we couldn't stop eating them. This is the same concept except you use the HUGS Hershey's kisses- the white chocolate ones- and you can either squish another pretzel on top, or top with a pecan.. whatever you like. I had a handful of pecan halves left so I did some both ways. I really like pecans so I prefered the ones with the nuts. I also had the idea to do the same concept with Andes Mints on pretzels. Some I left alone after they melted and some I topped with pecans. again- it was even better with the pecan on top, if you ask me. Anyway.. as you can imagine any chocolate candy that would get soft in the oven can be used, and you can top them with just about anything. I have seen them with nuts, m&ms, red hots, you name it. I saw the peppermint kisses on pretzels with red m&ms squished on top.. the possibilities are endless. 

  Anyway, I am just glad to have found a MUCH easier and faster way to get my white chocolate pretzels without all the frustration and time. Sorry the picture below isn't very pretty- I was impatient and started moving the candies to a plate before they had cooled so they ended up oozing chocolate everywhere.. hard to get a good picture then. Anyway.. can't wait for Christmas to make these!! 

White Chocolate Pretzels

From: Pinterest

Pretzels (preferably the square ones) 
Hershey's HUGS (white chocolate kisses) 
Pecan halves (optional) 

Preheat oven to 200. Spread pretzels onto baking sheet. Unwrap HUGS and place one on to each of the pretzels, centering them as much as possible. Place in oven for 2-3 minutes or until the chocolate is starting to get very soft and melty. Take them out of the oven and carefully top with either a pecan half, or another plain pretzel square. Push down just enough to sandwich the chocolate without it oozing out the sides. Let cool and serve! 

Slow Cooker Enchiladas

This is a recipe my brother, Rob, came across years ago. Somehow that recipe that was jotted down on a piece of paper, got stuck in a cookbook and we lost it. BUT the other day I accidentally found it! Yay! So here is the long lost recipe. I have never made this but I plan to next week. My brother did however make it for me years ago and I remember it being delicious! And it is so simple to throw together! Enjoy!! 

Slow Cooker Enchiladas

From: Rob

1 lb ground beef
1 cup diced onion
1 can ranch style black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can black beans- plain
1 can mild rotel
1 pkg taco seasoning
1/2 cup water
shredded cheddar
1 package flour tortillas

Brown ground beef and onions until cooked. Drain and add all other ingredients. In slow cooker- Layer tortilla, then mix, then shredded cheese and repeat until mixture is used up and top with cheese. Cook on high for 1 1/2 hours and serve with sour cream.

Artichoke Spaghetti

I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman website. Finally made it for dinner tonight and it was DELICIOUS- as ALL Pioneer Woman recipes are. All of them. Mine came out a little runny so next time I make it I am thinking I will drain the diced tomatoes. I also think I would like trying it with more cheese and putting it all in the oven for just a minute to let the pasta soak up some more of the sauce before serving it.. Not that it wasn't absolutely delicious the way I made it tonight- but just a few tweeks I might try next time around. If you don't like artichokes- skip this one. It has an amazing yummy artichoke taste to it. 

Artichoke Spaghetti 

By: Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1/2 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
• 1 can Artichoke Hearts (14.5 Oz. Quartered Or Whole) Drained
• 1 can Diced Tomatoes With Juice (14.5 Oz.)
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 1/2 cup Chicken Broth (More As Needed)
• 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 1 pound Thin Spaghetti
• 1 cup Parmesan Cheese, Freshly Grated
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Chives (or Other Herbs) Chopped

Preparation Instructions

Cook spaghetti till al dente. Drain and set aside.

Melt olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add artichoke hearts and tomatoes. Stir and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stir in cream and chicken broth. Add salt and pepper to taste (do not undersalt!) Cook over low heat until heated through, then turn off heat.

Place drained pasta in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1 cup Parmesan. Pour sauce over the top. Add chives. Toss lightly to combine and coat; add a tiny bit of reserved pasta water if sauce seems too thick.