Sopapilla Cheesecake

This one comes from Beth Moore's blog.  I've had the awesome opportunity to attend one of Beth's Bible studies at Houston First Baptist when she did Here and Now, There and Then, a lecture series on Revelation.  My friend Abby and I went the entire 10 week series in the fall semester of 2009.  If you get the chance to do this study now that it's officially published -- do it!  It was so incredibly interesting and what fun it was to be there live while it was recorded for Lifeway!  Anyway, I'm totally offtrack now... Back to the recipe -- I stumbled on this recipe on her blog after having it at a church potluck and searching for the recipe.  This is so easy to throw together and sinfully yummy.  :)  I've also successfully halved the recipe and baked it in an 8x8 pan.

Ingredients:
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese
2 (8 oz) packages refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (combine about 1/2 cup sugar with 1 TBS cinnamon)

Directions:
In a 9×13 baking pan, unroll one package of refrigerated crescent rolls and line the bottom of the pan; flattening and pressing the seams as you go.  Mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and extract and spread over the crescent rolls.  Unroll the other can of crescent rolls and place on top of cream cheese mixture.  Pour one stick of melted butter over the top and sprinkle with about 1/2 cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Baked Squash Casserole

One of my many waitressing jobs included a year long stint at the Black-eyed Pea.  One my favorite things they serve is their Baked Squash Casserole.  This recipe comes to a pretty darn close resemblance of it!

Ingredients:
5 pounds yellow squash
2 eggs
1 cup breadcrumbs*
4 ounces butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
dash of pepper

Directions:
Cut the tops off the squash and cut into about 2 inch chunks.  Place the squash in boiling water and boil just until tender.  Drain and coarsely mash; a potato masher works really well.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Pour in a 3 quart casserole dish and sprinkle a light layer of breadcrumbs over the top.  Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

*for the breadcrumbs, I like to use King's Hawaiian Honey Wheat rolls.  These closely resemble the yummy honey wheat rolls that the Black-eyed Pea is famous for and what they use in their own squash casserole.  I let the rolls dry out for a day or night before I make this dish and just crumble them with my hands.

Nachos

So, I was aimlessly wandering through HEB Sunday afternoon trying to buy enough food for lunches and easy dinners this week, but feeling very uninspired.  Somewhere in the bread aisle, I had a thought.  I grew up making very simple nachos in the microwave for snacks.  A few chips, a couple spoonfuls of salsa, some shredded cheese, zap them for a few seconds and we're good to go.  Well, I decided, how about that comfort food stepped up a couple notches?  Still a very simple dinner to throw together after work, but very filling.  I can see adding refried beans or a variety of other additions, but the idea was to keep it simple and filling, so I tried not to get too carried away.  Tip: I used a rotisserie chicken to make it even quicker to throw together... plus I have extra chicken for salads and such.  Or more nachos.  ;)

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Ingredients:
tortilla chips
salsa
shredded chicken
southwest seasoning*
4 cheese Mexican blend
chopped avocado (1 small or 1/2 of a large)
sour cream

Directions:
Layer tortilla chips on a foil lined baking pan.  Spoon salsa, distributing evenly on chips.  Add shredded chicken, again being generous and even.  Sprinkle with southwest seasoning.  Layer handfuls of cheese until covered to your liking.  Bake in a 350 oven for about 5 minutes, until warmed through and cheese is melted.  Layer chopped avocado pieces and spoon sour cream evenly over nachos.  Serve immediately.

*The blend I used was a southwest rub made by Adam's Reserve and contained: cumin, sweet pepper flakes, onion, chipotle, garlic, New Mexico chile peppers, black pepper, coriander, cilantro, and lime.

Baked Stuffed Eggs

Yes, another recipe that sounds a bit "different".  I made this for Easter one year when I was on the hunt for a new recipe.  It turned out really well and everyone seemed to like it.  It orginally called for 6 eggs, but I was able to squeeze in 8 eggs with no problem and had plenty of sauce.  This prepares well the night before because it actually needs to be refrigerated the night before baking.

Stuffed Eggs:
8 hard-boiled eggs
3-4 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt

Sauce:
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon paprika

Directions:
Cut eggs lengthwise, remove yolks, set whites aside. On a plate, mash yolks and add sour cream, mustard, and salt. Mix well. Fill the egg whites with the yolk mixture. In a small pan, saute onion in butter until tender. Add soup and sour cream; mix well. Pour half of the sauce mixture into an 11x7 pan. Place stuffed eggs in sauce and spoon remaining sauce on top of eggs. Sprinkle with cheese and paprika. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve immediately.

Milnot Cheesecake

My grandma used to make this all the time, it's easily one of our family favorites... I really don't see it very often outside of our family, in fact. It makes me wonder if it's more of a Midwest recipe?  but, I digress. Cold beaters and chilled Milnot are very crucial to the recipe. don't try to skip that step! I recommend putting the beaters in the freezer for a few minutes and the Milnot in the fridge for a couple hours before making the cheesecake.  Of course, the name derives from the brand of sweetened condensed milk.  It's difficult to find Milnot around here, so I use other brands, but the name has certianly stuck!  This is not a traditional cheesecake in shape, texture, or flavor but it is definitely easy and very good!

Ingredients:
3 ounces lemon Jell-O gelatin
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup boiling water
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
13 ounces Milnot Sweetened Condensed Milk, chilled
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:
Dissolve Jell-O in water; cool. Cream sugar, vanilla, and cream cheese. Add Jell-O and mix well. Whip Milnot with cold beaters until fluffy and fold into Jell-O mixture. Add butter to graham cracker crumbs and pack into a 9x13 pan. Add filling to crust and sprinkle with more graham cracker crumbs. Keep refrigerated.

Apple Gorgonzola Salad

This particular recipe was inspired 100% by a salad at Buca di Beppo, an Italian family style restaurant.  Ingredient amounts are approximate, because I simply toss in the amount that "looks" right. I use this recipe for the spiced walnuts.

Ingredients:
1 head romaine lettuce
3 ounces dried cranberries
2 granny smith apples, sliced
3 ounces Gorgonzola, crumbled
1/2 cup spiced walnuts

Directions:
Tossing the above ingredients with an Italian vinaigrette in a large bowl with tongs is the best way to prepare this salad.  Be sure all of the salad is evenly coated with your desired amount of vinaigrette.

Spiced Walnuts

I use Spiced Walnuts for various things.  This method also works well for any kind of nut you need to roast with some flavor.  One of the most common dishes I use these walnuts for is my Apple Gorgonzola Salad

Ingredients:
1 egg white
2 cups walnut halves
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 pinch salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whip egg white in a bowl until frothy. Toss walnuts in and coat well. Combine sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt; sprinkle over walnuts, coating evenly. Spread walnuts in one layer on a cookie sheet; bake until toasted, about 10 minutes. Remove and cool; store in an airtight container.