A brat (or hamburger or hot dog) Hot Tub

So, last night, my family and I went to a barbecue. Near the grill was the man of the house - and his father-in-law. I love both men dearly, but by the end of the evening, they hated each other. Turn the heat up, down, move the burgers over, back ARGH!

The solution: Cook the meat before your guests arrive and hold them in a brat hot tub! That way, you get to socialize with your guests, and they don't end up smelling like smoke in the process.

12 freshly grilled brats (or burgers, or hot dogs or a combination thereof)
1 stick butter
1 onion, sliced
2.5 cans of beer (I prefer High Life)

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they caramelize - turning lightly brown.

Add the onions to the bottom of a slow cooker. Switch the slow cooker on to low. Add brats to the slow cooker, then add enough beer to just cover.

If you're planning to serve buffet style, put the slow cooker where you are planning to serve your meat. Your guests can serve themselves from the hot tub.

Obviously, this recipe can be easily scaled. I've fed 100 people using this method.

And yes, Minnesotans, this is SO a Wisconsin thing.

Pork Chops with apple pie filling and stuffing

Just for Brad :) I promise to share my homemade apple pie filling recipe this fall.

4 Pork Chops
1 can apple pie filling (or one quart home made apple pie filling)
1 package stuffing (I prefer chicken Stove-top)

Brown pork chops for five minutes per side in a hot fry pan. Make stuffing according to package directions.

In a 9 x 13 pan, place the chops. Dump apple pie filling over the top, Place stuffing on top of the chops.

Cover the pan with foil and place in 375 degree oven until the chops are done. Since the thickness of chops varies widely, I prefer to use a thermometer to make sure they're done, though it usually takes about 30-45 minutes.

Triple Decker Strawberry Cake

The book I got this out of says it's a great cake for a baby shower or birthday - I agree!

Cake:
1 package plain white cake mix
1 package (3 ounces) strawberry gelatin
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk (preferably whole)
4 large eggs
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries and juice

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees.

Either lightly grease three pans with shortening and dust them with flour - or, use the really nice baking formula non-stick spray. Works great.

Place cake mix, gelatin, flour, oil, sugar, milk, eggs and strawberries in a large mixing bowl and blend on low speed for one minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the speed to medium and beat for two minutes more. The strawberries should be well blended into the batter. Divide the batter as evenly as you can among the pans and place them in the oven.

If your oven isn't large enough, place two pans on the center rack and put the third one in the center of the highest rack.

Bake the cakes until they spring back lightly when you press them and they just start to pull away from the sides of the pan - about 33-35 minutes. If you placed a pan on the highest rack, be careful that it doesn't overcook.

Take the pans out of the oven. and place them on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of each layer and flip each onto a rack so that the cakes are right side up. Allow to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. The recipe calls for only frosting the tops of the cakes. I don't like that... so... I double the frosting recipe listed below and frost the sides as well.

Frosting:
1 stick of butter, room temperature
4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted (more if needed)
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries and juice (more if needed)

Place the softened butter in a large mixing bowl (I mention softened again because it's important.) Blend butter with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, about 20 seconds. Stop the machine and add the confectioners sugar and strawberries. Blend on low speed until the frosting is creamy and spreadable. If it's too thin, add more sugar. If it's too thick, add more strawberries.

To assemble the cake, place one cake layer, right side up, on a serving platter. Spread the top with frosting. Add another layer, right side up, on top of the first and frost the top. Repeat this process with thte third layer and frost the top; frost the sides, and refrigerate to set the frosting.

Dill Dip

During summer potluck season, I make this ALL THE TIME. Growing up, I thought everyone ate dill dip. The only time I heard about ranch dip was in Hidden Vally commercials.

You can use the fat-free or light versions of all the ingredients. But, it makes a big difference - whether that's good or bad is up to you.

1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayo
2 tbsp parsley
2 tbsp dill weed (fresh is really good!)
2 tbsp minced onion (the dried, bottled kind)
2 tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt,

Mix all together, then chill overnight. The flavors really do need time to meld...

Pork (sausage or ham) Hash

My husband and I "created" this as a way to use up some extra ground pork we had. It works will all kinds of meat.

I would like to point out that I've never eaten corned beef hash. So, if you're complaining... I seriously don't know what you're talking about.

1 lb bulk pork sausage or 1 lb ham, cubed
1 bag frozen cubed potatoes (the ones with peppers work well too)
6 eggs

Cook pork sausage over high heat (you're trying to get it to brown quickly. Brown = yum.)
Cook the frozen potatoes according to package directions.
Add cooked meat to potatoes.
Crack the eggs over the mixture, add a dash or two of salt and pepper. Cook thoroughly.
Add other seasonings as you like.

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

Mom made these for the kids this weekend...

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1-1/3 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In another bowl, combine bananas, oil and egg; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.

Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done.

Makes about 1 dozen

Slow-Cooker Enchilladas

Tonight was the annual pre-school picnic. Matt and the other kids sang adorable songs (which I'll hopefully manage to get on Facebook soon) and we all ate our fill.

My contribution was a Slow-Cooker Enchilada recipe I modified. Well, at least that was the original title. I'm thinking this is just a Tex-Mex casserole.

1 lb ground beef
1 cup onions, chopped
16 oz can pinto or kidney beans, rinsed and drained
10 oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups water
16 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
Enough of your favorite taco seasoning for 2 lbs of beef
2 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar, the original recipe called for half cheddar, half Monterrey Jack)
6 flour tortillas

In a non-stick skillet, brown beef and onions. Drain well.

Return beef to pan and add remaining ingredients, except cheese and tortillas. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

In a slow cooker, layer about 3/4 cup beef mixture, one tortilla and about 1/4- 1/3 cup cheese. Repeat layers until all ingredients are used.

Cover. Cook on low 5-7 hours.

Green Beans with Tomato Sauce

I have seen Jamie Oliver do green beans with a tomato sauce, and thought it was plain icky until I tried it. Wow. Yet another way to make my kids' favorite veggie. No, this isn't Jamie's recipe...

2 cans Green Beans (or one quart home canned)
8 oz pizza sauce (use the rest to dip bread sticks in)
Sprinkle of crushed red pepper (optional)

Add red pepper to sauce. Taste! There's no other way to make sure it's not too hot.

Put Green Beans in a microwave safe bowl. Add sauce over the top. Stir. Microwave until heated through.

Pumpkin Dessert

Thanks Judy, for this yummy way to use up the extra pumpkin I seem to buy every Thanksgiving.

Filling:
1 - 29oz can pumpkin
4 eggs
1 can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Topping:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup melted butter or margarine

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Mix filling ingredients (I use a whisk) and pour into un-greased 9x13 cake pan.

Sprinkle cake mix over top of pumpkin filling. Pour 1 cup melted margarine or butter over top
Sprinkle 1 cup chopped nuts over top of all.

Bake at 350 for one hour.

Chicken Delicious

Matthew is in t-ball right now, and it's really hard to get dinner on the table, eat and get to t-ball. So, I use our slow-cooker. This recipe comes from Fix it and Forget it Lightly cookbook.

12 bones, skinless chicken breast halves (or, if you're not worried about being light, any chicken pieces you like - enough to feed your family.)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt (I usually omit this...)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1 can cream of mushroom soup (low sodium, low fat, works too)
1 can cream of celery soup (low sodium, low fat is fine too, cream of chicken is fine instead also)
1/3 cup dry sherry or white wine
Parmesan cheese.

The technique listed in the cookbook is to mix together the soups and seasonings, then dip the chicken mix, put the chicken in the cooker, and add the rest of the soup mixture.

Yeah... I have time to do that... really. NOT. Mix the seasonings and soups together. Put the chicken in the slow-cooker, dump the seasoned soups over the top. Sprinkle with cheese

Cover. Cook on low 8-10 hours. Serve with rice.

Lou Rocco's Cold Chicken Pasta Salad

Yes, my husband's best buddy really is named Lou Rocco. This is a recipe his brother Mickey came up with. First Lou, then I modified it to suit our tastes. Like any salad, there is no precision in this recipe. Add more of what you like, less of what you don't.

12 oz pasta noodles (I like spiral)
8 oz refrigerated spinach and ricotta tortellini (cheese tortellini is good too)
2 medium chicken breasts
6 roma tomatoes
1 large bell pepper (or, if you're me, not)
8 oz feta cheese (I like a one container tomato and basil, one container of plain)
25 green olives (or black...)
Extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp lemon juice

Spices for chicken:
2 bay leaves
dash of thyme
dash of rosemary
dash of pepper

Pre-chop chicken into bite sized pieces. Cook chicken in a frying pan, adding spices to both sides, until chicken turns golden brown. Put chicken in fridge to cool.

Cook pastas according to package directions. Rinse, put it in fridge to cool.

Thinly chop olives, tomatoes and peppers. Toss with noodles in a large bowl.

Spices for salad:
3 tbsp crushed parsley
3 tbsp dried basil (fresh works too)
1 tbsp pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Add all spices to salad, along with cheese. Thinly coat salad with olive oil to taste. Add lemon juice. Stir - and stir again.

Chill until ready to serve. Stir before serving. You may need to add more olive oil, since the pasta soaks it up.

Note: This makes a HUGE batch, but keeps for about a week.