FOODIE!!!!

It’s is no surprise that I LOVE to cook and bake! So don’t be surprised to see a few post’s regarding FOOD :)

This past Thursday I was basically addicted to Food Blogs! Which is where I came across my weekend menu—from multiple blogs.

Here is what we had this past weekend:

Friday Dinner

-Cheese Biscuits (like Red Lobster’s)

-Hash brown Casserole

-Fried Shrimp

-Sautéed Shrimp

-Homemade cocktail sauce (Thanks Dwayne!)

Saturday

-Homemade (Semi) Donuts

-Bourbon Chicken with rice and sautéed green beans

Sunday

-Scalloped Potato and ground beef casserole

See below for pictures and recipes…..

CHEDDER BISCUITS (Like Red Lobster’s)

2 cups bisquick
1 cup cheddar cheese
2/3 cup milk
¼ tsp. garlic salt
4 tbsp. butter, melted
¼ tsp. parsley

Preheat oven to 450º F

In a large mixing bowl, combine bisquick, cheese, and milk. Mix together until a soft dough forms then beat vigorously for 30 seconds. On an ungreased baking pan, spoon the dough onto the pan in small balls. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them though, they tend to bake quickly!

While they are baking, combine the melted butter, garlic salt, and parsley. Once the biscuits are done cooking, brush the butter mixture onto the biscuits while they are still on the baking pan.

Hash Brown Casserole
Can condensed cream of chicken soup
8 oz. Colby cheese - shredded
1/2 cup melted butter
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 lb. bag frozen shredded hash browns

Spray a 9x13x2 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. In a bowl, combine soup, cheese, butter, onion, salt, and pepper. Gently fold the potatoes

into the mixture and pout into prepared pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-40

minutes, until heated through and top is browned.

VOILA dinner is served! Come HUNGRY!!!!!!!!!

So now onto Saturday’s food day! Well we woke up and made breakfast— figured since we had leftovers of the hash brown casserole we would just cook some of it on the stove top and have some eggs J But for some reason the casserole didn’t turn out like I had thought it would, what basically happened was I ended up just reheating the casserole—which wasn’t a bad thing, but I guess I was expecting more the regular hash browns you see for breakfast..oh well. So after breakfast I decided to make the Homemade (semi) Glazed Donuts-----YUUUMMM is the only word that describes these ooohhh sooo simple donuts! I don’t think we even ate lunch that day because we started cleaning out closets and storage boxes that were in the attic! We are trying to de-clutter as much as we can before we move to FL. When Eric and I went to Washington, DC for our 1 year wedding anniversary I had Bourbon Chicken for lunch and he had never had it before and tried it and loved it! Soo I figured we could attempt to recreate it! It turned out really great! So we had the Bourbon Chicken served over white rice with a side of Green Beans.

HOMEMADE (SEMI) DONUTS

Ingredients
-4-8 cups of oil for frying (the oil needs to be at least 2 inches deep)
-1 refrigerated tube of 10 biscuits (the smaller tubes, not Grands. I use Pillsbury Country Style biscuits, they come in a 4-pack)

-1/4 stick butter
-1 cup powdered sugar
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
-2 tablespoons milk

Directions
Start warming the oil in a pot on the stove. I set my stove on 5 (medium heat) and my oil takes around 20 minutes to warm up. Don't turn your heat higher than medium or your donuts will burn in .2 seconds.

I ended up using 2 cans of biscuits so I doubled everything in the glaze!

For the glaze. Melt the butter in the microwave and add the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Stir until combined.

For the donuts. Use a small circular cutter (the cap of a 2-liter works well) to cut circles in each biscuit.

Place a few donuts in the oil and cook until browned (1-2 minutes). Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes until browned.

Pull the donuts out of the oil and set them on a cooling rack (or paper towels) to drain the excess oil. While the donuts are warm, dip them in the glaze.

Use a fork or tongs to lift the donut out of the glaze and to shake off excess glaze.

Place on a cooling rack (or plate) to cool and store. They don't really have to cool off before eating.

For the donut holes I fried them and shook them in a ziplock bag with cinnamon/sugar instead of using glaze. BUT we didn’t like them as much as the glaze. So I think next time I’ll either use powdered sugar or just dip them in the glaze. But do whatever you like. My sister loves chocolate so we will be making a chocolate glaze when she comes to visit!

BOURBON CHICKEN

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces (***I used four chicken breasts)

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/4 teaspoon ginger

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup apple juice

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned. Remove chicken. Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved. Add chicken and bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve over hot rice and enjoy.

Sunday Dinner: Of course I had to eliminate some of the stuff in the casserole cause my dear sweet hubby has a very limited palette! So in our casserole we didn’t have any onions or green peppers L But it still turned out pretty good. I used onion powder for a little seasoning.

Scalloped Potato and Ground Beef Casserole

1-1/2 lb ground chuck
medium onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 Tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
For the potato/soup mixture:
5-6 russet potatoes
2 cans cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

In a skillet cook the ground beef with onion, bell pepper, and chili flakes until no longer pink; drain fat over a colander. Return to pan and add in garlic, season salt, and black pepper; cook until meat is lightly browned. In a medium bowl, mix together the soup with milk, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, seasoned salt and black pepper and add the potatoes. Mix well to combine. In a greased 9x13 baking dish, late the potato/soup mixture. Top with half of the cheddar cheese. Then spread the ground beef mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour on 350 degrees. Uncover and continue baking for another 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese on the top and return to the oven for 4-5 minutes or until cheese has melted.

Well I hope you all have enjoyed my blog….the food was very good. Our favorites for the weekend were the Donuts and the Bourbon Chicken! If any of my readers try any of the recipes please let me know what you think J

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!