Caramelized Bacon Wrapped Smokies

Bacon wrapped Crack Cocaine is what these were termed when I made them.  They are sweet and salty and so addicting.

Tasty Kitchen

1 pound Bacon, Cut Into Thirds
1 pound Smokies
1 stick Butter
2 cups Brown Sugar
toothpicks

Note: These are a little bit soupy, I did what another reviewer said and cooked them longer to see if it would caramelize but it never did.  I made these a second time like other recipes suggest with only the brown sugar sprinkled on top and they weren't as good.  So next time I will probably cut the butter and brown sugar mixture in half and possibly drain after first cooking then bake again for 10 minutes to crisp and caramelize better.

Preheat oven to 375F. Cut the bacon into thirds and wrap each smokie, securing with a toothpick. Place all the wrapped smokies in a single layer in a baking dish. Then melt the stick of butter and then 1 cup of brown sugar and stir until mixed well. Pour the butter and brown sugar mixture on the smokies and bacon. Then take the other cup of brown sugar and sprinkle evenly over the smokies. Bake them for about 15-20 minutes and then turn the heat up to 400F for about 5 minutes or longer until the bacon becomes crispy.

Easy Pepperoni Roll Ups

Friday pizza night just got easier.  You could use this as an appetizer but we made them for dinner.  They were so easy and yummy!

Taste of Home

1 tube (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls

16 slices pepperoni, cut into quarters

2 pieces string cheese (1 ounce each), cut into quarters

3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning, divided

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

Unroll crescent dough; separate into eight triangles. Place eight pepperoni pieces on each. Place a piece of cheese on the larger side of each triangle; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning. Roll up each, starting with the short side; pinch seams to seal. Sprinkle with garlic salt and remaining Italian seasoning.
Place 2 in. apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with warm pizza sauce

Chili Verde

This recipe takes a little work but it is absolutely worth it!  You can make this full batch and freeze for later or you can half this recipe.  Forget about the mexican restaurant, this is better than anything you could get there and cheaper!  It has a little bit of heat, a lot of flavor and the meat just falls apart in your mouth.

1 c. olive oil divided
2 large onions diced
1/2 cup chopped garlic

6 chopped and seeded serrano peppers

6 chopped and seeded jalapeno peppers     

5 pounds pork shoulder

4 cups chicken broth

20 Anaheim peppers

15-20 medium sized tomatillos

3 tablespoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon Mexican oregano

1 teaspoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup corn flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the whole Anaheim peppers on a sheet pan. Peel the outer paper skins off the tomatillos, then coat with olive oil and place on another sheet pan. Place both pans in the preheated oven and roast until the peppers are nicely charred and the tomatillos are soft, about 20 minutes. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add 1/2 c. olive oil. Stir in the onion, garlic, serrano and jalapeno peppers and cook until soft. Make sure to use gloves when chopping and seeding the hot peppers so your hands don't burn the rest of the day like mine did!  Remove from heat and set aside. Place the pork shoulder in a large heavy bottomed pot, coated with oil, over medium heat and sear until well browned on all sides, remove from pan chop into bite sized pieces. Deglaze with the chicken broth, and then add sauteed onions and peppers and bite size meat. Turn heat to low, cover and let it simmer. Remove pans from the oven and place the peppers in a plastic bag to let them steam for 5 minutes. Peel and seed peppers, and then puree them with the tomatillos in a food processor. Add the puree to the pork mixture, stir, and then let simmer on low heat. Add the garlic powder, black pepper, ground cumin, Mexican oregano, ground coriander and salt to pork mixture. Let the chili mixture simmer for approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours on medium-low heat, or until pork is nice and tender. Then stir in masa roux and simmer for 10 more minutes.
 In a small saute pan, mix 1/2 cup olive oil with the corn flour, stirring over low heat for 2 minutes to make a masa roux and add to chili mixture.  Serve in tortillas or over rice or with chips or anything else you can think of!

Baked Pork Chops With Apple Stuffing

An easy tasty dinner with a hint of sweetness from the apples and cinnamon topped with a succulent pork chop covered in flavor packed stuffing.

 

1 can apple pie filling

4 pork chops 3/4 in.

Stove Top Stuffing or other

Cinnamon

 

Pour apple pie filling in bottom of greased pan.

Brown your pork chops on stovetop with a little butter, season to liking. Lay them on top of apple filling. Then prepare stuffing as directed on the box. Scoop on top of chops.  Sprinkle a tiny bit of cinnamon on very top for flavor.

 

Cover with foil and cook on 350 for 30-35 minutes then take off the foil and cook additional 10 minutes. Check to make sure the pork is done though just to be safe... 160 degrees inside meat is done for pork. Or just a hint of pink.

 

If you don't have apple pie filling of course you could sautee some apples in a pan with a little brown sugar and cinnamon until tender.  I'm guessing it would taste better this way as well.  You can also add cranberries to your stuffing to make it a little more interesting!

Homemade Corn Dogs

These are really nice for a corndog.  They are actually less greasy then the store bought ones and taste so much better.  They have a nice crunchy cornmeal texture on the outside and soft on the inside.

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup white sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk

1 quart vegetable oil for frying
1-2 packages hot dogs (We cut ours in half to make mini's)
16 wooden skewers (optional)

Precook hotdogs in boiling water for a few minutes until heated through.

1.In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, sugar and baking powder. Stir in eggs and milk. Pour into a glass jar for easier coating. 

2.Preheat oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat to about 365 degrees. Insert wooden skewers into hot dogs if using. Roll hot dogs in, flour first then dip in batter until well coated and dip into batter.

3.Fry 2 or 3 corn dogs at a time until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels.  Dip in homemade fry sauce, ketchup or bbq.

Corn Dog Muffins

Sweetened corn bread mixed with cheese and hot dogs.  This is a bit healthier than the original corn dog and it tastes great and is perfect for kids lunches.

From Allrecipes



2 (8.5 ounce) packages cornbread mix
 2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
 9 hot dogs, cut in half or diced

Makes 18 muffins

Variations:        1 can corn added to above
                           1 can of chiles added to above
                       
I halved this recipe but still put the 1 cup cheese and added chiles and fit it into 12 muffins and it worked perfect except next time I will leave the chiles out for the kids sake.   Make sure to use the entire half hot dog for each muffin or it won't taste like enough.

Stir together the cornbread mix and the brown sugar in a large bowl. Whisk the eggs and milk in a small bowl until smooth. Fold the eggs and cheese into the dry mixture until moistened. Spoon mixture into muffin tins until 2/3 full. Add 1 hot dog half to each muffin.

Bake in a preheated oven 14 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown.

Easy Crock Pot Pork Chops

A very simple crockpot dinner with pork chops, potatoes and topped with cream of mushroom gravy, couldn't be any more easy!

From Make Life Delicious

1 medium onion, chopped

2–4 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 cans (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup
2-4 pork chops, boneless or bone-in
salt and pepper to taste
Lightly spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Put onions and potatoes in bottom of slow cooker. Top with pork chops, salt and pepper, pour soup over chops. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, until tender.

bbq pulled pork sandwiches

From no ordinary moments

Ingredients:

~ 8 ounces of tomato sauce
~ 1 cup of chopped onion
~ 1 cup of barbecue sauce
~ 3 teaspoons chili powder
~ 1 teaspoon cumin
~ 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
~ 1/3 cup brown sugar
~ 2 pounds boneless pork roast
~ hamburger buns

1. Mix first seven ingredients and pour over pork in crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

2. Remove meat when tender and shred with forks. Put the meat back in the crock pot and mix with sauce.

3. Allow it to heat through and serve 1/3 - 1/2 cup on hamburger buns.

Savory Sausage Rice

This was delicious and one my dinner rotation list now!  I left out the butter and almonds and didn't bake it. I was thinking this might even be good with suffing on top and then baked instead of the almonds.



From Chocolate On My Cranium

1/2 lb. bulk pork sausage
2 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped green pepper
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 (2 1/8 oz.) pkgs. Chicken Noodle Soup Mix (like Lipton)
4 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup rice
1 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup melted butter

Combine soup mix, boiling water, and rice in a 3 quart saucepan. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until rice is done and water is almost all gone. Meanwhile, lightly brown sausage in another pan. Add celery, green pepper, and onion; saute until tender. Add sausage mixture to rice mixture and mix well. Pour into a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with almonds and pour melted over all. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. 
*I just throw everything into the saucepan and simmer until done, it skips a step and and saves dirtying up another dish and it tastes just as good.

Moo Shu Pork

1/2 c hoisin sauce
3 lrge garlic cloves
2 tbl. sesame oil
2 tbl soy sauce
1 tbl cornstarch
1 bag shredded coleslaw mix or make your own.
1/2 bag shredded carrots
3/4 pnd. pork loin chops
12 flour tortillas
scallion strips

stir together first 5 ingredients and set aside
place coleslaw mix and carrots in crock pot, cut pork into thin slices and place on top of cabbage mix. drizzle 1/4 cup of set aside hoisin mixture on top. cook for 4-6 hours. when done cooking, pour remaining sauce over and serve with tortillas and top with scallions.

Jaozi (chinese dumplings) yum

10 oz. ground pork or ground turkey
5 oz. cabbage chopped
2 bunch cilantro chopped
3 1/2 oz. ginger minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 TBL. soy sauce
1 TBL. sesame oil
1 TBL. rice wine vinegar
1/2 green onion chopped
Dumpling Wrappers

Mix all ingredients, fill wrappers according to wrapper instructions. Steam, boil or sautee in butter, until meat inside is done. You can make this filling and cook in frying pan and serve in lettuce leaves instead, both are yummy.

Sauce:
4 TBL. soy sauce
1 TBL. sesame oil
1 TBL. vinegar
2 cloves garlic minced
pepper

Cornflake Casserole

1 c. cubed ham or chicken
½ c. cheese
3 carrots chopped and cooked
½ c. peas
1 c. rice cooked
¼ c. Evaporated milk
1 TBL. Onions
1 can cream of mushroom soup
¾ c. Crushed cornflakes or chips
3 TBL. Melted Butter

Combine all ingredients except last two and place in baking dish. Mix cornflakes and butter and place on top of casserole and bake till heated.

Ham and Potato Casserole

½ bag frozen diced or shredded potatoes
1 can (10 ¾ oz.) cond. cream chicken soup
1/2 soup can milk
1 cup sour cream
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup grated onion (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup potato chips
1 cup ham or leftover pork roast

Place potatoes and pork in a 2-3 quart casserole dish or a 9x13 cake pan.
Combine soup, milk, sour cream, cheese, and onion and salt and pepper to taste. If a saucier dish is desired, add 2-3 tablespoons additional milk. Mix well. Spread sauce over potatoes. Melt butter and combine with potato chips. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake uncovered at 350 F for 30-45 minutes or until hot and bubbly throughout.