Hanky Panky Bites

I think the first time I had these bites was way back in 2011 at our neighbors Christmas Party! Obviously, they made an impression since I remembered them and recently took them to a work potluck. These are a breeze to put together and remind me of a take on biscuits and gravy.

They are brought up a notch with spicy meat, fresh parsley, rye bread and parmesan cheese. I have seen recipes using Velveeta and just no. Not on this one. Krause’s sells lovely kinds of Parmesan in the cheese case. Don’t miss it.

Hanky Panky Bites based on the recipe from my great neighbor, Faye, and Michael Symon on The Chew.

• 1 pound Spicy Italian Sausage
• 2 tablespoons Reserved Fat From Pan
• 2 tablespoons Flour
• 2 cups Milk
• 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan
• Fresh cracked black pepper
• 1/2 cup Parsley (chopped)
• 8-10 full slices of fresh Rye bread, toasted and cut into fours

In a large skillet, sauté the sausage until cooked through, about 5-10 minutes, breaking into small chunks. When cooked drain and set aside reserving 2 tablespoons of the fat.

Whisk the flour into the reserved fat followed by the milk. Continue to whisk until sauce comes to a boil and begins to thicken. Add the grated parmesan, pepper and parsley and whisk until the cheese is melted. Add the cooked sausage and stir to combine. Serve immediately on toasted rye bread. Or, keep in a Crock Pot and serve that way. Garnish with more chopped parsley if you wish.

Make a roux with the leftover fat and flour.

Add milk and bring to a boil. This will thicken up very nice and quickly.

Serve immediately on toasted rye bread. Or, I made mine the night before and took it to work in the Crock Pot. I just heated it up and served on the toasted bread there. It worked great.

Enjoy this easy and pleasing appetizer!

Pretzel Buckeye Bites

Wow. I can’t believe how easy and tasty these bites of peanut butter balls are sandwiched between two salty, crisp pretzels and a quick dip into some melted chocolate. Life changing. I could eat about one million of these no problem.

I have had this recipe book marked for quite some time and finally got around to making these. They were a hit at my house and are no-bake so these make a great spring/warm weather treat. You can even pop them in your mouth straight out of the freezer. Not that I did that. Uh no, not at all.

Pretzel Buckeye Bites adapted from Sweet Pea’s Kitchen – make about 90 bites

2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) softened butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 bag of pretzels
1/2 bag cocoa candy melts (could use melted chocolate chips too)

Directions:

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat peanut butter and butter until combined. Add both sugars and beat until combined and fluffy. You should be able to roll the mixture into balls without sticking to your hands. If you must, add more powdered sugar until you can roll out balls. It probably depends on what brand peanut butter you use.

Roll the mixture into small balls, the size of a pretzel, about 1 teaspoon. Place on prepared baking sheet and then put one ball between to pretzels and smush together. Place in the freezer for about 30 minutes so they set up.

Melt the chocolate slowly on the stovetop or in a double boiler. Stir until smooth and then dip each pretzel halfway into the melted chocolate and put on the prepared baking sheet. Chill in refrigerator until chocolate is set.

The balls should come together fairly easy, but I sprayed my fingers quick with some baking spray just to help along the process.

Winston loves peanut butter so he napped and hoped some would fall on the floor. Sorry. Not sharing these ones Winston!!

Rows and rows of yuminess!

Here they are freshly dipped!

I packaged these up four in a bag and tied with a little blue twine. I am selling these at our garage sale coming up this weekend – May 4. I also made/am making banana bread, cinnamon bread, cookie dough pop bites (recipe coming soon), chocolate dipped pretzels, Puppy Chow and I am baking and frosting 72 cupcakes this week. I really hope people buy these! We are donating all the proceeds to Relay for Life.

But, if you can’t come buy these bites, do yourself a favor and make them. You won’t be sorry! Peanut butter makes everything better. Enjoy!

Unfried Ice Cream

I guess after making enchiladas, I also was thinking about those delicious Fried Ice Cream desserts that are served at most Mexican restaurants. I came up with an unfried ice cream with some of the same tastes and it is easy to mix together.

This is another dessert I made at night so please excuse the poor lighting. I am always so busy during the day it seems like!

Unfried Ice Cream based off of this recipe from www.RiceKrispies.com

• 1 ½ sticks of butter or margarine
• 3 ½ cups Rice Krispy cereal
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 ½ cups coconut
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ gallon vanilla ice cream (softened so you can spread it)
• Honey, caramel and chocolate sauce to drizzle on top

1. Pre heat oven to 300.
2. Melt butter/margarine on stovetop and mix in brown sugar, coconut and cinnamon. Cook over medium-high heat stirring consistently for about 8-10 minutes
3. Layer ½ – 2/3 of mixture into a 9×13 greased cake pan. Put the other portion on a cookie sheet in a flat layer.
4. Bake both pans at the same time for 15-18 minutes, until melted and bubbly.
5. Cool completely and spread ice cream over the cake pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle remaining cereal mixture over ice cream, pressing lightly. Freeze about 2 hours or until hardened.
6. Top with honey, caramel and hot fudge sauce. I am sure berries or nuts would also be good.
7. Take out of the freezer about ½ hour before serving so it has time to soften.

This looks like a happy little trio, doesn’t it?

Melt on the stovetop and be sure to take your ice cream out so it softens up.

The rice krispie mix gets nice and toasted in the oven. It smells wonderful too!

Spread your ice cream in a nice, even layer.

Top with the rest of the krispies and drizzle with caramel, chocolate and honey if you’d like. Enjoy!

Chicken Enchiladas

I had been craving Mexican food. Living out in the boondocks, you have to make your own. No chips are free dinner extra unless you want to drive 70 miles. So after a trip to Krause’s, I had the goods to come up with some lovely enchiladas. I looked at a few different recipes online and then combined them into something I thought I’d like. They turned out great.

Cheesy, a bit spicy and filled with Mexican flavored chicken. Yes please.

Chicken Enchiladas – makes 6 servings

• 2 large chicken breasts – poached and shredded
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 – 10 oz. can RoTel
• 1 – 4 oz. can diced jalapenos, drained (if you don’t care for the heat, sub a can of drained green chilies)
• 2 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cups shredded cheese, divided
• 1 tsp. oil
• 12-13 – 6” corn tortillas
• 1 – 10 oz. can enchilada sauce
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 3 sliced green onions, divided

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté about 5 minutes until onions are just starting to brown. Add garlic and sauté one more minute. Add in sour cream, RoTel, jalapenos, chili powder, cumin, oregano, water and one cup cheese. Combine until cheese melts, remove from heat and set aside. Stir in your cooked, shredded chicken while the mixture cools.

2. Add a dash of oil to a small non-stick pan on medium-high heat. Add one tortilla at a time and heat both sides about 20 seconds per side to soften. Repeat with oil and tortillas as needed. Keep oil to minimal use. Stuff each tortilla with about 2 heaping Tablespoons of chicken fill, wrap and place seam side down in a sprayed 9×13 pan.

3. Preheat oven to 350. In the pan you sautéed the tortillas in, add the enchilada sauce, 1/3 cup sour cream and one green onion. Heat on medium heat until combined and sour cream is melted into the sauce. Remove from heat and cover the enchiladas evenly with the sauce. Top with remaining one cup of cheese.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until cheese is bubbling and just turning brown. Remove from oven and top with the other 2 green onions. Serve immediately.

I like to poach my chicken in chicken broth and cumin spices. It adds a lot of flavor and keeps the chicken super moist. Just use two forks to shred the chicken and set aside.

Put the oil in your pan and sauté your onion until it starts to turn brown and then add all the yummy garlic.

Add in sour cream, RoTel, jalapenos, chili powder, cumin, oregano, water and one cup cheese. Combine until cheese melts, remove from heat and set aside. Don’t forget to add your chicken into this mix!

By heating your corn tortillas a bit you make them nice and soft to wrap your chicken filling inside. Just place them in your pan, seam side down.

I had a nice little assembly line going here!

Adding the sour cream to the enchilada sauce just makes it a little more rich and a little pink in color too.

No worries though as they get smothered with the leftover cheese.

Bake until the cheese is nice and melted and the edges just start to get a bit crispy.

Serve up immediately.

Inhale. Man, I wish I had some of these right meow!

MEOW!!

Enjoy!

Key Lime Cheesecake Pie

I made this pie very quickly one night after work to take to my sister for her birthday. It was super easy and she reports back, pretty tasty! This is a fun twist on regular cheesecake.

Graham crust, lime cheesecake and topped with Cool Whip!

Key Lime Cheesecake Pie from the Kraft Website – no changes

• 2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. grated lime zest
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (one lime for me)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)
• 1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

Make It

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese, sugar, peel, juice and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; mix just until blended.

POUR into crust.

BAKE 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Top with whipped topping just before serving. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Before baking and after. This puffs up a bit in the oven.

After the pie has cooled in the fridge, top with about one cup of Cool Whip or fresh whipped cream.

Serve cold!

Enjoy! I hope you liked this for your birthday sister!!

Buffalo Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Oh my gosh. I kind of dreamed these up one day and my mouth did not regret that decision. These were a perfect mix of sweet, spicy and creamy!

Mr. FeistyEats wasn’t too crazy about them as he isn’t a fan of sweet potatoes. However, I assume these would be great made with white potatoes and I intend to try that out on him one day.

Buffalo Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries

• 2 sweet potatoes or yams (about the size of normal potatoes)
• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tsp. Montreal steak seasoning
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
• 1/3 cup buffalo sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/3 cup shredded cheese
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. ranch dressing

1. Clean your sweet potatoes and prick them several times with a fork or knife. Microwave on high for 5 minutes. Set aside and let them cool. When cool, cut into wedges.

2. Preheat oven to 450. In a large metal bowl, combine sweet potatoes, oil, Montreal, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Combine to coat all potato wedges.

3. Place in a single layer on a sprayed cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and flip potatoes. Bake for another 7 minutes or until browning. This will all depend on the size of your wedges and microwave strength. Bake until nice and browned like a cheetah.

4. In your metal bowl, add butter and buffalo sauce. Stick in warm oven until butter melts. Remove from oven and toss potatoes in the sauce. Once coated, serve on a platter.

5. Top with cheese, green onions and ranch dressing. Serve immediately. Pop into the microwave or oven again if needed to melt the cheese.

Make sure to get your potatoes nice and crispy on the outside! You are going for a cheetah effect (aka nice and spotted).

The ranch dressing is there just to cool off the heat from the buffalo sauce.

I am not ashamed to say I done ate ever single one of those fries and they did NOT disappoint. So many of my favorite flavors – cheese, buffalo, green onion and spices on the sweet potatoes. This will be repeated.

Enjoy!

Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes

Good Monday morning. I don’t know where you are, but here in Hazen, ND, we are digging out from a lot of snow. This is definitely the most snow we have had in one day that I can recall in recent memory. I am sure it is welcome for farmers who need the moisture but not so welcome for the ranchers who need to get to the newborn calves and make sure they are warm. This morning it seemed quite blustery but now it looks so pretty outside!

Anyway, enough weather talk. If you are inside and need an idea for dinner, this is it! Now don’t mistake these for a traditional Philly Cheese Steak my friends. But, this is a nice take on a sloppy joe and we are making these again this week as we both enjoyed them so much.

Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes based on a Rachael Ray recipe. Serves 4.

• 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 tsp. Montreal steak seasoning
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 3-4 small sweet peppers, sliced
• 3 Tbsp. ketchup or steak sauce
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup beef stock/broth
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 4 ounces sliced pepper jack cheese
• 4 dinner rolls or tortillas for serving

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add olive oil and peppers. Sauté for 2 minutes and then add onions and sauté until both have a bit of color, about 5 more minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add ground beef to the pan along with the Montreal steak seasoning and cook until browned, being sure to break up into small chunks. Drain any fat off if needed. Add ketchup or steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and beef stock. Bring up to a bubble and cook about 2 minutes. Add onions and peppers back into the pan and mix to combine.

To serve, split open rolls or place mixture in tortilla. Place pepper jack cheese over hot meat so it melts – or toast under broiler. Enjoy – we thought these were also great with the addition of banana peppers and a pickle on the side.  

Krause’s had these little multi-color sweet peppers on sale last week and they are just so delicious. Sauté up the onions and peppers before you make the meat.

Set the onion/peppers aside and add back in after the meat is ready to go.

Serve up on a tortilla (we just love these FlatOut brand ones) or a toasted bun.

Winston really wanted one!!

Don’t forget to top with cheese and enjoy. We served ours with a pickle and some roasted cauliflower – my favorite!!