Ham and Swiss Strata

This is the second year I've made this with leftover Christmas ham. I serve it with spicy mustard.

Ham and Swiss Strata

8 slices bread, crusts cut off and cubed
1 cup ham
1 cup Swiss cheese, grated
3 teaspoons mustard
6 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 325 F
Put all the cubed bread into the bottom of a 9X12 casserole dish, cover with ham and swiss.
In a mixing bowl stir together the eggs, milk and mustard. Pour into casserole dish. Bake for 35 minutes or until set.

Recipe Challenge 11--Meatballs!

I picked Mushroom Bacon Swiss Meatballs. They were good=)

Ratings out of 10:

Hunter - 7

Corrine - 10

Me-7

Mushroom Bacon Swiss Meatballs

1 pounds ground chuck
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup crushed crackers
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup cooked and chopped bacon
1/3 cup shredded swiss cheese

Mix ingredients. Form into balls and brown in 1 tablespoon oil, turning and cooking 6-8 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve with mushrooms that have been sliced and sauteed in Worchestershire sauce.

Sausage Balls

Sausage balls

1 pound hot sausage(Jimmy Dean or Owens)
2 cups shredded mild cheddar
2 cups Bisquick

Mix by hand until it's fully mixed(will take time). Bake at 400 F for 15 minutes. We serve with what we call secret sauce--a mix of 2 parts miracle whip to 1 part mustard.

Appetizers--Recipe Challenge 10

I picked Bacon Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms. I usually make these but instead of bacon I use a pound of sausage. These were good! (sausage is better and I'll put that recipe at the end)

Sausage Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

1 pound breakfast sausage(like Jimmy Dean or Owens)

8 oz. cream cheese

20 or so large mushrooms, washed and stemmed

Preheat oven to 375 F. Cook sausage with cut up stems and drain. Add cream cheese and mix until melted. Stuff mushrooms and bake for 30 minutes or until the mushrooms are cooked through and cheese is melty.

More coffee

This is my absolute favorite--peppermint mocha!

This one was just okay.

Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies II

These are VERY crispy and yummy. These are also part of my neighbor gifts=)

Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies II

Ingredients:

1 cup butterscotch chips

3/4 cup unsalted butter

2 tablespoons boiling water

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups quick cooking oats(I think I used old fashioned...I don't buy quick cooking)

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1 pinch salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a small saucepan, melt butterscotch chips and butter over low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. In a medium bowl, stir together the boiling water and baking soda. Stir in the melted mixture, then stir in the flour, quick oats, sugar and salt. Mix until everything is well blended.

3. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto unprepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Cookies will be very crisp. Remove to cool on wire racks.

Chococonut Chip Cookies

I don't much like coconut but I love the smell so one of the neighbor gifts this year have coconut in them. And I really like them!

Chococonut Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

2 cups flaked coconut

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Fold in chocolate chips and coconut. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pasta Isabarte

We gave this a collective 7. If we made it again we'd use more sauce and dice the bell peppers. We also used a LOT more cheese than the recipe calls for(as usual).

Pasta Isabarte

1 pound dry ziti pasta
2 eggs
1 tomato, diced
1 (4 ounce) can sliced black
olives
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 pinch dried oregano
garlic salt to taste
1 (28 ounce) jar pasta sauce
1 (8 ounce) package shredded
mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:
1.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta and cook until almost done, soft but not limp; drain.
3.
Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Over medium heat, bring water to a full boil. Lower heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Immediately plunge eggs into cold water. Using a sharp knife, dice the eggs.
4.
In a large mixing bowl, gently mix tomato, olives, red peppers, yellow peppers, green peppers, onions, eggs, oregano, garlic salt, and pasta sauce. It's more fun to do the mixing with your hands! Pour the drained pasta into the bowl and mix.
5.
Pour the mixture into a large, deep, greased casserole dish. Cover with as much cheese as you can, making sure the edges are covered completely. Put lid on dish and bake on a low rack for 30 to 35 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted and turning a golden brown. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, cut into squares and serve.

Tupperware!

Broiled Tilapia

I loved this week! Teresa gave us choices of main dishes and sides. I picked Broiled Tilapia Parmesan and Baked Corn. Both are going in the book!

This is the fish when it was cooked as directed. I always overcook my fish...I find noone(me included) will eat it if it's just flakey.

And here's my plate. The corn was fantastic...I added some salsa. Next time I would cut the butter WAY down to 1/4 cup or less.

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, soft
3 tablespoon mayo
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
2 pounds tilapia fillets

Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a pan or line with foil. In a small bowl, mix together with cheese, butter, mayo, and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder, and celery salt. Mix well and set aside. Arrange fillets in a single layer. Broil a few inches from heat for 2 min. Flip and broil for 2 more min. Remove from oven and cover with the cheese mixture on top of fillets. Broil for 2 more min. or until topping is browned.

BAKED CORN

1 can whole kernel corn, undrained
1 can cream style corn
1 (8oz) sour cream
1 egg--beaten
1 pkg dry corn muffin mix
1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350
Mix together the whole kernel corn, creamed corn, sour cream, and egg.
Add corn bread mix and butter. Mix all together and pour into 2 quart baking dish.
Bake for 1 hour or until top is golden brown.

Easy Potato Soup

I picked Easy Potato Soup...I love making potato soup on a cold day!

I used chicken stock instead of only water and skipped the dillweed. Comfort food=)

Easy Potato Soup

4 tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups diced onion
4 cups diced potatoes
2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp dillweed
3 cups milk
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Saute the onions until golden. Add the potatoes, water, salt,pepper and dillweed. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 25-30 minutes. Stir in the milk and parsley, heat until hot.