Potatoes Rancheros Casserole

Betty Crocker packaged potatoes are always in our cupboards. They're a perfect go-to side dish that everyone loves. They're also good to have just in case you need to take a casserole somewhere with little notice or time to prepare something fancy. I found this recipe in an advertisement for their product. This makes something basic and good downright fancy after all.

Betty Crocker Potatoes Rancheros Casserole

1 package Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes
2 ¼ cups boiling water
1 cup canned corn, drained
2/3 cup milk
½ lb. lean ground beef, cooked and drained
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded taco-seasoned cheese
1 tablespoon finely chopped red pepper, if desired
1 tablespoon finely chopped green bell pepper, if desired

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix potatoes, Sauce Mix, water, corn and milk in ungreased 2-quart casserole. Stir in beef and ¾ cup cheese. Add red and green pepper, if desired.

Bake uncovered 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Let stand a few minutes.

Serve with Tortilla chips and sour cream.

Oreo Cheesecake Bites

Everybody loves Oreo cookies, don't they? I sure think so. They are wonderful stand alone treats or you can use them to make a glorious dessert like this one!

Kraft is wonderful about also including kitchen tips at the end of their recipes. So be sure to check out a couple at the end. And check out their website too for more delicious recipes!

Oreo Cheesecake Bites

36 OREO Cookies, divided

1/2 cup butter or margarine, divided

4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream

1 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs

4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

 

HEAT oven to 325°F.

LINE 13x9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends extending over sides. Finely crush 24 cookies. Melt 1/4 cup butter; mix with crumbs. Press onto bottom of prepared pan.

BEAT cream cheese and sugar with mixer until blended. Add sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each just until blended. Chop remaining cookies. Gently stir into batter; pour over crust.

BAKE 45 min. or until center is almost set. Cool. Meanwhile, microwave chocolate and remaining butter in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min.; stir until smooth. Cool slightly; spread over top of cheesecake. Refrigerate 4 hours. Use foil handles to lift cheesecake from pan before cutting to serve.How to Make Mess-Free Cookie Crumbs

Crushing cookies into crumbs can be a messy task. To keep the mess to a minimum, place the whole cookies in a resealable plastic bag. Flatten bag to remove excess air, then seal bag. Crush the cookies into crumbs by rolling a rolling pin across the bag until the crumbs are as fine as you need.

How to Neatly Cut Dessert Bars

When cutting creamy-textured desserts, such as cheesecake, carefully wipe off the knife blade between cuts with a clean damp towel. This prevents the creamy filling from building up on the blade, ensuring clean cuts that leave the edges intact.

Cheesy Carrot-Top Chicken

This is one of those recipes I tore out of a magazine. I have know idea which one. Not that it matters. It almost certainly came from an advertisement for Stove Top Stuffing. It sounds yummy and quick. Both are good things in my world.

Cheesy Carrot-Top Chicken

1 cup hot water
1 cup shredded carrots
2 tablespoons butter or margarines, cut in pieces
2 cups Stove Top Flexible Stuffing Mix
4 skinned boned chicken breast halves
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Conventional Oven:
Bring water, carrots and butter to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in Stove Top. Cover; remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Place chicken in greased baking dish. Top with stuffing. Mix sour cream and cheese; spoon over stuffing. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.

Microwave:
Stir water into butter and carrots to soften butter. Stir in Stove Top. Place chicken in microwaveable dish; top with stuffing. Cover dish. Cook at HIGH 5 minutes. Rotate dish half turn; cook 5 more minutes at HIGH. Mix sour cream and cheese; spoon over stuffing. Cook 1 to 2 minutes until cheese melts.

Serves 4.

Crunchy Grecian Dip

This dip is just another excuse to eat your fruit!

Crunchy Grecian Dip with Apples

1 cup (6 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1 cup sour cream, light sour cream, or plan non-fat yogurt
½ cup chopped nuts
½ cup milk
¼ cup raisins
¼ teaspoon ground allspice

Combine all ingredients; mix well.
Serve with apple slices as dippers.
Makes 2 cups.

White Chocolate Cake

A year and half or so ago, my Mother and I stumbled upon an awesome deal. We were grocery shopping in that time when Christmas has come and gone and people only shop for necessity food. We happened on a whole bunch of chocolate baking bars on sale. With the attached coupons, each bar ended up only costing 9 cents. Yeah. You read that right. Needless to say, we purchased an entire shopping bag full of chocolate.

There were all types of chocolate, including white chocolate. I’ve never done a great deal of baking with white chocolate. I love it but I mostly used it to make Peppermint Bark.

This recipe is an old one from the Houston Chronicle. I hope you enjoy it!

White Chocolate Cake

4 ounces white chocolate
½ cup boiling water
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 egg yolks, unbeaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
White Chocolate Frosting (recipe follows)

Melt chocolate in a the microwave in a microwave safe bowl, stiring every 30 seconds until melted. Cool.
With a mixer, blend butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg yolks and beat. Add chocolate and vanilla. Stir in flour with soda, salt and buttermilk. Beat until smooth. Fold in beaten egg white.
Pour into 3 greased and floured layer pans. Bake at 350 degrees 35 to 40 minutes or until cake tests done. Turn out on rack to cool.

White Chocolate Icing

2 egg yolks
1 ½ cups evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
¼ pound margarine
4 ounces white chocolate
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix egg yolks and 1 cup milk. Add sugar and margarine. Cook in the top of a double-boiler over simmering water until thick.
Melt chocolate in remaining milk which has been heated; add to mixture. Add pecans, coconut and vanilla and stir until thoroughly mixed in.
Frost cake.

Vegetable Lasagna

This recipe comes from the fine folks at Campbell's. I don't know about you, but I grew up on Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup. It's still my go to food when I'm not feeling well or it's really cold outside. It's right up there with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches when it comes to comfort food.

That said, I'm always checking out their recipes to see what else they have come up with. Do you like lasagna as much as I do?

Vegetable Lasagna

2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Broccoli Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)

1 1/2 cups milk

Vegetable cooking spray

1 tablespoon butter

3 3/4 cups sliced mushrooms (about 10 ounces)

2 medium red or orange peppers, cut into 2-inch-long thin strips (about 3 cups)

2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced (about 3 cups)

1 medium onion, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)

12 uncooked no-boil lasagna noodles

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (about 8 ounces)

• Stir the soup and milk in a small bowl and set aside. Spray a 13 x 9 x 2-inch shallow baking dish with the cooking spray.
• Heat the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, peppers, zucchini and onion and cook until they're tender.
• Spread 1 cup soup mixture in the bottom of the prepared dish. Layer with 3 of the noodles, 1/3 of the vegetable mixture, 1 cup of the soup mixture and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Repeat the layers twice. Top with the remaining 3 noodles. Pour the remaining soup mixture over the noodles. Cover the baking dish.
• Bake at 375°F. for 40 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until it's hot and bubbling. Let the lasagna stand for 10 minutes.

Cream Cheese Raspberry Coffee Cake

This recipe comes from the good folks over at Pillsbury. They have some wonderful recipes available on their website. This coffee cake is divine!

 

Cream Cheese Raspberry Coffee Cake

 

 Coffee Cake

 2 cans (8 oz each Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 teaspoon sugar                               
                               

Filling

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softed

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons grated orange peel                                          

1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 pint (2 cups) fresh raspberries                                          
                                           

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar                              

1 tablespoon butter, softened
2 teaspoons orange juice

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray large cookie sheet or 14-inch pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray. Unroll both cans of dough; separate into 16 triangles. Reserve 4 triangles for topping. On sprayed cookie sheet, arrange 12 triangles in circle with points toward center, leaving 3-inch hole in center. Press dough to form 14-inch ring; press seams together to seal. Fold outer and center edges up 1/4 inch.

In medium bowl, combine all filling ingredients except raspberries; mix well. Gently stir in raspberries. (Mixture will be thin.) Spoon filling over dough.

With scissors or pizza cutter, cut each reserved triangle lengthwise into thirds. Place 1 teaspoon sugar on work surface. Press each dough strip into sugar. Arrange sugared dough strips, sugar side up, evenly in spoke-fashion over filling. Press ends to seal at center and outer edges.

Bake at 350°F. for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 10 minutes.

In small bowl, combine powdered sugar, butter and orange juice; stir until smooth. Drizzle over coffee cake. Serve warm.