Baked Spaghetti

Baked Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 1 cup canned Diced Tomatoes
• 2 cups canned Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 cup diced Yellow Onion
• 1/2 cup diced Green Bell Pepper
• 1 clove chopped Garlic
• 1/4 cup Parsley
• 1 TSP Salt
• 1 TSP Black Pepper
• 1 TBS Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 TBS Garlic Powder
• 1 TBS Granulated Sugar
• 1TSP Season Salt or Creole Seasoning
• 1 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 1/2 lbs Ground Beef
• 8 Ounces of Spaghetti
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350
in a stockpot saute in olive oil chopped garlic, onion, and bell pepper
once the vegetables have cooked down combine tomatoes, tomato sauce, parsley, Italian Seasoning, Garlic powder, sugar, and creole seasoning,salt, and black pepper. Stir and let simmer covered for 45 minutes.
crumble the ground beef into a large skillet over medium heat until fully cooked when no pink color remains drain the fat from the meat and add meat to sauce let cook covered an additional 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil, add pasta cook according to the package directions.  Add drained pasta and sauce to a nonstick baking dish alternating pasta, sauce, and cheese until all ingredients are combined in dish. be sure to top the casserole with cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbling approximately 15 to 20 minutes.  let cool for 5 minutes before serving.





**If cooking for a crowd simply double the measurements and feel free to add different types of meat like shrimp or smoked sausage great additions and definitely will feed a crowd and keep them happy ENJOY!

Dutch Oven Roast With Loaded Mashed Potatoes

                                                                               

Dutch Oven Roast & Loaded Mashed Potatoes

This Meal has become one of my all time favorites! It’s definitely not a meal that you should eat if calorie counting it’s a stick to your ribs fall asleep right after good for a Sunday Meal!! As always feel free to customize this recipe use your crock-pot for the roast always season to your taste and remember to have fun. Send your pictures, feedback and questions I love hearing from my readers!

Dutch Oven Roast

·      1 2 to 3 pound Beef Roast

·      ¼ cup Cut Up Seasoning (See Kitchen Tools & Staples Post)

·      1 TSP Black Pepper

·      1 TBS Creole Seasoning

·      1 TBS Italian Seasoning

·      1 TSP Sea Salt

·      1 TBS Garlic Powder

·      ½ cup Red Wine/Water/Beef Broth (Whatever you Prefer)

Directions

Pre heat oven to 325, Heat a large dutch oven coated with Olive Oil on Medium High Heat. The dutch oven should get hot enough that you hear the oil sizzle. While pot is heating Season your roast on all sides with dry seasoning to your taste. Sear Roast on all sides, for about 1 minute each. (Don’t worry when you place the meat in the pot it will sizzle and create smoke this is a good thing it will settle)

Remove Roast from pot and turn off heat, add ½ cup of the liquid of your choice and ¼ cup cut up seasoning. Stir until incorporated well, add roast and cover with lid. Place in oven for 1 ½ to 2 hours in 325 degree oven until desired temperature is reached. (I like to baste the roast every 30 min. with cooking liquid to keep from drying)

Loaded Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

·      6 large Russet Potatoes

·      1 Stick of Butter

·      1 TBS Sea Salt

·      1 TBSP Black Pepper

·      1 TSP Garlic Powder

·      ½ cup of Sour Cream

·      ½ cup of Shredded Cheddar Cheese

·      4 slices of Bacon (optional)

Directions

Wash, peel, and dice the potatoes place in a pot of water and boil until fork tender. Once potatoes are tender drain and let cool slightly, once cooled add sour cream and butter mix well. Add dry seasoning and cheese if potatoes are still dry add more sour cream and or milk. Taste as you prepare to reach perfect seasoning. Serve with chopped bacon pieces. ENJOY!

Great Wine!!

This is called Summer Red, by Barefoot in their new Refresh line of wines. Walking down the wine aisle in Target one weekend I found this with the rest of the cheaper wines on the end. I've been tasting different reds lately (I'm usually not a fan) so I picked this up. I was pleasantly surprised! My friends and I enjoyed this so much we went back and picked up a few more bottles to enjoy over the weekend. It definitely is worth more than 6.99 but i'm glad that's all we payed! Great wine, glad I found it I will surely be keeping this in my rotation.

Salty Chocolate Chunk Cookies Via Bon Appetit

I found this recipe in the January 2013  issue of Bon Appetit, and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to make it!

Salty Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1/4cup powdered sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz. semisweet chocolate ( do not exceed 72% cacao)

Directions

Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 375°. Whisk flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, sugar, and powdered sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add egg yolks, egg, and vanilla. Beat, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl, until mixture is pale and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low; slowly add dry ingredients, mixing just to blend. Using a spatula, fold in chocolate. Spoon rounded tablespoonfuls of cookie dough onto 2 parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spacing 1-inch apart. Sprinkle cookies with sea salt. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until just golden brown around the edges, 10-12 minutes (the cookies will firm up as they cool). Let cool slightly on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks; let cool completely.

Important Tips:

• Be sure to use Kosher Salt only!! This is one thing you can't substitute without compromising the flavor
• Use pure vanilla extract, imitation is never good....for anything!
• Vanilla Tip: I always make it a point to use a Mexican or Tahitian Vanilla even Madagascar Vanilla has a strong,pure, beautiful flavor. The best vanilla I have been able to find is from Williams-Sonoma. All three types are available in this convenient pack http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/world-vanilla-set/?pkey=cbaking-decorating-ingredients&
• be sure not to over mix your ingredients as this just makes a yucky cookie
• Reminder: baking is a science a fun edible science but a science be sure to measure properly and always use clean and dry utensils

just in case you need it! web link

Kitchen Tools & Staples

       Kitchen Tools & Staples

In this Post I want to share with my readers some of the things I must always have in my kitchen. First starting with my gadgets first is my cast iron dutch oven. Yes it does take a little effort to keep a cast iron anything in good condition but it's worth it and it cooks great and they are very inexpensive i purchased mine from Williams Sonoma for $35.00 regular price

Next Are just a few standard things dry measuring cups, wine opener, marinade injector and a can opener. These things are all pretty basic but are essential in my kitchen i got them all from my local Wal-Mart and they are pretty good quality.

 My cookbook stand with measurement translations on the side, this really comes in handy to hold my tablet or cookbook when I'm cooking with recipes and also helps with measuring if i must convert measurements. I also got this from Williams Sonoma.









My spices are very important as I love to experiment with different flavors in my food. A few things that i must keep are Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Dry parsley, Creole Seasoning, Black Pepper, Sea Salt, Garlic Powder, and Italian Seasoning. For Baking I always have non- stick spray, vanilla extract, mexican vanilla ( a lot stronger and gives great flavor) Almond extract, honey, baking soda, and baking powder.







My grater is awesome it was a very cheap find but is a great tool it has all different blades on its sides and i use it a lot for fresh cheese and vegetables.

this handy little chopper is a life saver for my cut up seasoning or making french fries or cutting up large amounts of anything. I got this little tool from Williams Sonoma as well great investment has totally changed my life in the kitchen

Cut Up Seasoning

This is something I cook with in just about all my recipes it is a mixture of Yellow Onions, Green Bell Pepper, Garlic, and Parsley. I store a small amount in the refrigerator to use whenever I need and I store a few gallon bags in my freezer as back up for holidays or big family meals. Great shortcut for recipes that call for these veggies.