Kid Friendly Tatertot Casserole

Who likes tater tots?  I think that every kid loves tater tots (including me!).  What is it about them?  Anyway, I should get back on topic!  Today's recipe is a casserole, tater tot casserole to be precise.  It is very good, and  is a simple after school dinner.

 

Tater Tot Casserole

1/8 cup flour

1/8 cup milk

1/4  cup chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 lbs. ground beef

1 cup sour cream (low fat is okay)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 32 oz. package frozen tater tots

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.

Cook ground beef. Season with salt and pepper to taste, while browning.

After the meat has finished cooking, take the meat out, and make a rue with the beef grease, milk, flour, and chicken broth.

Spread ground beef in the prepared baking dish. Whisk together cream sauce and sour cream. Spread over ground beef in an even layer.

Sprinkle cheddar cheese over the soup layer.

Top with tater tots.

Bake 30 minutes.

See, wasn't that easy?  My family loved it, and I hope yours does too!  Even my mom ate it, and she isn't supposed to!

Zebra Cake

Hello everybody!  This past week I was asked to make a cake friend's little sister's birthday.  I decided to do something completely un-traditional.  I was going to put  zebra stripes on the outside AND inside of the cake!  I am going to give you a link to the blog I found the recipe on, but I will also give you the recipe for the chocolate mousse I used to fill in between the cakes.  It is amazing!

Cake: http://www.mycakeschool.com/blog/how-to-make-a-cake-with-zebra-stripes-on-the-inside/

The mousse was everybody's favorite!  

Chocolate Mousse

2 cups chocolate chips

1/3 cup boiling water

3 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Directions

Place chocolate chips in a food processor, and grind 1 to 2 minutes until almost finely ground-but not too fine.  Continue processing while adding boiling water to melt chocolate until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.

In a metal bowl, whip whipping cream and powdered sugar until stiff.  Fold about one third of whipping cream briskly into melted chocolate.  Then fold remaining whipping cream, in dollops, gently into chocolate.  Chill 1 to 3 hours or overnight.

This was a hit with the little girl who I made it for.  She loved the unexpected stripes on the inside!  It was delicious!  Oh, I almost forgot, did you see the zebra stripes on the outside?  It is zebra sugar paper.  It can be found at Hobby Lobby.

Chocolate Covered Banana Smoothie

Hello, everyone! :) This is a really good recipe for a delicious smoothie. It is really refreshing for a hot summer day. Happy Eating! :)

 

                   Chocolate Covered Banana Smoothie

                          2 bananas
                          1 scoop of chocolate ice cream
                          dash of vanilla
                          1/4-1/3 cup milk
                          small handful of chocolate chips

Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend it until it reaches the consistency you want it. Oh, so yummy! :) 

                          ~Nutmeg
    

Venison Beef Chili

Hey out there!  How many of you enjoy chili?  I do.  Chili is a wonderfully warm meal on chilly (haha, sorry, bad joke!) days.  It was a bit cooler a few days ago, so I decided to try my hand at it.  It was wonderful!  I hope you all enjoy!

Venison Beef Chili

1 lb. ground beef

1 lb. ground venison

2 cups dried kidney beans

6 T chili powder

1 1/3 cup water

1 T salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 cup minced, dried onion

dash oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

12 oz. can of tomato paste

15.25 oz can sweet corn

Directions

Cook beans to package instructions.

Brown meat.

Mix together all ingredients.

This chili is SO easy!  If you have any suggestions for better chili we would be very appreciative!

Cornbread With Extra Corn

 Hello again!  I know that Nutmeg already posted a  cornbread recipe, but this is more of a corn casserole.  I really enjoy this recipe, and hope you do too!

 Cornbread Casserole

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 can un -drained kernel corn

1 can cream style corn

1 cup sour cream

1 stick butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

Directions

Heat oven to 350*.

Mix together all ingredients and pour into an un -greased 9 by 13 pan.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Enjoy!

I LOVE this casserole!  It seems a little too dry to be casserole , but too wet to be bread so I decided to stick with casserole.  Tell us what you think!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

I made these brownies for my brother and his girlfriend when they went to college, and I was actually very pleased with the results! They are really simple, (especially since they use a brownie mix) and very tasty. I hope you like them! Happy Eating! :) 

                    Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

         Brownie Layer:
                             1 milk chocolate brownie mix
                           
Follow the instructions on the brownie mix to make a 9x13 pan, and let them cool. Meanwhile, prepare the icing.

        Peanut Butter Icing:
                            1/2 cup softened butter
                            1 cup creamy peanut butter
                            2 cups powdered sugar
                            3-4 tablespoons of milk
                           splash of vanilla
                            
In a mixer, whip the butter and peanut butter together until smooth, and well blended. Gradually add in the powdered sugar, then slowly add the milk until the consistency you want is reached. Add in the vanilla, and beat for 3 minutes on medium speed. Spread onto the cooled brownies. 
Melt 1/2-3/4 of a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. Cut a small hole in the corner of a Ziploc sandwich bag, and pour the chocolate in. Gently squeeze it over the brownies to drizzle it. Put it into the refrigerator and allow the chocolate to harden. Cut into squares and enjoy! :) 

~Nutmeg

Crazy Cream Cheese Biscuits

Who likes biscuits?  I am completely positive that I do.  Especially biscuits that contain a whole block of cream cheese! When I was younger, I would always choose biscuits and gravy as my birthday breakfast.  One year my mom did not have time to make them fresh.  She went to our pantry and grabbed a box mix.  Unfortunately, she did not happen to look at the expiration date.  When they came out of the oven they flat, hard and  made me want to cry.  She apologized profusely, and promptly made a quick batch of fresh ones.  Ever since, I have looked for delicious biscuit recipes from scratch.  Here is one of my favorites (she has a pretty good recipe as well, but these are richer)! 

Cream Cheese Biscuits

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup butter, softened

1 cup all-purpose flour

 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder.

Directions

Pulse together the cream cheese, 2/3 cup of butter, and 1 cup of the flour two or three times in a food processor fitted with the knife or dough blade.

Turn the dough out onto waxed paper and divide into two rounds. Wrap in waxed paper, plastic wrap, or a resealable plastic bag, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Lightly sprinkle a board or other clean surface using flour. Sprinkle the top lightly with flour. With floured hands and a floured rolling pin, roll out one portion of the dough at a time to approximately 1/2 inch thick. For each biscuit, dip a 1- to 1 1/4-inch biscuit cutter into the reserved flour and cut out the biscuits, starting at the outside edge and cutting very close together, being careful not to twist the cutter.

Using a metal spatula if necessary, move the biscuits to an ungreased baking sheet, placing the biscuits 1 inch apart. 

Bake the biscuits on the top rack of the oven for a total of 10 to 12 minutes until light golden brown. After 6 minutes, rotate the pan in the oven so that the front of the pan is now turned to the back, and check to see if the bottoms are browning too quickly. If so, slide another baking pan underneath to add insulation and slow browning. Continue baking another 4 to 6 minutes until the biscuits are light golden brown. 

A warning I must give you is that this recipe makes extremely small biscuits.  They are bite sized.  It doesn't make very many either so I suggest you double the recipe.  No matter their size they are still delicious.