Five on Friday | 11.3

I'm back with another Five on Friday with April.

one | Halloween

Lewis was the cutest dragon ever!

two | snow

The snow is here to stay. And it was absolutely beautiful yesterday!

three | teething

Lew is teething and it's a pain. I feel so bad for him and there's not much that can be done for him. :( Send some prayers & good vibes our way if you remember.

four | conferences

Teachers, how do you manage parent/teacher conferences and missing your kiddos? We had conferences last night and I barely saw Lew. It made my heart so sad.

five | oven roasted veggies

I'm not usually a fan of beets, but this new recipe from Wednesday was a hit! Find it here. Also, we nixed the feta. As the cook, I get to make those decisions. :)


We're off to the farm for the weekend to spend time with family during Deer Hunting Opening weekend. Wish the guys luck! I'll be back with a new recipe next week.

Happy Friday!

Five on Friday | 10.27

Linking up with April for another round of Five on Friday!

one | snow

We had our first snow yesterday. I saw a handful of my friends who were excited about it. I, on the other hand, was not excited. Fall is my time. I love it. And as nice as it is to layer up and not be sweaty all of the time (summer is the worst), it's SO nice to have a decent fall. Plus, Halloween with a toddler will be chilly. But, such is life when you live in the Upper Midwest.

two | macaroni tot dish

I was perusing my IG stories last night and I found a recipe for mac and cheese tater tot hotdish (WHAT?!). My sentiments exactly. I was stoked. PLUS it was a recipe that was adapted from Molly Yeh's recipe from #mollyontherange. I love this cookbook and you will too. Order it on Amazon here.

When I saw this recipe on IG, I did a Kimmy Schmidt and was all "What in the ham sandwich?!". For reals. How have I never thought to put tots on top of my baked mac & cheese?! That being said, it's on our menu for next week. Here's a screenshot from Sara at Cake over Steak that I took so I could remember the recipe. Hah. And now that I've found her, I plan to continue reading her blog. #love

 

I mean, c'mon. How cute is that?!

three | workouts

I've decided that on the nights where Kyle works until 8, I'm going to work out. Yeah, I know. So. Much. Fun. And last night I really wasn't feeling it. But I knew that I'd feel better if I did. So, off to the basement to get a short workout in.

I dug up this oldie from the annals of YouTube. Which reminded me of my freshman year of college. There were MANY nights where Alyssa, Mishawn, and Charissa would do these workouts in our room. I may have joined in a time or two. But, man. Look at the quality.

I was able to get in 8 min abs, 8 min arms, and half of 8 min buns. #workoutchamp #yeahright

four | Halloween

Halloween is coming up and Lewis is going to be a dragon. Kyle suggested that I not post any pics until Halloween and even though I have a SUPER cute/hilarious pic of him in his costume, we'll wait to show him off until next week. But let's just say, he's going to be a super cute dragon.

And I was able to score his costume at one of my favorite stores, TJ Maxx. And for only $20, it's a costume that will hold up for more than one kid! #momjoys

Here's our little Charlie Brown from last Halloween to tide you over until next week.

five | what fall means

October is almost over and that means that deer hunting is nearly upon us. My family has hunted for my entire life and I'm soooo excited that Kyle has joined in on the tradition. So for the next three weekends, we will be traveling home to hopefully score some deer to put in our freezer over the long, chilly winter. Send your happy vibes our way! And I can't wait to put Lewis in more blaze orange and Carhart. #hearteyesallday

And with that, it's Friday again and I can't wait to spend time with my sister tonight. I hope you all have a safe and fun weekend. See you next week!

Happy Friday!

Monday Meals | 01

Well, it's another Monday and the week is off to a busy start. I always have staff meetings on Mondays and when they're in the am, the day seems to fly by so much faster. Today is one of those days. But, I'm not here to give you a play-by-play of how fast or slow my day goes. Today I'm going to share three quick meals that you can use in a bind.

I chose three, because that just so happens to be what I had planned for this week anyway...annndddd...it's Monday. So why not give you some ideas for the upcoming week?!

It's a short school week for me with it being fall break, but quick and easy are our go-tos lately. Lewis has to eat between 5:30 and 6 or else he's a monster. Here they are!

Egg Roll in a Bowl

This is one of Kyle's new favorites. I first heard about it from April over at Smidge of This. It was also one of her Monday Meals a while ago. Here's how it goes when I make it: 

Ingredients--> 
1 pound ground pork 
1 1/2  – 16-ounce bag coleslaw mix (shredded carrots and cabbage) 
2-3 large cloves garlic, minced 
1 teaspoon ginger, minced or grated
⅓ cup low sodium soy sauce 
2 tablespoons sesame flavoring oil 
Green onions, for garnish (optional) 
*and if you like a little kick, add 1-2 T Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce*

Here's the thing...the sauce goes a LONG way. The original recipe calls for 1 bag of slaw mix, but it gets too soggy for my taste, so 1 1/2 it is. 

Also, I add chow mein noodles to the top of my bowl for a little extra crunch.  

The longest part of the process is browning the pork. It takes approx 5 min to prep and should be on your table in less than 20 min.

serves: approx 6


Hoisin Chicken and Veggies
This is also a new one for us. I wanted a one pan meal and it kind of worked. It was easier for me to roast the veggies in one pan and the chicken in another. 
Here's our version with modifications:

Ingredients--> 

2 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts

4-5 small/med red potatoes, halved or quartered

2 large carrots, sliced

1/2 head broccoli florets

1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks

1/2 head cauliflower florets

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and black pepper to taste 

1/3 onion, in chunks

For the sauce

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon grated or minced ginger

1/2 tablespoon corn starch

Toss veggies with olive oil and salt & pepper. Roast at 400 or 450 for 15 min, turn over, drizzle 1/2 sauce over top and cook until tender enough.

Bake chicken breasts at 400 or 450 until done. Cover with remaining sauce when almost done.

Serve alone or over rice/quinoa

Serves: approx 6

Prep Time: 15-20

Total Time: 60 min

Spaghetti w/Homemade Tomato Sauce

Ingredients-->
6-8 roma tomaotes, quartered
1/2 white onion
2-4 garlic cloves, halved
1/2 c red wine
2-3 T evoo

1 lb ground beef
1/2 box spaghetti

The night before, coat tomatoes, onlion, and garlic in olive oil, add red wine and roast for 30-40 min at 400 deg. Let cool for 10 min, then puree and refrigerate up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 year.

The next day, brown your hamburger, heat up your spaghetti sauce, and cook pasta according to preference. 

Serves: approx 4-6
Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time (including roasting): 60 min


This is just a glimpse into our menu this week. The rest of the week consists of pumpkin pancakes, chicken in the smoker w/quinoa or rice, homemade pizza, and at least 2 batches of scrambled eggs. 

If you try these and modify, have suggestions, or love as is--please comment below!

Happy Monday!

Five on Friday

Joining A.Liz Adventures for Five on Friday!

one | Lewis is 4 months old today

See a post about him coming up soon.


two | Holiday Cookie Exchange

We are going to a cookie exchange tomorrow. I'm thinking we'll make the same cookies that Josh and I made 3 years ago.

three | Bridal Shower

One of my cousins is getting married this month and I offered to host a bridal shower for her. And it's tomorrow. And Kyle's not too happy that I waited until the last minute to clean the house again. Sorry, sleepy! So that's on my agenda for tonight. But I'm thinking the menu is going to be:

Coffee Cake
Egg Bake
Coffee
Juice

Sound like an okay plan? I sure hope so.

four | AUBREY

She's coming to visit! It's been months since I've seen her...my birthday weekend to be exact. And I'm excited to spend time with her again. Finally.


five | Supper tonight.

I have no clue what to make. Any suggestions?? Please help! I'm thinking this, this, or this.

Unless you have any suggestions?

Five on Friday: Freezer Meals Part IV

I just realized that Lewis was born and I forgot to finish sharing our freezer meal recipes with you! So in honor of Five on Friday with A.Liz Adventures, here are five more recipes to add to your list!

one | Mexican Quinoa

The recipe can be found here.

We have yet to try this recipe...but Emma taste tested it when we were making it and she liked it. So we'll all have to trust her on this one.

two | Chicken Enchiladas

We also found the recipe here.

It's very similar to what we usually do for enchiladas. Also, haven't tried it yet. Hopefully they'll be good!

three | Breakfast Burritos

We were a little skeptical on how these would go. Let me just say...we LOVE them. And I'm pretty sure that we'll keep doing these even when we're not prepping for a baby. They're that good and that  easy in the mornings.

Kyle found the recipe on Reddit. This recipe made 36...next time we're just going to buy a lot of sausage and keep making them til everything is gone. And we'll hope for 50. Just for good measure.

four | Baked Oatmeal

Joy the Baker is awesome. And we shamelessly LOVE her baked oatmeal. We always double it because it's that good.

Here it is. The only change we make is to add more ingredients like: coconut, flax, chia, raisins, craisins, walnuts, etc

YUM!

five | Monkey Bread

Apparently this recipe came from one of my mom's professors in college...

Ingredients:

• 2 loaves frozen bread dough (cut into small pieces)
• 1 stick melted butter
• ½ c brown sugar
• 1 lg box vanilla pudding powder
  (cook & serve)
• ¼ c milk
• cinnamon as desired
• vanilla (opt)

Directions:

• Cut bread dough into small, bite-sized chunks.
• Distribute evenly in 9x13 pan.
• Mix butter, brown sugar, vanilla pudding mix, milk, cinnamon, & vanilla together. Make sure it’s thin enough to pour over the bread dough chunks.
• Refrigerate over night and let rest in warm oven (lowest heat 150-170 deg) for 30-60 min prior to baking.
• If using metal pan, bake at 350 for 20 min or 325 for 20 min for glass.
  (bake until done all the way through)

And it DOES work to freeze and bake! If you want to freeze this for a later date, just assemble and refreeze. Make sure to thaw fully & let rise before baking.

I hope you enjoy these and if you try them, let me know!

Freezer Meals: Part II

So I left you last week with this post about our two favorite meals we made for freezer meals. Today I'll be sharing three more of the recipes we used. 

First, one of our favorite meals to make...but it's a little time consuming...chicken pot pie.

Ingredients:•1 whole chicken (thawed)
•1 bundle of celery, 4 large carrots, 1 white onion (all chopped)
•1 bay leaf
•water

•2-4 garlic cloves, diced

•1 1/2 white onion chopped

•3-4 carrots, sliced

•frozen corn or beans as desired

•2 sticks of butter

•1 c flour

•4-8 c chicken stock (as made in step 1)

•Bisquick biscuits (12 per pan)

Directions:

Step 1
1. Put whole, thawed chicken into large stock pot

2. Add celery, carrots, onion, & bay leaf to stock pot. Season as desired. I usually add salt, pepper, oregano, and some sage.

3. Add water to stock pot and fill until chicken is just covered.

4. Simmer most of the day until chicken is done.
(I started mine at 9:15am and pulled it around 3:30pm)

Step 2

1. While chicken is cooking, dice, slice, and chop your veggies for the final product.

2. Melt 1 stick of butter in large stock pot or dutch oven. Add garlic and simmer.

3. Add veggies (NOT corn or beans) and saute until softened...but not mushy.

4. Pull veggies out and place in a separate bowl until later. Leave as much butter at the bottom as possible.

Step 3

1. Remove chicken from stove & separate the meat from the carcass. Place meat in a bowl.

2. Strain liquid and veggies. Discard the veggies and any extras in your liquid. Keep liquid!!

3. This liquid is your chicken stock...save for gravy.

4. Shred chicken.

Step 4

1. Start roux for gravy. Melt second stick of butter with the drippings from sauteed veggies.

2. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste and whisk til smooth.

3. Add chicken stock until thinned.

4. Simmer and stir until thickened...this will be your gravy.

5. Add veggies (sauteed AND corn/beans) and meat to the gravy. Mix well.

6. Split gravy/veggie/meat combo into 2-3 pans.

7. Mix up Bisquick biscuits to bake on top of the pot pie. *

*There are two options for the biscuit portion...you can bake the whole thing with the biscuit dough on top. Then let it cool completely before freezing. OR you can bake drop biscuits first and add to the top of your pot pie. Then cool before freezing.*

Reheat at 325-350 degrees F until pot pie is bubbly. Don't let the biscuits burn!

Like I said above, this is our most complicated recipe that we tried...don't be discouraged! It looks hard, but the most difficult part is cutting up the veggies and shredding the chicken. 

Second, we made burgers.

You can find the recipe for burgers here. The best part about the burgers is that you can add more or less seasoning and they'll still be great! We bought 6 lbs of ground beef for burgers and made approximately 1/4 lb burgers...some were a little smaller, or we had a little more than 6 lbs...because we ended up with 26 patties to throw in the freezer.

The key here, make patties, freeze by the lb (approx), and separate with wax paper and freeze in ziploc bags. We fit 3 (ish) lbs in each ziploc.


Third, we made Baked Ziti.

Now, you can make ziti however you want. As long as you have ziti/penne noodles, you're good to go. But we followed this recipe.

I've never tried this recipe, so do your own trial and error, okay?

One thing I'll add here, is that the veggies we used were zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, onion, & garlic. You can really use any roasted veggies that you'd like.

I also added chicken, because I know my husband and I know myself...we love protein.

I should've added more sauce, but we will just make 

sure to have some on hand when we bake it.

I'll have a few more recipes for you sometime next week, as long as baby doesn't show up! Stop on by and see what's new!

Happy Thursday!

Five on Friday

As always, linking up with A. Liz Adventures for this week's Five on Friday. Go check it out!

In our house, we like to think we are fairly proficient at quite a few things: cooking, gardening, fixing things, meal planning... But in reality, we're just mediocre at most things. But this week, we actually were ahead of the game and did our meal plan for the week! So here are five meals that we I made this week (including tonight's recipe).

Most of these meals/recipes I have pinned on Pinterest, so if you're looking for some more inspiration...head on over.


one | one-pan chicken burrito bowls

We had our pastor and his family over for supper on Monday night, so we wanted something quick and not terribly involved. So I chose this meal. I had made it once or twice, but I don't think Kyle necessarily remembered it. After Monday, he decided that it should be in our rotation.

*The original recipe is linked to the title...what I have below is what I actually did...

prep time: 10-ish min          cook time: 20-ish min          total: roughly, 30 min

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into bite sized pieces
• 3 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1/4 cup of diced onion
• 1 cup of uncooked rice
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 2 1/2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
• cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper
• freshly diced tomatoes
• diced green onions
• sour cream

Directions:

1. Saute onions in olive oil until they start to soften.
2. Season diced chicken with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.
3. Add chicken to pan and cook over medium high heat until chicken has started to brown.
4. Move chicken to one side of pan, in the other side of the pan add an additional tablespoon of olive oil and saute uncooked rice for about 2 minutes or just until some grains start to turn golden brown.
5. Stir in black beans, canned tomatoes, chicken broth, garlic powder, chili powder and cumin.
6. Bring to a simmer, cover and reduce heat to low.
7. Cook about 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
8. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed (during or after cooking)
9. Sprinkle with cheese, recover and let set for 2-3 off heat to melt cheese.
10. Garnish with fresh tomatoes, green onions, & sour cream 

We love this recipe and it's going to be on our menu fairly regularly, I anticipate.

two | salad & soup

This one was super easy. Our sweet friend, Kaia, came over for supper and we decided on having a Chef's Salad with Cheesy Broccoli Soup.

The hardest part was cutting up all of the ingredients for the salad. The soup we got at Hugo's (on sale this week, 2 for $6!), so it was an easy decision.

Salad Ingredients:
-Romaine Lettuce
-Spinach
-2 carrots
-1/2 green pepper
-2/3 baked chicken breast
-1 hard boiled egg

Soup Ingredients:
-1 bag of soup
-8 cups of water

Start to finish, this probably took around 1 hour. The only reason it took an hour was so that the chicken would be cooked all the way through.

three | no knead artisan bread 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c hot water (100*)
1/2 T salt
3/4 T active dry yeast
3 c flour (and a little more for dusting)
parchment paper

Directions:
Pour hot water into med-lg mixing bowl and sprinkle salt in.
Then distribute yeast over the surface area of the water/salt combo. Let sit for 1-2 min.
Stir slowly and then add 3 c flour. Be sure that you use exactly 3 c. Mix well with rubber scraper.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, generously dust flour on parchment paper and release dough onto floured paper.
With floured hands, fold dough in half, sprinkle with flour and fold in half again.
Form dough into ball and replace on floured parchment paper, seam side down.
Let rise for 40 min.

After 30 min, preheat oven to 425*.
After another 10 min, using a serrated knife, make three slices in top of dough.
Then put 1 c water in oven safe container and place container on bottom rack in oven.
Then place dough in oven and bake for 20-25 min. Or until golden brown on top.

Let rest on cooling rack until cool to the touch. And enjoy!

four | chicken tetrazzini

Ingredients:
½ pkg thin spaghetti
¼ c butter
1/2  med onion, chopped
2 ½ cooked, diced chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
½ c milk
1 c sour cream
1 tsp basil
1 can mushrooms
1 c grated sharp cheddar cheese
Parmesan cheese
½ med green pepper 

Directions:

Break spaghetti into 1in pieces; cook & drain. Saute onion, gr. pepper, & mushrooms in margarine. Mix all ingredients except cheese; place in buttered 2 qt casserole dish. Sprinkle cheddar cheese and then Parmesan cheese over top. Bake at 300° for 30min or until hot and bubbly.

We love this one, but it takes a little longer. So if you're meal prepping for the whole week....this is a great one to make ahead of time. Just don't bake it until the night you want to eat it.

five | spinach & artichoke pizza 

I'm so excited to try this one tonight! Look out for an IG update. I'll let you know.

Ingredients:
1 loaf bread dough (Kelly's note: I use Fettings out of Finley, ND)
8 oz fresh spinach, divided
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp onion powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
4 oz provolone cheese (1 cup. I used deli slices and chopped)
2 oz shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup)
2 oz finely shredded parmesan cheese (slightly packed 1/2 cup)
6 - 8 canned artichoke hearts, drained well and quartered
Red pepper flakes, for serving (optional)

Head on over to Cooking Classy for the directions for this pizza.

*update (4/7): not my favorite pizza...I'll probably try it again and tweak some things. Maybe it was just the mood I was in.

And as always,

Happy Friday!

Chicken Tacos: Wild Moon Version

Now that summer is almost over and I've unintentionally avoided writing on this here blog, I've got a new recipe for you!

Here's the thing. In the Entzel house, we love tacos. And when I say love, I don't mean "we eat tacos a few times a year." I mean, we observe "Taco Tuesday" almost every week AND my mom's family celebrates Christmas by eating tacos. No joke.

They're something everyone can fix however they so choose. You want lots of sour cream and no salsa? Go for it. You love tomatoes but not onions? That's okay, you can choose your toppings. Ketchup instead of hot sauce? Yep, you can do that.

So, what better way to try out my new Wild Moon Salsa than to make some tacos?! So on our second stormy Sunday in a row, I decided to make Crockpot Chicken Tacos.

Ingredients:
2lbs chicken breasts
1/4 c Wild Moon Corn Salsa
1/2 c + 2 T Wild Moon Luna Salsa
3 cloves garlic
1/4 c chopped onion

Place the frozen chicken breasts in the Crockpot on high.
Cover chicken with Wild Moon Salsa (all of it. do it.)
Sprinkle the garlic & onion on top.
Leave on high for 1.5 hours.
Turn down to medium or low for 1-2 hours (or until chicken is cooked all the way through).
If you need more liquid for your taco meat, add 1/4-1/2 c chicken broth.

Shred chicken and leave on warm until you're ready to add to tacos!
Place chicken on tortilla shells or tortilla chips and top with your favorite taco condiments and enjoy!

Our Crockpot is our best friend during the school year when we're both teaching, so I know we'll be using this recipe more often. And make sure to check out the Wild Moon page and say hi!

While this is a sponsored post, all opinions are my own. And my husband really liked these tacos too!

Chicken Salad Recipe--Dinner tonight

We tend to have troubles at our house picking out meals for supper. Kyle is hungry all.of.the.time--his metabolism is better than mine...hello, love handles. So I've been searching for meals that are filling, but healthy too. Now...this one might not fall into the "filling" category for Kyle...but as long as we give him a can of soup, he should be good for the night until 7:30 tonight.

I made this for lunch with a friend over Christmas break and I faux followed someone's Pinterest recipe. But this is my variation.

Enjoy!

Chicken Salad Croissants

1/2 c lite mayo
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/2 c celery--sliced (we love celery at our house)
1/2 c grapes--halved
1/4 c dried cranberries (to taste)
*milk, whipping cream, heavy cream, half and half can be added if your salad needs some thinning

Seriously--that's all I did! We were so happy with these sandwiches. The next time I make them (on a weekend) I'm going to try my hand at making the croissants by myself! *instead of buying them from Target* Hah!

I'll post photos tonight when I'm finished. Enjoy and let me know what you think! Ooh...don't forget to try your own variations of this salad. Don't like cranberries? Try almonds. Don't like nuts, add some shredded cheese!

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies [per request]

Many moons ago (close to 4 years to be exact), I made some tasty cookies for a friend of mine. I'm pretty sure we demolished them in one sitting. Bethany, correct me if I'm wrong!

Here are the Chocolate Peppermint Cookies I brought to Bethany's house!

Ingredients:

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
2 eggs
1/4 c oil

peppermint extract

powdered sugar
milk
crushed candy canes

Mix the cake mix, 2 eggs, & 1/4 c oil. Add in peppermint extract to preference. Roll the dough into small balls and bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes (or until done).

For the frosting, use approx 2 cups powdered sugar, 1-2 T milk, a splash of peppermint extract, and crushed candy canes (to taste). If you want the frosting to set better, use 1-2 T melted butter instead of milk. The thicker the frosting, the easier it will be to frost the cookies.


My goal is to make these cookies again soon. When I do, I'll make sure to take photos and upload them here! Let me know how you liked them!

Carrot Cake & Cream Cheese Frosting--for any occasion!

Okay, so I know I gave you a little tease on the media for socials last night. And I'm okay with that.

I was baking for a coworker's baby shower and I thought, "Why not share this recipe with your readers?" So, that's exactly what I'm going to do.

**confession...I'm not so good at taking photos of the ingredients and process. Sorry!**

So although I do have a sparse amount of photos, they'll have to suffice.

And without further delay, I present to you:

Grandma Sharon's Delicious Carrot Cake Cupcakes
(She usually makes a giant pan of cake/bars...but I like frosting cupcakes more.)

6 eggs, beaten 

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

2 cups flour

1 cup coconut

6 cups carrots, shredded *Mine were frozen--I thawed them and they added more liquid to the batter*

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

Grandma's directions say to beat 6 eggs for a minute or so. I had them in the Kitchen Aid* for 2-3 minutes--I think the cupcakes ended up a little more fluffy that way. Then, add the sugar and beat for another 2 minutes (or until all mixed together). While your Kitchen Aid* is mixing the eggs and sugar together, mix your dry ingredients in a separate bowl. (save your carrots for a little later) After your dry ingredients are all mixed together, alternate adding the oil and dry ingredients to your eggar (that's eggs and sugar mixed together) mixture. After everything is all mixed in, add your 6 cups of carrots. If you're using frozen, shredded carrots and your batter is too runny--don't panic! It's okay. Mine was that way too. It will set as it bakes.

"Bake at 350 degrees until done"

Honest, that's what the recipe says! But mine were done in about 25 minutes.

So I wasn't sure how many cupcakes I would end up with...I was hoping for 2 dozen.

*Sorry for the low quality photos...I'll work on that* 

3 dozen cupcakes later and this is the final product:

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 package of cream cheese

1 stick of butter

powdered sugar

vanilla extract

I was doing some reading about cream cheese frosting yesterday. So when it was time to make the frosting for these cupcakes, I was prepared. Check out Joy the Baker's Cream Cheese Frosting 101. Love her.

So, per her instructions I let my cream cheese and butter sit out so it wouldn't curdle. Then, I pretty much did my own thing.

I whipped the cream cheese for a few minutes in my Kitchen Aid*. I then added the butter and whipped it real good. Anyone?

As for the vanilla, I probably only added 1/2 teaspoon. I'm too spacey to buy white vanilla when I'm prepping for a bake-a-thon, so normal Mexico vanilla was my weapon of choice.

And the powdered sugar...here's the thing. Look back to Grandma's directions for baking..."until done"... I'm kind of the same way. I just added powdered sugar until it was creamy and sweet enough, but not too sweet. Sorry for those of you who need a specific number!
PS. I doubled the frosting recipe for the cupcakes. I couldn't risk running out!

I then piped the frosting on top of the cupcakes and took a break from being a housewife. It's tough work, I tell ya! If you want to take the really fancy route, add a few edible pearls and all will be right with the world.

*A Kitchen Aid isn't necessary...a hand blender would work...so would your good old arm power.*

As always, if you try out a recipe, please let me know how it turns out. I love to hear variations on recipes. Enjoy!

A favorite coming your way!

Alright, I took a look at my recipe page last night and it looked awfully sparse. So I decided that today I would share our plans for supper with you.

Unfortunately the mr. is not feeling well tonight, so he'll be out on both times we've had this meal. But my brother loved it last time. It's a wonderful comfort food.

Tonight I'm making Kentucky Hot Brown Bake. I found it online around 6 months ago, pinned it, and there it sat. Until September.

Now it's October and we're having it again. Winning in the Entzel house!

Click on the link above to see the original recipe. Below, I'll share how I made it last time and how I'll make it again tonight.

**If you read this post before I make supper tonight, stay tuned for photos.**

Ingredient list:
• 1 tube crescent rolls
• 1/2 lb turkey deli meat
• Pepperoni (as much as you'd like to layer--we like pepperoni in our house)
• 8 slices Provolone cheese
• 4 Roma tomatoes, sliced thin (I used 2 tomatoes per layer)
• 4 eggs, beaten (When preparing the eggs, I whipped up two at a time so I wouldn't over-use and run out)
• a pinch of oregano

Directions:
1. Unroll the crescent dough and separate into 2 squares
2. Place one square in bottom of 8" pan that is greased or lined with parchment paper
     I really liked the parchment paper method--easier clean up!
3. Press 1 dough square to fit pan
4. Layer with half the turkey, pepperoni, cheese and tomatoes
5. Pour half the eggs over the top.
6. Repeat the layers.
7. Top with remaining dough square.
8. Pour remaining eggs over top.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, covered with foil.
10. Remove foil and bake for another 20-25 minutes.
11. Let sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before serving.

**We served it with marinara sauce for those who aren't fond of straight tomatoes.


-If you try this recipe and use a different variation, I'd love to hear how it turned out!

Fathers' Day 2014: Recipes

As promised, here are the recipes I used for our Fathers' Day Extravaganza! 

First, I started the cheesy potatoes before we went to church. I found the recipe here. The best part of this recipe is that they're made in the crock pot!

Directions

Prep Time: 10 minutes (it took me 20-25)

Cook Time: 4 hours  (I cooked them a little longer--4 hours 15 minutes maybe?)

Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes  (4 hours 40 minutes [max])

Yield: 8 servings 

Ingredients:

1 can--cream of chicken soup

1 c. sour cream

1 T onion flakes*

1/4 c butter, melted

1/4 t salt*

1/4 t pepper*

1 (32 oz) frozen, cubed hash browns, thawed*

2 c. sharp cheddar cheese

Instructions

Combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, onion and butter in a large bowl. Add hash browns and 1 1/2 c. cheese and stir until combined. Pour into 4 qt slow cooker, cover.*

Cook for 4-5 hours on low or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over potatoes and continue to cook 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

*My Modifications

I used real onion. It made the preparation more time consuming, but it provided more flavor. I used approx. 1/4 onion, diced.

Instead of using 1/4 t salt and pepper, I added a dash of fresh ground salt and pepper so that my guests could add more to personal preference during the meal.

Because we only had the shredded hash browns, I diced up red potatoes. There were probably 5-7 potatoes in the crockpot. I will use at least one potato per serving next time so that they don't end up too runny.

The original instructions say to combine in a large bowl, but I didn't want to dirty more dishes before company came over. So I combined everything in the crockpot. Since I used a liner it was a tad more difficult, but definitely doable.

Next, the pork chop marinade. I tried this recipe out on some friends a few days prior and we loved it. Here is where I found the original recipe.

Directions:

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Inactive Time: 1 hour*

Cook: 10 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1/4 c honey

2 T vegetable oil*

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 t ground cumin

1/2 t red pepper flakes

8 (1/2 inch) bone-in pork chops *

Salt & Pepper--freshly ground

Instructions:

Marinade: In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, oil, vinegar, cumin and red pepper flakes. 

Sprinkle both sides of the pork chops with salt and pepper and place in a re-sealable plastic bag with the marinade. Let rest on the counter for 1 hour. That's easy.

Heat a grill or grill pan over medium heat. Remove the pork chops from the bag and lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on the grill and cook until the pork chop releases from the grill, about 4 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for another 3 minutes.*

*My Modifications

For the ingredients--I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil and instead of 8 pork chops per recipe, I used 4 chops. Since I used 8 chops for Fathers' Day, I doubled the rest of the recipe.

The inactive time for these chops was right around 18 hours (yes...overnight). 

Even though the instructions say to grill the pork chops around 7ish minutes, make sure the internal temperature is 145° and give the chops a 3 minute rest period.

Well...that was our big meal for Fathers' Day. Fortunately both of our dads love pork chops. It was a hit and we are fortunate enough to have them here.

What are some of your favorite recipes?