Pierogi Casserole

9 lasagna noodles
4 cups hot mashed potatoes
1/2 cup Philadelphia cream cheese spread(I used savory garlic)
6 green onions, thinly sliced
3/4 cup crumbled bacon
2 cups cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 375. Cook noodles as directed on box. Meanwhile combine potatoes, cream cheese spread, onions, 1/2 cup bacon, 1 cup cheddar cheese.
Place 3 noodles in 13x9 inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; cover with 1/3 of potato mixture. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining bacon and cheddar cheese.
Cover with foil; bake 30 minutes or until heated through. Uncover, bake 5 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned. Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting.

I changed a couple things from the recipe. I sprinkled some of the remaining cheese and bacon in between the layers and I also added shredded chicken. I highly recommend adding the chicken to this! It was awesome!!!

Crock Pot Chicken with a kick

4-5 chicken breasts(can even be frozen)
1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 (15 oz) jar of salsa
8 oz. cream cheese

Put chicken in crock pot. Add black beans, corn and salsa. Cook on high 4-5 hours. Add cream cheese and cook 30-45 minutes more.
I made instant white rice to go with it because it was pretty saucy. Very good and again, super easy!
I made the decision to NOT post a picture because to be honest, it looks pretty gross! But believe me, its very good!

Side note, Nat does not like to eat vegetables so I blended the salsa before adding it to the crock pot.

Laura's Better Then O'Charley's Caramel Pie

I made this and it was so amazingly good, I just had to take a picture and repost this.

Crust (or ready made graham cracker crust)
1/3 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups crushed grahams
Mix together and pour into pan/ chill at least 1 hour

Caramel Filling
Either 2 cans of dulche leche sweetened milk (already caramelized) or
pour water over two cans of eagle brand milk and boil cans for 3 1/2 hours. replace water as needed.

Refrigerate caramel overnight, and then pour into shell. Top with whip cream and mini chocolate chips/and or nuts.

PLease don't mistake O'Charleys for OH Charles Anderson!!!!!

Ravioli and Shrimp with Spinach Lemon Cream Sauce

Aside from being the longest recipe title ever, I actually made this recipe up myself and it is actually quite good! You should give her a try. Here's what you need:

1 pound of shrimp
1 bottle italian dressing
1 pound of frozen cheese ravioli
5 oz. fresh spinach
4 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 T olive oil
2 tsp flour
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp lemon zest

Here's what you do:

1. Marinate shrimp in italian dressing for 3-24 hours.
2. Cook and drain ravioli.
3. Drain marinade off of shrimp. Saute garlic and shrimp in olive oil for 5 minutes.
4. Sprinkle flour over garlic and shrimp and cook for 1 minute. Stir in broth until dissolved and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to med-low and add cream, spinach, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and lemon zest.
5. Place ravioli on a serving dish and pour shrimp/spinach sauce over ravioli.

Easiest banana bread ever

I made this last night. Prep time about 10 minutes. Cook time about 30 minutes.

1 box cake mix (I used white but I think you can get creative! Chocolate banana bread...yummy!)
3 eggs
1/3 c oil
4+ mashed bananas ( I used about 8 but we had lots that were going bad fast!)
Your choice of chopped nuts-optional (I used about 1/2 c of chopped pecans)

Preheat oven to 350. Generously grease and flour 2 9x5 loaf pans. In large bowl beat all ingredients together until well mixed. Pour batter into loaf pans. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Other options: You can add chocolate chips, maraschino cherries or whatever your favorite ingredient is to give this recipe a little kick! Also, changing up the flavor of cake mix will make a big difference. (Butter pecan cake mix and butterscotch chips! The possibilities are endless and still this recipe is super easy!

Ham and Noodles or Shukumflecky (don't know how to spell it!)

Today I took the boys to see the $1 summer movie, Charlotte's Web. I thought, humm....ham sounds good for dinner tonight! I almost always have the ingredients for Ham and Noodles on hand, because, ya know, it has only 3 ingredients. When Alex and I were first married and I made it for us he asked, "Where is the sauce?" Now Alex thinks that Czech's aren't saucy people, but he obviously didn't know our family well enough when I first made it. It is one of my families favorite meals and we have it at least once a month. I always either make french bread or buy french bread to go along with it. Anyway, for those of you who might not have the recipe, here it is.

Ham and Noodles

1 T butter
1 onion, sliced
1 small ham, sliced (can find them for about $5 by the chicken and beef) or leftover ham
16 oz bag of egg noodles
Boil the noodles, drain. Saute the onion in butter until golden. Add ham and cook until golden. Add noodles to onion and ham. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Laura'a Better Then O'Charley's Caramel Pie

Crust (or ready made graham cracker crust)
1/3 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups crushed grahams
Mix together and pour into pan/ chill at least 1 hour

Caramel Filling
Either 2 cans of dulche leche sweetened milk (already caramelized) or
pour water over two cans of eagle brand milk and boil cans for 3 1/2 hours. replace water as needed.

Refrigerate caramel overnight, and then pour into shell. Top with whip cream and mini chocolate chips/and or nuts.

PLease don't mistake O'Charleys for OH Charles Anderson!!!!!

Island Pork Tenderloin and Coconut Rice

As I was trying to think what to post, the question came into my mind: If one of you were coming to visit me what would I make you for dinner? This is the recipe that came to me and I always make it when we invite friends over for dinner and after everyone always wants the recipe. If you couldn't tell by the ingredients it is very sweet, so I like to serve it with some bread and green beans or carrots as a side.

Island Pork Tenderloin
2 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 pork tenderloins (2 ¼ to 2 ½ lb total)
2 tbs olive oil
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tbs finely chopped garlic
1 tbs Tabasco
Preheat oven to 350. Stir together salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon, then coat pork with spice rub. Heat oil in an ovenproof skillet over moderately high heat until just beginning to smoke, then brown pork, turning, about 4 minutes total. Leave pork in skillet. Stir together brown sugar, garlic, and Tabasco and pat onto top of each tenderloin. Roast in middle of oven until thermometer inserted diagonally in center of each tenderloin registers 140, about 20 minutes. Let pork stand in skillet at room temperature 10 minutes. Temperature will rise to 155 while standing.


Coconut Rice
1 cup jasmine rice
2 cups coconut milk
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup milk
First rinse the jasmine rice with cold water until your water is clear and not white. Put the rinsed rice in a medium pan and combine with sugar, milk, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and then turn to low. Cover and cook for about 25-35 minutes. Stir rice and milk every 5-10 minutes. Rice is done when milk is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat and let cool. Serve warm.

Sorry no picture, I just made this and didn't take a picture, but next time I make it I will take a picture. For now, maybe this picture will suffice?...

SAUSAGE AND BEEF CASSEROLE

Ok, I don't know if I'm doing this right but I will get the ball rolling!
Here is a Hamernik recipe that everyone should have! Nat and I love this stuff! (Do not 1/2 the recipe because leftovers are great re-heated.

SAUSAGE AND BEEF CASSEROLE

6 sweet Italian sausages
1 lb. beef chuck (cut in cubes)
1 medium onion
2-3 cloves garlic-minced
1 green pepper
4-6 medium potatoes (quartered)
2 cans red kidney beans-drained
1tsp. basil, ½ tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. pepper
2 beef bouillon cubes, 1c. boiling water

DISOLVE BOUILLON CUBES IN BOILING WATER.
IN LARGE, HEAVY SKILLET OVER MEDIUM HEAT, BROWN SAUSAGE WELL. CUT EACH LINK INTO THIRDS-PUT ASIDE. BROWN BEEF-PUT ASIDE.
COOK ONION & GARLIC UNTIL TENDER. ADD GREEN PEPPER AND COOK ONE MINUTE MORE.
ADD BEEF AND SAUSAGE TO SKILLET. ADD POTATOES, BEANS AND SEASONINGS. ADD BOILING WATER WITH BOUILLON. STIR WELL. COVER AND BAKE IN 350 DEGREE OVEN FOR 1 ½ HOURS OR UNTIL BEEF AND POTATOES ARE TENDER.

Food!

Okay people, let's start posting some yummies! You can make your recipe name the title of the post and the contents the recipe. Pictures of your food are always welcome.