Carla's Tasty Eats

Country Breakfast Casserole

2009-01-03T06:56:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe from my blog friend Dusty. This casserole was delicious! Even my 21 month old son enjoyed it!

Ingredients:

12 oz Bacon or Sausage (I used bacon)
4 c. Hash Browns, Thawed
1 ½ c. Shredded Colby Jack Cheese
3 Beaten Eggs
1 c. Milk
¼ t. Pepper
Salsa (optional)

In skillet, cook sausage or bacon (crumble cooked bacon). In 8"x8" baking dish, layer potatoes, ½ the cheese, meat, and remaining cheese. In bowl, combine eggs, milk and pepper. Pour over cheese. Bake COVERED at 350˚ for 50-55 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Serve with salsa. This dish can be prepared, covered, and chilled for up to 24 hrs before cooking.

Ready to go in the oven

Butterscotch Haystacks

2009-01-02T07:01:00.000-08:00

These are very quick and easy. I made them over the holidays for my coworkers and they loved them!

Ingredients

1 12oz bag butterscotch morsels
3 1/2 cups chow mein noodles
2 cups unsalted peanuts

Melt morsels in a large pot (be careful not to let them stick) on low to medium low heat. Add noodles and peanuts and stir to coat with morsels. Drop by teaspoon onto wax paper to cool.

I let them sit on the baking sheets for a few hours to make sure they cool.

6 Can Chicken Tortilla Soup

2008-10-15T06:58:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe on All Recipes. It was so easy to make and so yummy!

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 (10 ounce) can chunk chicken
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained (I used Rotel)
**I also added some black pepper, garlic powder, and a little chili pepper

Open the cans of corn, chicken broth, chunk chicken, black beans, and diced tomatoes with green chilies. Pour everything into a large saucepan or stock pot. Simmer over medium heat until chicken is heated through. I topped mine with crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, and cheese!

If your skeeved out by canned chicken, I'm sure you could use cooked chicken breast.

Pan Fried Ribeye Steak

2008-09-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

All I can say is DELICIOUS!! I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman. I frequent her website and I found this recipe for ribeye steak.

Our gas tank was empty on our grill so I decided to try this out. This recipe is most certainly a keeper!

I did make a few changes but for the most part I followed the original recipe.

2 nice sized ribeye steaks
1tbsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt
2tbsp lemon and pepper seasoning
1tbsp McCormick Spicy Steak Seasoning
1/2tsp kosher salt
1/2tsp black pepper
1tbsp olive oil
1tbsp butter

Mix all of these ingredients in a bowl. Sprinkle some of the rub on one side of the steak. Rub it all over the steak, turn the steak and repeat. The measurements above were enough for two steaks.

Place a skillet on the stove and let it heat. Once heated, add the olive oil and butter. Let it heat until the butter is brown. Place the steak in the pan over the mixture. I cooked mine for about 5 minutes on each side. We like our steaks medium well around here!

I served the steaks with a baked sweet potato and mushrooms and onions. This was an excellent dinner. Well, at least that's what my husband said! :)

Pecan Pie Cupcakes

2008-09-17T13:52:00.000-07:00

Talk about yummy! I found this recipe here and couldn't wait to try it! I love pecan pie but this is much easier and it gives you the same taste.

Ingredients

1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Spray a miniature muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Fill each 3/4 full. Bake in preheated oven for approx. 18 minutes.

Logan County Hamburgers

2008-08-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from my good friend Jillian. These burgers were so good and they reminded me of a patty melt. My husband thought they were very tasty and said that I must make them again!

*My changes are in parenthesis

1lb ground beef -85% lean (I used half ground beef and half ground chuck)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 medium yellow onion, half grated, the other half thinly sliced (I didn't put onion in the burgers). I just sliced some and sautéed them in a different pan.
1/4tsp garlic powder
1tsp kosher salt
1tsp freshly ground black pepper
12 slices white bread
2tbs unsalted butter, softened
12 slices american cheese.

In a medium bowl, combine the beef, egg, grated onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix until combined and form into thin patties.
Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread.
Heat a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the burgers about 3 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. Drain the grease from the skillet.
In the same skillet, place six slices of bread, butter side down. Top each with a slice of cheese, some onions (here is where I use the ones I sautéed, and a burger, then another slice of cheese and bread, butter side up.
Cook each sandwich until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.

Paula Deen's Beef Stroganoff

2008-08-20T21:33:00.000-07:00

This recipe can be found here.

1 1/2 pounds cubed round steak, cut into thin strips
House Seasoning, recipe follows
All-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, sliced
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced (I used canned)
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can beef broth
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
Salt and black pepper
House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 cup sour cream
Cooked egg noodles

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
*I have a huge container of this. I use it on everything! Such a wonderful seasoning.

Season the steak strips with House Seasoning, then dust with flour. In a large skillet, quickly brown them on both sides in the olive oil and butter. Remove the steak from the pan. Add the onion slices and mushrooms to the pan drippings. Saute for a few minutes, until the onion is tender. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon flour. Put the steak back into the pan with the onion and mushrooms. Add the mushroom soup and beef broth. Cook over low heat for about 30 minutes, covered. Adjust seasoning to taste, adding salt and pepper, as needed. Stir in the sour cream the last few minutes, right before you serve.
Serve over cooked noodles.

Easy BBQ Beef Sandwiches

2008-08-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

If you don't feel like cooking, this is the recipe for you. These sandwiches can be made in 10 minutes or less.

Ingredients
1/2 pound (or up to 1 pound) sliced roast beef
1 tsp brown sugar
1 cup of barbecue sauce (I use Stubbs)

Place beef in a pan on medium heat. Add barbecue sauce and brown sugar. Let simmer for about 5 minutes. Place on buns and serve. Now how easy is that? I served these with french fries.

The Lady & Sons Peach Cobbler

2008-08-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

I'm a HUGE fan of Paula Deen. I've tried many of her recipes and all of them have been delicious. I'm also a big fan of peach cobbler. I'm not the type to roll out crust, so I found this recipe to be very easy.

1 - 28oz can peaches
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup self rising flour
1 stick of butter
3/4 cup milk
ground cinnamon (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the stick of butter in a 3qt baking dish and place it in the oven to melt. In a bowl, mix the sugar and flour together. Slowly pour in the milk and continue stirring to prevent clumping. Pour this mixture over melted butter. DO NOT STIR.

Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

I served this with vanilla ice cream. It can also be served with whipped cream.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

2008-07-24T18:17:00.001-07:00

A message board that I frequent is having a "Weekly Recipe Review". Each week we have a different recipe. This weeks recipe is the Creamy Chicken Enchiladas.

2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 rotisserie chicken shredded (3 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded)
12 flour tortillas
16oz sour cream
3 cups Monterrey Jack cheese (mexican blend cheese)
3 green onions chopped
1 can green chilies - drained and chopped
1 can sliced olives - drained (I didn't use)

**The things I did differently are in parenthesis**

Preheat over to 350. Mix chicken, green chilies, sour cream, soup, and onion together. Fill and roll up tortillas. Place in baking dish and top with cheese and olives.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. I only baked for 30 minutes but they turned out great! I served them with some spanish rice. This recipe was very quick and easy to make!

Slow Cooker Gumbo

2008-07-21T06:41:00.001-07:00

2 stalks celery, sliced (1 1/2 cups)
1 medium onion, sliced (1 cup)
1 green pepper, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 pound large raw shrimp, cleaned
1/2 pound sausage
1 10-ounce box frozen sliced okra, thawed

In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook the celery, onion, green pepper, and garlic to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Spoon the vegetables into the cooker and add the broth, tomatoes (with their liquid), Worcestershire, salt, and thyme. Cover and cook on low heat for 4 hours, or on high for 2 hours.

While this is cooking, cut and brown sausage. Add the shrimp, sausage, and okra, and cook 1 hour longer on low heat or 1/2 hour longer on high.

Serve over rice.

Stuffed Peppers

2008-07-16T17:13:00.000-07:00

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
4 medium red bell peppers
1 pound ground sirloin
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cups tomato pasta sauce
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

While rice cooks, cut tops off bell peppers and discard seeds and membranes.

Heat pan and add the ground sirloin, onion, paprika, salt, and parsley. Cook for about 5 minutes or until beef is browned. Remove from heat. Add rice, 1/2 cup pasta sauce, and cheese to beef mixture, stirring to combine.

Spoon about 3/4 cup beef mixture into each pepper. Place peppers in a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Add more sauce to the dish (enough to cover the bottom). Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Uncover peppers and bake an additional 5 minutes or until lightly browned.

Braised Chicken Thighs With Carrots and Potatoes

2008-07-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

This recipe can also be found here. I love slow cooker recipes! There's nothing like dinner being ready when you get home in the afternoons.

1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and sliced
4 medium-size new potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
2 cups baby carrots
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
6 bone-in, skinned chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds)
Garnish: lemon slices

Place onion in a lightly greased 6-quart slow cooker; top with potatoes and carrots. Combine 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, broth, and next 3 ingredients. Pour broth mixture over vegetables.

Combine paprika, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper; rub evenly over chicken thighs, and arrange on top of vegetables.

Cover and cook on LOW 8 hours or until chicken and vegetables are tender. Garnish, if desired.

Spanish Chicken and Rice

2008-07-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

I got this great recipe from my friend
Jillian. Very quick and it tastes so good!
1tbs olive oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks (I used chicken breast strips)
1 small onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup white wine
28 oz diced tomatoes with liquid (i use the diced tomatoes with jalapenos)
1 cup white rice
1 cup frozen peas

Heat oil in pan over medium heat.
Add chicken and season with salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes each side.
Add onion and peppers, cook about 5 minutes.

Add garlic and cook about 1 minute.
Add wine, tomatoes, rice, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes.

Skillet Sausage 'n' Rice

2008-07-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

This recipe was very good and very easy.

Ingredients
1 (16-oz.) package smoked sausage
1 medium-size green bell pepper chopped
1 small onion chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup chicken broth
4 cups cooked white or brown rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Garnish: chopped fresh parsley

Preparation
Cut sausage into 1/2-inch slices. Sauté in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove sausage slices, and drain on paper towels, reserving 1 Tbsp. drippings in skillet.

Add bell pepper, onion, and garlic to skillet, and sauté over medium-high heat 4 minutes or until tender.

Add chicken broth, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of skillet, and bring to a boil.

Add rice, sausage, salt, and pepper to skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook 5 minutes. Garnish, if desired with parsley.

Easy Blackberry Cobbler (turned blueberry/pear cobbler)!

2008-07-06T08:48:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe, Easy Blackberry Cobbler in
Southern Living Magazine and couldn't wait to try it. Since blackberries were almost $4.00 for a very small container at my local supermarket, I decided to use pears and blueberries, 2 of my other favorites!

Ingredients, the ones I used are in parenthesis:
4 cups blackberries (2 small cans of pear halves cut up and drained and 2 cups of blueberries)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 large egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
6 tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly grease an 8x8 baking dish. Add blackberries and sprinkle with lemon juice. In my altered recipe, you will see the pears and blueberries below..

Stir together egg, sugar, and flour. Stir until it resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle over fruit.

Drizzle melted butter over topping.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

Goodness! I served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Spicy Sausage Dip

2008-06-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

This has to be one of the quickest appetizers ever! Not to mention it's quite tasty.

1 roll of pork sausage
1 can of Rotel tomatoes (I use medium)
1 package of cream cheese
salt and pepper to taste
dash of ground red pepper

Brown the sausage and drain the excess fat.

Return sausage to pot and add cream cheese,tomatoes, and spices. Cover and let simmer on low until cheese is melted then stir.

Serve with Tostitos

Cream Cheese Bars

2008-06-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

There's only one word to describe these, HEAVENLY! These are so delicious!

1 (18.25) package of yellow cake mix
1 stick of butter or margarine
3 eggs
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 15x10 inch sheet pan.

Mix together cake mix, butter or margarine, and 1 egg. Press mixture into pan.

In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese, 2 eggs, and confectioners' sugar. Pour mixture on top of cake mixture.

Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 300 degrees and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.

Bacon wrapped scallops

2008-06-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

I've never made these before but I've tried them before in restaurants. I looked online at a few recipes but I decided to make my own!

Ingredients:
12 large scallops (or however many you need)
6 slices of bacon
1 tbsp of sundried tomato salad dressing
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp lemon juice
12 toothpicks

Wash scallops and place in bowl. Add dressing, pepper, and lemon juice to scallops and toss. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Cut the bacon slices in half. Place them on a microwavable dish and microwave until the ends are a little crispy, about 2-3 minutes. Once the bacon is done, wrap one piece around each scallop and secure with the toothpick.

When all the scallops are wrapped, place them in a broiler pan or oven safe dish on broil. Broil the scallops for 6 minutes. Take them out, flip them, and broil for 6 more minutes.

Finished product..

Yau'll, these were so good!! My husband loved them! They were very quick and easy to make and quite yummy.

Shrimp scampi with pasta

2008-06-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

1 pound angel hair pasta (sometimes I use linguine)

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 cup parsley

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 cup dry white wine

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

zest and juice of one lemon (sometimes I use 2 if I want extra flavor)

Boil pasta in a pot with a little oil and salt. While your pasta is cooking, in a bowl combine the garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Place half of the mixture over the shrimp and toss to coat. In a large heated pan, add the shrimp and cook until firm and light pink. Add the remainder of the garlic mixture and red pepper flakes. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add wine, butter, and lemon zest and juice and cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the shrimp mixture. Toss to coat and serve. I usually serve this dish with a salad and breadsticks!

My first food post!

2008-06-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I was telling a group of friends earlier that I am really obsessed with food blogs. I love to cook and am always looking for new and exciting recipes. I've decided to start my own food blog/journal. I'll post recipes that I think are tasty and unique and hope that you will try them as well.

I look forward to sharing with you!