Mexican Bubble Pizza

I got the recipe for Mexican Bubble Pizza out of a Pillsbury Cookbook. The original recipe is here. I'm not sure why it has pizza in the name, as it is a very taco like casserole. Maybe another time I'll make it with a pepperoni sauce to see how that turns out.

This is how I make it:

INGREDIENTS:
1# ground beef or turkey
1 package taco seasoning
1 sm can tomato paste or tomato sauce
1 can of refried beans.
1 package refrigerator biscuits
2 cups shredded cheddar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a skillet brown the ground beef. Drain any grease. Add taco seasoning, tomato sauce or paste, and enough water to make it a little liquidy. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for a few minutes. Stir in the can of beans and turn down to low.

Divide biscuit dough into 8 biscuits and then cut each into 8 parts (Kitchen scissors work very well.) Add pieces to the beef mixture and gently stir together. Gently place into an ungreased 9x13.

Bake 18-23 minutes or until biscuits are starting to turn brown. Sprinkle with cheese and bake another 10 minutes or so.

Cut into squares to serve, and top with whatever sounds good. (Lettuce, sour cream, olives, salsa, tomatoes, etc.)

Black and White Hearts

Abigail's pick for the CDA trip.

1/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips
2 tbl shortening

Combine sugar, butter, cream cheese, egg and vanilla. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add flour and beat until well mixed. Divide dough in half and wrap each half in wax paper. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface and cut into hearts. Place 1" apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake 7 to 10 minutes, or until edges are light brown. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Melt chocolate chips and shortening. (Works fine in the microwave. I started with 90 seconds, then stirred and did 30 seconds more a few times until it was super melty.) Dip half of each heart into melted chocolate. Refrigerate on wax paper lined cookie sheets until chocolate is firm.

Bird's Nest Cookies

Zachary picked these out of a cookbook to take on our Coeur d'Alene trip.

1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
2 bags M&M's (which leaves extra for munching helpers)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread coconut on ungreased cookie sheet. Toast in oven, stirring frequently, until coconut just begins to turn light golden. Recipe said 25 minutes, mine was near burnt in under 20. (White, white, white, white, burned.) Remove coconut from cookie sheet and set aside. Increase oven temp to 350.

In large bowl cream the butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour and salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Form dough into 1 1/4" balls. Roll heavily in the toasted coconut. Place 2 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheets. Make a dent in each cookie with your thumb. Bake 12-14 minutes or until coconut is brown. Remove cookies to wire racks and immediately fill with M&M's.

Cookies

It feels like I have hardly posted a thing over here. I don't know if I have been neglecting this blog, or just not cooking anything new. Probably a little of both. Today was "Cookie Sunday" at church, so here are my two contributions. On the left, cake cookies. On the right, chocolate no-bakes.
I have been making cake cookies for a long time. They are a simple go-to recipe. You just combine 1 box of cake mix, (any type will do), 2 eggs, 1/3 cup oil. Add whatever goodies you want. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or so. That is it! These are from the "funfetti" mix, which is a kid pleaser. I also like using chocolate mix and adding chocolate chips or M&M's, or whatever else my pantry has to offer that day.

The second recipe is from Mom, and is also simple.

In a big bowl stir together:
3 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Combine and boil 1 minute:
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 tsp vanilla

Stir the chocolate goo into the oatmeal mix. Stir well and drop by spoonfuls (I use my cookie scoop) onto wax paper. They will set up as they cool.

It is a very forgiving recipe. I didn't have nearly enough oatmeal, so I just added a lot more coconut. I also was short on the cocoa, but it didn't seem to matter. Mental note: Check supplies before you start cooking....

Spicy Chicken Bowls

Cook and cube 4 chicken breasts.

Stir together in a big pot:

Chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup

After it is gooey, add:
1 package taco seasoning
1 generous cup of salsa
1 can corn
1 can black beans

Right before serving stir in a big scoop of sour cream.

Serve over rice. Sprinkle with cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Remy's Macaroni

We picked this book up at the library last week. The combination of kids' recipes and Pixar characters is always a winner for Zachary. I asked him what he wanted to cook first, and not surprisingly, he picked Remy's Macaroni. The recipe was very much made for kids to help. It turned out very good, though. It made a giant 9x13 and we barely had any leftovers. I joked to Nathanael that I should just keep filling up the one side of Zachary's plate while he ate off of the other.

• Cook 1# of macaroni according to package directions.
• Layer in 9x13: 1/3 of the macaroni, 1 cup milk, 6 slices cheese (American or Cheddar)
• Repeat three times. (We went with two layers of American, and one layer of Cheddar.)
• Smash 12 Ritz crackers and sprinkle on top.
• Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.

When I pulled it out of the oven, the milk and cheese were still pretty separated, so I dumped it into a big bowl and stirred it around. I lost the crumby layer by doing this, though. So maybe next time I'll bake for 35 minutes, stir and return to the casserole, and then add the crumb layer and bake the extra 10 minutes.

Nathanael and I added salt to our bowls, but the kids were happy enough without.

Is it done, yet? Is it done, yet? Is it done, yet?

Look What I Read

This is a little different for this blog, but since it was a book about cooking I thought it was fitting. I just finished this book, and really enjoyed it. It is part a story about Le Cordon Bleu, part love story, part travel guide to Paris. It also has recipes at the end of every chapter that I deem too difficult to try. Or at least not worth working on for hours just to be declared inedible to a houseful of little people. But it was a fun read.