Bean Casserole

I grew up on a farm and my kids love to go back to the farm to visit Granny and Papa. My mom and I cook quite differently, and the kids will often ask for "farm food" (the kind of food that Granny cooks). This is one of the things that my mom made while I was growing up. When my kids ask for farm food, this is one of the things that I make. It is so simple and all of the kids eat it so well.

Just a little word of warning. Do NOT eat this with pink lemonade and laugh while trying to swallow a mouth full of both. The result - funky, unappetizing stuff spewing from your (my) nose. Yes, I know that one from personal experience....

1 pound ground beef
2 (15 oz) cans pork and beans
2 (15 oz) chili with beans
2 cups shredded cheese

Brown ground beef in a large skillet. Add chili with pork and beans to the ground beef. Heat through, sprinkle with cheese and cover to melt cheese. Mom would pour the casserole into a baking dish and top with cheese and bake to melt. Either way works well, but I prefer doing it in the skillet - fewer dishes to wash. I also will sometimes leave off the cheese and let the kids sprinkle it on while they have the casserole on their plates. My 2 year old will end up with cheese with a small side of casserole when we do it that way.

Open Face Enchiladas

My sweet husband grew up with Open Face Enchiladas, and loved them. His mom served them for dinner one night when we were at her house and I fell in love with them too. They are quick, easy and yummy. The kiddos love that they can put their own toppings on them.

Linked on Recipe Swap Thursday #26, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Anything Related #38.

1 pound ground beef
1 packet enchilada sauce, mixed (you could use sauce from a can, I just prefer the packet)
12 small corn tortillas

Toppings:
shredded lettuce
shredded cheese (I like cheddar or colby jack)
sour cream
tomatoes
sliced olives
sliced green onions

Brown ground beef, then add enchilada sauce and heat through. Dip each tortilla in the sauce and let sit for about 10 seconds to soften (don't leave in too long or they will fall apart). Remove with a spatula. Top with desired toppings

Princess Cupcakes

My sweet little 5 year old wanted to have a princess birthday party. I thought about just buying a princess cake for her, but then I came across the idea for these cute little cupcakes on Cheese and Chocolate. I saw the picture and had visions of pink and purple cupcakes dancing in my head. They turned out SO cute (if you ask me) and were a lot of fun for my house full of princesses to bite into. I used Vanilla Buttercream Frosting on them and they turned out quite tasty.

I have always just spooned my batter into my cupcake pans until about 3 or 4 months ago. Then I had an Ah Ha moment and tried putting my batter into a plastic bag and snipping off the end. Pure genius! I am sure that someone, maybe even lots of someones came up with the idea first, but they all failed to inform me of their brilliance, therefore, I get to claim the idea as my own. If anyone of them happened to be my friend, they are no longer. UnBFFed (that kinda looks bad.....) Disowned. This way cool little trick could have saved me many messes. I have heard of using a cookie/ice cream scoop, but this is WAY better (if you ask me). Just one little WARNING!!! Start with a smaller hole than you think you want. It is easy to make the hole bigger, but you can't make it smaller, so start small.

Linked on Sweets for a Saturday 6 and This Weeks Cravings #18.

1 box white or yellow cake mix + ingredients to mix
2 - 3 colors of food coloring

Grease or line 24 cupcake tins. Preheat oven according to package directions. Mix cake mix according to package directions. Divide into 3 bowls. Color 2, or all three (I colored 2 and left one plain). Pour each color into a baggie and tie the bag into a knot. Snip off the end of the first (outside) color. Divide between the cupcake tins. Take the second color and snip off the end. Place in the center of each cup cake tin and squeeze out an equal amount (I probably used about 2 tablespoons of each color on each cupcake). Repeat with the third color. Bake according to the package directions

Parmesan Garlic Bread Sticks

These bread sticks are amazing! I am a bread lover and have tried several different bread stick recipes, and this one is my favorite. They are a favorite of my kids as well. They are easy and make quite a lot of bread sticks. Even with all of my kids, I usually end up taking half of the bread sticks to my neighbor (I had better be her favorite!)

I love these bread stick with pasta. We ate them with Fettuccine Alfredo.

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup butter
Garlic powder
Parmesan cheese

Mix warm water, yeast and sugar in a large bowl. When it’s bubbly, add flour and salt. Mix and knead. Cover and let rise until double. Melt butter and pour half on the bottom of a cookie sheet. Place dough on the cookie sheet and roll out to the size of the pan. Cut into sticks with a pizza cutter. If you want fancier bread sticks, place dough on a floured surface and roll out ¼ inch thick. Cut into strips. Twist 2 strips together for each bread stick and place twists on the buttered cookie sheet. Pour remaining butter on top of the bread sticks and sprinkle with garlic powder and Parmesan cheese. Let rise again until double. Bake at 400 for 18 minutes, or until browned.

Moist Chocolate Cake

When I was planning my little girls birthday cake, I knew I needed a good heavy cake in order to hold up with the weight of the fondant. I adapted this delicious cake recipe from Snips and Spice and it was perfect! It was nice and moist and heavy enough to handle the weight of the fondant.

Linked on Sweets for a Saturday 6.

1 box chocolate cake mix
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup oil
1 small package chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
5 eggs

Combine pudding mix and cake mix in a large bowl. Add eggs, sour cream, water and oil. Mix until well combined. Pour into greased pan bake at 350 until cooked through. I divided my batter between 2-8 inch round pans and baked for 25 minutes.

Marshmallow Fondant

My sweet little 4 year old (now 5 year old!) just had her birthday. I usually just buy a cake, but this year I decided to make one. The reason? It boils down to pride. I guess I have a bit of a pride issue. You see, for this past Christmas I made my parents a calendar with pictures of my sweet little kiddos. They were admiring the picture for this month which happens to be of my little 5 year old last year on her birthday. My papa told my mom what a beautiful cake I had made and that I must have really spent a lot of time on it. My mom informed him that I do not make cakes for my kids birthdays, but that I purchase them. Well, that did it. I decided that I had to make her cake this year just to prove that I can make a pretty nice looking cake too.

While I was scouring the internet, looking for a cake to make, I came across several that had fondant. I have never made or tasted fondant before, but decided to give it a try. After all, it did make some pretty cakes.

I made up a batch of fondant for her cake, but still had no clue what I was going to do with it (other than sample it - YUM!). I finally decided that I was on my own and had to use a little creativity - not my strongest suit. After 2 days of thinking, I came up with an idea and this is what I did. I am pretty darn proud of myself! I managed to make a cake that looked pretty good, tasted really good, and didn't even have to start over! Hoary for me!

I adapted this recipe from All Recipes.

Linked on Show Me What Ya Got #12, All Things Related #37 and Sweets for a Saturday 6.

1/4 cup shortening (I used butter flavored)
1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
1/4 cup water
2 pounds powdered sugar, divided

Place the shortening in a shallow bowl, and set aside. Place the marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on High for 30 seconds to 1 minute to start melting the marshmallows. Carefully stir the water into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar, a cup at a time, until you have a sticky dough. Reserve 1 cup of powdered sugar for kneading. The dough will be very stiff. Rub your hands thoroughly with shortening, and begin kneading the sticky dough. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Turn the dough out onto a working surface dusted with powdered sugar and continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes. Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature, and roll it out onto a flat surface dusted with powdered sugar. Roll out 1 inch larger than you need to give a little wiggle room. Lightly frost your cake (or what ever you are using your fondant on) to insure the fondant sticks. Attach decorations with a little frosting as well. I used Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.

Fettuccine Alfredo

I love pasta. My hubby loves pasta. My kids even love pasta. We love pasta! This is one of our favorite pasta dishes. It is quick, easy and super, super yummy! Did I mention that it's a little fattening? Not to worry though, just a little. Okay, okay, maybe a lot. Because it is a bit fattening, I only make this Fettuccine Alfredo on special occasions. We usually have it on Valentine's day and maybe one other time during the year. To make it a little less fattening, I usually add some chicken or broccoli. Both are delicious with this Fettuccine Alfredo!

Linked on Show Me What Ya Got #12, All Things Related #37 and This Weeks Cravings #19.

4 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
4 cups hot cooked fettuccine noodles
Salt to taste

Melt butter with cream and nutmeg in a wide frying pan. Stir in pasta and quickly bring to a boil, stirring gently from time to time. Let boil rapidly for 1-2 minutes. Blend a little of the hot mixture with the egg yolk. Remove from the heat and stir in the egg yolk and cheese. Blend thoroughly. Serve immediately.