Pepper jack and bacon scalloped potatoes

6-7 potatoes, peeled and diced

8-10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbed

1 sleeve Ritz crackers (I used bacon flavored)

1 stick butter

1 cup milk

½ cup flour

2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese

Cut potatoes and bring to a boil for about 10 minutes.  Strain and add to a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle bacon on top of the potatoes. Shake milk and flour together (or stir briskly with a whisk) and pour on top of potatoes. Add a few dashes of salt and pepper. Cover with pepper jack cheese.  

Melt the stick of butter and add one sleeve of well crushed crackers.  Mix and spread this on the top of the potatoes.  Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.  Remove foil. Bake for 15 more minutes.

On a cold rainy day, nothing sounds better to me than a hot casserole out of the oven.  But, because it was cold and rainy, I didn’t want to go to the grocery store.  So I decided to put this together some ingredients I had in my kitchen and see what happened.  The result? One of my favorite creations of all time!! Warm, hearty and delicious!  

White Chocolate Lemon Cookies

Ingredients:

1 ½ sticks butter, softened

¾ cup white sugar

¼ cup light brown sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp. lemon zest

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 ½ cups white chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars together. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix in lemon zest.  In a separate bowl combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture. Stir until combined and gently stir in white chocolate chips.

Form into balls about an inch or slightly more in diameter. Chill for at least 2 hrs or a couple days if you don't want to eat them right away. Preheat oven to 350 and grease cookie sheet. Bake for 8-11 minutes until edges are lightly brown. Do not over-bake. The centers may still look doughy. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then cook on wire rack.

These cookies taste like summer and magic! Although they would be great any time of the year, the taste is light and refreshing.  They are a lot of white chocolate chips in this recipe.  If you don’t like overly chunky cookies, scale back to 1 cup instead of an entire package of white chocolate chips. 

Cake Mix Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup of Peanut Butter

1/2 cup water

1 large egg

15.25 ounces Yellow Cake Mix

For the frosting:

1 stick margarine (1/2 c.), softened

1/4 cup milk

1/­2 tsp vanilla (depending on your taste)

3 tablespoons of cocoa

2-­3 cups of powdered sugar

Heat the oven to 350°F.  Spray a 13 X 9­inch pan with no­stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl combine 1 cup of peanut butter, water and egg in large bowl, stirring until smooth.  Stir in cake mix until blended well. Spread into prepared pan.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until puffed and light golden brown. Cool completely.

Mix all frosting ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth. Add more powdered sugar or milk until you reach desired consistency and spread on top of bars. Or, if you’re feeling lazy, buy a can of whipped milk chocolate frosting. 

These bars were easy to throw together and smelled delicious coming out of the oven.  While they were very tasty, be warned that they are very “dense”.  I would cut them in small squares or be prepared to wash it down with a glass of milk. 

White Trash Casserole

I have to admit, the name of this recipe intrigued me.  It looked simple and included ingredients I had on hand so I decided to give it a shot last night.

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 tbsp. mince garlic

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 can corn, drained

Small brick of Velveeta, cut into cubes

Tater Tots

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown beef and onion together then drain. (The original recipe doesn’t call for minced garlic but I added it and was glad I did.)  Mix cream of mushroom with the ground beef.  Spread beef mixture in bottom of a casserole dish. Layer corn, Velveeta, and tater tots. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour, until tater tots are golden brown.

This made my house smell amazing while it was cooking.  It tasted great too. It was what I imagine a casserole would taste like if Hunters Dish and Tater Tot Casserole had a baby.  If you’re looking for an easy recipe to throw together on a cold night, add this to your collection.