Toasted Caramel Root Beer

I am not a whiskey fan by any stretch of the imagination but when my sister and brother-in-law offer me one of these drinks, I cannot refuse.

Ingredients:
2-3 oz Black Velvet Toasted Caramel
Root beer
Ice

Fill glass with ice.  Add black velvet.  Top off with root beer.  Stir and enjoy.  But beware, these don't taste dangerous but they can sneak up on you!

Grandma’s Cheeseburger Soup

 

One of my favorite Christmas traditions!! Straight from The Underbakke Family Cookbook! 

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 C. flour

3/4 C. chopped onion

8 oz. velveeta cheese

3/4 C. shredded carrots

1 1/2 C. milk

3/4 C. diced celery

1 tsp. basil

3 Tbsp. butter or oil

1/4 C. sour cream

3 C. chicken broth

Salt and pepper

4 C. diced potatoes

In a 5-quart pot, brown ground beef; drain and set aside. Saute onions, carrots, celery and basil in same pan, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and add broth, potatoes and ground beef. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender; about 15 minutes. Add cheese, milk, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from heat and blend in sour cream. Serve.

Almond Bark Cookies

I absolutely love these easy, no bake cookies. My mom always has them on her goodie tray during the Christmas holidays and I can’t wait to go home today and enjoy a few.

2 lb. almond bark (white)

1 C. mini marshmallows

2 C. dry roasted peanuts

3 C. rice krispies

1 C. peanut butter

Melt almond bark and add the remaining ingredients. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. 

Holiday jello shots

Who doesn’t love a good jello shot at parties? I wanted to go with a red and green theme for the holidays but I hate lime.  Lucky me, I found a wonderful alternative! I went with watermelon, cherry and green apple.  I prefer to make my jello shots with cake or whipped flavored vodka as it takes the edge off of a cheap regular distilled vodka taste.

The same instructions apply for all three of these flavors. 

Mix jello packet with one cup boiling water.  Stir until dissolved.  Add 1 cup of the assigned alcohol.  Stir.  Set in molds, Dixie cups or syringes.  Refrigerate until set. 

Watermelon

1 box watermelon jello

1 cup water

1 cup salty watermelon vodka

Green apple

1 box Jolly Rancher green apple jello

1 cup water

1 cup cake vodka

Cherry

1 box cherry jello

1 cup water

1 cup cake vodka

These were a huge hit! I made 100 and they were gone in a matter of a few hours.  

Tortilla Roll Ups

1 package of large flour tortillas (about 16)

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 package taco seasoning

1 small can chopped black olives (optional)

1 small can chopped green chilies

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

24 ounces sour cream (I used 16 oz regular and 8 oz Mexican flavor sour cream)

Few dashes of hot sauce

In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese and sour cream until it is smooth and there are no lumps. Add the taco seasoning and mix well. Add the cheese, olives and chilies and mix. Spread the mixture on the tortillas to the edges and roll up. Store in the refrigerator until firm. Cut up and serve.

The flavor of these is good but they are a bit messy. Next time I would do 16 oz cream cheese and 16 oz of sour cream. 

Spicy Tuna Melt

 Ingredients:

1 Can of Solid White Tuna (drained)

1/2 Tsp. Onion Powder

1/2 Tsp. Garlic Powder

1/4 Cup Mayonnaise

Frank’s RedHot Sauce

2 Slices New York Sharp Cheddar Cheese (or any other kind of cheese you want)

2 pieces of bread

Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Mix tuna, mayo, spices and redhot sauce until smooth.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Butter one side of two pieces of bread.  Turn skillet on medium heat. But bread butter side down, with a slice of cheese, then tuna mixture, another slice of cheese and the 2^nd piece of bread butter side up.  Cook on each side until golden brown.

Chubby Hubby Clusters

Recipe from Six Sisters Stuff

Ingredients:

1½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter chips

½ cup butter, cut into pieces

¼ cup peanut butter

2 cups pretzel sticks, roughly chopped

1 cup salted peanuts

In a large bowl, mix together chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butter, and peanut butter.  Microwave on high for 45 seconds, stir, and microwave again for 30 seconds. Stir until smooth (if it isn't completely melted, return to the microwave for 20 second intervals, stirring after each time).

Add pretzels and peanuts to the melted chocolate mixture and stir until they are completely coated in

chocolate.  Drop by tablespoonfuls onto wax paper and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until firm.

Optional: drizzle with melted peanut butter.  If you don't eat them all in one sitting, store leftovers in an airtight container.

This treat was easy to make (no bake) and combines some of my favorite flavors.  Chocolate, peanut butter and salt…how can we go wrong with that? Thanks, Six Sisters for a great recipe to add to the Christmas goodie platter! 

Adult Apple Cider & Mimosas

I was looking for a fun adult beverage for my annual ugly sweater party and decided to go with an apple cider theme.  I had some random bottles of “odd” vodkas in the liquor cabinet that I thought would fit perfectly with the apple cider.  And boy, was I right.  This drink turned out to be fabulous.

Ingredients:

1 gallon apple cider

1 C. salted caramel vodka

1 C. fluffed marshmallow vodka

1 C. cake vodka

2 cinnamon sticks

Mix into a large beverage container and chill for 2 hours. It’s that simple. 

Serve over ice as a drink or pour into a shot glass and top with whipped cream.   

Apple Cider Mimosas

Ingredients:

1 gallon apple cider

2 bottles of champagne (chilled)

Make just like a normal mimosa but substitute apple cider for the orange juice.  Fill glass ½- ¾ way full of cider and top of with champagne.  If you want to get fancy, garnish the rim with sugar and an apple wedge.  

Crock Pot Cheesy Beer Smokies

Ingredients:

1 (14.5 oz) jar Cheese Sauce

1/2 c. beer

1­2 tsp Tabasco Sauce

2 (14 oz) packages Lil’ Smokies

In slow cooker combine the cheese sauce, beer and tabasco Sauce. Stir until combined.  Add smokies and stir until coated. Heat on low for 3­4 hours stirring throughout process or until heated through.

I needed a low maintenance appetizer for my ugly sweater party and this recipe worked perfectly.  Nothing better than being able to throw something in the crockpot.  I’m not a beer fan so I was a little nervous but the beer taste did not override the smokies.  

Baked Spaghetti Pie

This is what would happen if lasagna and spaghetti had a baby...

Ingredients:

½ package of spaghetti, cooked

1 lb. of lean ground beef or Italian sausage

1 jar spaghetti sauce

2 Tbsp. cottage cheese

2 Tbsp. jalapeno cream cheese

2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese

Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Cook and drain spaghetti noodles.  In a separate pan, brown and drain your meat.  Mix meat, spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, cream cheese and 1 cup of shredded cheese. 

Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.  Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray, and then add spaghetti noodles. Top with sauce mixture. Top with the remaining cheese.  Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.  Serve with garlic bread and salad.

The original recipe did not call for the cottage or cream cheese but I’m glad I added it. You could do Ricotta too.  They added a nice creamy element to the mixture.  This made a 9x13 pan and was super filling. I’ve been eating leftovers for days and even took some to a friend to have. Next time I will try it with sausage instead of beef for some extra flavor.  

Chicken Ranch Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

2 blocks cream cheese (room temp)

1 ranch dressing dry packet

1 can (12 oz) chicken (white chunk chicken drained)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix cream cheese and ranch mix together until well blended. Fold in chicken and cheese. Chill for an hour before serving with crackers or vegetables. 

This dip was simple to make.  It tasted fine as is but I decided to dress it up a bit with another block of cream cheese and a package of real bacon pieces.  This took the taste from ordinary to awesome.  I served it with ranch flavored wheat thins and ritz crackers.