Jalapeno Popper Pizza Recipe

I had never thought to make a jalapeno popper pizza til my friend Melissa told me about it and we just had to try it. And let me tell you if you like spicy jalapeno cheesy goodness this is definitely something you need to try! We loved it and will def be making it in the future. I also have a recipe for a grilled cheese jalapeno popper sandwich can't wait to try that. The recipe I used all ingredients listed except I used a few more jalapenos and cute the bread crumbs into a 1/3 of the amount. I also didn't use all the cream cheese just a nice light layer. But it was oh so good :) You can also use any cheese this one said the Mexican blend but I opted for Cheddar and I'm pretty sure my friend used Mozzarella. Use whatever you see fit :) Oh yeah and I used real bacon and prob more than recommended. Prob like 5-7 pieces :)

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix
• 1 (12 inch) pre-baked pizza crust
• 3 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1 (3 ounce) jar cooked real bacon pieces (such as Hormel™)
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Stir together the softened cream cheese and ranch dressing mix in a bowl until smooth. Spread the mixture on the pre-baked crust. Sprinkle the jalapeno slices and bacon on top of the cream cheese mixture; then top with the shredded cheese.
3. Combine the melted butter and seasoned bread crumbs. Sprinkle the mixture over the top of the pizza. Bake in preheated oven until the bread crumbs are nicely browned and the cheese has melted, about 15 minutes.

Jack in the Box Tacos Copycat Recipe

Ok so I was totally excited when I saw this recipe because I'm a huge fan of Jack in the Box. It was one thing I missed when I left Arizona. Even when I lived in Charleston, SC the closest one was 3 hours away so it was a real treat to drive up there and get them! Now that we live in Italy we don't even have one closer than a very long flight away so yes I had to try these when I saw the recipe. This recipe is pretty darn close to the real thing. Although I would suggest running the meat through a food processor to get it to a proper consistancy. If you can I would also get the taco sauce from the Jack in the Box because the ones we tried just didn't taste the same. So hopefully one of my awesome friends and/or family members will send us some for the next attempt!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 cup refried beans
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/4 cup mild taco sauce (Ortega or Pico Pica brand or any smooth taco sauce, no chunks of tomato and stuff)
• 12 soft corn tortillas (try to use thin ones and warm them up before using so they don't crack when you fold them)
• 3 cups cooking oil, crisco oil will give the tacos a taste closest to the original
• 6 slices American cheese
• 1 head finely chopped lettuce

Directions:

Prep Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 1 1/4 hr
1. Slowly brown the ground beef over low heat, using a wooden spoon to chop and smoosh the meat, keep it very fine and smooth.
2. When the beef is brown, drain the fat.
3. Add the refried beans and use the wooden spoon to smash the whole beans into the mixture, creating a smooth texture.
4. Add the salt, chili powder, and 2 tablespoons of the taco sauce to the mixture; remove from the heat.
5. In another skillet, heat 1/4 inch of oil until hot (test with a small piece of tortilla, it should bubble when dropped into the oil).
6. Spread 1/12 of the beef mixture on the center of each corn tortilla.
7. Fold the tortillas over and press so that the beef filling acts as an adhesive and holds the sides together.
8. Drop each taco into the pan of hot oil and fry on both sides until crispy.
9. When cooked, remove the tacos from the oil and place them on a rack or some paper towels until they are a little cooler.
10. Pry open each taco slightly; add 1/2 slice of American cheese (cut diagonally) and some lettuce; top with about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the remaining taco sauce.
 

Knock You Naked Brownies

**These were good, but they weren't what I was looking for so I probably won't make them again. Especially since I have a couple other recipes that I would like to try out. But since none of you are looking for something specific you may just love this recipe.**

Ingredients
■1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix (I Used Duncan Hines)
■1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
■⅓ cups Evaporated Milk
■½ cups Evaporated Milk (additional)
■½ cups Butter, Melted
■60 whole Caramels, Unwrapped
■⅓ cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
■¼ cups Powdered Sugar
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick.

Press half the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water) melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup evaporated milk. When melted and combined, pour over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.

Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours. When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies. Cut into either nine or twelve helpings, and carefully remove from the pan.

*Adapted from the standard/classic “Knock You Naked Brownies” recipe. These brownies don’t really knock you naked…but almost.

New York Cheesecake

Pretty tasty cheesecake. Good texture. Rich, but not too rich. Very flexible recipe. Next time I'll try an Oreo crust and strawberries on top. Yummm. Also might add more vanilla. Make sure it's not too close to the top of the oven or the rack above it, because it will puff up quite a bit. Ended up sinking in the middle when it cooled, but I had zero complaints.

Ingredients

2 cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup melted butter

5 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 tbsp flour

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

5 eggs

2 egg yolks

1/3 cup whipping cream

1 tsp finely shredded lemon zest (I used lemon juice cause it's what I had)


Directions

1) Combine cracker crumbs with melted butter until well combined.

2) Press the mixture into the bottom and 2 1/2 inches up the sides of a 9 x 3 inch springform pan.

3) In large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, flour, and vanilla. Beat til fluffy(ish).

4) Add eggs, and yolks, beating on low until just combined.

5) Stir in whipping cream and lemon peel.

6) Pour into the springform pan.

7) Place springform pan into shallow baking pan in the oven.

8) Bake at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, or until center appears nearly set when shaken. (Mine was pretty wobbly when I took it out and it turned out just fine.)

9) Cool 15 mins, then release outer ring.

10) Cool completely, then chill 4- 24 hours. (Mine was still slightly warm when I put it in the fridge, and it didn't make a bit of difference.)

(My version of) Enchiladas

So, I doubt that these enchiladas are traditional by any means, but I think they are pretty dang tasty. As a matter of fact, I like them better than almost any restaurant enchiladas. The worcestershire sauce gives the filling a nice flavor. I like to either put a rump roast in the slow cooker, or if I'm short on time, get a whole roasted chicken from the grocery store. Either chicken or beef both work fine, but I have two enchilada rules I must put out there. Number one: tortillas must be corn. Seriously. Flour tortillas get soggy and gross. No one wants that. Number two: meat must be shredded. It's so worth it. Ground beef just doesn't hold a candle to a shredded roast. A little prior planning is so worth it. That is all. Now for the recipe.

Ingredients

2.5 (ish) lbs shredded chicken or beef

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 tsp fresh minced garlic

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (name brand tastes best)

8 oz can of tomato sauce

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp black pepper

4 cups shredded cheese

enchilada sauce

black olives

12 (ish) corn tortillas

oil (optional)


1) Combine shredded meat, garlic, onion, and all seasonings including Worcestershire.

2) Heat tortillas, either in a frying pan with warm oil, or a microwave. Warm tortillas are much easier to roll without breaking.

3) Put some enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan and coat your first tortilla with it.

4) Put the shredded meat into the center of the tortilla, sprinkle with cheese, and roll into a tube. Position seam side down in pan.

5) Continue filling the tortillas, adding more enchilada sauce as needed and packing them fairly tightly together.

6) Cover with the remaining enchilada sauce, then cheese, and dot with olives as desired.

7) Bake at 350 degrees for around 25-30 mins.


P.S. -- The 30 mins is sufficient to cook the onion, as long as you don't have huge chunks. No worries about getting a mouth full of uncooked onion here. :-)

Granola Bars Galore

So I've decided that I want to make our own granola bars and I have to find the best recipes to have existed for them or at least ones we believe to be oh so yummy :) So far I have tried three, the first was alright, the second one better, but I preferred the third one. If you try them out let me know!

This one I got from our friend Sonja in Michigan. I lined my pan with wax paper (which worked awesomely!) and I pulled them out of the pan when they were cooled with it and used a pizza cutter to cut them into bars and it worked perfectly. With this recipe as well as the rest make sure you press it down nice and firm so it will all stick together and won't crumble.

4 tbsp butter

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup honey

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

2 cups oatmeal

1 cup rice krispies cereal

Optional items:

½ cup raisins, chocolate chips, or mini m&m’s

¼ cup pecans (or any other favorite nut)

¼ cup coconut

2 tbsp flax

2 tbsp almond butter ( in place of butter )

Combine butter, sugar and honey in a small sauce pan. Combine all other ingredients in a large bowl and mix. Heat the butter mixture until boiling. Boil for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and stir in vanilla and cinnamon. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until evenly coated. If you are using chocolate chips, add them now and stir them in. That way they won’t melt.

Spray a bar pan and press the granola into the pan. Cool in the fridge for about 30 min. and then slice into bars. You can also press them into muffin pans. They make cute, individual servings this way.

This one is called the Easy Granola Bar and I got it Allrecipes.com which is a favorite site of mine. This really is super easy and for the extra 3 1/2 cups of stuff you can add whatever you please. In ours I used blueberries, chocolate, and almonds. I added wheat germ and flax seed to all three recipes as well to give it a bit more of a healthy kick to them. These ones were the hubby's favorite but it may have been because of the blueberries. With this recipe I lined the pan in parchment paper so I could just lift them out when they cooled completely and I also used the pizza cutter on them.

Ingredients

• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sweetened condensed milk, butter, coconut, almonds, chocolate chips and cranberries with your hands until well blended. Press flat into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them. Lightly browned just around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars. Let cool for 5 minutes, cut into squares then let cool completely before serving.

These are the bars I liked. I think it was the peanut butter that made them taste so good to me. I used a reduced fat peanut butter, honey, added nuts (almonds and peanuts) and craisins to the mix. This recipe is called No-Bake Rice Krispies Peanut Butter Granola Bars and I this recipe is from food.com another good site with lots of different recipes. This recipe I again used waxed paper and the pizza cutter to cut out bars. With these as well as the other two recipes I wrapped each bar individually in case we wanted to toss them in a lunch pail, bag or purse if we happen to be on the go that day.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies (for a firmer bar increase up to 2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup dark corn syrup or 1/2 cup light corn syrup or 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat peanut butter (or can use regular peanut butter)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup dark raisin (or can use either 1/2 cup chopped nuts or 1/2 cup seeds or 1/2 cup coconut)
• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chip (to prevent melting refrigerate or freeze the chocolate chips before mixing in)

Directions:

Prep Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 22 mins

1. lightly grease 11 x 7-inch, can use a 13 x 9-inch baking dish but you will have a thinner bar.
2. In a large bowl combine Rice Krispies cereal, oats and raisins.
3. In a saucepan stir the corn syrup or honey and brown sugar until just at a boil.
4. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until well combined.
5. Pour over the dry ingredients in the bowl; mix to combine.
6. Mix in mini chocolate chips (if using) work fast the mixture hardens quickly.
7. Transfer the mixture into prepared baking dish, then using slightly wet hands push evenly down into the pan.
8. While the mixture is still soft, for easier slicing take a sharp knife and slice into desired size bars.
9. Chill until firm.

White Chicken Enchiladas

So if you haven't seem a theme with the last few recipes I've posted I'm kind of obsessed with the great Pioneer Woman. She has some freaking amazing recipes (granted not all of them, but definitely quite a few!) and I just can't help myself I planned our last menu and grocery trip around her. This is definitely one of the recipes I'm glad I found! I've never really had a white sauce on my enchiladas. My mom usually made a red or green sauce and so does everyone else I know for that matter so I was so interested in trying these. I ended up making them for Cinco de Mayo and OMGoodness were they yummy! You seriously need to try these tonight if possible! they make a whole 9 x 13 pan and I had enough meat for about 14 tortillas so it can feed a few people we had them for dinner that night and then lunch the next day. Even Nathan LOVED these and he ate two alone in one sitting!

Ingredients

• 2-½ cups Cooked, Shredded Chicken
• 2 cups Reserved Broth From Chicken
• 3 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• 12 whole Corn Tortillas
• 1 whole Large Onion, Diced
• 3 whole 4 Oz Cans Whole Green Chilies, Diced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Seeded And Finely Diced
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• ½ cups Heavy Cream
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Flour
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 2-½ cups Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• Picante Sauce (optional)
• Cilantro, Chopped

Preparation Instructions

Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Fry tortillas for no longer than 20 seconds, just to soften (do not allow to become crisp.) Place tortillas on a large towel or stack of paper towels to drain.
Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in separate skillet over medium heat. Add onions and jalapenos and saute for 1 minute, just to start the cooking process. Add chicken, half of the green chilies, and 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Stir together. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and stir. Add cream and stir, allowing mixture to bubble and get hot. Turn off heat and set aside.
In a separate large skillet, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together and cook over medium heat for one minute. Pour in 1 1/2 cups chicken broth. Whisk together and cook for another minute or two. Stir in the other half of the chilies. Reduce heat, then stir in sour cream. Add 1 1/2 cups grated cheese and stir to melt. Add 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.
To assemble, spoon chicken mixture on top of tortillas, one by one. Top with plenty of cheese and roll up. Place seam side down in a 9 x 13 casserole dish.
Pour cheese mixture all over the top of the tortillas. Top with extra cheese if you’d like, then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Sprinkle generously with chopped cilantro.
Serve with picante sauce, if desired.