Katie's Pasta Salad

Katie's Pasta Salad~
1 lb. bow tie pasta, cooked and drained
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 cucumber, peeled and diced into quarters
1 16oz. bottle italian dressing
1 block colby cheese, cubed
1 cup pepperoni, quartered

Directions:
1.) Cook pasta according to the box, drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside to cool.
2.) Chop all of your vegetables and add to a big bowl. Add pasta and gently toss.
3.) Toss in pepperoni and then mix in dressing. Tossing gently. Add colby cheese.
4.) Refrigerate for 4-8 hours.

I make this dish several times throughout the summer. It's great for BBQ's!! You can also use any sort of pasta that you have on hand.

Trail Mix Cookies

Trail Mix Cookies~

Ingredients:
1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 egg whites
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup dried cranberries (I omitted these)

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 2 baking sheets.

2.) Beat applesauce, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl.

3.) In another bowl, use an electric mixer to beat egg whites until they are frothy and begin to firm up. Fold egg whites into applesauce mixture.

4.) Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Fold into the egg mixture. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, walnuts, and cranberries.

5.) Drop by heaping teaspoons on prepared baking sheets.

6.) Bake cookies in preheated oven until set and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove immediately to wire racks to cool.

These turned out so yummy. Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside. I hope Daniel and his buddies enjoy them. We both had one last night to try them out and we both agreed...they are keepers. To make them extra healthy I used whole wheat flour instead of white flour. I couldn't tell a difference.

Simply Amazing...

It's simply amazing how needing to go to the grocery puts a damper on blogging. After all, how can you blog about food when you have none at home? I hate going to the grocery by myself. Mainly because of the "what if I have to go to the bathroom while checking out" thing that races through my mind. It's just lovely what having Crohn's disease can do to a person's mind set. That is why 9 out of 10 times, Daniel must be present with me. Of course going during the week is out of the question because my Hubby works second shift and I of course work first and that leaves going to the grocery together simply impossible.

I finally broke down and went by myself last night like a big girl, only to grab some basics to get me through the next few days and plus to get Daniel some food for his kayaking trip. Can someone say tuna packs and banana chips...lol. Everything has to be packaged small and obviously can't require cooling or heating so he is going to be living off of tuna, beef jerky, and a few other things for the next three days. This while I sit back and enjoy the Memorial Day festivities...hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, pasta salad, cake, "cold" beverages. You have fun with your kayaking self sweetie, the boys and I will see you on Monday, HAHAHA! We'll do our best to save you a hot dog.

Anyway, while I am not posting any recipes with this particular entry, I wanted to warn everyone to buckle up because there are going to be quite a few posts over the course of the Memorial Day weekend. Starting with the homemade granola bars and trail mix cookies I am whipping up tonight for Daniel to take with him this weekend. My goal is to make him the cool kid with the yummy snacks that I kindly pack enough of so he can share with his pals. Nobody can accuse me of not loving my Husband by golly.

Be smart and safe this holiday weekend...I want to see posts from everyone on Tuesday!

Beer Butt Chicken and Roasted Potatoes

Since we didn't get finished with our rescue event until 4 o'clock today we decided to skip out on the family dinner. We had dogs to get home to and we were both worn out. I am not sure where this meal came from but this is what we decided to make. An excuse for Daniel to grill something.

Daniel's Beer Butt Chicken:
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
1 can beer
Dry Rub


Directions:
1.) Rub down your chicken with your favorite dry rub, making sure that it is smeared in all the nooks and crannies.
2.) Take your beer can and set in the middle of your charcoal grill, make sure you pop the tab. Place chicken over the can of beer.
3.) Grill for about 2 hours, rotating the chicken every half an hour.

Katie's Roasted Potatoes~
Ingredients:
Dozen small red potatoes, diced up
salt
pepper
2 tbsp. rosemary
onion powder
extra virgin olive oil


Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2.) On a baking dish add potatoes and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with rosemary, a good helping of salt, a couple of pinches of pepper, and about a 2 tsp. of onion powder. With your hands toss the potatoes.
3.) Bake for about an hour or until golden brown.

Ranch Turkey Melt

I had a sandwich similar to this one a few months ago at a restaurant and in my quest to try to recreate it this is what I came up with. It is so good and so easy. You can add so many different ingredients to it that it's very versatile when serving multiple people.

Ranch Turkey Melt

Ingredients:
2 slices Texas Toast
2 slices of turkey breast
1 tbsp. ranch dressing
1 slice of cheese
butter to spread on bread

Directions:
1.) In a skillet over medium heat add one slice of bread, buttered on the side going down on pan. Add sliced turkey, ranch dressing, and cheese, and top with second slice of bread, buttered on the side that will eventually be turned over.
2.) Allow to brown on each side. You will probably have to turn the heat down some in order to ensure the meat gets warm and the cheese is melted without burning the bread.

Some great additions to this sandwich would be two slices of bacon and a couple of slices of fresh tomato. Neither of which I had on hand but wish that I did. You could also substitute the ranch dressing for thousand island.

Mini Cheesecakes

As some of you may know both myself and Daniel volunteer for the Great Dane rescue where Wagner, Toby, and Lennon were all adopted from. We go to various rescue events helping to spread the word about homeless animals looking for their forever homes. So many dogs are ending up in shelters and rescues, whether it be because of the economy or because adopters weren't prepared to deal with an animal. The idea of so many dogs losing their lives each year because of overcrowded shelters just make me tear up. SuperPetz is kind enough to be holding a two day adopt-a-thon at all of their locations. Daniel and I will be setting up shop at our local SuperPetz hoping to get the word out to potential adopters to please look at local shelters/rescues before purchasing from another back yard breeder or pet store.

For this particular event I asked a friend at work to design a flyer that I could distribute to anyone thinking about adopting a Great Dane and he was happy to oblige. Of course I offered him a payment of some sort of dessert and he like Daniel wouldn't tell me what he wanted, he said to surprise him. Why are men like this ladies? It is such a simple question and yet their answers make me want to pull out my hair.

So since I needed help deciding off to allrecipes I went and someone suggested mini cheesecakes. I am a big fan of cheesecakes but I wanted to kick mine up a notch and try to get away from the typical cherry pie fillings. Here is what I came up with, Lord I hope he likes them.

Katie's Mini Cheesecakes~

*I am making two recipes out of one batch so I am breaking everything up. I hope these steps don't confuse everyone!

Crust:

1 cup chocolate graham crackers crushed

1 cup regular graham crackers crushed

8 tbsp. butter, melted, divide in half

8 tbsp. white sugar, divide in half

Filling:3- 8 oz. blocks cream cheese, softened

3 eggs

1 cup white sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup raspberry preserves, softened in the microwave for about 15 seconds

Toppings:1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted

caramel sauce, to drizzle

Directions:

1.)Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

2.) In a sauce pan over medium heat melt butter. Divide melted butter in half. Pour half into a bowl with one cup of your chocolate graham cracker mixture and add 4 tbsp. of sugar. In another bowl add one cup of your regular graham crackers, the rest of your butter, and 4 tbsp. of sugar. Mix both bowls until incorporated. Add about a 1 tbsp. into each paper liner. Half get the chocolate while the other half get the regular.

3.)In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Divide filling in half into separate bowls. In one bowl add one cup of chocolate chips and gently mix. Pour into the chocolate graham cracker liners about two heaping tablespoons or until full. Take the other half of your filling and add to your regular graham cracker liners. To the top of the regular ones add a tablespoon of raspberry preserves and with a knife or toothpick swirl into the mixture.

4.)Bake for 15 minutes and allow to cool. Also, I would suggest putting a pan of water on the bottom rack of your oven during the baking process, I hear this helps prevent cracks in your cheesecake while baking and even though I am not making a large cheesecake, I figured it wouldn't hurt.

5.) Top your chocolate chip cheesecakes off with 1 tbsp of your caramel sauce and then sprinkle about a teaspoon or two of your chopped pecans. Keep cheesecakes refrigerated.

Beefy Baked Ravioli

Here's another quick and easy meal. I'm in the middle of making a new creation so I am too busy to write a big long paragraph! Enjoy!!

Beefy Baked Ravioli~

Ingredients:1 lb. ground beef

1 20 oz. package of cheese ravioli
1 jar marinara sauce
2 cup mozzarella cheese
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:
1.) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a separate skillet brown pound of ground beef. Drain.

2.) In a large bowl mix together marinara sauce, ground beef, diced tomatoes, and ravioli, mix together until ravioli is covered in sauce.

3.) Transfer to baking dish and sprinkle the top with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover dish and bake for another 15 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.