Ranch Loaded Baked Potato Dip

Life lately has been so wonderful yet so busy.  My residency has really been demanding the past month, but I realize I have the greatest job in the world.  I truly love it.  

The recipe I'm sharing today is soooo good.  Low in calories?  Nope.  Delicious in every way?  Yes.

1 (16 oz.) container light sour cream
2 cups (8 oz.) grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 (2.8 oz.) container Hormel Real Bacon Pieces (reserving 1 Tbsp. for garnish)
1/2 packet ranch dressing mix
1/3 cup green onions, chopped
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne
Additional cheese, onions for garnish
Ruffles or Wavy potato chips, for serving

In a large bowl, stir together sour cream, cheese, bacon pieces, ranch mix, green onions, and cayenne.  Store in an airtight container for at least one hour or overnight.  Before serving, garnish with additional bacon, onions, and cheese.  Serve with potato chips.  Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Source:  Macaroni and Cheesecake

Deviled Eggs

Our small group had an Easter dinner potluck, so I made some deviled eggs.  I used my mom's recipe, so the amounts aren't exact, because she just adds "a little of this, and a little of that."  Adjust the recipe to your taste, but this is how I did it:

7 large eggs
2-3 Tbsp. mayo
1 Tbsp. dill pickle relish
1 dash yellow mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
Paprika, for garnish

Boil eggs (for the perfect hard-boiled egg without the grayish-green that sometimes occurs in the yolk, see this link).  Cut 6 of the eggs in half, remove the yolk, and place the whites on a dish.  Finely chop the remaining whole egg and place into a bowl with the yolks.  Add the mayo, relish, mustard, and salt.  Mix well.  Spoon evenly into the 12 halves.  Sprinkle with paprika as garnish.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Breakfast Casserole

This recipe is brought to you from my momma.  Over my Spring Break, she and my sister came to visit.  We had a blast!  It was so wonderful to see them.  Here's a breakfast casserole mom made one morning that knocked my socks off:

16 oz. package ground breakfast sausage
12 eggs
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 1/4 cup milk
32 oz. frozen hashbrowns
1/2 cup shredded cheddar

Brown sausage in a skillet and drain.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9x13" baking dish.  In a large bowl, beat together milk, eggs, and cream of mushroom soup.  Stir in the sausage and pour into baking dish.  Mix in the hash browns.  Bake for 45-50 minutes, sprinkle with cheese, then bake for another 10 minutes until cheese is melted.

Modified from:  All Recipes

Knock-off Jim-N-Nicks' Cheese Biscuits

There was this barbecue restaurant in Birmingham that had the BEST sweet cheddar biscuits that they would bring out in baskets before dinner.  People would literally fight over the things!  I found this "copycat" recipe, and it was pretty close to the real thing.  Delicious!

1 1/2 cups Bisquick
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Mix together all ingredients until just combined.  Scoop into mini-muffin tin coated with cooking spray and bake 12-15 minutes until golden.

Source:  Plain Chicken

Pot Roast

I grew up on Southern comfort food, and pot roast was one of those foods that was oh-so-good when cooked right, but could turn out terrible and tough if overcooked. I was watching the Today Show a couple of years ago, and this married couple named the Neelys from Food Network were cooking their pot roast. It looked great, so I gave it a try, and it is now my go-to recipe for roast.

Melt in your mouth!

2 Tbsp. olive oil
3-4 lb. boneless chuck roast, fat trimmed off
kosher salt
ground black pepper
12 oz. beer (not dark)
1 c. beef broth
1 (2 oz.) envelope Italian dressing mix
2 bay leaves
10-12 garlic cloves, smashed
2 onions, quartered

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Heat oil in large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat. Season the roast generously with salt and pepper, then add it to the pot, and sear on all sides until nicely browned. Transfer the roast to a plate, then pour beer into the Dutch oven and whisk to scrape any browned bits; then whisk down the foam. Stir in the broth, Italian dressing mix, bay leaves, garlic, and onions. Put roast back in the Dutch oven and bake (covered) for 3 hours or until tender, turning once at midway point. Remove the bay leaves and serve.

Praline Cookies

Hello!  Life has been full of lots of excitement and fun around here.  Jonathan and I recently went on a trip to Vail, where I experienced my first snow skiing.  Let me say...it's a tough thing to do!  We had a blast though.  These are a treat I whipped up one Sunday when I was hankering for something sweet, and they were delicious.  They're really nothing like a praline, but they are an easy, tasty pecan treat. 

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Melt butter in microwave for about 45 seconds, or until melted.  Add sugars, egg, flour, and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add pecans and mix well.  Using a small scoop, drop dough 2" apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Cool 2 minutes and remove to cooling rack.  Serve dusted with powdered sugar.

Source:  Plain Chicken

Mini Lemon Blackberry Cheesecakes

With the remaining lemons I had from my grandpa's trees (see post below), I decided to make this recipe from SkinnyTaste.  It turned out delicious!  These are definitely something I'll be making often.

24 Reduced-fat vanilla wafers
8 oz. light cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
6 oz. fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt
2 large egg whites
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. lemon zest
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
24 blackberries

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line mini-muffin tin with mini-muffin liners and put one vanilla wafer in the bottom of each (randomly enough, some vanilla wafers in the box were too big to fit in the bottom, so I had to pick through to find the ones that would).  In a bowl, gently beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla until smooth.  Add in yogurt, egg whites, lemon juice, lemon zest, and flour and beat until smooth.  Pour into cupcake liners.

Bake 20-22 minutes or until centers are almost set.  Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate until chilled (a few hours).  Top each with a blackberry and serve.