Pioneer Woman Green Bean Casserole

As with everything that comes from the Pioneer Woman, this was excellent.  I scaled it down for just the two of us, and I used canned green beans instead of fresh just because it was easier, and we both really liked it. 

She made it as an alternative to the green bean casserole made with cream of mushroom soup and French fried onions on top.  We loved the addition of red bell pepper and all of the typical goodness of bacon and onion and breadcrumbs.  Delightful!

Pioneer Woman Green Bean Casserole

2 cans Italian cut green beans
2 slices bacon, cut into 1/4" pieces
1/4 sweet onion, diced
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
1/4 - 1/2 cup Sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 roasted red bell pepper, diced
1/4 - 1/2 cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350.  Drain and rinse canned green beans and set aside. 

Add bacon pieces to a skillet over medium heat.  Cook for two minutes, and then add onion, and cook for additional 3-5 minutes, or until bacon is done and onions are golden brown.  Remove from skillet.

Add butter to skillet and melt over medium heat.  Sprinkle flour in, and whisk immediately for 2 minutes.  Add in milk, whisking for 2-3 minutes, or until mixture is thickened.  Add salt, pepper, cayenne, and Cheddar.  Stir while cheese melts; turn off heat. 

Add bell pepper to pan, and then add bacon/onion mixture.  Stir gently to combine.  Top with bread crumbs, and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Christmas Bark

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a wonderful 2011, and I hope 2012 will bring even more blessings. 

I probably should have posted this Christmas Bark recipe last week, but I was having too much fun with my family to worry about that.  Besides, Christmas isn't the only time of year you can make this.  If you're sticking to your new year's resolutions to be healthier, just bookmark this recipe until you've changed your mind a bit.  It's worth it.

Christmas Bark

1 sleeve saltine crackers
1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 (12oz) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Place crackers in one layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet with sides. Melt butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. After it comes to a bubble, cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour butter-sugar mixture over the crackers. Spread evenly. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate morsels. When they start to melt, spread evenly over entire layer of crackers.  Sprinkle chopped pecans on top; refrigerate 1 hour. Remove from refrigerator and crack into pieces.

Teak Dog Tuesday!

This is Teak Dog Tuesday's Christmas edition (and also the Wednesday edition--whoops).

Merry Christmas!

Pecan Pie Mini Muffins

I found this recipe in a Southern Living cookbook, and I had to try it because it only had five ingredients that I already had in my pantry.  I am SO glad we tried these.  Buck absolutely loves them.  I was impressed that they even looked like pecan pies coming out of the muffin tins.  If you don't want to go to the trouble of making a pecan pie this Christmas, everyone would be just as happy with these.  The only thing Buck wished we'd had with these is vanilla ice cream--a mistake we won't make next time. 

Pecan Pie Mini Muffins

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
2 large eggs
1 stick butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix brown sugar, flour, and pecans in a bowl.  Make a well in the center of the mixture.  Beat eggs until foamy.  Stir together butter and eggs; add to dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened. 

Spray 2 mini-muffin tins with cooking spray.  Spoon batter into cups, filling two-thirds full.  Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.  Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.  Yields 2 dozen mini muffins. 

Sausage, Apple, and Cranberry Dressing

Again, we made this for our pre-Thanksgiving feast, and it was delicious!  The apples and dried cranberries made the dressing sweet, and the sausage made it savory.  We loved it.


I read that you can actually stuff your turkey with this to make it stuffing, but as I don't know anything about cooking a turkey, we baked it in a 9"x13" dish and called it dressing.  It's fantastic.


Sausage, Apple, and Cranberry Dressing


1 1/2 cups cubed whole wheat bread
3 3/4 cups cubed white bread
1 lb ground pork sausage
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped celery
2 1/2 tsp dried sage
1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 Golden Delicious apple, cored and chopped
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
4 Tbsp butter, melted
Chicken broth


Preheat oven to 350.  Spread the white and wheat bread cubes in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 5-7 minutes in preheated oven.  Transfer bread crumbs to a large bowl.  


In a large skillet, cook the sausage and onions over medium heat, stirring and breaking up the lumps until evenly browned.  Add the celery, sage, rosemary, and thyme; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes to blend flavors.  Pour sausage mixture over bread in bowl.  Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries, and parsley.  Spoon into 9"x13" casserole dish, and drizzle with melted butter and chicken stock.


Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, drizzling with chicken stock to moisten dressing 2-3 times during baking. Serve warm.

Amazing Corn Casserole

You want this at your Thanksgiving dinner, your Christmas dinner, your birthday dinner, and probably more often than that.  The problem, as with all delicious dishes, is that you can only afford to eat this one a few times a year.  But I promise you, it is absolutely amazing.  

We made a pre-Thanksgiving feast this weekend, and I wanted to make sure and post this first and recommend it highly.  It was awesome.

Amazing Corn Casserole

1 (15.25oz) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (15.25oz) can creamed corn

1 (8oz) pkg corn muffin mix

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large bowl, stir together the 2 cans of corn, corn muffin mix, sour cream, and melted butter.  Pour into a greased 9"x13" casserole dish.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and top with shredded cheese.  Return to oven for 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.  Let stand for at least 5 minutes, and then serve warm.

Cookie Empanadas



These cookies are just sinful.  What's not to love in this recipe?  The dough is made of butter, cream cheese, and flour.  Then you fill them with jelly.  Then you bake them and roll them in cinnamon and sugar.  Good grief.  Amazing.  They're especially good just out of the oven.

The recipe only made about 15 cookies.  I did half with apple jelly and half with strawberry preserves, and I thought the apple ones were better (but it's not like I turned down any of the strawberry ones).  The preserves leaked out of the cookies more during baking, and the jelly held up better.  You could easily switch up flavors, but the jelly was better to cook with. 

I will absolutely make these again.  These would be great Christmas cookies.  Delicious!

Cookie Empanadas

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup fruit jelly
1/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Day/Week Before: Cream butter and cream cheese together until smoothly blended. Beat in the flour. Shape dough into a smooth ball, wrap in foil or cling wrap, and refrigerate overnight or up to a week.

Day Of: Remove dough from refrigerator 30 minutes before using. Preheat oven to 375.  Shape dough into one-inch balls, then press the balls flat with the bottom of a glass on a floured surface.  Place small spoonful of jam in center of each round, moisten edges with water.  Fold round over and press edges together. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 15 to 20 minutes. Immediately roll in sugar mixed with cinnamon.