Biscuits

Thought I would try these.

Ruth's Diners Mile High Biscuits
3 c. flour (I have used 1/2 white flour and 1/2 wheat and they turn our great!)
1 1/2 t. salt
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 stick butter
3/4 c. buttermilk (I have made these with buttermilk as well as the 'homemade' buttermilk version of 3/4 c. milk + 2 T. lemon juice and they work out amazing either way)
1 egg
1/4 c. water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and butter until crumbly. Mix in buttermilk, egg and just enough water to make a workable dough. Mix the dough until it is just barely combined (don't over mix). Roll the dough onto a floured cutting board about 1 inch thick. Cut with a 2 inch biscuit cutter, or a 2 inch round cup. Place on a greased baking sheet (touching each other) and bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 12-15 biscuits, depending how thick you make them.

Tips to making awesome biscuits:
*ONLY hand mix your dough. Don't mix in a Bosch or with a hand mixer. The dough will be too tough and the dough will become dry if you use a mixer. You don't want to over mix this recipe. The best way to mix this dough is with a pastry cutter or using two knives and cutting the dough back and forth. This method takes a little longer but will ensure the perfect biscuit. You want pieces of butter left in your biscuit, that is what keeps the dough light and flaky.
*Next tip is to keep your biscuit dough fairly thick. You want a tall and thick biscuit more than you do a thin and hard biscuit. Keeping the dough thick will ensure a chewy and soft biscuit. I keep my dough about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick (cooking times may vary depending how thick you make them).

Chicken Spaghetti

One day I'll make this

Recipe: Baked Spaghetti

©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

Prep time: 30 min |Cook time: 30 min |

Yield: About 12 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound of lean ground beef
• 3/4 pound of spaghetti noodles, cooked and drained
• 6 slices bacon
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped bell pepper
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans Italian style diced tomatoes, with liquid
• 2 (10 ounce) cans Rotel tomatoes, with liquid
• 1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 cups grated Cheddar or Mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 (10-3/4 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 × 13 x 2 inch baking dish with non stick spray.

Break the spaghetti noodles in half one or twice to make them more bite sized and drop them into a large stockpot filled with boiling, well salted water.  Brown the ground beef in a large skillet; remove, drain and set aside.  Cut the bacon in half lengthwise, stack a few slices together and cut into small pieces, dropping it directly into that same skillet. Cook until only slightly crispy; remove and let drain on a paper towel, reserving the bacon fat in the skillet.

Add the onion and green bell pepper to the bacon fat and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook another 2 minutes. To that, add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and the cooked beef and bacon.  Bring up to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Layer half of the spaghetti noodles into the prepared baking dish. Spoon over half of the meat sauce. Add half of the cheddar and then repeat all three layers.  Combine the cream of mushroom soup with the water and blend well. Drop over the top layer of cheese and carefully spread across the top. Sprinkle the top with the Parmesan cheese and bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 30 to 35 minutes, or until heated through and bubbly around the edges.

The casserole came right up to the very top of my baking dish by the time that I got through the layering, so for insurance, I placed a pan on the lower rack and the casserole on the top rack to bake, just in case there was any spillover. There wasn't, thankfully, but you may want to take that precaution also, just in case!

~Cook's Notes~

Can substitute all plain diced tomatoes; can also drain the Rotel to tone it down and just loosen the sauce a bit with some beef broth.

Source: http://deepsouthdish.com

Tater Tot Casserole

I am a Duggar fan.  I love their parenting, well behaved kids, and am really excited to try their favorite meal.  I figured 19 kids, surely my sweet angel won't turn his nose at it.  Maybe...

Duggar's Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey
1 2-pound bag of tater tots
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can of evaporated milk
1 can of cream of chicken soup

Directions
Brown the ground turkey. Drain the meat and add to a medium sized bowl (or leave it in your pan if it's large enough for the added ingredients) stir in the soups and evaporated milk. Pour the mixture into a 9x13 pan. Now line the top of the casserole with tater tots (don't sprinkle the tater tots on, actually line them up in a single layer row fitting as many as you can). Shake on some salt and pepper and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.


And the verdict is...winner winner tater tot dinner.  My sister, nephew, husband and son loved it!  Yum!