Bacon Cheeseburger Pie

Ever get in a dinner rut? I know I do. The same 5-10 dinner recipes on rotation week after week? Sometimes because they are quick and easy and other times just out of necessity.  So there I was. Staring at a pound of ground beef. What do I make? Stick to the routine or change it up? I say change is good.  Now I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this recipe on the back of a pancake batter box years ago.  But I don’t have any pancake batter mix, so I decided to make my own. But if you have some on hand, by all means feel free to substitute and save yourself a few steps.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons cold butter
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 cooked bacon slices, chopped into small pieces (optional, if you leave out then you are making cheeseburger pie)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven at 400 degrees. Spray a 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray.
2. In a skillet, cook ground beef and onions until beef is browned and onions are translucent. 8-10 minutes. Drain fat from skillet. Add Worcestershire sauce to meat and mix.
3. Spread ground beef and onions onto prepared pie plate.
4. Using either a food processor or hand mixer, mix flour, sugar, salt and butter together until it forms into small pebbles of dough. (If you have pancake mix, use 1/4 cup and go to step 5.)
5. Add milk and eggs. Mixing until combined.
6. Pour into pie plate with meat mixture.
7. Top with cheese and bacon pieces.
8. Bake for 23-25 minutes. Or until inserted toothpick in center comes out clean.
9. Serve with all your favorite cheeseburger sides.

 

 

 

Sunshine Blogger Award

Thank you, Lee-Anne from Just Me Please  for nominating for this award. It always makes my day whenever I am recognized by a fellow blogger.  Lee-Anne’s blog is especially exciting for me as she is a travel blogger. I love reading about and seeing pictures from far away lands that I could only hope to visit one day. Even more exciting is that Lee-Anne does a lot of her traveling solo.  I’ve traveled for work alone, but that’s work. Lee-Anne travels for leisure by herself any always manages to have an adventure.

The Sunshine Blogger Award rules are:

Thank the person who nominated you.

Answer the 11 questions you’ve been asked.

Nominate 11 other bloggers, making sure to let each one know that they are nominated.

Ask the nominees 11 questions.

My Answers to the 11 Questions from Lee-Anne @ Just Me Please

1. What is your favorite drink? Classic Coca Cola. I know it’s not healthy, but it’s my favorite.
2. Where is your hometown? San Francisco, California.
3. Do you prefer sweet, sour, bitter or savory flavors? Savory.
4. What is your favorite song? Any song from Adele.
5. Where do you find inspiration for your blog posts? Going to restaurants, browsing old cookbooks or things I see on the internet.
6. Are you a minimalist or a collector? Collector.
7. What color is your suitcase? Navy.
8. Which trees do you like the best? Cherry blossom trees.
9. Do you have a day job as well as blogging? Yes.
10. What is your favorite smell or scent? Cookies baking in the oven.
11. Do you prefer to eat meat or vegetables? I prefer both, but if I have to pick, it would be meat.

My Nominees for the Sunshine Blogger Award are:

Here are the 11 fellow bloggers who have brought sunshine to my world by creating fantastic blogs and/or taking the time to interact with mine are:

1. Rinaldo at agenda19892010
2. Lynn at lynz real cooking
3. Sue T. at Sue’s Fabulous Travels
4. Carol at Cooking For the Time Challenged
5. Gail at snapshotincursive
6. Abbie at Of A Life Less Ordinary
7. Amir at World of Horror
8. Joel F. at Joys of Joel
9. Rossy at AYR Galaxy
10. Timeka at Sewlovable
11. Susie at susieshy45

11 Questions for the nominees:

1. What do you think you cook or bake the best?
2. If you could change your first name, what would it be?
3. Can you hula hoop?
4. If you could ask you future self one question what would it be?
5. What’s your favorite Disney movie?
6. What’s the strangest thing you have ever eaten?
7. What’s the last internet site you were at?
8. What’s your favorite holiday?
9. What’s one of your pet-peeves?
10. What is your dream vacation?
11. What is your favorite dinner to eat?

Magic Lemon Custard Cake

I’ve been hearing about these magic cakes. One batter, three layers. Magic. It’s a rainy evening and there’s nothing good to watch on TV. I have nothing better to do, so why not give it whirl? So if I do this correctly, the top layer should be cake; the middle layer a custard; and the bottom layer a stiffer custard layer, more like flan.  Wish me luck.

The one thing I will note is the batter itself will be more like a crepe batter, so don’t be alarmed if you were expecting the batter to have a normal cake batter consistency.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 eggs, room temperature (separate whites from yolks)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cup lukewarm milk
• zest from one lemon
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• powdered sugar for dusting the cake

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease or line with parchment paper an 8 X 8 baking pan.
2. Separate the whites from the yolks of the eggs and add the egg whites to a mixer and mix until egg whites are stiff. Place egg whites in a bowl and set aside.
3. Next beat the egg yolks with the sugar until creamy.
4. Add butter and vanilla extract to egg yolk mixture. Continue beating for another minute.
5. Add flour and mix well.
6. Add lemon juice and lemon zest.
7. Slowly add the milk and beat until all ingredients are combined.
8. Using a spatula, add the egg whites to your batter a third at a time. Mix in manually with the spatula. Do not over mix. You should still see bits of egg whites floating in the batter.
9. Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake for 70 minutes or until cake top is golden and firm. You may want to start checking at the 40 minute mark, as all ovens vary.
10. Let cake completely cool before garnishing with powdered sugar. I put mine in the refrigerator to cool.

Hmmm.  I was a little worried as I could only see two layers from the outer sides of the cake. But once I cut it open and took out a piece, I could see the three layers. Awesome. It’s MAGIC!

Baked Garlic and Parmesan Pork Chops

I was originally going to make this recipe with chicken breasts. Then I discovered I actually only had chicken wings on hand. Oops. Good thing I did have a pack of thin cut pork chops. While I was hesitant at first, I am glad I made the substitution.  Crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside and quite tasty from the garlic and cheese combination. If you are in a rush you will love that these can be prepared and cooked in less than 30 minutes as well.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 thin cut boneless pork chops (you can use thick cut or bone-in but remember to adjust cooking time)
• 3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese, reserve 1 tablespoon for garnish
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley, reserve 1 tablespoon for garnish
• 1/4 cup olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large shallow bowl combine Panko bread crumbs, garlic powder, Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning and Italian parsley. Mix well and set aside.
3. Prepare pork chops by covering each piece in olive oil. Be sure the pork chops are well coated on both sides.
4. Individually dip pork chops into Panko mixture. Pat down on both sides to ensure even coverage. Place covered pork chops on non stick baking pan.
5. Bake pork chops for 15-18 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees.
6. Let rest for 3-5 minutes before serving. Garnish with reserved Parmesan cheese and Italian Parsley.

One Pot Lasagna Soup

Happy New Year everyone! I wish you a year of health, happiness and tasty food!

It’s been mighty chilly here in Northern California. We are having a week of much needed on and off rain showers. So today felt like a hearty soup kind of day. I know, lasagna soup doesn’t sound like the healthiest way to start your year. But eat in moderation and you should be fine. Right?!

Okay, will it make you feel better knowing I added spinach and mushroom to the recipe and used low fat cottage cheese instead of ricotta to make this soup a little healthier and lighter?

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 pound Italian sausage
• 1 medium size red or yellow onion, diced
• 4 ounces of white or brown mushrooms, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (32 ounces) box chicken stock
• 2 (14.5 ounces) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 10 uncooked lasagna noodles, broken into 2 inch pieces
• 5 ounces baby spinach
• low fat cottage cheese (1 tablespoon per serving)
• chiffonade of basil for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Turn heat to medium high. Add olive oil to Dutch oven or heavy bottom large pot.
2. When oil ripples, add ground beef and Italian sausage to pot and stir occasionally until meat is browned.  Add onions, mushrooms and garlic. Mix and continue to cook until onions become translucent.
3. Drain any excess fat from pot.
4. Add chicken stock, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce,Italian seasoning, sugar, kosher salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese and lasagna noodles. Mix well.
5. Bring soup to a boil, then lower heat to simmer for 30 minutes.
6. During last 5 minutes of cook time, add spinach to soup and stir.
7. Serve soup with a tablespoon of cottage cheese and basil for garnish.