Taco Melts

Yield: 8 sandwiches * Overall Price: $15

Ingredients:
1 package (1.25 ounces) taco seasoning
2/3 cup water
11/2 cups salsa
1 pound lean ground beef, cooked and drained
1 can (16.3-ounces) Pillsbury Grands refrigersted biscuts (8 biscuts)
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 cup sour cream, if desired

Directions:
1. Combine taco seasoning mix, water, 1/2 cup of salsa and cooked ground beef; cook until thickened.
2. Press each biscut into 6-inch round. Fill each with taco mixture and tablespoon cheese. Fold dough over filling and press to seal. Place on greased cookie sheet.
3. Bake in preheated 375*F oven 9 to 14 minutes. Serve with remaining salsa, cheese, and sour cream.

Thoughts:
This was really easy to make and very yummy. Kelsey thought they were AMAZING! The meat was an excellent flavor, and the biscuts were not too done, and very soft. Kelsey has suggested that I make these a couple of times a month! She loved them a lot :)

Happy Birthday Paige!

Friday was Paige's 20th birthday. Kelsey and I wanted to something special for her birthday, so we called her mom and exchanged a few emails to figure out what her favorite meal was. We made it for her and although it probably wasn't as good as her mommy's, she enjoyed it. It consisted of a chicken casserole dish, birds nest (mashed potatoes with sweet peas in the middle), and dinner rolls.

Pork Tenderloin Studded with Rosemary and Garlic

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price: ~ $18 * Calories: 147

Served here with boiled red potatoes and caramelized carrots

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
cooking spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 475*
2. Combine rosemary and garlic. Make several 1/2-inch-deep slits in pork then place half of rosemary mixture in slits. Rub pork with remaining rosemary mixture; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place pork on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray.
3. Bake at 475* for 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

Thoughts:
This wasn't too hard to make, but I don't think it turned out the way it was suppose to. I mean it was good, but there was almost too much flavor. I guess I'm not to use to cooking with or eating rosemary, but I'd make it again with a little less.

Creamy Four-Cheese Macaroni

Yield: 8 servings * Overall Price: $10.58 * Calories: 350

Ingredients:
3 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 2/3 cups 1% low-fat milk
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded swiss cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh parmesan cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded extrasharp chedder cheese
3 ounces light processed cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
cooking spray
1/3 cup crushed onion melba toasts
1 tablespoon butter, softened

Directions:
1. Cook macaroni according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain.
2. Preheat oven to 375*
3. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a large saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick (about 8 minutes), stirring constantly. Add cheeses; cook 3 minutes or until cheese melts, stirring frequently. Remove cheese mixture from heat; stir in cooked macaroni and salt.
4. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Combine crushed toasts and butter; stir until well blended. Sprinkle over macaroni mixture. Bake at 375* for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Thoughts:
This was very interesting to make and not like any other macaroni and cheese I've ever made which is why I wanted to try it. I've had better, but this was still pretty good. Kelsey and Paige also enjoyed it.

Linguini Aglio e Olio

My friend, Michael, has been trying to get me to try his recipe, so I finally did tonight. It was pretty easy to make and very inexpensive.

Ingredients: 
1 pound dry linguini
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
¼ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated parmigiano-Reggiano
Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and add 2 tablespoons of salf.  Add the linguine and stir well.  Cook, stirring occasionally for 8 minutes, or until al dente, tender but not mushy.  Try to time it so that the garlic (below) is done when the pasta is ready. While the pasta cooks, place a large skillet over low heat and add the oil, garlic, 1 teraspoon salt, and red-pepper flakes. 

2. Cook and stir for 3 minutes, or until the garlic softens and then becomes a light golden color.  It is important not to let the garlic get too brown as this will result in a bitter, unpleasant taste. Drain the pasta in a colander set in the sink, reserving about ¼ cup of the starchy cooking water. 

3. Add the pasta and the reserved pasta water, a little at a time, to the garlic mixture.  Toss well to aerate the pasta, making the sauce slick and creamy.  Sprinkle in the parsley, toss well to coat evenly, and season with salt and pepper.

4. Transfer the pasta to a large warm serving bowl or divide among 4 warm shallow bowls.  Pass the grated cheese around the table for serving.  

Peppercorn-Crusted Steak with Port Jus

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price: ~ $35 * Calories: ~ 300

Served here with roasted asparagus and rice

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
4 New York Strips
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup port wine
1/2 cup fat free, less-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:
1. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Rub pepper evenly over steak. Sprinkle salt over bottom of pan. Add steaks to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove steaks from pan; set aside.
2. Stir in port and broth, scarping pan to loosen browned bits. Reduce heat to medium. Return steaks to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove steaks from pan. Cook until liquid is reduced to 1/4 cup. Remove pan from heat. Add butter to pan; stir with a whisk until melted. Drizzle sauce over steaks.

Thoughts:
This was super easy and pretty tasty. It all had really great flavoring. The steaks were on sale at kroger when they were bought, so this would probably be more expensive in the future.
Paige loved the steak! She thought the asparagus was cooked to perfection and loved all of the seasonings, which means a lot, because she has a really bland pallet. so yay!

Cupcake Cake Pops

Since everyone left me this weekend I decided to wander around tiger town and found out that Hobby Lobby has baking stuff! Of course I felt the need to buy the pink candy coating, not knowing what I was going to do with it. So, I spent four hours of my Saturday night making these cupcake shaped cake pops (and watching Rent and Obsessed...). I made these with chocolate cake and chocolate frosting. The pink candy coating is vanilla and of course the brown is chocolate. My feet were killing me by the time I was finished, but I think it was totally worth it because they turned out cute and everyone enjoyed them after returning to Auburn.