Quick and Easy Biscuit Fiesta Foldover

I am all about making things easier on yourself in the kitchen. Although I love to cook, sometimes there just isn’t enough time and you. need quick reference recipes that can become your go-to meals. I also love recipes that are easily adaptable for any meal occasion.  It is great to have something in your recipe arsenal that you can reinvent over and over again. I love this Quick & easy biscuit fiesta rollover that I quickly created out of necessity. I needed a quick meal and this is a great addition. I hate, yes I said hate, boxed foods. They taste blah and they contain so many chemicals and preservatives that I don’t believe they actually qualify as food so I like to make my own versions.

My family loves hamburger helper so I made my own. Its super easy too! I will give that recipe in another post but I used this biscuit recipe with my homemade burger helper and had a super quick and tasty meal that did not allow for any leftovers because it was scarfed down, even by my 6-year-old grandson who loudly proclaimed to his mother, ” My nana cooks good”. Very high praise indeed~

This recipe can easily be changed up depending on the main course you choose and I will offer some ideas at the end 🙂

 

Quick & Easy Biscuit Fiesta Foldovers

 

Ingredients

1 can of buttermilk or flaky Grands biscuits or you can even get ambitious and make homemade biscuits but that makes them not so quick and easy.

1 stick butter ( I use unsalted)

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup diced onions ( depending how much you want each one filled)

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup  diced green pepper

2 stalks green onion diced

1/2 cup to 1 cup shredded mexican/taco cheese or even pepper jack

 

PLace a piece of parchment paper or spray really well a cookie baking sheet

press each biscuit out by hand til you smash it down a bit and make it larger.  Place a pat of butter on the biscuit followed by

some of the diced onion, diced green onion and diced pepper and some of the cheese. repeat for all of the biscuits.

once you have them filled fold over the biscuits making sure to keep the filling stuffed in. once you fold them crimp the edges

with your fingers to create a little pie.

place them on the baking sheet and sprinkle a bit more cheese on top if you desire. we love cheese so we load it up.

bake in preheated oven at 350 until biscuits are done in the middle and golden brown.  Serve with your main course or you can

eat these by themselves.

 

Other ideas

Add salsa to the above ingredients and even some queso cheese. a great addition is also ground beef prepared in taco seasonings

 

add diced ham, chicken or bacon different types of cheeses and peppers. add sweet or red onion

 

make it a breakfast item with bacon or sausage, scrambled egg and a little bit of salsa. or if you love to cook add some homemade sausage gravy.

 

use some sliced pepperoni, pizza or tomato sauce, mozzarella and Asiago cheese, fresh herbs like basil and parsley.

 

cook up some diced chicken in some teriyaki or soy sauce and put that, some cooked rice, and some chinese noodles.

 

Let me know what ideas you come up with too!!

 

 

Dressing up the bathroom with rustic charm

I am a huge lover of the rustic, farmhouse look that is all the rage these days. My entire home has touches of it and I love love it! One of my favorite places to shop for these items is a great little secret that I am hesitant to share because they sell out quickly as it is but I am not one to keep little gems to myself. Decorsteals.com is my FAVORITE shopping site for rustic anything. I have gotten quite a few treasures and am in love with them all!!  The prices are usually pretty reasonable with a few exceptions but even the higher priced stuff is just too cute sometimes to pass up! Here are a few of my faves!! The top pic is a little beauty I picked up for my newly remodeled kitchen and the burlap bags on the bottom shelf I also purchased from decorsteals. I use them to hold potatoes, onions and apples. The cart now holds all of my cookbooks on the 2nd shelf and the top shelf gives a place of honor to my much-loved kitchen aid stand mixer.  The second pic is a deal that happens to be available today, a little steel drawer set that houses all of my makeup and brushes in the bathroom. It keeps them neat and tidy and looks amazing. The 3rd picture is a set of 2 mason jars lids with chicken wire that I purchased a few weeks ago. One of them is being used on a vintage mason jar in my bathroom as a toothbrush holder and this one I made into a tissue holder. I painted the mason jar with grey chalk paint, distressed it a bit and used the lid. I had a hard time getting the tissues to come out without ripping them so the hubby took wire cutters to it and opened it up enough that now it’s not a problem. I have many more items I have purchased and will be posting the pics as soon as I made the difficult decisions as to where I want to put them 🙂

 

 

Pinterest Recipe: Pass or Fail??

All of us have seen these amazing recipes, DIY and craft projects on Pinterest and have either been very intimidated by them or made them only to fail miserably. Often with the recipes mostly, I think it is errors on the posters part that causes these recipe epic fails. Ingredients are either left out or the wrong amounts listed, directions are unclear etc. I have even came across pins from very reputable blogs that I believe have intentionally sabotaged recipes etc so that they look superior. These bloggers are well-known for their recipes and crafts so to have as many “mistakes” in ingredients or directions as I have found does not lead one to believe they are accidents.

I have decided to put some of these recipes and DIY projects to the test over the coming months just to see how easy or difficult they are or if they are even attemptable by the instructions given. I am someone who loves to cook and knows my way around a kitchen and a recipe and even create my own recipes as well as upcycling furniture and decor pieces and I would never mislead someone on how to do a project or a recipe so I will give you my honest attempts and opinions on them.

Recently I came across this recipe for Ham and Swiss slider sandwiches that was popping up time and time again. I cannot even count how many times its been repinned or even various people putting their new spins on it. I decided to pick one of the recipes and try it myself. I will post the original recipe that I chose and my updated version of the recipe. I didn’t have the dried mustard on hand so I used yellow mustard and just adjusted the amount. I used polish ham instead of the ham suggested.I also did not use the poppy seeds. If you have to do any kind of drug testing for a new employment, a current job or anything else, stay away from the poppy seeds as they have been known to show up as opiates.  I have to say I don’t know about the original pinned recipe but  it is DELISH and was a huge hit in this house. It is a very easy recipe to make, one pan and a bowl is all you need and very simple ingredients so it’s perfect for hectic days where you just don’t feel like cooking a huge meal. The original recipe called for these sliders to marinate overnight in the fridge, I let mine marinate for just 2 hours in the fridge and they were perfect. The sweetness of the Hawaiian bread and the brown sugar in the marinade is awesome sauce!!! If you don’t like sweet then this recipe is probably not for you. It reminds me of a honey glazed ham taste and that’s huge in our house and I even make my own glaze recipe for that too.

Here is the original recipe I found on Pinterest:

Lucy’s Ham Sandwiches

Ingredients

1 stick butter

1 tbs dry mustard

1 tbs Worcestershire

2 tbs brown sugar

1 tbs poppy seeds ( optional)

small Hawaiian buns

deli ham

swiss cheese slices

Bring butter, mustard, Worcestershire, brown sugar and poppy seeds to a boil in a sauce pan whisk well and set aside.

Cut buns in half and layer the bottoms of the buns across a glass 9×13 pan touching each other. place on the ham and swiss and put tops of rolls on. Pour the sauce evenly over the sandwiches and place in the fridge overnight. Preheat oven to 325 bake for 10 in covered and 10 uncovered.

 

Now here is my version of the recipe!!

 

Ham and swiss Hawaiian sliders

 

Ingredients

1 stick butter

1 tbs yellow mustard

1 tbs Worcestershire

1 tbs and 1 tsp brown sugar ( i used splenda)

small Hawaiian rolls

polish deli ham’

40 calorie slice sargento swiss cheese

 

In a sauce pan heat butter, worcestershire, brown sugar in a med sauce pan over med heat. whisk so it does not burn. bring to a boil and set aside.

slice rolls in half and line a 9×13 glass baking dish with the bottoms. add the ham and swiss and the tops of the rolls. pour the mixture evenly over the top and place in fridge for 2 hours to marinate. place the dish on the counter to let warm back up to room temp before placing in oven as glass can break at extreme temp changes. bake at 325 for 15 minutes uncovered. serve hot.   Next I will try some variations on this recipe liking adding fresh, grated ginger, maybe some pineapple juice and garlic powder too!! Who knows I may even grill up a pineapple ring and add it to the sandwich 🙂

 

Whether you make the original recipe or my version or both, come back and leave us a comment telling us what you thought and how they turned out!!

 

 

Have you joined Ebates yet? If not you are missing out on free money back just for shopping online!!!

 

Have you joined ebates yet? If you haven’t you are missing out on free money back just for your shopping online!! If you are going to shop online, you might as well get some money back!! With holiday shopping upon us, think of how much you could get back!! I do not do black friday and I definitely do not do shopping on Thanksgiving, that’s a topic better left alone for me cause I have very strong feelings about people shopping on Thanksgiving and therefore telling companies they should be open , making their employees work on a holiday that is all about being with family, ok getting off that subject…

Ebates is free to sign up for, easy to do, and very secure!! When you sign up you automatically get a $10 gift card to a store of your choice. Here’s how it works. When you go online to shop, and Cyber Monday will be here quick and is my favorite shopping day, go to ebates first. Type the store you want to shop at in the search box. Now not every store on the cyber planet is on the site but 98% of where we usually shop is. Once the link for the store of your choice pops up, simply click on the link and it will redirect you to that site. That’s it, sooooo easy!!

Once you go to the link you simply shop for what you were going to shop for anyway. Complete your purchase and in 24 hours or less, your rebate on ebates will show in your account. WOO HOO money back for shopping. How banging cool is that? Once you have at least $10 in your account you can opt to cash out. You can choose from paypal cash that is sent right to your paypal account where you can conveniently use it to shop some more and earn even more cash back 🙂 , opt for a check through the mail or choose a gift card to the store of your choice. I like the gift card option because then you can turn around and use those gift cards for holiday gifts!!  BONUS!!! The hardest part of the whole process is remembering to go to ebates first before you start shopping. I have missed out on cash back by forgetting to go there and just going to the store and shopping then once I hit the complete transaction button, it pops in my head, SHoot, I forgot to go to ebates, DUH! I have done this a couple of times and it kills me that I lost out on money back. SO now I have put ebates on my favorites on my toolbar so I don’t forget ever again!!

Why give up free money back just for shopping?  Most of us do a large portion of our shopping online these days and it’s nice to get a little savings back!! Ebates also offers coupon codes on their site too! When you type in the store of your choice, if there are any codes available they will pop up with the link to shop. If there are none available you can always open a new window and use Savings.com or retailmenot,com for coupon codes for even more savings. SAvings.com is my favorite site for coupon codes!

 

Dimples BBQ Sauce Ships free from North Carolina

Anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis knows that I love to cook and I am a huge fan of Dimples BBQ sauce!! I just love it! I must have sweet bbq sauce and Dimples delivers! If you have never had TRUE North Carolina BBQ then you just do not know what you are missing! The flavor can only be described as a party for the senses.

When I am cooking with Dimples, the aroma in my house makes you r mouth water. It has every member of my family casually strolling by the oven or BBQ to see if it is done yet. They pace around like expectant fathers and I laugh every time!  When I BBQ I make up a batch of my super secret and super famous dry rub. NO ONE has this recipe and they will have to find after I am no longer on this Earth. It is the one recipe that I do not share but let me say this, I have been asked for this recipe well over 100 times and the answer is always NO!

Whatever meat we are cooking I massage my rub onto the meat and let it sit for about an hour then I brush on a light coating of Dimples BBQ sauce and the cooking begins. As the meat cooks and the smells waft around the neighborhood and brings my neighbors by to ask what’s cooking, I lightly brush the BBQ sauce throughout the process several times.  By the time dinner is ready, the family is already at the table waiting with forks in hand.  I have never tasted better BBQ!

Right now Dimples is offering an amazing deal: FREE SHIPPING on any order now through the end of the year. Simply use code 2015 at checkout. In my case, this is a savings of over $12 because I buy it by the half case. I have to have at least 4 bottles on hand at all times and in fact I just placed an order today for 4 more bottles. It is a staple in my kitchen!  Make sure you head over and take advantage of this awesome deal. The Holidays are fast approaching and if you have someone on your shopping list that loves to cook, how cool would it be to add a couple of bottles of Dimples BBQ, some barbecuing tools and maybe a cookbook etc to a beautiful basket and give them a chef’s basket? I know I would love to get that gift!!

 

McCormick Sauces Make Dinner Easy

I am a firm believer in cooking smarter not harder. Although I love to cook, I hate the clean up afterward and by using my crock pot I make clean up a breeze! I am always looking for new recipes to serve my family so that no one gets tired of the same old meals. That’s where McCormick Sauces comes in. I recently purchased the McCormicks Beef Stew Sauce for the crock pot and set out to see the results.

It is so easy it’s almost ridiculous. I placed the stew meat in the pot then covered it with the package of McCormicks sauce and stirred. Now I like my stew to be very saucy and the package of sauce is on he small side for my taste so I added 2 tsps of Better than bouillon to 16 oz of boiling water and added that to my crock pot. I added green beans, peas, carrots and onions as well as diced potatoes. Stirred and put the lid on. I set it for 8 hours on low, as I like to cook my stew low and slow.

Once the stew was ready I added some cornstarch to some cold water and added that to the sauce to thicken it a bit. I served it with some fresh bakery Italian bread and we had an easy and delicious meal.  Clean up was a breeze too since the only cookware I used was the crock pot!! How awesome is that?

McCormicks makes other sauces as well, including skillet sauces that will make it easy and affordable to serve your family amazing meals without all of the fuss~~

 

 

Southern Breeze Sweet Tea: Southern Taste at It’s Finest

If you have never tried Sweet, Southern Ice Tea raise your hand. Now lower that hand to forehead level and give yourself a smack cause you just don’t know what you are missing. There is just no other flavor on the planet like an Ice cold glass of Southern Sweet Tea! I swear it should be a food group because I could do without a meal but not without a glass of sweet tea! There are not even words that I can use to describe the flavor, well, I could say it just tastes Southern but unless you have had REAL food and drinks from the South, you just won’t understand. It tastes like tradition, family and lazy days.

Both sides of my family are from the South and I grew up on Southern Cooking and sweet tea and I thank God for that every day of my life. I grew up eating biscuits and gravy ( the real thing, not the stuff you find in the grocery store) , southern fried chicken that my mamaw slaved over a stove frying all day long, fresh picked green beans sizzled up in bacon grease, cobblers so good that they would make you slap your mama, and good ole Southern sweet tea! We didn’t just make it in a pitcher, oh no, that would never be good enough in my mamaw’s kitchen. Our sweet tea was made in an old, glass pickle jar that was so huge us kids could never lift it. It’s the kind of pickle jar that sits in old country stores and if sat on the ground, would reach a grown man’s knees!  She took great pride in her tea and that’s all we ever knew. Now what you find is the swill that fast food restaurants pass off as sweet tea and let me tell you, IT IS NOT!! Real Southern sweet tea is not made , oh no, it is crafted, it is lovingly prepared, it is a work of art.

Until now I have made do with making my own version since my mamaw is no longer with us and I do a pretty good job but it will never be just like hers. I fresh brew my own, sweeten it myself and I like it but have never loved it like hers. Recently I was given the opportunity to review Southern Breeze Sweet Tea bags that are already sweetened with Splenda! Yay! This is a double bonus for me because I get to try a real Southern Sweet Tea and since I only use Splenda, and not real Sugar due to health issues, it’s a huge win!! You can choose from Real Sweet tea, peach flavored and raspberry flavored and all of them have Splenda built right in for the perfect amount of sweetness. They sent me the Sweet tea and I immediately fell in love, so much so that I jumped on the computer and ordered 6 boxes of the Raspberry Sweet Tea bags and 3 boxes of the Sweet tea bags. Now I knew I couldn’t be greedy, even though I really wanted to be and gave my bestie a box of each since she loves sweet tea almost as much as I do. I had her hook, line and sinker baby! She is now as big a fan as I am. She has in turned shared it with her mom and dad and they love it, and so on and so on…..

 

I like to make my tea on my stove and it’s so easy!! I put my water in a pan and boil. Once the water is boiling I turn off the heat and add 2 tea bags and steep it for about 5 minutes. I then let it sit for a bit to cool ( well I will admit I fill a big glass with ice and pour myself a glass while it is cooling, but I know you won’t tell anyone 🙂 )  I then add ice to my glass pitcher, because let’s face it, no self-respecting Southern Girl puts her ice tea in a plastic pitcher, ewwww yuck!  That’s it!! The sweetness and flavor are already there so I have nothing more to do than sit back and enjoy! There is no more perfect place than to sit on the front porch just as the sun is sinking low in the sky with a glass of sweet tea in hand. It’s the southern way of unwinding!

Now to say I was a little skeptical about trying a tea that claimed to be real Southern sweet tea would be an understatement. I have tried other products before and was always let down. But I have to say Southern Breeze sweet tea delivers on its promise, it is absolutely delicious and since my mamaw isn’t here to hear me say this, it tastes just as good as hers! ( Forgive me granny). It has just the perfect amount of sweetness married with an amazing tea flavor. Not all tea bags are alike so don’t be fooled. There are distinct differences in flavors in every one I have ever tried and believe me I have tried them all in search of a good glass of tea! I am now in the process of sharing my tea bags with friends and family and they have to know I love them if I am sharing tea this good! Did I also mention there is ZERO calories in this tea? Oh yeah that’s a reason to stand up and do your happy dance, just make sure you’ve closed your blinds so the neighbors won’t think you’ve lost your mind!

I love that you can find amazing tea recipes on the Southern Breeze website. I know I will be trying all of them! Unfortunately Southern Breeze teas are not available at any store within 100 miles of me but I purchased some Southern Breeze on Amazon! You can also look up your city on their website to see if you are lucky enough to have it near you and you can print out a form to give to your local store to ask them to add Southern Breeze to their shelves. While you are on the site, make sure you print off a coupon too!

You can also find Southern Breeze on Facebook  Twitter  Pinterest and Instagram. Make sure you follow them to keep up to date with the latest products and promotions. I know once you try this tea, whether you are Southern or not, it will put you in a Southern state of mind!!

 

 

 

Folgers coffee Enhancers: A cup Above

I love being a member of Crowdtap and the fact that I get to try and sample so many new products. My newest product is the Folgers Coffee enhancers. They come in 4 flavors and are a quick and easy addition to your daily cup of Joe! You can choose between vanilla, hazelnut, mocha and caramel and I would have to say caramel is my absolute favorite! My daughter prefers the hazelnut and my bestie loves the mocha. No matter what your favorite flavor is, Folgers will add a little sumthin sumthin to your day.

These little squeeze bottles are easy to take along everywhere from the car to the office or even the park. They fit perfectly into your purse or diaper bag or even in the console of the car so you will have flavor at hand no matter where you are. Make sure on your next shopping trip to add a bottle or two to your basket, you won’t be sorry!

 

 

As a member of Crowdtap I got to #trytheseforfree!

 

Fun Bites Fun Food Cutters 30% off

I love to do things to make my grandson’s lunch more fun and Fun Bites helps me do just that! They come in different shapes and you can surprise your kids and let them know you are thinking about them! Right now you can get 30% off your Fun Bites purchase with code BACK2SCHOOL  More creative lunches may mean you can get your kids to eat a little healthier!

 

 

Sashka Roll On Bead Bracelets Guaranteed to Fit any Wrist Coupon Codes

 I LOVE Sashka bracelets and own several of them. They are beautiful bead bracelets that roll onto any size wrist, guaranteed! Right now they have several coupon codes available for some awesome savings! Get a jump-start on Holiday shopping, buy  graduation gifts, or treat yourself!!  And the shipping is  ALWAYS FREE!!

Purchase bracelet H4 or H6 and get 30% off your purchase with code THANK30

Purchase bracelet A1 or U5 and get 30% off with code THANK30

Buy 3 bracelets get 2 free  use code FREE