Meatball Sandwich Casserole

Okay, WOW-WOW-WOW! When I come across a keeper recipe that's when I know I've found a good thing. We've already had this twice before I could even write the post. And if you are a fan here you know I RARELY make things twice. This recipe will for sure be going into my Volume 3 Family Scrapbook/Cookbook I am beginning to create. You can see pages and recipes from my Volume 1 and Volume 2 Cookbooks here.

Meatball Sandwich Casserole
idea found at Pearls, Handcuffs & HappyHour, original recipe from Pillsbury - January 2006

1 Baguette French Bread (cut into 18-24 slices)

Olive Oil

1 pkg Homemade Comfort Meatballs (or frozen), bite sized 

1-1/2 cups spaghetti sauce 

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350. Meanwhile, slice your bread. Brush each slice with olive oil on one side, just coat with pastry brush. Line the bottom and the side with the bread slices...oil side up...slightly overlapping the slices on the side. You won't need to grease your dish for this recipe. Use a deep casserole dish, I made the recipe in a smaller 8x8 pan - but depending how much you want to make you can use a 9x13 pan too.

Bake bread for about 10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.  In a separate bowl, mix meatballs & spaghetti sauce to coat (this is a perfect recipe for left over spaghetti and meatballs too). Remove the bread from the oven and spoon the meatball mixture into the dish on top of the bread. Return to oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until thoroughly heated through in the center.  Pull out at about 25 minutes and cover with the mozzarella cheese and baked it for another 5 minutes.

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS #76 (SANDWICHES) and BLT Grill Cheese

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party #76

(SANDWICHES)

BLT Grill Cheese

One of my daughter's loves to eat, create and sample sandwiches, I think one day if she could just stay in the kitchen and create sandwiches all day, that would be her dream job. Her children are going to get AWESOME sandwiches everyday for lunch, because this is her speciality. But, off to college she goes in the fall and we'll see what God has in store for her. Major (so far) is Business, Marketing and a Minor in Dance. I don't see any college classes for "making sandwiches", she can just do that on the side in her dorm room!

Love finding old photos of my twins! This was on vacation and they are SHARING a sandwich,
I don't think that would ever happen now (they are 18 years old now too!)

We have found a few great sandwiches and featured them here and this one by far is our all-time favorite Grill Cheese with Bacon & Thousand Island Dressing, but since that sandwich is already posted we had to create a new one for today's post! And what better sandwich to recreate then the BLT, we decided to make a BLT into a Grill Cheese. DELICIOUS! 

BLT Grill Cheese
created by Tina Hudgens

2-3 slices bacon, cooked
1/4 cup White Cheddar Cheese
2 tsp finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
2 slices thick Italian bread
2 slices ripe tomatoes
2 slices avocado
1 left of lettuce
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp Pesto & 1 tbsp Mayonnaise (mix together)

Makes 1 Sandwich: Combine the cheeses and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Butter one side of both pieces of bread. Lay one slice of the bread down in a heated skillet and spread the inside of the bread with the mayo/pesto mixture. Top it with the cheese, 2 slices of bacon and then 2 slices of tomatoes.

Cook butter side down in the pan and cook on the first side until the bread is golden brown and toasted.  Flip the sandwiches using a spatula and continue to cook on the other side until the bread is golden brown. You can use the spatula to compress the sandwich as it cooks on the second side.

 

This week's theme is: SANDWICHES

Please only link recipes with our theme!

If you are a regular to THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky party, then link-up we're excited to see what you made this week. If you are new, please just follow our simple rules, so that everyone can enjoy the linky party! If you forget to follow the theme, your post will be deleted. Please don't feel hurt, just come back and link up a recipe that follows the theme. Thanks a million, we look forward to blogging with you!

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This Week's Cravings Upcoming Linky "THEMES"

Here is a complete list of the past and what's coming up next on THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS!

April 16 - Copycat Recipes

April 23 - Picnic Recipes

April 30 - Mexican Dishes for Cinco de Mayo

May 7 - Mother's Day Brunch or MOMS Favorite Food

Your hostess for this party are: Tina from MOMS CRAZY COOKING, Nicole from The Daily Dish and Kristi from Veggie Converter. We host this theme linky party every Monday (and the party stays open all week long)! We hope to inspire you to make something with our theme or get an old post notice by linking it up to the linky party below. 

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.
This week's theme is: SANDWICHES
Please only link recipes with our theme!


This week's theme is: SANDWICHES
Please only link recipes with our theme!

Resurrection Rolls for Easter

Easter (2009)

My kids are older I know, but these are the cutest things ever. I had never heard of these before, let alone ever made them and I couldn't resist. What an AWESOME way to tell a Bible story to small children (or big children too)!

Resurrection Rolls

found at Eat at Allies

1 roll of Pillsbury Grands Biscuits (or you can use Crescent Rolls)

8 large marshmallows (or one for each roll you’ll be making)

Melted butter

Cinnamon sugar

If you have young children (or old), this is a great family activity. Read John 19 while the oven is preheating to 350.

Unroll the Grand Biscuits and roll them out into a large circle (or use crescent rolls) and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or sprayed). Explain that this is like the cloth they wrapped Jesus in.

Give your child a marshmallow and explain that it represents Jesus, all white and pure because He was without sin. Roll the marshmallows in the melted butter. This symbolizes the embalming oils. Roll the marshmallows in the cinnamon sugar. This is like the spices used to prepare his body for burial.

Wrap the marshmallow in the crescent roll or grand biscuit, pinching the dough together securely. This is the cloth that represents how they wrapped Jesus’ body.

Put the rolls in the oven, symbolizing the tomb, and bake for 12 minutes.

While the rolls are baking, read John 20:1-18.

John 20

The Empty Tomb

¹ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” ³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. ¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” ¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
¹⁷ Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Open the (oven) tomb and remove the rolls. When they’re cool enough to handle, break one open and discover what happened to the marshmallow, it disappears. This means Jesus is Risen, rejoice and celebrate.

JESUS IS RISEN!

Happy Easter!

Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins: CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE

CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE #8
Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffin

I can't believe this challenge has been going on for 8 months now, and each month I fall in love with all the recipes we post. This month we are baking together; Blueberry Muffins. Our challenges are comfort food at it's finest. This CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE is still as exciting as it was the first month, if you haven't heard of this yet, then you MUST READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Wondering what the CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE is? Want to join the CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE? If so, we'd love to have you. Just click on the button above or the tab and fill out the form. You will then be sent an email with all the details. Only participants of the CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE will be able to have their recipes linked-up, so if you missed this month please come join us for next month when we will be searching for the ULTIMATE Grill Cheese Sandwich.

My recipe for blueberry muffin recipe comes from Healthy Food for Living. This was my first visit over there and I just LOVED all her photos from these blueberry muffins she made (I think I need a photo lesson from her... as I am still very much an amature as far as food photography goes). I think the pictures sold me and I didn't even look any further at the recipe and then when I went to make the recipe it said "healthy" blueberry muffins. AWESOME - ADDED BONUS!!! :-)

We ate half the batch of muffins and froze the other half (this is what I do with ALL muffins I make at our home). We can then enjoy fresh muffins from our freezer any day we want. These are saved for our Florida/Missouri Vacation in a few weeks. We will be traveling for 8 days and homemade food will be rare, that's why I love to bring along some homemade goodies for breakfast & some cookies or treats for the evenings.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
recipe found at Healthy Food for Living
originally from Shape Magazine - A Better Blueberry Muffin

1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup evaporated cane juice
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp low-fat buttermilk, well shaken
1 large egg 
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 pint fresh blueberries, washed and dried
1/4 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tbsp turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin, or line with muffin cups. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, evaporated cane juice, rolled oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, oil, and vanilla extract. Toss the blueberries with the flour mixture. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until incorporated.

In a small bowl, stir together the neufchatel and maple syrup.

Divide the batter evenly amongst the prepared muffin cups. Make a small well in the center of each batter-filled muffin cup. Fill each well with 1 tsp of the sweetened cream cheese. Sprinkle each filled cup with a bit of the turbinado sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean (work around the cream cheese in the center). Cool in pan for 5 minutes; transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

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BLUEBERRY CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS

Happy Birthday to my Hard Working Husband & a German Chocolate Cake

Today is my husband's birthday and yep you guessed it! He is at work (again), birthdays, holidays, weekends or not, he is almost always, always working. Although we LOVE the overtime (it really helps with the whole Dave Ramsey plan), we do miss him a lot. He had requested a few months ago a German Chocolate Cake (yep, noted and pinned so I wouldn't forget). I had never made a German Chocolate Cake, but that's what he wanted, that's what he was gonna get.

He almost blew my whole idea because yesterday he requested that I make him Camping Cakes for him to take to work for his birthday (camping cakes is his one and only cake recipe he always requests for his birthday). And so, of course, I did. I made THREE camping cakes and he took them to work last night (because he said his birthday is at midnight, so he must take birthday cake last night). Today is his actual birthday and so today I made him the German Chocolate Cake he requested (it was something NEW and exciting and I really wanted to make one).

Now the challenge was to get the cake to his work, a large oil refinery. My little guy and I came up with a plan. We would bake the cake after he left for work and then take it down there around 8pm. We arrived at the oil refinery, and had to get him to meet us outside somehow. We lured him out to his truck, my son was hiding in there (yes we brought a spare key) and then we SURPRISED him with his German Chocolate Cake. Mission Accomplished and my little guy was SO HAPPY! He was thrilled that he got to scare his dad even more then bringing him the cake.

Okay, we did give him a whole cake, but I knew I would NEVER get a piece unless I stole one in the parking lot. I even brought my own knife, plate and fork just so I could cut a piece of cake before he whisked it away. :-) And good thing I did. He said all the guys ate it in a matter of minutes (I even had to call him when I got home because our three kids and I were all trying to share the ONE piece I cut and it was just not enough. He had to steal another piece for the kids, and I am sure they will be eating it for breakfast tomorrow). The kids said "this cake is AWESOME"!!!

Now, I will say this cake is not a throw together, bake, frost and your done in 30 minutes or less (the cake actually took me from start to finish 3 hours). This cake takes a little time. It's not hard, it's just a lot of steps but I can tell you that everyone says "it is worth it". If you want to make a German Chocolate Cake, then I would definitely recommend this recipe.

German Chocolate Cake
recipe found at Big Mama's Home Kitchen, originally from David LeBovitz

For the cake:
2 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
6 tbsp water
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-1/4 cup + 1/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour (or cake flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

To make the cake:Butter three 8-inch cake pans, then line the bottoms with rounds of parchment or wax paper. Preheat the oven to 350°.

Melt both chocolates together with the 6 tablespoons of water. Use either a double-boiler or a microwave. Stir until smooth, then set aside until room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter and 1-1/4 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the melted chocolate, then the egg yolks, one at a time.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Mix in half of the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture, then the buttermilk and the vanilla extract, then the rest of the dry ingredients.

In a separate metal or glass bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold soft, droopy peaks. Beat in the  1/4 cup of sugar until stiff.

Fold about one-third of the egg whites into the cake batter to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites just until there’s no trace of egg white visible.

Divide the batter into the 3 prepared cake pans, smooth the tops, and bake for about 22-26 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Watch them closely.

Cool cake layers completely.

While the cakes are baking, make the the filling, the syrup and the icing.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the filling:
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
6 tbsp (or 3 oz) butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped
1-1/2 cups unsweetened coconut, toasted (or sweetened)

To make the filling:Mix the cream, sugar, and egg yolks in a medium saucepan. Put the butter, salt, toasted coconut, and pecan pieces in a large bowl.



Pour the hot custard immediately into the pecan-coconut mixture and stir until the butter is melted. Cool completely to room temperature. (I will try this again, but I was unable to get this mixture to thinken. I added about 1 cup of powdered sugar threw it in my blender and was good to go). I've been told if you wait, it WILL thicken.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For the syrup:
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp dark rum (we used Malibu Dark Rum with coconut flavor)

To make the syrup:In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and water until the sugar has melted. Remove from heat and stir in the dark rum.
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For the chocolate icing:
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp light corn syrup
3 tbsp (or 1-1/2 oz) unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream

To make the icing:

Place the 8 ounces of chopped chocolate in a bowl with the corn syrup and butter.

Heat the cream until it just begins to boil. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate. Let stand one minute, then stir until smooth. Let sit until room temperature, then refrigerate until ready to use.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To assemble the cake:

Remove the cake layers from the pans.

Set the first cake layer on a cake plate. Brush well with syrup. Spread 1/3 of the coconut filling over the cake layer, making sure to reach to the edges. Set another cake layer on top.

Repeat, using the syrup to brush each cake layer, then spreading 1/3 of the coconut filling over each layer, including the top.

Ice the sides with the chocolate icing, then pipe a decorative border of chocolate icing around the top, encircling the coconut topping. David LeBovitz says: "It may seem like a lot of chocolate icing, but use it all. Trust me. You won’t be sorry."

Here's a little history I found at David LeBovitz : Although Germany is famous for tall, multi-layered torten with alternating layers of cream, cake, fruit, nuts, beer, sausages, etc…German Chocolate Cake is decidedly the result of good-old American ingenuity. Deep, dark chocolate cake is layered with a rich filling of toasty coconut and pecans, then glazed with a slick, bittersweet chocolate icing. It’s based on a recipe using Bakers™ Chocolate, a company which employed Samuel German in 1852, hence the name. The first version of German’s Chocolate Cake—of which the apostrophe is part of the original name, was created in the mid 1950′s.