Ham and Cheese Gnocchi

Happy Friday! Have you had a good week? I sure hope so! And that you can stay warm this weekend - I'm cold today! :)

Today's recipe is for Ham and Cheese Gnocchi from Kevin & Amanda. (Just click on the website's name, on any post, to go to the recipe! :) )

This is a YES, PLEASE! It's good, warming comfort food - and I thought it was even better warmed up for lunch the next day. :) I cut back on the cheese on top, because Kenn has an issue with cheese. :) I also used about half of the onion - and it was PLENTY!

It's easy to put together. I try to keep a package of gnocchi in the freezer, and we had ham in the freezer from an earlier meal. Poof! :D

OK, I'm outta here! Have a wonderful weekend, dear friend. BE BLESSED!

Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-Up

Happy Wednesday! How are you? Have you had a good summer? Are you ready to roll back into the fall/school routine? Routine. What a nice, safe word that sounds like... :D This year has been all OVER the place at our house, and "routine" days have been few and far between.

SO. Today's recipe is for a Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-Up from Melissa's Recipes.

I made this as an easy take-along dinner for some friends who'd suffered a sudden loss. (This has been a ROUGH year for many of my loved ones. :( ) I wanted to take them something that was easy for me, and easy for them to reheat, since most of the family had just come back from a long trip. I made them TWO of these - they've got four kids, most of them teens or pre-! - and made myself one to do for this blog post. :)

Let's see. The only thing I think I did differently was that I used a little less bacon per roll, but it wasn't a LOT less. The roll turned out to be pretty long, and wanted to break easily. I did wrap and transport both of theirs in one piece, because I didn't want the insides to come out all over the place! :)

This is what mine looked like on the inside. I got about a dozen pieces out of the roll. I ate these two for my lunch that day, and froze the rest - I wanted to know if it would do well if frozen. And YES, it worked wonderfully! I wrapped two pieces in paper towel, and heated for 1.5 - 2 minutes.

I'm NORMALLY a big ketchup person, but I liked the flavor of these without my ketchup this time. The filling - and yes, I know Velveeta's got lots of bad things in it, so I don't use it often at all!! - was really good and quite creamy. The crust held up well to the rolling, even where I was afraid it wouldn't.

SO. This gets a YES, PLEASE! And my friend came up to me Sunday and told me her kids were begging her to get the recipe. :D So let me know if you try it, and what you think of it! :)

Have a wonderful day, dear friend! BE BLESSED!!!!!!!

School Lunchroom Cafeteria Rolls

Happy Friday!!! I hope you've had a wonderful week, and are looking forward to celebrating Christ's resurrection this weekend!!!

Today's recipe is for these School Lunchroom Cafeteria Rolls from allrecipes.com.

(That's funny. I got these off Pinterest, but it's the second allrecipes review in a row!)

These are a DEFINITE YES, PLEASE! It does make a LOT; I made them to take to a family who needed a meal, and I'd been wanting to try them. I mean, who doesn't remember with deep fondness those wonderful rolls?!?! :::::::::::::sigh::::::::::::::: :D

I made FIVE of these tins, and put three in the freezer. That was February 22. I pulled the last pan out of the freezer Wednesday! (And I'll be making another batch this coming week, for company and for the freezer!) Seriously. If you take a lot of meals to other people, or you have unexpected company, or you'd like to have fresh bread quickly on any given day, this is a great way to do it. To freeze it, I just formed the rolls, wrapped the pan, and put it in the freezer. On the day I want them, I pull them out and let them thaw on the sideboard, then cook them off according to directions.

OK, I'm outta here! HE IS RISEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! be BLESSED, friends!

"Outback" Black Bread: Copycat

Happy Wednesday! Are you having a good week? Are you staying WARM, people?!??! :D

Today's recipe would be a good recipe to try today - what's better when it's below freezing outside than a warm loaf of homemade bread?! It's "Outback" Black Bread: Copycat from Freida Loves Bread.

Now, first let me tell you: finding caramel coloring locally is nearly impossible. I put a bottle on my Amazon wish list and got it for Christmas. One bottle will last me a long, LONG time - it's huge! So you might want to consider splitting a bottle with a friend or five...

When I finally had all the ingredients in one place, I made this bread. It's a YES, PLEASE!

Mine made two whole loaves and one tiny one. I love having things like this in the freezer, for when someone I care about needs a meal delivered. So we cut into the tiny loaf, and then one of the big ones - and I put the other loaf in the freezer as soon as it cooled, because we really did love this bread! :) My mom is still mentioning how GOOD it was... :D

Now, I didn't use the cornmeal. I sprinkled oats on top of the loaf before it baked, instead. I have to be in the right mood for the grittiness of cornmeal. :) The oats were a nice textural contrast without being too much so.

OK, I'm outta here! :) Have a WONDERFUL day! Let me know if you try this recipe! :) Be BLESSED!!!

Fluffy Ricota Pancakes

Happy Friday! How are you today? I've picked up a head cold somewhere that wants to stay - but it needs to LEAVE! Oh, well. It's a beautiful day, with sunshine after the storms all day long yesterday.

Today's review is these Fluffy Ricotta Pancakes from The Kitchn.

These were a YES, PLEASE. Since one batch made less than ten pancakes, I had some and put some in the freezer. I've already eaten the ones that were in the freezer; they froze beautifully! They are fluffy, and tasty. They were also pretty easy, thanks to my Kitchen Aid to beat the whites for me. :D

OK, I'm outta here. I hope you have a wonderful first weekend of November! Be BLESSED!

White Chicken Enchilada Casserole

HAPPY FRIDAY! Welcome to the end of August! Can you believe it?!? We're almost to September, the start of fall, the beginning of the snowball's roll to the end of the year! Time to start working on my Christmas open house... :D

But that's beside the point. :D

Today's review is for White Chicken Enchilada Casserole, from Six Sisters' Stuff.

(Hmmm. I can't decide how big to make the picture. This is probably too big, but the other way was too small!)

Anyway. (Can you tell I'm getting easily distracted today? :D ) This casserole got a YES, PLEASE! from everyone in my family - not an easy task for a recipe. Although I would have liked a little more kick - I thought about only using one of the two cans of green chiles, but I'm glad I didn't!

The filling was creamy, the chips on the bottom were crunchy, and the cheese was gooey. :D It turned out to be really pretty, too, I think. Wish I'd had some guacamole in the house... :D It was really easy to put together, and would make a really simple company dish, too.  Thinking about it, I don't know why you couldn't make up this casserole, perhaps without the cheese, and freeze it; your chips might get a little soggy, but I actually liked it better when that happened with the leftovers - its texture was more like an enchilada, rather than chips and dip. :D

OK, I'm outta here. Kenn and I are going to REST this weekend. I'm really looking forward to it! :) Have a wonderful weekend! Be BLESSED!

Todd's Famous Blueberry Pancakes

HAPPY MONDAY!

Did you think I might never blog again?!? :D It really feels like I haven't gotten into my groove since we've been back. Phew! But here I am, and I do have things to share with you, so let's get started!

These are Todd's Famous Blueberry Pancakes from Allrecipes.com.

I put off making these for a long time, because the recipe says to let sit for an hour. I mean, when I decide I want to make breakfast, I don't want to have to let something sit there! :D But I did. We had these Saturday for breakfast. I actually got up with plenty of time to let it sit!

Let's see. I think the only tweak to the recipe I did was that the original calls for "frozen blueberries." Well, if you look at their photo, and you know ANYTHING about frozen blueberries, you know they didn't use them in that pancake pictured. Letting the batter sit for an hour after you add frozen blueberries will give you a purple batter!!! Since I wanted mine to be pretty, I used fresh blueberries. It IS fresh berry season, after all. :D

They were good. I don't think I'd call them fluffy, because they did have some weight to them, but they were good pancakes. The serving size on the recipe says "six"; I got exactly nine pancakes out of the recipe, using a 1/4-cup measure, so I'm not sure what a "serving" would constitute - a pancake and a half?!??! So that's a little misleading. But I do now have blueberry pancakes in the freezer for a day I'm craving a pancake and don't want to cook! (Which is most days, these days.... <sigh> :D )

So it's a THUMBS UP, but give yourself lots of time. If you have a blueberry pancake recipe, I'd love to try it!

OK, I'm outta here! Busy week! Have a wonderful day - do come back Wednesday for another review! - and BE BLESSED!!!!