Ranch Oven Roasted Potatoes

You can make oven roasted potatoes with so many different flavors. I keep a bulk size container of dry Ranch mix on hand so I decided to use them on some potatoes. Simple and good!

INGREDIENTS

cut up potatoes (peel them if you want)

dry Ranch mix

kosher salt

pepper

extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400. Line baking sheet with foil.

In a bowl lightly coat your potatoes with olive oil. Stir in your desired about of dry Ranch mix, salt and pepper. Coat potatoes well.

Spread potatoes on a lined baking sheet and give them an extra sprinkle of kosher salt. Bake to 30-40 minutes, until done to your preference. *Flip them half way through baking to help prevent them from sticking.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

I have wanted to make this recipe for a loooong time. And finally thanks to blueberries being on sale, and blueberries being chosen for the ingredient for our WC Ingredient Challenge I no longer had an excuse not to make it. I wish I had made it sooner. It was fabulous. The only change I made was I cooked mine an 8X8 dish for 55 minutes and I didn't not use all my crumb topping.

From Ina Garten/Barefoot Contessa

INGREDIENTS

For the streusel:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup fresh blueberries
Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the streusel:
Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake:
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers, crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

Cream Cheese Pie

This is a recipe my mom has been making since I can remember. I am not sure of the original source though. It is very simple and very good.

INGREDIENTS

1 – 8 ounce block cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice (I used bottled)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 – 9” pre-made graham cracker pie crust
1 can pie filling (I used cherry)

DIRECTIONS

Combine the first 4 ingredients and beat with a hand mixer until smooth. Pour mixture in pie crust and chill for at least 4 hours. After chilled, top with pie filling and serve.

Artichoke Tapenade and Spinach Stuffed Shells

I bought my mom a big jar of Artichoke Tapenade from BJ's and wanted to use some up in a pasta dish. She LOVED it. She said I should enter the recipe in a contest...but she could of just been saying that because she is my mom =) .

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dried
¾ cup artichoke tapenade
1 ¼ cup ricotta cheese
½ cup grated parmesan, divided
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
garlic powder
italian seasoning
salt and pepper
10 large pasta shells

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350.

Boil shells until al dente. Drain and set aside to cool.

Heat tomato sauce and add in Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Simmer.

Combine spinach, artichoke tapenade, ricotta cheese, ¼ cup parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Evenly stuff mixture into shells. (I like my shells nice and full)

Place ¼ cup of tomato sauce mixture in an 8X8 baking dish. Place shells in dish and cover with remaining tomato sauce mixture and ¼ cup parmesan cheese.

Cover and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 7-10 minutes.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

This is my super easy go-to pulled pork BBQ recipe. I originally tried because I love root beer. But don't worry you non-root beer fans...it does not taste like root beer.

Adapted from Allrecipes

INGREDIENTS

1 (2 pound) pork loin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle root beer
1 (18 ounce) bottle your favorite barbecue sauce - I used Sweet Baby Ray's
8 hamburger buns, split and lightly toasted

salt, pepper, garlic powder

DIRECTIONS

Place the pork loin in a slow cooker, fat side up. Sprinkle on salt, pepper and garlic powder; pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 6 to 7 hours. Note: the actual length of time may vary according to individual slow cooker. *I cook mine about 11-12 hours while I am at work and it comes out just fine.* Drain well. Remove fat from top of pork lion and discard. Stir in barbecue sauce. Serve over hamburger buns.

Pasta with Italian Style Pumpkin Sauce

I am not a pumpkin fan…unless it is a dessert. But I made this for my mom because I wanted to try something new. She was unsure about it when I told her about it because although she likes pumpkin, she has never had it with pasta. Luckily she really enjoyed it and said none of the flavors overpowered any of the others, and it blended well.

INGREDIENTS

½ can plain pumpkin
2 cups chicken broth (you can adjust this to your desired consistency)
2 ounces cream cheese (goat cheese would have been really good too)
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder
dash of red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons tomato paste
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
1 ½ tablespoons butter
8 ounces uncooked pasta
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

Begin cooking pasta to your preference. Do not forget to salt the water.

While pasta is cooking combine pumpkin, cream cheese and chicken broth. Let the cream cheese melt in the mixture warm through. Add in your thyme, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Cook on medium-low and stir occasionally.

When the pasta is done mix in the butter and parmesan cheese to your pumpkin sauce.

Combine desired about of pumpkin sauce to your pasta serving. Serve with additional parmesan cheese on each individual portion.

(You will most likely have more sauce than pasta…sorry. I am not so great at planning that out).