Loose Meat Sandwichs

1lb Ground chuck
1/2 tsp salt
1 onion finely chopped
1T yellow mustard
1T vinegar
1T sugar
Water
salt and pepper to taste
your favorite hamburger toppings


1.Sprinkle the 1/2 tsp salt in the bottom of pan and add ground chuck and onions and cook until browned and crumbled well

2.Drain off the fat and add to pan mustard,vinegar,sugar and enough water to just cover the meat.

3.Cook at a simmer until water is cooked out about 20 min

4.Add salt and pepper to taste. ( I only added pepper because I cooked the meat with the salt)
5.Scoop a spoonful onto a bun with your favorite burger toppings. ( I used cheese,mayo and pickles)

* I was really surprised about how good and easy these were the vinegar and mustard really makes the difference in the taste my whole family loved them and im sure I will be making these many times.Give them a try and be sure to have the pickle it brings out the flavor mmmm

Grinch Fur Gooey Chewy Popcorn

More green for St Patricks Day.. This is the last thing I promise :)  My son named this popcorn last night saying that the color looked just like The Grinch's Fur.

1C Corn Syrup
1C Brown Sugar
1C White Sugar
1 stick of butter
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
3-4 Batches air popped popcorn ( I made 4. 1/3 cup of kernel batches)

1.Put the first 5 ingredients into a sauce pan over med heat and stir until melted and combined.

2.Bring to a boil and cook for 5 min stirring constantly so the bottom does not burn. The caramel will start to thicken up as it cooks but keep stirring the whole 5 min.

3.At the 5 min mark take the caramel off the heat and continue stirring to let out some of the heat.
4.Place large strips of wax paper on the table for the popcorn to cool.
5.Fill a large bowl about 2/3 the way full of popcorn.( make sure to dig out the kernels) and drizzle some of the caramel on top. Stir until all the popcorn is covered adding more if the popcorn looks to dry.
6.Transfer the popcorn onto the waxed paper to cool and repeat process until all the popcorn and caramel is used up. (I had extra caramel so I just drizzled it all over to top of the big pile of popcorn on the table)

Lemon Bars

Because of St Patricks Day everything we made yesterday was green :) But yes these are just regular lemon bars. You can substitute the lemon for lime juice if you would like lime bars.

1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners sugar + more for dusting
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
4 large egg yolks
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.Line a  8x8 square with parchment paper leaving an overhang on sides.
3.Beat together the butter, sugar and salt until fluffy.

4.Add flour and mix on low until just combined. Press the crust mixture into the bottom of the pan and about half way up the sides. Poke the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork. Bake until lightly golden (15-20 minutes).

5.In a large bowl, make the filling by whisking together the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice until smooth.( and coloring if you want it a different color)

6.Pour over hot crust in pan and return to the oven. Bake until filling is set (about 25-30 minutes). Cool completely in pan.

7.Refrigerate until filling is firm (at least 2 hours but the longer the better).
8.Using paper overhang, lift bars onto a work surface. Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar.

Shamrock Rolls that only take 60 min

4 - 5 c. all purpose flour
3 T. sugar
1 t. salt
2 pkgs. active dry yeast (2 1/4 t. per package)
1 c. milk
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. butter or margarine

1.Place 3 1/2 c. flour, sugar, salt, and undissolved yeast into your mixing bowl. Mix.

2.Combine milk, water, and butter in microwaveable bowl. Heat in the microwave just until the liquids are very warm (the butter does not need to melt all they way). Take it out and stir it a bit to even distribute the heat, it should be warm! (I cooked mine for 90 sec and then stirred it for about 15 sec)

3.While mixing, gradually add liquid to flour mixture, about 30 seconds. Mix 1 minute longer. (This is also when I added the food coloring)

4.Continue mixing, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough clings to hook and cleans the sides of bowl, about 5 min.( I only ended up using 4 1/2 cups total) Knead in mixer 7 -10 min. longer or until dough is smooth.

5.Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover, let rise in warm place, free from draft, for 15 min. I just put a towel and the cookie sheet on my kitchen aid bowl and let the dough rise in there.

6.Turn the dough onto floured board. Shape as desired. Cover, let rise in slightly warm oven (90 F) for 15 min. Or I covered mine with a light dish towel and let then rise on the counter. it was warm from cooking the other dinner.



This is before I let the dough rise.



I let them rise for about 20 min to get them really big.


7.Bake at 425 degrees for 8 - 10 min. Brush with a little melted butter.

* These are really heavy rolls I don't know if that's cuz of the way that I shaped them and there was alot of roll to each shamrock but they tasted great. My husband said that they tasted like Great Harvest Rolls because they were so heavy. I don't think that's a bad thing to be compared to great harvest :) And the best part they were so quick and easy.

Corned beef and cabbage in the slow cooker. Update!!

Ok so I have to say that the corned beef turned out great it was really good. I ate mine dipped in a little horseradish sauce and it tasted really similar to Arbys roast beef sandwich with Horsey sauce. If you are not sure about the corned beef or you just want a great one to try this is for sure the go to recipe. Everyone in the family loved it.

5 lbs Corned beef
1/2 the packet of seasoning it comes with
6-7 med red potato's
1/2 tsp pepper
2 Med onions sliced
3 T White Vinegar
3T sugar
2 Cups water
1 Head Cabbage chopped and quartered


1.Wash potato's and chop in to chunks and place on bottom of slow cooker. Top with meat, 1/2 the seasoning packet and onions.

2.Mix together the water,sugar,pepper and vinegar and pour over the top of the meat.

3.Cover and cook on low 8-10 hrs or high 6-7 hrs.

4.Remove the meat and potato's and cover with foil to keep warm. Place the cabbage in the pot with all the juices from the meat and cook on high until soft about 25 min.

* I was not to sure about the cabbage cooking in the slow cooker it seemed to be taking a long time to get soft and so after about 15 min I took it out of the crock pot and just put it in a pan with about 1/2 inch water and steamed it for about 10 min it was perfect just the right amount of crunch.

Loaded Potato Salad

6 med red potato's
4-6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
1 Cup sour cream
1 Cup Cheddar cheese shredded
4-6 green onions sliced thin
2 T chives chopped
salt and pepper to taste
dash of cayenne pepper

1. Cover the potato's in cold water in a pan bring to a boil and cook for about 20 min or until fork tender Let cool off in the fridge until cool enough to handle then cut into bite size pieces.
2. In a bowl mix together sour cream,green onions,chives,salt,pepper and cayenne.
3.Add bacon,cheese and potato's mix well until combined

4.Let sit in the fridge at least 2 hours for flavors to combine

Mexican Sour Cream Rice

1 cup uncooked white rice
2 Cups Chicken Broth
2 Cups sour cream
1 4oz can green chilies
1 Cup Monterey Jack Cheese Divided
1 Cup corn
1/4 Cup finely chopped cilantro
1 can drained and rinsed black beans
salt and pepper to taste

1.In a pan bring chicken broth and rice to a boil. Reduce heat to low cover and simmer 20 min.

2.Preheat oven to 350
3.In the same pan as the rice add the sour cream green chilies corn cilantro beans and 1/2 cup of Monterey jack cheese

4.Pour into a 9x9 inch pan and top with remaining cheese
5.Bake uncovered for 30 min or until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.

* I used a mixture of Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese and I didn't add the black beans this time but I will next time.