More of the devil ....

OK, it’s a snow day so you know what that means- yep, baking and eating!  Now, I could be healthy and be ‘good’, but come one, what’s the fun in that?  We so rarely have a snow day down South, why not enjoy it a bit? Besides I have to do something while Dave is engrossed in episodes of 'The Walking Dead'

First up today was biscuits and gravy for breakfast.  And might I say, it was fantastic and very satisfying- to the point I knew I would be good the rest of the day- well, until supper of course.  However, I knew yesterday that I wanted the ultimate snow day treat- cookies.  I decided to head to Pinterest and see what I could find on my “Me Want Cookies” board.  I found a recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies using Bisquick.  Yes, I know Peanut Butter is the devil... I give it credit for much of my fat cells. However, you have to admit, there is something quite comforting about the smell and taste- I feel sorry for those who are allergic to it. 

Bisquick is a Kinder family staple.  I always have it in the pantry so I figured, why not try it out? However, I did change the recipe up a bit. I used brown sugar blend Splenda instead of the white sugar the recipe called for- seriously?  I know it needs the brown sugar! I also increased the amount of Bisquick because it was more like creamy peanut butter instead of a cookie dough. 

Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter is the Devil

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/8 cup butter or shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar blend Splenda
1/4 cup boiling water
2 cups Bisquick

Preheat oven to 375*

 Mix peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, and water until the mixture is smooth.
Add Bisquick and combine.
Roll into balls and flatten with fork dipped in flour/Bisquick/ sugar in the classic crisscross!
Bake for 9 minutes- remove and allow to cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet.

These were good… so good I don’t miss the chocolate chips I intended to put in the dough.  Dave tested and Dave approved

Snow Day NON Gluttons... ooops Glutens!

mmm yummy yummy

Dave decided he wanted something a little different with his beloved pasta bake.  As we strolled the aisles at Wally World Saturday, I posed the question of what he might like IF it snowed (which it did by the way, because I know these things)- he asked if his favorite pasta bake could have a ‘Mexican’ feel to it?  This, he said, would combine two of his favorite types of food: Italian and Mexican.  Well, duh, of course… not hard at all.  So as the snow crept in today, I decided to break out the gluten free pasta and whip up some south of the border pasta bake.

Now, the kicker is that I had bought gluten-free pasta the week before.  My mother in law (who is down to escape the western NY winter and evidently brought polar vortex/snow with her) needs to limit her gluten so we thought ‘why not?’.  I thought the pasta was absolutely FINE…. I don’t know that I will purchase anything but gluten-free pasta from now on out.


SOTB Pasta Bake

1 lb of hamburger
1 small onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 jalepeno, seeded and chopped fine
1 cup chili sauce
1 can Rotel
2 cups Mexican blend cheese
2 cups pasta- gluten free for us!
1 package of taco seasoning


1.   Brown hamburger and drain off excess grease.  Prepare pasta. 
2.   Add onion, peppers, chili sauce, rotel, and  taco seasoning.  Cook until veggies are tender.
3.   After pasta is done, drain and add pasta to the meat sauce and combine.
4.  Spray a 9x13 casserole dish and pour mixture into it.  Top with cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and cheese melts.

What can I say?  This was GOOD… I served it with Mexican cornbread and we gobbled it up. I really think I will use gluten free pasta for this from now on… might have to come up with a mac and cheese using it soon.

Taking out the trash.. not so fast!

I had seen the recipe for Trash Dip on Pinterest when I first joined that little addictive-as-hell site two years ago (I recently helped my MIL sign up and she said it was a bad idea for her to do that after only 30 minutes on it).   I thought that sounds really good, but seriously when your go-to-dip is Rotel cheese dip, why do anything else? 

Yet, it does get kind of boring at times to do the same thing over and over again…. what did Emerson say, 'A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds'?   Now, no one can say that Rotel dip is 'foolish' so yes, my Superbowl Sunday will include the ole standard 'dippy dippy do' as my Daddy still refers to it as, but I will add in the Trash this year.  Change is good… or at least in response to food.

I have to admit there was a time when refried beans or bean dip did  NOT appeal to me.  Let's start with the NAME: refried.  That implied something to me that just didn't set well with me for many years.  However, as I am that person who constantly says  "But have you TRIED it?" to people, a taste of my own medicine was in order.    So I tried the beans and guess what?  Yep, a shocker here, but I liked them.  So as refried beans are the basis for this dip, it is sounding more and more appetizing!

So here it is… it's called Texas Trash Dip on some sites, but if YOU know anything about me, I don't care much for anything TEXAS ( used to have a bumper sticker that said, 'Avoid the Rush… Hate Texas Early') so I will refer to this as only Trash Dip.

Trash Dip

1 can refried beans
1 8 oz cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 package taco seasoning (3-4 tbsp if you make your own)
hot sauce to taste (couple of splahses!)
1 cup cheddar or jack (fiesta mix/ Mexican mix) shredded cheese


Preheat oven to 350*

1.  Mix cream cheese and sour cream together- cream them!
2.  Add in the refried beans, hot sauce, and taco seasoning.  Combine well.
3.  Spray a 8x8 casserole with non stick and spread the bean concoction evenly.
4.  Cover with cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Serve WARM with chips!  And be prepared for an awesome trashy experience.
Definitely Dave tested and approved!