Simple Crescent Pinwheels

I love crescent rolls. I love snacks. I love cream cheese and I love bacon.....SO....I absolutely love, love, love these little munchies. They are so quick and easy and they make a great snack for parties, or football games. The flavor is amazing. Y'all are gonna wanna hug my neck for passing this recipe along.

Here's what ya need:

1 8 oz. pkg of cream cheese
1/2 cup mayonaisse
1/3 cup. canned chicken breast chunks
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (you can also try colby jack, or if you want a little bite use some shredded pepper jack cheese)
6 slices of cooked bacon; crispy y'all
2 cans of crescent rolls

Here's what ya do:

Step 1: Mix up the cream cheese, mayo, chicken, cheese and crumbled bacon till smooth.

Step 2: Open crescent rolls and place them on a floured surface. Don's separate 'em. Just seal the perforations with your hand or better yet with a small pastry roller. You'll have 2 big rectangles of crescent rolls.

Step 3: Place half of mixture on one rectangle and half on the other.

Step 4: Roll them into logs.

Step 5: Slice up yer logs into 12 slices a piece.

Step 6: Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Mmmmm....Mmmmmm...Good y'all.

Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes

My hubster just loves taters, and scalloped potatoes are one of his favorites. I've found a great way to make these taters in the crock pot. Just put these babies on in the morning before work, and they'll be bubblin' up and waiting on you to dig in as soon as you walk through the door. They're easy as pie, y'all and so cheesy and good. Give 'em a try.

Here's what ya need:

2 lbs. small red potatoes
1 cup sour cream
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 can condensed cream of potato soup
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
23tbsp. cream cheese
1/2 tsp. paprika

Here's what ya do:

Step 1: Spray yer crock pot dish with cooking spray.

Step 2: Slice up yer taters good and thin.

Step 3: Mix up the sour cream, tater soup, and Worcestershire in a bowl.

Step 4: Add the taters to the bowl and toss 'em to get them all coated with the good stuff.

Step 5: Layer taters & shredded cheese till ya have about 3 layers. On each of the shredded cheese layers, drop in a tablespoon of cream cheese...It'll all cook in and come together.

Step 6: Pop yer lid on and cook those taters on low for 7-8 hours. Or if you're putterin' around the house that day, you can cook 'em on high for about 4 hrs.

Step 7: Stir 'em up and sprinkle some of yer paprika on top. Enjoy.

Texas Steak Marinade

Nothing is better than the smell of a steak on the grill when the weather warms up. I absolutely love to see the smoke rollin' and hear the juices sizzlin' in the summer time; makes my mouth water just thinking about it. And, my Hubster makes the best dang steaks you ever flapped a gum on... Last summer he tried out a new marinade for our steaks. It's a little bit sweet, but still has a kick to it.

Here's what ya need:

1/2 c. Worcestershire sauce
1/2c. beer or water
1/2c. brown sugar
1 tbsp Texas Pete
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

Here's what ya do:

Step 1: Dump all yer ingredients in a big bowl

Step 2: Whisk 'em all together real good.

Step 3: Put yer steaks in ziploc bags and pour some of the marinade in. Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours...even better, leave it in all night.

Step 4: Freeze remaining marinade for later use.

**This makes a good batch of marinade, so if yer only grilling a couple of steaks freeze the leftovers and pull 'em out when it's time to grill again.

Better than Oreos Cookies

There's something I have to admit to y'all. I have a sweet tooth. I love sweets better than anything in this world and cookies are my weakness. If I make 'em I HAVE to have people around to help me eat 'em or I'll devour a whole batch by myself. One other thing I need to let y'all in on. I'm obsessed with cream cheese; cream cheese icing, cream cheese dips, cream cheese anything. So, you'll see why I absolutely LOVE these cookies. They're easy, cheap and so good- even better than Oreos.

Here's what ya need:

2 pkgs. Devil's Food Cake Mix (stock up when they're on sale)
4 eggs, beaten
2/3 c. veggie oil
8 oz. cream cheese (YES)
1/2 c. softened butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Here's what ya do:

Step 1: mix up cake mixes, eggs & oil in a big ole bowl. It's gonna be thick, and that's exactly what ya want.

Step 2: Roll into 1 inch balls and put 'em on a cookie sheet.

Step 3: Bake 'em for about 8-10 minutes and them put 'em on a wire rack to cool.

Step 4: While the cookies are cooling, mix up cream cheese, and butter. Add in yer vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix it till it's smooth. Pop it in the fridge for a half hour.

Step 5: Spread cream cheese mixture onto one cookie and top with another. This makes between 2 and 3 dozen sandwich cookies, depending on how big you make 'em.

Step 6: Pour a big whoppin' glass of cold milk, kick back and enjoy.

How to stretch a pot of Pinto Beans

One of the cheapest things we make around here are pinto beans. The great thing about pintos is that you can do so many different things with them. I like to make one big pot, and then re-use the left-overs in different recipes for the next couple of days. Little tricks like this are great for helping to make your dollar stretch a little bit farther. Here's just one example of what you could do with the pinto beans.

Day 1:

Make that big ole pot of pintos. Please, for the love of peanuts, make sure that you put some good stuff in them and you're not eating bland pintos.  Season those puppies with a ham hock so that the flavor is just right.Now, yer gonna need some goodies to go along with those pintos, although my Hubster can make a meal on pintos alone....He puts mayonaisse in 'em, nastiest lookin' stuff you've ever seen, but that is another story. Moving on,.......... Make yerself a side of tater salad, some cabbage, and a pan of cornbread. Nobody will go to bed hungry tonight.

Day 2: Okay, so last night you had yourself a good old fashioned country meal. You had beans, taters and cornbread. Maybe tonight you can mix it up a little bit. Try putting those leftover pintos to good use and whip up a pinto bean casserole. They're super easy to make and don't take a lot of time or ingredients for that matter. If you had leftover tater salad, or cabbage it'll go along well with the casserole.

Day 3: So....Here's the deal. I'm paranoid about how long I'll use leftovers. I invoke the same three day rule my Mama always used. Around here if it ain't gone on the third day it's doggie chow. I just refuse to eat anything past that three day mark. So.....Now's the time to use up all those leftover pintos and what better way to do it than to make yerself some chili beans. These babies are super easy....I do 'em in the crockpot and it just doesn't get much easier than that does it? You're probably gonna wanna throw together another pan of cornbread to go with them.

See, how easy it is to make the most out of a simple pot of pintos? If you set yer mind to it, you  can stretch that dollar like a rubber band, and save some major dough!

Pinto Bean Casserole

There are a couple of dishes around here that are sure fire winners: casseroles and pintos. What better way to hit a home run in the kitchen than to combine the two? That's why everyone around here loves this pinto bean casserole. It's a great way to use up those leftover pintos from the night before.


Here's what ya need:

3 cups of pinto beans
1 lb. hamburger, browned and drained
1 medium onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes ( or a pint jar of home-canned maters if you have 'em)
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. chili powder
3 tsp. light brown sugar
1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix (mixed according to package directions)

Here's what ya do:

Step 1: Preheat yer oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2: Brown yer burger, and onion in a skillet till burger is cooked through and onions are soft.

Step 3: Mix hamburger, onion, maters, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, light brown sugar and pintos in a large bowl.

Step 4: Pour into 9X13 casserole dish.

Step 5: Pour already mixed Jiffy Cornbread mix over top of bean mixture.

Step 6: Bake at 350 until the cornbread is golden brown (about 20 to 25 minutes)

Chili Beans

Chili Beans are a quick and easy comfort food. They're especially good during those cold months. As the temperature drops, there's nothing better than sitting around the fire enjoying a spicy hot bowl of chili beans. Now that'll warm ya up.

Here's what ya need:

4 cups of pintos

1 lb. of hamburger browned, and drained

2 -15 oz cans of diced tomatoes + 2 cans of water

2 heapin' tablespoons of chili powder....more or less depending on how spicy ya want it

1 large onion chopped

2 tbsp. brown sugar

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Here's what ya do:

Step 1: Brown yer burger and onion in oil. Drain & dump it in the crock pot.

Step 2: Add tomatoes, water, chili powder, brown sugar, and worcestershire sauce to the crock pot. 

Step 3: Give it a stir.

Step 4: Cook on high for 4 hrs. 

** Serve with shredded cheddar, sour cream, and tortilla chips.