Sausage Biscuits & Gravy

Soooo good and soooo bad for you! It's kinda hard to explain how to make a gravy from scratch so I will just share the link to where I got the recipe from which has great step by step pictures. Here it is!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Nice & Saucy.

And if you are feeling real naughty ... (See post below for onion ring recipe)

You can either mix the pulled pork with the sauce before you put it on your bun or you can just pour sauce on like I did in the pictures.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches (Recipe from: Robin Falke)

Pork roast (I like the ones from Costco)

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Salt & pepper to taste

BBQ Sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's)

1. Place pork roast in crock pot. Add 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar to crock pot. Season roast with salt and pepper. Cook on low until it shreds easily (usually around 6 hours but it depends just make sure the roast is cooked all the way)
2. Take roast out of the crock pot. Do not dump the juice!
3. Shred pork with two forks.
4. Place pulled pork back into crock pot with the juices.
5. Serve with BBQ sauce on hamburger buns.

Pot stickers & Dipping Sauce

These are the best pot stickers ever ... for real. I kinda make up different ways to fold and wrap the meat in the wonton skin as I go, it kinda makes it fun. They have a lot of prep though so if you don't want to bother with the pot stickers you should at least make the sauce sometime and eat it with frozen pot stickers because it is amazing!! This makes LOTS of pot stickers I usually use a whole package of wonton skins for this recipe.

Pot Stickers (Recipe from Aunt Alissa)
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground pork
2-3 green onion, chopped
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. rice vinegar
½ tsp. chili oil
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 carrot, finely grated
1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp. fresh ginger root, peeled and finely grated
1 cup Nappa Cabbage, chopped
Won ton wrappers
2 T. vegetable oil, for frying.

1. Chop green onion and nappa cabbage. Then, mince your garlic and grate your carrots. Peel and finely grate your ginger.
2. In a medium bowl, combine ground pork, green onion, egg yolk, sesame oil, rice vinegar, chili oil, soy sauce, carrots, ginger, garlic, and cabbage.
3. Drop small spoonful amounts onto your wonton wrappers.
4. Then, wet the edges of your wonton wrappers with water. Make sure you press out all of the air and fold them shut into desired shape to seal them.
5. Place pot stickers in a frying pan with just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and 2 T. vegetable oil. Turn stove to medium heat. Let the water start to simmer then cover your pan.
6. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until water starts to evaporate and the wonton skins looks translucent.
7. Then, take off the lid and allow the water to completely evaporate. Let the pot stickers cook over medium heat until the bottoms are golden brown, and then lift them up off of the pan with a spatula. Serve with pot sticker dipping sauce.

Pot sticker Dipping Sauce (Recipe from: Aunt Alissa)
Ingredients:
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup rice vinegar
2 ½ tsp. sugar
1-2 green onion, finely chopped
2 tsp. fresh ginger root, peeled and finely grated
¼ tsp. sesame oil
¼ tsp. chili oil
Dash of garlic powder
Small handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1. Finely chop your green onion and cilantro. Then, peel your ginger and finely grate it. In a small bowl combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, green onion, ginger, sesame oil, chili oil, garlic powder and add cilantro just before serving. It tastes better the longer it sits

Basil Pasta with Sausage

I love this dish because it feels really light because it does't have a heavy sauce but it is also very flavorful. I wish I would have browned the meat a little bit better for this picture though ...

Basil Pasta with Sausage
1 lb. penne pasta
1 lb. Italian sausage (Recipe follows or you could use store bought)
2 cups thinly sliced or chopped yellow onion (about 1 large onion)
1 T. minced fresh garlic (I don't like the jar stuff because I think it has less flavor but you could try it)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 T. chopped FRESH basil
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. While the pasta is cooking, cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat until evenly browned and fully cooked.
3. Add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper and cook, stirring until golden brown around the edges, about 8-10 min.
4. Once pasta is done cooking, strain and add 1/4 cup olive oil and basil to the pasta. Toss to coat evenly.
5. Add the sausage and onion mixture to the pasta.
6. Serve with parmesan cheese.

Italian Sausage
1 lb. ground pork
1/2-1 tsp. fennel (depending on how much you like fennel; it can be strong)
1 tsp. ground bay leaves
1 tsp. dried parsley
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Mix ingredients and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Football Cheese Dip

So good yet so bad for me ...

Sausage Cheese Dip (Recipe from Terry Cipriani)
(16 oz.) Mexican Velveeta cheese (or normal if you can't find mexican version)
1 lb. sausage (I use original but you could use spicy)
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 jar salsa (spiciness level that you prefer)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (weird I know but delicioso!)

1. Brown sausage and onion in skillet on stove.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot over low to medium low heat begin to melt cheese, salsa, and cream of mushroom soup. Mix ingredients while melting. Be sure to watch it because the cheese will burn easily.
3. Once melted, combine sausage with cheese mixture.
4. Transfer to crock pot and keep warm over low heat.
5. Serve with chips.

*If you are patient enough you can melt the cheese, salsa and cream of mushroom soup together in a crock pot over low heat.

Baked Potato Soup

I got some great recipes from the teachers that I worked with when I did my student teaching. This one is from Nicole Wright when I student taught at South Jordan Middle School. Nicole had lots of yummy recipes which I will probably post more of them eventually. I miss you Nicole! By the way, I love how all of my recipes so far are extremely unhealthy ... oh well.

Baked Potato Soup
2 potatoes, already baked
1/3 c. butter (or bacon grease if you want to cook your own bacon; you may need to add some butter until you get 1/3 c. if there is not enough left over grease)
1/3 c. flour
3 c. milk
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
3 green onion, sliced
1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
½ c. sour cream
3 Tbsp bacon crumbles (or 3 slices real bacon that you cook then chop)
1 c. chicken stock (You could add more bouillon to the soup if it needs more flavor)

Directions:
1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium-low heat.
2. Add flour and stir until smooth making sure there are no flour lumps left. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat and gradually add the milk while stirring. Return to heat and cook over medium-heat for 4-5 minutes. Mixture should thicken and be bubbly.
4. Meanwhile, cut potato in half, lengthwise. Remove peel from potato if desired. Cube insides of potato.
5. Add potato cubes to the soup.
6. Add chicken stock, salt, pepper, half of the green onion and half of the cheese.
7. Cook until it is heated through, about 1 minute. Turn off the stove and stir in sour cream. When mixed in, remove from heat.
8. Serve with remaining onions, cheese, and bacon crumbles on top as garnish.

Baked Macaroni & Cheese

These pictures honestly don't do justice to the amazingness of this dish.

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Dressed Up Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

• Butter, for greasing baking dish

• 8 oz. macaroni

• 2 1/2 cups cold milk

• 4 oz. mozzarella, coarsely grated

• 4 oz. aged parmesan, coarsely grated

• 2 large eggs

• 4 scallions, white and green parts, chopped

• 3 slices white sandwich bread, torn into small pieces

• 4 strips bacon (sometimes I do 6 if I'm feeling extra naughty)

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1 tsp. Kosher salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 2-quart shallow casserole dish. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the macaroni until al dente about 5 minutes. Drain; transfer the pasta to the prepared casserole dish along with 1/4 cup of the cold milk. (This will cool the pasta and prevent it from becoming gummy.)

2. Meanwhile, mix the cheeses together in a small bowl. In a separate medium sized bowl, beat the eggs with 1/4 cup of the milk. Add the scallions, bread and half of the cheese to the egg mixture; mix and set aside.

3. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp; transfer to paper towels to drain. Do NOT discard the bacon grease. Add the onion and garlic to the grease; cook, stirring, until just brown, about 4 minutes. Stir in the flour, cayenne pepper and 1 teaspoon salt; cook for 2 minutes. Slowly add the remaining 1 3/4 cups milk and 3/4 cup water to the skillet. Bring to a boil, whisking until thick. Remove the sauce from the heat and whisk to cool slightly. Whisk in the remaining cheese. Add the sauce to the macaroni; stir to combine.

4. Crumble up the bacon and add it to the egg/bread mixture. Spread evenly over the pasta. Place the casserole dish on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven; let sit 5 minutes before serving.