Western Omelet

In preparation for a family reunion we've been asked to gather some crock pot recipes. Here are some that I have found on allrecipes. While I haven't tried them they still look amazing!

Western Omelet

- 1 (2 lb) package of frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
- 1 lb diced cooked ham
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 green pepper, cut into small-ish pieces
- 1 1/2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
- 12 eggs
- 1 c. milk
- salt and pepper to taste

Lightly grease a 4 quart or larger slow cooker. Place 1/3 of the hash brown potatoes in a layer on the bottom. Layer 1/3 of the ham, onion, green pepper, and cheese. Repeat layer two more times. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and milk and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the contents of the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours.

It sounds like it would make a great easy breakfast if you have family or guests coming over. Let me know if you try it out!

Source: allrecipes.com

Horchata

Hello! I apologize for the long delay. I have been super busy trying to pack up since we're leaving for Ireland in t-19 days. Yes, I will be living in Ireland for 8 months. I'm so excited and hopefully will pick up some new recipes there!

For those of you who don't know, I adore Mexican food. It's so good! Here is my favorite drink, horchata. My friend Cidne is legit, she's half Guatemalan. I'm literally copying and pasting this recipe from their cooking blog, here is the link to the original.

This tastes best on a hot, summer day. It's not for everyone, but I grew up drinking it... The porportions are very vague so you can easily alter it to your own preferences. Some people like it really watery, while others like it very sweet.

2 cups rice

water

cinnamon

sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

lots of ice

Place rice in pitcher and add water until it completely covers the rice. Liberally sprinkle with cinnamon and let it soak for at least an hour. It's best if you can do this the night before and let it soak overnight.

When you're ready to make the drink, pour everything into a blender and blend away. Then run it all through a strainer to eliminate as much as the rice pulp as you can. My mom doesn't bother with this step, but I think it's worth it. Otherwise it's very grainy at the bottom. I just use a normal strainer, but I've heard cheese cloth works really well. I'll get back to you if I try it that way...

Once your water is strained and in the pitcher, add some vanilla extract. Now the water that you've got now is concentrated horchata. You will need to dilute this AND add sugar. How much sugar and how much water is up to you and what you like. I wish I could be more specific but I just eyeball it and every pitcher is different.

Refrigerate and serve with ice. The drink will go sour after a couple of days so drink as much as you can while it's fresh.

(Source: Cidne W. from The Tasty Spoon and Fork.blogspot.com)

Amazing No Bake Cheesecake

I'm so sorry for the long break. I'm sure it's been hard to cope without my wonderful posts. Life has been pretty busy here. Does this smile not tell it all?

Don't let the adorable face fool you, he's a handful! I'm having a very hard time figuring out how to get everything done that I need to while still staying sane. Any suggestions?

After my husband and I were first married I made him a cheesecake. Of course he said it was wonderful, but I quickly learned it wasn't like his "mom's cheesecake". I had made cheesecakes before and always worried about them cracking and looking good. Plus, they have to cool after and really set up. My mother-in-law had a wonderfully easy recipe that you just freeze instead of bake. This one does take some time to set up, but at least you don't have to worry about cracking. Plus, I think it tastes much better than baked cheesecake. I've seen different versions of this recipe, but this is the best one I've tried.

No Bake Cheesecake

- 2 (8 oz.) pkgs. of cream cheese

- 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

- 1 tsp. vanilla

- 1/3 c. lemon juice

- 1 graham cracker pie crust

- 1 can fruit pie filling (optional)

Cream together cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk. Add vanilla and lemon juice and mix until there are no lumps (this is important!). Pour into the graham cracker crust. Freeze until firm. I always leave it in the freezer overnight, so I'm not sure how long this takes. Remove from freezer about a half hour before serving. Top with pie filling.

Serves: 8

(Source: D. P.)

Microwave Brownies

I've had this recipe for a few years now, but I've always been hesitant to try them! I was very skeptical that microwave brownies could be any good. But they are! They're amazing! If you can resist, they taste even better the next day.

Microwave Brownies

- 2/3 c. margarine

- 1 c. sugar

- 1 egg

- 1/3 c. cocoa

- 1 tsp. vanilla

- 1/2 tsp. baking powder

- 1 dash salt

- 1 c. flour

Cream the butter, sugar, and egg together. Add remaining ingredients except flour and mix well. Gradually add in flour. The batter will be very thick. Pour into an ungreased round glass pie plate. Microwave on high for 5 minutes (the recipe says 4, and in my microwave it takes 6, so make sure to check it for doneness). Make sure it's not too doughy in the middle (I always check with my finger - careful - it's hot!). I've found that if you lightly press on it and it does not stick that means it's cooked enough. Let cool for 15-20 minutes. At first it seems like it has a cake-like consistency, but let it cool and it's more fudgy. This is a delicious super quick treat! Careful...it's addicting!

(Source: Linda L.)

Apple Pie Granola

At my house we really enjoy granola, but it can be really expensive. I've tried a few recipes to make my own, but I had a hard time buying all the ingredients I would use maybe once or twice a year (ex. wheat germ, flax seed meal, oat bran soy grits (are those even real?)). These recipe has ingredients that I always have on hand! It's so good! It really does taste like Apple pie, just with nuts and raisins.

Apple Pie Granola

- 5 c. rolled oats

- 1 c. chopped apples

- 1 c. coarsely chopped pecans

- 1 c. raisins

- 3/4 c. butter or margarine, melted

- 3/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar

- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Toast oats in ungreased 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. jelly roll pan in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Combine toasted oats and remaining ingredients except raisins and mix well. Placed back in ungreased jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally to brown evenly. After the first 15 minutes of baking time add the raisins in. Cool and stir until crumbly. Store in a tightly covered container in fridge. Makes about 9 cups.

I actually make this many times with the nuts. I even made it once without the apples and raisins, and it still tasted amazing!

(Source: Kathe M.)

Cidne's Breadsticks

Hello again! It's getting close to Christmas so I should be posting more Christmas recipes, but I had an AMAZING dinner the other night with some friends. I had the BEST homemade pizza I've ever had! The recipe for that is coming up later. But, I also had some amazing breadsticks!! While no breadsticks will ever beat out the Oliver Garden breadsticks (someone else makes them, you can get as many as you want, and they have warm plates! ), these are now my FAVORITE homemade breadsticks. Thanks Cidne!

Cidne's Breadsticks

- 1 1/2 c. warm water

- 2 Tbsp. sugar

- 1 Tbsp. yeast

- 1/2 c. dry milk

- 1/2 tsp. salt

- 3 c. flour

- 1 stick of butter, melted

- Garlic salt

- Parmesan cheese

In a large bowl dissolve sugar in wate. Add yeast and stir briefly. Stir in dry milk, salt and 3 cups flour. Knead for 3 minutes adding more flour as needed. Let it rise for about 20-30 minutes.

Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface. Cut dough into 1 inch strips and dip into melted butter. Place strips closely together in the pan. Sprinkle garlic salt and Parmesan cheese liberally.

Let rise again for 10-15 minutes. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

(Source: Cidne W.)

Gluten free 4 ingredient cookies

Okay, so I was doubtful when I first saw this recipe, but the cookies turned out great! They are a little crumbly, but still taste great. I will freely admit that I put some chocolate sauce on them and they were amazing. While I didn't have the chocolate or muffin cups on hand to try, I bet these would make an AMAZING filling for some homemade Reese's cups! I've made them before with crushed graham crackers, but it you want to skip the crackers and use this, I think it would work.

I'm sorry I never have pictures, I'm not the best photographer, and 50% of the pictures my camera takes are blurry. So if you have a great camera you want to send me I promise I would take more pictures!

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies

- 1 c. peanut butter

- 1 c. sugar

- 1. tsp. baking soda

- 1 egg

Mix the peanut butter and sugar together. Then mix in soda and egg. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

(Source: Stephanie S.)

Amazing Pineapple Salsa

This salsa is amazing and easy! I hope you like it as much as I do, and that it last longer than one night (never does at our place).

Pineapple Salsa

- 1 can petite diced tomatoes (undrained)

- 1 can corn (drained)

- 1 can black beans (drained)

- 1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped (I prefer 1/4)

- 1 (20 oz) can of pineapple tidbits (undrained) (I like to cut them in half)

- 1/3 c. Italian dressing

Mix all ingredients together. The salsa is liquidy but really good.

(Source: M. Crane)

Snickerdoodles

When I was younger I was always baking cookies. I really like this recipe because it calls for ingredients that you probably already have in your cupboards.

Snickerdoodles

- 1 c. butter
- 1 1/2 c. sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 3/4 c. flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp. cream of tartar
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 2 tsp. cinnamon

Cream the butter and sugar together and then mix in the other powdered ingredients and eggs. Roll into walnut-sized balls. In a separate bowl mix together sugar and cinnamon. Roll the dough balls in the cinnamon sugar mix and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

Cook at 375 to 400 degrees F for 6-10 minutes. Remove them from oven before they turn light brown. Makes several dozen.

(Source: Michelle D)

Matty's Cheese Ball

For my first recipe I thought I would share a nice easy appetizer with you! It is an amazing cheese ball that goes great with almost any cracker.

Cream Cheese Ball

-16 oz cream cheese

-1 small can of crushed pineapple (it's about the size of a normal tuna can)

-1 minced green pepper (a smaller one is better)

-1/4 cup minced onion

-1 tsp seasoning salt (such as Lawry's)

-1 cup crushed pecans (or almonds or whatever you prefer)

-Crackers of choice

Drain the pineapple. Mix everything together but half of the pecans (set aside for later). I just use my hand to do this but you might try a food processor if you have one. Shape the lump into 2 balls (or 1 your choice) and roll them over the remaining pecans. I really like the toll house crackers, or club crackers with it. It's so good!

(Source: Matt W.)