Dinner, Wine, & My Spare Time

2 tubes of grands jr buttermilk biscuits 1 stick of melted butter 1-2 C of jarred grated parmesan with herbs (located near pasta sauces) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bundt pan with non-stick spray. Open biscuits and roll into balls. Dip balls into butter and roll in parmesan, coat completely. Place in bundt pan, rolls will overlap. Bake for 35 minutes. Cool and flip over pan to serve. Serve with a meal or with pizza sauce as a fun snack or app. These remind of breadsticks from a pizzeria! YUM

Dear Meat Eaters, Are you tired of turkey by Christmas? Well here is the solution! Prime Rib  courtesy of my pops  and this website link http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/prime_rib/ Bon Appetit Meaties!!! Merry Christmas! XOXO, OutofZin

I ended up with some fancy cheeses via a mailed Christmas gift. The hubs and I are not fans of brie, but I thought a crescent wrapped brie might just change his mind. 1 package crescent rolls 1 brie round 1 egg, beaten Separate crescent dough into 2 squares and press seams together. Lay one square on baking sheet. Put brie in middle, top with 2nd square of dough. Wrap dough around brie and gather dough over top of brie. Brush with beaten egg. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. I'm not checking for spelling errors due to massive wine consumption and it's Christmas Eve, don't I get a break lol!

 A couple of years ago the hubs and are were watching some travel show and they went to Philadelphia and had this sub made with coleslaw and stuffed with french fries. So the hubs and I came up with a copycat version. I made myself one sans the ham! It was gooood! Hoagie buns mustard ham provolone pickle coleslaw french fries

Almond Coconut Cookies 1 package Betty Crocker's Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix 1/2 C Organic Extra Virgin Coconut oil 2 eggs 1 C sweetened coconut flake 1/2 C slivered almonds Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients. Place by rounded tablespoons onto non-stick cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until browned. Yields 2 dozen. These are so good,  and they taste like an almond joy!

Veggie Lo Mein 1/2 pkg spaghetti or linguine 2 Tbsp vegetable oil 1/2 C sliced mushrooms 1/2 C chopped broccoli 1/2 C chopped onions 1/2 C chopped carrots 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper soy sauce sesame oil Cook pasta and drain well, set aside. Heat large non-stick pan over high heat. Add oil and saute veggies for 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper and saute an additional 2 minutes. Add cooked noodles, soy sauce, and toss. Drizzle with sesame oil. Thanks to the hubs for a great food pic!

Thanks to my office Christmas Party and restaurant leftovers the hubs and I got creative with dinner. And we had a Top Chef challenge set to Jock Jams! "Let's get ready to rumble..." (our bellies!) So with the restaurant leftover mushrooms, I came up with Mushrooms on toast Saute mushrooms and onion. Butter French bread, place butter side down in skillet. Spread Dijon mustard on bread and top with mushroom and onion mixture. Top with shredded Parmesan, mozzarella, parsley, and smoked paprika. Grill until cheese melts and toast is browned. And with leftover pulled pork the hubs came up with Pulled Pork Open Faced Sliders Slice slider buns. Place shredded pork on half of bun. Top with BBQ sauce and coleslaw.

We had our Office Christmas Party the other day and decided on a three ingredient no-fail recipe! It always delivers and rarely leaves leftovers. Peach-BBQ Lil' Smokies 2-14 oz package of Lil' Smokies cocktail sausages 1-16 oz jar of Peach Preserves 1-16 oz bottle of BBQ sauce Put all ingredients into a crockpot, stir and cook on high for 2 hours or low for 4 hours.  Serves 12-15, I would double for larger crowds.

Hilarious quote from a classic Seinfeld episode So in honor of that beloved show, here is my spin on the Big Salad! Romaine lettuce blend tomatoes onion white kidney beans ham (for hubs' salad not mine) cheeze-its (once again hubs' salad not mine, well maybe a couple) blue cheese carrots Well that's a terrible picture I took of my husband's salad.  But I had already eaten half of mine when I realized I needed a pic!

Cold Snowy weather, needs some chili (vegetarian style)!  So here is my twist on the Frito Chili Pie in a slow cooker, of course! 1 pkg Morningstar Farms frozen veggie crumbles 1 can kidney beans, undrained 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained 1 pkg chili seasoning Put all ingredients into slow cooker and mix well. Turn on high for 2 hours, then low for additional hour. Serve with frito scoops and a buffet of toppings... sour cream onions salsa salsa con queso cheddar cheese So good and filling!

Friday was a Snow day again!!! I love it! It brings out my inner Julia Child :-)  Truffle oil fries prepared french fries truffle oil parsley parmesan smoked paprika Spicy Garlic Aioli 3/4 C mayo 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp hot sauce salt and pepper to taste Veggie Slider 1 veggie sausage patty, prepared 1 ciabatta roll, sliced pickled jalapenos salsa blue cheese dressing

Snow Day!!! or rather freezing rain. Got to leave work early! My blog readers are getting spoiled! I was hungry so I scoured my pantry and decided to make some  mac and cheese...muffins! 1 pkg prepared mac and cheese 1 egg, beaten 1 C Italian cheeses, shredded 1 C cheeze-it crackers, crushed Smoked paprika Truffle oil (optional) Muffin pan for 12 Prepare mac and cheese, mix in 1 beaten egg. Spray muffin pan with non-stick spray. Place 2 heaping Tbsp of mac and cheese into each muffin tin. Top with cheeses, crackers, paprika and oil. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from tins. Verdict, pretty good. They don't come out of the muffin pan perfectly but maybe next time I will use paper liners. These would be so cute for a party! Oh yeah those are halloween shaped mac and cheese. Hey they were on clearance and I had a coupon lol!

My blog's titled dinner, wine, & my spare time So I figured it's time for wine! We can discuss my spare time later, after I finish this glass lol! Here is my philosophy on wine Box wine is good, there I said it! Wine doesn't have to cost more that $20 a bottle. Don't be afraid of twist-offs. I will drink $5 champagne (or to be technical sparkling wine). That being said any "champagne" less than $5 I will probably pass on! Yes, I am a sucker for pretty wine bottles. For Thanksgiving I bought box wine, I decided to go with a little more upscale brand (upscale for box wine, it that an oxymoron?) Which gave me more flavor options. I wanted some pinot grigio and hubs wanted pinot noir.  What can I say we love our pinots :-)

Oh the things I would make when I was a poor college student... I would make a bunch of cheesy bean burritos, wrap them in foil and freeze. And when I wanted one for dinner, I would just remove the foil and bake or zap in the microwave. In your face Taco Bell!!! So seeing as I have a can of beans, cheese, salsa, and tortillas. I thought I would get nostalgic and make some burritos. 5-6 flour tortillas (depending on tortilla size) 1 can refried beans 1 Tbsp taco seasoning (optional) 1 C shredded cheddar cheese 1/2 C salsa or hot sauce (Back when I was a poor college student, I didn't always have the luxury of salsa, but hot sauce...oh yes!) Foil about the size of a sheet of paper, one for each burrito Mix beans with taco seasoning in a large bowl. Scoop about 1/4 C or so of the bean mixture in the middle of each tortilla. Top with cheese and salsa. Roll up and wrap in foil. You could put them all in a large ziploc and label with the date or you can just go old school a

Thanksgiving is great, especially the leftovers. I had the genius idea to make a plate using small casserole dishes so we could just heat and eat exactly what we want. Basically we made TV dinners! Seriously who poked the mashed potatoes?