Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring

Our Christmas morning tradition is to meet at my sister's house to see what Santa brought my young nieces and have breakfast together. She assigned my dad the role of cooking eggs, bacon, and sausage...and she asked me to bring something sweet.

I love monkey bread, but it can be a little time-consuming and laborious to prepare. I liked the idea of this version, which I traced back on Pinterest to The Jones Way blog, which uses whole biscuits, and had all of the same flavor components.

I prepared this the night before and stored in a Tupperware cake container. This slices like a cake, and it's moist, sticky, and sweet. It practically melts in your mouth. The syrup/butter combination created a scrumptious glaze (without having to actually glaze it). It was gobbled up!

Printable recipe

1 tube Pillsbury Grands buttermilk biscuits 

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

1/2 cup pancake syrup

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

 

Spray a Bundt pan with non-stick spray. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Place about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top. Lay the biscuits on the bottom of the pan, overlapping edges (closely together) to form a ring. Top with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute in the pan, and then invert onto a serving platter.

White Rotel Dip

I made so many batches of standard Velveeta and Rotel dip in my 20s, I've nearly rebelled against it in my 30s. It was my staple dish to every single college gathering I ever attended. I never even knew people put ground beef or sausage in it until a few years ago.

When I saw this variation from Deep South Dish, I knew it would make a great addition to my family's Christmas Eve celebration. While we all gather in the kitchen pre-dinner anyway...this year, we were even further tightly gathered around this little crockpot (perfect for serving and keeping warm), vying for room to get our next scoop. Yeah, saying it was a hit is a huge understatement. There wasn't one person in our group that shied away from this one.

It's much richer and creamier than the original, and the cream cheese brings a completely different flavor to it. I like the spice of the hot sausage to cut through the creaminess. Many declared it "the new Rotel dip." Guess we're done with the block of orange cheese!

Printable recipe


1 pound hot pork sausage, browned and drained
2 packages cream cheese
2 cans Rotel tomatoes, undrained
2 cups mozzarella cheese

In a large bowl, heat cream cheese in microwave in 2-minute intervals until smooth and easy to stir. Stir in the Rotel and sausage and cook for another couple of minutes. Stir in mozzarella cheese and cook in 2-minute intervals, stirring in between, until cheese is melted and dip is thoroughly warm.

No-Peek Beef

A few months ago, I tried a recipe for No-Peek Chicken...and then I saw this recipe for No-Peek Beef last week, courtesy of Mommy's Kitchen blog.

It cooks low and slow...and makes your house smell divine. I used stew meat, and it was incredibly tender...and swimming in a swoon-worthy gravy. I will use low-sodium onion soup mix next time, as it almost bordered on too salty (the blandness of the rice made it less so).

We eat late, so this was a good weeknight meal for us, especially since it only takes a few minutes to put together. But I could see this as more of a weekend meal for most families.

I (obviously) served it over rice, but it would also be delicious over mashed potatoes or egg noodles.


Printable recipe



2 pounds beef tips or stew meat
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet brown gravy mix
1 packet Lipton dry onion soup mix
1 4-ounce can mushrooms
1 cup water 

Add cubed meat to a 9x13 inch dish. In a large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients together and pour over the meat. Add mushrooms and stir to coat. Cover with foil and bake at 300 degrees for 3 hours.

OBG: Chicken and Dumplings

Here's another Oldie But Goodie (OBG). I have no idea where I got this recipe, but I've been making it for years. No judgment on using biscuit dough for the dumplings...that's how I cook. No way would I ever make dumplings from scratch!

This picture was taken after it had cooled...it's much soupier/looser when hot. It's the perfect cold-night dish...will warm you to the bone.

Printable recipe

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 cans chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can refrigerated biscuits

Bring broth to a boil and cook thighs 15-20 minutes until done. Remove thighs from broth. Keep broth in pot. Allow chicken to cool, then shred. Whisk in both cans of soup, and add chicken back in. Bring back to a boil. Separate biscuits and cut each into sixths. Add to pot and simmer for 12-15 minutes until dough is cooked.

Tortellini Bake

This is why I love Pinterest.

BF: Can I see your iPad for a few minutes?
Me: Sure. Why?
BF: I want to pick something Italian from your board for dinner.

Let me say this...this isn't a "one and done" dish. I promise if you make this, it will become part of your permanent rotation. The cream cheese turns an ordinary "pasta and sauce" recipe into something special. It's so rich and creamy...we couldn't stop eating it. My BF didn't even miss the meat, although you could certainly add ground beef or Italian sausage to it.

This recipe comes courtesy of Pass the Sushi.

Printable recipe

2 9-ounce packages refrigerated tortellini
1 jar spaghetti sauce
3 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup milk
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
1 cup mozzarella cheese

Cook the tortellini per package instructions. Drain. 

Meanwhile, stir together the spaghetti sauce, cream cheese, milk, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Stir in cooked tortellini.

Pour into greased 9x13 dish. Sprinkle the mixture with the mozzarella cheese and the remaining parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

Mexican Chicken and Rice

A few weeks ago, my mom gave me some smoked chicken breasts left over from her supper club, and I shredded and froze it. So, when I saw this recipe from Me and My Tadpole, I thought it would be a perfect dish to use up the chicken. I added a can of Rotel tomatoes for color and a little more heat.

As a "dinner," this had way too much taco seasoning. Overpowering. However, as a "dip," served with Frito Scoops, it was perfect. The flavor of the chips offset the seasoning and made it much more tasty. Plus, it uses ingredients you probably already have on hand.

Printable recipe

2-3 cups cooked, chopped chicken

1 packet taco seasoning

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 1/3 cups water

1 can Rotel tomatoes, drained

1 cup Minute rice, uncooked

1 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese

Mix together taco seasoning, soup, water, tomatoes, rice and 1/2 of the cheese in a large bowl. Stir in cooked chicken. Pour into a 9x13 baking dish and top with remaining cheese.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake up to an additional 10 minutes or until cheese on top is melted.

Meat Lover's Bread Pudding

Doesn't the name of this dish just scream "guy food" to you? This was floating around on Pinterest and comes courtesy of Pillsbury.

I made a few adjustments, some on purpose and some not. I intentionally left out the onion/celery/bell pepper mixture, for personal preference. Also, when I was browning the beef and sausage, I realized I was cooking 1/2 pound extra meat than the recipe called for...so instead of mixing in just one cup of marinara, I used the entire jar, just to make sure it had enough liquid. Finally, I realized that the boxes of frozen Texas toast I had bought were larger than specified, so I just used a box and a half. Basically, you just need enough cubes to cover two layers.

The prep on this was a little more intense than I thought...um, cubing frozen pieces of bread is no small task. And, the reviews were mixed. I thought it was delicious, with the bread sort of melting into a consistency that was almost like pasta. However, my BF thought it was dry. I brought leftovers to my mother the next day, and she said that when reheated in microwave, the bread became "gummy"...but that it had good flavor and she wished she could have tasted straight from the oven.

Like I said, though, I enjoyed it. I might not make it again...but I'm glad I gave it a try.

Printable recipe

1

 pound ground beef

1/2

 pound Italian pork sausage

1

  cup marinara sauce

1

  cup half-and-half

1 

teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2

 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 

teaspoon pepper

8

 eggs

2

 boxes (9.5 oz each) frozen five-cheese Texas toast, cubed

2

 cups shredded Italian cheese blend

Brown and drain beef and sausage. Stir in 1 cup marinara sauce. 

In medium bowl, beat half-and-half, Italian seasoning, garlic salt, pepper and eggs until blended. 

Layer half of the Texas toast in greased 9x13 dish; top with half of the meat mixture and 1 cup of the cheese blend. Repeat layers. Pour egg mixture over top. 

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes or until center is set. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.