Bacon Cheeseburger Bites

I've been trying lots of new recipes thanks to Pinterest.  Most of them have been very easy and simple, using ingredients I already have in the house...which is so nice.  The latest one I tried was these yummy and delicious bacon Cheeseburger bites.  Brendan gave it a raving review...even added to his prayer that he was thankful that I was so creative with our meals lately.    I hope you try them and let me know what you think.

photo credits : Taste of Home

Note:  the recipe includes making a dough, I cheated and just rolled out some Grand Biscuits, it worked really good and way more easy.  I only made eight because that's all the biscuits I had, so I have leftover meat mixture for a second (maybe even a third) meal.

Bacon Cheeseburger Bites

Ingredients

• 2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
• 2/3 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
• 2/3 cup warm milk (110° to 115°)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4-1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 
  FILLING:
• 1 pound sliced bacon, diced
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 pound process cheese (Velveeta), cubed
• 3 to 4 tablespoons butter, melted  ( I didn't use)
• Ketchup or barbecue sauce, optional

Directions

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, sugar, shortening, eggs, salt and 3-1/2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels. In a Dutch oven, cook the beef, onion, salt and pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add bacon and cheese; cook and stir until cheese is melted. Remove from the heat.
• Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into fourths. Roll each portion into an 12-in. x 8-in. rectangle; cut each into six squares. Place 1/4 cup meat mixture in the center of each square. Bring corners together in the center and pinch to seal.
• Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 400° for 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush with butter. Serve warm with ketchup if desired. Yield: 2 dozen.  
• Weight Watchers PP+ 8 per bite (if made according to recipe)

Fritos Sweet Snack Mix

I putt together a cookbook for Brendan's fourth grade as an auction item for the School's harvest sale.  I had all the students submit a favorite recipe and I wanted pictures in the cookbook so I made about 18 of the recipes (it wasn't a good thing for the weight lose thing.)  So I made the snack mix that my amazing friend Chelle's son submitted and it's to die for....I fall head over heels in love with it.  It's an best mixture of salty and sweet...it's a good thing that I had to give some away otherwise I would have eaten the whole bunch.

Fritos Sweet Snack Mix

INGREDIENTS

*2 cups brown sugar
*2 sticks butter
*1/2 cup Karo® syrup
*1 box rice Chex®
*1 bag Fritos®
*1 can peanuts or mixed nuts (I used peanuts)
*1 bag M&M's®

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients (minus the M&M's).
2. Bring sugar, butter and syrup to a boil.
3. Pour caramel mixture over the mix and stir.
4. Spread in two 9x13 cake pans.
5. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes, stir and bake another 8 minutes.
6. Pour in brown paper bag to cool, mixing every so often to keep from clumping together. 
7. Once totally cool, add M&M's.

Enjoy!

Salsa

I've been making this salsa for the last couple years and it's so easy.


Salsa
8 cups tomatoes, chopped
3 onions, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
8-10 jalapeno peppers, chopped (keep seed for hot, remove for milder)
1 12oz can of tomato paste
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 TBSP garlic powder
1 TBSP salt
1 TBSP pepper


Combine ingredient in a large pot.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 60-90 minutes. Put into pint jars and seal.  make 5 to 6 pints.

Notes:
I usually put my salsa in the blender after I cooked it for a smoother salsa.

Tip:
wear plastic gloves when working with jalapeno peppers so you don't get the "hot" of the pepper on your hands.

Pepperoni Pizza Bites

So like I said on my last post, I've been spending a lot of time on Pinterest.com and am finding tons of new recipes to try.  After my original plan for dinner back fired on me (I was on pinterest and the soup burnt to the bottom of the pan.  It stunk up the house!!!)  I had to come up with something different.  Seeing how Mike is in the field harvesting corn, I quickly thought of this tasty looking pizza bites.   I threw a batch together and the boys eat the whole thing...so I had to make another batch and brought those out to Mike for supper....I'm already sick of harvesting season.  

Pepperoni Pizza Bites

• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• pinch of salt 
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup pepperoni sliced, chopped
• 1/2 cup store-bought pizza sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning, & salt ; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

2. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.

These would also be great as an appetizer...Enjoy!!!!