Potato logs

4 potatoes
2 cups of flour
Natures seasoning
1 egg
1 cup milk
Oil for frying

Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and then in wedge shapes. Place potatoes in a bowl of ice water for 30 minutes. Mix flour and natures seasoning. You need enough seasoning so that it shows well in the flour. Heat oil in a large pan. You need enough oil so the potatoes are covered and then some. Whisk together egg and milk. Remove potatoes from water and squeeze well with a towel to remove excess moisture. Coat in flour, then egg wash, then back in flour. Carefully drop in oil. Fry until golder brown. Drain on paper towels.

Ultimate Grilled Cheese

     Ok first I want to say that if you have never tried an avacado then you need to. They are delicious. They have a subtle buttery taste and make an excellent topping to a salad.  They are not expensive so just buy it and try it. Slice it in half and then remove the seed and spoon out the green stuff LOL.

     For the ultimate grilled cheese your sandwich filler options are endless. Really  this becomes more of some kind of melt than a grilled cheese but I had a grilled cheese in mind when I made it.
     A few grilled cheese tips- You want to cook it slowly so the cheese melts and the butter doesn't burn. Do not, I repeat DO NOT smoosh the bread down. Then you just end up with a sandwich that looks like it has been rolled over with a trash truck. For a perfect grilled cheese you need to be patient.

2 slices of your choice of bread (I have potato bread for the picture, but use your favorite)
1 -2 tomato slice
2 slices of bacon
1/4 avacado
2-3 tukey lunch meat slices
Cheese- I cut blocks of colby jack cheese, it's my favorite. If you like sliced cheese the use 2 slices

Heat a non stick skillet on low heat.
Butter one side of both slices of bread.
I cut up my tomato and avacado in bite size pieces so there wont be chunks falling out of the sandwich.
Put the first piece of bread on skillet.
Top with cheese, turkey, bacon, tomato, and avacado.
Place more cheese on top and finish with the other piece of bread.
Cook slowly flipping over once until cheese in melted.

Cinnamon Rolls

 4 3/4 to 5 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tbsp half anf half

In a large mixing bowl combine 2 1/4 cup flour and yeast.
In a saucepan heat milk, butter, salt, and sugar just until butter starts to melt.
Add to flour mixture with eggs. Beat at 30 seconds on low speed. Beat on high for 3 minutes.
Mix in as much flour as you can with a spoon.
Turn onto a floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes until dough is not sticky and elastic.
Place in a well greased bowl turning once to coat in oil.
cover and let rise about an hour
punch down divide into 2 and let rest 10 minutes.
Roll into rectangles.
grease 2 round baking pans
for filling- cube butter . stir together brown sugar, flour , and cinnamon. sut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs
Spread filling evenly over rectangles and sprinkle with pecans
roll lengthwise
Slice each roll into 12 pieces and place in pans.
cover loosley with plastic wrap and place in fridge no more than 24 hours
If cooking right away let rise for 30 mins
Remove from fridge and let sit at room temp for 30 mins.
brush dough with half anf half
Bake in a 375 oven for 20-25 mins
cover with foil for the last 10 mins if needed so they dont get too brown
remove from oven and brush again with half anf half
cool for 1 minute and invert rolls onto a wire rack
cool slightly and transfer rolls to a serving dish
drizzle with vanilla glaze

vanilla glaze-
In a small bowl stir together 1 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar, 1 tsp light colored corn syrup, and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Add enough half anf half to reach drizzling consistency

***NOTE*** use real butter for baking

Sausage, mushroom, and spinach stuffed shells.

1 lb hot pork sausage
1 bag of fresh spinach
1 container of fresh mushrooms
1 box jumbo shells
1 large container ( I think it's 15 oz) ricotta cheese
3 cups shredded mozz. cheese
Parm cheese- to taste
2 jars of red spaghetti sauce or homemade
2-3 cloves garlic minced
2 eggs - beaten

Brown and drain sausage. Chop mushrooms and spinach. In a large pan sautee mushrooms and garlic with olive oil. After about 3 minutes add spinach and sprinkle with salt. Saute in pan until spinach is done. Drain. Mix sausage and spinach mixture with Ricotta cheese. Sprinkle seasoning to taste. Add 2 beaten eggs and 1/2 thr mozz cheese. Cook shells according to package directions. Pour enough sauce to cover bottom of a lasagna pan. Stuff shells with ricota mixture and place in pan. Pour rest of sauce over pasta. Sprinkle with the other half of cheese. Top with rest of  mozz. and sprinkle with parm cheese. Bake at 350 for 45 mins.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

This is pure delicious comfort food!

 6 med potatos peeled and cubed
3 bunches of onion (I prefer green) chopped
1 piece of celery cut length wise and chopped
1 carrot peeled and shredded
4 cups of chicken broth (I use water and add 5 chicken boulion cubes it's cheaper)
1-2 cups of milk, or half and half
2 tbsp butter
2 slices of bacon chopped
1-2 cups shredded cheese ( I used colby jack blend, but you can use cheddar if you prefer)

In a large pot sautee bacon, butter, onion, celery, and carrot for 3 minutes. Add broth and potatoes. Cook on low until potatoes are tender. Add milk and cheese, cook until cheese is melted. Season to taste.

I add about 1/4 cup of instant potato flakes to thicken the soup. Much easier than doing it with flour.

I like to add a dallop of sour cream, bacon crumbles, and shredded cheese to top of soup. It makes a pretty presentation and is yummy when stirred in!

Smothered Pork Chops

My first post will be my husbands favorite. This is how you keep a man people! Mouth watering chops that melt in your mouth smothered with gravy and onions. I halved the recipe for those of you not feeding an army like I am.

 4 thin pork chops with bone in
2 onions, sliced
flour
oil
1 package brown gravy mix

Season flour well. Coat chops with flour and fry in oil just covering bottom of pan. All you have to do is bwon them, they will not be full cooked. Remove chops and put onions in same pan. Sautee onions until tender. Make the gravy according to package directions expect make it in the pan the onions are already in. ( packaged gravy taste better than homemade in this recipe because it is being mixed with the drippings from the pan it does not taste like its packaged) Season the gravy to your taste. Once gravy is thickened add por chops back in pan. Cover and simmer about an hour turning the chops over in gravy occasionaly.

I like to serve this over rice. It is so good!!!