Products I Love: Ayesha Curry Bacon Grease Can

Ah, Bacon. The sizzle, the crackle, the smell. Just the smell of bacon makes gives me all the feels. The smell of bacon brings back childhood memories of camping, my Mom cooking in the kitchen on a Sunday morning with the smells of fresh coffee and pancakes lingering in the background. Bacon is a comfort food we can all appreciate.

And I like to save my bacon drippings for other added flavor and seasoning. If you've never saved your bacon grease but want to start, make sure you strain the bacon grease with a cheese cloth and then transfer it into an air tight container. After you transfer your bacon grease into an air tight container make sure to put it into the refrigerator. Storing your grease in the refrigerator can actually stay good for up to 1 year! But you never want to store the bacon grease with bits of meat because it can turn rancid with a few weeks. So strain that bacon grease!

I love to use this ADORABLE bacon grease can by Ayesha Curry. You can get yours on Amazon Prime for $11.55 Click on this link to order yours: Ayesha Curry Bacon Grease Can other colors are available but at different prices.

Save your Bacon Drippings using this adorable can! Click on link above!

I just love this little bacon grease can, it's way cuter than using a coffee can and it's air tight, just what you need! Plus, when digging through your refrigerator, you always know where your bacon grease is thanks to Ayesha Curry's super cute design on the front. 

So with that said, Christmas is coming up and I know some of you have Mama's that still use bacon grease like I do. So why don't you gift your favorite bacon loving Mom with this Bacon Grease Can from Ayesha Curry sold on Amazon

Still not sold on saving your bacon grease drippings? Check out these 8 uses for bacon grease! Enjoy!

Meatloaf Veggie Burger

My family loves a good meatloaf, and so do I. Meatloaf is my go to recipe for company coming over and for a welcomed fall meal. But have you ever had meatloaf as a hamburger piled high with roasted root vegetables? Oh. My. Goodness. Y'all don't know food love until you've had these. My Mom used to make these when I was a little girl and here I am now making these for my family. This is a recipe I hope my children will grow up loving as much as I did. And this is a great recipe for anyone on a budget or new to cooking, too. Simple, easy and cheap.

Meatloaf Veggie Burgers

Ingredients

2 lbs ground sirloin

1 packet Beefy Onion soup mix

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

1 egg

Extra ketchup for smearing

1 large russet potato

1 bag carrot chips or 2 carrots for slicing

salt and pepper for seasoning

hamburger buns optional

Preheat oven to 350

In a large mixing bowl, using  your hands (yes, just like Mom used to do)

Mix ground sirloin, beefy onion soup mix, water, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and egg 

Tear off 6 sheets of aluminum foil for wrapping meatloaf patty 

Form meat into 6 hamburger patties

Place each meatloaf patty onto a sheet of foil

Add additional ketchup to the top of meatloaf patties, smearing it across the top of the patty

Cut your potato and carrots into slices (not too thick because it takes longer to cook through)

Generously add potato slices and carrot slices to each meatloaf patty

Veggies should be over flowing, you want a bunch, trust me.

Season with salt and pepper to your liking

Wrap each meatloaf patty and its veggies in the foil sheet 

and poke a few holes in the bottom of the wrapped patty for ventilation and to let fat drain out.

Place wrapped and poked patties onto a lined cookie sheet 

Bake in over for at least an hour 

After an hour let the patties sit for a few minutes to cool off

Opening up patties straight from the oven could burn you because of the steam, so please use caution.

Put meatloaf patty on a bun and pile on your veggies from the same foil pouch

Top with ketchup or mustard or pickles or nothing at all....its so delicious any way you have it!

Best served with fries of any kind (I personally like sweet potato fries!!).

And wash it down with a sweet tea.

Enjoy!

Meatloaf Veggie Burger

My family loves a good meatloaf. And so do I. Meatloaf is my go to recipe for company coming over and for a welcomed fall meal. But have you ever had meatloaf as a hamburger piled high with roasted root vegetables? Oh. My. Goodness. Y'all don't know food love until you've had these. My Mom used to make these when I was a little girl and here I am now making these for my family. This is a recipe I hope my children will grow up loving as much as I did. And this is a great recipe for anyone on a budget or new to cooking, too. Simple, easy and cheap.

Meatloaf Veggie Burgers

Ingredients

2 lbs ground sirloin

1 packet Beefy Onion soup mix

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

1 egg

Extra ketchup for smearing

1 large russet potato

1 bag carrot chips or 2 carrots for slicing

salt and pepper for seasoning

hamburger buns optional

Preheat oven to 350

In a large mixing bowl, using  your hands (yes, just like Mom used to do)

Mix ground sirloin, beefy onion soup mix, water, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and egg 

Tear off 6 sheets of aluminum foil for wrapping meatloaf patty 

Form meat into 6 hamburger patties

Place each meatloaf patty onto a sheet of foil

Add additional ketchup to the top of meatloaf patties, smearing it across the top of the patty

Cut your potato and carrots into slices (not too thick because it takes longer to cook through)

Generously add potato slices and carrot slices to each meatloaf patty

Veggies should be over flowing, you want a bunch, trust me.

Season with salt and pepper to your liking

Wrap each meatloaf patty and its veggies in the foil sheet 

and poke a few holes in the bottom of the wrapped patty for ventilation and to let fat drain out.

Place wrapped and poked patties onto a lined cookie sheet 

Bake in over for at least an hour 

After an hour let the patties sit for a few minutes to cool off

Opening up patties straight from the oven could burn you because of the steam, so please use caution.

Put meatloaf patty on a bun and pile on your veggies from the same foil pouch

Top with ketchup or mustard or pickles or nothing at all....its so delicious any way you have it!

Best served with fries of any kind (I personally like sweet potato fries!!).

And wash it down with a sweet tea.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Sugar Coffee Cake

Cinnamon Sugar Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1-10 inch metal Bunt pan

Non-stick spray

1 Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe yellow cake mix

1 (3.4oz) box Jello-O instant vanilla pudding

3/4 cup coconut oil for cooking and baking

3/4 cup water

4 eggs

1 tsp butter extract

1 tsp pure vanilla

Filling

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup walnut, chopped

7 tsp cinnamon

Almond Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 to 2 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350

Spray Bunt pan with non-stick cooking spray, set aside

In large bowl mix together the cake mix and the vanilla pudding

Add the oil, water, eggs, butter extract and vanilla. Stir by hand until ingredients are blended. Pour half of the batter into the pan.

Make the filling. Mix together the sugar, walnuts and cinnamon. On top of batter, add the filling mixture and swirl into the cake batter.

Bake 1 hour. Cake is done when it springs back with a light touch from the top. Remove and let it sit 5 minutes.

Loosen the cake by gently running a knife around the side of the pan. Gently invert onto a cake plate and let it cool until slightly warm. Make glaze by mixing together the powder sugar, milk and almond extract.
Pour glaze over top and sides of cake. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

{This recipe comes from my go-to cookbook, "Rosalie Serving Country"}

Enjoy!

Baked Ziti & The Bread

Baked Ziti, it's a Smith family favorite. Especially for my son, Matt, who runs cross country and track. He's a carb loading man and Mama's baked ziti is the perfect meal for him.  If you like to eat cheese, pasta and meaty sauce you'll fall head over heels for this baked ziti! Oh did I mention the bread?! Oh can you hear the hallelujah choir singing? The bread is crack y'all. I mean, you'll be addicted once you eat it. Great for any Italian dinner or to slop up your next soup!
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Baked Ziti

Preheat oven to 350

Ingredients

12oz uncooked ziti
1lb ground turkey meat
1lb ground Italian mild sausage
1-28oz jar spaghetti sauce
2 eggs
1 carton Ricotta Cheese
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Boil pasta, cook and drain ground turkey and Italian sausage, and stir in spaghetti sauce.
In a large bowl combine eggs, ricotta cheese, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.
Drain pasta and add to cheese mixture and toss to coat. Spoon a third of the meat sauce into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Top with half of the pasta mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining meat sauce. Cover and bake for 40 minutes
Uncover and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake 5-10 minutes longer
Let stand 15 minutes

Enjoy!

The Bread
(from the Pioneer Woman)

Preheat oven to 325

Ingredients
1 loaf French or Italian bread, any variety
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, softened

Put an oven rack on the lower level an preheat the oven.
Slice the bread you want in half and lay the halves cut side up on a rimmed  baking sheet.
Smear 1 stick of butter on each half. {I'm not kidding.}
Then use a knife to smear it over the entire surface of the bread, covering every inch.
Bake for 5-10 minutes, until the butter melts and the bread has to chance to warm up.
Then turn up the broiler, return the pan to the oven, and let it broil until the butter turns a beautiful deep golden brown and almost starts to blacken.

{Be sure to watch the bread the entire time during this process. Because if you are anything like me, if you turn your back for a moment, it'll burn!}

Immediately cut The Bread into strips.

**serve with soups, salads, pastas**

Enjoy!

S'mores Rice Krispie Treats

Need an idea or two for camping with the kids?  These are so good you'll have to give them away to prevent yourself from eating the whole batch! Y'all, these are that amazing!!

S'mores Rice Krispie Treats 

Ingredients

• 4 cups mini marshmallows
• 4 tablespoons butter
• pinch of salt
• 4 cup rice krispies cereal 
• 3/4 bag chocolate chips
• 4 graham cracker sheets
• 18 large marshmallows
• 
  
• In a large pot, combine the mini marshmallows, butter, and salt. 
• Warm over medium heat until everything melts together. Stir often.
• Stir in the rice krispies, and remove from the heat.
• In a large baking pan or dish, line the bottom with the graham cracker sheets
• Press the rice krispie mixture flat onto the graham crackers
• Top the rice krispie mixture with the chocolate chips and gently press down.
•  Next, cut the large marshmallows in half and add them over the top.
• Broil the marshmallows until brown (about 4 minutes, as you can see I went a tad over that-keeping it real people:)

Enjoy!

Here are more fun S'mores recipes for you to try! Add the rice krispies for an even more delicious treat!

Homemade Italian Meatballs

Eating meatballs in this family is like eating your veggies. It's a must. We have meatballs at least a few times a month and its pretty much my go to when I have to feed a crowd.

These are great served in crock pot full of spaghetti sauce or on their own. Put them in a zip lock baggie for a quick high protein treat, or eat them on a sub smothered in sauce and mozzarella cheese, or even served them on top a pizza and wash down with a cold beer! These are simply delicious and you can't go wrong any way you choose to eat them! 

Enjoy!

Homemade Italian Meatballs

Ingredients

2 slices sourdough bread

8 oz ground turkey

3-4 Italian sausage links (casings removed)

1 cup minced onion

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 TBSP milk

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

4 cloves minced garlic

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parcment paper

Process bread in a food processor

Combine crumbs, turkey, sausage, onion, basil, Parmesan cheese, milk, salt, pepper, garlic and egg.

Mix well, go on, get your hands in there and get dirty! 

Use a small spoon to shape turkey mixture into meatballs, dropping them on the lined baking sheet. 

Bake 20-25 minutes or until browned and cooked through.

Homemade Brown Sugar-N-Cinnamon Pop Tarts with Candied Maple Bacon

Every now and then I get the urge to go completely outside of my comfort zone and try something new. This morning was one of those urge days. Over the weekend I bought a new cookbook and it has so many delicious recipes, y'all. So far I've tried 3 recipes in this cookbook and all have been very successful! The cook book is "The Southern Pantry Cookbook" and I can already tell it'll be a staple go to in my kitchen. I bought my locally, but you can order one at Amazon by clicking on this link:

http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Pantry-Cookbook-Recipes-Already/dp/1401605214/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462978259&sr=8-1&keywords=the+southern+pantry+cookbook

 

This morning I made the homemade pop tarts and candied bacon, however, I used maple bacon. I had already made pie crust in my freezer I needed to use. So my crust is not from scratch but if you have the time, by all means shoot for the stars and make your own homemade pie crust. I hope you enjoy these as much as me and my family did! 

Homemade Brown Sugar-N-Cinnamon Pop Tarts

Ingredients for Brown Sugar Filling:

1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 teaspoons all-purpose flour

Ingredients for Icing:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients for Toaster Tarts:

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

Ingredients for Egg Wash:

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon water

 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a rimmed baking pan with parchment paper

2. To make brown sugar-n-cinnamon filling: In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon and flour.

3. To make icing: In a small bowl whisk together the confectioners sugar, milk, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Drizzle over pop tarts, serve warm.

4. To make egg wash: lightly beat one egg with 1 tablespoon of water

5. To make the pop tarts: Roll out the dough and stack on top of each other and cut into even squares, making sure to keep matching tops and bottoms together. 

6. Separate the top and bottom of each pastry and brush matching sides with egg wash.

7. Spoon one pastry with about 1 heaping tablespoon of the brown sugar-n-cinnamon filling

8. Place matching pastry on top and seal edges using the tines of a fork around all the edges to crimp the dough.

9. Bake until lightly golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and place the baking sheet on cooling rack. Drizzle with icing and Enjoy!!

Candied Maple Bacon

Ingredients: 

Non Stick cooking spray

1/2 cup finely packed light brown sugar

12 slices center cut  maple bacon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Generously spray a wire baking rack with cooking spray and then place on top of a lined rimmed baking pan. {I used parchment paper for easy clean up.}

3. Place the brown sugar in a shallow baking dish and evenly dredge both sides of the maple bacon

4. Placed bacon on to the wire rack in a single layer with no overlapping pieces.

5. Bake until the bacon is crispy, 20-25 minutes.

6. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Soft Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've never been a cookie maker....or real baker for that matter. Although those are my passions, my favorites, I've always been much better at savory dishes. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, meatballs, sauce, gravy~I've got those down. But baking has always been my Achilles heel. And that's been heartbreaking for me. Homemade bread....never rises. Home baked cookies, flat and crunchy. Pie Crust, from a box because I still can't make it (did I mention I have a giant "How to Make the Perfect Pie Crust" print on my kitchen wall and I still can't get it right!). Cakes....lets not go there. {sigh}

So, I have a glass cookie jar. I've had it for nearly 20 years, before I ever of became mom. I always fill the cookie jar with home baked cookies. However, my cookies ALWAYS turned out flat, crunchy, crumbly and far from what I had hoped they'd turn out to be. Y'All it was embarrassing...

Until today....

The dear Lord has blessed me, yet again, with my saving grace of chocolate chip cookie recipes. These are the BEST cookies hands down, I'll never try another chocolate chip cookie recipe again, these will be my go to for the rest of my life and I'll pass this recipe down to my children and grandchildren....and sadly I've eaten like 6 so far; they are that good. So if you like soft batch cookies, the kind of cookies where the chocolate seems to melt with each bite, then you must give these a try!

But I have to say before you try this recipe, just know for the wanna be bakers like me out there, it isn't always our fault. I follow directions to the exact, but sometimes all it takes is a tiny tweak to make it work for me. There are so many ways people make recipes with their own little secrets and they have that secret to make it taste heavenly and flawless....so just know, the recipe books are not always 100%. So please don't give up, have fun trying and learning! 

Soft Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

14 TBSP unsalted butter, room temperature

{notice how its not 2 sticks...don't use the whole 2 sticks!}

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

{this is not a typo, I promise}

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups flour 

2 tsp flour

{again, not a typo, trust me}

1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
(if you are using salted butter, omit adding salt)

1 bag chocolate chips, any kind you like

Preheat your oven to 350

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and both sugars until creamy

Add eggs one at a time until well blended

Add vanilla and mix well

Add 2 1/2 cups flour, baking soda and salt all at once

Mix until well blended

Add your 2 TBSP flour and mix well

Fold in your chocolate chips

Using a cookie scoop or teaspoon, make a ball out of your chocolate chip cookie dough and place on your cookie sheet. Allow some room for the cookie to spread. The smaller the cookie
 (1 round tsp), the more airy and soft it'll be. The larger the cookie, the more it'll spread and you run the risk of crispy cookies!

Bake for 10 minutes, or longer if you need to. 

{all ovens vary, do what works best for you}

I hope you enjoy these as much as we have!

Happy Baking, Y'All!!!

This recipe was found and adapted from this link: 

http://www.thebakingchocolatess.com/omg-soft-batch-chocolate-chip-cookies-pure-nirvana/

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

Here in the South we love our comfort food! And one of my families favorite foods of comfort is good ol' buttermilk biscuits. These biscuits are perfect for breakfast with a warm cup of tea; both with a generous amount of honey. 

These biscuits are light and airy and melt-in-your mouth buttery goodness. They are a little sticky to deal with, but its nothing that a dough scraper and floured hands can't handle. 

HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature

1/4 cup cream cheese, at room temperature

3/4 cup buttermilk

melted butter for brushing biscuits

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix together and make a well for your next ingredients.

2. Cut butter and cream cheese into flour mixture with a pastry blender or your fingers. Do this until your dough looks like small peas.

3. Add buttermilk, stir until dry ingredients are moistened. Sprinkle some flour on top of your dough.

4. On a flour surface {I like to use my large cutting board for easier clean up}, dump the dough on to your cutting board or counter top. Knead 3 or 4 times. Pat or roll dough to desired thickness.

5. Using a floured 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter or top of glass, cut your dough. Place biscuits on a lightly greased baking pan or baking dish. 

6. Bake for 10-15 minutes, remove from oven and brush biscuits with melted butter.

Enjoy!