German Chocolate Cheesecake

Besides red velvet cake, German Chocolate is my husbands fav. Cheesecake is my fav so this combines the best of both worlds. My kids licked their plates..and um so did Kyle ;)

This is TO DIE FOR!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had it warm but I bet its even better cool!




German Chocolate Cheesecake
INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package German chocolate cake mix
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla


FROSTING:
1 cup sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter, cubed
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
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DIRECTIONS
Prepare cake batter according to package directions; set aside. In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined.
Pour half of the cake batter into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Gently pour cream cheese mixture over batter. Gently spoon remaining batter or until a toothpick inserted near the center comeover top; spread to edge of pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for one hour until a toothpick comes out crumbly.




For frosting, combine sugar, milk, butter and egg yolks in a heavy saucepan. Cool and stir over medium-low heat until thickened and a thermometer reads 160 degrees F. Remove from the heat. Stir in vanilla; fold in coconut and pecans. Cool until frosting reaches spreading consistency. Frost cooled cake. Refrigerate leftovers.

To DIE for crockpot roast

We eat this once a month. Then the next day I take the meat and veggies and make roast chimmichangas.





Ingredients
1 beef roast, I use Eye of Round
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package brown gravy mix, dry
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package dried Italian salad dressing mix
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package ranch dressing mix, dry
1 cup chicken stock, 1/2 cup water
1/2 small onion
1/2 small green bell pepper
4 small potatoes (or as many as you'd like)
equal amounts of baby carrots, not cut

Directions

Season beef roast with coarse black pepper and kosher salt and sear in a very hot pan on all sides.

Place beef roast in crock pot.

Mix the dried mixes together in a bowl and sprinkle over the roast.

Pour the stock and water around the roast.

Cook on low for 7-9 hours.

Take out and slice, take extra juices (there will be a lot) and mix with a package of brown gravy mix on stove until thickened.

Geen Beans Italiano

My oldest would not eat green beans no matter what. My other 2 love them but she wouldn't. One day I drenched them with italian dressing (my girls love salad and love italian) and she tried them and loved them and kept coming back for more. So now she won't eat them any other way. It's become a tradition in our house.

In a rush we have canned green beans a lot. Sometimes fresh if I have time but we like ours super soft so we stick with canned alot.

I open 2 cans and pour in about 1/4 of a cup (lil more or less depending on how much you like) of Zesty Italian Dressing over the top.

Viola!

An easy way to jazz up a canned staple.

Pan Fries

Kyle greatly prefers these to mashed taters and so I thought I would do that as a special treat for him. Plus we had mashed taters last night.



Pan Fries

4 large raw Russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/8-inch thick)
1/2 of one large onion, or 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp or more of canola oil
Seasoned Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Dash of garlic powder

Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a medium to large skillet on medium high heat until sizzling. Place a single layer of potato slices on the bottom of the pan. Add a light layer of sliced onions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add another layer of potatoes, another layer of onion slices, sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Keep layering until you've used up your potatoes and onions

Lower the heat to medium and cover the pan. Let cook for about 10 minutes, until the potato layer at the bottom is nicely browned. You can move aside a little bit with a fork to see if the bottom edges are browned

Gently flip the potatoes over, a section of the pan at a time, so that the layer that was on the top is now on the bottom, and the browned potatoes are now on the top. Add another Tbsp of oil. The oil will help the browning. Cover and let cook for another 5-10 minutes, until the bottom layer is now browned

Once the bottom layer is browned, remove the lid of the pan and let continue to cook for 5 more minutes.

Serves 5

A TEXAS STAPLE for those non-texans out there :)

This is why the state of Texas is such a big state..tisk tisk!

I am amazed how many of my out of state friends have no clue what chicken fried steak is! Here it is guys and a disclaimer: IF YOU ARE ON A DIET LOOK NO FURTHER..JUST THE SIGHT OF THIS WILL MAKE YOUR BUTT BIGGER..TRUST ME..


Chicken Fried Steak
4 tenderized beef cutlets (known in supermarkets as "cube steak")
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
all-purpose flour
cooking oil or melted Crisco®
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper


Even tho these cutlets are already tenderized I always put them in a ziplock bag and give em a hard bang with my metal meat tenderizer. Great way to relieve stress! I have also soaked mine in buttermilk ahead of time but it makes the steak fall apart if left too long. Plus this is faster.

Beat together the egg and milk with seasonings and set aside.

Dredge the cutlets in the flour, shaking off the excess. Then dip each cutlet in the egg/milk mixture, then back in the flour. Set cutlets aside on a piece of waxed paper.

Heat the cooking oil in skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes. I learned years ago from a great chef, Sara Molten, that you take the end of a wooden spoon and put in the center of the oil and when bubbles come up from all sides your oil is ready.

Place each cutlet into the hot oil. Fry cutlets on both sides, turning once, until golden brown. When blood comes to the surface its time to turn. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 4 or 5 minutes until cutlets are done through. Drain cutlets on paper towels.


And it is against the law, section 1.1 made up, that if you do not serve this with white gravy you will be punished greatly..


Texas Cream Gravy
After the cutlets are removed from the pan, pour off all but about 2tablespoons of oil, keeping as many as possible of the browned bits in the pan. Heat the oil over medium heat until hot.

Sprinkle 3 tablespoons flour in the hot oil. Stir with a wisk, quickly, to brown the flour. Cook for about 2 minutes to cook out the starch.

Gradually stir in 2 cups whole milk (yes whole milk so it will be rich and creamy, stirring constantly with the wisk mashing out any lumps. Lower heat, and gravy will begin to thicken. Sprinkle fresh ground black pepper (my husband likes lots) and seasoned salt to taste into gravy. Continue cooking and stirring a few minutes until gravy reaches desired thickness.

Sopapilla Cheesecake is THA BOMB!

This was wonderful. We had it warm but I can only imagine how it would be cold! The filling is sweet and creamy and the top is crunchy just like cinnamon toast! I didn't pay attention to the recipe when I bought it so I only had one can of crescent rolls and used an 8x8. And I also didn't roll them out. I pieced them together to form a single layer to make it more rugged. So do what you wish ;)
Either way the results will be the same and sure to wow you everytime!










Sopapilla Cheesecake
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth; set aside.
3. Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each sheet into 9x13 inch rectangles. Press one sheet into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough, and brush with melted butter. Stir together 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl, and sprinkle evenly over the top of the cheesecake.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.

This is good warm or cold.