Loaded Mashed Potatoe Pizza

I obviously have to like anything that I cook for my family but I have a few dishes that are my absolute favorites. I could eat this every single week and not get tired of it. And it couldn't be easier... in fact, my kids usually make it while I do something else!

Number one on the list is mashed potatoes- these can be left over from a meal earlier in the week (I make a double batch on purpose), instant or homemade, cheddar or ranch or plain- it makes no difference. After that, you can use whatever your heart desires.... Here is what I use:


1 refrigerated pizza crust (you can use homemade, or a Bobali as well)
@2 cups mashed potatoes
@ 1/2 lb of bacon, chopped and cooked crisp
@ 1/2 cup onions, chopped
@ 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream for garnish


- Preheat oven to 375*
- Spread pizza crust on on greased cookie sheet or 13x11 baking pan. Bake for 5 minutes.
- Spread mashed potatoes evenly on top.

-Next sprinkle onions and bacon on top.

-Then toss on the cheese.


- Bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and crust is brown.

Let cool for 5 minutes and serve. I like mine with a thin layer of sour cream on top. Add a salad and you have a quick and easy meal!

NOT Wienie Casserole

This past Thursday, I had a casual little dinner for 2 of my best girlfriends. These are 2 gals that as soon as I said I signed a lease on a new place, had me moved in 4 days. And entire 1500 square foot house IN 4 DAYS! They showed up with a pickup truck and trailer before I had even packed a single box. Half my stuff was transfered "as is" in someone's back seat. THAT is a good friend!

The Coupon Queen had been begging for one of her favorites, Wienie Casserole. Which has no wienies WHAT SO EVER in it. I think she likes to see my head spin around when she calls it that... So I fed her and SweetFeet's Momma some casserole and French bread and they helped me hang my family pictures. I only wish we had pictures of the Coupon Queen standing in a chair on my stairs, yes you read that correctly (she says she doesn't drink but I am not so sure her Diet Coke hasn't been talking to Mike or George or Jack) while SweetFeet's Momma held the chair. I was too busy laughing as I sat and watched....

I love this recipe- it is super versatile. If you can't find a kind of bean or don't like one, just substitute one you do. It freezes well and is delicious and easy.

Best Ever Beans and Sausage

2 lbs bulk sausage ( I use 1lb spicy and 1 lb mild)

1 medium green pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 can (31 oz) pork and beans, slightly drained

1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 can great northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 can black eyed peas, rinsed and drained

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 1/2 cups ketchup

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp ground mustard OR 2 tbsp regular mustard

**In a skillet over medium heat, brown sausage and drain.

**In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix well. Pour into a greased baking dish. (if you are going to freeze any, now is the time to do so)

**Bake for 1 hour at 325*. Uncover and bake 20-30 minutes longer until bubbly.

Makes 12-16 servings

The Blackberry Experiment

Last month when I was making the cupcakes for Heather's shower.... I had an idea... I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Strawberry Cake recipe. I love it for how it tastes and how easy it is, but I also love it because I created it for a dear friend of mine. A few years back she was pregnant with #3 and was experiencing some sugar problems. Nothing to be too worried about but she is a doctors wife and was trying to be very careful. This meant cutting out all the yummy stuff.. and let's face it, very few sugar free things are as good as the original. So I set out to find a way to make her a cake that she could eat without sending herself into a diabetic coma. I mixed and matched and messed around with a lot of recipes until I found something that tasted AMAZING and had no added sugar- it has sugar but it comes from the natural sweetness of the strawberries!

Where was I?? Oh yeah... making Heather's cupcakes... anyway... while I was mixing those up,my mind started wondering. Wondering what other fruit would be good to substitute for strawberries. And would it work as well??? Tonight I began experiment #1. Blackberry Cupcakes!!!

Same basic recipe but I tweaked it a little and did add some sugar since I find blackberries to be a little tart (at least for a cake with no sugar in it!). I topped them with a light cream cheese icing. YUMMY!

I think it turned out great. The only drawback I found is those dang blackberry seeds! Next time maybe I will see if I can find some seedless ones...

Ham and Potatoe Casserole

I made this last night at work... and we ran out of food!!!

Ham and Potato Casserole (12 servings)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup cottage cheese

1 cup sour cream

1 cup of shredded cheddar

1 medium onion, chopped

@ 3 lbs potatoes peeled and cubed

1 tsp garlic powder

dash of black pepper

1 lb of cooked ham, chopped

**Preheat oven to 350*

**Boil potatoes for about 8 minutes until slightly tender (they will finish cooking in the oven!) drain and set aside

**In a medium bowl, combine soup, cottage cheese, sour cream, onion and cheddar.

**In a large bowl, combine potatoes, garlic powder and pepper. Stir in ham and soup mixture.

**Transfer to a greased 13x9 baking dish.

**Bake uncovered for 45 minutes until bubbly. Let stand for 15 mins to thicken before serving.

There are so many ways you can alter this:

-substitute Canadian bacon for ham

-add some bacon (bacon makes everything good!)

-use frozen breakfast potatoes and omit the onion

-experiment with different cheeses... mozzarella or Colby jack

-use chicken instead of ham

-add some chopped green pepper

Hot Pink and Teal Bridal Shower

Miss Heather was the guest of honor not too long ago at a darling wedding shower thrown by her aunts and cousins. She is a very hip young lady and to reflect her tastes, she chose teal, hot pink and black as her colors (parts of the wedding party are wearing tutus! I cannot wait to see the pictures!) We wanted to do something fun yet elegant........

First- the invitations. Are they not darling!?? Just a little retro...

I wanted to do a cupcake tree with a small cake on top decorated in her flower of choice, Gerber daisies but was having a hard time finding something I liked to set it up on. I wanted it to be personalized... So a boring old Styrofoam server...

became an elegant centerpiece with the help of some scrap booking paper, ribbon and glue.

I was very pleased with how this turned out.

All set up and ready for guests!

I love the way the daisies just "pop" off the cake.

Yummy Strawberry cupcakes with French Vanilla icing. And cute little bows.

The beautiful Miss Heather.

The Wild Women! Heather, Kim, Alex, Brenda and Tammy.

This is the gift card box for the wedding.

I really enjoyed doing this shower. The ladies were a blast to work with and we laughed the whole time. I know Heather and Scooter are going to have a fabulous wedding and a wonderful life together!

Miss Sophie turns 2!

Every morning Sophie wakes up and immediately grabs the remote, saying "Manny Manny Manny" and usually smacking her mom in the head. So of course we had to do a Handy Manny birthday for her! Finding "girly" Handy Manny stuff was hard if not down right impossible. Pink just wasn't going to work with all the primary colors in the decorations so yellow won out....

Mr Manny

Butter cake with French Vanilla icing.

Sophie's Smasher Cake. She ended up using the toys like a spoon to scrape the icing off and eat it.

Just a simple little party.

NUMMY ICING!!

Kissing her mommy....

Scrambled Omelet

I grew up in a household where nothing went to waste. You used everything, be it leftover food or that piece of cardboard that comes with a new dress shirt. Thus I have learned to be creative in finding ways to reuse things.

Especially food. Mashed potatoes get new life when added to soup or made into patties and fried or my favorite, spread on pizza or biscuit dough and covered with cheese... mmmmm... If I can't use something in a timely manner, it goes into the freezer for later.

This morning, the Small People requested I actually cook breakfast instead of them fending for them selves like usual. Heaven forbid they eat cereal... AGAIN... We are leaving on vacation soon so we are running low on groceries and my options were limited. Enter The Scrambled Omelet.

This is a GREAT way to get rid of that 1 piece of sausage left from breakfast 2 days ago... or that little bit of shredded cheese left from Taco Night. But most especially... it keeps the kids from fighting over who gets what. I have 2 kids and myself. Today I had 5 pieces of bacon. Seriously? We can each eat a pound by ourselves. Face it.. NOBODY wants just a piece and a half of bacon.

I fried the bacon in a large pan until very crisp (we are crisp bacon people- none of that flimsy flappy stuff here!) and put on some paper towels to drain. I poured off the bacon grease and added about 1/2 cup of chopped onion to the hot pan (left over from last weeks hot dogs). While those sauted, I broke 6 eggs in a bowl, added a dash of milk, dash of pepper and whipped until frothy. Once the onion was slightly translucent, I poured the eggs in and sprinkled in about 1/2 cup shredded cheddar. I then crumbled the bacon on top of that.

It's not very pretty, but it tastes great, uses up leftovers and fills you up!

I had 2 biscuits left from earlier in the week so I warmed them up in the microwave. VOILA! Breakfast is served.

***I take all my egg shells and throw them in my flower beds. WASTE NOTHING!!