Red Lobster style Cheddar Biscuit's

While shopping online for my hope chest I came across a cookbook labeled, "America's Most Wanted Recipes, Delicious Recipes From Your Family's Favorite Restaurants" by Ron Douglas. Not knowing what recipes were in this book, I took a chance and ordered it hoping for some great recipes. 


Upon receiving the book in the mail I noticed at the bottom it said, "copycat versions of everyone's best-loved food", this made me skeptical because I had thought the book was full of straight from the restaurant recipes. Still skeptical I opened the book and decided to try some recipes. Needless to say, this book is legit and I am glad I purchased it. 


This weeks recipe is definitely fit for the title of the book. Who doesn't LOVE the biscuits from Red Lobster? They are delicious and I have found myself going to Red Lobster specifically for the biscuits. Now I no longer need to go out for these biscuits and can enjoy them from home with whatever dish I desire. 


The best part of this recipe is it is very simple and most of the ingredients are probably already in your fridge and pantry. 

You Will Need:


2 cups of Biscuit Mix ( I used Bisquick)


1/2 cup shredded mild cheddar


2/3 cup milk


4 tbs (1/2 stick) butter


1/4 tsp garlic powder


Parsley flakes, for sprinkling


Cooking spray or vegetable oil (whichever you have on hand).






How to Prepare:


Preheat oven to 450*


Grease cookie sheet with cooking spray or vegetable oil


Mix biscuit mix, cheddar, and milk until a soft dough forms. Beat with a wooden spoon for about 30 seconds.


Spoon 12 balls of dough approximately 1.5 - 2 inches in size onto greased cookie sheet. Slightly flatten dough balls and smooth down tops of the dough balls to prevent hard points from forming. 


Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the tops of the biscuits are brown. 


While the biscuits are in the oven, melt the butter in a pan on low heat and stir in the garlic powder.


When the biscuits are done baking, brush the butter on the tops of the biscuits, sprinkle the biscuits with parsley flakes, and serve them hot. 

Tips: 


The above recipe is how it is stated in the book, if you follow the recipe they will taste like Red Lobster's biscuits but not as strong in flavor. I suggest adding a tad more cheese and garlic to heighten the flavor. 




ENJOY!

Delicious Deviled Eggs

This week my mother hard boiled some eggs for my visiting nieces and nephews to color in honor of Easter. Afterward there were quite a few eggs left uncolored, so I decided to turn them into deviled eggs. 


My mother taught me years ago how to make deviled eggs. The recipe is quite simple, but will not disappoint. 

What you need:


12 Hard Boiled Eggs 


Mayonnaise 


Mustard


Salt 


Pepper 


Paprika




How to Prepare:


Click here if you are unsure how to make hard boiled eggs.


Once your hard boiled eggs are cooled, peel them.


Rinse peeled eggs and cut them in halves (from top of egg to bottom). 


Spoon yolks out of eggs and into a bowl. Mush yolks with a spoon or fork until no longer in large chunks.


Mix in mayo, mustard, salt, and pepper until smooth (some small clumps are ok). The mayo, mustard, salt, and pepper are all added to taste. I use approximately: 3/4 cup of mayo, 1/2 cup mustard, 1/2 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tbsp of pepper. 


Spoon mixture evenly into eggs. 


Sprinkle paprika on top. 

Enjoy!

The BEST Chicken Quesadillas EVER

For Valentines day my boyfriend and I took our puppies to a park and had a picnic. I wanted to bring a finger-food on our picnic to make eating easier with our puppies running around; this is how I came up with this weeks recipe.


I decided on chicken quesadillas. Being that I had never made any, I winged it; and might I say they were DELICIOUS!

What you need:


Chicken Breast Strips (cooked)                                Large Tortillas

  8 oz Shredded Mixed Cheese                                     Avocado

         Sour Cream                                                                    Lime Juice

               Refried Beans                                                                   Salsa

                                              

Pam Non-stick Cooking Spray

How to Prepare:

If chicken is frozen, thaw it. 

Place chicken in a medium bowl. Cut chicken strips into 1/2 inch to inch sized pieces. Mix in entire bag of shredded cheese. Place aside. 

Half avocado and remove seed. Using a spoon, remove avocado from skin and place it in a bowl. 

Mash the avocado with the spoon. It is ok if small chunks of avocado remain. Add 1/2 as much sour cream as there is avocado. Add approximately 2 tablespoons of lime juice to the avocado. 

Lay out 6 tortillas. 

Generously spread avocado paste to 3 of the tortillas (do not put paste on outer inch of tortilla for less mess). 

Generously spread refried beans on the remaining tortillas (do not put beans on outer inch of tortilla for less mess). 

Divide chicken and cheese mixture evenly between tortillas with avocado paste (do not put chicken on outer inch of tortilla for less mess). 

Place tortillas with refried beans on top of the chicken (beans down), forming 3 quesadillas. 

Turn the stove on medium and place a large skillet on the burner. 

When the pan is hot, spray it with Pam (I used Pam's Canola Oil non-stick cooking spray). 

Place 1 quesadilla in the pan and brown both sides, the cheese should be melted. 

Remove quesadilla. 

Spray pan with Pam and add 2nd quesadilla to the pan. Brown both sides, the cheese should be melted.

Remove quesadilla. 

Spray pan with Pam and add 3rd quesadilla to the pan. Brown both sides, the cheese should be melted.

Remove quesadilla. 

Cut each quesadilla into 8 pieces. 

Serve with sour cream and salsa. 

Tips:

You can use fresh chicken if you prefer. Cook it and slice it prior to above steps. 

I needed to use 2 large spatulas to flip my quesadillas. You can make quesadillas with one tortilla apiece by putting avocado paste on 1/2 of the tortilla and refried beans on the other 1/2, place the chicken one of the 1/2s and fold it. I made them with 2 tortillas to speed things up. 

I say serve with sour cream and salsa; however, I found them so yummy that I didn't need the sour cream or salsa. 

ENJOY!

Party Dip

In honor of the super bowl, this week I am sharing a super easy dip. The recipe for this dip was shared with me by a family friend, Claire.

Claire and her husband Mike were hosting a party quite some time ago, which is where I was first introduced to this dip. It was so scrumptious that I had to have the recipe, which she was kind enough to share with me.

Over the years, I have tweeked it slightly for simplicity.

Party Dip

You will need:



      16 oz Sour Cream                                               16 oz Cream Cheese Softened

Cream Cheese (non-softened)

Sour Cream

Salsa (approx. 16oz, this jar is 15.5, which is fine)                8 oz bag of Shredded Cheese

Salsa

Shredded Cheese

How to prepare:

Put the salsa and sour cream into a medium bowl. 

Mix. 

Add the cream cheese. 

Mix until smooth. (May be slightly bumpy, this is ok).

Stir in 1/2 the bag of shredded cheese.

(OPTIONAL STEP) - Let sit in the fridge, for approximately 30 minutes, to slightly thicken. 

Stir.

Top with remaining shredded cheese. 

Serve with tortilla chips.

Dip prior to being topped with cheese 

TIPS:

The measurements for this  recipe are only approximates, as it is made to taste preference. 

I use the entire container for each to avoid measuring and increase simplicity. 

You can use regular cream cheese, but softened is much easier to blend smooth and makes the job quicker.

Any tortilla chips are fine, but I prefer Tostitos Scoops.

This dip is a favorite among my friends, so (from experience) I suggest doubling the recipe if having more than 5 people (especially guys) over. 

I prefer medium salsa, but mild or hot are fine too. This just depends on your taste. 

Tastes fine with any brands, I rotate between those shown and store brands, depending on what I see first.  

ENJOY!

Tomatillo Salsa

Hello, 

According to the "What's in Season" tracker at the top of this page: avocado, red onion, and lime are all currently in season in Florida. This is why the first recipe I have chosen to share with you is a Tomatillo Salsa recipe, which was shared with me by my sister Rachel.

Tomatillo Salsa

You will need the following:

8 Tomatillos                                   2 Avocados

Tomatillos

Avocado

1 Red Onion                            1 Jalapeno         

Red Onion

Jalapenos

& Lime juice

Lime Juice

How to prepare:

Remove the husks from the tomatillos. The skin under the husks will be slightly sticky; this is normal.


Wash the tomatillos and the jalapeno. 

Slice the tomatillos into thin slices then cut these slices into small pea size cubes. Put tomatillo cubes into a medium size bowl.

Cut the avocados in half. Remove the seed from each avocado.

Remove the avocado from its skin. The easiest way to do this is by sliding a spoon between the skin and the avocado.

Cut the avocado into thin slices and then into small pea size cubes, such as was done with the tomatillos. Put the avocado cubes into the bowl with the tomatillos. Mix the avocado into the tomatillos.

Cut the red onion in half. This is added to taste, so start with only one half of the onion. Remove the outer skin, then slice and cube the onion as you did with the tomatillos and avocado. Add this to the bowl of tomatillos and avocado to taste. Mix the onion into the tomatillos and avocado. I usually only use the one half, but you can use more or less according to your taste.

Next, cut the jalapeno into very thin slices. Cut these slices into very small cubes; the smaller the better. Add jalapeno to the mixture to taste. The more jalapeno added the hotter the salsa will be.

After all of the ingredients are mixed, mix in some lime juice to keep the salsa fresh. I usually add about a tablespoon or two.

Store in the fridge.

Tomatillo Salsa

Tips:

This salsa usually tastes best after sitting in the fridge for a day. This allows all of the flavors to mix. 

To speed things up, I use a Vidalia Chop Wizard to cube the tomatillos, avocado, and onion slices, and a Pampered Chef chopper to dice the jalapeno slices.

Vidalia Chop Wizard

Pampered Chef Chopper

Similar choppers can be found at stores such as: WalMart, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, and similar stores.

ENJOY!