Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Hotdish

 I know you don’t put corn on a cheeseburger but this is a mash up of a bacon cheeseburger and tater tot hotdish so… it’s delicious! Just try it.

Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Hotdish

Ingredients:

1½ pounds ground beef

1 lb cooked chopped bacon

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 (32-oz) package frozen tater tots + some to top with

1 (10.5-oz) can condensed cheddar cheese soup

1 (16-oz) container sour cream

1 (10-oz) bag frozen corn

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

Cook ground beef in a large skillet until no longer pink. Drain fat.

In a large bowl, combine cooked beef, bacon, cheddar cheese, tater tots, cheese soup, corn and sour cream. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Spread mixture into prepared pan. Top with more tots.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until bubbly.

Strawberry Crunch Cheesecake

We have a little baker in the family. Our youngest child loves to bake. He also has a super sweet tooth! The two go hand in hand I suppose. For opening weekend at the campground he wanted to bring dessert for our other favorite baker, Tammy, to try. He missed a step in the recipe but it didn’t make or break this. He just made it all strawberry rather than half vanilla bean and half strawberry. It was still delicious!! 

Strawberry Crunch Cheesecake

This No Bake Strawberry Crunch Cheesecake is layers of strawberry and vanilla bean cheesecake in a graham cracker crust, topped with strawberry crunch topping! Completely no bake and delicious, you'll want this beauty on repeat in your kitchen!

Ingredients

Strawberry Crunch

¼ cup freeze-dried strawberries, ground into powder(see note)

9 vanilla sandwich cookies (like golden oreos)

2 tablespoon salted butter, melted

Graham Cracker Crust

2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 15 whole crackers)

2 tablespoon sugar

10 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

No-Bake Cheesecake

24 oz cream cheese, at room temperature (I used full fat)

½ cup sugar

¼ cup sour cream, at room temperature (I used full fat)

2 teaspoon lemon juice

2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (see note)

¾ cup freeze-dried strawberries (or whatever is left in the bag; see note)

1¼ cups heavy (whipping) cream, cold

¼ cup powdered sugar

Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream

½ cup heavy (whipping) cream, cold

2 tablespoon powdered sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste (see note)

Instructions

For Strawberry Crunch

Combine freeze-dried strawberries (see note) and vanilla sandwich cookies in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is coarse crumbs.

Drizzle in melted butter and continue to pulse the mixture to the desired consistency. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator until needed. The strawberry crunch topping can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

For Crust

Grease a 9" springform pan (see note) and set aside.

Combine graham crackers and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Process until finely ground.

Add melted butter and pulse to incorporate, making sure the mixture is completely coated in butter. Press the mixture into the bottom and 1-2 inches up the sides of the prepared pan. Chill as you prepare the filling.

For Cheesecake

Combine the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed at first, then increase to medium until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla bean paste (see note). Mix to incorporate.

Pour half the filling into a separate bowl and set aside. This will be the vanilla bean layer of the cheesecake. 

Add the freeze-dried strawberry powder to the mixer bowl and mix to incorporate.

In a separate bowl, whip the cream with the powdered sugar until it thickens and holds peaks.

Scrape half of the whipped cream into the bowl of vanilla cheesecake filling, and the other half into the bowl of strawberry cheesecake filling. Gently fold the whipped cream into each mixture, taking care not to deflate the whipped cream.

Take the prepared crust out of the refrigerator. Scrape the strawberry filling into the crust, and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Repeat with the vanilla filling, spreading it on top of the strawberry filling.

Cover the cheesecake and place in the refrigerator to set for 6-8 hours (12+ hours is even better).

For Whipped Cream

Place cold heavy cream and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Start the mixer on low speed, and gradually increase the speed to high. Whip until the cream thickens and forms peaks. Add vanilla bean paste (see note), and mix to incorporate.

Remove the chilled cheesecake from the refrigerator and top with the strawberry crunch topping. Pipe or dollop the whipped cream on top, and garnish with fresh strawberries, if desired.

Once complete and garnished, the covered cheesecake will keep in the refrigerator for about five days (if it lasts that long).

For long-term storage, wrap the plain cheesecake (with no strawberry crunch/whipped cream/berries) well and store in the freezer for up to three months!

Enjoy!

Notes

Note on freeze-dried strawberries: You'll need one bag (typically 0.8-1.2 oz) of freeze-dried strawberries for this recipe. Make sure that you're using *freeze-dried* berries, as they're free of moisture and will process into a powder. Regular "dried" strawberries will not! You'll use ¼ cup of the strawberries in the strawberry crunch, then the rest of the bag (it was ¾ cup for me) in the strawberry cheesecake layer.

Note on springform pan: This recipe uses a standard 9" springform pan. In a pinch you could use a regular 9" round cake pan, the cheesecake will just be a bit harder to slice and serve. If you go that route, I suggest a cake pan that's 3" high, so you have enough room for your layers.

Note on vanilla bean paste: I love the kick of vanilla flavor and the beautiful vanilla bean flecks from vanilla bean paste! If you'd prefer, you can substitute with an equal measure of vanilla extract.

Korean Ground Beef

 Want a super simple and flavor packed meal? My husband  made Korean beef for dinner and it was delicious.

Easy Korean Ground Beef Recipe

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon Canola or Vegetable Oil

2 lbs Ground Beef, or ground chuck

4 Cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 Cup Soy Sauce

1/2 Cup Orange Juice

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Sweet Chili Sauce 

2 teaspoons Toasted Sesame Oil

1 Tablespoon Cornstarch 

2 Green Onions, sliced, plus more for garnish 

Instructions

Heat the oil in a cast iron pan over medium high heat. Add the ground beef and garlic, using a meat chopper to break up, cook until browned all the way through, about 3-5 minutes, then drain grease. 

2 lbs Ground Beef, 4 Cloves Garlic, 1 Tablespoon Canola or Vegetable Oil

Whisk together the remaining ingredients.
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce, 1/2 Cup Orange Juice, 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, 1/2 Cup Sweet Chili Sauce, 2 teaspoons Toasted Sesame Oil, 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch. 

Pour the ingredients all over the beef and simmer until thickened slightly.

Serve over rice with steamed veggies and garnish with green onions.  

Egg Salad - Yum!

 This recipe has been my craving as of late. It’s so easy and delicious. If you like deviled eggs, then this is for you! You can eat it as a salad, on bread, on toast, or on a croissant. 

Egg Salad

Ingredients 

9 large eggs 

1/4 cup mayonnaise 
1 tablespoon mustard 
1/8 teaspoon salt (to taste) 
1/8 teaspoon pepper (to taste) 
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (to taste)

Instructions

Start by boiling your eggs. Peel boiled eggs and add them to a mixing bowl.In the same mixing bowl add mayonnaise and mustard. Mix well with a fork mashing eggs while you mix. Add seasonings to taste and mix together well.

Instant Pot Potatoes

 Never again, and I mean NEVER again will I cook potatoes on the stovetop! What in the world was I thinking not trying this sooner!!! Let’s go!

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes 

Ingredients 

3 pounds of potatoes, peeled and sliced

Water (enough to cover the potatoes)

2 tsp salt; divided

1/4 cup butter; melted

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 milk

heavy cream as needed

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions 

Peel and slice your potatoes and put them in your instant pot. Cover your potatoes with water, just enough to cover them.

Add in 1 tsp of salt.

Pressure cook on manual for 8 minutes.

Once done, shut down your instant pot and immediately release the pressure. 

Add in your butter, milk, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Mix it up either by hand with a masher or use a hand mixer. If it’s as smooth as you like it great, if not add in some heavy cream. 

Cheesy Chicken Tortellini Bake

 We haven’t made this one in a hot minute but we do love it so figured it’s blog worthy and maybe just maybe we will make it soon and I can add a photo. 

Cheesy Chicken Tortellini Bake

Ingredients 

Pasta Mixture

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 jar (16 ounces) white Alfredo pasta sauce

2 packages (9 ounces each) refrigerated cheese-filled regular or spinach tortellini

1½ cups cubed cooked chicken

1 cup milk

1 cup water

1 cup frozen peas

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons snipped fresh basil leaves or 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

Crumb Topping

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. For pasta mixture, heat oil over medium-high heat; add onion and garlic..
2. Cook and stir 3 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in pasta sauce, tortellini, chicken, milk, water, peas and black pepper. Heat until mixture just comes to a boil; remove from heat. Stir basil into pasta mixture.
3. Meanwhile, for crumb topping, place butter in small dish and microwave on HIGH 30-45 seconds or until melted. Stir in bread crumbs and cheese; mix well.
4. Spoon pasta mixture into casserole dish;
5. Sprinkle with crumb topping. 
6. Bake 15-20 minutes or until edges are bubbly and topping is golden brown.

3 Ingredient Rotel Dip

There are multiple ways you can make Rotel Dip but this is our favorite and figured because it hasn’t been shared here yet I better document it so my kids have it when they need it someday. It’s great to bring to a potluck or family get together and is super simple! Let’s get to it! 

Rotel Dip

Ingredients 

2 lbs Jimmy Dean sausage (this is one of the rare times I buy store bought sausage)

3 blocks of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (this is the only brand we cook with, it just works best)

3 cans of Rotel Original - undrained 

Directions 

Brown your sausage, drain off the grease. Add in your cream cheese (I chop it into smaller blocks). Add in your Rotel. Mix until everything is well incorporated. Put in a crockpot on low or warm and give it a good stir every so often.

That’s it! Super simple!