Pizza Pasta Casserole

Hello there again folks! One more day until Halloween! I am so excited about my costume for tomorrow! We are having a costume competition at work! I won't be revealing what it is until tomorrow so you will have to keep tuned. 

But anyways onto an easy dinner recipe. This can be thrown together and cooked right then or put in the freezer and cooked later. Kids and adults will both love this! Now onto the recipe!

What You Will Need:

1 pound of ground beef

1 small onion

1/2 clove of garlic

1 jar of spaghetti sauce

1 box of rotini pasta (cooked and drained)

4 cups of mozzarella cheese

3 bags of mini pepperoni

First, you want to brown the meat with the onion and garlic in a large skillet. (I also added some garlic powder and onion powder) Once cooked, drain and leave in the skillet.

Stir in spaghetti sauce and let it simmer for awhile so that the meat and soak up some of the flavor from the sauce. You can add a packet of zesty spaghetti sauce mix (I like McCormick)

Then mix in pasta,  2 cups of mozzarella and 2 bags of pepperonis to meat mixture until well combined. Pour  into greased 9x13 pan and smooth out. 

Sprinkle remaining pepperonis and cheese over the top of casserole.

Now you can either cook or freeze to cook later. 

If you want to cook now, bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until warmed through

To cook later, cover and freeze up to 3 months. When you are ready to cook it, thaw in refrigerator overnight and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until hot.

Nice and ooey gooey! Yes those are technical terms. Of course I am a fan of Parmesan cheese (aka stinky feet cheese) so I put some on top. Was very good and even better reheated. 

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Try it out and let me know what you think. Also let me know if you add your own twist on it. 

Well, I'm going to finish up my episode of Bones. Catch ya later!

Need A Book To Read?

I truly love to read. It is an escape from the real world and can take you to places you could never go or even imagine. I have always been a fan of reading ever since I was little when my father used to read to me and my mom every night before bed. I have been to the prairies of America, the country of Narnia, the world of Middle Earth and beyond. 

My friends are always asking for good book recommendations so that gave me an idea to compile a list of books and series that I have read and enjoyed. I will talk a little about each book or series and what ages they would be appropriate for. 

Let me start with the books for the older audience. These books are for adults, and just because I say that they are for adults does not mean that are romance novels. Some of these books have scenes that I would see as inappropriate for a teenager to read, but you can use your own judgement.

The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red

By: Joyce Reardon

This is the story of Ellen Rimbauer from Seattle, Washington and her life at Rose Red. She marries a rich man who builds her the house of her dreams only to find that not everything is as it seems with her husband.....or the house. I read this book after seeing the miniseries done by Stephen King called Rose Red. I wanted to see what the back story was and was pleased. I honestly can't talk too much about this book without giving away plot points. If you like horror stories or reading about haunted houses, this book is for you.

The Sabina Kane Series

By: Jaye Wells

Sabina Kane is a mixed blood, half mage half vampire. She has become an outcast with her vampire family that has raised her since her parents were killed. Her being an outcast makes her perfect to be an assassin. Her next mission will force her to choose which side she is on. Currently there are 5 books in the series. Each book has Sabina facing a new challenge as she struggles to find out who she is and what she is capable of. 

A Story of Fire and Ice

By: George R. R. Martin

Otherwise known as the Game of Thrones series, these books follow characters from the land of Westeros and the lands beyond the Narrow Sea. The many houses of Westeros including the ever ready Starks from the North, the rich but deceiving Lannisters, the proud Baratheons, and thought to be extinct Targaryens, and many more. From love to betrayal,  from horror to hilarity, from smiles to tears, these books cover it all. There are some gruesome and explicit scenes but very well written. But I will warn you, don't fall in love with a certain character because you never know what will happen in the next chapter. There are currently 5 books in the series.

Cell

By: Stephen King

Well you can obviously tell that this book will be gruesome just by the author's name. If you love "zombies" and post apocalyptic worlds, this is the book for you. This book follows Clayton Riddell, a comic book artist, who just landed a comic book deal of his dreams. One minute he is walking down the street on a normal day when all of the sudden The Pulse starts making people attack other, stripping them down to their basest nature. Clayton and the others that were not affected by The Pulse band together to find a possible safe haven but does it even exist? You definitely will not want to use your cell phone while reading this book.

Phantom

By: Susan Kay

If you love Phantom of the Opera, you will definitely enjoy this book. It takes you deep into the back story of the Phantom, Erik and all the events that lead to him becoming the famous phantom. You will truly feel his pain and love throughout this book. I could read this book a hundred times and never get tired of it. 

Wicked Game

By: Jeri Smith-Ready

Ciara Griffin has just started at WMMP as the marketing intern to help out to save the station. She begins to notice that each DJ has their own style and choice of music that seems to only be from a certain era. She finds out that the dee jays are vampires and the music they play is from the era that they were turned. Ciara uses this to launch a new marketing strategy, changing the station name to WVMP, the Lifeblood of Rock and Roll but of course no one falls for the fact that the deejays are really vampires. As things are starting to look up for the station, Ciara's marketing strategy begins to upset some older vampires. There are currently 4 books in this series. 

The Seducer Series

By: Madeline Hunter

This series is definitely one I have never seen. All the stories happen at the same time but all the stories are separate. I really like how Madeline Hunter did this. I love these books since they are period pieces, taking place around the beginning of the 19th century. Each book follow a different male and his part of this story. Truthfully I haven't read all of the books yet but what I have read so far is amazing. There are 5 books in the series; The Seducer, The Saint, The Charmer, The Sinner, and The Romantic. There are so two spin off novels; Lady of Sin and Lord of Sin. As you can guess these are romance novels so they do get explicit at times. 

The Mist

By: Stephen King

This book was actually a novella that was published as apart of his book "Skeleton Crew" but has now been published separately. Starts out like any other Stephen King book with a regular old storm, a trip to a supermarket, fog rolls in and chaos ensues. This book will keep you on your toes from beginning to end. I really cant explain anything more about this book without giving away key details. I just know that I will never be able to look at the spaghetti sauce section at the grocery store the same ever again.

The Robert Langdon Series

By: Dan Brown

All I can say is this series is addictive and so intriguing. Every time a new book came out I would get it and immediately wouldn't be able to put it down from page one. You may better know this series as Angels and Demons, Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol and Inferno. Each book follows Robert Langdon, a Harvard Symbologist, as he is asked to help with murder investigations that have puzzles or ciphers involved. He deals with the Illuminati, the Templars, the Masons, each a secret society. These books will make you think and truly make you believe that there is more than meets the eye. Dan Brown also has other books that do not follow Professor Langdon that are just as intriguing; Digital Fortress and Deception Point. These books do have gore and some language.

The Kitty Norville Series

By: Carrie Vaughn

Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ and a closet werewolf. She gives advice to humans and supernatural beings alike on her show. All seems to be going well until a werewolf hunter shows up and then things get interesting. These books follow Kitty as she adjusts to being a werewolf and meeting all kinds of mythical creatures, some good and some just plain evil. I really enjoy these books. Kitty is such a hilarious and intriguing character that you become really attached to. As there are currently 13 books in the series, I obviously cant describe them all but I'll just tell you they are amazing and well written. These books do involve gore, language and explicit material.

Well I am going to stop there. This finishes out the truly adult books that I have read and enjoyed. I will also being doing a post about adult/young adult books and then books appropriate for adults and children alike.So stay tuned!

I'm going to finish reading a chapter in Feast For Crows (Fourth book of the Fire and Ice Series). 

Catch ya later!!!!!

Chili Cheese Pizza

Sorry folks that it has been so long since my last post. I have been super swamped at work. But any who onto the awesome recipe that would be great for football parties, get togethers or any time!

I have been asked who knows how many times for this recipe every time I talk about it or post it on Facebook. I actually got this recipe off a little paper handout from Walmart and have been addicted to it ever since. My fiance, Allen, practically begs me to make this at least once every two weeks. It is definitely one of his favorites. 

Things You Will Need

12 bun length hot dogs (cut into thin slices)

1 refrigerated pizza dough

1 medium bag of Doritos

1-2 bags of you favorite cheese

1 can of hot dog chili sauce

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. While oven is heating, line shallow cookie sheet with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Spread out pizza dough to cover sheet, pinching any holes that happen. 

Crush Doritos and spread over the dough, slightly pressing into dough. I bake it for 5 minutes to get the crust starting to set up since it can tend to be soggy if you don't. 

I realized the I forgot to take a picture of the hot dog chili sauce so........

The sauce is just the right consistence and thickness for this pizza and/or chili dogs. But anywho back to the recipe. Spread the chili sauce over the doritos and crust. Make sure you get it all the way to the edges so that you get the sauce in every bite. 

Line the hot dog slices in rows across the dough until completely covered. You don't have to do this, you can just throw them on there but I like to do it this way so I get hot dog in every bite. 

Now for the cheese. You don't have to use Cheddar cheese, you can use your favorite kind or blend of different kinds of cheese. I had cheddar cheese but I also used a mexican blend because I like it to be extra cheesy. It actually tasted pretty good. Colby Jack is really good too. Spread you cheese over the top and yet again make sure you get it all the way to the edges. 

Bake for an additional 13-15 minutes or until edges of dough are a golden brown and cheesy is melted. 

And there ya go! You can add additional toppings such as onions, tomatoes, or you favorite chili dog topping. We like to leave it as is. Slice it up and it is ready to enjoy!

 Hope you enjoy this recipe. Let me know what you think or any different ways to top this.

Well I am going to finish my episode of Bones. Catch ya later!

Butterbeer Cupcakes

If you are a Harry Potter fan you will love this recipe. I had never made cupcakes from scratch before so this was.......well a new experience. I was browsing around on Pinterest for a recipe to make a dessert for Allen's best friend's mom's birthday tonight and a dinner party tomorrow, and I stumbled across this recipe Sunday Sweets: Butterbeer Cupcakes. She is a better blogger about it. I was going to take step by step pictures but as I said before this was my first time making from scratch so I got a little flustered and forgot to until I was half way through. But any who, here we go!

You will need:

Makes 18 cupcakes

For the cupcakes

2 cups of flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar packed

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon butter flavoring

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup cream soda

For the ganache

1 11-oz bag of butterscotch chips

1 cup heavy cream

For the frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/3 cup butterscotch ganache

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon butter flavoring

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 16-oz package powdered sugar

Splash of milk or cream (as needed)

Let's start with the cupcakes. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl until combined, set aside. In large bowl, cream butter until fluffy with hand mixer or stand mixer. Add sugars and mix until combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until combined before adding another. Once all eggs are mixed in, add butter flavoring and vanilla. Alternate adding small amounts of buttermilk, cream soda, and dry ingredients until combined. Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake pan with liners and I spray them with Pam to make sure that they don't stick. Fill liners 3/4 of the way with batter. Bake for 15-17 minutes until you can insert toothpick into center and comes out clean. I baked mine for 15 minutes and they were done, but every oven is different. Cool on wire rack or counter.

Now for the ganache. I worked on this while the cupcakes were baking. In a double boiler (or a heat safe bowl over saucepan with barely simmering water) combine chips and cream until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature. And lucky for me I had some squeeze bottles on hand, makes things alot easier to squeeze into cupcakes and to drizzle later. You can find them at stores in the kitchen section for cheap. Once cooled, use a funnel to pour into bottle. Insert bottle tip into center of cooled cupcake and squeeze until ganache starts to come out of the top. Repeat with remaining cupcakes. It creates a burst of flavor to the center. Trust me its awesome!

And last but least, the frosting!!! In large bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Add ganache, butter flavoring, vanilla and salt (I added a little bit of rum flavoring too for a little bit more flavor). mix until combined. Mix in sugar a cup at a time. Add splash of cream or milk a teaspoon at a time if needed. I didn't need to. 

Now to finish up the cupcakes. I learned this little trick from my dad. When putting frosting in a piping bag it can get a little messy. What I do is I take a large glass and put bag inside folding the top of the bag around the rim of the glass. It really helps you keep the bag snug in place and easier to put the frosting in without getting it all over your hands. Don't fill it up too much otherwise you won't be able to twist the top to seal. Take out of the glass and push frosting down to bottom and twist the top shut. Now I used an open star tip but you can use whatever you like. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes and drizzle ganache over the top. 

And your done and they are ready to enjoy! I already snuck one. I just couldn't help it! And all I have to say is wow!!!!! You can enjoy it with cream soda or you can make this super easy recipe for some yummy butterbeer Easy Butterbeer Recipe

I hope that you give these a try. The really are amazing and yummy. I promise that if I make them again I will take more pictures.

If you do try them, let me know what you think of them and if you did anything different. 

Thanks for checking out this recipe! Gonna finish listening to my Josh Groban station and then I'm off to the party! Catch ya later!