What's Cookin'

Million Dollar Baked Spaghetti

Preheat oven to 350

What you need:

½-3/4 lb. ground beef (I use the frozen kind that comes in the tube from Aldi)

1 jar of spaghetti sauce (I use the prego in a jar, the Meat kind is good or the Garlic Herb, or if you have the homemade kind)

8 oz cream cheese (softened, I let mine sit out all day)

¼ cup sour cream

½ cup parmesan cheese

Splash of milk

Whole stick butter

Box of spaghetti noodles

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

What you do:

-First, brown and drain the hamburger meat

-Add the spaghetti sauce to the drained meat

-While the meat and sauce is simmering, boil your spaghetti noodles

-While your noodles are boiling, use your mixer to mix the cream cheese, sour cream, parmesan cheese, and splash of milk. You want to add just enough milk to make the mixture creamy and a little bit spreadable

-Next, cut half of the stick of butter into small pieces and set the pieces all over the bottom of your 9x13 baking dish

-Put half of the drained noodles on top of the butter

-Spread the sour cream/cream cheese/parmesan cheese/milk mixture on top of the noodles

-Then, put the other half of the drained noodles on top of that mixture

-Use the rest of the stick of butter to cut into small pieces and set the pieces all over that layer of noodles

-Once you’ve done that, put the spaghetti sauce and meat mixture on top, and make sure to spread it all over the top

Bake for 25 minutes, sprinkle as much cheddar cheese on top as you want, and bake for another 10 minutes.

Serve immediately (although it’s great leftover all week)

Snow Cream

Yesterday, my husband and I enjoyed a much needed snow day. We saw some of the biggest, prettiest flakes I've ever seen, which is saying a lot, considering I spent the last four years in Boone, N.C. We set out a bowl, which was quickly full of snow, and the snow cream making process began! This snow cream tastes just like ice cream from Chick-fil-a! YUM!

What you need:
6-8 cups of fresh snow
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 small can of sweetened condensed milk

What you do:
Mix the incredients together and serve immediately. So delicious.

*Note: We drizzled my Mom's secret recipe homemade chocolate syrup on top and it was incredible.

To-Die-For Wraps

These wraps are probably going to become a staple in the Bedenbaugh household when we get married in December. I can't wait to have these delicious, easy-to-prepare wraps ready and waiting for my sweet fella when he comes home from work. I just know they'll become one of his favorite dinners to eat (and mine to prepare)!

What you need:
Chicken (I marinated boneless chicken strips in teriyaki sauce and grilled them, but you could marinate or season them any way you like)
Sauteed peppers and onions
Any kind of cheese
One can of strained black beans
One can of strained sweet corn
Ranch dressing
Lettuce
Bacon
Flour tortillas

What you do:
After seasoning and grilling your chicken, sauteing your peppers and onions, frying your bacon, and heating and straining your corn and beans, add some of each to a tortilla, wrap up, and enjoy!

Best Peanut Butter Ball You've Ever Tasted

This recipe has become one of my favorite desserts to take to any kind of get-together. It's absolutely delicious and so easy to throw together.

What you need:
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 package (8 ounces) of cream cheese (at room temperature)
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar (optional)
Chocolate chips (I used mini chocolate chips. You can also use both chocolate and peanut butter chips)
Graham crackers, broken into pieces as shown below

What you do:
Mix the peanut butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar together, roll into a ball, wrap in wax paper, and freeze overnight. The next day, roll in chocolate chips and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with graham crackers around the ball.

Heavenly Cream Corn (with a twist)

Fry 6 slices of center cut bacon (reserve 2T bacon fat) Set bacon aside to cool.

Wipe out pan

Toss in a 16 oz. bag of thawed, whole kernel frozen corn, cook in the skillet for 5 minutes.

Add 1 tsp. sugar

Add 1 tsp. corn starch

Stir.

Add 1 cup whipping cream

Bring to a boil.

Stir in ¼ tsp. salt

Stir in ¼ tsp. pepper

Stir in bacon drippings and cook for about 2 minutes.

Pour into a serving bowl, and sprinkle with crumbled bacon and 2 T. sliced, fresh spring onions.

World's BEST Shrimp and Grits

This southern classic has never tasted better. Perfect for a rainy or cold day, this creamy goodness is guaranteed to warm you up and make your taste buds happy!

What You Need:
Frozen Shrimp (thawed, peeled and de-veined)
Grits
Cheddar Cheese
1 Red Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
1 Onion
1 Lime
1 Cup Whole Milk
1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
Garlic
Salt and Pepper

What you Do:
Make the grits in a pot on the stove, saute your shrimp with butter and salt and pepper, then set aside. Cook your garlic, peppers and onions in a pan on the stove, then add the milk and whipping cream mixture. Add the shrimp to the peppers/onions/cream mixture and scoop out into a bowl over grits. Squeeze fresh lime over and serve.

*You can also use half-and-half instead of the milk/whipping cream mixture, but I have found that it's better with the milk/whipping cream mixture.

Breakfast Kebabs

When I saw this idea on Pinterest, I knew it would be the perfect thing to take to an event where I didn't have much time to prepare beforehand. If you need to take a hostess gift or a snack into the office and are crunched for time, this is the perfect thing to take that is delicious, fast, and effortlessly makes you look like you put a lot of time into it.

I used strawberries, blueberries and doughnut holes, but you could use other things too. I wouldn't recommend wet fruit such as mango slices or pineapple, because it won't stay on the skewer and will make the doughnut holes soggy (gross). It was so easy and fun to make, and everyone really enjoyed them.


World's Best Spinach and Artichoke Dip

What you need:
1 pack of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed
1 can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped up
1/2 container of chive and onion cream cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
onion salt / french fry seasoning to taste
1 bag of mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

What you do:
Mix everything in a bowl, holding out about a half cup of mozzarella cheese to add to the top before baking. Spray baking disk with cooking spray, put mixture in dish, sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 375 degrees uncovered for 20 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips immediately.

*This is also a great dish to make the night before a party. You can mix it up, put it in the dish, cover it with tinfoil and stick in the fridge. Then, all you have to do is bake right before the party and you're good to go! Guaranteed to be a hit!