Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole

What is the perfect comfort food?  Why Cracker Barrel's hash brown casserole that's what.  With all this snow, ice and rain we have had lately you just need something to make you feel better.  I don't make this casserole very often, mainly because it makes so much.  But it does reheat well and it is great for breakfast.

I love those crusty, cheesy edges.  Next time I am going to make it in a cast iron skillet.

You would think there would be more ingredients in this delicious dish.

Start by spraying a 9x13 baking dish.  Then layer the thawed hash browns in the bottom.

Melt one stick of butter.

While the butter is melting, chop up a 1/2 cup of onions or so.  I didn't measure mine, but I like onions.

The butter is melted and a little cooled.  Add the onions.

I salted and peppered the potatoes.

Add 8 oz or around 1 cup of sour cream

Add the cream of chicken soup.  You could use cream of mushroom and I probably will next time.

Mix all this well.

Spread on top of the potatoes.

Now add about 2 cups shredded cheese.  I probably used more because I really like the cheesiness of this casserole.  Place in a preheated 350 oven and bake for 45 minutes.

I turned the oven to broil for the last minute or two of cooking so the cheese gets all nice and bubbly and brown.

Now that is a great comfort meal on a snowy evening.

Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole Recipe

1 bag shredded hash browns
8 oz sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 stick of butter melted
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 cups cheese

Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 45 minutes.

Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

I made my first spring salad the other day and created this strawberry vinaigrette to go along with the salad.  It turned out really well if I do say so myself.

These were some of the prettiest salad greens I have found in a long time.  I really like making a salad with pretty colorful greens.  All that I put in the salad was the greens and strawberries.  Next time I might put some roasted pecans in too. 

The night before I chopped up some strawberries and sprinkled some of the strawberry balsamic vinegar over them and let them sit overnight in the fridge.  You would be surprised how that brings out the sweetness in the strawberries.

I put 1 cup of the strawberries in the cup of my hand mixer.  Love my new toy.

Blend them well.  Look at the pretty color.

It blends so smoothly.

I added 1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup of the strawberry balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

You can see that the vinegar goes to the bottom so you need to blend it really well.

The pour it into a cute little serving piece for lunch.


Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe

1 cup strawberries cut up
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup strawberry balsamic vinegar (this can be found at King's Olive Oil)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Cherry Lemonade Dump Cake

Dump cakes are all the rage these days.  If you turn on the TV late at night you will find infomercials with the lady with the dump cake cookbook.  I checked the book out of the library and there are a lot of really good looking cakes in that book.  Even better they are easy.  This one sounded interesting.  I have made the cherry pie filling and jiffy cake mix pie for years.  So this is taking that up a little bit.

If I had had any some vanilla ice cream would be good on this.

Lemon cake mix and two cans of cherry pie filling and sprite or 7 up.  Doesn't get much easier than that.

Spray your 9x13 cake pan and pour two cans of cherry pie filling in the bottom.

Sprinkle the lemon cake mix on top.  Spread it out.

Pour 12 oz of Sprite on top.  Go all the way around.

It will fizz up like this. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 35-40 minutes.

Smells really good.

Serve.  It has a light lemony flavor accented by the cherries.  Perfect.

Cherry Lemonade Dump Cake Recipe

2 cans cherry pie filling
1 lemon cake mix
12 oz lemon lime soft drink

Preheat oven to 350 bake for 35-40 minutes.

Oven Roasted Parmesan Green Beans

Grocery stores are beginning to have some pretty good fresh fruits and veggies.  I found these great fresh green beans the other day.  I really like roasted veggies and roasted green beans are a great way to try something different with them.

Nice and roasted.

You could probably use fresh Parmesan cheese but the green can works pretty well.

Start with about a pound of fresh green beans.  Wash and trim them.

1/4 cup olive oil.  I would use a lot less oil next time.  You really just need enough to coat the beans so the cheese will stick.

1/4-1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.

Pour the oil over the green beans.

Toss to coat well.

Sprinkle the cheese on top.

Toss again to coat well.

Line them up on a couple of cookie sheets that have been lined with parchment paper.  Place in a preheated 400 oven.  Bake for 20 minutes.  After 10 turn them.

They are nice and crispy with a great cheese crust.

They were great with my chicken and potatoes casserole.

Oven Roasted Parmesan Green Beans

1 pound fresh green beans
1/4 cup olive oil--or less
1/4-1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400.  Bake for 20 minutes, turn after 10.

Philly Cheesesteak Panini

There's nothing like a good Philly Cheesesteak, especially if you are in Philadelphia. But since I was not and at home I made this easy, good if you are not in Philly, cheesesteak.  

Full of gooey goodness. 

This one is very easy.  And no cheesewiz.

You can use fresh peppers and onions if you like.  I used frozen ones.  So I sautéed them for just a minute to heat them up and to caramelize them a little bit.

I love Publix Mountain White bread when I make special sandwiches.  All I did was add some cheese to both sides of the bread.  I used a good provolone cheese.

I added some deli roast beef to one side.

Add the peppers and onions on top.

Cover with the top piece of bread and spread with butter. Or use regular butter.

Place with the buttered side down on the preheated panini press.  Spray the top piece of bread, and close.

Isn't that a pretty sandwich with all the grill marks.

Cut in half and enjoy.  Perfect for a cold, snowy night.