Thursday, February 29, 2024

Cheeseburger Garbage Bread by "Brunch with Babs"

 I follow Babs on Instagram.  I love her and her husband is great too.  She has the best personality and SO much energy at 75.  She has great ideas for home, etiquette and great recipes.  You should follow Babs - any Brunch with Babs. 

Babs mentioned this Cheeseburger Garbage Bread recently before the Super Bowl.  I never make things like this so I decided to try.  We loved it - easy and so much flavor.  I got my pizza dough from Aldi but you could make your own, get the Pillsbury canned pizza dough or get the yummy dough from Trader Joes. Check out her video

I goofed and just put my meat in the middle of the dough instead of spreading it all out and making it spiral when rolling it up.  It was still fabulous.  I did make her yummy sauce.  I served it with a Caesar Salad and sweet potato fries. 



                                           my picture isn't great - Babs is much better :)


Cheeseburger Garbage Bread - Adapted from Brunch with Babs


1/2 lb chopped bacon (I browned the bacon in advance)

1 cup chopped onion

1 lb lean ground beef

1 Tbsp steak seasoning

1  13.8 pizza dough

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar jack cheese

1 cup grated cheddar cheese


Ingredients for the dipping sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbsp ketchup

2 tsp yellow mustard

1 tsp white vinegar

2 Tbsp pickle relish

1 Tbsp finely minced onion

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder


Make sauce and store in refrigerator in a covered container.  I made mine in advance. 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until nice and crispy.  Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside. Drain most of the bacon drippings.  In the same pan, cook your onions and ground beef.  Drain and add back the bacon, add the steak seasoning and cheddar jack cheese.  Stir to combine. Spread your pizza dough out to form a large 11 x 17 rectangle.  Gently spread your meat mixture over the top of the dough - leaving at least a one inch edge.  Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese.  Gently roll up starting on one large side and pinch the ends.  You can brush with egg wash (I did't) and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake seam side down and back for 20 - 25 minutes.  Allow to cool 5 - 10 mixture before serving. 


Printable Version


Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Homemade Caramels

 I am so sorry I haven't posted in awhile.  It takes me awhile to find a new recipe I LOVE....and I LOVE this caramel recipe.  During the Christmas holidays, I came across this yummy recipe and had to try.  Jenna was home and we loved it so much, we made it a second time.  I just made them for Valentines.  They are not hard but you do have to have a candy thermometer.  I ordered this new digital thermometer off of Amazon.  I also had good parchment paper and I ordered a handy tool for cutting the caramels.  As for wrapping the caramels, I tried cute little bright foil wrappers first but those stuck to the caramels so don't get those.  I then ordered some cute wax paper wrappers from Amazon and those worked great.  I got this fabulous recipe from Krista at Stay Fit mom.  I follow Krista on instagram.  She said this was her grandma's Christmas Caramel recipe.  Krista uses a poly-lined floral foils to wrap hers.  It comes in a big roll and you have to cut it. 

This recipe isn't hard.  It just takes a little bit of time and patience.  I cut mine over two days.  I would cut, wrap, cut, wrap... rest for a bit and then cut some more.  It makes a ton of caramels.  I truly cannot tell you how yummy these are.  

I topped mine with sea salt - Krista does not.  ENJOY!!!



                                       new digital thermometer - cook on medium low to 240 degrees F




Homemade Caramels (adapted from Krista at StayFit Mom)

2 sticks butter or 16 Tablespoons
2 14 oz cans condensed milk
1 2 lb bag dark brown sugar 
2 cups light corn syrup
pinch salt
2 tsp vanilla
option - sea salt for topping

Line a large 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper.  Use clips to clip it to the side of the pan to keep it in place and so you can lift the caramels out of the pan. 

In a large, heavy duty pan (not teflon-I use my All-Clad),  start melting butter over medium heat.  Add the rest of the ingredients except the vanilla.  Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, getting the bottom and sides of the pan, bring the mixture to a constant, gentle boil.  When mixture starts to boil, add in the candy thermometer. Continue to stir until mixture turns golden and reaches a temperature between 240 and 242 degrees.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. 

Pour the mixture into the parchment paper lined pan.  If interested, top with sea salt.  Allow mixture to cool before cutting and wrapping. 









Thursday, June 29, 2023

Fried Pickle Ranch Dip

 I love a good pickle dip!  I made this Fried Pickle Ranch Dip for a recent teacher gathering and we ate almost every bite.  My hubby finished it off when I got home.  This dip is easy and has lots of flavor.  We ate it so fast ....I didn't get a picture.  I plan to make it again this weekend and I will snap a picture.  I got the recipe from Lolo Home Kitchen.  

I keep a container of Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch Dressing mix at the house - I just used this.  It wasn't very spicy but had a ton of flavor. 



Fried Pickle Ranch Dip - adapted from Lolo Home Kitchen


1 block cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

1 packet (1 ounce) powder Ranch dressing mix (I used spicy Ranch)

2 tsp minced garlic

1 small jar (10 oz) of dill pickle relish

1/2 cup Panko crumbs (I used gluten free and they were great)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil


In a medium mixing bowl, add the cream cheese, sour cream, ranch mix, garlic and relish.  Mix well.  In a small skillet, heat the oil on medium high heat.  Add the panic crumbs and stir continuously until they are golden brown. Add most of the toasted Panko to the pickle mixture and stir to combine.  Pour into a cute dish and top with remaining Panko. Store in refrigerator. Serve with veggies, potato chips or pretzel chips. 

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Half-Baked Harvest 20 minute Korean Beef Sesame Noodles

 If you are on social media, you should totally follow Half-Baked Harvest.  She lives in Colorado and just makes amazing food, drinks, etc.  I always like to do new and creative recipes with HBH. 

For this recipe, this was the first time I used rice noodles and a Korean chili paste.  I found both at the regular grocery store.  Over the winter, Chris and I enjoyed cooking some of the meal kits together - like Green Chef, Marley Spoon, Blue Apron, etc.  We did this meal together too. 

Please visit Tieghan over at Half-Baked Harvest.  She has SO many recipes and everything I have tried has been fabulous. I am going to send you over to HBH for the recipe.  The only thing I did differently is I used chicken instead of flank steak.  I followed everything else...  pretty much to the T.  

Enjoy - 20 Minute Korean Beef Sesame Noodles