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.