EM Tanner Designs

cook 2 pounds ground beef with taco seasoning packet

Add to cook beef: Chopped Lettuce (1-1.5 heads)

Chopped Tomatoes (3-5)

Diced Avocado – put on very last (3)

Shredded Cheese – cheddar & jack

1 Can of Corn

1 Can of Kidney Beans

1 Bag of Fritos – mashed up

1 Bottle of Catalina dressing

Serve with warm buttered tortillas or taco shells

-Super easy and great to prepare ahead of time. Can serve hot or cold.

Tasty Quiche

10 pieces cooked bacon (can also use panchetta or prosuito if you prefer)

5 eggs-beaten

1 1/2 C heavy whipping cream

2 T melted butter

2 C fresh swiss cheese (or whatever cheese you like)

pinch of nutmeg

pinch salt an pepper

Store bought pie shell

Sprinkly half the bacon and half the cheese on the pie shell. Mix the rest of incredients except bacon and cheese until frothy and pour into pie shell. Sprinkle the rest of cheese and bacon on the top. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

Easy Chicken Drumsticks

1 package chicken drumsticks

1 egg*

1 ½ cup grated parmesan cheese

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly beat egg in shallow container. In another shallow container, put parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Coat each drumstick in the egg mixture and then coat in the cheese mixture. Put in a baking dish and bake for 45 minutes.

*I also put some pureed cauliflower in the egg mixture for an added veggie.

Baked Ziti with Spinach & Tomatoes

3/4 lb. hot italian sausage, casings removed ( I use one tube of Jimmy Dean)
1 meduim onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 (28 oz) can diced peeled tomatoes
1/4 cup purchased pesto sauce
10 oz ziti or penne pasta, freshly cooked
8 cups ready to use spinach leaves
6 oz mozzarella cheese, cubed
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese ( I use shredded)

Heat heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sausage, onion and garlic and saute until sausage is cooked through, breaking up meat with back of spoon, about 10 min.
Add tomatoes with juices to pan. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in pesto.
Season with salt & pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before continuing.)

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly oil 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Combine pasta, spinach, mozzarella and 1/3 cup Parmesean cheese in large bowl. Stir in tomato sauce. Transfer
mixture to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup of Parmesean cheese on top. Bake until sauce bubbles and cheese melts, about 30 minutes.

French Toaste Souffle (for those who love breakfast anytime)
10 C cubed white bread (1 loaf)
1 8 oz block softened cream cheese
8 eggs
1 1/2 C milk
2/3 C half and half
1/2 C maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla

A great meal to prepare ahead of time…
Place breadcubes into a 13×9 pan. Mix all ingredients and pour on top of bread. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand 30 minutes before putting in oven. 375 degrees for 50 minutes.

Of course if you aren’t an ahead of timer cooker, just put in oven after you make the mixture.

A crowd pleaser!!!

TACO FOLDOVERS
Ingredients
• 1 pound ground beef
• Pace® Chunky Salsa
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package Pace® Dry Taco Seasoning Mix
• water
• 2 sheets Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water

Directions
1. Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until it’s well browned, stirring frequently to break up the meat. Add 1 cup of the salsa, taco seasoning and water according to the package directions. Cool completely.
2. Thaw the pastry sheets at room temperature for 40 minutes or until they’re easy to handle. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with vegetable cooking spray. Stir the egg and water with a fork in a small bowl.
3. Unfold 1 pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll the sheet into a 14-inch square. Cut into 4 (7-inch) squares. Repeat with the remaining pastry sheet. Place about 1/3 cup of the meat mixture onto half of each square. Top each with 2 tablespoons of the cheese. Brush the edges of the pastry with water. Fold plain pastry half over meat mixture and press the edges with a fork to seal. Place the rectangles on the prepared baking sheets. Brush with the egg mixture.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Let cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack. Serve warm with additional salsa.

Just think the time we can all save if each of us plan a week of meals and put them in a pot…ill pick one every week to post….you print…voila–your meal planning is DONE! This soooo could work to our advantage so c’mon just take a few minutes and plan a 6 day week of family friendly dinner recipes and submit to us at facebook@emtannerdesigns.com!No more of those SAME OLD RECIPES every SINGLE week! Let’s pull together and kick the kitchen’s BOO-TAY! Whatd’ya say??? xo

NOTE: you must be our facebook fan to ensure that we can find you to get a gift certificate to in the case that we PICK YOUR WEEKLY MEALS! HAPPY MEAL PLANNING!

Not exactly the healthiest dinner BUT this pasta is LITERALLY “to die for”…worth the splurge every now and then–TRUST ME!!!

Ingredients

24 ounces dry fettuccini pasta
1 cup butter
3/4 pint heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 dash garlic salt
3/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add fettuccini and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
In a large saucepan, melt butter into cream over low heat. Add salt, pepper and garlic salt. Stir in cheese over medium heat until melted; this will thicken the sauce.
Add pasta to sauce. Use enough of the pasta so that all of the sauce is used and the pasta is thoroughly coated. Serve immediately.

So ive cracked the whole blogging from my iphone biz so ill prob start doing better;)…but for now this is one of my fam’s FAVORITE DINNERS and we all know if I can make it ANYONE CAN!

3c chopped cooked chicken
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chix soup, undiluted
1 8oz carton sour cream
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1.5c or 40 ritz crackers crushed
1/4 butter or margarine

1. combine chicken, soup, sour cream and poppy seeds
2. spoon into lightly greased 11×17x1.5 inch baking dish
3 combine crushed crackers and melted butter
4. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes

We had so much fun working with Trista & Natalie Klein from hot moms club on the design for the AMAZING first birthday that Trista and Ryan threw in Colorado for their little “princess”…they make super duper ADORABLE BABIES!! Anywho we had the pleasure of doing the “logo” for the party as well as plates & water bottles for Blakesley’s little friends=)…Oh and tees too! They all got tees that said “squeeze me”, plates that said “eat me” and water bottles that said “drink me”…get it?? BLAKESLEY IN WONDERLAND!=)…here is the article from this month’s Mom Magazine…just thought i’d share and we all hope little Blakesley has an AMAZING SECOND YEAR! Such a cute little girlie girl! just precious!

THANKS TO NICOLE!!!! i went ALL out and ordered a “dough docker” (i had NO freaking clue what one was but i read that it will poke proper holes in the crackers so now i am a proud owner)…ordered tipo OO flour bc i couldnt find it in town…and ordered a REAL live Pizza baking stone from some commercial pizza equipment place..LOL…i am getting serious about mastering these crackers that i grew up LOVING at our local Darryl’s restaurant that is NO LONGER=(…My mom used to order them by the box so we always had HUGE sheets of them in our kitchen for as long as i can remember! So friends, here is that infamous recipe Nicole shared with us! i LOVE nicole! xo

CRACKERS:
This is a fantastic, reliable, everyday pizza dough, which can also be used to make bread. It’s best made with Italian Tipo “00″ flour, which is finer ground than normal flour, and it will give your dough an incredible super-smooth texture. Look for it in Italian markets and good supermarkets. If using white bread flour instead, make sure… See More… See More it’s a strong one that’s high in gluten, as this will transform into a lovely, elastic dough, which is what you want. Mix in some semolina flour for a bit of color and flavor if you like. They used to make this in giant trash cans everyday because they would go through it in no time.

7 cups strong white bread flour or Tipo “00″ flour or 5 cups strong white bread flour or Tipo “00″ flour, plus 2 cups finely ground semolina flour
1 level tablespoon fine sea salt
2 (1/4-ounce) packets active dried yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
Sift the flours and salt onto a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a large measuring cup, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough.

Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about 1 hour until the dough has doubled in size. I put mine on the top of the frig where is it is warm to double.

Now remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands – this is called punching down the dough. You can either use it immediately, or keep it, wrapped in plastic wrap, in the fridge (or freezer) until required. If using straightaway, divide the dough up into as many little balls as you want to make pizzas – this amount of dough is enough to make about six to eight medium pizzas or countless cracker size.

Timing-wise, it’s a good idea to roll the pizzas out about 15 to 20 minutes before you want to cook them. Don’t roll them out and leave them hanging around for a few hours, though – if you are working in advance like this it’s better to leave your dough, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator. However, if you want to get them rolled out so there’s 1 less thing to do when your guests are round, simply roll the dough out into rough circles, about 1/4-inch thick, and place them on slightly larger pieces of olive-oil-rubbed and flour-dusted aluminum foil. You can then stack the pizzas, cover them with plastic wrap, and pop them into the refrigerator.

THE KEY TO COOKING THEM! Pierce the dough with a fork and if you haven’t already brushed them with a light coating of olive oil do so now and sprinkle with kosher salt but I prefer a good sea salt. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees and I always use a pizza stone to make these on but you don’t have to. Preheat your pizza stone as well and get it super hot. If you prefer to not use a pizza stone place the thinly rolled out dough on the bare racks in the bottom shelf of your oven. Just make sure not to get them to big if you prefer this method or they are difficult to maneuver. Cook for 7-10 minutes until golden and crispy. watch them closely as they take no time to cook. I swear these look difficult but after you make them a few times it is a breeze!

*Bar-B-Q Sauce:*

3/4 cup canned iced tea
3/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons A-1 steak sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar, or more to taste
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or more to taste
1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar (you can add more if you like)
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine the iced tea, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, cider vinegar, liquid smoke, onion and garlic powders, and pepper in a heavy saucepan with 1/4 cup of water and gradually bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Reduce the heat to medium to obtain a gentle simmer. Let the sauce simmer gently until slightly reduced, thick, and richly flavored, 6 to 8 minutes. Taste for seasoning, adding brown sugar or lemon juice as necessary; the sauce should be highly seasoned.

Transfer the sauce to a bowl or clean jar and let cool to room temperature before serving. Any leftover sauce (in the unlikely event that you have it) will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for several weeks. Let return to room temperature before serving.

Happy Cooking Em!