EM Tanner Designs

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 11x17x1.5 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!

Ok, so (wonder why i start EVERYTHING with OK…i just noticed that? hmmm?)…OK…haha…ever since i was little i LOVED those wedding mints that cake peeps often make. Not talking about buttermints like you buy at the store or find at some restaurants as you walk out the door BUT those ones that are mooshy, kinda a wierd consistency and just a hint of minty taste to them mixed with buttercremeish taste…know what i am referring to? YUMMMMM…well, lauras wedding made me think of how much i love these crazy things but she didnt have them it just sparked a memory and made me CRAVE them! sooo i googled some recipes and this one is EXACTLY what i was looking for and sooooo easy but it does take time to dry them out…BUT i put mine in a freezer tight container and put them in freezer instead of drying them out for 48 hours…too impatient!..and it worked too! Also, keep in mind that i dont own a candy mold soooo ours really arent pretty at ALL but they SHO WAS GOOD=)…ok here is this SIMPLE wedding mint recipe! hope you enjoy them too! xo

Wedding Mints…

NOTE: the batter will seem EXTRA dry but DO NOT add any more liquid than called for just keep working with it…also LIGHT CREAM CHEESE does NOT work…

-this recipe makes about 30 mints roughly.

ingredients:

1-8 ounce package of cream cheese

1-2 pound package of powdered sugar

10-11 drops of peppermint extract (scant 1/4 tsp)

food coloring (optional)

granulated sugar (to roll mint balls in)

Directions:

1. mix WILL be DRY

2. Mix ingredients in bowl and mix with kitchenaid or handheld mixture until combined

3.Remove from bowl and knead on wax paper.

4. add food coloring if desired (i added my food coloring in bowl and mixed it with mixer instead of hands..it worked too)

5. .roll into small balls and roll in granulated sugar

6. press into molds or slightly flatten mint balls

7.remove from mold

8. lay on wax paper to dry at least overnight.

9. turn over and dry other side. (OR put in freezer overnight same difference i think)

10.recipe says to “dry 24 hours on both side” but again the freezer worked for me!

11. if keeping longer than 2 weeks they need to be frozen.

VOILA…easy as can be! lemme know whatcha think…show me pics if yours are pretty and tell me how to make them pretty please..haha! xoxo

The CONtest Winner is Amy from the blog=)!

Sorry guys i need to hire a contest regulator…LOL..here is Sarah’s post to everyone who “played with us”…BECAUSE lots of peeps picked the names they liked she had to pick one to win…they love CONnor and CONley! i do too!=)….The Winner is “AMY” from the blog post (i believe it may be amy parks based on the email but didnt list a last name…soooo miss or Mrs. Amy ill be emailing you the gift certificate to the email address provided)=)..WOO HOO…give it up for Amy!=)…here is Amy’s winning post:

1. I loved your story! Thank you for sharing! I lost my dad to cancer when I was 16 and my mom also to the exact same type of cancer when I was 21. She was my best friend and the coolest mom and she always put her kids first. She always threw us the biggest b-day parties and our home was THE hang out place after school. I miss her so much and when I got married, I looked forward to having another mom but ended up with a mom-in-law who is ill and not able to really be a mom to me or a grandmother to our 2 toddlers. It makes me so terribly sad to know that my kids will never really know a loving, doting grandmother. I’ve realized that I instead have to be THAT mom to my 2 beautiful children and give them the same wonderful memories that my mom gave to me.I don’t think I can add anything to your name competition because it looks like you’re well-covered but I totally agree with the folks who came up with Conley/Conleigh. Great name.Happy Mother’s Day!Comment by Amy — May 4, 2010 @ 10:53 pm |Edit This

Ok, Sarah’s note to you ALL:

I am deeply touched by the response of this CONtest! I literally sat by my computer all day watching and waiting with my notebook to write down everything that was suggested. (Good thing I was off work yesterday!!!!) I am amazed by the response and truly appreciate the kind words and encouragement. It is a daily struggle…just trying to understand (she was ONLY 55 years old!!!) but I know she is in heaven taking care of our baby until it is time for he/she to be with us. AND I CAN’T WAIT!!! We had some CON names picked out but wanted to see if we were missing something and there were several that I loved, Trav-not so much….he is an old-fashioned kinda guy so some were way out there for him, even if I liked them. I think we will stick to the original ones we liked but most of you liked the same ones….the winners: Conner and Conley…there are lots of Conner’s out there but it’s a good name and people would KNOW what it stood for when they said it. My husband’s middle name is Judson so I think we’ll either use Judson Conner or Conner Judson…..for the girl….not sure if we’ll use as middle or first name and what with it, but we will work on that!! He likes Tatum Conley and I like Conley Claire, but who knows! I think we will KNOW when the little tyke is in my belly!!! Maybe I can keep you all informed of my “journey” because we women seem to like that sort of thing….I am a 33 year old woman that just got married in October so I am a little late in the game, but if it’s God’s will, it will happen!!! Love to all and again, thank you so very much!!!
Sarah Overholt Stinnett