Delicious Sausage Dip

One of my favorite people shared this recipe with me years ago, and almost every time I go to visit her, we share this dip as an evening snack.

It is a staple in their home, and it never gets turned down when made.... And when you start to fry the sausage, the smell fills the house, and everyone mosey towards the kitchen in anticipation of the finished dip.

With only 3 ingredients, it is a snap to put together, and the only other thing you need is a bag of tortilla chips, or if in your part of the world you can't get tortilla chips, you could substitute a cracker, or baguette.



Sausage dip:

1. pound of good quality ground sausage
2  10 ounce cans of Rotel tomatoes with green chilies
1  8 ounce package of cream cheese


In a skillet, Brown the sausage until cooked thoroughly.  If there is an abundance of grease, drain the sausage to remove the grease.

When fully cooked, add the 2 cans of tomatoes with green chilies, slightly drained.  You can leave some of the juice.

Stir to distribute, and heat through, then add the cream cheese and heat just until the cream cheese is melted, do not over cook.

Serve hot with tortilla chips.




It is also great made with hot sausage, and the spicy/hot Rotel tomatoes for those who like spicy things.

If you can't find the Rotel tomatoes, you can substitute canned diced tomatoes, and add a can of diced green chilies to it, I think it is 4 oz sized can.



I hope you enjoy this as much as we do, it makes me hungry just talking about it.



This would be wonderful made with Reindeer sausage.... something you can get if you still live in Alaska..... sometimes I miss it more than others...


~Brat~

An amazing young woman

This video is about a wonderful young Woman that has a heart for the lost.

She is a dear friend, and we are so proud of her.

Watch the video, and if you have any questions, please contact her.... 

She loves to share her passion of reaching out to the lost and to the unsaved

She spent an amazing time in India, touching lives, and sharing her faith.

I hope you will enjoy the video.

almost at 2000 blog visits!

Wow!

Can hardly believe that I am at almost 2000 views on my blog!

I am so amazed, and so humbled by it.

Looking forward to sharing some more recipes with everyone soon, but today is cleaning day, so hopefully if I finish early I will be able to post something new, have a couple of things in mind....

Thanks for all the continued support!

welcome to my visitors from around the globe

Welcome to my little place on the internet!

It always makes me smile to look and see where my blog is being read.

This week, America is in the lead, but several other countries have popped in to take a moment to read the blog.

This week we have also been visited by.......Isreal, Netherlands, Poland, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, and Serbia!

Thank you so much for stopping in and sharing part of you precious time by reading my blog...

I hope you enjoy my words of encouragement, and my family recipes!  

Every recipe I share is because we love it and make for our family... And I hope you will share them with your family too.



Take the time today to make someone smile, smiling is contagious, and happiness is something everyone can use more of!



Have a blessed day!

27 Years filled with love and adventure

This marriage that God has blessed me with has been a grand adventure.

It started off with a crazy trip to Hawaii and a catamaran cruise, and has lead me all over the United states, filled with times of laughter, excitement, and too many blessings to count.

I couldn't have asked for a better man to walk beside me and share my life.  He loves me despite my enormous faults, and never fails to bring entertaining times to our life on a daily basis.

He allows me to bloom wherever I need to be, and supports my itchy traveling nature.

We have seen our fair share of complications and roadblocks that every married couple goes through, but during those times we have learned to rest in God's grace and mercy, and draw closer to Him and each other.

My life is a daily event of silliness, and quirky things that would drive a lesser man to the brink of a meltdown, but through it all, we have learned to love each other more, and to embrace those strange and quirky ways about each other, and instead of going crazy and running away from each other, to appreciate those things that make us unique and our marriage something that works for us.

The best parts of us are shown to us daily in our two beautiful daughters.  Evidence of our amazing love, and God's faithfulness to us.  How awesome is that...... those things about our great love living daily before us, reminding us of why we said I do, so many years ago.

My oldest, just started her marriage, and it is amazing to see all that love and promise blooming in their new life together.   

I look back at my parent's marriage, and how they taught me throughout my life how to love deeply and freely.   They truly loved each other, completely, I learned the precious gift of romance, and dedication from them, and try to show that in my own marriage.  

A favorite saying of my mom and dad was..... "The love in your heart wasn't put there to stay,  love isn't love until you give it away..."

I try to live that to it's fullest, and invest in people around me, sharing the love I have received, and make their lives better by loving them in any way I can to make a difference.  

It is wonderful to touch people in a small way, and show them the love of Christ,  some people never get that, and when I can have the opportunity, it is a blessing to my life.

It has been a wonder life so far, and I look forward to seeing where God leads us, I am sure there will be lots of interesting places, and times ahead for us, and I have the most amazing man to share my journey with...

Thankfully God will be right alongside us as we proceed forward, sharing a life filled with love, and so many people to share it with.

Thanks Darling for this marriage and our adventure together.....


~ Brat ~

Salmon in Foil Packets

This is how I got my daughters to eat fish... It was something I taught them how to make when they were young, and they enjoyed having the fun making them for the family.

Baked Salmon in Foil packets

Salmon Filet (1 serving per person)

Sliced onion

Lemon sliced 1/4 inch thick

Parsley

Dill

Lemon Pepper

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Foil

To make foil packets, rip off foil large enough to make a packet for each person.

Place fish in center of foil that has been rubbed with butter.

Sprinkle with Dill, Lemon Pepper, Parsley, salt and pepper (to your taste).

Place onion slices on top of fish
Place lemon slices on fish

Place 2 pats of butter on top.

Seal up foil by bringing up edges and rolling top, then rolling in edges to make a sealed packet.  This will allow the fish to steam.

Place the fish packets into a preheated 450 degree oven.  They should bake for15 min.

Remove to each plate to serve.  Be careful when you open packets, the steam is very hot.

Serve with Rice, Steamed vegetables, and salad for a light healthy dinner.

We usually buy the Salmon filets in the seafood department in the freezer section. 

Defrost under hot water, and assemble. 

This goes great with Noodle Rice Pilaf recipe here on the blog, we always make them together....

Noodle rice pilaf: a family favorite recipe

Noodle Rice Pilaf

You can change the flavor of this dish by changing the 
bullion flavor to beef, or vegetable, etc.

Ingredients:

1/4 C. Margarine or butter ( not spread)

1 C. long grain rice

½ C. Thin noodles ( we use little stars.) Any little noodle will do, alphabets, 

       thin spaghetti-broken in small pieces etc. 

2 3/4 cup chicken broth ( I use water, and 2-3 chicken bullion cubes)

2 T. parsley.

Dash of garlic

Dash of onion pd.

Melt butter/margarine in sauce pan, add noodles and rice and brown nicely. 

Add broth/water and seasonings, bring to boil, put on lid, reduce heat to simmer/low and cook for 

20-25 min. Do not remove lid during simmer process more than once, you need the build up of steam to cook the rice.

Makes 4-6 servings

My kids love this stuff, and it is so economical... you can vary the taste by using different broth flavors, and by browning the rice lighter or darker.  The darker the rice gets the deeper the flavor....just be careful not to burn them.

You can also add frozen peas and or carrots, or slivered almonds, or broccoli to the rice before you put the lid on it.  We have also added split peas and lentils to it.

We serve this with our Salmon in Foil Packets recipe that I shared on my blog.

Comments function is now working.

This is me and my brother when we were very young.

~~~~~~~~~~

Well.... after a Month of trying to fix my comments problem, it is finally fixed!  

Comments can now be made to the blog page at each post.

It would be wonderful to hear from those who stop by and read my blog, since there are people reading from all over the world...

So give me a shout out if you stop by the blog, and comment on any recipes you happen to try....

Looking forward to getting to know my readers a bit better... so don't be shy....


~Brat~

Mexicali Bake

What do you call a dish that is mixed all together and put into a pan and cooked in the oven?

Do you  call it a Hot Dish, Casserole, a Bake.....

In our house, my husband doesn't like the word Casserole for some weird reason, so I always call them Bakes.. Chicken Bake, Macaroni and cheese bake, tuna bake.... you get the idea.... well here is my Mexicali Bake... I came up with this recipe one day when I needed to take something to a pot luck at church.  I searched through my cupboards late Saturday night, forgetting all about the pot luck the next day, and came up with this dish with what I had on hand.  It turned out wonderful, and I have been making it ever since, and passing the recipe off to all those who have asked.

Mexicalli Bake    serves 6-8          

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 medium can tomato sauce (or 2 small)

2 cups cooked ground hamburger

1 pkg. chili seasoning (dry) or 1 pkg. taco seasoning

1 can Olives drained

1 can corn drained or 1 cup frozen corn

1 can Red kidney beans , rinsed and drained or a can of black beans
1 can Rotel, tomato and green chilies

1 box spiral noodles

2 cups shredded cheese

dash garlic

dash onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

heat: sauce, seasonings, meat, in large sauce pan.

Cook pasta, and drain.

Grease a casserole with pam.

Place noodles in casserole pan.

Add olives, corn, kidney beans, Rotel tomatoes, to sauce and pour over noodles,

Lightly stir to mix. Sprinkle cheese over top,

Bake 350 For 30 min, or until cheese melted and heated thoroughly.

Great for potlucks, and for cold winter nights, serve with a green salad and maybe some tortillas chips and some of my home made salsa for a complete meal..... would be a great meal for your entertaining pleasure....  Because Food is always better shared with friends!

Make this vegetarian by leaving out the meat.


Hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

~Alaskan Brat~

Hawaiian Volcanoes updated

We learned of this recipe from a Missionary family that became friends of ours while they came home for a break.  They invited us over for dinner and served us this wonderful dish.  It was something that they used to entertain people with on the mission field. Most of the ingredients can be kept in the cupboards for spur of the minute entertaining so it makes it a go to meal when you need something quick.

It became an immediate family favorite of ours, and we share this meal with lots of friends, and entertain with this dish all the time.

It is great for hot summer days, as well as mid winter, it doesn't heat up the kitchen to bad, and can be made in the crock pot too.  

I have shared this recipe with so many people, I have lost count.  I hope you enjoy.

Hawaiian volcanos  

2 cups cooked and cubed chicken breast

2 large cans cream of chicken soup 26 oz. Size

Cooked rice- enough to feed your family as main dish

            

Toppings:

coconut
Shredded cheddar cheese. Lots of it.

cashews/peanuts

raisins

green onions-sliced thin

shredded cheddar cheese

chow mien noodles

pineapple tidbits

mandarin oranges

chopped red onion or green onions

Cook rice, to be ready and Hot

In another  Medium pot, place chicken and cream of chicken soup.

Heat through, add only enough water to make gravy consistency(about 1 can)

prepare toppings, and place in individual serving dishes.

When Rice and chicken sauce is hot and ready, place a serving of rice in middle of plate, top with chicken sauce.

Pass toppings around the table so everyone can have their choice of toppings, Coconut is the Snow on top of Volcano.

Volcanoes rapidly grow as toppings are added so watch out.

Great dish to serve company because most ingredients are readily available in cupboards normally.

** other topping that might be used are: chopped - tomato, celery, lettuce***