Copycat White Castle Sliders

Apparently, these are a copycat recipe of some sliders from White Castle. If you ask me though, they're better than anything from there. ;-) (I don't love White Castle all that much.) My husband says these are one of his top 5 favorite things that I make. I call them "guy party food." Here's the recipe:

White Castle Sliders

 

Serves: 40 rolls

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped fine
• 8 ounces Velveeta cheese, cubed
• 0.5 (1¼ ounce) package onion soup mix (see Note)
• 40 slider rolls, sliced in half
• 40 slices dill pickles

Instructions

1. Brown ground beef and onion. Drain.
2. Stir in cheese and soup mix and cook over low heat until cheese melts.
3. Spread burger mixture on buns. I used a cupcake scooper to do this to make it easier. Place rolls on a baking dish.
4. You can wrap the whole pan in foil or each sandwich individually.
5. Bake 350 for 15-20 minutes or until nice and toasty.
6. Remove foil and top each sandwich with a pickle.
7. Serve immediately with ketchup and mustard if desired on top.

Notes

Each Lipton Onion Soup Mix packet comes with 2 (.5 ounce) packets but note that the recipe only calls for one.

This recipe can yield between 24 and 40 sandwiches depending on how big you slider rolls are.

I prefer mine without the pickle, but my husband agrees with the lady who made the recipe that the pickle is perfect. I don't think they need ketchup or mustard, but go for the condiments if you want to! Oh, and I don't use a full small onion. I use maybe half to three-quarters of one.

Also, when I did this I ended up with only about 15 sliders, but mine were on the bigger side.

Easy Beef Burrito Skillet

I LOVE burritos and enchiladas, but sometimes they can be a pain to make. This recipe is perfect for when you're in the mood for a burrito but maybe don't want to go through all the work for the traditional kind. Here's the recipe:

Easy Beef Burrito Skillet

 

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 (1 oz) package Old El Paso taco seasoning
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup chunky salsa
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 4 (6 inch) Old El Paso flour tortillas, sliced into 1-inch strips
• 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
• ½ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup sliced green onions
• 
  

Instructions

1. In a large skillet, brown beef until no longer pink. Drain. Add taco seasoning, water, salsa, and beans. Cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Reduce heat to low.
2. Stir in the tortilla strips and then top with cheese. Remove skillet from heat and let cheese melt.
3. Top with sour cream in the center and sprinkle with green onions. Serve immediately.

Notes

Use a mild salsa if you're making it for kids.
You can stack your tortillas and use a pizza cutter to slice them all in one easy step.

I think this is super delicious and seriously so fast and easy to make. I served mine with sour cream and chips and guac on the side. 

Salsa Verde Enchiladas

This is one of my new favorite recipes. SO yummy! Here it is:

Salsa Verde Enchiladas

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded chicken (rotisserie chicken works well here)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons Old El Paso™ taco seasoning mix (from a 1 oz package)
• ¾ cup salsa verde, divided
• 8 corn tortillas (flour tortillas can be used as well)
• 4 roma or plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese
• Toppings: sour cream, guacamole, salsa

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, add the chicken, sour cream, taco seasoning, and the remaining ½ cup salsa verde. Mix together and set aside.
3. Spread ¼ cup of the salsa verde on the bottom of an 8x8 square baking dish.
4. Tear 4 of the tortillas into 2 inch pieces and layer on top of the salsa. Top with ½ of the chicken mixture. Top with half of the tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of cilantro, and 1 cup of cheese. Repeat layers (tortillas, chicken mixture, tomatoes, cilantro, cheese).
5. If freezing, wrap with saran wrap and then foil and freeze.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until enchiladas are hot and bubbly.
7. Cut into squares and add your favorite toppings such as sour cream, guacamole, and salsa.

I like sour cream on top of mine. And like I said, this is delicious. And so easy! Plus it makes great leftovers. 

Buffalo Chicken and Potato Casserole

As much as we love buffalo flavored stuff, I have to be careful not to serve it too much or we can get burned out on the flavor quickly. So, when we do eat it, I try to make sure it's extra tasty. This recipe didn't disappoint! Here it is:

Buffalo Chicken and Potato Casserole

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into ½-inch cubes
• 8 medium potatoes, cut into ½-inch cubes (you can leave the skin on or peel it off)
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 6 tablespoons hot sauce

Topping:

• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup cooked and crumbled bacon
• 1 cup sliced green onions

Sauce:

• Blue cheese/ranch dressing

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 500F (Not a typo!)
2. In a large bowl, mix together the olive oil, hot sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika.
3. Add the potatoes and toss to coat.
4. Place the potatoes in a greased 9x13 baking dish.
5. When scooping the potatoes into the baking dish, leave behind any extra olive oil/hot sauce mix for your chicken.
6. Add the diced chicken to the leftover olive oil/hot sauce mix and stir to coat all the chicken. Allow the chicken to marinate as the potatoes bake.
7. Roast the potatoes for 20-25 minutes, stirring halfway, until cooked through and nice and crispy on the outside.
8. Remove potatoes from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 400°F.
9. Place the raw chicken (yes, raw) on top of the potatoes and cook for 20 minutes or until the chicken is done.
10. In a large bowl, mix all the topping ingredients together.
11. Top the chicken with the topping and bake for 5-10 minutes or until topping is melted and bubbly.
12. Serve with extra hot sauce and blue cheese/ranch dressing.

This was unique, filling, and delicious. I served it with Ranch. I will definitely use it again!

Slow Cooker Chocolate Pudding Cake

I had this at Bunko one night and it was SO good! It is actually made in a crock pot and is super easy. I was so excited when my friend who made it immediately handed over the recipe. :) I made it a week later for guests and it was a big hit! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
18 1/2 oz pkg chocolate cake mix
3.9 oz pkg insant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups (16 oz) sour cream
4 eggs
1 cup water
3/4 cup oil
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Whipped cream or ice cream - optional

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, eggs, water, and oil in electric mixer bowl. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into greased slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours or on high 3-4 hours or until toothpick inserted near center comes out with moist crumbs. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

My biggest piece of advice is to watch it carefully - mine was done in just a couple of hours and it was on Low! So seriously - be careful! Every crock pot is different. (Mine cooks fast.) Also, I highly recommend serving it with vanilla ice cream. YUM!

Grilled Chinese Chicken Kabobs

Grilling chicken is actually my favorite way to prepare chicken - I just don't do it that much since it is HOT here half the year and sometimes it can be a bit of an ordeal. Anyway, this is one of my new favorite grilled chicken recipes. So tasty! Here's the recipe:

Grilled Chinese Chicken Kabobs

Ingredients:

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons minced onion
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ginger
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

Directions:

Mix together the first seven ingredients and place in a gallon-sized resealable bag. Place chicken pieces in the bag and mix until all the chicken is completely coated. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours (I recommend more like 6-8 hours).
Remove chicken from fridge and thread chicken on skewers (if using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes to prevent burning). Discard marinade.
Place kabobs on a grill over medium-high heat. Cook until chicken is no longer pink and has an internal temperature of 165 degrees (about 10 minutes, turning chicken once).

Seriously delicious! Simple, easy, and my whole family loved it. I will definitely be making this again!

Homemade Bread

There are a LOT of good bread recipes out there - I know. I've made several that I'm happy with, but I'm going to put this one up because it's pretty easy and a good go-to recipe. If you're looking for a new one, give this recipe a try!

This is pretty hard to mess up, assuming you don't kill your yeast with water that's too hot and that you make sure to give your bread time to rise. (As is the case with most bread recipes.) It is SO good warm (duh) but also great for the next couple days. I usually keep one for my family and bring the other to a friend. Enjoy!

Honey Sriracha Chicken

Mmmm this dish is the perfect mix of sweet and spicy! It caught my attention because my husband is a big Sricacha sauce fan, so I thought it would be fun to try.  Here's the recipe:

PREP TIME

10 mins

COOK TIME

20 mins

TOTAL TIME

30 mins

Sweet and spicy Chinese honey sriracha chicken - better tasting and healthier than take out!

Author: Tiffany

Recipe type: Main Dish

Cuisine: Asian

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

• 3-4 chicken breasts, diced
• ⅓ cup cornstarch

sauce

• 1 cup water
• 2-3 tablespoons sriracha (depending on how spicy you want it)
• 5 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons honey (depending on how sweet you want it)
• 2 tablespoons corn starch + 2 tablespoons cold water
• optional: crushed red pepper flakes, cooked rice for serving

• INSTRUCTIONS
  1. In a small-medium sauce pan, combine the 1 cup of water, sriracha, soy sauce, garlic, sugar, and honey and stir. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Whisk together the 2 tablespoons corn starch and remaining 2 tablespoons of water until dissolved. Add to sauce pan and stir until thickened. Reduce heat to low.
  2. Add diced chicken and ⅓ cup corn starch to a large plastic bag. Seal the bag and shake to coat chicken. Drizzle a large pan or skillet with oil over medium heat. Add chicken and sauté until browned and chicken is cooked through. Add the sauce and stir to coat. Sprinkle with crushed pepper flakes if desired and serve over warm rice.

This dinner was super delicious! I was actually surprised by how much we liked it, since it really didn't look like anything special. I used the full 3 tablespoons of Sricacha because that didn't sound like very much to me, but let me tell you, Sricacha is definitely SPICY! Me and my husband really liked it but it was a little too spicy for my toddlers so if you're not a spicy food person, go easy on the Sricacha! (But make sure you still add at least a tablespoon, as it is a main ingredient and the whole dish is named after it!)  :-) I also added a full 3 tablespoons of honey and liked that. I served mine over brown rice and with salad.

Korean Beef Bowl

Agh, I have several recipes I need to get up on this blog! This one I made a few weeks ago and then made the next week too because me and my husband loved it so much!  I got the recipe from this blog. Here's the recipe:

KOREAN BEEF BOWL

Prep Time5 minutes

Cook Time10 minutes

Total Time15 minutes

Yield4 servings

Cheater korean beef bowl - tastes just like Korean BBQ and is on your dinner table in just 15 minutes!

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes, or more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• Cooked rice, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, red pepper flakes and ginger.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat. Stir in soy sauce mixture and green onions until well combined, allowing to simmer until heated through, about 2 minutes.
• Serve immediately with rice.

NOTES

Adapted from Six Sisters’ Stuff

This is seriously so fast and so easy!  I served it with Minute Brown Rice and and both me and my husband were SO pleased with it.  It is rare that I'll enjoy ground beef this much but this had so much flavor.  It will definitely be put into our regular dinner rotation!