Bacon, Cheddar and Ranch Pinwheels

I made this awhile ago and it was very good so I decided I'd share the recipe. The hardest part was making the bacon! (As much as I like bacon, I hate cooking it! That's why I hardly ever do. lol)

Bacon, Cheddar and Ranch Pinwheels

1 can (8oz) refrigerated crescent rolls (or 1 can of the seamless dough sheets.)

2 tbsp ranch dressing

4 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled (or ¼ cup cooked real bacon pieces.)

½ cup finely shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350F. If using the crescent rolls: Unroll the dough, separate into 2 long rectangles and press each into a 12x4 rectangle, making sure to press the perforations so it seals. If using the dough sheet: Unroll dough, cut lengthwise into 2 long rectangles, then press each into a 12x4 rectangle.

Spread the ranch dressing over each of the rectangles, all the way to the edges. Sprinkle with bacon and cheese. Starting with one short side, roll up each rectangle and press the edge to seal. With a serrated knife, cut each roll into 8 slices. Place cut side down on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for about 12-17 minutes or until the edges are deep golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet right away. Serve warm.

1-2-3 Cookies

These are some very easy, but VERY tasty cookies using cake mix! I've made it a few times now (twice for a party) and each time I ended up only getting 4 cookies. haha. (Mostly because I put 2 aside for myself and even hid them in my house!) I've made them with banana cake mix and lemon cake mix. They are both deliciousssss but personally I liked the banana better. Try it with your favorite cake mix! (And let me know how it tastes? =))

1-2-3 Cookies

1 box cake mix (any flavor)

about 80% of a container of Cool Whip

1 egg

powdered sugar

Mix the first three ingredients. Make balls out of the dough and plop into a bowl of powdered sugar.  Roll the dough in the sugar to coat, then place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes. After they are done baking, let rest on baking sheet for a couple minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

The sizes of cake mixes has been reduced in size so I had to edit the recipe some. (Trial and error style.) About 80-85% of the Cool Whip was perfect for me, but it doesn't matter if you have "too much" Cool Whip. It will just be harder and messier to make into the balls! It tastes delicious either way.

(Recipe adapted from GOODEnessgracious.)

Edible Cookie Dough

Admit it. One of your favorite parts about making cookies is sneaking a few bites of the dough. Don't lie, we've all done it! So what do you do when its 10:30 at night and you are hungry for some cookies (read: cookie dough.) but don't want to make a whole batch? Just make a single serving of edible cookie dough!

Edible Cookie Dough

1½ tbsp butter

3 tbsp flour

1 tbsp white sugar

1 tbsp brown sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

<1 tbsp water

chocolate chips (as many or as few as you want!)

Mix together all of the ingredients except the water and chocolate chips. You can either use 2 tbsp of white sugar or use 1 tbsp brown and 1 tbsp white sugar. I've always made it with just white sugar but tried it with some brown sugar tonight and I think I like it more that way. The dough will become a dry, crummy mixture. Slowly add water until you get the consistency that you like. (I used about a half a tbsp tonight and it came out perfect for me!) Then mix in however many chocolate chips that you like and enjoy!

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

Sooo.... There's these potatoes...Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes. I made them twice now and they are delicious! (The second time I messed up a little.. Make sure you use a liquid measuring cup for the milk! I don't know what I was thinking... Brennen got home at the same time that I was on that step so I'm blaming him for distracting me!)

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

¼ cup butter

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

2 cups whole milk (I used evaporated milk.)

4 cloves garlic, minced (The recipe I used called for 2 cloves but we like garlic.)

2¼ cups shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar and mozzarella.)

4 large potatoes, skins on, thinly sliced (Any kind.. I used large restaurant potatoes this time and yukon gold potatoes the first time... This yukon gold was definitely better!)

1½ cups onion, diced*

Preheat your oven to 375F. Take a medium saucepan and melt the butter over medium heat. Add the diced onion and let it cook until soft. (I didn't want onions in mine so I skipped the onion part until later. I still melted the butter though.) Stir in the flour then add the milk and garlic. Stir the sauce over medium/high heat until it begins to bubble and thicken. Remove from heat and stir in 2 cups of the grated cheese. I did 1 cup sharp cheddar and 1 cup mozzarella but you can use what you like. Set the sauce aside.

Since I was making mine without onions and another with onions, I used an 8x8 dish and an 8x4 dish. I layered the potatoes in the dishes, staggering them a bit so the cheese sauce could pour down between the slices. Then I poured the sauce over the potatoes and shook them a bit to help the sauce leak down into the potatoes.

Now for the onions. I melted a little butter in a saucepan, added the onions and let them cook until they were soft. Then I poured the onions over the dish that I wanted to have onions in it, trying to evenly distribute the onions. I used a fork and pushed the onions down into the sauce a little and gave the whole thing a couple shakes.

After that I sprinkled the top of both dishes with more mozzarella and cheddar cheese so the top was covered, but not thickly. (A thin layer of cheese is good!)

Bake at 375F for about an hour. Keep an eye on it near the end to make sure the top doesn't get too well done. (Although, admittedly, I like the top cheese to be a little burnt.) When its brown and bubbly, it's done!