Spicy Cheese Pretzel Sauce

Have you ever been making pretzels at home and wanted a nice cheese sauce to dip your pretzels into? After all, you've gone to the all the work of making tasty pretzels, and you want to enjoy them to the fullest! This cheese sauce is very quick and easy to make, and is yummy as well; it will taste great with both homemade and store-bought pretzels, but I've only used it with homemade pretzels.
This sauce has a distinct cheese flavor, but the chili powder gives it a nice edge. The sauce also thickens pretty quickly as it cools, so make sure to use it right after making it.

Tear the cheese slices into quarters and put them into a pan with the milk, salt, and chili powder.

 Put the pot on the stovetop at medium high heat, stirring constantly to ensure nothing burns.

 

 After a minute or two the cheese will melt; combine all the ingredients thoroughly and serve hot.

Yields 7 servings
Ingredients:
8 slices of American Cheese
1/4 C. milk (I used skim because that's what I had on hand, but I recommend 2% milk)
1/4 t. salt
1 t. chili powder

 

Tear the cheese slices into quarters and put them into a pan with the milk, salt, and chili powder. Put the pot on the stovetop at medium high heat, stirring constantly to ensure nothing burns. After a minute or two the cheese will melt; combine all the ingredients thoroughly and serve hot.

Heart of Italy Spaghetti Sauce

My great grandmother was Italian, and she had the best spaghetti sauce recipe in the world! It is rather sweet and popping with flavor! My grandma also used that family recipe, my mom has been making it for as long as I can remember, and I enjoy making it as well. For a recipe to have traveled four generations and still be going strong is proof of a good recipe!
Just to clarify, this is not my creation, but I thought since my family enjoyed it so much, I'd write it down for the world to use. This does take longer than just opening a jar of sauce and heating on the stove, but it's easy and well worth the extra bit of work!

Place a pot on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add the hamburger meat to the pot and gently tear the meat into small pieces.

 Once all the meat is nice and loose, pour the garlic powder evenly over the hamburger. Stir the garlic powder in, and stir the meat often to keep it from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the meat is thoroughly browned and cooked, drain any fat from the meat and then put the meat into a crockpot.

Add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, and parmesan cheese. Stir all the ingredients together until well combined.

 

 Turn the crockpot on high and let it cook for seven hours, stirring it every few hours.

Yields enough to fill a seven quart crockpot
Ingredients:
4 lbs. thawed hamburger
1/2 and 1/8 C. garlic powder
1 6 lb. 9 oz. can tomato sauce
2 6 oz. cans tomato paste
1 C. sugar
1 C. parmesan cheese

Place a pot on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add the hamburger meat to the pot and gently tear the meat into small pieces. (I use a large fork and/or a Pampered Chef hamburger chopper.) Once all the meat is nice and loose, pour the garlic powder evenly over the hamburger. Stir the garlic powder in, and stir the meat often to keep it from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the meat is thoroughly browned and cooked, drain any fat from the meat and then put the meat into a crockpot. (This recipe fills a seven quart crockpot, but I used an eight and a half quart crockpot.) Add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, and parmesan cheese. Stir all the ingredients together until well combined. Turn the crockpot on high and let it cook for seven hours, stirring it every few hours.

This spaghetti sauce is now ready to be served! You can serve it right out of the crockpot, or freeze it and use it another day. While it tastes fabulous fresh, I find that it tastes even better the longer it sits; it's one of those things that improves with time.

Homemade Garlic Croutons

As you may have noticed, I love garlic!!! It's one of my favorite flavorings (along with onions) for breads, dips, and snacks. For this crouton recipe, I'm using garlic infused olive oil and whole wheat bread in hopes of making a crouton that is a little more healthy that the ones you can buy at the store. These croutons are delicious and can be eaten with soups, salads, or by themselves. However you eat them, I'm sure you'll enjoy these croutons just as much as I do!

Combine the extra virgin olive oil, salted butter, crushed garlic cloves, and dried parsley in a small pot on the stove top at a medium heat. Keep the mixture on the heat until the butter has melted and the oil has started to bubble gently, about 2-3 minutes. Take the olive mixture off of the heat, and let the crushed garlic infuse the liquids for at least ten minutes before using.

 

While you are waiting for the oil, cut up your bread into cubes and put them into a bowl. 

 When then oil is ready, drizzle it over the bread cubes and toss them, coating them well with garlic oil.

Lay them out in a single layer on a parchment covered baking sheet, and stick the bread into the oven for ten minutes.

 When the time is up, take them out of the oven, flip them, and stick the baking sheet back into the oven for fifteen minutes.

 

 

 

Yields about 5-6 cups

Ingredients:

1/4 C. extra virgin olive oil

1 T. salted butter

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 t. parsley, dried

6 C. whole wheat bread cubes

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

 

Combine the extra virgin olive oil, salted butter, crushed garlic cloves, and dried parsley in a small pot on the stove top at a medium heat. Keep the mixture on the heat until the butter has melted and the oil has started to bubble gently, about 2-3 minutes. Take the olive mixture off of the heat, and let the crushed garlic infuse the liquids for at least ten minutes before using.

 

While you are waiting for the oil, cut up your bread into cubes and put them into a bowl. When then oil is ready, drizzle it over the bread cubes and toss them, coating them well with garlic oil. Lay them out in a single layer on a parchment covered baking sheet, and stick the bread into the oven for ten minutes. When the time is up, take them out of the oven, flip them, and stick the baking sheet back into the oven for fifteen minutes.

 

When your croutons have finished baking, let them cool a little before using them. Once they have cooled completely, store them in an airtight plastic bag or container until you're ready to use them.

 

The Perfect Breadstick Topping

If you are anything like me, you love breadsticks! I have yet to eat a breadstick that I don't like, and I make them every time we have pizza. As the official breadstick maker, I have experimented with the dough and the "seasoning," if you will, over the years and I think that I've finally hit perfection.

 

Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper. Put one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil on the parchment paper, and use a kitchen brush to spread the oil evenly across the paper.

 

Roll out your pizza dough on top of the oiled parchment paper, and then brush the second tablespoon of oil evenly on top of the dough.

 

Sprinkle the garlic powder on top of the dough, followed by the parmesan cheese, and then the oregano.

 

Put the pan into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

 

When the breadsticks are finished, remove the breadsticks from the pan. Taking a pizza cutter, cut the breadsticks into sizes that you prefer.

 

 

 

Yields 10 servings
Ingredients:

16 oz. of pizza dough

2 T. of extra virgin olive oil (divided)

3/4 t. garlic powder

1 1/2 T. parmesan cheese

1 t. oregano

 

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

 

Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper. Put one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil on the parchment paper, and use a kitchen brush to spread the oil evenly across the paper. Roll out your pizza dough on top of the oiled parchment paper, and then brush the second tablespoon of oil evenly on top of the dough. Sprinkle the garlic powder on top of the dough, followed by the parmesan cheese, and then the oregano. Put the pan into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. (Mine took 15 minutes.)

 

When the breadsticks are finished, remove the breadsticks from the pan. Taking a pizza cutter, cut the breadsticks into sizes that you prefer. I cut mine nine or ten times vertically and once horizontally, in the middle.

 

You have finished making the most perfect breadsticks ever! I promise you, once you start eating these you won't be able to stop!