Tag Archives: bacon

Easy Appetizers

21 Jan

My sister and I made some yummy, easy appetizers for New Year’s Eve.  The nice thing about these is that one uses crescent rolls and the other uses biscuits, which tend to be on sale fairly often.

Bacon Cheese Pinwheels and Mozzarella Bites

Bacon-Cheddar Pinwheels

What you need:

1 can crescent rolls
4 slices bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Open can of dough, unroll, and press into a large rectangle.  Sprinkle bacon and cheddar evenly over the dough.  Roll the dough from one side, and pinch the edge to close.  Cut the roll into about 16 pieces, placing each piece on a baking sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-17 minutes, or until golden brown.

Mozzarella Bites

What you need:

1 can Grands biscuits
2-3 mozzarella cheese snack sticks
Olive oil
Garlic salt
Oregano
Grated Parmesan cheese

How to make them:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cut each Grands biscuit in half and cut each mozzarella cheese snack stick into 1-inch sections.  Press each biscuit piece into a circle, and place a section of cheese on each circle.  Pull up sides of the biscuit around the cheese, and press to close.  Place the sealed side of each biscuit down on a baking sheet.  Brush the tops with olive oil, and sprinkle with the seasonings and grated Parmesan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

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Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

26 Nov

Today, I wanted soup and I also wanted to use ground beef.  So, I decided that cheeseburger soup sounded good, if it even existed.  It does, but most recipes I found have celery, carrots, potatoes.  All good things, but I really just wanted it to taste like a cheeseburger.  It did!  My husband and I both liked it, but my kids weren’t really fans. (But, they were both grumpy, so that may have played a part in their not liking it.)

Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

What you need:

1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup diced mushrooms**
3 tablespoons flour**
2 cups milk**
4 cups beef broth
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 slices bacon, crumbled

How to make it:

In a large pot, mix together ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, and pepper.  Brown meat over medium high heat.  Stir in diced onion, and cook until soft.  Next, stir in diced mushrooms, and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.  Sprinkle in flour, stir in and cook for 4-5 minutes.  Pour in milk and beef broth.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low to simmer for 20-30 minutes.  Stir in shredded cheese and crumbled bacon, and heat until cheese is melted.

**If desired, a can of cream of mushroom soup concentrate or homemade cream of mushroom soup concentrate can be substituted for the mushrooms, flour, and milk.

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Loaded Baked Potato Salad

4 Jul

This was part of our 4th of July meal.  I looked around at a few different recipes before settling on this combination.  I think it turned out pretty good!

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

 

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

What you need:

2 pounds red potatoes, skins left on, and diced into 1″ pieces
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
8 pieces of cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus some  for garnish
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
Chives, for garnish (optional)

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Lay potatoes on a baking sheet and spray with a little olive oil. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Allow to cool completely.

Once potatoes are cool, add them to a large bowl and mix in chopped hard-boiled eggs, crumbled bacon, and shredded cheddar cheese.

In a separate small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, and mustard.  Pour over the potato mixture and stir in until well coated.  Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.  If desired, top with more shredded cheddar cheese and chives.

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Zaycon Foods BBQ and Bacon Events

19 Jun

Last month, Zaycon Foods had a BBQ foods event and I’m just getting around to posting the pictures!  The event included bacon-wrapped pork fillets, Gold Medal beef hot dogs, Gold Medal Polska kielbasa sausages, and pork loin “meaty” back ribs.  I really wanted to get all of it, but settled on the bacon-wrapped pork fillets and the beef hot dogs.

The bacon-wrapped pork fillets came frozen in a 10 pound box, which was 30 fillets, for $39.90 ($3.99/lb).  I split this case with a friend, so we each got 15.  Here is how the case looked:

Zaycon Foods Bacon-Wrapped Pork FilletsAt first, they seemed a little smaller than I was expecting, but actually, they are a perfect size.  I grilled these about a week after getting them, and they were really good.  My husband put his in a bun and had it like a sandwich.  I just cut mine and ate it.  Looking forward to enjoying the rest of these soon!

The Gold Medal beef hot dogs came frozen in a 10 pound package as well, which was 50 hot dogs.  It was $29.90, or $2.99/lb.  I kept this whole case myself, wishing I had gotten another!  Love these hot dogs, they are so good!  Here is how the case looked:

Zaycon Foods Gold Medal Beef Hot DogsThere was a little freezer burn on them, but while I had them out to re-package, some of that melted away.  I put them in packages of 4 and packages of 8.  We’re a family of 4, so I did the 4 for when I grill the hot dogs with something else, like brats or burgers, and the 8 for when we have just hot dogs or friends over.

Today, was the pick up for the fresh premium hickory smoked bacon event.  And, just in time because I’m down to my last couple packages of bacon.  They made some changes from the last event, the bacon is fresh, but was delivered frozen.  Which is fine because it all went in the freezer anyway since I still have some from the last event to use.  It was also packaged differently.  Last time, it was in two 15 pound packages, and this time there were twelve 3 pound packages.  Their reason for this was to make it easier to share the case with friends and family.  I haven’t decided if I will re-package this or not.  I’m sure we could eat 3 pounds of bacon at once, but I don’t think we should!   Anyway, there were 36 pounds total, and it cost $125.64, or $3.49/lb.  I shared this case with a friend, and here is my share of the bacon:

Zaycon Foods Premium Hickory Smoked Bacon

 

Next month, they have a chicken tender event and a ground beef event scheduled.  Definitely getting the ground beef, still undecided on the chicken tenders.

 

 

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Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes

29 Nov

Recently at Bountiful Baskets, we got some HUGE russet potatoes.  We love baked potatoes in my house, but potatoes that big can take forever to bake.  Well, I discovered there is a pretty easy way to get a baked potato – in the slow cooker!  So, here is what you need to do!

First, wash and completely dry your potatoes.  Poke with a fork around the potatoes.  Wrap them in aluminum foil and place in the slow cooker.

 

Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 5-6 hours.  Remove from foil and serve.

 

Here is how we had ours, fully loaded with shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon, sour cream, and chives.  I know, not the healthiest, but so good!

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Spinach, Feta, and Bacon Mini Quiche

20 Nov

 

I got a chance to try out a recipe from the 2012 Taste of Home Cooking School show that I recently attended.  These are delicious!  The original recipe calls for brie, but since I had feta cheese on hand, I used it instead, knowing it is a good combination with spinach and bacon.  It also says to use 2 pie crusts, but I found that 1 pie crust and the filling filled the 12 muffin cups in my pan.  So, since I had both pie crusts ready to go, I doubled the amount of filling and got 24 mini quiches.  Yum!

 

Spinach, Feta, and Bacon Mini Quiche
Original recipe here

What you need:

4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
1 cup fresh spinach leaves, washed & diced
2 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 refrigerated pie crust

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium-size bowl, whisk eggs together with milk, salt & pepper.  Add spinach, bacon, onion, and feta to egg mixture and blend well.

Roll out pie crust and cut in 3 inch circles (I used a juice glass to cut the circles); line muffin tins with circles.

Spoon egg mixture into each muffin cup, filling 3/4 full; place in oven and cook for 25 minutes or until eggs are set.

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Loaded Baked Potato Soup

12 Nov

 

So, I usually make potato soup in the slow cooker, but I didn’t really think far enough ahead of time to get it going.  So, I decided to try a stove top version instead.  I looked up a few recipes, and came up with a mix between my normal recipe and some others I found.

 

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

What you need:

1/2 pound bacon
1/2 onion, finely diced (I used a red onion)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup flour
1 quart chicken broth
2 1/2 pounds potatoes, diced, peeled or unpeeled (I used a mix of red and white potatoes, and left the peels on)
1 8oz package cream cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

How to make it:

In a large stockpot, cook bacon until crispy.  Remove from pot and crumble; set aside.

Keeping the bacon grease in the stockpot, add onions and minced garlic.  If there is not enough bacon grease, melt 4 tablespoons  of butter in the stockpot.  Cook onions and garlic until caramelized.  Stir in flour.  Pour in chicken broth while stirring constantly to avoid any lumps.     Add the potatoes, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Use a potato masher or immersion blender to mas potatoes to desired consistency (I prefer my soup to be a little lumpy).  Stir in bacon, cream cheese, and shredded cheddar cheese, and continue to cook until cheese is melted.

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Guacamole BLT on Sourdough

12 Nov

 

This is one of the best lunches I’ve had at home in a while!  I had a sourdough loaf from Bountiful Baskets in my freezer that I thawed, sliced, and toasted.  Then, I had green leaf lettuce from Sunizona Family Farms and tomatoes from Grammy’s at our Farmer’s Market.  The bacon was from my recent Zaycon Foods bacon event, yum!  The guacamole was made with $.83 avocados and $.20 limes from my Safeway just for U personalized deals (plus a little garlic salt!).  Finally, I added some swiss cheese, which was also a just for U personalized deal at Safeway, $1.68 for an 8oz package of slices.  So, not only delicious, but cheap for me to make too!

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Zaycon Foods Bacon and Ham

10 Nov

Back in February, I had my first experience with Zaycon Foods, and have been very pleased with their products.  I have gotten Alaskan salmon, cod, shrimp, boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 93/7 lean ground beef, hot dogs, German sausage, and fully cooked grilled chicken strips.  My deep freeze has been stocked with meat, poultry, and seafood on a constant basis, which I love because it makes dinner choice a little easier when I have meat on hand already.  Well, as long as I remember to take it out of the freezer.

There was one product of theirs I had yet to try, the bacon.  We love bacon in our house, and I had heard good things about it from a couple of friends.  So, when they announced a bacon event was coming to my town, along with a ham event, I jumped at the chance to try it! Both were priced at $3.29/lb, and are products of Farmland Farms.

The ham unit was 2 10 pound hams.  It is a Carve Master Boneless Smoked Old Fashioned Ham.  Here is more information on the ham from the e-mail they sent out: This Ham is made from fresh outside muscles only, for excellent flavor and texture, slow smoked with real apple wood to give the ham a unique true smoked flavor.

With less than 10g of fat per 100g the USDA has approved this ham as LEAN, with this special cure there is no MSG, this ham is completely boneless, meaning higher yields and easily carved from end to end.

The Ham is packaged by the case this includes two 10lb hams that are individually vacuum sealed and has guaranteed freshness up to 100 days.

Here is a photo of one of the hams:

 

I am not sure what I will do with this ham yet, but I’m excited to get to try it!  It is fully cooked, so I may slice it up for cold sandwiches or I may heat it in addition to our turkey for Thanksgiving.

The bacon unit was 2 15 pound boxes of bacon slices.  It is Fresh Hickory Smoked Bacon.  Here is the product description from their e-mail: This bacon has had the same award-winning cure since 1959, cured for a minimum of 24 hours, and hickory smoked for at least 7.5 hours, the smoking process includes only actual hardwood chips burned in the stocker, this creates the color and flavor that makes this cure so special, in addition to color and taste our bacon has been carefully hand trimmed from each belly for consistent sizing.

Here is a photo of one of the 15 pound packages:

 

It is a nice, thick cut bacon.  We had some for breakfast the morning after getting the bacon, and it was really good.  Honestly, I’m so used to eating turkey bacon, I wasn’t sure how the pork bacon would go over in our house, but we all thought it was delicious.

I counted out 16 slices of bacon, which was around 1 pound, some a little more, some a little less, but I figured that 16 slices is 4 pieces of bacon for each member of my family of 4.  For 12 sets, I vacuum sealed the bacon to put in the freezer.  The remaining 3 sets, I put in FoodSaver FreshSaver bags in the refrigerator.

 

Next month, I’ll be picking up more of the ground beef, which is perfect because I am out of ground beef from the March event!

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Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

29 Aug

 

I’m not going to lie – I’m bad at breading and frying things.  I’ve tried it on a few different occasions, and I did okay, but not great.  Plus, I don’t like dealing with all the oil after frying.  So, I searched for alternative ways to make jalapeno poppers with all the jalapenos I had .  And, that search let me to Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers.  You just can’t go wrong with bacon.  These are really pretty easy to put together, too, the worst part is scooping out the seeds and insides of the peppers.  I used turkey bacon because it’s really about the only kind of bacon we eat in my house these days, but these would be great with pork bacon too.  I preferred the turkey bacon also because there is usually less grease, making less chance of grease dripping in my oven.  You can also see in my picture above that I have a tray on my baking sheet.  That is actually a grill cooking tray, but it was perfect to sit on my baking sheet to allow any bacon grease to drip through.  An alternative to this would be to put a baking rack on the baking sheet, or line the baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.  Also, make sure the baking sheet has sides to catch the grease.  Grease fires are no good!

 

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
Based on recipe here

What you need:

Jalapeno peppers, about a dozen
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 pound bacon, pork or turkey
Toothpicks

How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

If you have them, put on gloves while handling the jalapeno peppers.  Slice each pepper in half lengthwise, and scoop out the insides and seeds.  Scoop cream cheese into each pepper half.  Wrap each pepper in a half or whole piece of bacon, depending on the size of your peppers and bacon.  Use a toothpick to help hold the bacon in place around the pepper.  Place on a baking sheet with sides that has a baking rack, foil, or parchment paper inside to absorb the grease.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until bacon is crispy.

Note: Instead of the oven, you could also grill these.

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