Best Dish: Sopaipilla Cheesecake Bars

Y'all, Megan Fleetwood was on point when she made these Easy Sopaipilla Cheesecake Bars for our MOPS meeting.

First of all, they're seriously easy to make. Second, they taste like you spent hours making them (hint: you didn't). And third, you can easily cut down on the sugar to save a few calories. Also, these would be FANTASTIC for a Cinco de Mayo bash!

Easy Sopaipilla Cheesecake Bars

 

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce) cans Pillsbury™ refrigerated butter flake crescent dinner rolls

2 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups white sugar, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup butter, melted 

 

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Unroll one can of crescent rolls and press it into the bottom of your baking dish sealing perforations.
• In a small bowl blend the cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, and the vanilla. Spread evenly over the top of the crescent dough.
• Unroll your second can of crescent rolls onto a sheet of saran wrap or some other surface and press the perforations together. Transfer to your baking dish, placing it on top of the cream cheese mixture.
• Pour the melted butter on top of the crescent dough.
• In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over the melted butter.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes until bubbly and bottom crust is slightly browned.
• Let it cool and store in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, slice and add whipped cream and strawberries if desired.

 

 

Best Dish: Apple Cinnamon Bubble-Up Bake

You guys, Teisha made this dish back in January. JANUARY. My bad for not sharing it until now. But, I distintcly remember eating it, and it's too good not to share now. Better late than never, right?!

Teisha likes to experiment with new breakfast foods for our MOPS meeting, and I think we're all thankful that she does since this isn't the first Best Dish Award that she's won! She said she's keeping this recipe handy as a fall/winter recipe staple and is going to try adding pears and maple syrup next time. YUM!

The original dish calls for slices of apples, but she peeled and diced them to make them easier to eat. She also baked it a little longer than the recipe called for—so keep an eye on it towards the end to make sure all the milk absorbs well, and maybe try it on the bottom rack.

Apple Cinnamon Bubble-up Bake

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
5 small cored, thinly sliced apples
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, cubed
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 can (17.5 oz) Pillsbury™ Grands!™ refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing

Directions:  

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9-inch (3-quart) baking dish with shortening or cooking spray. In 12-inch skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add apples; cook 10 to 12 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened and beginning to brown. Remove from heat.
• 2 Meanwhile, in large microwavable bowl, microwave cream cheese and powdered sugar uncovered on High 1 minute, stirring every 30 seconds, until softened. Stir until smooth, then slowly stir in milk. Stir in apple mixture.
• 3 Separate dough into 5 rolls; return icing to refrigerator. Cut each cinnamon roll into 6 pieces, and stir into apple mixture. Pour into baking dish.
• 4 Bake 26 to 32 minutes or until bubbling around edges and dough is baked through. Let stand 10 minutes. Transfer icing to quart-sized resealable food-storage plastic bag. Cut 1 corner with kitchen scissors, and drizzle over mixture.

Let us know when you make it!

Best Dish: Cinnamon Roll Crumb Cake

Oh, you guys are going to want to make this recipe ASAP! Amanda Storie brought this Cinnamon Roll Crumb Cake to a meeting last month, and it was such a hit that there wasn't even a crumb left.

Amanda says the recipe is pretty easy, and she followed it exactly when she makes it. She used the spiral cinnamon rolls from Publix that come with 8 rolls to a can. And, for a larger crowd she suggests making two cakes (three cans of cinnamon rolls total and spread them out between the pans).

Actually, scratch that. If you're going to make this recipe, you should just plan on doubling it, since it's that good. And maybe send this to your husband, because it would be the perfect treat to wake up to on Mother's Day next month!

Cinnamon Roll Crumb Cake 

(from Love Bakes Good Cakes)

Ingredients:
1 tube (16 oz.) Immaculate Baking Cinnamon Rolls
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup packed brown sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-in. cake pan with cooking spray.

Open the cinnamon roll tube, remove the frosting and set aside. Separate the cinnamon rolls. Place one cinnamon roll in the center of the cake pan. Unroll another cinnamon roll completely and wrap it around the cinnamon roll in the pan. Repeat with the remaining cinnamon rolls.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter with your hand until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the top of the cinnamon rolls. Bake 25-28 minutes or until the cinnamon rolls are cooked completely, and the crumb topping is lightly browned.

Snip the corner off of the frosting bag and drizzle evenly over the top of the cake. Serve warm.

Let us know if you make this. You and your taste buds will thank us later :) 

Best Dish: "Pigs" in a Blanket

Isn't it wonderful how simple food can sometimes taste divine? That's the case with Leena's Verbanac's best dish from last month.

She took a twist on pigs in a blanket and everyone agreed that it was worth of needing the recipe. Although, hang onto your sippy cups, because this is so easy you may kick yourself for not making them sooner!

Image from Julie's Eats and Treats

"Pigs" in a Blanket

Ingredients:
Croissants
Breakfast sausage link, cooked
Kraft cheese singles

Directions:
Preheat oven according to directions on croissant package. Roll out the croissants so you have individual triangles. Place half a slice of cheese on the croissant, then a sausage link on top. Roll it up and bake until golden brown. (Leenah says she had to bake them for a couple extra minutes than the package indicated)

Easy and delicious, right? YUM!

Best Dish: Pineapple Casserole

We're catching up on some recipes from the past couple months—sorry...life got in the way of me posting, but these next several posts will be worth the wait! 

One of our Best Dish winners was Megan Fleetwood with her Pineapple Cheese Casserole. Megan said that the recipe is incredibly easy, otherwise she wouldn't make it! She doubles the whole recipe, because it's so good you're going to want more of it!  

Image from Food Network

Pineapple Casserole

Ingredients:
1 16oz can of chunked pineapple, drained 
2 cups of grated sharp cheddar Cheese 
1 cup of sugar 
3 tbsp of flour 
1/2 cup of crushed ritz crackers 
1/2 stick of melted butter 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 
Mix pineapple, cheese, sugar and flour together 
Melt butter and mix in ritz crackers 
Pour pineapple mixture into a baking dish top with the ritz crackers 
Bake at 350 for 30 min

Best Dish: Party Sandwiches

If you're looking for the perfect potluck dish that will have people practically eating out of the palm of your hand, then you need to make this. It's not only lip-smacking good, but Melanie Swinson, one of our Best Dish winners, says that it's the perfect dish for all those little helpers in your life, too! *Staci Hildago also won that week—her recipe is pending :)

"These delicious little sandwiches don’t have an official name, so in our house, we just refer to them as “Party Sandwiches,' Melanie says. She first tried them at her Washington D.C. MOPS group back in 2010, and they'e been part of her family recipe collection ever since. We can definitely see why! Make them for your next party and wow the crowd!

Party Sandwiches

Sandwich Ingredients:

1 Pack of Martin’s Potato Rolls (I use the 12 sliced potato rolls, usually whole wheat)

1/4-1/2 lb of shaved turkey

1/4-1/2 lb of shaved ham

1/4-1/2 lb of swiss cheese

Topping Ingredients:

1/4 stick butter, melted

2 T brown sugar

1T mustard

1T Worcestershire sauce

1T poppy seeds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degree. Spray 9 x 13 glass dish with nonstick cooking spray and place the roll bottoms in the pan. Layer the meat (use any combination your heart desires!), then cheese (try provolone or Havarti if you aren’t a Swiss lover), then replace roll tops. Mix the topping sauce and pour over the rolls. Best to refrigerate overnight or for at least an hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

YUM! 

Best Dish: Cheesy Hashbrown Potatoes

After a streak of having nothing but sweet dishes win the Best Dish award, we finally have a savory recipe to join the mix! Natalie Wilds won for her Cheesy Hashbrown Potatoes! This is a comfort-food classic, and once you see how easy it is to make, we have a feeling your friends and family are going to gobble it up, too.

 

Making it for our MOPS group was the first time Natalie made this, but she said that she loves cheese, so she figured it would be a good recipe. Looks like she was right!

Cheesy Hashbrown Potatoes

by Money Saving Mom

Ingredients:
2 lbs. frozen shredded hashbrowns
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or any kind of cheese or mix of cheeses you prefer)
2 cups milk
4 Tablespoons butter (I only use 2!)
1 ½ teaspoons salt
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place frozen (unthawed) hashbrowns in a 9×13 pan. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and stir lightly to combine. Heat milk, butter, and salt in a separate pan until butter is melted (I do this in the microwave). Pour over potato/cheese mixture. Sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes, or until cheese is browned (I usually turn the broiler on high for the last 1-2 minutes). Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

YUM! Let us know if you end up making this! 

Best Dish: French Toast Casserole

It looks like this particular MOPS group has a sweet tooth, because the sweet dish won for the second time in a row! Congratulations to Wendy Zeitler from the green table, and her mouthwatering French Toast Casserole recipe for winning the Best Dish Award!

This was the first time Wendy made the recipe, but judging by the response from the group, I have a feeling it won't be the last. A friend of Wendy's made this for a Sunday-school breakfast, and when she heard how easy it was to make, she knew she needed it in her collection. Lucky for you, she asked her friend for the recipe, and now you guys get to reap the benefits!

Wendy says she loves that almost the entire dish can be prepped the night before. "I can bake it in the morning while I'm getting ready for the day, and it's hot and ready in time for breakfast."

The casserole was such a success at the meeting, that she made it again recently for a family vacation at a beach house in Gulf Shores last weekend. "I made it for them as well, and they loved it too. We ate the whole pan in one morning. It's definitely not on the healthier side of breakfast, but it's fun to splurge every now and again. I think this will become a company and holiday staple in my house."

A quick tip if you decide to make this: make sure to use French bread, as other breads may be too crusty to soak up the egg mixture.

photo courtesy of Food Network

Baked French Toast Casserole

by Food Network (Paula Deen)

Ingredients
1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt

Praline Topping:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
(combine all ingredients; blend well; set aside)

Directions: 

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. (Use any extra bread for garlic toast or bread crumbs). Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  
Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.

Talk about YUM! This sounds like the perfect dish to serve for Thanksgiving or Christmas morning! Let us know if you make it :) 

Best Dish: Pumpkin Cake Balls

Our first week's winner at our last meeting for our Best Dish Award was Lindsay Hopkins from the Teal Table with her mouth-watering Pumpkin Cake Balls. I think we can all appreciate the pumpkin-flavored dessert, especially now with the cooler weather. And seriously, if you could've heard the "ooohs," "aaahs," and moans coming from everyone around the room, then you'd have a small taste of just how good these were. 

The best part is, according to Lindsey,  that these are ridiculously easy to make. Don't believe me? Here's the recipe: 

photo from Just Jenny Lynne

Pumpkin Cake Balls 
(inspired from Just Jenny Lynne) 

Ingredients:
1 box of pumpkin cake mix
1 jar of cream cheese frosting
Vanilla candy bark

Directions:
Follow the instructions on the box and bake the cake. Once cake is baked, place cooled chunks into a mixer and run it until it's a fine crumble. Dump crumbs in a large bowl; mix with around half to 2/4 of the frosting. Get your hands in there and roll into balls. (Lindsey made hers fairly large, but you can definitely make them smaller.) Place balls into the refrigerator until you're ready to dip them into the vanilla candy bark. To get a little fancy, sprinkle them with crumbled graham cracker crumbs. 

Super easy, right? Let us know if you make them and how they turn out! 

Congrats again, Lindsey, and thanks for sharing this with us! 

An Apple a Day

This past weekend I had the pleasure to visit Ellijay with my family. For those of you who do not know, Ellijay is in North Georgia and known as the apple capital of Georgia. Hillcrest Orchards was our first stop.

They had several different varieties of apples I had never heard of like Arkansas Black, Mutsu, and Winesap. I must confess, after they got in the bag, I could not tell one from the other!!!



While the scenery was beautiful, the most glorious sight of all was the apple fritter! ** que heavenly angel voices singing ** I do not know that I have ever had something as scrumptious as this! It was crispy on the outside but the apples were juicy on the inside...DELICIOUS!!!



Next, we were off to Burt's Farm and there sea of beautifully colored pumpkins.



If you are in the market for a wonderful Autumn Georgia day trip and do not mind a drive, try North Georgia!

P.S. they have a great outlet mall on the way, North Georgia Premium Outlets

So, I thought it would be fun and since I have about 20 pounds of apples in my kitchen that I would do an apple recipe a day for the next week. Be on the look out tomorrow for the first.

Taco Soup Recipe

So, I plan to post a recipe for you here and there. Who am I? I am Joy, one of the hospitality coordinators. I have my own blog, but have stopped posting on it because I wanted to focus on some other priorities. However, I do love to help others find frugal, tasty, easy recipes and that is what you will find in my contributions on our MOPS blog.

What kind of cook am I? I like easy and frugal recipes. I am also a picky eater, so I like to think the recipes I choose are kid friendly. But God gave me two kids who are more picky than I am. :) I also like to try new recipes. My husband and I like to cook "fancier" recipes on our "date night at home" nights. And how could I forget....I love dessert!

Fall is just about here, which to me says comfort foods, soups, pumpkins, apples, need I say more? Its tough to choose just one recipe, but here is a favorite of ours. This recipe is super easy and freezes well. It makes a large pot, so you could always freeze half. I serve it with Jiffy corn muffins.

Taco Soup

1 lb. ground beef

1 can whole/diced tomatoes

1 can kidney beans w/juice

1 can garbanzo beans w/juice

1 can black beans w/juice

1 can corn

2 small cans tomato sauce

1 pkg. taco seasoning

-Brown hamburger in a large pot, then add all the canned ingredients.

-Cook until boiling, then add the taco seasoning and simmer for 10-15 minutes (or until beans are soft).

-Add the corn during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

-Serve with grated cheese on top.

Enjoy!