Cowboy Spaghetti

Rachael Ray saves dinner again.... :)

Ingredients:
1 pound spaghetti
Salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), 1 turn of the pan
3 slices smoky bacon, chopped
1 pound ground sirloin
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
Ground black pepper
2 teaspoons hot sauce, (eyeball it)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, (eyeball it )
1/2 cup beer
1 can, chopped or crushed fire roasted tomatoes (14 ounces)
1 can, tomato sauce (8 ounces)
8 ounces sharp Cheddar
4 scallions, chopped

Preparation:
Heat a pot of water to a boil. Add spaghetti and salt the water. Cook to al dente or with a bite to it.

Heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add EVOO and bacon. Brown and crisp bacon, 5 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon. Drain off a little excess fat if necessary. Leave just enough to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add beef and crumble it as it browns, 3-4 minutes. Add onions, garlic and stir into meat. Season the meat with salt and pepper, hot sauce and Worcestershire. Add 1/2 cup beer and deglaze the pan. Cook 5-6 minutes more then stir in tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Add hot spaghetti to meat and sauce and combine. Adjust seasonings and serve up pasta in shallow bowls. Grate some cheese over the pasta and sprinkle with scallions. Garnish with crisp bacon

Pudding Cookies

Oh my goodness these are so good I could eat a bucket full of them! Make sure you use an electric mixer because the batter is really stiff. I did them in my Kitchen Aid and they took about 2 minutes. Mmmm. Yummy.

INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix and instant pudding. Stir in the sour cream and eggs until well blended. Batter will be stiff. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When cool, frost with chocolate frosting if desired.

Tater Crisp Chicken

I found this on allrecipes.com and I made it tonight. Super easy. I made the following changes: I used half a stick of butter, not a cup. I added seasoning salt and Parmesan cheese to the potato flakes. It turned out really good! Crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Good stuff. :)

INGREDIENTS
10 chicken legs
1 cup melted butter
2 cups dry potato flakes

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Place melted butter or margarine in a shallow dish or bowl, then place potato flakes in a separate shallow dish or bowl. Roll chicken pieces in butter or margarine, then in potato flakes. Place coated chicken pieces in a 9x13 inch baking dish, skin side up.


Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 1 hour.