Ham and Swiss Cheese Rolls

Joni Joiner gets a gold star for this one! It was delectable! I wish I had more elaborate words for it, but I'm at a loss! The small serving size made me feel better about having 2 or three or four... Swiss cheese on black forest ham with a 'secret' sauce on a sweet King's Hawaiian roll. I was anxious to get this recipe to recreate it. I think I'm going to try it with a slice of grilled pineapple.

1 pkg Rolls {King's Hawaiian is best}
1 pkg ham {again, black forest is what she used. What I'd recommend}
1 pkg Swiss cheese, thick or deli sliced
1 stick butter, softened
2 tsp mustard
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion, grated

Mix butter, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Slice the rolls in half and spread the sauce on one or both sides of the roll {She had it on one side so it wasn't too strong for us first timers, but I'm excited to try it on both sides.}. Add one piece of ham, folded in quarters. Cover with cheese and replace top of rolls. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 until cheese is melted.

Lil Smokies

I loved these sausages- so did my daughter who smooshed them all over the place, but refused to let go of one. These have a perfect sweet and savory flavor and serve up great with a couple toothpicks for stabbing and chomping! And at 3 ingredients, does it get any easier?!? Another hit, Joni!

3 pkgs smokies sausages

2 C grape jelly (16 oz jar)

1 C yellow mustard

Heat jelly and mustard in crock pot until dissolved together; add smokies. Cook on low 3-4 hours then serve.

Refreshing Drink

I spaced on this one and didn't get a picture, but just imagine what looks like water with slices of oranges and lemons. It was SOOO good! I'm not typically a fan of flavored drinks. I think they have a tendency to taste too sugary or too rich and I feel like I need a glass of water next to it, but that totally wasn't the case! It was refreshing and tasty without feeling like you drank sugar sludge!

5 qts water
3 C sugar
1 tbsp lemon extract
1 tbsp citric acid (can be found at Wal-Mart pharmacies)
Lemon and Orange slices

Mix all together and serve with lemon and orange slices.

Chipped Beef Cheese Ball

Cheese balls are such a perfect appetizer, so it was no wonder more than one showed up! This had a heartier, saltier flavor than "Grandpa's cheese ball". Joni Joiner made me proud with her FOUR recipes!

1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1 jar dried beef, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Mix Worcestershire sauce, cream cheese, chopped onion and all but 1/4 C of the dried beef. Shape into a ball. Coat the outside of the ball in the remaining dried beef.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Joni Joiner is admittedly addicted to Pinterest. If you haven't checked it out, you should so you can follow her and share her addiction! She came across this while feeding the addiction, I mean, browsing. bakeat350.blogspot.com was kind enough to bring us these amazing fall treats!

2 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp coarse salt
1 C unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 C sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 C pumpkin puree
12 oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and side of 9x13" pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides.

Keep an eye on these as they cook. Joni had a hard time getting these to set, but I kinda like my baked goods on the doughy side so there were no complaints from me!!

Slow Cooker Beef in Mushroom Gravy

This extremely juicy roast was brought by Joni Joiner. It just melts in your mouth! Love the simplicity and taste- double score!

2 - 2 1/2 lbs boneless round steak
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 - 3/4 C water

Cut steak into 6 serving size pieces and place in 3 qt crock pot. Combine soup, water and soup mix in a separate bowl then add to the crock pot. Cook covered on low 8 hours or until tender.

Makes it's own gravy and is great with mashed potatoes or add red potatoes to the crock pot for the last 2 hours of cooking. Joni recommends turning the meat every 2 hours to prevent it from getting too brown on one side.

Fried Chicken

Real southern fried chicken from a real southerner! Joni Joiner has immediately endeared herself to everyone with her accent, openness and this recipe! She later disclosed that she totally made this up. It must just come standard in southern genes...

4 Chicken breasts

4-6 drumsticks

2 1/2 C flour

2/3 C buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried marjoram

1/2 tsp ground sage

salt and pepper to taste

peanut oil for frying

Add the flour and all the spices to a large bowl. In a separate bowl, add the buttermilk and egg; beat slightly. Use a large skillet to heat oil to medium high(oil should be a half inch deep). When oil gets hot, take each piece of chicken and coat in the flour mixture then dip into the liquid mixture then once again in the flour. Carefully add to the oil. Continue with all pieces and fry each side for 20-25 minutes or until tender (usually 40-45 minutes total time). Cover with a lid while frying for more moist pieces.

Keep in mind she made this recipe up, so you can vary the spices to fit your taste. Or just trust the professional! ;) Also, she served this with a gravy, but I just realized that I haven't gotten it yet. I'll post it as a comment as soon as I do!

Healthy Pasta Carbonara

I didn't think a healthy carbonara was possible, but Joni Joiner proved me wrong! I guess 'healthy' is all relative- there are much healthier pasta recipes out there, but probably not much healthy carbonara recipes! Thanks, Joni, for coming for your first time, and for this yummy recipe!

1 9-oz pkg fettucine noodles
1 C frozen green peas
3 slices center cut bacon{turkey bacon would make it even healthier...}
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 C fat free half and half
1/2 C shredded parmesan

Cook pasta according to package directions. 3-5 minutes before pasta is done, add the peas to the pot. Drain and reserve 3/4 C of cooking liquid. Cook bacon in a large pan. Remove bacon and reserve 2 tsp of drippings. Add onion to the pan and saute for 3 minutes with the reserved bacon drippings. Add garlic and thyme and cook another minute. Stir pasta, peas, reserved liquid and the half-and-half. Cook 2 minutes. Crumble bacon on top of pasta and toss with cheese.