I’ve made it before in the summer months, adding fresh tomato salsa and some green onions, but never really looked at it for a good winter dish. But I think it works any time of year.

Without further ado, here’s this week’s cheater recipe:

Black Beans and Rice

Ingredients:

• One package microwavable long grain and wild rice
• One can black beans, drained and rinsed
• Salsa
• Sour cream
• Green onions, or any other garnish that tickles your fancy

Heat beans in microwave-safe bowl. Set aside. Heat rice according to directions. Remove from microwave and reheat beans if necessary. Pour rice into 2 bowls, add beans, salsa, sour cream, and other garnishes.

Enjoy!

-Liz

Cheater Bacon Focaccia

Ingredients:

1 can (11 oz.) refrigerated breadstick dough (12 breadsticks)
10 slices cooked bacon
1 egg, beaten
2 slices chopped cooked bacon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.  Unroll dough and separate into 12 strips.  Starting at center of ungreased cookie sheet, coil bacon with dough strips into a loose spiral.  As more strips and bacon are added to the coil, pinch dough ends together and continue coiling until all 12 strips are added.

2. Drizzle beaten egg over dough filling in crevices.  Sprinkle chopped bacon on top.

3. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until edges are a deep golden brown.  Cut into 6 pizza shaped wedges.

Other Cheater Recipes!

But according to our go-to cheater recipe provider Susan Stephens, not only are 2-ingredient muffins possible, they’re quite tasty as well.  If Susan isn’t careful, she might find herself in a full-time cheater recipe finder position.

“Yes, this (recipe) does work!” Susan said. “These are very moist muffins. I thought they were even better the next day.”

She suggests serving the muffins warm with reduced fat cream cheese.

Cheater 2-Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins

The 2 ingredients are…

1 box spice cake mix

1 (15-oz.) can solid pack pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

m

m

Optional extra ingredients…

½ cup chopped nuts
½ cup dried fruit
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Prepare two muffin tins with cupcake papers.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the cake mix and pumpkin until smooth, about 2 minutes. Stir in nuts and fruit if using (I used chopped walnuts and chopped dates).

Fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Yield: 24 muffins

How much do you love a holiday that has as it’s main objective encouraging you to pig out? I’m talking about Fat Tuesday, of course, which just happens to be today.  Or perhaps in this politically correct day and age, we should call it “big-boned Tuesday” or possibly “full-figured Tuesday”. You may also know this celebration as Mardi Gras ( French translation: Mardi – Tuesday, Gras – fat), Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, Paczki Day and Pancake Day. (I’m going to take the prerogative to completely ignore the whole bead throwing/flashing aspect of the holiday. Sorry guys!)

So how in the world did Fat Tuesday come to be known as Pancake Day? If you have no clue, well don’t feel bad, because until last night I had no clue either. Thank goodness for google. It seems that as medieval Christians were about to enter into the season of Lent (which is the period of 40 days of prayer, penitence, and self-denial leading up to Easter) they would enjoy one last day of feasting. On this day they would use up their eggs, butter, sugar and milk – all of which were forbidden during Lent – by making pancakes and pastries.

Over the years this tradition has evolved into Pancake day. In my house, Fat Tuesday gives us an official reason  to pig out on pancakes, bacon and hash browns. For me specifically, it’s an excuse to make an easy and delicious dinner that everyone loves.

So in the spirit of Fat Tuesday, I have three delicious syrup recipes for you to look through. Give one a try for your Pancake Day Celebration. If you don’t already celebrate Fat Tuesday, well, there’s no time like the present.

Magleby’s Buttermilk Syrup

(So unbelievably delicious, once you try it, you may never be able to use store bought syrup again!)

Ingredients:

1 cube butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. corn syrup
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Directions:
Bring first five ingredients to a boil. Remove from heat immediately and add Baking Soda. To avoid boil over, use a large pan.

Cheater Pancake Syrup

Kentucky Hot Browns.

Being two Kentucky girls, we think it’s high time we share this good old southern dish with the rest of the world. And true in Liz and Kate form, of course we had to figure out a cheater way to keep the same yummy flavor, while cutting the time and effort spent in the kitchen.

Right about now most of you may be saying, “What in the world is a Hot Brown?” Here’s a brief history of the origins of this delicious dish.

In the 1920’s, The Brown Hotel (in Louisville) drew over 1,200 guests each evening for its dinner dance. In the wee hours of the morning, the guests would grow tired of dancing and retire to the restaurant for a bite to eat. Diners were growing rapidly bored with the traditional ham and eggs, so Chef Fred Schmidt set out to create something new to tempt his guests’ palates. His unique creation was an open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and a delicate Mornay sauce. Exemplifying our unending dedication to serving our guests, The Hot Brown was born! ~The Brown Hotel in Louisville

So without further ado, we present…

Cheater Kentucky Hot Browns

m

Ingredients:

• Texas Toast style bread (one slice per serving)
• Deli ham (2 slices per serving)
• Deli turkey (2 slices per serving)
• Mornay or Hollandaise sauce mix (I used 3 pkgs. for 6 servings)
• Tomatoes, sliced
• Bacon, cooked

Directions:

Toast the slices of bread and place in casserole dish coated with non-stick cooking spray.

m

m

m

m

m

m

Top each slice with 2 slices of turkey and 2 slices of ham. Add tomato slices.

m

m

m

m

m

m

Make sauce mix according to package directions. Pour sauce over all.
Place under broiler until nice and bubbly and slightly browned.
Top each serving with 2 slices of bacon.

Enjoy!

Other Cheater Recipes!

Personalized Fortune Cookies

It’s surprisingly simple and uses store bought fortune cookies. You just take out the lame-o fortunes that are already inside, and replace them with your own unique messages. It’s a great idea for your spouse, your kids, your significant other, your best friend, or perhaps a secret someone special.

m

m

How to make personalized fortune cookies

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

1) Buy a package of pre-made fortune cookies and unwrap cookies. I usually get the La Choy brand.

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

3) Prepare your messages either by handwriting them on small strips of pretty paper, or by printing them out on a  computer printer and cutting them into small strips (about 1/2″ x 2″ at the largest)

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

4) Take a damp paper towel (not dripping, just damp) and wrap it around one of the fortune cookies so that it completely covers the cookie.

5) Microwave the wrapped cookie for about 15-40 seconds (time will vary, depending on microwave and dampness of the paper towel… experiment with it. I would start with 15 seconds and then increase the time in small increments if necessary.)

6) After microwaving, the cookie will become flexible a for about 20 seconds or so…  QUICKLY  take the paper towel from the cookie. Gently  open up the cookie and remove the old  message,  and put your new message in.  Fold the cookie back up. It will naturally fold back into the original fortune cookie shape.  Then let the cookie sit to cool and harden.

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

mm

m

m

7) If you’d like, you can then dip the cooled fortune cookie half-way into melted chocolate and add fun sprinkles to the chocolate before it hardens. Let cool on waxed paper.

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

Put personalized fortune cookies in a fun, cute container. It’s a great way to show someone special that you love them.

Maybe you’ve seen the announcement boards at local seafood restaurants, featuring fish tacos. As Susan has discovered, you don’t have to dine out to enjoy this meal – nor do you have to spend hours slaving over a hot stove. Kate decided to give this cheater recipe a try (and to take some pics) and gives it a big thumbs up!

So without further delay, we present:

Cheater Fish Tacos

m

m

Cheater Fish Tacos

20 frozen fish sticks

1 jar red or green salsa (I like green salsa the best for this)

1 (8-oz.) container sour cream

10 corn tortillas

1 bag coleslaw mix (the kind with red and green cabbage and carrots)

2 or 3 green onions or about ½ of a red onion

1 lime

1. Bake the fish sticks according to package directions on a pan lined with foil.
2. Slice the lime into wedges and chop the onions.  Put them in bowls.  Set out the sour cream and salsa in their store containers.  Stick a spoon in each.
3. Wrap the tortillas in damp paper towels and warm in the microwave for 1 minute.
4. When the fish is done — take a tortilla, add some sour cream, some salsa, some onions, some coleslaw mix, 2 fish sticks cut into bite sized pieces, and a squeeze of lime.

This will feed 4 or 5 people with almost no clean up.

So without further ado, let’s get to this week’s recipe:

Cheater Chocolate Apple Bake

Ingredients:

• Apples  (one per person)
• Snicker bars (four snack-size bars per person)
• Dash of cinnamon
• Ice cream of your choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a small casserole dish (unless you’re feeding the masses, here). Peel and slice apples and place in dish. Chop up Snicker bars (a food processor would probably be handy for this – but alas, I don’t own one). Sprinkle candy bar pieces over apples. Top with a dash or so of cinnamon. Bake for 15-25 minutes, depending on how soft you want the apples.

Serve immediately with a scoop of your favorite ice cream on top.

Hope you enjoy it!

-Liz

Hey Coffee Break readers! Got a favorite cheater recipe to share? Email us at lizandkate@live.com. We’re really hungry!!

Cheater Cinnamon Roll Apple Crisp

m

m

m

m

Cheater Cinnamon Roll Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

9 Rhodes Anytime Cinnamon Rolls
1 large can apple pie filling
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup softened butter

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to  350°F.

m

m

m

m

m

2.  Put cinnamon rolls in 3 rows of 3 in a sprayed 9 x 13 baking pan.

m

m

m

m

m

3.  Spread apple pie filling evenly over cinnamon rolls.

m

m

m

m

m

m

m

4.  In a bowl combine sugar, oats, pecans, flour, and butter.

m

m

m

m

m

5. Mix well and sprinkle over the pie filling layer.

m

m

m

m

m

m

6.  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until cinnamon rolls are baked through.

m

m

m

m

m

m

7. Serve warm. Add a scoop of ice cream or cool whip, if desired.

More Cheater Recipes