Taco Melts

I found a new recipe that has quickly become a favorite in my house.  I first saw it from Betty Crocker's Dinner Made Easy e-mails.  I adapted it slightly.  Here are the details:

Ingredients
1 Package Grands Biscuits (you can use the low fat ones if you like)
1 lb. ground turkey or beef cooked and seasoned with taco seasoning as directed on seasoning
1 cup shredded cheese of your choice
1 jar salsa
sour cream or greek yogurt for dipping if desired.

Make the taco meat as directed by the seasoning package.

Press each biscuits flat into a roughly 6" circles on a greased baking sheet.

Scoop some of the taco meat into the center of the flat biscuit.  Add a tablespoon of salsa and a sprinkling of cheese.  Fold the biscuit over filling and press to seal the edges.

Bake 375 for about 12 minutes.

Use remaining salsa for dipping.  I like to use greek yogurt (or sour cream) for dipping too.

 It's the same idea as a pizza pocket but made with taco ingredients.

Just a couple notes:
You could probably add some corn in with the taco meat.
Don't worry if the edges don't completely seal.  As the biscuit puffs up and cooks it seems to make a good seal by itself.  I've never had an issue with the filling spilling out.
These are surprisingly filling.  I hope you enjoy!

Easy Chili with No Beans

I love a hot bowl of soup.  However, I haven't really made many myself.  I find that I spend all the time making them and then I feel underwhelmed when I taste it.  I have had success with this super easy No Bean Chili though.  I'm not a fan of beans.  I'm sure you could add them in, I just prefer not to use them.

I like this recipe because it is warm, hearty, and super easy.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
1 onion chopped
1 (14.5 oz) can stewed tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
garlic powder
chili powder

Over medium head combine the onion and ground beef.  Saute until meat is browned.  Add the stewed tomatoes with juice and the tomato sauce.  Season with a pinch of garlic powder.  Add chili powder to taste.  I like a lot of chili powder to give the soup the warmth with a tiny kick.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

It doesn't get easier than that.  I like to serve it with some cheese on top and with homemade bread.  

Enjoy!

I'm linking up on Wednesday for:

You still have time to post your soup recipe for the link up too!

P.S.  Don't forget to enter my very first giveaway!

Apple Chicken Loaf

My blog friend Kari shared a recipe recently from her weekly meal planning that sounded really good.  I checked out the ingredients, and it seemed like something I could make too.  I get a bit intimidated by too many or weird ingredients.

This is the recipe for Apple Chicken Loaf.

Okay, I freely admit that it doesn't look as good as it tastes.  The seasonings blend into this loaf so well.  The apple, onion, and celery remind me of the stuffing I make for Thanksgiving.  The dijon mustard in the glaze gives it a little tang.  The kids and my husband all approved this meal, so that says something.  What I enjoy the most though is that it uses a lot of fresh non-processed ingredients.  This is definitely on my keeper list to add to my meal rotation.  

I'm thinking of doing a blog giveaway next week.  It would be my first time ever doing a giveaway.  I hope you'll come back next week to enter.

Have a great weekend!

No Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake

I saw a pin on Pinterest for a very easy dessert recipe and had to try it.  It is a no bake icebox cake.  It only has 3 ingredients (4 if you want to garnish with chocolate).  You can find the original recipe from the pin here.  I cut it in a half for a small, quick dessert for my family.

Ingredients you need:
Graham Crackers
Strawberries (fresh or frozen)
Whipped cream/Cool Whip
Chocolate for garnish optional

Spread a thin layer of whipped cream in pan and top with graham crackers.

Top that layer with more whipped cream and add strawberries.  I used thawed frozen strawberries cut in slices.

Repeat the layers.  I think I had about 3 layers of graham crackers in the pan.

To garnish I melted some chocolate chips and drizzled it on the top.

Place "cake" in refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving.

It is a super simple recipe, mostly just slapping together a few ingredients.  It tastes pretty simple.  I thought it tasted just like strawberry shortcake, but in a kind of cheating way.  

This is a great recipe if you are short on time to really make something.  Because it is in a "cake" form, it looks like you made a dessert, but in reality it was probably one of the easiest "cakes" you'll ever make.

Try this simple recipe.  Don't expect it to taste like something it's not though; it tastes just like it's ingredients melted together perfectly.  Enjoy!

Bread

Pat and I decided not to do big gifts for each other for Christmas this year, but he still wanted some ideas from me.  I knew exactly what I wanted to ask for.  I've been wanting to get a bread machine for years now.  And since I'm not currently on a quest to get thin carbs can be a staple of my diet, right?

I couldn't wait to try my bread machine when we got back from our trip to see family.  The first weekend home we decided to have some homemade chili with buttered fresh bread.  It was delicious!!!

After making my first loaf, I guess you could say I'm a bit obsessed.  The next day I wanted to try another recipe.  The only one I had all the ingredients to try was Chocolate Bread.  Sounds a bit odd, huh?  I decided to give it a whirl though.  It ended up pretty good.  Sean is a big fan.  It is recommended as a breakfast bread and served with cream cheese.  If you like chocolate, why not add it to your breakfast?

Since I had a bit of the white bread left over I decided to try a recipe I'd been craving.

French Toast Casserole (Modified from FamilyFun Magazine)

Ingredients:
5 large slices homemade white bread
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon or to taste
4 eggs
3/4 + a bit extra milk
1tsp vanilla extract
maple syrup for serving

Cut bread into 1" cubes.  Place half of bread cubes in a buttered casserole dish.  In a small bowl combine cinnamon and brown sugar.  Sprinkle half of the sugar mixture on the bread in casserole dish.  Add the remaining bread to the dish.  Top with the remaining cinnamon and sugar.  In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Starting at the sides and working toward the center pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread.  Gently press down on the bread to make sure it all gets some of the egg mixture on it.  Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight (or at least 4 hours).

Heat oven to 350*.  Bake covered for 20 minutes.  Then remove foil and continue baking about 20 minutes until the top turns golden brown.  Serve warm with maple syrup.

I love french toast.  This was definitely a good variation of it.  It hit the spot, and I didn't have to do much work to get it ready this morning.  It would be a great dish to serve if you are hosting a brunch.  

Brown Sugar and Curry Glazed Pineapple

I have a lot of things to tell you this week, but I'll post about them later.  One of them has to do changing our eating habits around our house.  It's definitely going to be an exciting journey, and so worth it.

Last night our dinner looked gorgeous on the plate.  I really wanted to take a photo, but my urge to devour the food immediately won.

However, I can share a recipe with you.  It is such an easy recipe that makes a perfect side dish.

Brown Sugar and Curry Glazed Pineapple


ingredients:
2 Tbs packed brown sugar
1 tsp regular butter at room temperature
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 can pineapple rings in juice (or you can use fresh slices of pineapple cut 1/2" thick if you have it)


Combine sugar, butter, and curry powder in a small bowl until blended.  If using canned pineapple, blot off moisture with a paper towel.  Spread the mixture on both sides of each pineapple slice.

Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat.  Add pineapple slices and cook until fragrant and browned 1-2 minutes.  Flip and cook the second side until browned about 1 minute.

Servings:  2 rings
WW points+  1

I was worried that I wouldn't have enough of the sugar mixture, but as the pineapple warms in the pan the sugars liquify and there really is plenty to coat all the slices.

This was super delicious.  We ate it with pork chops, and it is definitely something I will cook again.

Strawberry Muffins

I love buying fruit when it's on sale, but sometimes we end up with too much.  I had a lot of strawberries on hand and wanted to bake something with them.  My first attempt was a strawberry bread.  Unfortunately, I was sad to realize that after I pulled them out of the oven the centers completely fell.

So my next attempt was strawberry muffins.  I combined a couple recipes and was really happy with the results.  The kids loved the muffins if that is any measure of success (which it usually is in my house!)

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 tsp ground cinnamon (give or take)
1 egg 
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
1 1/4 cup (or more) fresh strawberries, chopped


Preheat oven to 350*.  Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Make a well in the center, and add the egg, oil, and milk.  Mix well.  Fold in strawberries.  Use a lined muffin pan.  Fill muffin cups almost to the top.  Bake 20 minutes.

They are very light and fluffy muffins with sweet bites of strawberry.  I will definitely make these again.

The bread loaf next to the muffins is my banana bread.   

Enjoy!

linking up here:

Lemon Blueberry Bread

Lately I've been baking quite a bit.  We've been getting great deals on fruit but haven't been able to eat it fast enough.  I hate letting things go to waste, so I've been making breads and muffins and freezing them.

The other day I made a lemon blueberry bread to freeze.  It was a new recipe.  Today I thawed it out and we tried some.  It was delicious!!!!  I will definitely make this one again.  I got the recipe from allrecipes.com when I did a google search.  I made a few small modifications.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup white sugar
3 tbs lemon juice
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tbs grated lemon zest
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*.  Grease a loaf pan.
Mix butter, sugar, juice, and eggs.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Stir into egg mixture alternately with milk.
Fold in lemon zest and blueberries.
Pour into pan and bake 60-70 minutes.

I didn't take any photos when I was making it or when it came out of the oven because I wasn't sure if it would be good.  It was so good though that I had to share the recipe.  I just took a photo of it after being frozen and thawed, and I think it still looks pretty good.

Tomato Sauce

Someone once told me that after you make your own tomato sauce you'll never go back to the stuff in the jar.  I thought they were exaggerating a bit.  Shortly after that I decided to make my own just to try it.  I thought it was good, but I also thought opening a jar was easier and tasted pretty good too.  Well the next time I ate jar sauce, I couldn't believe how awful it tasted in comparison to making my own.  In my mind I thought jarred was pretty good, but after tasting homemade I just couldn't go back.

Here's the thing I need to confess though.  I use canned tomatoes.  So for me to make my own, I am really just adding a bunch of ready made ingredients together for the most part.  It feels like cheating, but it tastes really good.  Maybe one day when I have more time on my hands I'll be able to use fresh tomatoes, but until then canned tomatoes are working just fine.

There are many, many different recipes out there.  You can even just wing it and add stuff by taste if that is your thing.  There is no wrong way to make it.  I make it a very simple way.  Here's what I use and how I do it.

Add some chopped onion and garlic with olive oil to your pot.  (I enjoy making it in my Le Creuset, and it is super easy to clean up afterwards.)

I use a can of tomato sauce, a small can of tomato paste, and a can of diced tomatoes.  For the diced tomatoes I like the Italian seasoned kind with basil and oregano.  I buy whatever is on sale or the best deal.  I mix and match brands, and it tastes fine like that to me.  

 I add some ground beef to my onions, garlic, and oil if I am making a meat sauce.  Brown the beef.

 

Add the diced tomatoes and stir. 

 Add the tomato sauce.  It will be a bit thin at this point.

Then I add the tomato paste to thicken it up.  You can add as little or as much as you want until you find the thickness you like.

 I like to sweeten my sauce up a little.  I add a little regular sugar.

 And a bit of brown sugar too.  I personally like adding the combination of them both.

If you add too much sugar and your sauce seems too sweet, adding some more tomato paste usually tones down the sweetness.

That's all you have to do to have a delicious tomato sauce that is much better than out of the jar, I promise!

Easy is Good

I have to share this too easy yet absolutely delicious recipe with you.  Honestly, you should kick yourself if you don't try it.  I found it on my Real Simple No Time to Cook App.

Easy Shepherd's Pie

ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1/3 cup ketchup

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

8 oz frozen mixed veggies

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

16 oz package of mashed potatoes, refrigerated or frozen and thawed

Brown beef in large skillet.  Discard fat.  Stir in ketchup and worcestershire sauce.  Add veggies and cook stirring for 1 minute.  Spoon into a baking dish.  Mix cheese with potatoes and spread over beef.  Bake in oven until heated through, about 10 minutes.

Even my boys liked it, and I think Pat will too.  

On another easy but awesome topic.  My friend Robyn, over HERE, introduced me to Little Miss Momma's blog over HERE.  Little Miss Momma has this tutorial HERE to make a fabric flower pom pom headband.  When I saw how cute and EASY it was, I had to try it.  As I made the boys breakfast one morning, I started trying to make one of my own.  Of course I didn't have any solid color fabric on hand at the time, but I just wanted to try out the technique.  At first, I wasn't sure mine would come out right, but I kept going.  It seems that you really cannot screw this one up.  I made this headband here.

Now I should have thought about it before I glued it to the headband because my head seems to be an odd shape.  Headbands slide right off me all the time.  So I probably should have glued it to an elastic to use as a ponytail holder, but I think I'll manage to use this one for a while.  

Since I know headbands are hard for me to pull off, I thought I could definitely use one of these flowers as a pin.  I had some red fabric and started making another one while dinner was in the oven.  (It's all about multi-tasking I tell you!)  Again, I thought for sure it wasn't going to come out right again, but as I said it seems you cannot mess this up.  Isn't it cute?

So seriously, I really recommend you trying this.  It's super easy, fun, and you can make some really cute stuff!!!  

Real Simple No Time to Cook RAVE

I'm cheap and will rarely spend money on apps for my ipad, and if I do, it had better not be more than $3. But I've been wanting to get some new recipes to try out before Pat gets home and also to vary up the meals for me and the boys.

Since I LOVE Real Simple magazine, I wanted to check out the Real Simple No Time to Cook app. I hesitated for a bit though since it would cost me a whopping $5, but finally I gave in since the prospect of finding recipes I would enjoy in the nearly 850 recipes was high.

I tried out my first dish the other night and it was really good. The boys liked it too, so that is a bonus. I didn't follow the recipe exactly, as I didn't have dijon mustard, but the spicy brown mustard worked just fine. (I also didn't do much measuring and instead eyeballed all the ingredients.) This is an easy, yummy, and pretty healthy dish that I highly recommend to add to your cooking repertoire.

Chicken Sauteed with Apples

4 chicken breast

1 tbs olive oil

1 apple cut into 1/2 inch slices

1 cup apple juice

1 onion thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves

2 tbs dijon mustard

salt and pepper

• Heat oil in large skillet. Saute chicken until golden, about 3 minutes each side
• Add apple slices, apple juice, onion, garlic, thyme, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Simmer covered 6-8 minutes.
• Remove chicken, apple slices, and onion to a serving platter and keep warm.
• Bring sauce to a boil for about 5 minutes or until slightly reduced. Whisk in mustard. Pour sauce over chicken.

I would share a picture, but it just doesn't do the dish justice.

Enjoy!

Cookies

My baby boy likes Oreos just like his Daddy!

But then again, I'm not so sure he's met a cookie he doesn't like. Which is why his Cookie Monster cupcakes for his birthday were so appropriate.

Speaking of cookies, today I made some Old-Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies. You can find the recipe HERE. (I didn't do the glaze.) They were really, really good. I am a sucker for soft

cookies though. These cookies were soft and cake or bread like. They were my kind of cookie.

Now I have about 3 dozen (minus the few we already ate), and nothing to do with them but eat them myself. Now you'll understand why I am not accomplishing at least one of my Deployment Goals. Maybe I'll post an update about them soon.

Six Month Stats and Real Simple Easy Donuts

I always post the height/weight stats from the kids well-baby visits so that I can come back and see how big they were at certain ages. Today Sean had his 6 month well-baby visit. He certainly is my big boy. He is 20 lbs 14 oz and 27.5" long.

I also wanted to share an amazing and very easy recipe I found one day while flipping through Real Simple magazine. My husband and son enjoy getting donuts once in a while, and we finally live in a town with Dunkin' Donuts! But I had some biscuits that were getting close to their code, and I had to try out this recipe. You can click HERE for the recipe link if you would like.

Ingredients: 1 package of Grands Biscuits

Cinnamon and Sugar

Vegetable Oil

Take the biscuits and cut a hole in the center using a shot glass. (I was lucky we had a tall thin glass that worked perfectly.) I am sure you could find a similar object if you do not have a shot glass.

After you've cut the centers out it should look like this.

Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. You will know when the oil is hot enough by dipping one of the donut holes in. The oil will bubble around the edge of the donut when it is hot enough. Add the donuts to the oil for just over 1 minute per side. They do cook fast, so keep your eye on them. And don't worry, the inside gets cooked too.

Take the cooked donuts out and place on wire rack or paper towel lined plate to drain off the excess oil. Then roll the donuts in a bowl of cinnamon sugar.

Enjoy your donuts. If you have company, let them think you slaved away though ;)