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Love this "feed me in a hurry" meal that even the kidlets enjoy.
Surprisingly (based on the usual content of prepackaged sauce mixes), the sauce is more on the sweet side, as opposed to salty.
All you need is:
For our family of four, I used 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
I used 2 pkgs. of the sauce mix because we're "a bit saucy around here."
I also forgot to show canola oil in the pic, which is what we stir-fried the chicken 'n' veggies with.
We also have a non-stick electric wok, which we love to use because it's such a breeze to clean.
I'm all over that!
Follow all package instructions. The rice takes 5 mins, the chicken and veggies take 10-12 mins and the sauce thickens very quickly.
And it falls within my WW points:
About 12 points based on 1 cup of cooked rice, 3 oz. chicken, 1 cup of veggies, taking into account sauce and oil.
Let me know if you try it and like it! Also, link up in the comments if you have any other suggestions for quick meals for a family of four.
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Linked to Made By You Monday, Tip Me Tuesday, Blue Cricket Design.
This is entry #1 in my attempt to make a slow cooker meal every Monday in an effort to have a hot meal for my family on one of our busiest days of the week.
SLOW COOKER MINESTRONE SOUP
Combine 1 can kidney beans (rinsed and drained), 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 cup each chopped celery, onion and carrot, mix Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup Starter seasoning mix with 5 cups of water and cook for 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH.
Add baby shell pasta and continue to cook on HIGH for an additional 10 minutes.
We sprinkled ours with freshly grated parmesan cheese and served with crusty rolls.
Lovin' my slow cooker!
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Image source from TheUnseasonedWok on www.flickr.com/creativecommons.
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Linked to: Savvy Homemade Monday, Made By You Monday, Motivate Me Monday, Amaze Me Monday, Making the World Cuter, Homemaker On a Dime, So Very Creative Party Time, The Gunny Sack, Boogieboard Cottage, Tip Me Tuesday, Kissed By a Frog, Blue Cricket Design, Night Owl Crafting.
Found this recipe as a way to use up some frozen bananas I had in the freezer and the last of the apples that we finally picked during Thanksgiving weekend.
Tasty combo!
Apple Banana Muffins
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 bananas, mashed
1 medium appled, peeled and grated (I used cortland)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the first 6 ingredients in bowl and mix. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together. Slowly add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Grease a muffin tin or line it with muffin cups and fill each cup 3/4 full with the batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Not too sweet, but delish with some butter when they're hot outta the oven.
Makes 12 regular size muffins.
The original recipe is courtesy of Weelicious.
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Linked to:
Homemaker in Heels, Flamingo Toes, Be Different Act Normal, Funky Junk, Six Sisters Stuff, Lolly Jane Boutique, Young & Crafty, I Heart Naptime, Blissful & Domestic, Lady Bird Lane, Tip Junkie, Skip to My Lou, Savvy Homemade Monday, Motivate Me Monday, Amaze Me Monday, Making the World Cuter, Homemaker On a Dime, So Very Creative Party Time, The Gunny Sack, Boogieboard Cottage, Blue Cricket Design, Night Owl Crafting.
Fall to me means crisp weather, hoodies, and apple-picking season.
I've always loved apple dumplings and was happy to find this recipe on Pinterest. I made a few moderations based on what I had on hand, and they turned out deeee-licious!
I used Gala apples. They're small and sweet for baking. We didn't actually "pick" these. More so "chose" them from the local supermarket display. ;)
Peeled and cored them, then pre-mixed the required sugar with Epicure's apple pie spice.
Filled 'em up with sugar & spice and topped with butter. I surrounded them with pre-packaged pie crust which just happened to be on sale. I used approx. 5 single crusts for 1 doz. dumplings.
Here they are, freshly baked at our friends' home.
We served each with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream, although a vanilla sauce would be heavenly. (Pls send me a message if you have a good one.)
Again, the original recipe can be found here. I will definitely make a batch or two of these and freeze them for the upcoming Thanksgiving season.
Happy Fall! :)
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Linked to:
Tip Me Tuesday, Made By You Monday, Making Monday Marvelous, Craft-O-Maniac, Fingerprints On the Fridge, Show & Tell, Works For Me Wednesday, The Girl Creative.
We head out tomorrow for a 6 day RV trip a few hours north. Not wanting to leave behind a bunch of bananas, I decided to whip up a cake to enjoy after all that BBQ'ing we plan to do.
* Note: I doubled this recipe and used a 9x13 cake pan.
BANANA CINNAMON CAKE
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 medium bananas, mashed
2 tbsp. milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Cream butter and sugar in large bowl. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add bananas and milk. Beat well.
Combine flour, baking powder and cinnamon in medium bowl. Add to banana mixture. Stir until just moistened. Spreak evenly in greased 8 inch (20 cm) springform pan. Bake in 350F oven for 40 minutes until wooden pick inserted in centre of cake comes out clean. Let stand in pan for 5 mins. before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
HOMEMADE BUTTERCREAM ICING
butter, at room temp.
icing sugar
milk
I just used my mixer on high to cream butter and icing sugar with a couple tsp. of milk and tasted it as I went along until it was sweetened to my liking. I went a little crazy, so I have lots left over in a container in the fridge for when we return and I decide upon another baking adventure.
A little brown on the bottom, but still yums. :)
Enjoy and stay cool in this heat!
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Linked to:
Tip Me Tuesday, Made By You Monday, Topsy Turvy Tues, We Are That Family, The Girl Creative, The Trendy Treehouse, 733/Sugar & Spice.
I'm going back to an "oldie but a goodie" and preparing this dish (quadrupled) for our church pot luck luncheon today.
(Wasn't it The Church Lady from SNL who would say, "Well, isn't that special!")
Peirogie Casserole
1 bag of frozen peirogies (any kind), thawed
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked & crumbled
1/2 large, sweet onion (or green onion), chopped & sauteed
1-2 roma tomatoes, diced
shredded cheese
sour cream
Cook bacon and onion together in large frying pan than can also go into oven. Drain off some of the bacon fat. Boil peirogies just until they float. Remove and place in pan with bacon and onion, stirring over heat just until all have been combined. Top with diced tomatoes and shredded cheese. Cover and place in 350 oven for 10 minutes, or until cheese has melted. Serve with sour cream.
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Image source from my own files, 5+ years ago.
Linked to: A Glimpse Inside, Be Different, Act Normal, A Vision to Remember, Women Who Do It All, A Crafty Soiree, What Allie's Making, Creation Corner, Made By You Monday, Craft-O-Maniac, Under the Table & Dreaming.
I tripled this recipe, ready to give away as part of our meals ministry through church.
We want to provide practical assistance to friends, neighbours and congregants with "pop-in-the-oven" meals when they are going through a transition and/or rough patch in life (ie. birth or death in the family, illness, move, lay-off, etc.).
My hubby and I first experienced this through our home church in Ontario, shortly after we had brought home our first bundle of joy.
It was a HUGE help while we were trying to figure out our feedings and sleep schedules - nevermind the baby's!
This was one of the meals prepared for us.
We vowed to pay it forward whenever we could.
Here's the easy-peasy, but yums recipe:
Chicken Casserole
Makes 1 large lasagna-dish sized casserole to feed 4-6 people.
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1 bag frozen mixed veggies, thawed
1 can cream of chicken soup (reduced fat works fine)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (reduced fat works fine)
2 boxes chicken stuffing mix
Combine first four ingredients in a large frying pan/skillet and heat through. Prepare stuffing according to directions. Pour chicken mixture into large casserole dish and top with fluffed stuffing. Freeze or pop into oven and cook an additional 20-30 mins. or until bubbly and crusty.
We like ours with whole wheat buns.
P.S. Substitute chicken for leftover turkey with the same yummy results.
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Image source (cause I forgot to take a pic.)
Linked to: Blue Cricket Design, We Did It Wednesday,Sugar & Spice, Today's Creative Blog, Works For Me Wednesday, Toot Your Horn Tuesday, Running with Glitter, It's a Keeper Thursday, Fireflies and Jellybeans.
This recipe was passed on to me by my sister-in-law, Cheryl.
A little info about Cheryl:
Cheryl started dating my oldest brother when I was around 1 year old.
They were married when I was three, and I was their flower girl.
I still have the dress I wore!
Basically, I cannot remember Cheryl NOT being a part of our family.
Or this meat pie, actually, because she's kindly made it
for many of our family gatherings.
We almost always have the ingredients on hand here at our house,
so it's a classic "go-to" in a pinch.
5 Ingredient Meat Pie
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 can peas
1 can beef gravy
1 small onion, chopped
1 frozen pie crust (top & bottom)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Poke bottom crust of pie with fork, place it (unfilled) in oven
and bake for 15-20 minutes.
This helps to alleviate a soggy-bottomed crust, because really, who wants THAT added to this already cruel world? ;)
Whilst the crust is baking...
Brown ground beef and onion together. Drain if necessary. Add beef gravy, then peas - stirring carefully to combine. Simmer a little.
Remove crust from oven. Pour in cooked beef/onion/peas/gravy mixture.
(Tip: If you want to stretch this further, you can divide this mixture into 2 separate pies - although filling will be substantially thinner.)
Place uncooked pie crust on top and pinch sides to seal into bottom crust.
With fork, poke a few holes through top crust to let steam escape.
My sis-in-law sprinkles paprika on the top, but I forgot. And besides, then I'd have to change the name to "6 Ingredient Meat Pie" and, honey, I just ain't got the time.
Bake 20 mins. or until pie crust has browned to your liking.
Slice and serve w/a side o' mashed taters and a bit more gravy, if desired.
Enjoy and let me know if you try it and like it.
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Linked to Made By You Monday, Homemaker Monday, Making the World Cuter Monday, Market Yourself Monday.
I can't remember where I saw the gross interesting recipe for these (if it was on your blog, be sure to say so in the comments), but last night was a "stay up late" kinda night since today is a holiday (Family Day) in our province.
Perfect time to try this gross fun treat for the kidlets!
All ya need is...
Then ya have fun doing this...
And after boiling for 8+ mins, you get this...
Our kids LOVED them!
Blaise (who is 6 and ate his with ketchup) said,
"Mom, these noodle things you made are FANTASTIC!"
So, there ya go.
Probably not fare-worthy for The Oscars,
but my little treasures give them 2 doggy-noodled thumbs-up.
Sending these off with the kids for their school Valentine's Day party.
Ingredients:
your favourite sugar cookie recipe (mine)
1 pkg. chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. shortening
Other:
red food colouring (I used gel)
heart cookie cutter
wax paper
Directions:
1. Knead red food colouring into dough, cut out and bake cookies as directed. Let cool on rack.
2. While cookies are cooling, melt chocolate chips and shortening in the method that suits you best (double boiler, microwave, etc.).
3. Dip 1/2 cookie into melted chocolate allowing excess to drip off, then lay on wax paper.
4. Keep hubby from tasting the cookies until the chocolate has SET.
(Wait...that's part of my directions. May or may not be necessary for yours.)
Yikes! Bad lighting in the kitchen.
My inspiration came from Martha's Recipe for black and white cookies.
But I'm all about the easy route, which meant store-bought cookie mix and less chocolate.
I find baking therapeutic. I gotta be in the mood, though.
Anyone else feel that way?
Anywho...
That's it for Valentine's Day 2011!
What's next?
St. Paddy's Day?
Easter?
The upcoming weekend?
I encourage you to take any reason to celebrate.
'Tis good for the soul.
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Linked to: Sundae Scoop, Weekend Wrap-Up, Saturday Nite Special, Virtual Valentine's Day Party, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Tip Me Tuesday, Today's Creative Blog, Blue Cricket Show & Tell, Trendy Treehouse, Someday Crafts, We Did It Wednesday, Sugar & Spice at 733.
Well...alrighty then!
LEMON BARS
(But you have to say "lemon" like Bono in the U2 song,
or they simply won't turn out right.)
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup margarine, softened
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tbsp. flour
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup powdered sugar (for decoration)
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 9x13 pan. Combine flour, 2/3 cup powdered sugar and margarine. Pat dough into pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until slightly golden.
Whisk eggs, sugar, flour & lemon juice until frothy. Pour over hot crust. Bake 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown. Dust with powdered sugar.
Inspiring/cute/funny/truthful pic courtesy of dazeychic on Etsy.
Linked to Finer Things Friday, Somewhat Simple, Show Off Your Stuff, Bloggeritaville, Blue Cricket Design, Friday Food Fight.
Today I am preparing an "old faithful" in terms of our family's
most favourite meals.
It goes a long way, so there's always leftovers to send in the kidlets' lunches.
CROCK POT PIZZA
1 1/2 lb. hamburger, browned and drained
2 lg. bags Mozzarella cheese
1 chopped onion
1 pkg. sliced pepperoni
2/3 box rigatoni or thick spiral noodles, cooked
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can mushrooms
2 cans pizza sauce
Alternate layers in crockpot as follows: hamburger, noodles, cheese, soup, mushrooms, onions, sauce and pepperoni. Heat 4 hours on low in crock pot.
Serve with fresh bread and salad.
And have lots of pillows ready afterwards for the carb-overload!
Linked to Somewhat Simple, Blue Cricket Design, Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie, Make It Yours Day, Skip to My Lou, Fun For Friday, Things I Love Thursday, Fireflies and Jelly Beans, Feature Yourself Friday.
Toblerone Shortbread
Ingredients:
2 cups butter softened
1 cup super-fine sugar
3-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 bars (100 g each) Toblerone Swiss Milk Chocolate, chopped
3 Tbsp. sifted icing sugar
Heat oven to 350°F.
Beat butter and super-fine sugar in large bowl with mixer on high speed until light and fluffy. Mix flour and cornstarch. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating well after each addition. Stir in chocolate.
Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls, 1 inch apart, onto baking sheets.
Bake 20 to 25 min. or until lightly browned. Cool 5 min. on baking sheets. Transfer to wire racks; cool completely. Sprinkle with icing sugar.
Source:
Kraft Canada
Linked to:
Show & Tell,
Tip Junkie,
Toot Your Horn Tuesday,
Works For Me Wednesday,
Made By You Monday,
Homemaker Monday,
Sumo Sweet Stuff.
Wanna add something "festive" to your breaky?
Eggnog French Toast
2 eggs, beaten slightly
1 1/2 c. eggnog
1 1/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
12 slices French bread or Texas toast
Lightly grease and pre-heat skillet.
Whisk the eggs, eggnog, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together in a mixing bowl until well blended. Pour the mixture into a shallow dish, such as a pie pan.
Dip each slice of bread into the eggnog mixture, making sure to coat each side of the bread thoroughly.
Place the bread slices into the pre-heated skillet, and cook, until golden brown on each side. Keep french toast on a plate covered with foil until ready to serve.
Enjoy!
Recipe originally found here.
Pic courtesy of Pinch My Salt.
Thanks to a friend's recipe, we enjoyed some fun and original "at home pub fare" while watching the hockey game this past Saturday eve.
Btw...GO LEAFS GO!
The recipe below made 2x the amount shown in the picture,
so we had LOTS leftover.
Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip
1 pkg of cream cheese
1/2 tub of sour cream
1/2 cup blue cheese dressing
2 tins of chicken chunks (try Costco or Walmart)
1/4-1/2 cup of Franks hot sauce (depending on how hot you like it)
2 cups of grated cheddar cheese
Bake for about 20 minutes and serve w/nacho-style chips.
And I love this cute dip bowl & platter set (in pic).
It also comes with a lid and 2nd smaller dip bowl that sits on this one,
leaving room for ice to keep cold dips cold.
It's from Epicure Selections.
I use it a lot and appreciate that the whole thing can go
from oven to dishwasher.
Happy dipping!
Linked to:
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tuesday at the Table, Tip Me Tuesday, Today's Creative Blog, Strut Your Stuff Party
I've strayed from menu-planning and the results have not been good.
Eating out more, which is costly and rarely healthy.
Dinner time becomes a frenzy of "what to make?"
Vowing to get our family back on track, especially as we're getting
busier and busier with pre-Christmas ministry prep.
Utilizing some quick and easy casseroles and the trusty crock-pot.
WEEKLY MENU PLAN
Monday
Smoked BBQ Ribs
Baked Beans
Cole Slaw
Tuesday
Chicken & Stuffing Casserole
Wednesday
Soup & Sandwiches
Thursday
Pierogie Casserole
Friday
Roast Chicken
Crock Pot Curry Vegetables
Fresh Rolls
Saturday
Lasagna
Caesar Salad
Fresh Bread
Sunday
Crock Pot Stew
Fresh Rolls
Staying on this type of plan not only helps us eat healthier and save money, but also yields more leftovers for lunches.
Bon Appetit!
Linked to:
Mom-Monday
Menu Plan Monday
Making Your Home Sing Monday
Photo courtesy of www.natcreole.com.
Some Friday night fun Halloween prep going on here at our place tonight!
Like Montell Jordan says, "This is how we do it..."
First, gather your easiest method of cake and cookie mix ingredients.
Then go here for the recipe and after a little sweat and family fury
(if you're brave enough to solicit help from Hubby and the kidlets),
you end up with these yummy babies.
And you must taste one, to ensure the recipe turned out as expected.
Then go here for the cookie recipe.
(I cheated and used a mix we had on hand.)
Have fun slicing lots of triangular-soon-to-be-cookie goodness!
These are extra pretty with rock sugar sprinkled on top...
which we totally forgot to add.
(Blame it on the sugar high from the cupcake consumption.)
We credit both recipes turning out so well to copious amounts of spooky music being played in the background. ;)
Happy Halloween, to all my blogging ghoulfriends!
Linked to:
Beyond the Picket Fence, Blue Cricket Design, Frugalicious Friday, Feature Yourself Friday, Tatertots & Jello, Finer Things Friday, I'm Lovin It Fridays, Just Something I Whipped Up
This was a staple while we were at CFOT for 2 years, living in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I guess the heartiness of this meal (pairs well with this and a veggie side) brought us through many of those -40 temp evenings! Makes great leftovers, too. And as a sandwich, according to my Hubby.
CHEESY MEATLOAF
2 lb. hamburger meat
1/3 cup grated cheese (old/aged)
2 tbsp onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup bread crumbs (my secret - these, crushed)
1 tsp garlic salt
1 egg
Combine all ingredients together.
IMO, The best meatloaf has a smooth consistency which you can often get by putting it all in a mixer like cake batter and giving it a whirl on high until really combined.
Place in greased loaf dish or form it into a large football-ish looking thingy and place in centre of lightly greased baking sheet.
Bake 1-1 1/2 hours at 350F.
Serve with tangy BBQ sauce, chili sauce or - if you're like us - good ol' ketchup!
Linked to:
Finer Things Friday
Feature Yourself Friday
I'm Lovin' It Fridays
(Photo courtesy of firehow.com)
Hard to believe another school year is coming to an end.
And right along with that thought comes the inevitable,
"What can I possibly give to our kids' brave and courageous teachers to thank them for all the wonderful things they've taught our beloved rugrats this year?"
My solution is something homemade and tasty.
And goes well with coffee.
Teachers must feel the need to drink lots of coffee!
Or Jack Daniels. Or both. ;)
Anywho...
I've been eyeing this recipe in one of my Christmas "Company's Coming" recipe books, a gift from a thoughtful friend many moons ago. It's always sounded like a nice, summer treat to me.
I also found a similar version online, which I will post here.
Wrapped pretty, this is what our kidlets' teachers will receive for the fruits of their labour this year.
No pun intended.
Get it? Fruit? Strawberry?
I'll get right back to my June Cleaver apron and wooden spoon now.
Strawberry Bread
•2 cups all purpose flour
•1 teaspoon baking powder
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, or margarine, cut into pieces, at room temperature
•1 cup granulated sugar
•1/2 teaspoon almond extract
•2 eggs
•1 cup crushed strawberries or 1 package (10 ounces) frozen strawberries, thawed and drained on a double thickness of paper towels
•1/3 cup sliced almonds
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray or grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan or 3 mini loaf pan sections.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar and almond extract until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the flour mixture alternately with the crushed strawberries.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top with the sliced almonds. Bake in the center of the oven for 55 to 60 minutes (50 to 55 minutes for mini loaves), or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool the bread in the pan for 5 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and turn right side up to cool completely.
Bonus tip from Baking and Books (picture courtesy of)! Top your bread with an irresistible strawberry spread. Blend 1 package (8 oz) of softened cream cheese with 1/4 to 1/3 cup of strawberry jam.
