This Week's Dinner Menu

It's going to be a great week with some great food. Let the fun begin!

What are you cooking this week!??!?!?!?!

Southwestern Casserole

I had been on a lil freezers pleasers hiatus. But don't worry, now I'm back! This Southwestern Casserole is really good. I added a lot of chili powder to make it spicy.


I like to use whole wheat pasta usually, but I went with elbow mac because it was on sale. I cut down the amount of ground beef the recipe called for and supplemented another can of red kidney beans instead. Mmmmmm Fiber!


Also, I had green onions in the fridge that I needed to use, so I chopped up a lot of them. As of recently I had never really cooked with green onions before (truth be told I didn't even know what they were). But now I use them a lot. 


FYI: Next time I would use less tomato paste.


Ingredients:

• 7-8 oz of elbow macaroni
• 1.5 pounds of extra lean ground beef
• 1 cup diced onion
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cans of diced tomatoes w/ green chilies
• 2 cans of red kidney beans
• 1 6 oz. can of tomato paste
• 1 tsp of cumin
• chili powder
• hot sauce
• jalapeno peppers, diced
• 2 cups of monterey jack cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Cook macaroni according to box instructions
2. Meanwhile in a large saucepan cook beef, onions, and garlic until cooked through
3. Add tomatoes, beans, tomato paste, and seasonings
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered.
5. Add drained macaroni to beef mixture
6. Add to two casserole dishes
7. Top with jalapeno and cheese
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees, covered, for 30 minutes.
9. Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes.

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Celery Casserole

This dish seems a little strange...celery as a main dish? But I went with it, and you know what? It rocked! It works great as a main dish, but if you're not sold you could serve it as a side instead. It was surprisingly filling & tasty. Plus the texture and color was cool. I'm all about texture, hence my obsession with sprinkles. I've been trying to stick to my weight watchers plan (post-thanksgiving blues) and this dish comes out to be about 3 points per serving. That's REALLY good for an entree. 




Anyone know any other good meatless dishes???


Ingredients:

• 4 cups of diced celery, cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 36 low-fat buttery crackers (or 1 sleeve full), crushed
• 8 oz. can of water chestnuts, halved
• 1 can of low-fat cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3 cups of water
• 5 tablespoons of almond slices
• 1 or 2 tablespoons of butter
• salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Boil water and chicken broth with salt in medium sauce pan
3. Add celery and salt and cook for 7 minutes
4. Combine soup & water chestnuts in medium bowl
5. Add drained celery and mix in
6. Pour into 1.5 quart greased casserole dish
7. Melt butter in skillet and stir in cracker crumbs & almond slivers
8. Top casserole dish with cracker mixture
9. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes

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The Perfect Day

The Taco Bake of Golden-Brown Awesomeness for dinner

+

 Sour cream, cornbread, homemade guacamole & homemade salsa

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 My adorable niece Halle Grace

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My wonderful husband Gerald Stoltzfoos!!!!!

+

Crepes made by Aunt Naomi! 

(Note the sprinkles, she knows me so well -- nice touch!)

= The Perfect Day!

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More Guacamole

Love Love Love guacamole. Does anyone know any good places in PA that make fresh guacamole right in front of you? I really want to go to a restaurant that does that sometime.

Anyway, I made guacamole again and it was awesome. Which is good to know, because I've had some not-so-great guacamole experiences in the past. 

I used 4 avocados, fresh lime juice, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, cilantro, a little bit of spice and a guacamole mix packet. Any other suggestions? What do you use to make your guac!?!?!

Check out these fabulous pictures. My sister-in-law let me use her camera, which is obviously a lot nicer than mine. :-)

Showed those avocados whose boss!

Added a little paprika to give it some kick

 Deliciousness.

I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!

Pumpkin Scones!

Made pumpkin pies (see delicious sprinkled masterpiece below) in preparation for the Thanksgiving meal we had down in OBX. As usual, I had extra batter so I mixed in some ingredients to create Pumpkin scones! It didn't quit turn out as dough-like as I wanted it to be, but the final scone production was still amazing. Instead of making individual scones, I made one giant one.

Ingredients:

• Leftover Pumpkin Pie batter --------->
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3.5 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 dash cardamon
• 1/2 bag of semi-seet chocolate chip morsels

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Combine dry ingredients
3. Cut in butter & mix
4. Stir in leftover batter (may have to combine in extra flour to make it thicker)
5. Transfer to cookie sheet and shape as desired
6. Top with chocolate chips
7. Cook on baking sheet for 20 to 30 minutes

I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!

This Week's Dinner Menu

It looks like it's going to be a delicious week!

I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!

Pepperoni & Vegetable Quiche

Made some quiche to pair with baked oatmeal over the Thanksgiving Holiday. It's just like the normal vegetable quiche I make, but I had to make it for A LOT more people. I used two large casserole dishes instead of pie pans. 

I used Ore-Ida frozen hashbrowns because that's all I could find in the Harris Teeter in NC. The Country Inn Creations Pepper & Onion style complimented the quiche.


Plus I found these cute lil' pepperoni slices to use. 


My incredibly awesome niece, Madelyn Paige, stopped in to give me a helping hand. She didn't do much but stand there and look cute, but that was all the encouragement I needed. :-)

 

I made the hashbrowns extra crispy and used a ton of zucchini & chopped spinach.

What's the verdict Maddie???

Yay! She's enjoying her quiche!

 Must've been a hit because the family cleaned me out!

I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!

Baked Oatmeal

We're spending Thanksgiving with my husband's family in OBX for the week. So fun! We each took a day to be in charge of cooking & are sharing Thanksgiving day responsibilities. Today, Wednesday is my day. I got up early and I made Baked Oatmeal & Quiche for breakfast. Baking for this many people is a lot of work, but so fun!!!

I'm thankful for wonderful in-laws who love to help and love to praise my food :-)

I've never made baked oatmeal before, only slow cooker oatmeal. I forgot to bring my slow-cooker, so I decided to suck it up and try something new. My sister-in-law is making a pumpkin custard pie for tomorrow and had an extra pie shell that she offered up to me. I'm using graham cracker pie crust for the pumpkin pies that I'm making so I had to come up with a creative use for this particular pie shell. I had excess oatmeal badder so I realized the pie shell was perfect! It came out beautifully.

Later today I took on the challenge of making guacamole again and the always famous Taco Ring. Stay tuned!

You may notice that the pics on this post are much nicer than my usual blog pictures, that's because I was able to use my sister-in-law's fancy camera. So cool. Thanks, Teresa!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of butter, melted
• 3 eggs
• 1.5 cups of white sugar
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1 cup of chopped pecans or other nuts
• 6 cups of oats
• 2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 2 chopped apples
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• raisins (optional)
• pie crust (optional)

Directions:

1. Mix butter, eggs, sugar, salt, baking powder, pecans, & oats in a large bowl
2. Grease or spray casserole dish or baking pan or place extra in pie crust (optional) and bake it that way.
3. Top oatmeal with apples and ground cinnamon.
4. Bake in 350 degree preheated oven for 30-40 minutes.
5. Serve with cinnamon, raisins, and brown sugar.

It was a hit!!!!

I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!

Two-Cheese Sausage Pizza

 Another great recipe inspired by my Freezers Pleasers book! I used a lot of cheese, probably way more than the recipe called for. Also, feel free to use other veggies like broccoli or spinach. This was yum! Did I mention it was quick??? (even better as leftovers the next day)


Ingredients:

• Pizza dough (already made, or you can by the frozen kind that you shape yourself)
• 3/4 to 1 pound hot italian sausage, chopped
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
• 1 can of pizza sauce
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• 2 cups cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon of pizza seasoning (or try italian seasoning, red pepper, or garlic salt)
• Olive oil or olive oil spray

Directions:
   1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
   2. Coat dough with olive oil spray
   3. In a large skillet, cook sausage over medium heat. Add onion and green pepper.




   4. Spread pizza sauce over crust. 


   5. Top with sausage mixture.


   6. Cover with mozzarella cheese, then cheddar cheese.




   7. Bake on pizza stone for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.


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Taco Soup

Taco Soup has become one of my new favorite recipes. It's a perfect large group slow cooker meal. I made this past weekend for my small group. This is a non-spicy version, feel free to make it spicy by adding the appropriate ingredients. 


The picture was taken from an iPhone and it doesn't do it justice because this is before you add the sour cream, cheese, & chips.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound extra lean ground beef
• 1 package of taco seasoning
• 1 can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed or diced tomatoes
• 1 can enchilada sauce
• 3 green onion, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cans fat free chicken broth (or 1 can of broth, 1 can of water)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of bay leaf seasoning
• 1 package frozen corn
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1 bag of fritos
• 1 bag of tostitos
• 1 can of fat free sour cream
• 2 cups of shredded mexican blend cheese

Directions

1. Place ground beef in skillet and brown.
2. Add taco seasoning and simmer for a few minutes.
3. Add ground beef, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, and onions to a large slow cooker.
4. Pour in chicken broth, season with cumin, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. 
5. Stir in corn and cilantro. 
6. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours. 
7. When ready to serve, place in large individual bowls, top with chips, cheese, & sour cream. 

I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!

Butternut Squash & Acorn Squash Harvest Soup

I have a really awesome cooking club made up of some talented & caring ladies. We meet once a month and everyone brings a different course to share. Then we sit around and talk about how good each other's food is. Plus we laugh a lot.


This month's theme for cooking club: Autumn!


I had the soup this time and I've always wanted to make something with butternut squash (this is because I have a secret obsession with butternut squash ravioli). I had a lot of fun going to market to get the squash this week.


It was hysterical to watch me cut them open and seed them. It was dangerous! I thought I was going to cut myself open! It's hard to cut the squash into halves before you warm them. I've never cooked with anything like that before. I couldn't stop giggling. And every little thing I did was a mini victory. It was a rewarding cooking experience. The smell & the taste were so good & well worth all the trouble. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash, halved and seeded
• 1 acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
• 1/2 cup of half & half
• 1 quart fat free chicken broth
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ground cinnamon to taste
• fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the squash halves cut side down in a baking dish. Bake 45 minutes, or until tender. 

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion until tender.

Remove squash from heat, and cool slightly. Scoop the pulp from the skins. Discard skins.

In a blender or food processor, blend the squash pulp, onion, broth, brown sugar, half & half, cream cheese, pepper, and cinnamon until smooth. This may be done in several batches.

Transfer the soup to a pot over medium heat, and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through. 

Transfer to slow-cooker to keep warm. 

Garnish with parsley, and serve warm

I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!