Baby BowTie Pasta

I made this today for lunch for the kids, and it was amazing! They ate it all, and I had some as well. And I got to use those fun new mini pastats from Barilla - Piccolini. I love the name!!

Ingredients:

1/2 box Mini Farfalle pasta (like Barilla Piccolini)
olive oil
1/2 onion finely chopped, or a shallot
1 clove garlic minced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, juices drained
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup frozen peas
grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Cook noodles in boiling water. Heat oil over medium heat and add onion and garlic. Saute until tender, about 2 min. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 min. Stir in the cream and the peas. Add the pasta and toss to coat. You may need to add a ladle full of the pasta cooking water to get a creamy consistency in the sauce. Serve, topped with grated parm and salt and pepper if desired.

Feedback:

The kids gobbled this up, they loved the peas. And the pasta is small enough to not have to be cut up first, which saves me a ton of time. Creamy and delish!!

Mom's Sloppy Joes

It's my Friday again! Thank goodness!

I'm not sure where my mom got this recipe, but she's made it for us forever. And it's still the best Sloppy Joe recipe I've ever had. Not to mention, I get to use my crockpot. So I love them even more!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb ground beef
salt
pepper
garlic powder
Olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
12 oz ketchup
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs worchestershire
2 tbs sweet pickle relish
8 oz sour cream
Hamburger buns

Cook onions and celery in saucepan with olive oil for 5 min until tender. Add ground beef to skillet and season to taste with salt, pepper and garlic powder. When meat is cooked through, pour into crockpot. Add ketchup, sugar, worchestershire, and relish. Stir to combine all. Cook on low for 3 hours (or high for 1 hr). Put sour cream into mix and stir to combine for the last 30 minutes. Serve on buns.


Feedback:
I've made this plenty of times before and the kids love it. My 2 year old eats 2 hamburgers - the same amount as my husband and I!! For those of you who never knew sloppy joes aren't just made my "Manwich", give these a try, you'll never go back to the can!

Pigs in a Blanket

I'm sure most all of you have had these at one point or another, but believe it or not, I NEVER have! So I made them for us for lunch today and they were great. I've been missing out!!

Pigs in a Blanket

Nathans Hot Dogs (the best, in our opinion! Any brand will work)
1 tube cresent rolls
2 slices cheese

Heat oven to 325. Split hotdogs down the center and put slices of cheese into them. Roll hotdog in cresent roll. Place on baking sheet and bake 12 minutes.

Kids and I LOVED THEM!

Leftover day

Well there was no need for me to make dinner tonight, they had some Spaghetti Pie and Cordon Bleu Casserole left. Back to the grocery store tomorrow! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

This is another recipe that my Grandma used to make. So yummy! This will be for the babysitter and the kids tonight. We both work late. I'm sure they'll love it.

This is another one of those dishes where I have almost everything I need on hand already. I only had to pick up ham for this recipe. I love when that happens!

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked chicken, cubed
3 cups cooked ham, cubed
1/4 cup butter
1 cup chopped onions
2 cups light cream
1 tsp dill weed
1/3 cup flour
1/8 tsp ground mustard
1 cup cheddar cheese

Topping:
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 tsp dill weed
2 Tbs melted butter
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large bowl combine chicken, ham and cheese. Set aside. In a saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Add flour, stir to form a paste. Gradually add cream, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute or until thick. Add dill, and mustard. Mix well. Remove from heat and pour over meat mixture. Spoon into a greased 9x13" pan. Toss bread crumbs, melted butter, dill and cheese. Pour evenly over top of casserole. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through.
Serves 8-10

**Picture is of leftovers the next day - I forgot to take the pic same day!

Feedback:
Our babysitter said this was great and that the kids gobbled it up. Even her son, who is much more picky than my hogs! I had leftovers for lunch. So yummy.

I love eating things that remind me of when I was a kid, it's great when food does that to you. I think that is part of the reason why it's so important to me that my family eat at home as much as possible. I want their memories to be like mine - of family around the table eating good food. Not at whatever fast food place we all agreed on that night.

Three Cheese Spaghetti Pie

For my bridal shower, my maid-of-honor requested that everyone bring a copy of their favorite recipe for me to cook sometime. This one came from my only Aunt, Aunt Vicki. I made it once for me and hubby, and we really liked it. I know the kids will too.

Ingredients:

6 oz spaghetti, cooked, drained and rinsed
1 large egg, separated
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 lb ground beef (or turkey)
1 1/4 cups spaghetti sauce
3/4 cups ricotta cheese
1 tsp dried parsley
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray a 9" pie plate with cooking spray. Combine spaghetti, egg white and parmesan in a bowl. Press mixture into pie plate to form a pie shell. Cook beef in a skillet. When browned, stir in spaghetti sauce and simmer 5 min. Set aside. Combine ricotta, egg yolk, parsley, and 1/2 cup mozzarella in bowl. Spread mixture into pie shell. Spread meat sauce over cheese mixture and top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes, removing foil during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Allow to stand for 5 min. before serving.
Serves 6

Thanks Aunt Vicki, the kids are going to love this!

Feedback:
They all loved it. My 2 year old had 2 helpings. My husband is a much better parent than me. If we have anything with red sauce when I am home, I won't give it to the babies because I hate the mess, especially since they are both in a "I-throw-my-food-on-the-floor-when-I'm-done" phase. I'm so mean! Hubby lets them have at it AND cleans it up. Im so lucky!

Monday, Monday

It's back to the grind for me. I didn't get a chance to shop for the week, so Hubby will be making the kids and himself Tuna Helper. They all like that, and it's quick and easy to throw together. I'll get my butt to the store tomorrow! Have a great day everyone!

Buffalo Sloppy Joes

Today I made Rachael Ray's Buffalo Sloppy Joes. They were not bad. The sloppy joes I usually make in the crockpot are thicker, these ones seemed a little runny to me. But I did like the carrots and celery running through it, and the blue cheese crumbles!

I served it to the kids before I added the hot sauce. They ate it, of course. I'm not sure my kids are really valid in helping determine whether or not something is good. The other day I just missed as my daughter pulled Lord knows what out of the sliding glass door track and stuck it in her mouth. Must have been ok, since she didn't spit it out!

Anyways, if you like spicy, give these a try!

Frog Eye Salad

This recipe came from my Grandmother, and for a long time I only got to enjoy it at family get-togethers. But I finally got the recipe from her, and after a few failed attempts, I've finally got it down! And though nothing ever tastes as good as Grandmas, this is even excellent when I make it now. Plus, it deters me from eating ice cream every night (for a few days =)). Not to mention, my kids LOVE it!

Frog Eye Salad

1/2 cup Acini de Pepe pasta
1 8oz can pineapple chunks (Save juice)
1 11oz can mandarin oranges
1 cup coconut - optional
1 8z container cool whip
1 egg
1 cup sugar
reserved pineapple juice
2-4 tbs flour

Boil water and cook Acini de Pepe. Rinse and allow to cool. Cook sugar, egg, pineapple juice and flour together, wisking often until thick. (Takes about 8 min). Allow to cool, wisking every few minutes.
Combine fruit, coconut (if using), coolwhip, pasta, and pineapple mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight before serving.

**After you first combine the ingredients, they will appear soupy. They will set overnight and be a firmer, tapioca-ish consistency.

Baked Chicken Finger Bites

Last night, I had a migraine from "you-know-where", so I was in no mood to cook. We ordered pizza and one of those new pastas from Pizza Hut. We got the chicken alfredo. It was pretty good!

Today I made my toddler a warm lunch to send to school. I got this recipe from my moms group, so I thought I'd share it. I tried one while I was packing the rest up for him. They are really good!

Baked Chicken Finger Bites

1 cup corn flakes

1 cup plain bread crumbs

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenders, cut into 2-inch pieces

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs, beaten

Turn the oven on to 375 degrees F. In a pie pan or other shallow, large dish, pour out the corn flakes. Crush the cereal up with your hands. Mix in bread crumbs, sugar, salt, pepper. Drizzle about 3 tablespoons vegetable oil evenly over the breading, tossing it to mix the oil through the bread crumbs and crushed-up corn flakes. Cut the chicken fingers into smaller bite sized pieces, 2-inch pieces. Turn the chicken in flour, eggs and then in the crunchy breading. Arrange the chicken toes on a nonstick baking sheet. Place the chicken bites in the oven and cook 15 minutes or until crisp and brown all over.

*Use your favorite ranch or honey mustard to dip these treats in! (I sent ranch)

Student says:

"Mamma, I eat my chukin (chicken). I like it lot! And my raynins (raisins). They all gone!"

Crockpot Tamale Pie

Today is my Friday! WOO HOO!!

Ingredients:

2 boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix (the little ones)
1 lb ground beef
1 can drainded rinsed black beans
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can drained corn
1 Tbs chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Spray crock pot with cooking spray (just realized I didn't do this!! Oops!) Brown meat in a sauce pan ( I seasoned it with salt and pepper). Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl (including the cheese), add meat once it is completely cooked. Dump into crockpot. Mix 2 boxes of corn muffin mix per insturctions on box. Top the mix in the crockpot with the miffun mix and spread to cover. Cook on low 4-7 hours.

Feedback:

My husband said this was good. He only had a few bites though, because the kids were making him nuts. And my 2 year old wouldn't touch it because he saw a cake I made on the counter, and this wasn't it! I know my husband is so glad I'll be home the next 2 nights!

Crockpot Steak and Blue Cheese

This looked fabulous to me, and I was super jealous that I wasn't going to get to try it straight out of the pot! I had 10 minutes to throw this all together before jetting out the door, so I forgot to take pics - sorry!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb flat beef - I used round tip
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbs Worchestershire
2 cloves garlic smashed
1 cup crumbled blue cheese

Marinate meat in sauces and garlic in a ziplock bag in fridge overnight. Pull meat out of bag, and pour liquids into the crockpot. Lay out pieces of meat and sprinkle blue cheese on them. Roll the meat around the cheese into a log. Place meat seam-side down into the crockpot. Repeat with all meat. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Feedback:
My husband said this was way too salty for him. Which means I KNOW I would have thought it was fabulous, because I have a salt addiction. I should have probably used sodium free soy-sauce, since the cheese is salty already. But he said that the kids gobbled it up. My 2 year old had 2 helpings. There was none left for me. Bummer!

Ultimate Lasagne

Tonight I work again, and had to pre-make dinner early, since we have a birthday party to go to at noon. I decided to make lasagne from a recipe I watched on Tyler's Ultimate on FoodNetwork. I loved that he snuck in SO MANY veggies. My kids will eat any veggie, but I usually have to sneak them past my husband, so I thought this would be a good recipe to try. I know many of my mom friends that are big fans of the Deceptively Delicious Cookbook, that hides veggies in everything from dinner to dessert. I think I may need to invest in that cookbook, though if I come home with another cookbook I may be enjoying them while I live in my car after my husband kicks me out of the house!

As you will see by the ingredients picture...there are ALOT. Once I started pulling everything out, I came to the conculsion that unless I hear "This was the best lasagne I've ever had!" tonight when I get home, I'll probably never make it this way again. It's alot of work!


Ingredients:

Ultimate Lasagne

1 lb lasagne noodles

Extra virgin olive oil

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground italian sausage

1/2 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 carrots
1 celery stalk
1 tbs basil
1 handful Italian parsley
1 tbs oregano
1 tbs flour
1 cup red wine
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
2 tbs heavy cream
1 cup frozen spinach thawed
1 quart ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup grated parmesan
Salt and pepper
1/2 lb grated mozzerella


Preheat oven to 350

Cook lagane noodles untile pliable but still firm.

Coat large skillet with olive oil, brown meats together, seasoned with salt and pepper. Blend onion, carrots, celery, garlic, basil, parsley and oregano in food processor until pureed. Pour into sauce pan with cooked meat and combine. Stir in flour. Add the wine and cook 5 minutes. Then add tomatoes and cream. Cook on low.

In a mixing bowl combine ricotta, mozzerella, egg, salt and pepper.

Coat 9x13 pan with olive oil. Line bottom of pan with noodles. Top with cheese mix, then spinach, then meat mix. Top with noodles and repeat layers. Top with noodles. Shred more mozzerella and parmesan on top of completed lasagne. Cook for 45 min to 1 hr until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling.


**I just had to take this picture, and this doesn't include the noodle pot and sauce pan that were still on the stove. YIKES!

And the zoo says:

Hubby said "the lasagne was really good, but it tasted like alot of vegetables." He caught that! He has a better palate that I thought...time to restrategize! The kids ate it up, of course.

Home-Style Ribs

Tonight I work until 11pm, so the family will be eating without me. I made dinner in the trusty crockpot, and my husband will probably make a quick rice or potato side dish and some corn (or he won't and the kids won't know the difference anyways!).


The Ingredients:

Home-Style Ribs

4-5lbs bonless pork spareribs, cut into pieces
1 med onion sliced
1 cup ketchup
1/2 to 1 cup water
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tbs Worchestershire sauce
2 tsp ground mustard
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika

Place half the ribs in slow cooker and top with half the onion. Repeat layers. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over all. Cover and cook on low 8-9 hours
Yield: 6-8 servings (Recipe Courtesy Taste of Home Magazine)

**I will be cutting the meat portion of this recipe in half. My very young children eat like a herd of teenagers, but I think there would still be a lot left over. I bought 2 lbs of the ribs but still made the full recipe amount of sauce - the kids will love to dip bread in it. I also cooked mine on low for 6 hours, since I had less meat.

**I love that all I had to do was purchase ribs for this dinner. Every other ingredient is something that I always have on hand. Makes for a rather in-expensive dinner - which I am ALL ABOUT these days!

Feedback from the zoo:

They ate it up, which never surprises me! Hubby said it was really good, falling apart and moist. He said the 2 babies inhaled it, and my toddler looked at it for awhile before eating it. He usually sees if the babies are eating it, and then he goes for it - like the King making his subjects test the food before he will eat it! Another hit! Can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch - if there are any...

Babysitter night

Tonight, both Shawn and I work late. So our babysitter, N, is in charge of feeding time tonight. I always have ingredients for spaghetti and similar quick dinners on hand for her, if I don't have time to prepare something ahead. They are fending for themselves tonight!

Welcome Everyone...

To my new blog! I plan on posting daily (if at all possible!). I am currently a full-time working mom. So I am only home to make dinner 2 nights a week. On the other 5 nights, I have to come up with something that will be an easy, healthy and delicious dinner for my husband and kids. Left to their own devices, it would be pizza and chicken nuggets 5 nights a week! I am blessed to have a husband who will try anything once, and 3 kids who are virtual garbage disposals! Happy cooking everyone!