What's Cooking
Make A Head Recipe: Egg Breakfast Cups
The only day Jake and the girls headed out early to work in the yard, when I asked what they wanted the answer I got was eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns. Well, this recipe which I discovered on The Little Birdie Blog included all of these ingredients. I did have eggs but no bacon or shredded hash browns but I did have ham and tator tots. I altered her recipe slightly and it was a huge hit with the family. Karlie told me “Mom you always make the best food!” I made the several extra to test and see if they would be good to reheat out of the freezer and they turned out well. These would be a great recipe to “make ahead” of schedule to pull out after your guests have arrived. I froze some of our Egg Breakfast Cups in a ziploc baggie, each cup was individually wrapped in saran wrap. All you had to do when you were ready to eat it was pull it out of the freezer and bake for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Egg Breakfast Cups:
- 1 – 24 oz. bag of shredded Hash Browns or Tator Tots cut up
- 2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- 2 tablespoons Oil
- 1/3 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1 cup diced Ham (or bacon)
- Eggs
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees
- Take your bag of hash browns or tator tots ( cut up if tator tots) and mix in the salt, pepper, oil and 1/3 cup shredded cheese.
- Grease jumbo muffin tin and divide the hash browns amongst the cups in your muffin tin.
- Bake at 425 for 15 to 18 minutes or until toasty
- Once they’re finished, take them out and lower the temp of the oven to 350 degrees.
- Crack an egg into each of the cups and break the eggs a little bit.
- Top with ham (or bacon) and a sprinkle of extra cheese
- Bake at 350 degrees for 13-16 minutes (or until the eggs are as firm as you like them).
- Slide a knife along the edges to remove from pan when cooled.
Mix together the cut up tator tots, salt, pepper, and 1/3 cup cheese
Baked hash browns, salt, pepper, and cheese
Add the egg on the top of the baked hash brown.
Break the yokes on the eggs
Add the sliced ham on top of the egg & cheese cup
Cheddar cheese sprinkled on top.
Recipe Egg breakfast cup
Recipe: Mini Chicken Pot Pies
Mini Chicken Pot Pies
Occasionally I come up with a random meal to use up leftovers and it becomes a family hit. I had some biscuits that were ready to be used, shredded cheese, baked chicken and a handful of vegetables so the end results was Mini Chicken Pot Pies. It is great when I am able to use up all the leftovers and have the new meal turn out to be a hit!
Mini Chicken Pot Pies:
- 1 can Biscuits
- 2 cups Chicken (cooked & diced)
- 2 cups or 1 can mixed Vegetables
- 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
- 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin pan. Remove the biscuits from the can and press into a regular size muffin pan. Mix the chicken, vegetables, and cream of chicken together. Scoop (I used an ice cream scoop) the chicken mixture into the biscuit cups. Pull the sides of the biscuit over the top of the chicken mixture and twist to seal prior to cooking. Sprinkle the tops of the biscuits with the shredded Cheddar Cheese and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the biscuit is cooked and the cheese is beginning to darken.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease the muffin tin. Press the biscuits into a muffin tin.
Mix together chicken, mixed vegetables, and cream of chicken
Use an ice cream scoop to put the chicken mixture into the biscuits
Pull the sides of the biscuit over the top of the chicken mixture and twist to seal prior to cooking. Sprinkle with cheese and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until cheese begins to darken.
Mini Chicken Pot Pies ready to be popped out of the muffin tin and eaten.
Family Activities: Bouncing Around
Karlie having a blast! Love her expression in this picture.
One of the activities the girls find as a special treat is spending time in a bouncy castle or slides. Sometimes for birthday parties or a get together with family or friends they get to bounce and slide to their hearts content. This activity is great exercise for kids whether it is the heat of summer or a snowy winter day. When they were babies they were terrified of the bouncy castle, now the higher the bounce the better!
Brina sliding so quickly down the slide I can’t keep up with her!
Karlie bouncing out all her extra energy
Brina pausing for a split second at the end of the slide for me
What’s for Dinner: Our Weekly Menu Plan
The girls have horse camp this week and we are still in the process of locating another vehicle so the schedules have been a little more crazy. I am thankful for the amazing opportunities we have been given, for a dinner menu to keep us on track in the evenings, and awesome friends who have been a huge blessing to us this week. Summer has been a whirlwind of activity around our house this year and it doesn’t look like it will be slowing down any time soon. Here is our menu plan for the upcoming week:
Our Weekly Menu Plan
- Monday (Beef or Seafood Entree): Cheesy Beef & Bow Tie Pasta Casserole, Fresh Fruit
- Tuesday (Pasta or Pork Entree): Special Event
- Wednesday (Kid’s Night to Cook): Brina & Karlie’s Night to Cook Dinner
- Thursday (Chicken or Vegetarian Entree): Golden Chicken Curry, Roasted Garlic & Chili Jasmine Rice
- Friday, Saturday, & Sunday: Leftovers, Family Preference, and Hosting
I have a general pattern I try to follow for my weekly Menu Plan (for example Monday we have a beef or seafood entree, Tuesday a pasta or pork entree and so forth). It is my goal, at least in the beginning, to have at least the main dish and one side planned. I will put together the remaining side dishes (veggies / fruits) based on the food items that need to be used up first and compliment the main entree.
Setting a weekly menu plan helps me utilize my time better, thus freeing up extra time to spend with my family. On the days that I am working longer hours I can prep the meal in advance so it will be easier to pull together once I am home. As I go through the menu planning process I will try to share some of our favorite family recipes. If there is a specific recipe you would like please let me know and I will do my best to accommodate (some recipes are a toss together meal and I do not use any set measurements).
As a family of four our life can get busy. What’s for Dinner is our weekly menu planning series and one of the ways to help keep us organized, on schedule, and within budget. Our family typically eats 6 to 7 dinner meals at home a week. We do try to go out to eat at least once a month as a special treat. Breakfasts are eaten at home before work and school, lunches are eaten at work, school, or home, so dinner is our main meal together as a family. Dinner is our time to reconnect, share, and enjoy being together after a busy day. Our weekly menu plan covers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday only because the weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) is our time to spend with family and friends. The weekends tend to be more spontaneous and my husband (who is the better cook) likes pitching in therefore we keep the menu open for variety. We use up the leftovers throughout the week for our lunches and on the nights that we are busy or can’t cook.
Photo by Liz
Recipe: Easy Mini Pizzas
Easy mini pizzas
When you need a quick lunch or dinner for the family this is an easy one. I used English Muffins for the crust, pizza sauce, shredded cheese, and toppings (we used bacon crumbs, pepperoni, and black olives for this lunch). Baked them in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese melted and viola….mini pizzas. These are easy enough for the kids to make themselves now too! It isn’t a meal we make a lot in our house but in a quick pinch it is easy and one everyone enjoys.
Save A Lot: Deals for the week of July 4 – 10, 2012
The Save A Lot weekly ad deals are listed below for your convenience. It is a great time to stock up on some Save A Lot deals. Sign up for the Smart Shopper Club, by doing so you will get a $5.00 off of $25.00 coupon!
Meats and Seafood
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast – $1.69 lb
Fairgrounds Hotdogs (12 oz) – $0.79
Chicken Drums or Thighs – $0.99 lb
Hickory Springs Bacon (12 oz) – $1.99
Ground Beef – $1.99
Grilling Steaks, Family Pack, T Bone, Rib Eye, and New York Strip – $6.99 lb
Boneless Butt Roast – $1.69
Assorted Pork Chops – $1.69 lb
Pick 5 for $19.99 promo on going! Pick any 5 specially marked packages of your favorite cuts or types of meats, vegetables and more. Here are a few of the specials they have going on with the Pick 5 for $19.99 this week (each item approximately $3.99):
Fridge and Freezer
Eggs (1 dozen) – $0.99
World’s Fair Ice Cream (56 oz) – $1.99
Mantia’s Pizza (20 – 21 oz) – $1.99
Coburn Farms Yogurt (6 oz) – $0.50
Frozen Buttermilk Pancakes (10 count) – $1.00
Bagged Ice (10 pounds) – $1.99
Sunny Delight (48 oz) – $1.00
Produce
Green Cabbage – $0.25 lb
Cucumbers – $0.29 each
Green Peppers – $0.39 each
Yellow Onions (3 pounds) – $0.99
Medium Vine Ripened Tomatoes – $0.69 lb
Lettuce $0.79 each
Potatoes (8 lbs) – $2.29
Household
Solo Red Cups (20 count) – $1.29
Wrightware Foam Plates (40 count) – $1.39
Styrofoam Coolers – $2.49
Grocery
Save A Lot Soft Drinks (12 packs) – $1.99
O’Days Mac & Cheese – $0.39
Kurtz Yellow Mustard (14 oz) – $0.69
Kurtz Ketchup (24 oz) – $0.99
McDaniel’s Classic Coffee Roast (33 oz) – $6.99
Kurtz Whole Dill or Hamburger Slices (32 oz) – $1.99
Portmann’s Salad Dressing (16 oz) – $1.69
Westcott Vegetable Oil (48 oz) – $2.99
Little Hugs Variety Juice Pack (160 oz) – $2.99
Del Monte Spaghetti Sauce (26.5 oz) – $0.99
Wylwood Canned Vegetables (14 – 15 oz) – $0.59
Granny Ella’s Vanilla Wafers (11 oz) – $1.79
Albany Bakery Sandwich Cookies – $1.99
Enhance Coffee Creamer (16 oz) – $2.29
Golden Flake Potato Chips (5 oz) – $1.50
Shelby Grove Sliced Peaches (29 oz) – $1.00
Save A Lot Today Toaster Pastries (11 oz) – $0.99
Ginger Evan Granulated Sugar (4 pounds) – $1.99
Duke’s Mayonnaise (32 oz) – $2.99
Crystal Drinking Water (24 pack) – $1.99
Remember you can use the $5/$25 printable coupon to sweeten these deals! Plus you can earn up to 5 additional $5 off $25 coupons for sharing the coupon with your friends. For more information about Save A Lot’s coupon policies go here. If you find additional deals or savings please let me know and I will add them to the list.
Travel & Vacation: Food & Fun in Hyderabad, India (Part 2)
Chef standing in front of a large tree inside the restaurant. Really neat place to visit with delicious food!
Anyone want some fresh fish for dinner? This is the display of fresh whole fish in the market, you could smell it long before you could see it!
Whole green curry chicken in the bakery ready to take home for dinner. It looks a little interesting but their curries were pretty good, however, I did not try this one.
This one in the meat section kind of made me sick looking at it……goat mutton. You could by goat brains to cook up for dinner (from what I hear it is a real treat). Not sure if I could muscle through this one and pretty sure the girls would have a hard time too because goats are “pets not food” in their little world.
What a great place to eat, the kids seem to LOVE it! Very neat idea for a restaurant…..an auto-rig shaw with a table and booths for families. The kids can play and drive it too!
The shark mouths (see the teeth) have “digustive” salts in the bowls. I didn’t try these because I noticed several people just using their hands to dip into the bowl instead of using the bowl to scoop it. Love the table too, the stand is a stack of tires!
The receipt for the dinner litteraly came in a tin “bill box”.
Puppet play and music in the entry of the restaurant
A variety of delicious Indian food – curry and rice, veggies, pasta and more!
Naan….the amazing Indian bread that is served with practically every meal.
Neat fresh watermelon fruit basket, looks yummy!
And the best is for last……dessert! Carrot cake and vanilla ice cream. The ice cream tasted different from what we get in the USA, it almost had a creamier texture. The carrot cake was good but not quite like my Mom’s homemade carrot cake! 🙂
Really neat Dadu Maluj Sandwiches with cool outer decorations on the outside that looked like alumimum fool and paint but it was edible.
Large waterfall outside another one of the Ohri’s restaurant buildings on the other side of town. Most of the Ohri’s buildings had several different types of restaurants in one building. You could choose to eat Indian, Chinese, American and once you get into the building. Some of them you had to book a reservation in advanced to get into they were so popular.
We went to one of Ohri’s really popular restaurants an India buffet. On this plate is a variety of meat cooked with Indian spices to try.
AMAZING Indian dish (I wish I could remember the name of it)! It makes my stomach growl just looking at it. It was a mix of sweet and crunchy, but it was a beans and meat mixture….so delicious!
One thing I didn’t realize until going over to India was they enjoy what we call “crunchy chicken”! It is normal to be eating a chicken dish and find a bone. I think they do it to add more flavor to the meal but it surprises you the first few times. You are just more careful when you eat chicken!
The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
What’s for Dinner: Our Weekly Menu Plan
It has been a fun and busy week filled with summer activities, juggling schedules, one car, and everything else that is going on. Thankfully our family enjoys an adventure because this summer has been a whirlwind of activity. In the middle of all the craziness their is a plan of action included our weekly dinner plan to help keep us on track. Here is our menu plan for the upcoming week:
Our Weekly Menu Plan
- Monday (Beef or Seafood Entree): Homemade Pizza, Cesar Salad
- Tuesday (Pasta or Pork Entree): Rotini Pasta Casserole, Easy Vegetable Bake
- Wednesday (Kid’s Night to Cook): Brina & Karlie’s Night to Cook Dinner (Hamburgers)
- Thursday (Chicken or Vegetarian Entree): Sesame Chicken Teriyaki, Thai Noodles
- Friday, Saturday, & Sunday: Leftovers, Family Preference, and Hosting
I have a general pattern I try to follow for my weekly Menu Plan (for example Monday we have a beef or seafood entree, Tuesday a pasta or pork entree and so forth). It is my goal, at least in the beginning, to have at least the main dish and one side planned. I will put together the remaining side dishes (veggies / fruits) based on the food items that need to be used up first and compliment the main entree.
Setting a weekly menu plan helps me utilize my time better, thus freeing up extra time to spend with my family. On the days that I am working longer hours I can prep the meal in advance so it will be easier to pull together once I am home. As I go through the menu planning process I will try to share some of our favorite family recipes. If there is a specific recipe you would like please let me know and I will do my best to accommodate (some recipes are a toss together meal and I do not use any set measurements).
As a family of four our life can get busy. What’s for Dinner is our weekly menu planning series and one of the ways to help keep us organized, on schedule, and within budget. Our family typically eats 6 to 7 dinner meals at home a week. We do try to go out to eat at least once a month as a special treat. Breakfasts are eaten at home before work and school, lunches are eaten at work, school, or home, so dinner is our main meal together as a family. Dinner is our time to reconnect, share, and enjoy being together after a busy day. Our weekly menu plan covers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday only because the weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) is our time to spend with family and friends. The weekends tend to be more spontaneous and my husband (who is the better cook) likes pitching in therefore we keep the menu open for variety. We use up the leftovers throughout the week for our lunches and on the nights that we are busy or can’t cook.
Photo by Liz
Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Ring
My cousin makes an awesome Buffalo Chicken dip that our entire family loves so when I saw this recipe on Jayesel it looked similar but wrapped in crescent rolls and I had to try it! I tweaked the recipe a little bit, added shredded cheese, and it turned out really well. The first time I made it I took it to a get together and it was a huge hit. It is a delicious recipe that we have added to our collection. This is a great meal or can be used as an appetizer.
Buffalo Chicken Ring
- 8 oz Cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 packet Ranch Powder Mix
- 2 tablespoon Buffalo Hot Sauce
- 2 Chicken Breasts, cooked and shredded
- 2 packages Crescent Rolls
- 1 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheet and spread the unrolled crescent rolls out leaving a small circle in the middle. Mix chicken and buffalo sauce to taste. In separate bowl, mix softened cream cheese, 1 cup cheddar cheese, and ranch packet together. Mix all ingredients together. Scoop the mixture by the spoonful onto the crescent rolls. Fold the crescent rolls over the mixture to create a ring shape. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese over the top of the ring. Bake for 15 minutes or until the crescent rolls are brown. You can serve with buffalo hot sauce and ranch dressing.
Fresh & Healthy: Our Garden – Beans, Tomatoes, Peas, Zucchini, and Squash!
Vegetables in our new beach bucket ready to be delivered to friends in Charleston!
Items that were picked this week:
- Purple Beans
- Green Beans
- Snow Peas
- Red Cherry Tomatoes
- Orange Cherry Tomatoes
- Zucchini
- Summer Squash
We took some vegetables with us to Charleston last week to share with friends. It was fun being able to bring fresh vegetables with us now that our garden is starting to take off and produce more. What are you eating out of your garden this week?
