Recipe

  • Recipe: Spinach & Chicken Pasta Casserole

    I wanted to use up some pasta so I made up this delicious casserole for the crew.  Everyone enjoyed it.   It was a less messy and dryer than some of the other casseroles I have made in the past but the family gave it a thumbs up.  When I made the recipe I only put in 4 oz of Cream Cheese, I think it would taste a little better with the whole package to help give it a more creamy consistency.  I used whole wheat penne pasta since that is what we had on hand but you could really use any type.

    • 8 oz Pasta (regular or whole wheat)
    • 1 pound Chicken Breasts, diced
    • 1/4 cup Olive Oil
    • 1/2 teaspoon Minced Garlic
    • 1/2 cup Mushrooms
    • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
    • 1 (10 oz) package frozen Spinach (or you can use canned drained spinach)
    • 1/4 cup White Grape Juice
    • 8 oz Cream Cheese
    • 2 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese

    Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.  While pasta is cooking heat up olive oil in a skillet and add the chicken.  Preheat the oven to 350.   Brown the chicken and add the garlic and mushrooms.  Add the salt, spinach, and white grape juice and cook for 3 minutes.  Mix the pasta in with the chicken mixture, add the cream cheese and stir thoroughly.  Pour into a lightly greased casserole dish.  Sprinkle the mozzarella over the casserole and bake for 20 minutes.

    Starting the pasta

    Cooking the chicken

    Adding in the spinach

    Mixing the noodles and cream cheese in with the chicken & Spinach

    Topping with mozzarella cheese then putting it into oven to bake

  • Kids in the Kitchen: Ham & Pasta Casserole Recipe

    The girls made dinner for us this week.  They wanted to try a casserole so Jake found a recipe from Better Homes & Garden and adapted it for the girls.   They got the items out of the fridge and pantry, measured, and added them to the casserole. I did help with getting it in and out of the oven but otherwise they put the casserole together on their own.  It turned out really well!

    Ham & Pasta Casserole:

    • 1 1/2 cups Milk
    • 1 can Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (10 3/4 oz)
    • 2 cups diced cooked Ham
    • 1 cup dried Elbow Macaroni
    • 1 can sliced Mushrooms (4 oz)
    • 1/2 cup chopped Onions
    • 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

    Grease a 8 x 8  pyrex dish and preheat oven for 375 degrees.  Mix the milk and cream of chicken soup.  Stir in the ham, macaroni, mushrooms, and onions.  Cover the casserole and bake for 40 minutes or until the noodles are tender.  Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the casserole and bake uncovered for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Let stand for 10 minutes prior to serving.

  • Recipe: Cake Batter Rice Krispies

    Cake Batter Rice Krispies

    These rice krispies are tasty and add an extra twist to the regular recipe!  The recipe was inspired by How Sweet It Is and has been a hit at our house.  Our family loves rice krispies and sprinkles so these have been a lot of fun to make and share.

    • 3 tablespoons Butter
    • 1 (10 oz.) bag of Marshmallows
    • 1/4 cup dry Yellow Cake Mix
    • 6 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
    • 1 (1.75 oz.) container of Sprinkles

    Melt butter in microwavable safe bowl, add marshmallows, and cook until marshmallows are melted (approximately 1 to 2 minutes). Add the dry cake mix to the marshmallow mixture. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture. Add in half of the sprinkles and mix. Press into a 9 x 13 baking dish and top with remaining sprinkles. Let it sit for a few minutes before cutting and enjoy!

  • Recipe: 30 Minute Dinner Rolls

    I found this recipe a few months ago from Your Homebased Mom.  The first time I made these rolls was for our Thanksgiving dinner and several times since then.  I like that these rolls are homemade, fairly quick, and easy to make since I often don’t have time to spend several hours in the kitchen making dinner for my family.  These rolls are a little denser than most dinner rolls but that is due to the shorter rising time.  If you are looking for a tasty dinner roll option that you can make in less time try this recipe!

    30 Minute Dinner Rolls

    • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoon Warm Water
    • 1/3 cup Oil
    • 2 tablespoon Yeast
    • 1/4 cup Sugar
    • 1 teaspoon Salt
    • 1 Egg
    • 3 1/2 cups Flour

    Grease an 9×13 pyrex dish.  Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix the water, oil, yeast and sugar together then allow it to rest for 15 minutes.  With your dough hook, mix in the salt, egg, and flour.  Knead with hook until the dough is soft and smooth. (takes only a couple of minutes).  Form dough into 12 balls and allow to rest for 10 minutes.  Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees or until golden brown.

  • Recipe: Strawberry Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes

    Strawberry cupcake with a dark chocolate center

    The fun part about having kids is they inspire you to experiment.  The girls and I were busy doing something in the kitchen and had to make a dessert for an upcoming event so I told them to pick out a box cake mix out of the pantry.  They picked out a Strawberry Cake mix and as we were talking about all the different strawberries recipes we love it lead into can we make something super special with the strawberry cupcakes……..something that would be a surprise for those eating the cupcakes???  That’s when we came up with the Strawberry Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes!

    It is super easy to make too.  Take your favorite cake mix, make it according to directions, pour into cupcake liners, and bake for 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes add a piece of chocolate to the center of each cupcake.  The chocolate will sink to the middle of the cupcake and melt.  We used dark chocolate eggs left over from our Easter candy stash.  The girls were so happy to bring their strawberry cupcakes with a chocolate surprise to their friends.  We did have chocolate frosting and half vanilla frosting (sorry I didn’t get a picture of a cupcake frosted).

    You can see the dark chocolate pieces sinking down into the cupcakes in the picture.  Can you tell which rows the girls put the chocolate into first?!  🙂  This is a great recipe to try with your kids.  They love being able to help unwrap and put the chocolate pieces into the cupcakes, plus they are super excited to share the treat with family and friends.

  • Recipe: Homemade Vegetarian Egg Rolls

    Homemade vegetarian egg roll

    Occasionally I find a great deal at one of our local groceries stores which motivates us to experiment and try something new.  Recently I found a package of egg roll wrappers on clearance for $0.99 so we decided to try our hand at making homemade egg rolls.  We love having egg rolls with various meals but never made them from scratch.

    Homemade Vegetarian Egg Rolls:

    • 2 chopped Green Onions (or 1 small diced Sweet Onion)
    • 1 bundle Bok Choy
    • 2 shredded Carrots
    • Egg Roll Wraps
    • Olive Oil

    Place the chopped green onions in the bowl.  Cut up the bok choy in pieces and mix with the green onions.  Mix in the shredded carrots.  Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok for a minute then add the vegetables.  Saute the vegetables for 3 to 5 minutes (until tender) and remove from heat.  Place two spoonfuls of vegetables in the center of the egg roll wrap and roll it up.  Place in the fryer for 3 minutes on 400 or until slight brown.  You may also bake the egg rolls at 350 for 12 minutes.

    Daddy helping Karlie and Brina put together their egg rolls

     

    Rolled egg roll

    Vegetarian egg roll filling

    Cooked vegetarian egg roll

  • Recipe: Easy Chocolate Eclair

    It has been a whirlwind of fun these last few weeks.  Jake’s sister and her family stayed with us for a week and we had the opportunity to host several other family and friends.  Most evenings we had anywhere from 9 to 26 people so it has been a busy house.  After spending the first half of the day at the Roper Mountain Science Center with the kids I decided to make a quick and easy dessert to go with our meal that evening. I made the Easy Chocolate Eclair and it was a big hit with several of the people that evening so I decided to share it.  My friend Janet shared the recipe with me a few years ago and I have made it many times since then.

    Easy Chocolate Eclair:

    • 1 (16 oz) box Graham Crackers
    • 2 (3 ounce) packages instant Vanilla or White Chocolate Pudding
    • 3 cups Milk
    • 1 (8 ounce) container Cool Whip, thawed
    • 1 (16 ounce) Chocolate Frosting

    Spray the bottom of a 9×13 inch pan with a thin layer of baking spray then line with one layer of graham crackers.  Mix pudding and milk in a large bowl.  Stir the Cool Whip into the pudding mixture.  Spread half of the pudding mixture over the layer of graham crackers.  Put another layer of graham crackers down then put the remaining pudding mix on top of them.  Add one more layer of grahams on top of the pudding mixture.  Microwave the container of Chocolate Frosting for 30 seconds or until it is melted and can be poured.  Pour the chocolate frosting over the top layer of graham crackers and smooth it out.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  If you don’t have a lid for the dessert you can use a piece of aluminum foil sprayed with canola oil.

    Photo Credit

  • Recipe: Hot Pink Smoothie

    Hot Pink Smoothie

    Oh, this was a fun smoothie to make for the girls!  It came out hot pink, can you guess what is in it…….?  And no it isn’t red food coloring.  I had a couple extra beets to use up so I put one of the beets in a smoothie and it turned a beautiful hot pink.  The girls gave it a two thumbs up for taste and color, probably one of the most unique ones I made so far.  It is quick and easy to make too!

    Hot Pink Smoothie:

    • 2 cups Milk
    • 1/2 cup Vanilla Yogurt
    • 1 Beet (fresh or frozen)
    • Few cubes of Ice

    If you are looking for a healthy and pretty smoothie this is a great one to try.  It does have a mild beet taste to it.  I was thrilled the girls loved it!

    Hot Pink Beet Smoothie

  • Family Recipe: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

    Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

    We recently had some extra bananas that needed to be used up.  For a change of pace I decided to do a Chocolate Chip Banana Bread which was a big hit with the family.  The base recipe is our family recipe – Nancy’s Banana Bread with just a few chocolate chips for an added touch.   This recipe is easy to put together and tasty too.

    Chocolate Chip Banana Bread:

    • 2 cups Flour
    • 1 tablespoon Water
    • 1/2 cup shortening
    • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
    • 2 Eggs
    • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
    • 1 cup Sugar
    • 1 cup Chocolate Chips
    • 3 Bananas, mashed

    Mix all the ingredients together.  Place in greased and floured bread pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

    You can use either miniature or regular chocolate chips, feel free to use either more or less depending on your family’s preference.

  • Fresh & Healthy: School Lunchbox Meals

    School lunch goodies

    The girls enjoy a variety of fruits, vegetables and other goodies in their school lunches.  Along with the mix of character bags and containers their lunches usually have something different in it everyday.  I have found that the tube yogurts are very nice for the girls lunches because they are easy to use (no spoon is needed, especially since somehow they manage to lose those on the way to school).

    • Roast Beef and Cheese Sandwich
    • Fresh Green Grapes
    • Fresh Cherry Tomatoes
    • Fresh Apple Peel Confetti Crisps
    • Homemade Banana Bread
    • Yogurt Tube
    • Cars Marshmallows
    • Cherry & Lemon Jello
    • Pink Lemonade

    Fresh fruits and vegetables for lunch