Category Archives: Cooking Recipes

Homemade Hamburger Helper

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I love Hamburger Helper. A guilty childhood pleasure. It’s true. I love that salty, processed box stuff. I also know that it is not very healthy. As I was wandering around Pinterest this week, I found a recipe for homemade hamburger helper. Of course we will be trying this out. The original recipe is from the Farm Girl Gourmet. There’s a lot of great recipes on that site, so check it out if you get a chance. Now, for the recipe!

Homemade Hamburger Helper Ingredients:

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • cooking spray
  • 2 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 1/2 cups hot water
  • 2 cups elbow macaroni
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • pinch crushed red pepper flakes2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Here’s How You Cook It:

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with cooking spray and add the ground beef. Brown until cooked through and no longer pink. Discard any fat. Add the pasta, milk, water and spices and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and turn the heat down to simmer. Cover and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente. Add the cheese and stir to combine. Serve immediately

Yield: Makes 4-6 Servings

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Wraps

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buffalo chicken wraps

I couple of weeks ago, we tried this new recipe from Betty Crocker for dinner. JB loves spicy chicken sandwiches and we both love wings, so when I saw this recipe a few months ago I knew I wanted to try it. I forgot about it until the beginning of the year when I started to organized my kitchen and found it in my loose recipe papers. We really enjoyed it. I hope you do too! Note: we decided next time to add a few more toppings instead of just lettuce. Maybe some finely diced tomatoes, shredded cheese or even diced celery.

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Wraps

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup buffalo wing sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays brand)
  • 3/4 cup ranch dressing (I used light ranch dressing)
  • 1 package flour tortillas used for burritos (8 tortillas)
  • 3 cups shredded lettuce

Here’s How You Cook It:

  1. Place chicken in slow cooker and sprinkle with salt.
  2. Cover and cook 6 to 7 hours on low heat setting.
  3. Remove chicken from slow cooker and place on cutting board. Discard liquid in slow cooker.
  4. In slow cooker, mix buffalo sauce and 1/4 cup of ranch dressing. With 2 forks, shred the chicken. Return shredded chicken to slow cooker and stir gently to mix with the sauce.
  5. Spread tortilla with 1 tablespoon of ranch dressing. Top with 1/2 cup of shredded chicken and 1/3 cup shredded lettuce. Roll up tortilla and secure with toothpick.

Homemade Lunchables

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ham lunchable

Anna recently got bumped up to the next level of her gymnastics group. This is a good thing because she will be able to work on more beginner skills with this new group.

Moving to the next group also means Anna now has to go twice a week instead of once. Since we already have a standing date once a week at Wendy’s for Anna and a date night for JB and me, I really did not want another run through fast food two days in a row. In order to make our class time, I will be incorporating homemade lunchables into to the weekly menu.

I found this AWESOME board on Pinterest that focuses on healthy lunchables. I will be looking here for inspiration each week. I’ll let you know which ones I tried out from the site. Since this is my first week doing this, I will plan on something simple such as ham roll ups and string cheese. I do plan on using my silicone baking cups as little containers if I can. I saw that online and thought it was a great idea.

Do you make homemade lunchables? What are your kids favorites?

Pillsbury Crescent Corn Dogs

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crescent corn dog

Pillsbury Crescent Corn Dogs

Ingredients:   

  • 2cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated seamless dough sheet
  • 2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
  • 8 hot dogs
  • 2 teaspoons mustard or ketchup
 Here’s How You Cook It:
1. Separate or cut each can of dough into quarters (if using crescent rolls, press perforations to seal). Press one side of each rectangle into cornmeal.
2. Spread mustard on other side of each rectangle. Place hot dog on short end of each rectangle, mustard side up. Roll up; pinch edge to seal. Place seam side down on ungreased cookie sheet.
3.  Bake at 375°F 12 to 15 minutes.
*Weight Watchers Points Plus: 9 pts per crescent dog

BBQ Oven Short Ribs

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ribs

BBQ Oven Short Ribs

I found a great recipe for cooking ribs in the oven. It is very easy, just takes a little time in the oven. I make the dry rub in advance and keep a container of it on hand in my kitchen so it is ready to go and I don’t have to mix it up when I need it. Just store it in an airtight container and it will last for quite awhile.

Ingredients for the Dry Rub:

  • 1/4 cup sweet paprika
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons dry oregano
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin

Directions for Cooking the BBQ Ribs

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Rub dry rub all over the ribs and allow it to sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes. Since I make a large batch of the dry rub, I just use as much as I need to cover the ribs with a nice coating of the rub. The rest stays in my premade dry rub container for the next time I need it.

Place the ribs snugly in an oven dish with the fat side of each rib facing up. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and don’t be afraid to top the dish with another heavy dish to ensure the seal! Cook in the oven for 2 hours. The meat will be fairly tender at this point.

Remove the ribs from the oven and raise the temperature to 400 degrees F. Baste the ribs with your favorite BBQ Sauce (I recommend Sweet Baby Ray’s). Place the ribs back in the oven, this time leaving it uncovered and cook another 30 minutes. Serve with more BBQ Sauce on the side.

This recipe was adapted from Sunny’s Honey BBQ Oven Short Rib recipe from the Food Network. I’ve made it her way using the honey too and it is very good as well.

Thanksgiving Recipe: Better Than Grannie’s Creamed Corn

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November for me is about two things: Giving Thanks and Food.

Let’s face it, everyone is always looking for something to jazz up the Thanksgiving feast and if you are like me, a new recipe might just be the way to go. Today, I am sharing Alton Brown’s Better than Grannie’s Creamed Corn recipe. I plan to try this one out for our Thanksgiving potluck at work.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 pinches kosher salt
  • 8 ears fresh corn
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary, bruised
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
  • 2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • Fresh ground black pepper

Here’s How You Cook It

In a saucepan over medium heat, sweat the onion in butter and salt until translucent. In a large mixing bowl, place a paper bowl in the middle of the bowl. Resting the cob on the bowl in a vertical position remove only the tops of the kernel with a knife, using long smooth downward strokes and rotating the cob as you go. After the cob has been stripped, use the dull backside of your knife to scrape any remaining pulp and milk off the cob.

 Add the corn and pulp mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium high until the juice from the corn has tightened. Add the rosemary. Sprinkle the corn with the sugar and turmeric. Stir constantly for about 2 minutes. Sprinkle the cornmeal onto the corn, using a whisk to combine well. Add the heavy cream and cook until the corn has softened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the rosemary. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

Yummy Mummies

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Halloween night is always a bit hectic for us. It usually falls on a weekday, so we are rushing home from work to pick up Anna and them coming home to get dressed up and out the door early for trick-or-treating before the crowds get going with the older kids. That means that Halloween dinner has to be something quick and easy. Since we take turns takng Anna around and giving out the candy, we opt for finger foods that we can snack on all throughout the night instead of a sit down dinner. I usually end up making the classic Mummy Dogs on Halloween because they are easy, tasty and Halloween themed! I bet you or someone you know has made these tasty treats!

Ingredients                                               
1  can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
10 large hot dogs or 1 package of cocktail sausages
 Cooking spray                                           
Mustard or ketchup, if desired          
 
Here’s How You Cook Them:                                 
  •  Heat oven to 375°F.
  •  Unroll dough; separate at perforations, creating 4 rectangles.  Press perforations to seal.
  •  With knife or kitchen scissors, cut each rectangle lengthwise into 10 pieces, making a total of 40 pieces of dough.
  •  Wrap 4 pieces of dough around each hot dog to look like “bandages,” stretching dough slightly to completely cover hot dog. About 1/2 inch from one end of each hot dog, separate “bandages” so hot dog shows through for “face.” If using Cocktail sausages, use one piece of dough and wrap around from top to bottom.
  • On ungreased large cookie sheet, place wrapped hot dogs, spray dough lightly with cooking spray.
  •  Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. With mustard, draw features on “face.”

Zombie Punch

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Paula Deen calls this Lime Sherbert Punch. I like to call it Zombie Punch or Swap Juice with Monster Marichinos. Has a better ring to it for Halloween. Just sayin’.

Ingredients

  • 2 quarts lime sherbet
  • 2 liters ginger ale
  • 1 (46-ounce) can pineapple juice
  • Lemon slices
  • Lime slices
  • Maraschino cherries

Directions

In a punch bowl, add 2 quarts of lime sherbet. Then add ginger ale and pineapple juice. Decorate with lemon and lime slices and some maraschino cherries.

Recipe from Paula Deen.

Dirty Rat Meat Loaves

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I have made these little guys before when my in-laws were over for Halloween Dinner. They are a little creepy and a lot of fun! If you want to add ears to your rats, you can use carrot slices. For a complete Halloween Meal, serve them with Green Mashed Potato Snakes and some of the Witches Brooms. Frightfully delicious!

DIRTY RAT MEAT LOAVES

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
  • 1/2 lb bulk Italian pork sausage or ground turkey
  • 1/2 cup Italian style bread crumbs
  • 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 2 cups chunky tomato pasta sauce
  • Sliced green olives, sweet peas (cooked), sliced ripe olives, shoestring potatoes, sliced almonds and curly fries, if desired

HERE’S HOW YOU COOK IT:

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, mix beef, sausage / turkey, bread crumbs, onion, milk, salt, cream cheese and egg. Divide mixture into 6 equal portions; shape into 4-inch oval loaves. Pinch 1 end of each oval to a point for face. Place in ungreased 13×9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish. Gently pour pasta sauce over and around loaves.

Bake about 40 minutes or until meat thermometer inserted in center of loaves reads 160°F. Garnish with green olives and peas for eyes, sliced ripe olives for noses, shoestring potatoes for whiskers, sliced almonds for teeth and curly fries for tails.

Green Snake Potatoes

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I love to make this little guys in October. I serve them with meatloaf mice (I will be sharing that halloween idea soon!) and corn and red pepper saute to add some more color to the plate. A little spooky and very cool.

Ingredients:

  • 3 medium potatoes (about 1 lb), peeled, quartered
  • 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons milk
  • Salt to taste
  • 10 drops green food color
  • 6 drops yellow food color
  • 4 small pimiento-stuffed olives, sliced
  • 8 pimiento slices (from olives)
 Here’s How You Cook It:
  •  In 2-quart saucepan, place potatoes; add enough water just to cover potatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 18 to 20 minutes or until tender; drain. Mash potatoes with potato masher or electric mixer on medium speed. Add butter and milk. Stir until light and fluffy. Add salt. Stir in food color.
  • Place mashed potatoes in gallon-size resealable food-storage plastic bag. Cut about 1-inch hole in 1 corner of bag. Pipe “snakes” onto serving plates. Place 2 olive slices on one end of snake for eyes. Cut pimiento in half for snake tongue. Serve immediately.

Recipe from Pillsbury