Mexican Stuffed Shells

Who doesn't love tacos??? They are a favorite in this house for sure!! We love all things tacos. It's one meal I KNOW my kids will eat without any hesitation. We usually have tacos every couple of weeks.

So as I was browsing Pinterest one night I stumbled upon this gem! Thought "oh yeah-the kids will adore this" and THEY DID!!

So here you go! I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine did!!! YUM!!!

Mexican Stuffed Shells
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 package low-sodium taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
4 oz. cream cheese (I used a veggie cream cheese that I already had in the fridge)
14-16 jumbo pasta shells
1.5 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup monterey jack cheese
3 green onions
Sour cream

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a frying pan cook ground beef; add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions, add refried beans. Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely. While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.

Pour salsa on bottom of 9×13 baking dish. Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes, with the foil removed. Top with any condiments you’d like (green onions, black olives, etc.) Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa

picture courtesy of THE WAY TO HIS HEART

This was so good! Kids ate and ate!! Well yeah, I did too!!

Happy Eating!

Blueberry French Toast Bake

Tonight I wanted to do breakfast but we were all getting tired of waffles and pancakes. I knew we hadn't done french toast in a while so I thought we could do this. However.....tonight was opening night for college football and there was a BYU game on tv. I didn't want to spend all night in the kitchen over a hot stove making french toast. So I decided to do a french toast bake. I also happened to have blueberries in the freezer. And here you go!!! Breakfast for dinner and a picnic in the living room watching BYU play Oklahoma.


Blueberry French Toast Bake
1 whole wheat french bread loaf, sliced and stale
8 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
big dash of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
1C blueberries

In bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Cut bread into 1/2 inch slices and spread on bottom of 8×8 baking dish or equivalent.

Pour egg mixture over bread. Let sit for 30 minutes so the bread can soak up the custard.

Preheat oven to 350. Sprinkle with blueberries. Bake 35-40 minutes, until golden brown on top and eggs have cooked through. (Mine cooked about 38 minutes to perfection!!!!)

2 of the 3 having fun watching football!


HAPPY EATING!!!!

So I have to apologize now for being a slacker the past few days. No real reason, just been lazy about posting. I have been cooking however, I just haven't been apt to posting them. So I beg for your forgiveness. Here's a few things I've done over the course of a few days!

Apple Pie Pancakes

Pancake mix
1 can apple pie filling

Mix pancake mix according to directions. Add half can of pie filling. Mix and cook to desired taste. Top with syrup and the rest of the filling as desired.

These are super easy and my kids ate these up.


Sunday we had our missionaries over for dinner. Since you never know what other folks like to eat, a casserole was the way to go. This particular casserole was full of flavor and very filling.

Sausage-Corn Casserole
1 1/2 pounds ground sausage
1 bag frozen peppers and onions
1 1/2 C milk
3tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cans creamed style corn
1 bag egg noodles, cooked and drained
1/4 C sharp cheddar cheese
tortilla chips crunched, for topping

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cook sausage, peppers and onions until sausage is cooked through and veggies are tender.

In a large sauce pan, melt butter with flour, salt and pepper. Gradually add the milk. Bring to a boil: cook and stir for about 2 minutes until thickened. Stir in corn. Add noodles and corn mixture to sausage mixture. Fold in the cheese.

Transfer to a greased 13X9in baking pan.

Top with crushed tortilla chips. Bake for 3-40 minutes uncovered. I baked this for 40 minutes and it was perfect!


And then of course there is nothing better than dessert, especially when that desert is chocolate and peanut butter in ANYTHING!!! Here are some brownies that will delight you!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies
2 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate
1/2 C butter
2 eggs
1C sugar
1/2 C all purpose flour

FILLING:
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
1/2 C peanut butter (creamy or crunchy, whatever you like best)
1/4 C butter, softened
2-3 tbsp half and half cream or milk

GLAZE: (I did not use the glaze-ran out of time)
1 square (1 ounce) semisweet baking chocolate
1 tbsp butter


In a small saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat. set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add flour and melted chocolate. Stir well.

Pour into a greased 9 in baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool.

For filling, beat sugar, peanut butter and butter in a mixing bowl. Stir in cream until mixture achieves a spreading consistency. Spread over cooled brownies;cover and refrigerate until firm.

For glaze, melt chocolate and butter in saucepan, stirring until smooth. drizzle over the filling. Chill before cutting. Store in refrigerator.


These were so good that I can't even describe it. The gooey mix of peanut butter and the richness of the chocolate were so mouthwatering yummy. Too bad they are all gone or i'd be eating one right now!!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!

There comes a time when all i want is comfort food. Now folks have differing ideas on what comfort food is. Like when I asked the husband what his idea of comfort food was (which surprised me that he had never heard that expression, WHAT????) he said that for him it would be pork, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Well I can go with the mashed potatoes, but not by them selves and certainly not with sauerkraut...(not one of my favorite things AT ALL!!!!). So I made the final decision and tuna noodle casserole won out. Hey I also have to feed the monkeys and they aren't that fond of sauerkraut either.. So I looked for something that would be a little different and once I again, I turned to the Crockpot Lady. She has a great recipe for making this in the crockpot.

Crockpot Tune Noodles
2 cans tuna in water, drained
1 pound pasta (I used shell pasta-I would NOT use egg noodles)
10oz frozen mixed veggies
2 cans cream of whatever you prefer soup
2 C milk
1C shredded cheddar cheese
1C crushed tortilla chips

Spray your crockpot with cooking spray.

Add the dry noodles into the crock, and mix in the soup, milk, cheese, and drained tuna.

Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours. This will cook fast so make sure you watch it. Mine was done in 2 1/2 hours on low.

30 minutes before serving time, stir in frozen peas, and make sure the crunchy pasta on top gets moved to the bottom of the crock. Top with chips and extra cheese, if desired.

This was good, It was a bit startchy and I think I would personally add another can of tuna and some salt. It was kind of bland, but the overall affect was so good and comforting that I really couldn't pass it up. It's even good as leftovers (which is what I had for lunch today after church).

HAPPY EATING!!!!

Mexican Pasta Casserole

This casserole is very hearty and delicious. I'm a big fan of Mexican food, this hit the spot perfectly. It makes a ton so be prepared for leftovers. Even with big eaters we had leftovers. Perfect for freezing and eating later.



1/2 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
8 ounces egg noodles or macaroni noodles
1 (15 ounce) can chili w/ beans
1 large diced tomato
1/2 (15 oz) can black beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1/4 cup salsa
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 -2 cups shredded mexican blend or cheddar cheese.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
In a large skillet over medium heat, combine the ground beef, onion, pepper, and celery and saute for 10 minutes, or until the meat is browned and the onion is tender. Drain the fat and set aside. In a separate saucepan, cook noodles according to package directions. When cooked, drain the water and stir in the meat mixture, chili, tomatoes, corn, salsa and taco seasoning mix. Mix well and place entire mixture into a 9X13 baking dish. Top with shredded cheese.
Bake at 250 degrees for30 minutes, or until thoroughly heated.


We served this with salad and some tortilla chips. Enjoy!!!