Petite Lasanga Cups

This is dinner tonight! I can't wait to dive right into these little gems. So yummy! I mean lasagna in little petite sized cups of cheesy goodness! How can this not be the best thing you've ever put in your mouth?!?!?!

I love little variations on traditional meals. This is a great example of that. This would also be good for a dinner party-everyone gets their own little lasagna.


Petite Lasagna Cups
(makes 12)

12 oz raw ground turkey (or whatever meat you want to use-or go meatless-that would be good too!)

¼ tsp salt, divided

¼ tsp pepper

1 cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped mushrooms

14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes, or tomato sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tsp dried oregano, divided

½ tsp dried basil

1 ½ cups cream cheese (i'm using the philadelphia baking cream cheese-italian herbs)

12 lasagna noodles, cooked and cooled and cut in 1/2

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese



Preheat oven to 375ºF. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the turkey, onions, mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Crumble the meat and saute the mixture for about 10 minutes, or until the turkey is cooked through. Add the garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds.

Add the crushed tomatoes and 2 tsp of oregano. Bring the pan to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, a pinch of salt and pepper, the remaining teaspoon of oregano, and the basil. Stir to mix well. Set aside.

Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Place 1 noodle into each of the 12 cups, pressing firmly in the bottom of the cup and up the sides.

Using half of the ricotta mixture, divide it among the 12 muffin cups. Next, using half of the turkey tomato sauce, spoon it evenly over each of the ricotta filled cups. Sprinkle with 2 tsp of mozzarella.

Gently press another noodle on top of the mozzarella layer.

Repeat the process by distributing the remaining cream cheese, then the remaining tomato sauce, and finally the rest of the shredded mozzarella.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

Let the cups cool, remove them from the pan, and serve!

picture courtesy of CAN YOU STAY FOR DINNER

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!

Nutella Peanut Butter Bars

Stop what you are doing right now and go make these. I'm not kidding. Get up and go to your kitchen! I'm pretty sure you'll have everything you need to make them. We are having a hard time not taking forks and just eating it straight out of the pan. They really are that good. So please for the love of all things gooey and scrumptious, do yourself a favor and make these! You'll thank me...

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups oatmeal (not quick)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Nutella for spreading

Cream first 3 ingredients together. Add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and combine. Add the remaining ingredients and mix together. Spread dough on a greased cake pan (the pan i used is slightly bigger than a 9x13). Make at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until golden brown. After baked through, dollup about 1C-1 1/2C peanut butter on top. Put back in the oven (make sure the oven has been turned off) for about 5 minutes. Pull the pan out and spread the peanut butter. Let that set up for a couple of hours or a good 30 minutes in the fridge. I just left mine on the counter while we were at church today and they were perfect by the time we came home. This will allow the peanut butter to stiffen up. Once that has set, spread with Nutella. Dive right in, don't forget the glass of milk.

These are divine....in fact....i'm gonna go have another one! :)

ColeSlaw with Corn

This was originally a Paula Deen recipe. I tweaked it (of course) and here's my version!

• 1 head green cabbage, shredded
• 1 pkg shredded carrots
• 5 fresh ears corn,
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• garlic powder to taste
• seasoned salt/pepper to taste

Directions

In a stock pot, cook corn until completely cooked. Cool and remove corn from the cob.
In a medium bowl, combine shredded cabbage, carrots, and corn.
Mix in mayo and seasonings to taste. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This is better the longer it sits!

It was really good and the corn in it gave it a sweetness. Perfect for a potluck or to serve with hamburgers and hot dogs! 

Cheesy Spinach Phyllo Rolls

I made these today to take to a going away party that was for some friends. They are moving to Ft. Lewis next week so several folks gathered at the park for good food and good talk. This was my contribution. I found the recipe on the Kraft website. It's very similar to spanikopita. They were really good!!!!!

Cheesy Spinach Phyllo Rolls

1 egg , beaten

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained

1 cup ATHENOS Traditional Crumbled Feta Cheese

1 tub (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Garden Vegetable 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese

4 green onions, finely chopped

15 sheets frozen phyllo (14x9 inch), thawed

1/3 cup butter, melted

MIX first 5 ingredients until well blended; set aside. Brush 1 phyllo sheet lightly with butter; top with 2 more phyllo sheets, lightly brushing each layer with some of the remaining butter. Place remaining phyllo between sheets of plastic wrap; set aside.

SPREAD 1/5 of the spinach mixture along 1 short side of phyllo stack; fold in both long sides then roll up, starting at 1 of the short sides to make log. Repeat with remaining phyllo sheets and spinach mixture to make 4 more logs. Brush with remaining butter. Make small cuts in tops of logs at 1-inch intervals. Place in large freezer-weight resealable plastic bags or wrap tightly in plastic wrap.

FREEZE up to 3 months. When ready to bake, remove desired number of logs from freezer. Refrigerate, tightly wrapped, several hours or overnight until thawed. Unwrap, then place on baking sheet. Bake in 375°F-oven for 25 min. or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheet 5 min.; transfer to cutting board. Use serrated knife to cut each log into 6 slices.

Sherpards Pie

This dish gets a bad rap from a lot of people. I am wondering if those of you who aren't fond of it, are that way because of the mashed potatoes on top. I've talked to my mom about this and that is her reason for disliking this dish. She likes the mashed potatoes, but it's something about mixing them with everything else. Not sure. Well I hope you try the way I make it and reconsider. BUt hey, if you just don't like it, then I can totally respect that. There are things out there that I feel the same way about.....


Easy Shepards Pie

• 1 pound stewing beef that has been cut into small bite size chunks (or you could use ground hamburger, turkey sausage, etc)

• 1 16oz bag frozen mixed veggies

• 1 1/2-2C left over or freshly made mashed potatoes

• bbq sauce of choice (will only need about half the bottle)

• 3/4 C shredded cheddar cheese (optional for topping)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Brown off the meat but do not cook all the way through, It will finish cooking in the oven.
Add bbq sauce to liking and add the veggies (I added them right out of the bag-if you do this cut back on the amount of bbq sauce you use or it will result in a very runny pie).

Place all ingredients (except potatoes) into a casserole dish. Top with potatoes. Top with the cheese and then add some paprika for color.

Bake for about 30 minutes until hot and bubbly. Let sit for about 5 minutes before eating

Best served with biscuits but feel free to eat it with whatever your family likes!!

Enjoy!!!

Funeral Potates

I had honestly never heard of funeral potatoes until we moved to Utah. Apparently this dish is something people take for the meal after a funeral (hince the name). If you've heard of it and you don't live in UT, well then you get out more than I do! :) But after living in Ut for 4 years I'd never even tried them, much less tried to make them. So I figured now was a good time to try it. I'm ssssooo glad that I did. This is a really good meal. Most traditional versions of this meal do not include the meat or the veggies. I wanted to add some substance to it and make it the main dish. The pepperoni for us was a big hit, but you could absolutely change it for whatever your family likes. Isn't that what this recipe thing is all about anyway? Make how you like it. We loved it and plan on making it again in the near future!!!


Funeral Potatoes

6 c. frozen grated potatoes (I used a mixture of fresh cut potatoes and frozen ones)
½ c. margarine
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 pkg turkey pepperoni
1/2 bag frozen peas
1 ½ c grated cheddar cheese
¼ c very finely chopped onion
2 c sour cream
¾ c corn flakes
¼ c melted butter

Mix ingredients in bowl and transfer to a casserole dish. I placed everything in the bowl except pepperoni and then placed half the mixture into dish, topped with pepperoni and then topped off with rest of mixture.
Mix cornflakes/crakers and melted butter, sprinkle over top.
Bake, covered with foil @ 350 for 45 min, uncovering last 15 min. (i cooked mine for 40 minutes covered and then 15 covered-ovens will vary, so just keep and eye on it)

Frito Pie

I've heard so many people talking about this and I never tried, well tonight we had it and it was a hit!!!!! So much so that it's almost gone. The hubs may not get any for lunch tomorrow! Will FOR SURE be making this again!!!

Frito Pie

• 3 cups Fritos corn chips
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 2-1/2 cups chili (your favorite -- homemade, canned, whatever)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Spread 2 cups of Fritos in a baking dish. Sprinkle half the onion and half the cheese over the Fritos. Pour the chili over the onion and cheese. Sprinkle the remaining Fritos, onion and cheese over the chili.

Bake for 15 or 20 minutes and cheese is bubbly. Serve hot.

Broccoli and Cheese Mina

This dish is for my Jewish friends out there. I am not Jewish but when I saw this recipe I thought it would be perfect for the first night of Hanukkah. I tweaked the original recipe to my family's taste. I've posted the original and I'll put my changes (they were minor) beside in italics. I hope you enjoy. My kitchen smells divine right now!!!!


Broccoli Cheese Mina
Ingredients:

4 cups of bite-sized fresh broccoli florets (or one 14-ounce bag of frozen broccoli)
1 small onion, chopped
8 matzo squares
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold butter, chopped
2 1/4 cups (10 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/4 cups cottage cheese
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 green onions, chopped
5 eggs
3 tablespoons water
2 cloves garlic, minced

Instructions:

1. Boil or steam broccoli and onion until broccoli is bright green and crisp-tender. Drain.

2. Wet 4 matzos (briefly) under running water, then set aside to soak. Matzos should be slightly soft after soaking, but not soggy or falling apart.

3. Butter a large baking sheet. The baking sheet needs to be large enough to place all 4 matzos in a single layer. Use two sheets if necessary.

4. Place the dampened matzos on the greased sheet(s). Top with even layers of broccoli and onion, shredded cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, and green onions.

5. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs and water. Pour slightly less than half of the egg mixture over the broccoli and cheeses.

6. Wet the remaining matzos and place on top, again, in a single layer. Pour the remaining beaten egg over the top. Sprinkle minced garlic, and dot with half of the butter.

7. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Dot with remaining butter and return to oven. Bake 10 minutes longer, or until the mina is golden brown and crisp on top. Serve hot or warm.

I topped ours with a little more cheese once it was baked.

This was so good! The kids ate it up like it was their last meal. Which surprised me because they aren't huge fans of broccoli. All in all I say this was a HUGE hit and I will be including this into our routine more often!

Sausage and Peppers Rigatoni

Sausage and Peppers Rigatoni

1/2 pound turkey sausage, cut into 1/2 in slices (I just used ground turkey-it was on sale)
2 large green peppers, sliced
3C rigatoni, uncooked
1 jar of favorite spaghetti sauce
1C mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

(If you are using ground sausage like I did precook it with the peppers until just starting to brown) Place sausage and peppers in a 9X13 in pan sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until sausage is done (I baked mine for about 10 min since the sausage was already partially cooked). Meanwhile cook the pasta.

Drain pasta. Add to baking dish with spaghetti sauce and stir. Bake 15-20 minutes or until heat through. Top with cheese, bake an additional 2-3 min or until cheese is melted.

This is really good with a crusty italian bread and garlic butter. My mouth is currently watering!!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

If you get Kraft foods Food and Family magazine then you have this recipe. If you don't.....hold your horses you are in for a TREAT!!!!!!
These little bars are rich, and DIVINE!!! I made these almost immediately after getting the magazine. So yum!!! (I am substituting what I used in this recipe instead of what the recipe suggested)


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
1 pkg devils food cake mix
1 pkg (3.9 oz) chocolate fudge instant pudding
1/2C melted butter
1/2 C cold whole milk
2 Hershey's plain candy bars, chopped and divided
1 C chunky peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 13x9 in pan with cooking spray. Mix first 4 ingredients in bowl. The mixture will be thick. Press half the cake mix mixture into prepared pan.

Bake 10 min. Sprinkle half of the chocolate on top of cake mixture. Top with peanut butter. Cover with remaining cake mixture and chocolate.
Press gently with spatula. Bake 15 minutes. Cool 1 hour. Refrigerate 4 hours before cutting into bars.
This needs to stay in the fridge after it bakes so just be prepared with room to store it.

HAPPY EATING!!!!

Warm Zucchini and Pasta Salad

This is really good. I made this for a pot luck dinner at a friends home. I came home with very little of it left!


Warm Zucchini and Pasta Salad
4-5 small to medium zucchini's sliced 1/2 in thick
2 large yellow bell peppers, chopped in large pieces (but keep them bite size)
1/2 red onion, chopped
8oz small shell pasta cooked according to package directions and drained
1 bottle cheesey vinagrette (or italian) salad dressing-pick your favorite
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 large roma tomato, sliced

cook the peppers and zucchini in pot with a little bit of olive oil. cook until tender but with a slight crunch, not soggy.

let cool slightly and add pasta and onion.
add dressing (you won't use the whole bottle unless you like it soupy-just use as much as you desire) and let sit until ready to eat. just before serving add cheese and top with tomatoes.

you do not need to refrigerate until after it's been served. this is meant to be warm, but not hot.

HAPPY EATING!!!!

Ham and Cheese Braid

I made this for dinner the other night. Had a craving for pizza but wanted something a little different and this fit the bill perfectly.

Ham and Cheese Braid
1 loaf premade bread or pizza dough (I used this recipe)
1 container veggie cream cheese
1 - 16oz pkg deli ham (could use turkey)
1 1/2 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Prepare dough for pizza.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Once rolled out to desired size top with cream cheese. Add as little or as much as you want. I added extra because it's just that good.
Top wtih ham slices. again add as little or as much as you want.

Top wtih cheese.

At this point take a pizza cutter and begin cutting slits on each side of loaf. this will help give braided affect.
top with a bit more cheese.

Place braid on foil lined baking sheet and bake in oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and cheese is melted.
(ignore the fact that mine didn't get too brown on top)

Eat with favorite side and it's really good dipped in ranch dressing (my husband did this for he likes most things with a side of ranch)

HAPPY EATING!!!!

Surprise inside mini cupcakes

I got a snazzy mini cupcake pan for my birthday. This is the first time really using it. These little gems are bite size and kid size! Perfect for parties or bbq's. Hope you enjoy!!

Surprise inside Mini cupcakes
1 box cupcake mix
ingredients called for to make cupcakes
36 mini marshmallows

frosting and sprinkles of choice

make cupcakes according to package directions. place slightly under 1 tbsp batter in muffin pan. top with marshmallow. bake for 15 minutes in 350 degree oven.

Let cool-if you find that the marshmallows completely dissolve in the oven place a new one in the hole made by the one cooked. extra yumminess!!!

frost and sprinkle to your liking!

HAPPY EATING!!!!

Layered Bruschetta Dip

For father's day my husband always gets the same thing. Pork roast and saurkraut. This year I had a head of napa cabbage in my fridge and used that instead of the saurkraut (glad I did because now the rest of us got to eat some of the roast too, otherwise the kids and i would have had something different). NOT a saurkraut fan, but I know my husband loves it, so he gets it on Father's day and his birthday. I also wanted to make an appetizer for him. He loves chips/crackers and dips and I found this in one of my recipe books and really wanted to try it. I don't think I've ever tried it before. It was a HUGE hit. He ate almost the whole thing in one sitting. Guess i'll be making this more often!!

Layered Bruschetta Dip
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 tomato, diced
3tbsp garlic powder
dash paprika
1tbsp dried Italian seasoning
1/2C shredded sharp cheddar cheese
parsley, chopped

Mix garlic and cream cheese. Place in bottom of small dish. Top with paprika.

Then add green onions,

tomatoes,

cheese and parsley.


Eat with wheat crackers.

You could add any spices or flavors to the cream cheese that you like to make it more italian. I made this the day before and let it sit and the flavors melded together beautifully. Of course my fridge smelled like it but it was worth it!!! Hope you enjoy it!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!!

Beef Noodle Dinner

So I completely forgot to grab my camera and take a picture. Yesterday was one of THOSE days you know? My allergies had gone berserk and I wasn't about to do anymore than necessary! So here's what I made for dinner last night. It was really good and made a bunch. Sorry again for lack of photo!!

Beef Noodle Dinner
1 pound ground beef
1/2 C dehydrated onions, reconstituted
1/2 C dehydrated carrots, reconstituted
salt and pepper
3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 can (19 ounces) ready to use chunky veggie soup
4 ounces spaghetti, cooked and drained
1 1/2C shredded cheddar cheese

While spaghetti is cooking, brown hamburger. Add dash of salt and pepper to meat for seasoning. Drain fat and add carrots, onions, and garlic. Heat through. Add soup mixture to pan. Transfer to greased 2 qt. baking dish. Top with cooked spaghetti and then the cheese.
Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. I cooked mine for 18 minutes.

It was really good. Very easy to make and perfect for the hectic nights!!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

I guess I'm a little behind in posts. I found these pictures lurking in my camera, thinking I had already posted about them. Shame on me I know!!!

This is one of our family's favorites. One of mine and the hubbie's favorite appetizer's to get is bruschetta. I could eat an entire loaf of it. The tomatoey-cheesy goodness of it just makes me want to scream!!! This dish is similar to that. It's really good and depending on how much cheese you add, it's ooey and gooey. Perfection!!! Really good for potluck at church or taking to a friend in need. Hope you enjoy!!

Bruschetta Chicken Bake
1 box stove top chicken flavored stuffing
4 chicken thighs chopped
2C mozzerrella cheese
1 can diced tomatoes, italian style, drained
italian seasoning, as much as you like

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook chicken in italian seasoning until no longer pink.
While chicken is cooking, mix stuffing according to package directions.
Once cooked place chicken and tomatoes in greased 8 1/2 X 11 dish. Top with cheese and then stuffing.
Bake in oven for 3o minutes or until cheese is ooey and melted.
Serve with favorite crusty bread and salad!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!

I was looking through pictures and realized that I hadn't posted in a while. So sorry about that. I guess I have been a little too focused on Easter and all that goes along with that. I hope everyone has been well. I have a couple of super yummy recipes for you. I hope you enjoy them! One has been around my family since I was little and the other one I came up with on a whim and wanted to do something a little different with our dinner.

Sloppy Joe Bundles
1 pound ground beef (can use turkey, chicken, whatever you like)
1/2 bottle favorite BBQ sauce
1C dehydrated onions
1/2C dehydrated carrots
20z velveeta cheese
1/2 pkg. puff pastry dough


Let dough thaw on counter. In the meantime brown and drain off ground meat. Add bbq sauce, onions and carrots and simmer until dehydrated veggies are plump, around 15 minutes or so. Add cheese and allow to melt completely.

Once dough is pliable, roll out and cut into 6 squares. Roll those out and place a dollup (I seriously didn't measure it) onto the middle. Dampen edges with water and fold up like a little package. Repeat until all meat mixture is used. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Keep and eye on them. You want them golden brown, but not burnt on the bottom. Some ovens may vary. These were good and so easy to make. The kids even loved them which surprised me. I figured they take one look and say that it was too wierd to eat (my kids are strange like that! haha). But they were a big hit!! We served these with homemade onion rings. Yum!!!





Now for dessert. I made the bundles a few days ago, but this dessert I made yesterday to take to our friends for dinner. It's really easy and it makes A LOT!! This makes a double batch and unless you want them really thick (which I did) you can halve the recipe and it will still be perfect!! Normally if I make them for just us I will do that, but these needed to feed about 13 people yesterday so I just made them really thick! They were a HIT especially with the 10 and under crowd!!! These were a favorite of mine growing up and I hope you get much enjoyment out of them!!!

Peanut Butter Fingers
Cream together: 1 C margarine
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
Blend in: 2 eggs
2/3 C peanut butter (I used crunchy since that's what I had on hand)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Stir in: 2 C all purpose flour
2 C oatmeal

Spread in 2 13X9in greased pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 min (because mine were so thick I baked them for 35 minutes). Sprinkle top with 12oz pkg of chocolate chips. Let stand 5 min and spread evenly. I used white and milk chocolate chips along with some colorful sprinkles. These would also be really good with the peanut butter/chocolate chips.



And here's a picture of the kiddos after finding eggs in the back yard. The Easter bunny came to our house twice, once to leave baskets and then he came while we were at church and hid eggs. It was a great day!! Hope yours was just as wonderful!!

Because I'm all about something easy on a Saturday night, this was perfect. I saw this on my friend's family blog. She mentioned how someone brought it over for dinner and how yummy it was. The part that got me was the EASY part. Hello......you had me at easy.

Mexican Dip in the Crock pot
4-5 thawed chicken thighs
1 jar salsa
2 cans corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 pkg cream cheese
chips
shredded cheese
green onions
sour cream or ranch dressing


Add first 4 ingredients to crock pot. Simmer for 6-8 hours on low or 4 hours on high (personally, the longer the better).
Right before you are ready to eat, take the chicken out and shred it. Add it back to the pot and add cream cheese, let it melt.
Serve with chips, cheese, onions, sour cream or ranch. This is hearty and sooooo good.

It will calm the nacho craving you'll have and this makes a ton, you'll definitely have leftovers to quench your hunger at 11o'clock at night. Me likey, a lot!!!!!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!

Easy dinner and Dessert

How about this for a super easy weeknight dinner and dessert!!!!

Chicken Stuffing Bake

1pkg stuffing mix
1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs cut up
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/3 C sour cream
1 (16 oz) bag mixed veggies
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Make stuffing according to package directions, set aside.
Meanwhile, mix, soup, sour cream and veggies together with chicken. Pour into 9X13in baking dish. Top with stuffing mix.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked (it took 45 minutes in my oven). Serve with side salad or rolls.

This was super yummy. I could've eaten just the stuffing. It's definitely my favorite part!! The whole mixture though was really creamy and good. Perfect for a cold night when you are craving comfort food. It's easy to make and doesn't take a long time. Rachael Ray would be proud! This would also be perfect as a make ahead meal. Just mix the soup, veggies and sour cream and freeze. When you are ready to heat it, make the stuffing, top it and bake it.



And because no meal is perfect without something chocolaty for dessert, here's a yummy brownie recipe. This recipe is one that my mom used to make for me growing up. Until I learned to cook and then this was always to weekend treat. It's my FAVORITE brownie recipe because you can customize it so many ways. I used to add some mint extract instead of all the vanilla and these were a hit! This time I made the recipe as listed and on half of the batter added Andes thin mint baking pieces. The other half I left plain. My mom always put pecans on top. But since my family aren't really into nuts, I felt mint would be a better option! Enjoy and share the ways you customize these!!!.

This was originally in my mom's HERSHEY cookbook. I only have a copy of it.

Easy Fudge Brownies
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, stir together the cocoa and baking soda. Add 1/3 cup vegetable oil and boiling water. Mix until well blended and thickened. Stir in the sugar, eggs, and remaining 1/3 cup oil. Finally, add the flour, vanilla and salt, mix just until all of the flour is absorbed. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

These are so rich and gooey. Really are my favorites. Takes me back to when I was little. I hope you enjoy them!!!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!