Baked Spaghetti

This is a popular Southern dish that I had never made before.  SUPER GOOD.  We all loved it.  YUM!

Ingredients:
8 Ounces uncooked spaghetti noodles
1 lb ground beef
1 Jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 Cup diced onion
1/2 Cup diced pepper/peppers (I used green and red)
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 Pkg cream cheese
2 Tbsp's milk
Paremesean cheese
1 Small container French's fried onions

Directions:
*Cook the pasta.

*Cook the ground beef in a skillet on the stove.  Drain out any fat once cooked.

*Add the spaghetti sauce to the ground beef.  He it through.

*Put the peppers, onions, and butter into a glass baking dish and cover it.  Put it in the microwave and cook it for 3-4 minutes (weird, but it works).

*Take the pepper mixture out and add the milk and cream cheese to it.  Mix it all up.

*Spray down a square baking dish with cooking spray.

*Pre-heat oven to 350*F.

*Put a couple tablespoons of spaghetti/meat sauce onto the bottom of the glass dish.  Spread it around.

*Drain all of the pasta.

*Empty the pasta into the baking dish.

*Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the pasta.

*Pour the spaghetti sauce onto the top of the cream cheese mixture.

*Put some Parmesan cheese over top of the sauce mixture (use as much as you would like).

*Put the dish into the oven and bake for 23-25 minutes.

*Take the pasta dish out and pour the fried onions on top.

*Continue to bake for 3-5 minutes (careful not to burn them!)

Hope you like this dish!

Buttercream Icing

I needed something to go on top of my pumpkin muffins, so I looked up how to make buttercream icing.  This is the recipe from Wilton (yes, that Wilton...the cake/cupcake/cookie company).  The icing was so good...but you guys know me...I had to change it up!  So I added 1 Tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice to the finished buttercream and it turned out SO GOOD!  I had a couple spoonfuls of it by itself!  YUMMY!

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup vegetable shortening
1/2 Cup butter (room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 Cups confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
2 Tbsp's milk

Directions:
* In a large bowl, mix the shortening and butter with a mixer.

*Mix in the vanilla extract.

*SLOWLY add one cup of powdered sugar at a time.  Mix on medium speed until all sugar has been mixed in.  Your mixture will be dry and crumbly.

*Add the 2 tablespoons of milk and mix on medium speed until creamy and mixed well.

*If you aren't using it right away, cover it with a damp cloth over the bowl until you are ready to use.

*I wanted my buttercream to go on top of my pumpkin muffins, so I added 1 Tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice to my icing and mixed it well.  It turned out beyond delicious...oh heavens....

(NOTE:  The icing can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.  Just re-mix it before using.)

(NOTE: If you want it to be easier to spread (since its thick), you can add any of these to the mixture: 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup, water, or milk.)

2 Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins

Did you read the title right???  There's no way...  Yes, there is "way" and you did in fact read it right.  These muffins are made up of 2 ingredients, and they take about 2 minutes to prepare.  You are probably wondering how they taste, right?  Well, you will be pleasantly surprised with how incredibly yummy these are!  They are so moist too!  I absolutely, most definitely will be making these again.  Oh, and my next recipe is for the pumpkin spiced butter-cream frosting I made/kind of invented.  AMAZING!

Ingredients:
1 Pkg yellow cake mix
1 Can pumpkin

Directions:
*Mix the 2 ingredients together.

*Put muffin liners in your muffin pans.

*Drop dough by large spoonfuls into muffin liners (they don't expand as much as normal cupcakes/muffins do).

*Set your oven to 350*F.

*Bake for 22-25 minutes.

*Put icing on them once they are dry if you want too.  My above recipe is delicious for the tops of these (Buttercream Icing)!

Lasagna Skillet

Have you seen those new "cooking creme's" by Philadelphia Creme Cheese???  It's the neatest little tub of "creamy flavorings" that you add to whatever dish you are making.  I got mine at Target and it was located in the milk, eggs, velveeta cheese section.  Anyways, the container looks like this:

and you have got to go get one.  There are tons of different flavors, but I picked the tomato and basil one.  So, here we go...

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 Cup green pepper, diced
1/2 Cup red pepper diced (or just dice 1 cup of any colored pepper you like)
1 Jar spaghetti sauce
2 1/2 Cups water
12 Lasagna noodles, broken into pieces
1 Tub tomato and basil cooking creme

Directions:
*In a skillet, cook your meat and peppers.

*Add your water and jar of spaghetti sauce to your meat and pepper mixture (make sure to drain any liquid from the meat before you do this...)

*Bring this to a boil.

*Crumble your noodles into bite sized pieces (you don't want them too small...you want to be able to pick them up with a fork once they are cooked).

*Pour your crumbled noodles into the meat mixture/spaghetti sauce mixture.  Cover.  Cook over medium low heat for 20-25 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

*Once the noodles are tender, turn off the stove and empty the tub of cooking creme into the noodle mixture. Stir with a spoon and let sit for 3 minutes.

I've got to say, I was impressed.  It was really easy to make and tasted really good!  I'll be buying some other flavors soon too to try out.  If you go to this website, it has tons of recipes for different flavors (on the back of each tub of creme is one recipe for that creme, but this website has lots of different ones)
http://w3.kraftbrands.com/philly/recipes/cooking-creme/Pages/all-flavors.aspx

Stuffed Peppers

Why have I not made these before???  These are amazing!  Honestly, they have that taste that makes you go "oh ya" when your chewing it!  I made this one up in my head because I was too lazy to walk over the the computer to search a recipe up.  So easy, and I will definitely be making it again really, really soon!

Ingredients:
3-4 Peppers (red pepper, green pepper, orange, or yellow)
1 lb ground beef
1 Cup cooked white rice (instant stuff is the easiest...5 minutes till its done)
1 Cup pasta sauce (I used a garden flavored one and it was so good!)
3-4 dashes of italian seasoning (I'm guessing its about 1/2 teaspoon)
3-4 dashes onion powder
3-4 dashes garlic powder
1/4 Cup shredded cheese

Directions:
*Cook your meat in a skillet on the stove until cooked.  Drain the liquid/fat.

*While your meat is cooking, cook your rice according to package.  If you want rice as a side to go with the peppers, cook more than just the 1 cup.

*In a bowl, mix the rice, meat, pasta sauce, spices, and half of the shredded cheese.  Mix well.

*Cut the tops of your peppers off.  Take out any seeds on the inside.

*Spray down a muffin pan with baking spray.

*Put your peppers into the muffin tray.

*Stuff the peppers until they are full.

*Put the remaining shredded cheese on top.

*Turn your oven on to 400*F.

*Bake your peppers for about 20-25 minutes.  We liked them so much more when they weren't super cooked.  The crunchy pepper was better than the soggy pepper!  Also, since all ingredients are already cooked, you don't have to cook them for any specific length of time.

Hamburgers

No explanation needed...these are the best hamburgers.  Period.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (not the leanest kind...won't stick)
1 pkg onion soup mix
1 Tbsp worchestershire sauce
dash of salt
dash of pepper

Directions:
*Mix all ingredients together.

*Form into patties.

*Put patties on the grill.  Flip halfway through.

*One minute before they are finished, add your cheese to them.

*Serve on a bun with any toppings you like.  These things are yummy!!!  We served them at Wyatt's first birthday party in Canada (there were about 30 people, many amazing cooks) and everyone said these are the best!

Taco Soup

This "soup" is more like mexican chili  :)    My husbands family made it growing up and then we started making it once we moved in together in college (and have been making it ever since!).  There are TONS of different ways to make this, and if you leave out one of the ingredients it is still super tasty.  That's why I love this, you can change it every single time you make it and it still sort of tastes the same!  I have left out a can of beans or two before, and once we went to a cabin for the weekend and I forgot to bring the taco seasoning and ranch mix and it STILL TASTED DELICIOUS!  Oh, and if your a terrible cook, you can make this and seem like a genius!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 pkg ranch mix (found by the salad dressings)
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can corn (white corn if you have it) (juices drained)
1-2 cans light kidney beans (juices drained)
1-2 cans dark kidney beans (juices drained)
1 can rotel (original works best, do NOT drain juices)
1 can green chili's (undrained)
1 (25-29 oz) can crushed tomatoes (undrained)
1 medium sized can tomato sauce
2 cans Bush's chili beans (undrained)

Directions:
*Cook meat in a skillet on the stove until cooked through.

*Add all the ingredients into a big pot on the stove.

*Cook on medium heat about 7-10 minutes until heated through.

*Yup, its that easy and its SO good!  We serve ours with sour cream and shredded cheese on top!

NOTE:  Since its quite spicy for a baby, simply put the taco soup into a strainer, then run water over it to take the spice off.  The little chum's are left with all the yummy inside pieces without too much spice.  Wyatt loved it!

Pizza Quesadilla

Cooper LOVES pizza.  He wants it all the time.  I...hate...pizza.  I don't like marinara sauce.  YUCK.  So I have had to search out fun pizza recipes...or invent them; like this one.  Cooper came up to me today saying he was hungry.  I have been so busy all day that I didn't have time to do anything fun for lunch.  I wasn't hungry yet either.  So I thought "Ah-hah."  GOT IT!  Super easy, hope you like its...or your kids like it!

Ingredients:
1 Tortilla
2 Tbsp's pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce
1/4 Cup shredded cheese
Pepperoni's (if you have them)

Directions:
*Put your tortilla on a plate.

*Spread your sauce over the tortilla.

*Layer your cheese and pepperoni slices.

*Cut into pizza pieces, or roll it all up.

Topless Apple Pie

I saw this recipe on a blog (half-bakedbaker.blogspot.com/2009/04/rusic-apple-tart.html) and decided "why not, I've got all the ingredients."  It wasn't too bad, I would suggest making it!  I will probably make it again too because it was so easy!!!

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 1/4 cups all flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons (about) ice water

Filling:

3 Large apples, cut into thin slices (a firm tart apple works best)
6 tablespoons sugar
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
*Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together.

*Add butter.  Turn on your mixer for this one because its a pain in the butt with the butter being cold.  It took a long time for me to get it mixed.

*Add the water and mix it well.  If its really dry you you can add a little bit more water.

*Take the dough and put it into a ball (yes, all of the dough into one ball).

*Flatten the dough into a disk shape.

*Wrap the disk in saran wrap and put it into the fridge for one hour (at least).  I forgot about it and it was in there for about 3 hours.

*Pre-heat oven to 400*F.

*Mix your apples, 4 Tbsp sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a bowl.

*Put some flour on your counter, then put your dough disk onto the counter.

*Roll out your dough to about a 12 inch round piece.  Mine wasn't a perfect circle, so don't worry if yours isn't either!  Just try and get it as close as you can!

*Spray a baking sheet with baking spray.

*Transfer your dough onto the sheet (pain in the butt, I know, sorry).

*Mix 1 Tbsp sugar and 1 Tbsp flour in a small bowl.  Put this mixture onto the middle of your dough leaving a two inch border around the edge.

*Take your apples, and arrange them in 3-4 rows, leaving a two inch border all the way around the outside of the dough.

*Drizzle the melted butter over the apples.

*Fold the edges of the dough all the way up so that it covers the sides of the apples.

*Sprinkle a bit of sugar onto the side of the dough edge.

*Put "pie" into oven for 45 minutes.  It took me closer to one hour to cook but start checking that it doesn't burn about 45 minutes into the cooking.

*The pie is done once the apples are tender, and the crust is golden.

"Homemade" Bread

I have never posted about a boxed food item before, but this one was too good not to mention!  I bought it at Walmart and it was SO easy to make, it worked perfectly, and we all loved it.  So, go get a box...and make homemade bread!  YUM!

Here is the box to look for:

You know you want some!

OH!  Just follow the directions exactly on the box!  Oops!

Shake N Bake BBQ Chicken

No need to do a big explanation on this one, its a box of shake n bake chicken mix (original) first coated in BBQ sauce.  I saw it on a box of shake n bake a few years ago and we've been making it ever since!

Ingredients:
1 Box original Shake N Bake for chicken
1 Cup BBQ sauce
3-4 Chicken breasts

Directions:
*Put your shake n bake on a plate.

*Put your bbq sauce on a separate plate.

*Pat your chicken off with a paper towel so the bbq sauce sticks better.

*Dip your chicken in the bbq sauce, then in the shake n bake mix.

*Put chicken breasts into a baking dish that is sprayed with baking spray.  (I had a bit of shake n bake leftover, so I dabbed a bit of sauce onto the tops of the chicken and poured the remaining sauce on top.)

*Heat your oven to 400*F.

*Cook the chicken, uncovered, for about 30 minutes.  The original recipe says for 20 minutes but I have never only cooked chicken that long!  I think I cooked this for 45 minutes yesterday when I made it.  I put a baking dish into the oven with the chicken that is full of water to keep the chicken moist.  Works everytime.  Check to see if you need to cook it longer...internal temperature should be 165*F.

Chocolate Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies

I found this recipe about 15 minutes ago...and the cookies are already made, and cooling on the counter!  By the way the batter tastes, these puppies are going to be a regular at our house!  I got the original recipe on this website: http://morganmoore.typepad.com/one_more_moore/2009/04/when-its-too-hot-to-bake-we-nobake.html  but you guys know me:  I HAD TO CHANGE IT UP.  :)

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup butter (1 stick)
2 Cups sugar
1/2 Cup milk
1/2 Cup semi-sweet baking chocolate chips
1/2 Cup peanut butter (I used chunky)
3- 3 1/2 Cups quick cook oats
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
*Mix the butter (it can be straight out of the fridge; does not need to be room temperature), sugar, milk, and chocolate chips in a big skillet on your stove.

*Turn to medium high.  Once there is a rolling boil, continue to cook for one minute.  I used a whisk to stir the entire time so it didn't burn.

*Once it has boiled for a full minute, remove mixture from the heat.

*Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla extract.

*Add the oats and stir until completely mixed.

*Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment or waxed paper.

*Drop cookie dough by spoonfuls onto the baking sheets.

*Set the baking sheets off to the side until cooled.

*Yup, these are that easy.