Baked Oatmeal Cups

makes 12 servings
adapted from sugarfreemom.com

Ingredients:
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cups applesauce, unsweetened
1 banana, mashed
1/4 cup honey
2 1/2 cups, Old Fashioned rolled oats 
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk 
Optional toppings: blueberries, raisins, strawberries, chocolate chips, or brown sugar.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix eggs, vanilla, applesauce, banana and honey together in a bowl. Add in oats, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and mix well with wet ingredients. Finally pour in milk and combine.

Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.
Divide mixture evenly into muffin tin cups. I used a 1/4 measuring cup, measure just a tad under 1/4 cup to make 12. Add the toppings. 

Bake 30 minutes until a toothpick in center comes out clean. Cool and enjoy or freeze them in gallon freezer bags.

Cheesy Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups salsa
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup reduced-fat Italian dressing
1 package taco seasoning
6 flour tortillas (8 inches) 
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream 
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 cup shredded lettuce 
2  medium tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Directions:
1) In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.

2) Stir in the salsa, beans, dressing, sour cream, and taco seasoning. 

3) Spoon a generous layer of meat mixture on bottom of 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Place a flour tortillas on top of meat mixture. Layer with half of the meat mixture, and cheese. Repeat as many layers as you like.
The last & final layer should be a healthy dose of grated cheese.

4) Cover with foil and bake at 400° for 25 minutes, or until hot & bubbly. Let stand for 5 minutes before topping with lettuce, tomato and cilantro.

Yield: 8 servings.

Fresh Salsa

So this is one of those recipes that you just kind of have to wing it until it's right. This isn't a very clear recipe but just add or don't add what you want and season to taste. I hope it turns out for you as it did for me, because this batch was REALLY tasty, and not too hot, even my 1 year old who doesn't eat anything ate it!!  I was searching for a recipe for salsa that used fresh tomatoes because I have 3 very large plants with a hundred of tomatoes and the only thing I could think of doing with them was salsa. I couldn't find a recipe I liked so I made this one up. I'm not sure how many cups it made but it was in the larges bowl I had and pretty much filled it up, so whatever that is ... a lot :) sorry I don't know! Since it made so much I just put it in  freezer containers and froze it. Just take it out the night before in place in fridge to thaw. My friend said that if it's a little runny so you could add some regular tomato sauce to it. **Keep in mind that when adding your pepper, garlic salt and cumin add a little at a time, you can always add more but can't take it out!! Even though it's a large batch you wont need much seasoning because it's sooo flavorful on it's own.**

Directions:
1. Place in a blender: 1/4 red onion cut into big chunks, 3 garlic cloves cut in half, 1 can of regular Rotel, 1 large fresh tomato cut into big chunks, 1 small hand full of cilantro, 1/2 of a jalapeno (I cut the seeds out). Blend until it's chunky or to whatever consistancy you like. I did mine in fine chunks.

2. Place salsa into a large bowl. Add black pepper, garlic salt and cumin, and fresh lime juice (I used 1 1/2 limes) to to taste. 

3. Cut up all your tomatoes and add to salsa in bowl. I cut up around 10 medium/large "big beef' tomatoes. 

4. Gently mix everything together and taste, add anything you may need to add to make it taste like you like. In my case I needed to add a little more cumin and garlic salt.

It will keep in the fridge for a couple weeks.

Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 very small onion, finely chopped
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1/3 cup of milk
1/2 cup (or more) frozen peas (or mixed veggies)
1 cup shredded cheese
1 lb. frozen tater tots

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 8" square baking dish with pam.

2. Brown meat with onions in a skillet. (I also seasoned it with a little pepper and garlic salt.) Drain fat. Spoon into baking dish.

3. Mix soup and milk together in a small bowl. Pour over meat mixture. 

4. Top with peas, then cheese then tots. 

5. Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes or until bubbly. 

I served it with a green salad and dinner rolls. 

Makes 4 -6 servings. 

Puffins {a pancake muffin} :D

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup pancake mix
• 2/3 cup water
• 2/3 cup syrup
• 1 whole banana, mashed

Directions: Preheat oven to 350F.  Mix all ingredients together. Bake 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.

 Freezing Directions: Cool completely.  Flash freeze. Transfer to gallon freezer bag, label and freeze.  TO SERVE:  Remove desired number of muffins from freezer, let thaw on counter, or briefly on defrost setting in microwave

Servings: 24 mini muffins

 Note:  You could do mini chocolate chips or blueberries or cinnamon or apples or sprinkles in them if you don't like bananas

*Recipe & picture from: Once A Month Mom

Jumbo Ranch Stuffed Meatballs

Recipe From: Ruth

Meatball Ingredients:

1 pkg.  (6 oz.) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken

1/2 cup  hot water

1  egg

1/4 cup  Ranch Dressing

1 lb. ground beef

1 cup  Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Meatball Sauce Ingredients:

1 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon dried minced onion

dash of tabasco

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375ºF.

2. Combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Add meat and cheese; mix well. Shape into 8 (2-inch) meatballs.

3. Place on greased baking sheet; top with ketchup mixture.

4. Bake 30 min. or until done.

Note: when I made this I got 18 meatballs out of it, maybe I didn't shape them "jumbo" enough but it was enought for us to have 7 for dinner and then 11 to freeze for 2 more meals or meatballs sub sandwhiches. When you freeze them, you don't bake them, just freeze them raw and bake them when you need them.

Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken

Ingredients:

1 pound Chicken breasts

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 to 2 medium limes, juiced

2 to 4 Garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons Cilantro, fresh, chopped

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoons Pepper

1 cup Salsa Verde

Directions:
Mix olive oil, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper in a bowl. Divide and pour into freezer bag with Chicken marinade for at least one hour or freeze until ready to use. Heat grill to medium high heat, Grill for about 7 minutes a side. If you have any left over marinade use it to baste chicken while grilling.


Freezing Directions:
Pour marinade into freezer bag with Chicken. Freeze until ready to serve. Thaw to serve. Heat grill to medium high heat, grill for about 7 minutes a side.


*Recipe From: Once A Month Mom

DORITO CHICKEN CASSEROLE

This is one recipe to not judge it by it's name or look. I've seen it on Pinterest several times and thought YUCK, chips in a casserole, no thank you! But I had a friend who made it and said it was AMAZING, so I had to try it and it was seriously really good, my husband and I ate the whole pan by ourselves! It had a tiny bit of spicy-ness to it, but when I make it again I'll add the whole package of taco seasoning to it, because I would have like a little more kick to it.

Ingredients:
2 cups shredded chicken
1 1/2 – 2 cups shredded cheese {I used the Mexican 4 blend cheese}
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can Rotel
1/2 packet taco seasoning {I used Taco Bell}
1 bag of Dorito’s {Nacho Cheese}


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350

2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients EXCEPT Dorito’s.


3. In a 9x13 baking dish, spread a layer of crushed Dorito’s on the bottom.


4. Now spread a layer of the chicken mixture on top of the Dorito’s.


5. Add another layer of crushed Dorito’s and then finish with another layer of chicken. Top with shredded cheese and cover with foil.


6. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly.

*Notes: I served it with Zatarain's black beans and rice. I think it would be good to use the chicken mixture with out the chips as a filling for tortillas for enchiladas. Enjoy!!

*Pictures & Recipe From: Pearls & Handcuffs

Zuppa Toscana Soup

I made this last night and it was soooo good!!! If you have had this soup at Olive Garden this tastes just like it.  

Recipe From: Sarah

In stock pot ~
Brown:
½ lb. Bacon (or more)
½ lb. Sausage (spicy or regular) (or more)
take it out of the pan and put it in a bowl
In leftover grease ~

Sautee:
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced

Drain out rest of oil, put bacon, sausage, onion, and garlic back in pot
add water (about 10 cups)
4 or 5 thinly sliced potatoes
6 chicken bullion cubes
let it boil until potatoes are soft

Stir in 1 pint of whipping cream
bring to a boil

Add 1 bundle of chopped Kale 2-5 minutes before you are ready to dish it up. Just so that it has enough time to get soft (if you put it in too soon it will turn brownish!)

Jumbo Shells with Cheese Filling

Recipe From: Bridgette

8 to 10 servings

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (12 oz.) Jumbo Shells, uncooked
4 cups Ricotta cheese
2 cups Shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan cheese
2 Eggs
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon ground Black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1 Big jar (about 28-oz.) Spaghetti sauce


Directions:
Heat oven to 375°F. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir together cheeses, eggs, parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg. In 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish, spread 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce. Fill each cooked shell with about 1-1/2 level tablespoons cheese mixture; layer one-half filled shells in prepared dish. Spread one-half remaining sauce over shells; layer remaining filled shells over sauce. Spread remaining sauce over shells; sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired. Cover with foil; bake 35 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
 
Make a Freezer Meal out of it:
Prepare recipe as directed, but do not bake. Cover with plastic wrap, then foil. Freeze up to 2 months. Remove plastic wrap and replace foil. Baked once thawed at 350 for about 40 minutes. Baked frozen at 350 for 2 hours or until hot and bubbly.

Lawry's Chimichurri Burrito Casserole

Okay ... if you love enchiladas, then you HAVE to try this ....

It's like enchiladas, only soooo much better! It's a packet that I have only found at Paul's Market - it's less then $2.00 and it makes enough for at least 6 people! My picture doesn't do it justice -it's seriously amazing! It takes less then 30 minutes - that's prep & cook time people!!

All you need is: 

And you get:

I serve it with Zatarains Red Beans and Rice ... so fast ... so cheap ... so delicious!

***you could also do Mexican Lasagna: Prepare sauce and meat mixture as directed. Alternately layer tortillas and meat mixture in baking dish, beginning and ending with tortillas. Top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake as directed.

Baked Rigatoni

I used the spaghetti sauce recipe below (let it simmer for hours) & add to it some fresh cooked rigatoni, top with fresh Parmesan chesse & enjoy! The recipe below made me enough for 4 meals this size and then I froze enough for 2 meals of spaghetti.


Ed’s Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
 Ingredients:
4 cans of Hunt’s tomato sauce (16 oz)
1 small can of Hunt’s tomato paste (4 oz)
1 pound of Italian Sausage, 1 pound of ground round
½ a white onion
½ a bell pepper (red or green)
two cloves of garlic
1 basket of baby bello mushrooms (Fred Meyers)
Seasonings: ¼ cup of Italian Seasoning, Use “Italian seasons” in one container
1 cup of red wine
1 cup of sugar


Directions:
Put 4 cans of sauce, wine, sugar and Italian seasonings in a pot on medium and bring to a low boil. In a separate pan use a little olive oil and add onion, bell pepper and garlic and sauté until golden. Add sausage and ground round add sauté until meat is brown. (For real authentic taste use 1 pound of ground veal instead of ground round). When sauce starts to boil, reduce heat to simmer and add mushrooms and everything in the meat pan. Sift oil that rises periodically and season to taste with additional wine, seasonings or sugar. Add tomato paste if the sauce seems thin and you want it thicker.

Sarah's lasagna

***note: I made this tonight and added an another can of spaghetti sauce and it made enough for 2 lasagnas (one for tonight & one to freeze for another night) - I also added oregano, basil, fresh minced garlic & Italian seasoning to the sauce - so delicious - thanks Sarah for the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 lb hamburger
1 lb Italian sausage
1 large jar of spag sauce
32 oz cottage cheese
Parm cheese
2 cups mozz cheese
2 cups cheddar cheese
1 med onion
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 TBS garlic
1 package lasagna noodles


Directions:
Brown hamburger and sausage, dice peppers and onions and sauté with hamburger and sausage. Add spag sauce and garlic to warm. Boil noodles. Layers in 9x13 pan: small layer of meat/sauce mixture, layer of noodles, small layer of cottage cheese (doesn't have to be even), sprinkle with parm cheese, sprinkle with cheddar and mozz, then another layer of meat mixture and noodles, continue. Bake at 375 for 30-45 min.

Garlic Ranch Chicken (Freezer Meal)

Recipe From: Sarah

Makes enough for 1 Family

INGREDIENTS:
4 Breasts of chicken
1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing packet
1 c. milk
1 c. mayonnaise
2 Tbsp dried minced garlic

To simplify this recipe use one bottle your favorite Ranch Dressing and add 2 Tbsp of minced garlic.

TO FREEZE:
In gallon-sized baggie combine ingredients, except chicken. In separate, small bag, place approx. ½ c. of mixture. Place chicken in remaining mixture in gallon-sized bag and place small bag inside.


TO PREPARE AFTER FREEZING:
Thaw large bag enough to get small bag out and place small bag in fridge, while allowing chicken to continue to thaw. Grill or broil chicken. In last few minutes of grilling chicken, baste chicken breasts with mixture from small bag.

Pineapple Chicken

Recipe From: www.Fabulesslyfrugal.com


Ingredients:
2 Cups unsweetened pineapple juice
1 Cup vinegar
3/4 Cup water
1 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 Cup ketchup
1/3 Cup cornstarch
4 Chicken breasts
1 can (8oz.) pineapple chunks, drained
1 Medium green pepper, cut into chunks - optional


To Prepare For Freezing:
In a gallon size freezer bag combine the first 9 ingredients, then add chicken. Seal and freeze. Set aside pineapple in pantry so you'll have it when you make this meal. Slice and freeze pepper in a separate bag.


To Prepare After Freezing:
Thaw ingredients enough to place in crock pot. Cook on low for 5 hours. 30 minutes before it is finished turn to high & whisk in cornstarch, once completely dissolved add your pineapple & pepper, cook an additional 30 minutes - make sure you continue to watch it & stir it in these last 30 minutes - it's ready once your sauce has thickened. Once it was done I took out the chicken and cut it into chunks & then served it over cooked rice & with pot stickers!

Chicken Tetrazzini

Don't judge this recipe by my poor picture - It was really yummy & worth trying!

Note: I used a half of a rotisserie chicken for this recipe & you can use 1 - 4oz. can of mushrooms if you don't have the fresh ones.


Serves: 6


Ingredients:
1 package (7oz.) spaghetti - broken in half
1 stick of margarine
1/4 Cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon dried minced garlic
1 Cup chicken broth
1 Cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons water
2 Cups cubed cooked chicken
1 package of fresh mushrooms
Grated Parmesan cheese


Directions:
1 - Heat oven to 350

2 - Cook spaghetti as directed on package

3 - While spaghetti is cooking, melt margarine in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, garlic salt, pepper, Italian seasoning & minced garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Stir in broth and whipping cream. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

4 - In a separate pan heat mushrooms until they are just barely cooked - remove from heat.

5 - Drain spaghetti. Stir spaghetti, water, chicken and mushrooms into the sauce.

6 - Pour spaghetti mixture into a ungreased 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered about 30 minutes or until bubbly.

** Serve with green beans & garlic bread

Taco Casserole

Recipe From: http://blogchef.net/page/3/


Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
8 ounces macaroni
½ cup onion (chopped)
1 (10.75 ounce) can condense tomato soup
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
2 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
2 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup tortilla chips (crushed)
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup green onions
¼ cup sliced black olives

Directions:
Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Step 2: In a large skillet, cook and stir ground beef and chopped onion over medium heat until browned. Mix in tomato soup, diced tomatoes, and taco seasoning mix. Stir in pasta.

Step 3: Spoon the beef mixture into a greased 9×13 inch baking dish. Place into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. Within the last 10 minutes of cooking remove from the oven and top with crushed tortilla chips, cheese, green onions and black olives. Return to the oven and finish cooking. Serve with sour cream.

(Makes 6 Servings)

Candess's Potato Bake

Great dish for company! It is very cheesy. personally two Pounds of cheese is pretty rich for me. You could cut that down a little if you like - like one cup of each cheese instead of a pound. This recipe is huge!!!!


Recipe From: Aunt Renee


Ingredients:1 pound bacon
1 lb. cubed mild Cheddar cheese
1 lb. grated Sharp Cheddar cheese
one onion (chopped)
1 cup mayo
1 small container sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh or dried chives
5 pounds red potatoes


Directions:
*Heat oven to 350

*Clean, and quarter red potatoes with skins on. (cut bad spots off) Cook until tender


* Fry bacon and saute onion


*In large bowl mix everything together, dump in 9 by 13 baking pan and bake for
one hr. or until bubbly.


*Note: If mixed the night before set at 325. bake until bubbly.

Slow Cooker Cheesy Potato Soup

I made this the other day & I put in a bag of cubed cooked ham with all the other ingredients and I cooked it all on low for 6.5 hours (before adding the milk/flour mixture) and it was awesome!! Since I did the ham, I didn't do the bacon pieces or the green onion. I also seasoned it all with salt, pepper & a tiny bit of dried minced garlic and let that all cook together. Then served it with home-made corn bread!

Makes: 6 servings (1 1/2 cups each)

INGREDIENTS:
1 bag (32 oz) southern-style diced hash brown potatoes, thawed
1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup medium stalk celery, diced
1 carton (32-oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
2 Cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup real bacon pieces
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
Optional - you can add 1 can of corn


DIRECTIONS:
1) In 4 to 5-quart slow cooker, mix potatoes, onion, carrots, corn, celery, ham (if used),broth and water.

2) Cover; cook on Low heat setting 6 to 8 hours.3) In small bowl, mix flour into milk; stir into potato mixture. Increase heat setting to High. Cover; cook 20 to 30 minutes or until mixture thickens. Stir in cheese until melted. Garnish individual servings with cheese, bacon and green onions. Sprinkle with pepper if desired.

Potato &Ham Chowder

Recipe From: Holly


Servings: 8 (about 2 quarts)


Ingredients:
3 cups water
4 cups cubed peeled potatoes
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups whole milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 can (regular size) of corn


Direction:
Chop up potatoes, carrots, celery & onion.


In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add the potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, salt and pepper. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender; drain and set vegetables aside.

In same pan, melt butter. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese until melted. Add ham and reserved vegetables. Cook on low until heated through. Do not boil.


note: this is not a soup it's chowder so it will be thick, if it's too thick for you, just add more milk until it's the consistency you want. You can freeze what you don't use.