The Perfect Spaghetti Sauce

What you need:

1 pound hamburger (optional)

1 (28oz) can crushed tomato in purée 

Garlic

Basil

Garlic salt & pepper to taste 

Directions:

1) Season & brown hamburger & drain fat. (I always add a little finely chopped onion to it when I brown it. I season it with pepper, onion powder, Italian seasoning, and seasoning salt. I like bold flavors, so I use a lot of seasoning, you don't have to. I think it would actually be better with out the meat but my husband loves it.)

2) In the same skillet hamburger is in add as much fresh minced garlic & basil.

* I love these!! (Find them in the frozen veggie section of Wallmart or Trader Joes) I added 2 garlic cubes & 1 basil cube. Mix with hamburger until the cubes are no longer frozen. 

3) Add entire can of tomatoes, plus half a can of water. (you can add more or less, depending on the thickness you like. You can also add a 1/2-1 tablespoon of sugar if you want). Heat until bubbly. Then serve over your favorite pasta. Top with parmesan cheese. 

Balsamic Roast

Ingredients:

3-5 pound chuck roast

1 3/4 cups beef broth

1/4 water

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 orange juice

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 garlic cloves - minced 

Mini potatoes (red or I used mini sweet idahos)

Directions: 

1) Place roast & potatoes in your crock pot and set it to low. (Will need to cook at least 8 hours)

2) In a small mixing bowl combine all remaining ingredients until sugar is dissolved. Then pour over meat & potatoes and let cook. 

*Notes:

- it is obviously cooking in A LOT of liquid, so it's perfect for french dip sandwiches too. Just skip the potatoes :) And after it's done cooking remove some of the juices (as much or as little as you want) for later dipping your sandwich in. Then shred the roast in the crock pot and let it soak up all the flavors of the juice it's in. Served on your favorite toasted hoggie with a small bowl of your reserved juices for dipping. Serve with fries. 

- the first time I made it I made some balsamic & butter & garlic fresh french beans on the side to serve with it. Just dump all ingredients into a skillet over medium heat, sauté until breans are cooked. (I just eye-balled the amounts of everything)

- this recipe has no balsamic flavor to it, it's more of a mild sweetness. 

Cilantro BBQ Chicken French Bread Pizza

Ingredients:

1 loaf of french bread

BBQ sauce

4 chicken breast 

Chopped fresh cilantro 

2 cups Shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Trim fat off chicken &  cut chicken into small bite size pieces. Sauté in butter and season as you like. (I did fresh minced garlic, black pepper, seasoning salt & chili powder). Don't over cook the chicken, it will continue to cook in the oven. 

3. Cut french bread in half the long way. Coat bread with BBQ sauce. Since it's bread it will absorbe the sauce a little, once it does that add another layer of sauce. Then place chicken evenly on bread, then top with cilantro, then cheese. 

4. Place on large baking sheet and cook for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted & bread is crispy. 

These taste is amazing!!! Next time I might add pineapple chunks or red onion to one side. (My husband doesn't like either) Enjoy!! 

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.

Malibu Chicken

Ingredients:
KC Masterpiece Honey Teriyaki Marinade
Chicken Breast (as many as you need)
Ham lunch meat (2 thin slices per chicken)
Swiss cheese (1 slice per chicken)
Pineapple rings (1 per chicken) 

Directions:
1. Pre-heat BBQ to medium heat

2. Trim any fat off chicken breast. (You can pound them thiner but I didn't - it just makes them easier to cut & eat). Coat with Honey Teriyaki and place on BBQ. Grill for about 7 minutes per side. Spread more Honey Teriyaki on each side as you flip it. 

3. About 3-4 minutes before chicken is done, place pineapple on BBQ and grill until it has grill marks on both sides. Add a little Honey Teriyaki as you are cooking it. 

4. Once chicken is cooked all the way coat once more with Honey Teriyaki (it may seem like you're over doing it but a lot drips off and cooks off & it wasn't marinaded in it so you're fine to keep adding it).

5. Then top each piece of chicken with 2 slices of ham, then 1 slice of swiss and 1 pineapple ring. Close the BBQ lid and once the cheese is melted it's done - remove and eat! 

**Here is a picture of the Honey Teriyaki - it's amazing so don't get anything else :) **

HOMEMADE CROUTONS

Ingredients:

• 1/4 french bread baguette, sliced into bite size pieces 
• 3 to 4 Tablespoons melted butter
• 2 to 3 Tablespoons of seasonings of choice - I did garlic salt, pepper, oregano & onion powder 

Directions:

Heat oven to 425.  Place bread pieces into a medium bowl, drizzle with melted butter and then sprinkle on seasonings, toss with a spoon. Make sure each piece is evenly coated with butter and seasonings. Dump onto a small cookie sheet. Bake at 425 for 5 minutes and then broil until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool, serve and enjoy!!!  

Note: you could turn the left over croutons into bread crumbs, just pop into your food processor and mix   until they are fine. 

*Picture from and recipe adapted from: Chezus

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. 

Turkey Avocado Sandwich

 A.K.A ... the BEST thing you'll ever put in your mouth ... EVER!!  My friend Ruth gets all the credit for this one ... she introduced me to this sandwich and now it's our favorite meal when we have play dates. I think we need to start using 2 avocados though because we like to take the extra from our sandwiches and eat it with pita chips, but there is never enough. Enjoy this one today ... and tomorrow ... and the day after that .... yes you really will want to eat it every day :)

To make 2 sandwiches, you'll need:

4 slices of white bread (you know the kind that sticks to your teeth when you try to talk)

Mayo

Red onion - thinly slices

Tomato - sliced 

Avocado - mashed and add a little lime juice & garlic salt. 

Deli sliced turkey (I've done ham and it's good too) 

Directions:

1. Add a thin layer of  mayo to each slice of bread. Top one slice with onions..

2. Add a nice helping of avocado to the slice with no onions on it... 

3. Top the avocado side with tomatoes...  {my mouth is watering}

4. Add your turkey to the mix ...

5. Then put it all together and serve with any extra avocado and pita chips ...

YUM YUM YUM to the last bite (actually I turned this into 3 bites because I wanted to savor it)!!!!!!

 

Note: if you're thinking about trying wheat, ciabatta bread, or making a panini out of this or adding cheese ... wipe that thought right out of your head :) we tried all these options and they were all no bueno ... just trust us when we say you need some white bread in your life, your mouth and belly will thank you!

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 Bruschetta Chicken

Ingredients:

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves 

1/4 cup Kraft Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette Dressing, divided

1 tomato, finely chopped

1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions:

1. Place the chicken in shallow glass dish, add 2 Tbsp. dressing; put in fridge to marinate for at least 10 to 30mins.

2. Cut up tomatoes and basil place in a small bowl, add remaining dressing and toss together. Also put in fridge until you are ready to use. 

3. Once the chicken is done marinating. Heat the grill to medium heat.

4. Grill chicken for 4-7 min a side (depending how thick your chicken is).  Turn over chicken top with tomato mixture and chesse. Grill for an additional 4-7 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF).

 
**We used Kraft Italian Roasted Red Pepper dressing and it was really good too!! 

 *Recipe from: Kraft

Thai Chicken Pizza

Papa Murphy's Pizza had a special last month that was Thai Chicken pizza and it was amazing!!! This is my recreation of it. They made it on a thin crust pizza, but other then that it taste the same. This is one recipe that the picture doesn't look that good and you just have to try it to know just how good it really is, it's making my mouth water now :) ... enjoy!!!


Makes 1 large pizza


Ingredients:
1 ball pizza dough
¼ cup sweet Asian chili sauce, plus extra for drizzling
¼  of a red onion, thinly sliced
½ large zucchini, thinly sliced
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 chicken breast - sliced into thin 1/2-inch strips and cooked
Shredded mozzarella cheese (as much as you like)

Directions:
To preheat the oven to 400˚ F. Roll out the pizza dough into a 12-14 inch round. Place pizza dough onto a pizza pan or pizza stone. Spread the chili sauce over the crust in an even layer. Layer with the zucchini, red onion, chicken, red pepper flakes, and cheese.

Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbling and the crust is lightly browned, about 9-11 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Chicken Pockets

Makes 8 roll ups

Ingredients:

1 can of crescent rolls

1 package of cream cheese

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 of a small onion minced

2 chicken breast cubed & seasoned how you like

Bacon (optional)

sun dried tomatoes (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to the suggested temp on the can of crescent rolls.

Cook your chicken with the onion (you can add some butter to the skillet as you are cooking if you like).

In a medium bowl combine cream cheese, mozzarella, chicken and any additional ingredients you want to use. Mix well.

Open can of crescent rolls and un-roll the crescent rolls and separate the rolls. Place a spoonful of chicken mixture at the fattest end of the crescent roll and then roll up. Place on baking sheet. Repeat until all crescent rolls are used.

Bake 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with a salad and fresh fruit. Enjoy!

{NOTE: This makes enough mixture to use 2 cans of crescent rolls. If you don't want to use all the mixture you can always freeze the left over mixture and use it another time. Also you can use a veggie cream cheese or a chive and onion cream cheese.}

BBQ Pizza

Pizza is currently my favorite food. I got a Pampered Chef BBQ Pizza Pan a while back and just now got to use it. It's pretty cool to BBQ a pizza! I did too many toppings I think because the cheese on top wasn't all the way melted but it was still yummy! If you don't have a pan it's very affordable and you can get one here

First you wash your pan. I set mine on a towel and then sprayed it with cooking spray so it didn't get the spray on the counter. Then warm up BBQ to medium-high heat.

You can make your own dough or buy it. For the sake of time I just bought some. And you can use what ever you want for sauce and toppings. We did BBQ sauce for the pizza sauce and garlic chicken, pineapple, jalapenos and mozzarella cheese. Spread your dough onto the pan and then top with sauce, a little bit of cheese, toppings and more cheese.

 Place pan directly on BBQ and cook on medium-high heat for 6-10 minutes with BBQ lid shut. Check it often so you don't burn it. Enjoy!! **Make sure you have some oven mitts near by, the pan handles will get HOT and burn you - I know from experience!**

Here are some tips and recipe ideas from Pampered Chef:

*For a quick, basic cheese pizza, use 1/2 cup pizza sauce, 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese.

*Additional toppings can affect cook time.

*For best results, pre-cook raw vegetables and meats before topping pizza

*Cutting directly on pan will cause scratching, remove pizza first then slice

*Pan will darken with use on the grill. Dishwashing will help remove food residues, but will not restore luster of pan after use.

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

Hawaiian Haystacks

I remember my Mom and Grandma making these when I was a child. It was soooo good and I've been looking for months for the prefect recipe and I think I found it. A lot of recipes out there call for cream of chicken soup and that just didn't sound good and it awsn't even close to how my Mom & Grandma would make it; that's why I love this recipe - you make the gravy from scratch - it's soooo much better this way! Enjoy!!

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
32 ounces chicken broth
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons of dry Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing seasoning packet
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast (1 rotisserie chicken - shredded)
Steamed rice, enough for your family (for this recipe 4 cups of cooked rice is perfect)

Toppings:
Chow Mein Crispy Noodles
Sliced green onions
Sliced black olives
Pineapple chunks, drained
Craisins
Slivered almonds
Tomatoes
Shredded cheese
Mandarin oranges, drained
Shredded coconut

Directions:
1. Place butter into a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring to melt. Slowly whisk in flour, salt and pepper until smooth and thick, for 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in chicken broth until smooth. Increase heat to high whisking until thick, about 2 minutes. Add sour cream, Ranch seasoning, garlic salt, and cooked chicken breast. Stir and season accordingly. You may prefer additional, salt, pepper and garlic salt. I transferred this to my crock pot and kept it on low all day until dinner. You can either serve it immediately or crock pot it until you are ready.

2. Place rice on serving plates and top with chicken gravy. Have toppings at the table and top with whatever you like! Have fun!

*Recipe From: Picky Palate

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

This is another GREAT Pinterest find!! My husband walked in the house and said what smells so good ... he thought I bought Panda Express. I would make this again and again and again, it was really good! I served it with pot stickers and minute rice.

Chicken:
3-4 boneless chicken breasts
salt & pepper, to taste
1 cup cornstarch
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Sweet and Sour Sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
4 tbs ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs. Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.

(Recipe from Life as a Lofthouse)

Honey Sesame Chicken

I found this recipe on Pinterest via this super cute blog called Table for Two Her recipe is a crock pot recipe but I did mine on the stove. Her recipe can be found HERE mine is just adapted from hers and is below. Enjoy!!

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, about 4

Garlic Salt 

Pepper

1 cup of honey

1/2 cup of soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/2 Tbsp. Cornstarch

TINY bit of water
1 can  of pineapple chunks & juice from can

Sesame seeds (which I forgot)

Instructions:

1. Trim all the fat off the chicken breast. Slice in thin slices. Add a small amount of oil to a skillet, once oil is heated add chicken to skillet. Season to liking with garlic salt and pepper. They will cook fast and before every thing else is done, that is okay. Once cooked remove skillet from heat.
2. In a medium sized pan, combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil, garlic, about 1/4 - 1/2 the can of pineapple juice and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine well.
3. In a small bowl add cornstarch and a tiny bit of water, mix very well until there are no lumps, slowly add to your sauce, make sure you are stirring the whole time. Once well mixed into the sauce, simmer sauce and continue to stir until it gets thick. This may take a few minutes - do not add more cornstarch! If you can't get it to thicken just turn the heat up. You want to to cook for a couple minutes to cook out that chalky cornstarch flavor/consistency.
4. When done, remove chicken from skillet and add to sauce, also add the pineapple chunks. You could do mandarin oranges or snow peas or broccoli too. Mix well and serve hot over rice and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

Marinated Carne Asada

Sarah says "I cut the recipe in half  and I only do 1 pound at a time. Plus I don't use two limes...I think that it is too limey. I also marinate mine over night...I think that it gets more flavor."

Recipe From: Sarah via Simply Recipes


Yield: Serves 4-6.


Ingredients:

2 pounds flank or skirt steak
Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Marinade Ingredients:
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño chile pepper, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon cumin 
1 large handful fresh cilantro
Kosher salt 
Freshly ground black pepper
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:
1) Lay the flank steak in a large non-reactive bowl or baking dish. Combine marinade ingredients and pour the marinade over the steak. Make sure each piece is well coated. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-4 hours.


2) Preheat your grill over medium-high flame (you can also use a cast iron grill pan on high heat for stove-top cooking). Brush the grates with a little oil to prevent the meat from sticking. Remove the steak from the marinade. If you are cooking indoors, you may want to brush off excess marinade as the bits may burn and smoke on the hot pan. Season both sides of the steak pieces with salt and pepper. Grill the pieces for a few minutes only, on each side, depending on how thin they are, until medium rare to well done, to your preference. You may need to work in batches. Remove the steak pieces to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice the steak across the grain on a diagonal.


(Optional) Serve with warm tortillas, pico de gallo and chopped avocados. Or on top of rice and beans.