Recipe Folder

I am preparing my list of meals and grocery list for next month.  One thing I do, which you might find helpful when making your grocery list, is I collect all of the recipes I plan on preparing for the month and I store them in a folder along with the list of meals I have listed.  I keep this handy in my kitchen.  This way I have all of the meals on hand and it makes it a lot easier to make my grocery list.  I just go through each recipe and add it to the list.  I then add anything else we will need for the month.  It not only helps me make my list, but it saves time finding the recipe when I go to make it. 
We have a copier/printer at our home, so copy or print off all the recipes I use and keep them so I have my recipes on hand.  I also try to place the recipes in a plastic sleeve when cooking so it doesn't get destroyed in the process.

Cheeseburger Soup

This soup is a favorite among many!  In fact, it won a soup contest at my husband's office!  Great soup for fall and winter!!! 

Cheeseburger Soup         From allrecipes.com 2004

½ lb ground beef

¾ cup chopped onions

¾ cup chopped carrots

¾ cup chopped celery

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried parsley

4 tablespoons butter

3 cups chicken broth

4 cups cubed potatoes

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 cups cubed cheddar cheese

1 ½ cups milk

¼ cup sour cream

In a large pot, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat; cook and stir onions, carrots, celery, and beef until beef is brown.

Stir in basil and parsley.  Add broth and potatoes.

Bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes.

In a small bowl, melt the remainder of butter and stir in flour.  Add the milk, stirring until smooth.

Gradually add milk mixture to the soup, stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer.  Stir in cheese.  When cheese is melted, add sour cream and heat through.  Do not boil.

Enjoy!

Hoping to be able to get pictures on here again soon! 

Beef Stuffed Crescents

Prep: 25 minutes     Bake: 15 minutes

1 lb ground beef
1 can (4oz) chopped green chilies
1 package (8oz) cream cheese, cubed
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
3 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls

In a large skillet, cook beef and chilies over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Add the cream cheese, cumin, and chili powder.  Cool slightly.
Separate crescent dough into 24 triangles.  Place 1 tablespoon of beef mixture along the short end of each triangle carefully roll up.
Place point side down 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets.  Bake at 375 for 11-14 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm. 
*I cut this recipe in half because we do not need this much for our family. 

We had these with mash potatoes and corn. 

Prayer

I grew up praying before meals and this is something I think is very important to pass down to my children.  Our family starts dinner each night with a prayer before our meal.  Our three year old reminds us each night and she will not start eating until we have prayed!

Being catholic, we use the traditional catholic prayer:
          Bless us Oh Lord for these our gifts which we are about to receive, from thy           
                     bounty, through Christ, our Lord  Amen.

There are many different prayers out there or you can pray your own personal prayer. 
One prayer I used while teaching during apple season:
         Oh the Lord is good to me and so I thank the Lord for giving me the things I need like sun
                    and the rain and then apple tree.  The Lord is good to me.  Amen

The most important thing about praying before meals is to be able to thank the Lord for the food which we are about to eat.  There are many families out there who are not able to have such wonderful meals and some who don't get to eat meals together or at all.  We are teaching our children to be thankful for the gifts which we have been given and to pray for those who are less fortunate.  I encourage you if you do not already, to start praying before meals with your spouse and/or children.  They will enjoy it and it can become part of your family routine!
As the year goes by, we change things up a bit to go along with the seasons of the year and of our faith.  As they change I will share with you what we do...

Quick Quiche

Here is an easy meal if you don't have time to make dinner from scratch.  This taste close to homemade and much better than picking up fast food or making a frozen pizza! 
Quiche
I picked up premade pie crust from Aldi and HyVee has great premade quiche mixes.  They have three or four different types.  I usually choose the three cheese one and then I can add whatever I would like to it.  Some ideas are: precooked sausage, ham, or bacon, you can also add onion, mushrooms, green pepper, cooked hash browns, chilies, mixed veggies, or whatever you prefer. 
All you have to do it take the pie crust and press it into a pie pan.  Then shake the mixture and place it in the pie pan.  You can add the rest of the ingredients of your choosing.  It cooks at 400 for about 40-50 minutes (at least the one I chose).   **The quiche mix is in the freezer section and will need to be thawed before using.
We had this with Tater tots and fresh strawberries.
What is great about this meal is  the pie crust and the quiche mix last for awhile, so it is a great back up meal and I try to have these on hand in time of need!  You can make this meal for about $10-12 with sides included.
Also, later this week I will share with you a dessert you can make using the extra pie crust (they usually come in twos). 

Beef Ravioli Soup

Beef Ravioli Soup

1 c sliced celery

½ c chopped onion

1 c sliced carrots

2T vegetable oil

4c beef broth

1/8 pepper

¼ t crushed red pepper flakes

1 (15 oz) beef ravioli

¼ c chopped parsley

Grated parmesan cheese

In large kettle, sauté celery, onion, and carrots in oil for 3 mintues; add broth and seasonings.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer, covered about 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Stir in ravioli and heat through.  Garnish with parsley and parmesan cheese.

Sides to go with it...

This has become a very busy week around here...  Thank goodness for school fundraisers at restaurants, it not only helped the school but it also helped me last night! 

When planning meals, I just plan the main meal and then I have a bunch of things I can use to go with it.  Here are a list of some things I like to keep on hand:

• Rice
• Frozen Veggies
• Broccoli
• Corn
• Corn on the Cob
• Cauliflower
• Fresh Veggies
• Zucchini
• Asparagus
• String Beans
• Potatoes (new and Idaho)
• Corn On Cob (During the summer)
• Celery
• Red Onion
• or whaterever else looks good
• Canned Veggies
• Corn
• Green Beans
• Roasted Red Peppers
• Tator Tots
• Pasta
• Fresh Fruit
• Canned Fruit
• Crescent Rolls
• Breads
• Garlic
• French
• Rye
• Instant Mash Potatoes
• Lettuce/Salad Mix
• Olive Oil
• Italian Dressing

With this list I can usually pull something together to go with our meal.  A lot of the time, I let the kids choose what we have as a side, mostly in hopes they will eat better...

Also, you might notice, many of the things on this list can last for awhile, so I try to use up the fresh produce then move to the frozen or non-perishable items.  Also I end up buying certain veggies or things for meals and we eat the rest for sides through out the month.

I have an extra refrigerator in our garage which I use to store extra stuff for the month or beyond.  I also have space set aside in our hall closet for the overflow of non-perishables.  When things go on sale, I stock up!

Shish-Kabobs

Shish-Kabobs

3 chicken breast

2 green peppers

1 red onion

¾ bottle marinate  (whatever flavor you like)

Cut up chicken, green peppers, and red onion and place all of it in a bowl with a lid.  Pour ¾ bottle of marinate or all of it if you like, on the chicken and veggies.  Put lid on bowl and shake.  Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  I really prefer 8-10 hours or more, but 30 is the minimum. 

Before grilling, I skew all of the chicken on its own skewers, and skew the veggies on their own.  You can mix them up, but it will make it hard to cook the chicken all the way through without over cooking the veggies.  My husband actually grilled these, but he grilled them on medium heat for about 15 minutes.  Just make sure the chicken is cooked through...  He put the veggies on the top rack after awhile....

You can use beef instead of chicken and you can use any kind of veggie that fits on a skewer.  You could even use pineapple to sweeten it up.

Marinate: You can make your own, but I usually use pre-made out of convenience.  This time I used the Garlic and Herb from Aldi’s but I have used many different kinds. 

I served our chicken and veggies over brown rice.  We had strawberries and grapes to go with it.

Fettucci Alfredo

Fettuccini Alfredo

2 stick butter

3 ½ cup heavy cream

1 c fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1 pkg Fettuccini

Boil fettuccini until cooked.  Drain well.

Melt butter in large sauce pan.

Put fettuccini in butter and toss.

Add cream and cheese.

Stir over med/low heat for 10 minutes uncovered.

Cover to make thicker, leave uncovered if it is good.

Remember it will thicken up while waiting to be served.

I like to sprinkle some Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning and  grated Parmesan on my serving to top it off. 

Tonight I ended up using whole grain linguine instead, since it was all I had around the house... 

We had garlic bread and strawberries to go with it!

This recipe is often requested when I bring a dish to places.  I cook it and put in a crockpot to take with me.

Girls Night Out!

Sorry no dinner blog...  I went out with the girls, which means dad is in charge of dinner.  Not sure what they even had, but on my nights out, I really could careless what they eat. :).   However, my husband is very capable of cooking, since he was the one who made our dinners the first three years of marriage...  I know they won't go hungry! 
Breakfast for dinner is one of his favorites to make...  He also loves to grill! 

Maybe sometime I will have him write up what he feeds them when I am not here ;) 

Cheese Chicken Mini Pot Pies

Cheese Chicken Mini Pot Pies     From between3sisters.com

- 1 can of reduced fat biscuits (10 count)

- 1 cup cooked chicken breast, diced
- 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can reduced-fat cream of chicken soup
- 2/3 cup shredded low-fat cheddar cheese
- 1 cup of frozen mixed veggies (I use broccoli, cauliflower, corn, peas...anything)
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

- 1 teaspoon of onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Separate biscuits and place each biscuit in a cup of a lightly greased 12-hole muffin pan, pressing dough up sides to edge of cup.
3. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, chicken soup, veggies, cheddar cheese, onion powder, parsley flakes, and black pepper. Mix well to combine.
4. Evenly spoon chicken mixture into prepared biscuit cups.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Remove from oven. Place muffin pan on a wire rack and let set for 2-3 minutes. Serve at once.

The Skinny: Serves 10 biscuits @ 144 calories

These are my oldest daughter's favorite!  We had these with mash potoates and green beans!

Little Helpers:  The kids help me with the biscuits.  The younger puts them in and the older presses them for me. 

Helpful tip:  I use a mini ice cream scoop to scoop in the chicken mixture in.  Less of a mess and much quicker!

Quick Taco Salad

This too is a meal I had as a kid and works great for nights when you don't have a lot of time for dinner and is easy to clean up!

Quick Taco Salad

1lb ground beef, browned (season with garlic powder and cumin while browning)
half head of lettuce
2 cups cheese
1/2 - 3/4 bag of tortilla chips, slightly crunched
1/2 jar taco sauce

Mix all ingredients.  Make more or less depending on your family size. 

Picky Eaters:  I take a bowl out for each kid before I pour the taco sauce on it. 

Tip:  I put all ingredients in a bowl with a lid and shake it and serve. 

We had corn on the cob and sliced apples to go with this.

Fried Rice and Baked Crab Rangoon

I leaned how to make my fried rice from my mom, however, it is my own version...  She makes her's a little different and adds different things. Feel free to do the same.  There really is no recipe as far as I know, so this is basically how I do it...  I also make just enough for the four of us.  Feel free to add more or less to fit your family needs.

Fried Rice

2 chicken breast cut in cubes

½  lb bacon, cut in pieces (I use lower sodium bacon)

1-2 green peppers, diced

½ bunch of green onions, chopped

2 eggs

Low sodium soy sauce

3 cups cooked brown rice  (I use brown, my mom uses white)

In large, deep frying pan or wok, cook bacon and chicken on med-high heat.  When bacon and chicken are almost cooked, drain the grease, then toss in veggies (feel free to add in other veggies you like).  I also pour some soy sauce in with the veggies, about 2-3 Tbs. 

Cook until veggies are cooked, about 2-3 minutes.  Then I add the rice and pour some more soy sauce on it, to your liking.  Cook for a few minutes.  Then make a circle in the middle of the pan so you can crack the two eggs in the middle and slightly scramble them.  Then mix it all together and cook for about two more minutes.

Other ingredients you could use:  Steak, shrimp, peas, onion, carrots, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, really anything…

Crab Rangoon   From weight-watchers-recipes.net off pintrest

Ingredients:

1/8 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp Worcestershire sauce
14 won ton wrappers
1 small green onion
4 oz surimi imitation crab
3 oz cream cheese

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, garlic salt and Worcestershire sauce until smooth.
Stir in crab and onion.
Place 2 teaspoonfuls in the center of each wonton wrapper.
Moisten edges with water; bring corners to center over filling and press edges together to seal.
Place on a baking sheet coated with non-stick cooking spray.
Lightly spray wontons with nonstick cooking spray.

Bake at 425 °F (210 °C) for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Makes 14 Crab Rangoon (2 Per Serving)

Nutritional Info Per Serving: Calories 94; Total Fat 2.29g; Cholesterol 12mg;
Sodium 147mg; Potassium 40mg; Carbs 12.03g; Fiber 0g; Protein 5.76g

If you don't have time to make crab rangoon, I also pick up frozen spring rolls, or they have frozen egg rolls, for when I am in a hurry... 

Broccoli Wild Rice Soup

I try to make a new recipe once a week or at least every other week...  This is the one we tried tonight.  It was a hit with everyone, minus my picky eater, but she doesn't count.  Great on a cold fall night!

Broccoli Wild Rice Soup  From Sherry Buhler, Good Shepherd Parish

1 (6oz) pkg. chicken and wild rice mix

5 c water

3 c frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

1 medium carrot, shredded   (prefer chopped)

2 tsp. dried minced onion

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup (undiluted)

1 (8oz) cream cheese, cubed

¼ c slivered almonds (optional)

In a large saucepan, combine rice, contents of seasoning packet, and water; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring once.  Stir in the broccoli, carrot, and onion.  Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.  Stir in soup and cream cheese.  Cook and stir until cheese is melted.  Stir in almonds if desired. 

This is probably not one of the healthiest soups...  I did use the Fit and Active cream of chicken soup and you could use fat free or reduced cream cheese...  Some places may also sell low sodium rice mix too...  We had this with our famous crescent rolls and crackers tonight!

Oven Fried Potaotes

Oven Fried Potatoes   From Taste of Home

12-14 Servings        Prep: 10 minutes     Bake: 40 minutes

12 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup vegetable oil      (I use olive oil)

Place potatoes in two large resealable plastic bags.  Combine the Parmesan cheese and seasonings; add to potatoes.  Seal bag and shake to coat.

Pour oil into two 15in x 10in x1 in baking pans.  Pour potatoes into pans.  Bake uncovered at 375 for 40-50 minutes or until tender. 

Tonight we settled on hamburgers and brauts.  We had these potatoes as a side along with some sliced apples from the apple orchard.  This might be the last beautiful day for awhile, so we took advantage of the wonderful day by grilling.  My husband does all of the clean up after dinner every night and when we grill there is less to clean up!  We took advantage of the nice weather and headed out for a walk to the park! 

Little Helpers:  My five year old helped me cut the potatoes!  Last winter when I was making a lot of soups, I taught her how to cut veggies with my Cutco knives....  She loves it and so far no accidents!  I let both of them add the seasonings and shake the bags...

Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti Pie

2 jars spaghetti sauce 

1 pkg. spaghetti

1 lb ground beef

1 lb Italian sausage

1 c sliced olives  (optional)

Cheese Layer:

1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese

1 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp milk

4 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

A couple of dashes of garlic powder to taste

Topping:

2 c Mozzarella cheese

Brown ground beef and sausage and cook spaghetti.  Add 1 ½ jars of spaghetti sauce and olives to meat mixture.  Pour spaghetti into sauce and mix.  Put ½ of spaghetti mixture in 9x13 inch pan.  Spread cheese mixture over spaghetti.  Put remaining spaghetti mixture over cheese layer and top with remaining sauce.  Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over top.  Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

I usually split this recipe in half because it makes too much the four of us.  However, you could freeze the other half and have it another night!

Tonight I am serving it with green beans and garlic bread.  When I serve green beans, I like to use fresh, but tonight I am doing can.  I rinse the green beans and heat them.  Then I sprinkle a little garlic powder and spray butter on them.  (My husband keeps his blood pressure under control with diet and this is why I rinse and use only garlic powder and spray)

I use whole grain pasta and I use Hunts Garlic and Herb pasta sauce in a can.  We have family who work for Conagra, therefore we try to support them as often as we can.  You can aways use fat free cheeses while making this. 

Enjoy!