Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients: 

1 pound ground beef 

1/2 medium white onion (diced)

1-2 cans french sliced green beans (drained) 

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 bag frozen tater tots

cheddar cheese (grated)- you can also use pepper jack

Lowry Season Salt

Salt and Pepper

1. Brown the hamburger with the onion and drain fat 

2. Mix the cream of mushroom, green beans and hamburger in a bowl

3. Place in glass 9x13 casserole dish

 4. top with tater tots, season with Lowry season salt, salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with cheese

bake at 350 for 35-40 mins or until tater tots are cooked and the mixture on the bottom is bubbling up

Chicken Azteca (In a Crock-pot)

2-5 chicken breasts
2 cups salsa (I use have of the medium jars of Medium Heat Salsa)
1/2 tsp Cumin
1 can sweet corn (drained)
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1/2 onion diced
8 oz cream cheese
1 box Spanish rice (cooked)
Salt and pepper to taste
Toppings as desired

1. Place chicken breasts into crock-pot, season with salt and pepper and Cumin
2. Cover chicken with salsa, corn, black beans, onion and cream cheese
3. Cook on high 3-4 hrs. then low or warm till you serve it. (I cook it on high till I leave work and then put it on low before leaving)
4. Shred chicken with two forks (I put it in my food processor and it cuts your time in half) I also season the chicken with salt and pepper before putting it back into the crock-pot
5. While shredding chicken cook your box of Spanish Rice
6. Once chicken and rice are shredded and cooked, put it back into the crock-pot to absorb the juices it cooked in all day.
7. Serve in a tortilla, over tortilla chips, or over rice. (I serve it in a tortilla with all my toppings and the second day its great as a chip dip or served as nachos)

****Great when topped with sour cream, shredded cheese, diced tomatoes and diced avocados****

Looking at a different view

Well I am finally Mrs. Maples, and now if I get called a "Brat" I guess I deserve it. haha Now that we are starting on our own adventure its time to think of some more recipes to cook. Quick ones in fact. :) I have to admit it is hard to cook for just us two. I am so used to cooking for my family that it is taking an adjustment but I am getting a hang of it. We have been married for 3 months and I have only made one meal twice so that is an accomplishment. The hardest part I have is creating a menu and this month I am trying to plan the whole month to see if I save any money and time. I am putting it to the test and experimenting with my mom to see if doing a month budget is effective.

Other than cooking I have started to put my patience to the test and make some crafts to decorate our house. Its been a challenge but I am starting to learn that making a mistake isn't the end of the world. Being OCD and a perfectionist, challenging my patience hasn't killed me yet. ;)  Though that crooked stop light that I drive past work makes me cringe, don't be surprised if I make the news or something if you hear of some crazy person out there with a ladder.




I forgot to mention that a few weeks ago my husband made the most delicious stake dinner. He sauteed mushrooms, onion and a spicy pepper with the stake that he seared on our grill that we got for our wedding. While it was cooking he saved the juice from the take and cut it into strips and put it in the onions and mushrooms to finish cooking. On the side he made some Mexican style beans. Next time we may serve it in a sandwich or on top of some rice. Sure was worth cooking that rather than the red velvet pancakes I was begging for. Even more he gets brownie points because he may have cooked it better than I could have. ;)


This picture doesn't look very good but it sure tasted good.

Crazie Dazie Boutique

My mother in law is so talented and makes these cute hats and blankets for all ages... I personally love these owl hats. Check out her store Crazie Dazie Boutique  on etsy or here some of her latest projects. :) She does car seat covers as well as blankets and bracelets. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/craziedazie?ref=pr_shop_more

Pizza

This is my husbands favorite pizza. He loves it and makes for great left overs or to feed a big family.


Hamburger
Pepperoni
box of pizza mix or own pizza dough (the box has the sauce included)
Cheese
Mushrooms
Any other pizza toppings you like. I have done peppers, onion, and bacon as well.

This is very quick and simple. I bought a box of pizza mix that included the sauce and dough ingredients, and made it to save a little time. I spread the dough on my cookie sheet and then put on all the toppings. Cook for 15-20 mins until cheese is melted and crust is nice and crispy.

Enjoy!

Spaghetti and breadsticks. mmmm delicious

For my Spaghetti I made it in my crockpot where it could cook all day long.

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 1/2 lb hamburger
• 1/2 lb sausage (Italian is what I used)
• 1 can mushrooms or 1 cup mushrooms cut to preference
• 1 packet of spaghetti seasoning
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 small cans tomato sauce
• 1 lg family size spaghetti sauce
• 2 bay leaves 
•  garlic salt, salt and pepper, parsley flakes to taste
• 1 can olives (optional) 

I sauteed onion and mushrooms, cooked up the hamburger and sausage, and mixed in the packet of spaghetti seasoning. With the tomatoes I put in a blender to make it not as chunky but its up to you what you like.

For the Bread Sticks I found this recipe on  Pinterest and LOVE IT!!!! 

Ingredients 

• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. yeast
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup butter
• Parmesan cheese
• garlic salt
• parsley flakes (optional)

Instructions

1. Combine water and yeast in small bowl.
2. In larger bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
3. Add yeast water and mix. ( I just use a wooden spoon).
4. Knead and let rise 20 minutes.
5. Melt one cube of butter, and pour onto cookie sheet. Sprinkle the butter with garlic salt and Parmesan cheese.
6. Roll the dough into a rectangle the size of the cookie sheet, and use a pizza cutter to cut into 12 one inch wide strips. Double the long pieces of dough in half, and twist to form the bread stick.
7. Roll each bread stick around in the butter in the pan until completely covered. When all bread sticks are arranged in the pan, sprinkle tops with garlic salt and Parmesan cheese. Don't be shy, get 'em good! Add parsley if desired.
8. This makes 12 large bread sticks, or 18 or 24 smaller bread sticks.
9. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes. Watch closely, remove when they start to brown. Yum!

What I found funny was that everything was homemade except the Cesar Salad.

Chicken Nachos

These were so tasty we had them 3 days in a row!

Ingredients:
Chicken
1 box Spanish Rice
1 can Black Beans
1 can black olives
Salsa
Sour Cream
1 Avocado
1 Onion
1 bag Corn Chips
1 bag of cheese



Instructions:

Boil Chicken then shred it up and saute in olive oil with onion (season with salt and pepper). Cook up one box of Spanish Rice (microwave is the easiest). Then once your chicken and rice is cooked, start layering all the ingredients with some cheese in between the layers of chicken and rice. Cook in microwave for 1 min and top with Sour Cream, Salsa, and Avocado. 

This recipe is so simple and tasty that you will find your self making it all the time.

Enjoy!

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients:

4 cups of steamed broccoli

3 chicken breasts boiled

1 can Cream of Chicken

3-6 tablespoons Lemon Juice (depending on how tart you want the cream sauce to be)

1 cup of Mayonnaise

1 cup Cheese

1/4 cup Corn Flake Crumbs

 To speed up cooking time, steam your broccoli and place in the bottom of your 9x13 pan.

 Chop up chicken breasts and place on top of broccoli.

 To make your cream sauce: mix in Lemon Juice, Cream of Chicken, and Mayo. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons, I usually double that to make more of a tart sauce.

 Evenly spread cream sauce over broccoli and chicken.

Top with shredded cheese and corn flake crumbs. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve and Enjoy!

White Chicken Noodle Casserole

Ingredients:

1 (Costco size) white chicken/ 4 chicken strips boiled and shredded
1 can small of cream of mushroom
1 cup corn
1 cup shredded cheese
2 cups uncooked salad noodles
2 green onion

Cook noodles and mix with other ingredients in casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese, salt & pepper, and green onion. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes or until done.

Chicken Vegetable Alfredo

Want something that goes a long way and that is healthy and quick to make?  Have you ever had Chicken Alfredo and by the time the sauce came around to you there wasn't even enough to dish up and flavor your noodles, and all you had left were the steamed veggies your mom put on the table in hopes that you eat a few bites? Growing up in a big family I had this happen too many times to count so I decided to try something out. I made up this recipe and it was a hit! It is a family favorite and I make it at least once a month!

 I love this meal because there are many different options to change up just in case you don't have all the ingredients.  Like canned chicken or chicken breasts, as well as with the vegetables the options are endless.

Ingredients:

1 cup of vegetables per person
1 package of Angel Hair Noodles
2 cans of chicken (2 chicken breasts boiled and shredded)
1 bottle of Ragu Sauce
2 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese
Olive oil
Prep Time: 20 mins

Depending on how much time you have and what you want, you can cut up a variety of vegetables like I did-- broccoli, califlower, carrots, mushroms, and green onioin. You can also buy a pack of veggies to steam or what I have tried before use the microwaved steamed veggies.

Once the noodles are boiled (I used Angel Hair) mix in your alfredo sauce over the noodles and depending on how thick you want it add milk to thin it out and make it go a long way.

Mix in your steamed vegetables. I used carrots, broccoli and cawliflower. You can also use a the microwavable steamed veggies to save on prep time.

Season with salt and pepper and parmesan cheese as desired.