Menu Plan 10/25

Menu Plan

Monday: Gnocchi with Alfredo and broccoli

Gnocchi, flour, butter, milk, white cheeses, broccoli

Tuesday: Bean and Cheese Quesadillas with salad

Re fried Beans, shredded cheddar cheese, tortillas, butter, salad, dressing

Wednesday: Meatball Grinder Pizza w/ salad (something new we are gonna try I made a list of fun pizza ideas and this is the one hubby chose)

ground beef, crackers, egg, pizza crust: flour, water, sugar, yeast, salt; marinara sauce: garlic, basil, 35 oz peeled tomatoes, extra v. olive oil, salt & pepper, shredded Parmesan cheese, salad

Thursday: Breakfast for Dinner with Fruit

Eggs, Bacon, toast, fruit

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Pasta, sauce, and Bread sticks with green beans

Pasta, Sauce, cheese, green beans, bread sticks: flour, water, sugar, yeast, salt, Parmesan, garlic salt, butter

Sunday: Family Dinner

White Sicilian Pizza

I found this recipe on browneyedbaker and had to try it!

It was really good!! When I was younger my mom would make pizza without sauce for me... cuz sauce was yucky! Now I like it as long as it is smooth with no chunks in it and I still don't put very much! :) Oh and instead of tomato slices I just used pepperoni because we like our pepperoni pizza around here, and tomatoes...not so much!

The crust is thin and flaky almost like pie crust, you make it like you would a pie crust then add yeast with the water.

Crust

2-2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for kneading

1 TBS sugar

1 tsp salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, chilled and cubed

2/3 cup warm water

1/2 tsp instant yeast

Preheat oven to the highest that it can go, mine was 525 degrees. Preheat your pizza stone with the oven if using a pizza stone.

In a mixing bowl combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Using a pastry blender add the butter into the flour mixture and work it in until it resembles coarse sand. In a large measuring cup combine the water and yeast. Add water to flour and mix with a fork until evenly moistened.

Turn onto a floured surface and knead until it is smooth and comes together. Split the dough into two equal balls and let them rest under a damp kitchen towel for 30 minutes.

If using a pizza stone, flour your pizza peal and shape the dough on that. If your just using a pizza pan then you can do it on parchment paper. Shape one piece of the dough into a 10 inch circle. Cook for 5 minutes. Repeat with the other piece of dough. I only made one pizza and froze the other dough (I froze it AFTER I cooked it for the 5 minutes, so now I'll just take it out of the freezer top it and put it in the oven for 5-10 mins!)

Take your crust out of the oven and brush with olive oil and top with cheeses, seasonings, and pepperoni, or whatever else you choose.

Toppings

Olive Oil

Shredded Provolone

Shredded Mozzarella

Grated Romano

Garlic Powder

Dried Basil

Dried Oregano

Salt and pepper

Pepperoni

Return to oven for 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted and starts to brown. Mine only took 5 minutes.

Tortilla Soup

My husband LOVES tortilla soup!

On our 1 month anniversary when we were first started dating I tried to make it for him from a recipe I found online. I, being the picky person I am, had never tried tortilla soup and didn't know what it was supposed taste like. It had very little flavor and had a bunch of big chunks of veggies in it. I didn't even taste it and my hubby politely thanked me and suggested we fix it up a bit :)

So when we were in Texas with his parents, we went to this restaurant where he likes it best and the following recipe is what we came up with!

Tortilla Soup

1 cup shredded/cubed chicken, previously cooked

1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 can white hominy

1 cup black beans

3 cups chicken broth

Cumin Powder
Chili Powder

Ground Cayenne pepper to taste (add more if you like it spicy!)

dash of garlic salt 

couple dashes of onion powder

1/4 cup sour cream

shredded cheddar cheese

Drain the cans of tomatoes and hominy and pour into a 3 or 4 qt pot over medium high heat. Add the chicken, black beans and chicken broth. Add in chili powder and cayenne pepper, I add quite a bit, just do it to the flavor that you want it. Just a dash or two of garlic salt and three dashes of onion powder... just add a little until it tastes good :) Take off of the heat and add the sour cream. Top with more sour cream (if you'd like), shredded cheddar cheese, and baked corn tortilla strips!

P.S. I eat it ALL except for the tomatoes! I really have come a long way with my picky-ness :)

Baked Corn Tortilla Strips

3 corn tortillas

salt

cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut each tortilla in half, then into little strips. Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Bake in oven for about 10 minutes, flipping half way through (I didn't time it so just check them, bake until crispy)

Menu Plan 10/18

I make a menu for every week, which saves me time and money when grocery shopping! I started coupon-ing about a year and half ago and found that it doesn't really save money unless you have a plan for the things that you buy! I just wanted to share with you guys my menu plan for this week!

It is always horrible when you have a busy day (everyday!!) and 5 O'clock rolls around (or 6 O'clock!!) and you realize you should have started dinner already, or at least thought of what you want to make. Having a menu plan gets rid of the stress of moments like that.

It'll keep you from picking something up from a fast food restaurant, starting something and realizing you don't have some of the ingredients you need, or, if your like us, eating cereal for dinner!

This week the menu is as follows:

Monday: Grilled cheese Sandwiches with Chicken Alfredo Soup (Campbell's :) )

Bread, butter, cheddar cheese, 2 cans of Chicken Alfredo Soup

Tuesday: Bacon Potato Torte with Broccoli

2 pie Crusts: flour, salt, 2 sticks butter, water; Potatoes, Bacon, half & half, cheese, salt & pepper, egg, Broccoli

Wednesday: Leftovers (Hubby has to work until 9 pm)

Thursday: Tortilla Soup* with corn bread

Shredded Chicken, diced tomatoes, Hominy, Cheese, chicken broth, Black beans, sour cream, corn tortilla strips, cayenne pepper, chili powder, garlic salt, onion powder, butter, sugar, 3 eggs, milk, flour, corn meal, baking powder, salt

Friday: Chicken Enchiladas* (leftover corn bread)

Tortillas, shredded chicken, cheese, green enchilada sauce, cream of chicken soup, sour cream

Saturday: White Sicilian Pizza* with salad

Dough: Flour, sugar, salt, butter, water, yeast; olive oil, shredded provolone, mozzarella, grated Romano, garlic powder, basil, oregano, garlic cloves, slat & pepper, pepperoni, salad, dressing

Sunday: Family Dinner

(Every Sunday we have "family" dinner, with people who are all family... except for us... well not technically anyways, but lucky for us they've adopted us!)

*Recipes to be posted, if I in fact get around to making them! :)

The Menu Plan is not a no fail plan, but it definitely helps things run smoother. Some days we don't get home with enough time to make what is planned (or I just don't feel like it!) so we throw something quick and easy together. I assign days to meals but usually depending on how the day goes and how much time I have I switch it up, but I know that I have all of the ingredients for all of those meals!

What I do is look through my pantry to see what I have, look through the grocery store sales- pretty much I only go to Publix cuz it is awesome! (I use Iheartpublix.com and southernsavers.com for easy deal hunting, they do all of the work, it's great! ) Then start thinking of meals I can make with things I have on hand or that I can get the ingredients for cheap.

I keep my pantry well stocked with things that I know I am going to use by getting about 3-6 weeks worth of that item when it goes on sale, depending on how many coupons I have for it.

I write my menu plan in my notebook (yes, I'm THAT kind of person, you know, the kind that has like a bazillion notebooks- ok so only 3 5 subject ones right now, but I pretty much write everything down and make list after list to keep organized!)

I write down the full meal I want to make, then on the next line write all of the ingredients I'm going to need (shown above!) I then go through all of the ingredients and write down at the bottom of the page a grocery list!

This week all I have to get is a can of Hominy! Two of the meals were supposed to be made last week, but things got a little crazy because my baby girl either got the measles or had a really bad reaction to her MMR shot :( ! So I already have a lot of the ingredients that I needed. Life is Crazy all on it's own, might as well try to be prepared for the things we can be!!

Nourish the Children

As I have mentioned before, I am a distributor for Nu Skin Enterprise. We have a program called Nourish the Children that is feeding starving and malnourished children around the world.

It is simple to buy a VitaMeal for donation. When you purchase and donate VitaMeal through Nourish the Children, ownership will be transferred to reputable humanitarian agencies to distribute the food to important projects around the world. US distributors and customers can also purchase VitaMeal to donate to their favorite US charity, soup kitchen, or project. This is a great way to address hunger at the local level. One bag of VitaMeal feeds a malnourished child for one month and only costs $22 per bag.

We not only create these meals to donate, but we also go to some of the poorest countries and teach them to be more self sufficient. It truly is an amazing program that I encourage you to read more about it by going to http://rmlaw.millionsofmeals.com/?gwpID=USW9289703

I would really appreciate it if you could help me get the word out so we can reach our goal to exceed 200 million donated meals by the end of 2010!!

Nu Skin is an anti aging, skincare, and nutrition company. "Nourish the Children may be 5 percent of what we do, but it is 95 percent of who we are"-Blake Roney, NuSkin Chairman of the Board.

"We are deeply troubled that every day children around the world are dying from malnutrition. Nourish the Children unites Nu Skin with our extensive worldwide distributor force in nourishing the world's hungry children. Our joint mission is to be a powerful force in saving children's lives.".

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These were really good!! The texture is like the texture of these Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies but a little more dense.I have to admit that pumpkin scares me a little! I think it kinda smells funny. I have never tried pumpkin pie, and every time I almost convince myself to try it, I take a look at it and decide against it... I'm crazy I know! When I was working in Spanish Fork someone brought some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in to work... I tried one... and LOVED it!! No weird looking pumpkin goo made it a little easier to swallow! :)

I found this recipe on annies-eats.com and the only thing I did different was use chocolate chips instead of butterscotch.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a small bowl mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In an electric mixer bowl mix the eggs and sugar on medium high speed for about a minute until it is light in color and smooth

Add in the oil, pumpkin puree, and vanilla. Mix until combined well.

On low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.

Scoop some dough and plop it onto the cookie sheet, doesn't have to look perfect... they are not the prettiest cookies. I used a small cookie scoop, I probably should have made them a little bigger, but oh well! Space them a few inches apart. Bake for about 10 minutes if you make them small or if they are a little bigger then for about 12-13 minutes turning halfway through the cook time. They are done when the tops feel firm and don't sink in when you poke them. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5+ minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container.

Easy Creamy Pasta

I don't usually do a lot of pasta unless it is this simple skillet lasagna or daddy's mac and cheese, mainly because when we were in Provo (and DIRT poor) it was pretty much all we ate! I got so sick of it! I really do love pasta though, you can do so many different things with it and it can make lots of quick and easy meals!!

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and it was really tasty!

Easy Creamy Pasta

2 cups chicken broth
2 cups half and half (the recipe calls for heavy cream and I would still use that if you have it I just didn't have any on hand)
8 oz linguine (I used fettuccine, again just because it is what I had)
1 cup shredded chicken
6 slices of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1 cup peas
1 cup grated Parmesan (fresh would be best)

Put the chicken broth and heavy cream into a medium sauce pan and bring it to a boil, then reduce to medium/low heat. Let it simmer down until it reduces to about half (mine never thickened up much so I added some flour mixed with cold water to help it out a little) For the bacon I put it onto 2 paper towels on a microwave safe dish and cooked it for 2 1/2 minutes (thank you to my good friend Maricela for instructions on how to do bacon in the Microwave... turned out perfect!!) Then add Parmesan, peas, chicken, and bacon bits.

Poor over Pasta to serve!

For the pasta, just bring a large pot of water, salt and a little bit of oil to boil. Once boiling add the pasta and stir. If you are using fettuccine cook for 11-12 minutes, linguine will take about 8-10 mins. The pasta is supposed to be al dente, I usually cook it for a little longer because I don't like my pasta firm at all, if you are like me, just add a couple of minutes to the cook time.

Serve with some Garlic bread and you have a really quick and yummy meal!

Homemade Flour Tortillas

I wrote this recipe down a long time ago and don't remember where I got it!

They turned out pretty good, but I think I'm gonna stick with store bought ones for now! :)

Flour Tortillas

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 heaping tsp salt

5 TBS shortening or lard

3/4 cup warm water

I used the whisk attachment on my kitchen aid for the beginning of the recipe then I used the dough hook. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the shortening and mix until mixture is uniformly crumbly. While mixing slowly stream in the water, until the dry ingredients form a ball. Knead for 30 seconds; it should clean the sides of the bowl. It should be soft, not sticky.

Turn out onto a floured surface. Divide into golf ball sized (2 oz each... I just guessed... and didn't do a great job hehe) I made some bigger ones for burritos too. Cover with a kitchen towel and let them rest for about 10 minutes.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium/high heat.

Sprinkle your surfaces with a little bit of flour and also dust the top of your ball with flour. Roll balls into thin rounds with a rolling pin (will require some arm muscles!! My arms got so tired by the end… but I’m pretty weak so that’s not really saying much)

Lay tortilla flat in the heated pan and cook on each side for about 20 seconds until the bubbles areas are browned.

Keep the cooked tortillas covered with a towel to keep them warm and pliable. Eat them while they are still warm!

On the burrito I put a little bit of leftover Chili Meat, Homemade refried beans, cheese, some hot sauce and served with sour cream, they were delicious!!

How to Make Pie Crust

I used this pie crust for a bacon potato torte and seriously if you haven't tried it yet, please do, it is SOOO delicious!

So pretty much I have been Obsessed with pie crust lately! I just love the flaky texture that seems to make anything you put with it better! The recipe I use I got from here and I love it, it is so easy!

Pie Crust

2 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp salt

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, chilled and cubed

8-10 TBS ice water

Mix the flour and salt, using a pastry blender cut in the butter, until it looks like coarse crumbs.

Get a cup of ice water, mix it into the flour mixture two tablespoons at a time until it all comes together to form a dough.

You want it just to the point where it all sticks together and doesn't fall apart when you form it into a ball.

Form into 2 balls (one for a top crust and one for the bottom crust) wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Then roll it out on a lightly floured surface.

Then use it for something SWEET! (I used my extra pieces and put some cinnamon sugar on it and baked them up... it was a nice simple treat!

Or something Savory! YUM!

Put bottom crust into the pie plate, add the filling, then cover with the top crust, crimping the edges closed. Cut slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape. Also brush some egg wash on for a little extra crisp and golden color (can be whole egg with a little water or milk added or just yolk and water, white and milk... I'm still learning but it doesn't make any HUGE difference :)!)

Pan Fried Zucchini

I LOVE Zucchini!! For a while I couldn't even think about it, because when I first got pregnant with Olivia I was craving deep fried zucchini. We got the official confirmation that I was indeed pregnant and went to Olive Garden to celebrate (Here they still have a smoking section in Olive Garden!! REALLY PEOPLE?? We should have just left because it stunk so bad!!) :) BUT I had to have my deep fried zucchini, I got SO sick and my whole pregnancy just the thought of it would make me sick!! It was awful!!! Now that I have turned your stomach... make this, you'll love your zucchini this way!! :) haha

Pan Fried Zucchini

butter

salt

pepper

zucchini

Cut your zucchini into slices. In a frying pan melt some butter over medium heat and salt and pepper the butter quite a bit. Lay the zucchini in the butter, cooking one layer at a time. Cook for 2 minutes or so on each side, until the zucchini is soft and is a little browned. Just put a little bit of butter in before each new "batch".

Simple yet very satisfying!!! :)

Corn Bread

This turned out really good! I usually just use the Jiffy corn muffin mix and add some sugar to it but since I didn't have any I thought I'd try it from scratch!

I got this recipe from here but I switched the amount of the flour and cornmeal so it would be less cake like and more corn bread-like.

Corn Bread

2/3 cup butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 2/3 cups milk

1/2 cup flour

2 cups corn meal

4 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar. In a separate bowl combine the eggs and milk. And in yet another bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Alternating add some of the dry mixture to the butter then the wet mixture, little at a time until it is all mixed in. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 22-27 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm with butter!

Sugar Cookie, Candy Pizza

Sadly I didn't get a picture with all of the toppings on because I brought it to an activity for girls to assemble themselves.
I am a leader for Activity Girls in my ward at church and I was in charge of bringing the treat. (I am always very quick to volunteer for bringing treat :) ) I decided to make 2 soft sugar cookies in my tart pan, bring some vanilla frosting for them to spread on and then some kit-kats, reese's, and mini m&ms for the toppings... YUM!

I got the recipe out of my Taste of Home cook book and the only thing I changes was I took out the almond extract and added 1/4 tsp extra of vanilla extract.

Soft Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Toppings

vanilla frosting

Kit-Kats, cut into small pieces

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, cut into small pieces

Mini M&M's

(whatever you like best!)

Cream the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Gradually add the the creamed butter mixture. I used my tart pan that has a removable bottom and it worked great because I think it would be hard to get out otherwise, if you don't have one I'd suggest using a pizza pan that has a small lip and just serve it in the pan (if you use the pizza pan it'd probably just make one really big cookie instead of 2 medium sized ones like I made.). Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Spread with frosting and top with candy!

Raspberry Cream Cheese Bites

These were not as easy to make as I thought they would be but they were definitely delicious! I got the idea from this raspberry cream cheese braid recipe and these pizza bites.

Just use a bread recipe or you can use the bread from the raspberry cream cheese braid for the dough, I used my roll recipe.

Dough

3/4 cup water, warm

1/2 TBS yeast

1 TBS sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

Filling

the measurements are a little weird because I halved the recipe for it because it makes a lot!

1/2 package cream cheese (4 oz)

1/2 egg

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/16 tsp salt

1/4 cup raspberry jam

Glaze

1/2 + 1/8 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 TBS milk

Make the dough. Mix the warm water, yeast and sugar, then add the salt and flour. Let it rest while you make the filling. Soften the cream cheese and mix it with the sugar, egg, vanilla, and salt. Break your dough into small pieces, about 1/3 of the size you would make for a roll. Flatten each piece, not too thin or the filling will ooze out. Put a little bit of the cream cheese filling and a little bit of raspberry jam into each piece of dough and fold it around the filling and seal it. Put it into a 9 inch round cake pan seam side down, each pan should fit about 24 pieces. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Mix the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk and drizzle the glaze over the raspberry cream cheese bites! They were very yummy! Just a different way of serving the delicious raspberry cream cheese combo! YUM!!

Garlic Bread

So... you know that garlic bread that you can get at walmart for like 1.50 that is smothered in butter on both sides??? I have a confession to make... I LOVE that garlic bread! All of that crispy buttery goodness!! Well I decided to try to make it from scratch!! I was very happy with the results!! I was so proud that it looked just like it and my hubby even said it tasted better... so sweet! :)
I used this french bread recipe.

Garlic Bread

french bread

BUTTER :)

Italian seasoning

garlic salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice bread however thick you like. Butter both sides. Sprinkle both sides with garlic salt and Italian seasoning. Bake for 5 minutes on each side or until crispy and golden brown on each side. (I also put a little butter all around the crust just for good measure!! :) )

Butterscotch Peanut Butter Bars

This is a recipe my mom made a lot... it is out of some cook book that she has but I just have it written in my recipe book so I'm not sure which one!!

I tried to make these with my friend Holly when I was younger and because butterscotch is in the title, I thought there were butterscotch chips in them... I put a whole bag in with the peanut butter mixture. They actually weren't too bad, but there was a layer of butterscotch on the bottom that was kinda hard and weird... OOPS!! :) haha I had many food mishaps when I was younger and thought I could cook. Now that I am older and think I can cook I still have a few, but luckily not as many! :)

Butterscotch Peanut Butter Bars

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cups sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Melt the butter in a 2 qt sauce pan. Add the brown sugar and peanut butter, mix well. Bring the mixture just to boiling over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, let cool to lukewarm. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. While cooling, sift the flour with the baking powder and salt in a separate bowl, set aside. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan. With a wooden spoon beat the eggs and vanilla into the cooled peanut butter mixture. Stir in the flour mixture. Spread evenly in the prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes (the top is going to kind of bubble up and look flaky) let it cool in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars and eat while still slightly warm.

A yummy treat that is a little different than what we usually have!

Pizza Bites

These were AMAZING... I mean seriously, "Pizza Bites" that's all I really have to say here right?? My sweet baby girl turned 1 yesterday! I had a few people over to celebrate and wanted to make something that wasn't sweet... cuz I had LOTS of other sweets already. I've been wanting to make these for a while and decided it would be perfect!

I got this idea from Annie's eats, I didn't use her recipe because I was in a hurry and didn't have time to look at it!

I used a bread recipe that sadly I can't share. It is Pantry Secrets recipe and I think they sell the recipe with ingredients and a kit or something. It is what I use whenever I'm short on time... so pretty much always! :)

I would use just a basic pizza dough recipe like this one:

**I'm also thinking if I use the breadsticks recipe it'd be good, and not as heavy as the pizza dough or bread dough.

Pizza Dough

1 cup warm water

1 TBS yeast

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp shortening

abt. 3/4 cups flour

(which is also quick and easy but I didn't know it off the top of my head like I do the bread recipe!)

Pizza Bites

mozzarella cheese, I used shredded but it would be easier if you cubed a block of cheese and used the little cubes

pepperoni, quartered

Italian seasoning

garlic salt

grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the pan, I used butter! Make the dough. Break the dough into little pieces, like 1/3 of the size you would do when making rolls, try to get them pretty even, try to get about 24 pieces. Cut the pepperoni slices into quarters. In each piece I put 3 pieces of pepperoni (3/4 of one whole pepperoni slice) and a little bit of cheese then fold the ingredients inside and pinch the seam and place seam side down in the pan. Do this with each ball. Sprinkle with garlic salt, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Seriously... make these!! They are so easy, though a tad bit time consuming filling each one, but they are worth it!!!!!

Easy Beefy Nachos

This isn't much of a recipe, just an idea really! I used my chili meat recipe for the shredded beef.

Easy Beefy Nachos

Tortilla Chip

1/2 lb Velveeta Cheese

1/4 cup Milk

1/3 lb Shredded Beef for Chili Meat (along with all of the other small ingredients you need for it click on link above for recipe)

1 cup Black Beans

**We have been eating out of our pantry and we only had Velveeta cheese... which I don't like except for in cheesy potato soup but it wasn't too bad! And normally I'd add home made refried beans on top of Nachos too... yum!! **

Warm up the chips in the oven for just a few minutes at 300 degrees. Meanwhile in a small saucepan melt 1/2 lb Velveeta cheese with about a 1/4 cup milk, just make it as creamy as you'd like, it is going to harden a little bit as it cools on the chips. In a 2 qt saucepan make the chili meat and mix in the black beans. Then just put a layer of chips on a plate, then a layer of the meat/beans then some cheese and keep doing that until it is all used up!

Cheese Ball

YUM YUM YUM!!!! This is a super good recipe that I got from my Sister in Law Heather! She made it for us when we were at their house for Christmas and I couldn't stay away from it! I made it last night because I had a few people over for a Spa Demo (I am an independent distributor for NuSkin!) and it was a hit! :) The recipe makes a pretty big cheese ball so I halved it. I'll just give you the original recipe and say next to it if I changed anything... but I really didn't change much!!

Cheese Ball

2 8oz block of cream cheese (16 oz)

2 small packages corned beef (I used salami, I got 1/4 lb from the deli but probably ended up only using half of it... so like 1/8 lb thinly sliced salami)

1 8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained

1/4 tsp garlic powder (I put a little less just cuz garlic powder scares me sometimes... but next time I'll probably just put all of it because the lemon juice balances it out really well, especially if left overnight in the fridge)

1 tsp lemon juice

chopped walnuts

Soften the cream cheese, just let it sit out for a little while. Drain the can of pineapple and squeeze out some of the juice so your cheese ball isn't too runny! Cut the salami into little squares. Mix everything together except for the walnuts until it is all "well balanced" (for example, all of the salami isn't clumped into one place, but is equally distributed throughout the cheese ball :)!) Shape it into a ball and roll until it is covered in crushed walnuts (I really could do without the nuts, but I don't hate them on their either... I just dig into the middle and let everyone else enjoy their nuts!) It looks prettier with the walnuts too. Stick it in the fridge and Heather told me to let it sit over night... but I'm a slacker and didn't make it until a few hours before, which tasted fine... but don't be a slacker like me, take her advice! :) Just keep it in the fridge until right before you serve it! Oh and I bought some crackers (which weren't on sale and I didn't even have a coupon... GASP!! Seriously though, that is a big deal for me... I'm hard core :P) anyways they went REALLY good with the cheese ball, they are Brenton Minis, the original flavor. Brenton is the kinda puffy really big crackers but these were just little bite size ones and not so puffy... really good though!!

Banana Bread

I have never liked bananas, but when it comes to banana bread I could eat a whole loaf!! It is so good! Growing up my mom would always wash out cans and use them to bake banana bread in, usually so we could give it to our teachers around Christmas time or end of the year, it made the perfect little loaf! This stuff is SO good!!

Banana Bread

1 Cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 Cup butter

3 TBS sour cream or milk

2 Cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

3 large bananas

nuts if desired (definitely NOT desired here!)

Cream the butter and sugar, add the beaten eggs and sour cream. Add all of the dry ingredients except for the flour.

In a separate bowl mash the bananas, I used my pastry blender. In another bowl put the flour. Alternately add some bananas into the first mixture then some flour... then bananas, then flour. (I added a 1/4 of each then mixed... and so on)

Add vanilla and mix well. Spray your loaf pan with cooking spray and bake at 350 degrees, mine only took about 40 minutes but depending on your oven it could take up to an hour, when you push on it and it springs back up it is done.

Shepherds Pie

This was very easy to make and we really enjoyed it!

I used this recipe but added a few things and I didn't use the same amounts that she did... and of course I used shredded beef instead of ground!

Shepherds Pie

1/2 lb Shredded Beef

abt. 3/4 can french style green beans (I used the whole thing but it was a little much so next time I'll use less!)

3 carrots, cooked and slices
lots of mashed potatoes.. like 3 cups? I didn't measure it out but you'll need enough to cover the

top of the pie, I used instant mashed potatoes

8 oz can tomato sauce

dash of Worcestershire

1 TBS parsley

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 TBS flour

1 TBS milk

(I also used the leftover potatoes from a roast chopped up in the filling)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the carrots and put then into a small pot of boiling water and cook until soft. Mix beef, tomato sauce, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, green beans, and carrots.

Mix the flour with 3 TBS water in a small bowl then mix into the beef mixture. Put mixture into a pie dish. Make the mashed potatoes and cover the top of the pie with them, put 2 or 3 vent holes in the potatoes (see picture below). Bake for 20 minutes, then take out and brush potatoes with the milk, I also sprinkled a little cheese on 'cause they were looking a little pale. :P

Sausage, Egg, & Cheese "Mc"Muffins

These were really good and really easy!! I didn't make the english muffins even though I had planned to... they were on sale, and the dry milk the recipe called1 for was not! Maybe next time!

Sausage, Egg, & Cheese "Mc"muffins

4 slices cheddar cheese
4 english muffins, toasted

4 eggs

salt and pepper

1/2 pound of sausage

Take out your roll of sausage and cut in half (I browned the other half and used it in my sausage gravy the next night for dinner). Cut the 1/2 pound into 4 equal pieces and shape each piece into a little sausage patty and cook for about 4 minutes on each side, until there is no longer any pink in the middle! In a separate frying pan make 4 fried eggs w/ salt and pepper. I used a little egg thing to keep it in place so it'd fit on my english muffin ... :)

Place the egg on your english muffin, then the sausage, then a piece of cheese, then the top of the english muffin! :) These were nice, just something different than usual and fun to make!

Mommy's little helper

:) Livvy is growing up so fast! She has discovered the kitchen, and how much fun it is to open and close the cabinets... and pull everything out of them! Just thought I'd share :)

Zucchini Bread

This is my Aunt Heidi's Recipe and it is SO SO good!!

Zucchini Bread

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

3 eggs

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups finely grated zucchini (it took me 1 1/2 medium sized zucchinis)

3 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

I grated the zucchini with the really small and fine cheese grater. Just mix all of the ingredients together really well. Divide equally into 2 loaf pans. Cook at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. I like to eat mine warm with butter!!

German Pancakes

These are great! So easy, not too involved, yet scrumptious! Just throw it together and you have a nice warm breakfast! (or a fast dish for "breakfast for dinner" :))

I don't know if they really have these in Germany, though my German friend did tell me they don't have pancakes like we do here... so maybe! :)

German Pancakes

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

5 TBS butter (ok it really calls for 5 tsp ... but I LOVE extra butter on these!)

I like to throw it all into the blender, it makes it super fast! I learned that from a mutual activity we had when I was in YW :) Anyways just put all of the ingredients EXCEPT the butter into the blender or other mixing bowl and whip it together. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Put the butter into a 9x13 baking dish (I halved the recipe for us and used a 9x9) and put into the preheating oven to melt... DON'T forget it in there!! When butter is melted take out and pour batter into the pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes... it is going to get really puffy and tall... then when you take it out it'll shrink down. All done!

You can put powdered sugar, syrup, brown sugar... maybe even some jam or nutella??