Thanksgiving Leftovers Casserole

I wasn't really sure what to call this one. It is 100% made up by me. I had no clue what I was doing while I was concocting it, I was just throwing random leftovers together. And then I got nervous, because what if it tasted awful and I just wasted all that food? That didn't even end up being a problem...this turned out really good! Kinda sweet, but not too much and lots of good flavor. So I'm really happy with how this turned out.

I may be the only one.

I'm okay with that.

Although hubs did have seconds. And thirds. Just sayin'...

Ingredients...

Totally ignore the crescent rolls and pretend they're not there. Add in leftover mashed potatoes in their place. I don't know what I was thinking when I was staging this photo...

...Stuffing Mix (yes. I used boxed. I ran out of the homemade stuff, and didn't have the time or ingredients to make more...)
...Turkey, shredded or chunked
...Mashed Potaotes
...Cranberries

Directions...

In a large bowl combine together the stuffing, cranberries and turkey. Place into an oven safe casserole dish, and then spread mashed potatoes over top of the stuffing mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until heated through.

To see more delicious recipes, check out Mouthwatering Monday over at A Southern Fairy Tale!

Turkey and Dressing for Sandwiches

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving! I'm sure that you were stuffed to the gills by the end of the day, and then had enough leftovers to make you sick at the thought of MORE turkey. Instead of choking down more, transform your leftovers into delicious sandwiches! This is a very simple recipe that calls for only things that were on your Thanksgiving table yesterday. This also freezes well...so if more Thanksgiving food really does make you sick, just whip up a batch of this and toss it in the freezer until your're ready for more! This is also a super simple recipe to whip up if you were out shopping this morning before the sun rose then you can make up a quick batch of this for your family before your collapse into bed in post shopping exhaustion :)

Ingredients...

...Gravy (I used 1 packet of McCormick gravy. You can use leftovers)
...Turkey
...Dressing

Directions...

The directions on this one are kind of hazy. Basically, all I did was toss in stuffing, some turkey, and 1 cup of gravy. I just kept adding each ingredient until the ratios seemed right and the mixture seemed the right consistency. I would say that the ratio of dressing:gravy:turkey was 3:2:1. Really, just experiment and keep adding until it is the consistency that you wish.

Pumpkin Pie

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! I hope that this post finds you all giving thanks and counting your blessings for all the great things in your lives! (and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it!) If you are looking for a last minute recipe to take to your gathering today, or just to make to munch on while you relax at home, then here is my all time favorite Thanksgiving food...The Pumpkin Pie. It just isn't Thanksgiving to me until I've had one piece covered in whipped cream! I've never actually made the pumpkin pie myself, I always left that up to my grandma growing up. After she passed, other family members would rotate bringing it each year, and it was most always a store boughten pie at that. Don't get me wrong, Sara Lee and Mrs. Smith can make one mean pie...but it's just not homemade, ya know? No prepackaged food is ever as good as homemade. So a few years ago, I took it upon myself to learn how to make my favorite Thanksgiving food (ever.) myself. I tried a new recipe this year, and I'm super happy with how it turned out! So the homemade pumpkin pie tradition will carry on!!

Ingredients...

...unbaked pie crust (9")
...3/4 cup white sugar
...1 tsp. cinnamon
...1/2 tsp. salt
...1/2 tsp. ground cloves
...1/4 tsp. ground ginger
...2 eggs
...1 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling. That's what we're homemaking here. Just plain old pumpkin.)
...1 can evaporated milk

Directions...

In a small bowl stir together salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and sugar. In a large bowl, beat togehter eggs and then stir in pumpkin. Add sugar and spice mixture and stir until well combined. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk and stir until smooth. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 350 and continue baking pie for an additional 40-50 minutes. To test for done-ness, insert a knife into the center of the pie. If it comes out clean, the pie is done. The filling will be ever so slightly jiggly yet, but will stiffen as it sits. Serve with whipped topping!

To see more last minute Thanksgiving recipes, check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap going on over at Life as Mom!

THE TURKEY...*dun, dun, dun*

The turkey. The part of the meal that sent me into fits of nervous breakdowns every time it entered my mind. What if I messed up? What if it was too dry? What if it wasn't cooked through and we carved into raw bird? what if...What If....WHAT IF?!?!?!?

Remember in the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, where Clark Griswold is carving the absolutely divine looking turkey, only to carve into a bird so dry that it just, deflates, in front of their eyes? Yeah, my husband was teasing me all week that he thought that's how things were going to turn out for me. Thanks for easing my nerves hon...

ps. thankfully it turned out nothing like that, and actually quite juicy and moist!

Ummmm....so I really had no reason to worry because this was probably the easiest part of preperation all day. Seriously. Except for the fits of nervous what if's that I would periodically go into during the cooking. But those were completely unnecessary. Because it turned out wonderfully. I mean, isn't she (wait. are turkey's male or female? Are they one of those animals like the rooster that only come in male form? No. It must be female, because turkey's have breasts. Or, no? I'm so naive...) beautiful?

Ignore my terrible photography skills...I didn't think to take a picture until we were halfway through the carving. So I only had half a bird to work with...

Here's a walk through, so you don't have (multiple) nervous breakdowns like I did. Because really, it's not that hard. Really.

First, you need an oven bag, some flour, a little butter (or oil), an apple and a roasting pan.

How long your turkey needs to thaw out depends on it's weight, mine was 20 pounds, and I gave it 7 days in the refrigerator. You need to allow one day per 4 pounds of turkey for thawing time.

Once the turkey is thawed out, take it out of the bag and be sure to pull the bags out from inside the turkey. THERE ARE TWO!! One is in the neck and the other in the rear. Be sure to get them both or you will have not so good tasting turkey. Drain the liquid from insde the turkey, and pat the outside dry. Using a basting brush, cover the outside of the turkey with the butter or oil. Place the whole apple inside the rear of the turkey.

Next, get your oven bag out and place two tablespoons of flour inside. Hold the top shut and shake to evenly coat the inside of the bag. Place the turkey in the oven bag and secure the bag shut with the clasp provided. Place in the roasting pan and cut six 1/2 inch slits in the bag. Bake at 350 until the timer method you choose says the bird is done.

You have two options for knowing when the turkey is done. The first way is to use an oven safe meat thermometer. Place the thermometer in the thigh, and when it reads 180 degrees, your bird is done. Your other options is one of those pop up timers that you can buy just about anywhere this time of year, placed in the breast of the turkey. I chose the latter option.

According to all of the reasearch I had done, a 20 pound bird is supposed to take 3 to 3 1/2 hours to completely cook. Mine was perfectly done in 2 1/2 hours. So I would strongly suggest using either timer method and not just cooking the recommended time so you know when it's done. Once the bird has fully cooked, let it cool slightly before carving, and then enjoy!

Just a side note, you can choose to stuff your turkey with dressing. I chose not to do this, so I'm not able to give any tips on this method. But from what I understand you just put the stuffing in the place of the apple, but your cooking times will vary as opposed to an unstuffed turkey.

Good luck and breathe! It's way easier than everyone makes it out to be!

Crockpot Stuffing

Two days and counting until Thanksgiving...are you ready? I'm guessing you have your grocery list all made out for what you need to buy, and I'm guessing that Stove Top stuffing is on that list. Well cross it off! Seriously, you won't regret it! At first I was skeptical too...stuffing in the crockpot? No way it could be done! Well, bite your tongue (or rather, bite into some of this, yuummmm!) because it can be done! And it can be done better than any old box of Stove Top any day!

Ingredients...

...1 loaf bread
...1 tsp. minced onion (or onion powder. or that chopped onion that's dried and you can keep in the spice closet)
...1 cup celery, diced
...1 cup apple, diced (I used a granny smith)
...1/4 cup butter, melted
...1 1/2 cups chicken broth
...1 T. poultry seasoning

Directions...

Before you start crockpotting, you need to toast the bread. I cut my bread into chunks before I toasted it, but you can toast it in slices and then chunk. It's totally up to you. Place a single layer of bread in the oven at 300 for 15 minutes. But really, toasting time will depend on what type of bread you are using.

Once bread is toasted, place in crockpot. Add celery, apple, onion and poultry seasoning. Toss to evenly disperse ingredients. Add melted butter and chicken broth and toss to evenly coat bread. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours. At this point you can determine if you would like your stuffing a little more moist or not. Let it stand for a few minutes uncovered, if you want more moist then add 1/4 cup more of chicken broth and stir well to coat all bread. Otherwise, serve as is!

Yep. That's it. It's that easy. So don't give me the excuse that boxed stuffing is easier to make. Puh-leeze!

To see other great recipes, be sure to check out Tempt my Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace and Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!

Pumpkin Rolls

If you need a good roll recipe for Turkey Day (3 days and counting you know!), I strongly recommend you try this one. The ingredients list will throw you...trust me, it threw me too. A can of pumpkin in rolls just can't be natural, can it? But trust me, you can't even tell that the pumpkin is there...it helps keep the rolls soft and moist instead of getting hard and dry.

This is originally Money Saving Mom's recipe...I left it completely unchanged. Which is very unlike me, I usually switch a few things up. I was super nervous about that too. I never make any sort of bread without the aid of my bread machine. Sure, I've done it sans bread machine before, but I just prefer the machine to do all the mixing and kneading for me. Kneading is so not my forte. Despite that I think I shorted it a little on the flour, they turned out phenomenally, and this is my new roll recipe. Hands down. Perhaps I'll start experimenting with other bread recipes machine-less.

Or maybe not...I'm kinda wussy like that...

Ingredients...

...1/2 cup sugar
...1/4 cup warm water
...1 cup warm milk
...2 T. butter, softened
...1 cup pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling. Plain old pumpkin.)
...1 tsp. salt
...1/4 cup wheat germ (If you'd rather not do the whole wheat germ thing, flour will sub nicely)
...5-6 cups all purpose flour
...3 1/2 t. yeast

Directions...

In a large mixing bowl combine sugar, water, milk, salt, butter and pumpkin. Whisk together until smooth. Add in wheat germ, 2-3 cups of flour and yeast. Combine until all ingredients are well mixed, and then continue adding flour until dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky. Place dough in a greased bowl and grease the top of the dough. Cover and place in a warm place to let rise for one hour. Once dough has risen, punch down and divide into 25 individual rolls. Place on a baking sheet and again cover to let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Once dough has risen, bake rolls at 350 for 15-20 minutes. When rolls are golden, remove from oven and brush each roll with melted butter. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

To see more delicious recipes, check out Mouthwatering Monday over at A Southern Fairytale!

Green Bean Casserole

Welcome to day 3 of my Thanksgiving meal countdown! If you missed the first two days, I made Rice Krispie Treats on day 1 and shared a tutorial for Homemade Mashed Potatoes on day 2!

The infamous green bean casserole. It just epitomizes Thanksgiving, doesn't it? I almost didn't make this to share with you, but I decided at the last minute that I just had to share it. It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a casserole dish of this sitting on the table! Not only is this super delicious and a true symbol of Thanksgiving, but it's also incredibly simple! So if you are in a last minute bind to make something to share at a potluck Thanksgiving this is a surefire crowd pleaser that will only take you a few minutes to throw together! But don't be surprised if you weren't the only one with this idea!! There are a lot of different versions of this recipe out there, but this is a tried and true version that women, and men alike, have been making for decades!

I did make a few changes to this recipe...so I guess that makes it original to my kitchen! The original recipe says that the cost of this dish (alone!) is $11.25! So with my changes (and having got many of the ingredients for incredibly cheap with coupons) this is actually a very frugal version of the beloved green bean casserole, which is an aspect that I'm sure we all can enjoy!

Ingredients...

...4 cans cut green beans

...2 cans cream of mushroom soup

...1/2 onion, chopped

...1 cup milk (I omitted this. The casserole was plenty creamy and smooth without this)

...1 T. soy sauce

...1/4 tsp. ground black pepper (I also omitted this)

...Rice Krispies

Directions...

In a large oven safe casserole dish combine soup, green beans, onion and soy sauce together until well mixed (include milk and pepper here if you wish). Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with Rice Krispies and return to oven for 5 minutes.

Mashed Potatoes from Scratch

This is another one of those recipes that probably doesn't need shared. But I'm choosing to do so for two reasons.

1. Up until about two years ago, I had no clue how to make mashed potatoes from scratch. One of my good friends had to teach me.

2. Because what would be a Thanksgiving dinner without mashed potatoes?

3. Because homemade from scratch mashed potatoes beat the pants off of boxed potatoes.

okay. okay. so that's three. don't send me hate mail since I can't count...

Seriously though. Homemade (from scratch!) mashed potatoes are divine. By far better than the boxed stuff. Plus, you can control what goes in them. No harsh preservatives here!!

So if you are in charge of the potatoes for this years Thanksgiving (or any holiday meal for that matter), here's a tutorial on doing it the "old fashioned way"...

First, you must wash and peel your potatoes. The amount you need depends on their size. I just peel and place in the pot until the potatoes cover the bottom of the pot.

Then cover the potatoes with water, adding enough water to have a few inches of standing water above the potatoes. Turn your burner on high heat and let potatoes boil until they are softened. Once things get rolling and really boiling, you will most likely have to turn the heat down a notch or two so you don't have a boiled over mess.

I can't give you an accurate time to how long this process will take. It depends on how big your potatoes are. I used a mix of small and big potatoes and it took about a half hour of boiling once things got going. I test the potatoes for doneness with a fork. When the potatoes are soft and the fork can go through with no problem, the potatoes are done and need removed from the heat.

Place the potatoes in a large bowl and add milk. The amount of milk depends on how smooth you like your potatoes. Start small and keep adding until you are content with the consistency. At this point, you can also add butter and salt. I personally do not add these to the whole batch, I only add milk. I let my guests add the butter and salt if they wish. With so many different diet restrictions these days due to cholesterol, etc. it's just much easier that way. Plus, I eat these for a snack often, and prefer them to be a bit healthier, so I don't like to have butter and salt in mine.

Serve! There are so many different options for this! Add some Thanksgiving gravy, or some butter/salt/sour cream, or some ranch dressing (mmmm! my favorite!). The possibilities are endless!

To see other great Thanksgiving ideas and recipes check out the Thanksgiving on a Budget linky roundup over at Money Saving Mom!

Rice Krispie Treats

Today kicks off my week of Thanksgiving recipes! Every day through Thanksgiving I will be sharing some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes, including the turkey! Today's recipe is a pretty simple one, but what family get together doesn't include Rice Krispie treats?

Not that I really have to share this. It's one of those recipes that has been around for so long that it's probably engrained in all of your brains. Your kids ask for them and you can whip up a batch without a second look at some directions. But just in case there's the off chance that someone hasn't ever made these before, or they need a recipe to glance at, here it is. The Orginial Rice Krispie Treats recipe. Plus, it's the holiday season and all, and lots of people will be making these to share with family at get togethers...and maybe leave a plate out for Santa? Because, yes, there are Christmas sprinkles on it. I like to start celebrating early. I think Santa would be appreciative that I start planning for him early ;)

Ingredients...

...1 bag large marshmallows
...6 c. Rice Krispies cereal
...3 T. butter

Directions...

In a large bowl, melt butter and marshmallows in the microwave. Cook for 1 minute increments on high power until completely melted. Stir in Rice Krispies cereal and let cool slightly. Press into a 9x13 pan and let cool completely before cutting and serving.

To see other holiday dishes, check out The Ulitmate Recipe Swap over at Life as Mom!

Low Fat Banana Muffins

Remember those delicious Healthy Pumpkin Pie muffins that I made a few weeks back, and how excited I was about having a super healthy muffin recipe? Well here's another! I love banana bread, and have perfected that recipe of mine down to an art, so here's a banana muffin recipe that is a sure keeper! PLUS, it's (virtually) fat free!

Ingredients...

...2 eggs
...4 bananas
...2 cups flour
...1 tsp. salt
...1/2 c. sugar
...1 tsp. baking soda
...1/4 c. milk (not pictured)
...1 tsp. cinnamon (not pictured)
...1 tsp. vanilla extract (not pictured)

Directions...

In a small bowl, mash and stir together bananas, eggs, milk and vanilla. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Stir in wet ingredients until well combined. Spoon batter into a greased muffin tin and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Mom's Lasagna

Lasagna is one of America's favorite Italian dishes! Families all over enjoy a hearty supper together at night over this dish. So it's no surprise that one of my favorite dishes growing up was my mom's lasagna recipe! I've tried various other recipes, but I always come back to this one. I think it's just a comfort food type thing. Not only did my mom make this, but so did my grandma. So when I found the yellowed and well worn recipe card with my grandma's scrolly cursive handwriting recording this recipe, I added it to my "family favorites" recipe box so I can make this very recipe for my own family, and carry on this lasagna through the family.

Ingredients...

no picture, sorry!

...12 oz. container cottage cheese

...2 c. shredded cheese

...2 eggs (beaten)

...1 jar (32 oz.) pasta sauce

...1 lb. ground meat, browned

...lasagna noodles

Directions...

In a medium bowl, mix together cheeses and eggs. In another medium bowl, stir together browned meat and pasta sauce. In a 9x13 pan, spread a small amount of the sauce/meat mixture on the bottom. Cover sauce with a layer of lasagna noodles. Top noodles with 1/2 of the cheese mixture and more sauce. Add another layer of noodles and top that with remaining cheese and sauce mixtures. Cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Uncover and top with shredded cheese. Continue baking an additional 15 minutes (uncovered).

To see more great reipes, check out Tempt my Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace and Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!

S'mores Brownies

How about a fun recipe for today? If you are a true summer person who loves camping, and of course the S'mores and roasted marshmallows that comes with, then you will love this recipe! This is also a super easy recipe to make! I decided seeing that I have been getting gobs of super cheap marshmallows at Target lately, and have gobs of Halloween candy leftover from a CVS deal, that this would be an appropriate recipe to try right now!

Ingredients...

...graham crackers
...marshmallows (about a half bag of mini marshmallows)
...chocolate (you can use chips, chocolate bars, whatever you have on hand. I used about 4 fun sized Hershey's Bars with Almonds)
...Brownie Mix (I used a box because I wanted to get it used up, you can use homemade or whatever you please!)

Directions...

Grease a 9x13 pan and line the bottom with graham crackers. You will have to do some cracker breaking and cutting to get it all to fit well. Prepare brownies according to box/recipe instructions. Spread brownie batter over graham crackers (this proves to be a trick as the crackers move around quite a bit. Don't say I didn't warn you!). Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and layer marshmallows on top of brownies, and then sprinkle with crushed chocolate bars or chocolate chips. Place back in oven for an additional 3-5 minutes. Let cool before cutting/serving.

To see more great recipes, check out Mouthwatering Monday over at A Southern Fairytale!

Crockpot Creamy Potato Soup

It's a common known fact that with pregnancy comes cravings. And my cravings have been all things potatoes. Mashed potatoes, potato salad...mmmmmm!!! So I decided to brave a potato soup in the crockpot. I've made it before, you can find that attempt here. And while it was good then, it was watery. And appeared to have "grease" pockets floating around. I prefer my potato soup to be more creamy.

And this recipe is just the ticket! YUUUMMMM!!!

Ingredients...

...1 lb. potatoes
...1/4 of a medium onion, chopped
...3 T. cream cheeese, cubed
...1 can (14 oz.) chicken broth
...1/4 c. milk
...1 tsp. parsley
...1/8 tsp. white pepper

Directions...

Throw all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours (or high for 3-4). Give a good stir to the soup before serving to completely combine the ingredients, which may appear resistent to combining until you stir. Once you stir it gets creamy and delicious! You may also want to add in salt and pepper to suit your tastes when you are serving this. It needed something, so I added a little of each and that TOTALLY completed this soup! Enjoy!

Uncle Dan's Tuna Noodle Casserole

I got this recipe from my husband's uncle Dan. Like two years ago. We were all sitting at a family gathering and I was copying down recipes from hubs' grandma's cookbooks when Uncle Dan saw what I was doing and recited this recipe for his Tuna Noodle Casserole to me. I wrote it down and it has sat in my recipe folder ever since. When I decided that I wanted to make Tuna and Noodles last week, I figured I would give Uncle Dan's recipe a shot. Except, when I re-read the ingredients, I about passed out from the fat content! The original recipe called for a stick of butter, bag of cheese and potato chips. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Especially since now that I am pregnant, I'm watching my fat content super closely. I strive to make only meals that are low fat or super healthy. So I put off making it for a few more days until I decided to just tackle it. So I tweaked this recipe. A lot. And guess what! It was delish! So delish that hubs ate it for breakfast the next morning. I did good :)

Ingredients...

...1/2 package rotini or egg noodles
...1 can peas
...1 can cream of mushroom soup
...2 cans tuna

Directions...

Cook noodles according to package directions. Combine cooked noodles with all other ingredients in an oven safe casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

To see other recipes for special diets, check out Ultimate Recipe Swap over at Life as Mom!

French Toast Casserole

We love breakfast food in this house! We have breakfast for supper night at least once per week. I decided that this week instead of the usual waffles or pancakes and eggs/bacon I would switch things up a bit and we would give french toast casserole a shot at glory. I'm super glad I did, this is amazing! Plus, it left my kitchen smelling like french toast for days!

Ingredients...

...5 cups bread cubes (I used my french bread recipe for the bread. you can use whatever you want!)
...4 eggs
...1/4 cup white sugar, divided
...1 1/2 cups milk
...1/4 tsp. salt
...1 tsp. vanilla extract
...1 T. margarine, softened
...1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions...

Grease an oven safe casserole dish and place bread cubes in dish. In a small bowl, wisk together eggs, milk, 2 T. sugar, salt and vanilla. Pour mixture over bread cubes. Stir until bread cubes are all well coated. Dot with butter and let sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine remaining sugar and cinnamon together. At the end of the 10 minutes, pour the cinnamon/sugar mixture over the bread cube mixture and stir to coat well. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.

Bean Bake

If anyone were to ever ask what my favorite food is, this would hands down have to be it. This is another one of those dishes that I grew up eating and I have loved it all my life. It is such a simple recipe and many don't understand why it is my favorite...until they taste it. Basically, this is doctored up baked beans...but oh my it is wonderful! This was a recipe that my grandma always made, it reminds me of growing up, being in her warm and inviting kitchen where cookies were always in the cookie jar and something delish was always in the oven. I've noticed I've been making a lot of my grandma's recipes lately, but I think it's because it's fall and they are all such a warm, comfort food to me. I hope you love this as much as I do!

Ingredients...

...1 lb. ground meat

...2 (15 oz.) cans pork and beans

...1/4 cup ketchup

...1/4 cup brown sugar

...2 tsp. ground mustard

Directions...

Brown ground meat. In an oven safe casserole dish, stir together all ingredients until well combined. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. See...I told ya...simple.

To see other great recipes, check out Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!

Pizza Dip

I love using my crockpot. I'm pretty sure I've confessed that love of mine to you all before. I have two crockpots, a larger sized one and a smaller one. (and I've asked for two more for Christmas!). I've never really used the smaller one before except to make a nacho cheese dip once, I usually make that recipe in the microwave, but I had to travel with it, so the mini crockpot just made good sense. I finally decided after cruising around A Year of Crockpotting that it was high time my mini crockpot got some lovin'. So I made Steph's version of the Pizza Fondue Dip. She has really made me want to make fondue and dip in my mini crockpot every day now!

Ingredients...

...1 cup pizza sauce
...handful of pepperoni
...1/2 tsp. italian seasoning
...1 cup shredded cheese

Directions...

Cut pepperonies into pieces. Dump all ingredients into mini crockpot and stir together (if you don't have a mini crockpot, just place a small, oven safe dish, into your normal size crockpot.). Plug in and let cook for about an hour before serving (most mini crockpots don't have heat settings. If yours does for some reason then, a) use the high heat setting and b) TELL ME WHAT BRAND IT IS!!!!)

Jagerschnitzel

I have no idea what jagerschnitzel stands for in english. But I do know that it's a German dish. So whatever the German phrase for "this was good" is...insert it here. I should really learn more German, considering it's where my ancestors are from. The only German is know is "Oh my good God", but only when someone is feeding it to me word for word, lol! Anyways. This really was good. Since I've never had authentic jagerschnitzel, I'm sure that it won't be heartbreaking to change it up a bit next time, so I'm going to bake the pork instead of frying it. Just to save some calories. Hubs really liked this too...and the gravy/topping stuff would make a great gravy on mashed potatoes. I did serve this with mashed potatoes, but we just put some butter and salt on them. Next time I'll try the gravy...as gravy.

Ingredients...

...2 pork steaks, pounded thin (make sure you don't skip the "pounding thin" part. I did and it took FOREVER for the steaks to cook through!)
...1/2 cup bread crumbs (unseasoned)
...1/2 T. flour
...2 T. vegetable oil
...1 egg, beaten
...1/2 medium onion, chopped
...1 small can mushrooms
...3/4 cup water
...1 cube beef boullion
...1/2 T. cornstarch
...1/4 cup sour cream

Directions...

In a shallow dish, mix together the flour and bread crumbs. Place the beaten egg in a seperate shallow dish. Dredge steaks through egg and then through bread crumb mixture, making sure that all sides are evenly coated. Place oil in skillet over medium heat. Place coated steaks in heated oil and cook until meat is no longer pink. Remove from skillet keep warm. Pour water into same skillet and dissolve beef boullion cube in water. Stir in mushrooms and onions and let simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl stir together the sour cream and cornstarch. Add to skillet when done simmering. Lower heat to low setting and continue cooking until mixture has thickened but do not boil. Pour gravy mixture over steaks and serve warm.

Salsa Chicken

So the picture isn't all that appetizing. But this was actually okay. Yes. Just okay. It kind of reminded me of when I put chicken in my crockpot to swim in barbecue sauce. But a little spicier. What bums me out even more is that this recipe took an entire jar of Grandma's homemade salsa to make...and we only had two left. One now. PLUUSSS...Grandma didn't make any more salsa this year...hailstorm got the best of her garden. Darn you mother nature! I guess I'll have to settle for storebought for the next year or so. Anyways. I digress (I've been doing that a lot lately...). Despite that this was something of a let down, it really was good. Hubs enjoyed it. I think part of the reason I didn't enjoy it so much is because it gave me heartburn (which is something I should have thought of before preparing this. I'm pregnant. Heartburn is a given. Oi!). But I bet you'll like it! So, go make this! Let me know what you think...and PLEASE don't let my opinion sway yours. Form your own opinion and let me know what it is!

Ingredients...

No Picture, Sorry! (yet something else I seem to be doing (or more like, not doing) a lot lately...)

...4 chicken pieces (I say pieces because you can use what you choose. Legs. Breasts. Thighs. Whatever...)
...4 tsp. Taco Seasoning Mix
...1 cup salsa
...1 cup shredded cheese

Directions...

Place chicken pieces in a greased oven safe dish or pan. Sprinkle with taco seasoning, covering entire piece. Cover pieces in salsa and bake at 375 until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. I'm not giving you an exact time to cook this because the original recipe says that 20-30 minutes will be sufficient. But when I baked mine, it took over an hour to not have pink chicken. So test, test, test that chicken and make sure you aren't eating raw bird for crying out loud!

Seven Layer Salad

This is a delicious seven layer salad. Except in this version, there aren't seven layers. There are 6. ish. There should be more, but I forgot to chop up carrots. And I forgot to hard boil some eggs to slice up. Even though that makes eight layers. ish. Either way. This is a recipe that my mom made when we were growing up and we always really liked it. And then I grew up and moved away. And never ate it again. Until now. And yu-u-um! I just love it! It's so different from your regular old run of the mill salad. It's tastier.

Ingredients....

...1 head of lettuce, chopped
...1/2 green pepper, chopped
...1/2 bag frozen peas
...1 cup sour cream
...1 cup mayonnaise
...2 T. white sugar (not pictured)
...shredded cheese (the amount is up to you)
...4 slices bacon (or bacon bits. those will work just as well)

Directions...

In a glass bowl (or 9x13 inch pan...that's how my mom made it back in the day...) layer lettuce, green peppers and peas. You can do as many alternating layers as your bowl will fit. In a seperate, small bowl, stir mayonnaise, sour cream and sugar together until well combined. Smooth over the top of the salad. Top with shredded cheese and crumbled bacon.

Cheesy Mexican Beans and Rice

I've been wanting to try a beans and rice dish for the longest time now. I've always held back though, because hubs is very anti-meatless. I can get him to eat a meatless meal every now and again, but to go meatless on a regular basis...unh-unh. I'd get called out on it sooo fast! I made the mistake last summer of telling him that we were having meatless Monday each week. Each Monday he would come home from work with a bad attitude towards the meal, and would of course "hate" it and end up eating a bologna sandwich. Kind of defeats the purpose of frugal cooking if he's going to make something else anyways. So now I just don't tel him what I'm making. And although I'm sure he notices the absence of meat, he never says anything negative. He actually told me that this was good. He didn't want it in our regular rotation, but he liked it. I, however, loved it! I thought it was great! So go ahead and whip this up for your next meatless meal, I'm willing to bet your family won't have any complaints!

Ingredients...

...1 cup uncooked rice
...1 can black beans (or 1 2/3 cup if you cook your own beans up)
...1 large onion, chopped
...1 T. olive oil
...14 oz. Pasta or Tomato Sauce
...2 tsp. chili powder
...1/4 tsp. salt
...Shredded Cheese

Directions...

In a saucepan, cook rice according to package directions. In a skillet, saute onions in olive oil. In a medium bowl stir together beans, sauteed onions, pasta or tomato sauce, chili powder and salt. Stir in Rice. Pour into a greased 2 quart oven safe baking dish and top with a few handfuls of shredded cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.