Meat Stuffed Tomatoes

This is super yummy! Reminds me of stuffed bell peppers, but the tomato is so good too and not as spicy!

Ingredients:
4 Large tomatoes {I made 8}
1 lb of ground beef {I used turkey}
1 beaten egg
Salt and pepper
1 cup cooked rice

Small chopped onion

Directions:

Cut a slice off the tops of 4 large washed tomatoes and save.
Scoop out insides with teaspoon and save.
Mix 1 pound of ground meat with 1/2 cup of cooked rice, chopped onion, 1 beaten egg, salt and pepper.
Use the mixture and fill the scooped out tomatoes shells then cover with sliced tomato top.
Put topside down in baking pan and add about 1 inch of water. Bake at 325-F for 45 minutes or until cooked.

Sauce for topping: {Optional}

In a fry pan, brown 3 tablespoon flour in butter, mash the saved tomato pulp and add to pan, add a little sugar to slightly sweeten the sauce, add 1/4 teaspoon ground oregano. Cook until thick. When ready to serve, pour sauce over the stuffed tomatoes.

Baked French Toast

One of my favorite breakfast items is French toast. My mom used to make it for me all the time.  The cinnamon and nutmeg reminds me of Fall, my favorite time of year. This time, I decided to put a little spin on it, and instead of frying it... I baked it!

Ingredients:

5 eggs

1 and 1/2 cup milk

1/2 tablespoon Splenda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspon of sugar

6 slices of bread (I used whole wheat rasberry bread) You can use any kind you want though!

(1) Beat the milk, eggs, Splenda, salt, vanilla and nutmeg together in a small mixing bowl.
(2) Spray a  13” by 9” baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Place the bread in the dish. 
(3) Pour the egg mixture over the bread.
(4) Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon and sugar. Turn each piece of bread over to coat well. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.  Place the bread on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Bake the bread for 8 minutes.  Turn the bread over and continue to bake for 8 more minutes or until brown.

Serve with syrup or whipped cream and enjoy!

Mom's Meatloaf

I LOVE meatloaf! This is my mom's recipe and I can remember helping her make it ever since I was little. It's so sweet to now make these recipes with my own little family! If you don't like meatloaf, you should at least try this recipe!

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef {I use ground turkey}

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup cracker crumbs {granola is really good too}

1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 egg, beaten

Directions:

 

Mix all ingredients together in loaf pan (saves cleaning extra dishes). Form into a loaf and top with ketchup. Bake at 350° for about 1 hour.

Potato Crusted Cod

This recipe is really easy to make and it tastes really good paired with veggies! We had ours with sweet potatoes, green beans, and french bread.

Ingredients:
1 cup instant mashed potato flakes
2 Tbsp. chives, chopped
3/4 tsp. salt
dash pepper
1/3 cup milk
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tsp. olive oil
4 cod flilets (6-8 oz. each

Instructions:
(1) Combine potato flakes and chives, salt and pepper in pie pan.  Pour milk in another pie pan. 
(2) Heat 1 Tbsp. of butter and 1 of oil in large, nonstick skillet over low heat.  Dip cod fillets in milk, then coat each side with potato flake mixture. 
(3) Increase heat to medium, until butter is melted and hot.  Add cod, cook 4-5 minutes or until brown, turn and cook an additional 4-5 minutes until browned and cod is beginning to flake.  Remove from skillet to plate.  Serve with lemon juice, malt vinegar or tartar sauce.

Weekly Menu

Sorry it's taken me days to post our menu for this week! I've been super busy re-decorating my daughter's room! But, I'm back and here is what I've made this week :) Thanks for being patient!

Breakfast:

M- Eggs, bacon and toast with apples and peanut butter

T- Breakfast on-the-go for school (we had organic cereal)
W- Blueberry waffles and yogurt w/ granola
T- Breakfast on-the-go

F- French toast and eggs w/ cheese

Dinner:

M- Parmesan Chicken

T- Dinner at the in-laws

W- Potato Crusted Cod
T- Baked chicken and stuffing (yum!) It's a simple fav of mine :)
F- Meatloaf and mashed potatoes

S- Lasagna with garlic bread

I will post recipes soon!!



Happy Cooking!

Cookies 'n' Cream Ice Cream Cake

This is SO YUMMY! I'm in total ice cream cake love! You have to try it out, you will eat it several times a day I bet. Ok, maybe only I do that. But it's so worth trying :)

Ingredients:

• 1 chocolate pound cake
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
• 1 cup crumbled chocolate cookies
• Confectioner's sugar, for serving

Directions:

1. Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap so that it hangs over the edges.
2. Slice the pound cake horizontally into thirds. Place top layer of cake in the bottom of the pan, cut side up. Sprinkle with half of the cookie crumbs and spread half of ice cream on top. Top with middle layer of cake. Repeat with remaining half of cookies and ice cream.
3. Wrap tightly with plastic. Freeze at least 6 hours and up to overnight. Remove cake from freezer 20 minutes before serving. Turn cake out of pan and remove plastic wrap. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and serve.

Baked Chicken Parmesan

Yummy chicken parmesan!! My family loves this dish and I think you will too :)

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 cups shredded parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 egg

1 1/2 cups 2% shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Combine all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat the egg until smooth.

Dip each chicken breast into the egg and then into your dry mixture. Coat with mozzarella cheese on each side.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Place chicken over spaghetti noodles and top with spaghetti sauce.

Enjoy!!!

MAC dish!

Tonight, Hannah and I went to a MAC (Mom's around the corners) meeting. We were supposed to bring a dish, so I threw what I had together... and came up with this recipe!! It actually turned out to be really good!

Ingredients:

7 oz. macaroni (uncooked)
1 can celery soup
1 can mushroom soup
1 small jar pimentos (optional)
4 oz. mushroom pieces
1 small onion, chopped
2 c. milk
1/2 lb Velveeta cheese diced
1/4 c. green pepper diced
2 c. ham, chicken or turkey, cooked and chopped
1 can water chestnuts, sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine all ingredients. Place in buttered 3 quart or 9x13 inch pan.
Bake for one hour.

Strawberry Bread

This turned out to be SO yummy! Great for a snack or for breakfast with some cheesy eggs!

My big helper girl!

Note: This makes TWO loaves

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 3/4 cups frozen sweetened strawberries, thawed
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups canola oil

Topping:

• 1/4 cup frozen sweetened strawberries, thawed, with syrup
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon strawberry extract

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 5x9 inch loaf pans.

-In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, beat together the 1 3/4 cups strawberries, eggs, sugar, and oil. Gradually beat the flour mixture into the strawberry mixture. Transfer to the prepared loaf pans.

-Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean.

-In a saucepan, mix the 1/4 cup strawberries with syrup, sugar, water, and 1 tablespoon strawberry extract. Bring to a boil, and stir constantly until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Drizzle over the bread while still warm.

Manicotti

I love this recipe! I've tweaked to make it my own and I think it's perfect. Try it out and see what you think!

1 (8 ounce) package manicotti pasta

1 pound lean ground beef {I used ground turkey}

1 container cottage cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Italian seasonings to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce

-Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add in some oil so the pasta doesn't stick together. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain and cool.

-Meanwhile, in a large skillet brown beef on medium heat. Drain and cool.

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

-Combine beef, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, and italian seasonings. Mix well. Stuff shells with mixture.

-Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour enough spaghetti sauce in dish to cover the bottom. Place stuffed noodles in the dish. Top with remaining spaghetti sauce. Bake for 50 minutes.

-When it's done, sprinkle some mozzarella on top and put in back in the oven for a few minutes to let it melt.

Enjoy!

Shrimp Pasta

YUM! I must say this recipe was really good! I got it from Pioneer Woman's blog. The only thing I would have done different, is not add as much wine. I just don't like wine that much anyways and I felt it sort of over-powered all of the other flavors.

Ingredients

½ cups Olive Oil
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
3 whole 14.5 Ounce Cans Diced (or Whole) Tomatoes
½ cup White Wine
2 pounds Jumbo Or Large Shrimp, Peeled And Deveined
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Fresh Parsley, Minced
1 pound Linguine, Uncooked
Red Pepper Flakes, to taste

Preparation Instructions

Cook pasta for 1/2 the recommended cooking time. Pasta should still be very firm.

In a large skillet or pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for a minute. Dump in the tomatoes and wine. Stir the mixture together, season with salt and pepper, and allow to cook for ten minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare a large parcel of heavy duty aluminum foil. It should be large enough to hold the entire pasta dish.

Throw the shrimp on the top of the pasta sauce. Throw the drained pasta over the top, then pour the whole dish onto the foil. Tightly wrap the foil into a parcel.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and keep warm until serving.

Open the foil parcel right before serving. Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over the top. Squeeze on lemon juice, if desired.

Here it is!

...All done!

....And so yummy!

Enjoy!

Welcome!

Welcome to my first post on my new recipe blog!! I am going to TRY and post my menu plans each week along with recipes so keep a look out! Here is my menu plan for this week. I will post the recipes as I make the dish :)

Breakfast:

M- Blueberry waffles and fruit
T- Homemade cereal on-the-go
W- Strawberry bread (below) and cheesy eggs
T- Leftover cereal from Tuesday
F- Sour cream coffee cake
S- Bacon, eggs, french toast
S-Leftover bread :)

2 cups fresh strawberries

3 1/8 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups white sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

4 eggs, beaten

1 1/4 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
Slice strawberries, and place in medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle lightly with sugar, and set aside while preparing bread mixture.
Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in large bowl: mix well. Blend oil and eggs into strawberries. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, blending until dry ingredients are just moistened. Stir in pecans. Divide batter into pans.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until tester inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn loaves out, and cool completely.

Dinner:

M- Shrimp Linguine
T- Manicotti
W- Slow cooker chicken
T- Lasagna
F- Mexican style chicken
S- Swiss Chicken
S- Leftovers all day :)

I won't ever post lunch recipes since we always eat something simple, or leftovers :)

Monday's recipe is coming up next!