Cheddar Macaroni Beef Casserole

This recipe is super kid-friendly!  Taylor and her friends loved this for lunch....as did I!

1 pkg Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
1 lb lean ground beef (I used turkey)
1 can Italian style stewed tomatoes, undrained
1/2 tsp dried oregano or basil
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Prepare macaroni in large saucepan as directed on package, omitting butter.  Meanwhile, brown meat in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat; drain.  Add tomatoes and oregano; mix well.  Bring to a boil.
2. Add meat mixture to dinner; spoon into 9 inch square baking dish.  Sprinkle with cheese.
3. Bake 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is heated through.

Quick and Easy Banana Bread

This is such a great recipe.  Only 6 staple ingredients and voila....you have yourself some yummy banana bread on a chilly, rainy Saturday. :-)

1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup ripe mashed bananas (approx 3 bananas)
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan.
2. Cream butter and sugar until smooth.  Beat in eggs, then bananas.  Add flour and soda, stirring until just combined.
3. Pour into pan and bake at 350 for about an hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

Turkey Macaroni

Are you surprised when I say this is from my Fix it and Forget it Lightly cookbook???  I'm always on the go with the girls so when I plan my meals I almost always have at least one crockpot recipe.  It's just so easy to throw the ingredients in the crockpot in the morning and not to mention the smell when I walk in the house after being gone for hours.  Love it!!!!

1 tsp vegetable oil (I omitted)
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
2 (10 3/4 oz) cans condensed low sodium tomato soup, undiluted
16 oz can corn, drained
1/2 cup onions, chopped
4 oz can sliced mushrooms, drained
2 TBSP ketchup
1 TBSP prepared mustard
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 cups dry macaroni, cooked and drained

1. Heat oil in medium skillet.  Brown turkey.  Drain.
2. Combine all ingredients except macaroni in slow cooker.  Stir to blend.  Cover.
3. Cook on high 3-4 hours or on low 4-6 hours.  Stir in cooked and drained macaroni 15 minutes before serving.

Chicken Parm Pasta Casserole

This is an extremely easy recipe and very kid friendly.  Something that I'm sure will become a regular at our house for when Jon is away.  It calls for canned chicken.  Never in my life have I eaten canned chicken.  Honestly....it wasn't too bad.  I'll probably try cut up chicken breasts next time b/c I'm sure it'll be that much better.  Thanks Amy E for the recommendation! (even though its been years since you told us about it. LOL)

8 oz pasta (I used No Yolks)
2 cups (10 oz) diced chicken breasts (I shredded it before putting it in)
2 cups tomato pasta sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzeralla
6 TBSPS grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Coat a 2 qt baking dish with cooking spray.
3. Cook pasta according to directions.  Drain and toss with chicken and 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce.  Stir 1 cup Mozzarella and 4 tbsp parmesan cheese.  Transfer to dish.
4. Spoon the remaining 1/2 cup tomato sauce over casserole.  Sprinkle the remaining mozzeralla and parmesan cheese.  Bake 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Applesauce Muffins

These are really good.  I got them from the nurse practitioner that's in Taylor and Bailey's pediatrician's office.  I was bringing cupcakes into Taylor's class for her birthday and also needed a "healthy option" for the kids.  I omitted the nuts from the muffins but I bet that makes it extra yummy.  I can't say if the kids liked them or not.  Not because they chose the cupcakes ove the muffins but because Taylor ended up with the flu and we didn't get to bring either in.  I can say I liked them and so did Bailey. :-)

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar (reserve 1/2 cup until the end.  Sometimes the apples are sweet enough and you don't need the other 1/2.  I did end up adding it but I like them sweet and probably could have added more.)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp table salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 extra large eggs
1 1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup peeled, chopped apples (granny smith's or gala)
1/2 cup chopped nuts

1. Stir together flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
2. Mix in eggs, applesauce, and butter.
3. Next add the apples and nuts.
4. Now taste.  If you want it sweeter add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar.
5. Spoon into muffin pan and bake at 350 for approx 15-20 minutes or when toothpick comes out clean.

It made approx 18 muffins.

A tip my mom gave me was not to stir the mix too much or it won't come out too fluffy.  Stir until it's just moistened.  Thanks Chef Lynn!

Spicy Meatloaf

Here's another Weight Watchers recipe.  I'm trying to get back on track so decided to start doing my points again.  The meatloaf was ok....honestly, I thought it was a little bland but it could be b/c I didn't add the hot sauce it calls for.  It also fell apart alot easier than a normal meatloaf.  You are probably wondering why I'm blogging about it if I'm so negative about it.  It really was pretty good.  I added a little ketchup to it and made it alot better.  The main reason I'm blogging is b/c I found it really kid friendly.  It calls for veggies to be finely chopped in there so you can't even taste them.  I'm not one to like to hide veggies in order to have Taylor eat them but if that's what the recipe calls for then that's what it calls for. :-)

Spicy Meatloaf

2 tsp canola oil
1 cup finely chopped mushrooms
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 large egg
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary, or 1/2 tsp dried
1 tsp finely chopped fresh sage, or pinch dried
1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 tsp dried
1/4 tsp hot red pepper sauce
1/4 cup tomato puree or tomato sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 350; spray a 9 inch square baking pan with nonstick spray.  In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil.  Saute the mushrooms, onion. carrot, and celery until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine the sauteed vegetables, beef, oats, egg, tomato paste, worcestershire, garlic, rosemary, sage, thyme, and pepper sauce.  Shape into a loaf.  Bake 30 minutes.  Top with the tomato puree (diluted with a little water, if needed) and bake 30-45 minutes longer.  Cut into 8 slices.

Per Serving (2 slices): 275 Cal, 10 g Fat
Point value: 6

My CrockPot Red Beans and Rice

I don't do your typical NOLA red beans and rice. I like doing mine in the crockpot since it's so easy to do and comes out great! I love making these when I have company coming into town (inlaws came in last week) or if I have a busy day and need a good hot meal at the end of the day.

1 lb red beans
bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
sausage
1 tsp worcheshire sauce
1 tsp minced garlic (I must have garlic in everything!)
onion
rice
chicken broth (pour over beans until beans are nearly covered. Broth is also a staple for me like garlic)

Soak red beans overnight.
This next step I do sometimes but if I'm in a real rush I may skip it. I keep boiling the red beans in fresh water until the water becomes clear when I drain them. It usually takes about two boils. Understand?
I then throw everything in the crockpot and cook all day....stirring occasionally.
About 30 minutes before we eat, I check to see how thick it is. If it's kind of watery, I take some of the red beans and puree it until I get the consistency that I want. This past time I didn't put as much chicken broth as I normally do and it came out perfect. I only filled it up about 3/4 way full.

This isn't really a recipe that I found. I just pieced things together here and there. If you have any questions or suggestions to make it better just let me know!!!!

Oh and this was another fav of Taylor's!

Beef and Rice Casserole

This recipe (found in Fix it and Forget it Lightly) wasn't anything earth shattering but the main thing is that Tay loved it. I thought it was a good, kid friendly food. As some of you know, Taylor is quite a picky eater so when I find something she really likes I jump all over it. It is a crock pot recipe so it makes a lot. I actually froze quite a bit of it so we will have some on hand when I need a nice fast mean in a hurry.

Beef and Rice Casserole

1/2 lb lean ground beef (I used 1 lb)
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, cut finely
1/2 cup celery, diced
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
10 3/4 oz can reduced fat, low sodium cream of mushroom soup
1 cup water
4 cups cooked brown rice

1. Brown ground beef, onion, garlic, green pepper, and celery in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Season with basil and oregano.
2. Combine soup and water in separate bowl.
3. Spray slow cooker with nonfat cooking spray
4. Layer 2 cups of cooked rice on bottom of slow cooker. Add half of ground beef and half of soup mixture.
5. Repeat layers.
6. Cover. Cook on low 4 hours.

Banana Chocolate-Chip Mini Muffins

Tomorrow is Taylor's turn to be the "Shining Star" at school so that means she brings the snack and will be the line leader all day. Normally the teachers tell you specifically what to bring but all my instructions from them were to bring a "fall snack". I decided to make these muffins from Family Fun so I thought I'd pass it along. At first I wasn't sure if I liked them but the more I eat them (haha) the more I like them. Taylor, on the other hand, spit it out right away. Not a good sign for the kids tomorrow. LOL It's not a super sweet muffin so I think that's why I wasn't sure about them at first. I also don't think my bananas were ripe enough. As Gabba Gabba would say..."Try 'em, you'll like 'em".

Banana Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (about 2 large or 3 medium)
1 large egg
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1/4 cup fat free or light sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup low-fat milk
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1. Heat the oven to 350
2. Line a mini muffin pan with bake cups or lightly coat the muffin cups with cooking spray.
3. In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and stir with a fork to blend.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine the mashed bananas, egg, melted butter, sour cream, vanilla extract, and milk. Beat on medium until well blended. Reduce the speed to low and blend in the dry ingredients (do not over mix). Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
5. Fill each muffin cup with 1 level tablespoon of batter. Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes or until the tops are golden and toothpick comes out with some melted chocolate but no crumbs.
6. Transfer the muffins to a rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining batter. Makes 36 mini muffins. (mine made 48)