Heavenly Hamburger

This is a "secret family recipe" from my Grandma. It's become my signature dish to bring to gatherings or cook for my friends! It's a layered casserole dish that can be made ahead of time, and is pretty easy to make! 

What you will need: 

8-12 oz egg noodles

1 lb ground beef

garlic salt

1 tsp sugar

2 8oz cans tomato sauce

5 oz cream cheese

8 oz sour cream

green onions

grated cheddar cheese

*for this recipe I actually used a portion of my "Not so sloppy, Sloppy Joe" meat as opposed to this ground beef & tomato sauce (I had a portion in my freezer from a previous night's dinner!)

READY?!

1) Cook the noodles. Once Al Dente, drain, and keep in pot with a small amount of water (to avoid sticking)

2) Brown meat, add seasonings and tomato sauce, and simmer a few minutes

3) Combine cream cheese, sour cream, and chopped green onions.

Arrange in casserole dish (for these measurements I use a 2 1/2 quart dish) 

1/3 noodles, 1/3 meat, 1/3 cheese mixture. Repeat 3 times, and top with grated cheese!

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Thank you Grandma Nol for this deliciously easy family recipe! 

I hope you enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

These are literally, MELT. IN. YOUR. MOUTH. so good! 

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt 

bag of Reese's peanut butter cups

(1st step... stick one wrapped Reese's cup in the freezer) 

1- preheat oven to 350

2- beat butter and peanut butter

3- add sugar and beat until fluffy

4- add egg and vanilla

5- sift in flour mixture (flour, baking soda, and salt)

Roll dough into balls.



Roll the balls in the sugar to coat. 

Line a mini cupcake baking sheet with paper cups. Place the sugar-coated balls within each.


(now take out that frozen Reese's cup)


Press Reese's cup into each ball.

Place Reese's cups into dough. 



Bake for 8-10 minutes.






You are welcome ;)

Cream Cheese, Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I usually have all these ingredients on hand... all I really need are ripened bananas! 

This recipe makes 2 loaves... so it's great for a big'ol family! Or... freeze the second loaf! :)

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 8 oz cream cheese (I like to use whipped)

2 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 cup four

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Beat butter and cream cheese, gradually add the sugar. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. Beat until blended.

Add the flour mixture gradually (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.) 

Stir in the bananas, vanilla, and chocolate chips. The mixture will be very very thick! 

Add them to 2 greased and floured 8x4 loaf pans.

Bake at 350 for about 1 hour. I checked mine at 45 minutes, because the top starts to brown... and so I covered with foil towards the end.

Let cool before slicing... ENJOY!! I like to put butter on the "fresh outa the oven" slices... and the next day I like to spread cream cheese on them (as if there weren't enough cream cheese right?)

3 Ingredient Easy Mandarin Salad

Mandarin Almond Salad

This salad credit goes to my mom! I remember it at almost every Christmas dinner... It's super easy to throw together... and goes great with grilled chicken for a meal!

SALAD:

red leaf lettuce

red onion

mandarin oranges

candied almonds*

*How I do my candied nuts: Melt white sugar (which takes FOR-ever!) and as soon as it's melted, turn off heat and toss in nuts (I like using slivered almonds.) Coat the nuts, and pour out onto wax paper. Let cool, and then break up if needed.

DRESSING:

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 Tbsp vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar, my mom uses white)

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dry parsley)

salt and pepper

a bit of hot sauce (whatever is on hand) 

As said before... this is a great side dish... or add chicken for a meal!! 

Super easy! Inexpensive! Delicious! 

Chicken Taco Rice Bowl

1 chicken breast

12 oz salsa

can black beans, drained

8 oz corn

1 Tbsp chili powder

1/2 Tbsp cumin

1/2 Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 

1/2 tsp kosher salt

cracked pepper

rice

cheddar

cilantro 

Another easy crock pot recipe! AND... this meal is even better the next day.

Simply place all ingredients (excluding rice, cheddar, and cilantro) in the crock pot and cook on low 6-8 hours. 

Near the end of the chicken cooking, shred cheese, shop cilantro, and cook desired rice. 

ENJOY!!

Crock-Pot Enchilada Soup

This is a super easy crock pot soup, that is perfect for those cold winter nights!

1 can black beans

I can diced tomatoes

15 oz corn

1 chopped onion

dash of red pepper flakes

1 pkg taco seasoning

10.75 oz cream of chicken

1 1/2 cup milk

green pepper, diced

1 lb chicken

toppings of your choice!

cilantro?

sour cream?

cheese?

whatever floats your boat!

1) In small bowl, mix together cream of chicken, and taco seasoning. Whisk in milk until smooth.

2) In the slow cooker, place the beans, tomato, corn, onion, and red pepper flakes.

3) Place chicken on top.

4) Pour taco seasoning mixture on top.

Let sit on low for 6-8 hours

5) Shred chicken, and top with peppers.

The variations and measurements of this recipe can be altered to what you and your family like!

Pineapple and Black Bean Quesadilla

For a husband who is not a fan of quesadillas (which is unfortunate because they are super easy and one of my favs!) he loved these! They add a little bit more flavor to your regular'ol boring quesadilla... and it's still easy!

I used:

mozzarella and cheddar (simply because that's what was in the fridge)

a can of black beans, drained

a small can of chopped pineapple, drained

green onions

a dash of cumin

salt and pepper

grilled chicken slices

Just mix all those ingredients together, place on half a flour tortilla, and fold.

I like a slight crunch on the outside of the quesadilla, so I threw some butter on the nonstick griddle (or skillet) before putting the quesadilla on.

Served with sour cream and salsa! 

AND... I only used about half the mixture... So I froze the rest! Easy and fast meal the next time around!