Macaroni & Hamburger

This is a favorite at our house. It's simple and the kids eat it up.
You need:
1 pound elbow macaroni
Ground beef
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can tomato sauce
1 T chili powder

Boil your macaroni until done, drain. Brown your ground beef, drain. Add to your browned ground beef 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and 1 can of tomato sauce, as well as one can of water for each. Add 1 tablespoon of chili powder. Add your cooked noodles. Let simmer for 10 minutes. DONE! SO easy peasy!

Walking Taco

This is very similar to 7-layer dip, except that my mom has always called it "walking taco." Plus, we heat ours up.
You need:
Refried beans
Sour cream
Cheese
Olives
Tomatoes
Avocado
Tortilla Chips

Get your 9 x 13 dish. Spread the refried beans on the bottom. Then spread a container of sour cream on top of that. Chop of a can of olives, a tomato and an avocado and put those on top of the sour cream. Then, the final layer is grated cheese. Put in the microwave for five minutes and you're done! Eat with tortilla chips.

There are other ingredients you can use. My mom uses diced green chilis. You can use salsa, guacomole, different kinds of beans, even meat if you want. You really can eat this cold, too. We warm ours up, but it doesn't have to be.

Easy Peasy!!

Salmon

My kids are great seafood eaters. They love shrimp, trout and salmon. Braxton and I made salmon on Friday. It's simple. Just a little butter on the top with some lemon herb seasoning and bake it for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees. We served it with green beans. It's a great, easy, healthy meal.

Soup

I LOVE soup. I love creamy soups. I love clam chowder and I make it with this mix:

Shameless advertisement AND unpaid, I know. I prefer to make my clam chowder with the Creamy Potato mix. I make it as the directions show and then just add a drained can of chopped or diced clams. If you don't want to make clam chowder, you can add cheese to this mix or bacon or more potatoes or corn or ham... whatever your family prefers. I like to buy soup bowls (bread bowls) when I make soup. My kids eat it better that way. Last night was a perfect night for soup and I enjoyed every bite of it!

Chicken Parmesan with Noodles

You will need:
Egg noodles
Canned chicken
Mushrooms
Carrots
Frozen peas
Evaporated milk
Butter
Parmesan cheese

Boil the noodles. While the noodles are boiling, put about 2-3 tablespoons of butter in a pan. Put about a cup of chopped carrots and about a cup of sliced mushrooms in with the butter.

Add the drained can of chicken to that mix. Add about half a can of evaporated milk and about 1/4 cup parmesan cheese to that. Add the frozen peas. Let it simmer at a very low heat until the noodles are done.

Drain the noodles. Add the noodles to the mix in the pan. Stir it and serve it.

It's really yummy and it's great as leftovers. Enjoy!

Chicken and Brocolli with Rice

You need:
Rice
Chicken
Brocolli
Cream of chicken
Cheese
Milk

I boiled the rice. Then I spread it in the bottom of a 9 x 13 dish. I boiled about six chicken tenders, then set them aside. I boiled about one bunch of brocolli, set it aside. I took two cans of cream of chicken soup, about a 1/2 cup of milk and about two handfuls of shredded cheese (cheddar) and I bring it to a boil, then let simmer for a couple of minutes. I add the chicken back into that mixture, then spread it over the rice. Then, I placed the brocolli on top. The boys ate the ENTIRE 9 x 13 dish. Easy Peasy!!

Josh's Spaghetti

There are so many ways to make spaghetti... this is our favorite way. Josh's special spaghetti!
You need:
Spaghetti noodles
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 bottle spaghetti sauce
Ground beef or sausage

Cheese

Boil the noodles. Combine the tomatoes and spaghetti sauce. Brown the meat. Add to the sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes. Combine the noodles and sauce. Top with some cheese. DELICIOUS!!

Pillsbury Cake Cookies

Braxton chose Hamburger Helper last night... one moment while I throw up a little in my mouth. Anywho, I am not going to blog about that meal. The smell alone was rough. So, I am giving you a great recipe that we made for the first time this past weekend. It was delicious. SO easy, the kids can do it.
Pillsbury Confetti Cake Mix Cookies:
Pillsbury confetti cake mix
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
Confetti frosting

The baking directions are on the side of the cake mix box. These are really, really great!

Baked Ziti

Okay, this is a dish that is LOVED in our family. However, I don't really have an exact recipe, because I have sort of made it up in my head... so be patient!
I use:
1 pound ziti pasta
Hamburger or sausage
2 cans spaghetti sauce
Sliced provolone cheese
Mixed shredded cheese
Parmesan cheese
You can also use:
Ricotta cheese
Mozarella cheese (rather than mixed cheese)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil your ziti until done. Brown your meat. You can do this vegetarian, but it really does taste better with the meat, trust me. Add to your spaghetti sauce and simmer. Layer as follows:
Pasta
Spaghetti sauce/meat mixture
Sliced provolone cheese
Pasta
Spaghetti sauce/meat mixture
Shredded cheese
Parmesan cheese

I also cut four cubes of cream cheese and put the cubes in the the four corners of the pan. It's yummy. I have added ricotta cheese to this before, but didn't really think it needed it. If you wanted to add it, I layer it on top of the provolone. Bake this for 30 minutes. It IS delicious and VERY low calorie. :)

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

One of my very favorite things in the world!!! Pulled pork sandwiches are SO simple.
You need:
Pork loin
BBQ sauce
Buns
Optional:
Onions
Cheese
Other toppings

Stick that pork loin right into the crock pot with some water. If you'd like, you can add diced onions in there. My kids prefer me not to. Let it cook.
When it's cooked, take it out and cut it up or shred it. Add your bbq sauce. We prefer the honey bbq sauce in our family, but you can choose your own taste. Slap that heavenly stuff right on a bun. Add cheese if you'd like. If you want to add lettuce or spinach or pickles, or anything else, feel free. It's SO good and it's great as leftovers!

Tater Tot Casserole

This is a take on sheperds pie, but my kiddos won't eat the mashed potatoes on top... They just like mashed potatoes by themselves. Ug! So, I introduce to you tater tot casserole. Easy Peasy!
You need:
Ground beef
Cream of mushroom soup
Green Beans
Tater tots

Brown the beef. Put in a 9 x 13 dish with a can of cream of mushroom soup and a drained can of green beans. Top with tater tots. DO NOT cover. Use the baking instructions on the tater tots bag. You can also add cheese to the mix. I have a couple of kids who don't like the cheese in it, so I leave it out.

Taco Soup

You might just send me a thank-you card for this recipe! It is favorite at our house. My boys eat.it.up! It's so easy and so healthy.
Here is what you need:
1 can tomato sauce
1 can corn (drained)
2 cans kidney beans
2 cans garbonzo beans
2 cans pork and beans
Taco seasoning
Meat of your choice (I used lean sausage last night because that was what I had in the fridge, already thawed. I usually use ground beef. Shredded chicken is also delicious, or you can just do it vegetarian!)
Brown your meat or cook your chicken. Dump everything in the crock pot. I don't use a whole taco seasoning packet, but you can if you'd like. I use about a third of a packet. Put that pot on low and let it cook all day!


Toppings include:
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Tortilla chips (I crush some and leave some whole)

There are many different ways to "dress" your taco soup. Some of my boys love the tortilla chips. Others just like it with cheese and sour cream.



It's THE BEST!

Ravioli

My kids will NOT eat ravioli from a can. Therefore, I buy it frozen. You can either buy ravioli with cheese or ravioli with meat. Last night, we had cheese ravioli.
You need:
Ravioli
Spaghetti sauce
Cheese (parmesan and/or shredded)


Boil the ravioli until it is done. Warm the spaghetti sauce. Top with cheese. We had french bread with it. You can always add a green salad. I just ran out of time.



It's VERY easy. Your older kids could make this very easily!

Keebler Salad

PLEASE do not ask what happened to our dinner last night. It ended up being Arby's value meals for the four monsters. But, it really is your lucky day, because I am about to share with you THE most heavenly dessert/salad/all-I-can eat recipe! Thanks Aunt Lois for fattening me up!

You need:
2 cans mandarin oranges, drained & patted dry
2 cans pineapple tidbits, drained & patted dry
Package keebler striped cookies, broken
2 pkgs. vanilla pudding mix
2 cups buttermilk
1 large carton cool whip

Combine pudding mix and buttermilk by slowly pouring buttermilk in and stirring together. Add cool whip to mixture (do not beat). Add oranges and pineapple to mixture. Stir in broken cookies. Add some broken cookies to the top for a pretty salad!! SO DANG YUMMY!!!!

Haystacks

Kaydon chose haystacks for dinner last night. He LOVES haystacks! It is a very easy meal to make!
Here is what you need:
Rice
Chicken
Cream of chicken
Cream of mushroom
Carrots
Celery
Spices
Toppings including:
Cheese
Rice noodles
Tomatoes
Almonds
Pineapple
Mandarin Oranges
(Be creative)

Make your rice. I usually make about six cups. Boil chicken with carrots and spices. I use salt and pepper, basil and parsley. I also boil the chicken with celery, but you can leave it out of the sauce and use it raw as a topping. Add half and half cream of mushroom/cream of chicken to thicken the sauce.

Serve the sauce over the cooked rice, and let your little ones top it with their favorite toppings! Yummy!!

No-Bake Cheesecake

The boys went to dinner with their dad last night, so you get a yummy and simple cheesecake recipe! Lucky!
You need:
1 graham cracker pie crust
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
One 8 oz. package cream cheese

Beat until smooth. Pour into graham cracker crust and refrigerate for two hours.

You can eat it plain. But, why?! Top it with raspberry, blueberry or cherry pie filling! You can even use FRESH fruit!!
Enjoy!