The Best Meatballs I've Ever Made . . .

I should say these are some of the best meatballs I've ever made, because I've made others. When my boys were younger I liked to try different things with meatballs, like adding in seasonings, and sometimes I'd add in some green pepper and onion. 

But then I went through a phase where I was just in the mood for the taste of ground beef minus any extra seasonings except for salt, pepper, and bread crumbs. 

So a couple of weeks ago I was in the mood to try Parmesian Rosano cheese in my meatballs, and then when I was already starting to shape them and place them in the pan to brown them, I had three in the pan at this point. I said to myself, I wonder how a little Italian dressing would taste mixed in there? 

It was calling me from the fridge . . . So I had a moment. I looked back and forth between the counter where I was working on my next meatball and the frying pan holding the three I'd already finished. I said, am I going to add it in now and leave the three as-is, don't bother adding it at all and try next time, or be a beast and throw the three meatballs back into the bowl and start from scratch adding in the Italian dressing?

I decided to throw the three back in the bowl. My OCD wouldn't allow me to start over without those three . . . The end result, honestly I wasn't sure how this was all going to taste, but I wanted to experiment. They were soooo good, and the meatballs were so easy to shape. Can't remember if I shared my new favorite brand of crushed tomatoes, but that would be Furmano's (the seasoned one). It tastes just like the sauce from an Italian restaurant and my home smells like an Italian restaurant when I cook with it - heavenly. 

Combine this with three minute angel hair pasta (my fav) and you've got an overall quick and easy dinner. The meatballs take work (and motivation), but here's what I like about our spaghetti and meatball nights. Regardless of how many people are home for dinner, you have leftovers. I like to get two to three nights out of something. I use 2-lbs. of ground beef, and get about three nights out of this. You could always make meatball subs on the third or second night if you're tired of pasta. 

If you'd like to give it a try, keep scrolling down!!

My New Meatball Creation

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. ground beef 
• 1-2 eggs (I use one)
• 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan Rosano cheese (non-refrigerated on pasta aisle)
• a drizzle of your favorite Italian dressing (maybe 1 tbsp.?)

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix well with hands. Shape into meatballs, and place in frying pan to brown.
2. Brown on all sides on medium to low heat until brown, then drain on plate with paper towels, and put into the sauce to continue cooking with sauce about 45 minutes on low heat.

Sauce & Pasta

Ingredients:

• 2 cans crushed tomatoes (I love Furmano's seasoned!)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (also Furmano's for me, sometimes Contadina)
• Optional: small can of black olives; fresh mushrooms (or canned); fresh zucchini, chopped
• 3 minute angel hair pasta

Quick and Easy Chicken Parmesan with Another Substitute for Breadcrumbs

Heaven . . . 

I love making chicken parmesan, but it's not something I make all the time. But I think it's something I'd like to start making more time to make because it's really not as complicated as it seems. 

And it's so worth taking the time to make. There is a little teeny bit of prep involved, just breading the chicken, but that's about it. The rest of it is so fast and easy. 

So I went to prepare this last night and realized I had no breadcrumbs. Are we surprised? No. I've had disasters like this happen before and ended up making homemade breadcrumbs once. 

But this time I was not in the mood to make homemade breadcrumbs. We were eating late and I needed to figure something else out and fast. No flour . . . are you serious? Yes. Dead serious. then the light bulb goes off . . . Bisquick!! I don't know if you've ever tried using Bisquick to brown chicken in oil, but this was my first time and I wasn't sure how it'd turn out. But I figured it couldn't be as bad as not trying at all. 

Lucky for me it turned out amazing. The chicken only took three minutes on each side to brown, then stuck it in the oven with some sauce and mozzarella cheese for eight minutes. Forgot to buy angel hair pasta, which only takes three minutes. Apparently they had the Fettuccine in the spot that the angel hair was and I grabbed that instead. Yes, let's blame Walmart instead of taking responsibility. I know. So here's how this went down . . . 

Ingredients:

• Boneless skinless breasts (I had a pack of 7)
• 1 egg
• maybe 1/2 cup of milk
• 2 cups breadcrumbs, or flour, or Bisquick! 
• A little salt and pepper 
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2-28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes (my latest favorite is Red Pack with garlic and I think basil)
• About 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• oil (whatever you use to brown or fry - I used veg. oil, but  sometimes use olive oil)
• Angel Hair pasta (or whatever you prefer - angel hair takes 3 minutes)

Steps to Easy Chicken Parmesan

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and preheat a large frying pan with a little oil on low heat to brown the chicken. When you're ready for the chicken turn up heat to medium. 
2. Prep the chicken; crack open an egg and whip it up in a bowl (I use a fork to whip up eggs - my mom dated a cook when I was a kid and that's how he did it), then add the milk to the egg, and mix again. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Then take a plate and put the flour, breadcrumbs, or Bisquick on the plate. Add your desired seasonings. I just felt like keeping it simple and sprinkled some salt and pepper. 
3. Dip the chicken into the flour mixture, then dip into egg mixture, then back into flour mixture. Coat good, then set aside on another plate and repeat will all pieces of chicken. Once all chicken is coated proceed to step four.
4. Brown chicken for about three minutes on each side (thin cut chicken breast). Once brown drain on a plate with paper towels and continue with remainder of chicken. 
5. At this time you can start warming the sauce. Add Parmesan cheese to sauce, then cover and simmer on low heat while you finish remainder of steps. During this time you'll also want to fill a pot of water for your spaghetti. 
6. Chicken is done browning, so take a baking sheet (greased or covered with foil) and place the chicken on the baking sheet. Coat each piece of chicken with sauce (your crushed tomatoes) and then sprinkle (or smother) with mozzarella cheese. Place in oven for eight minutes.
7. Cook and drain pasta, and that's it.
8. Num, num, num . . . enjoy.

Basically all you're doing is browning the chicken, simmering sauce, sticking the chicken in the oven with sauce and mozzarella yumminess and cooking the pasta. It sounds complicated if you've never tried, but once you get going it's actually pretty fast. Thin cut chicken and angel hair pasta make it even faster. Enjoy!! I did!! 

Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas: Quick and Easy Chicken and Dumplings

I have a story for this quick and easy chicken and dumplings recipe, because I have a story for everything. Yes, I'm going to be one of those old ladies one day.

When I first started making chicken and dumplings, my older boys were small and I originally used a whole chicken for this recipe. That's what the recipe called for.

The recipe that I was following also called for homemade dumplings completely from scratch. Can't tell you how many times I epically failed at my homemade dumplings no matter how hard I tried!!

And I grew tired of removing bone from everything after cooking, because all I wanted to do was quickly serve my children. I just didn't have time for it. So I came up with this...

Quick and Easy Chicken and Dumplings

Prep Time: About 10-15 minutes 

Cook Time:  About 1 Hour

Ingredients:

• Boneless Chicken Breast (as many as you need)
• 4-6 Stalks of Celery Chopped
• 1 Small-to-Medium Onion Chopped and Diced
• Bisquick
• 2-3 tbsp. of Cornstarch or Flour (for gravy)
• Sprinkle of Cilantro
• Sprinkle of Oregeno
• Sprinkle of Basil
• Sprinkle of Garlic Powder
• Sprinkle of Salt
• Sprinkle of Pepper

Directions:

1. Chop up the onion and celery. Add the onion, celery, chicken and seasonings to a Dutch oven pot. Fill the Dutch oven with just enough water to cover the chicken. You're not going to fill the pot entirely. Simmer on medium-low heat for 1 hour.
2. When the chicken is finished cooking, remove the chicken and quickly begin mixing up your Bisquick dumplings. Follow the directions on the Bisquick box. It's easy. The dumplings have to cook for 10 minutes uncovered and then for 10 minutes covered. You have to do both or else it won't come out right. Trust me, I know.
3. When the dumplings are done, remove them and start working on your gravy. Mix 2-3 tbsp. of flour or cornstarch in a cup with one cup of cold water. Stir well, then mix into the Dutch oven of what's left of your chicken mixture. Allow to thicken on very low heat and stir well.

This is the easiest and least complicated way to make chicken and dumplings. Serve with homemade mashed potatoes and a veggie. If you can peel potatoes quick (I can), then homemade potatoes won't take long. I just can't imagine my life without homemade potatoes. I've tried the boxed potatoes before and the refrigerated kind that you heat up in the microwave when I was really crunched for time, just not the same. Not bad; just not the same.

Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas: Spaghetti with Chicken

If you're looking for quick and easy dinner ideas you'll love this spaghetti with chicken recipe. I've been making this since my older two boys were toddlers.

They're now 19 and almost 18. I came up with it on my own, but I'm sure other people have thought to do this as well.

I used to use jar spaghetti sauce, specifically Prego, but several years ago started making my own sauce. I felt like it was sort of cheaper and tastes better too.

My mother started doing this and I quickly followed soon thereafter. One day I'll try actual from scratch, scratch with tomatoes, one day. I just prefer a different brand of crushed tomatoes than her. I like the brand she uses, but the brand I love is my favorite of the two. Before I go into the recipe I want to share what quick and easy mean to me.

When I label a recipe as "quick and easy," it either cooks quick and easy, or it is quick and easy to put together, but then cooks itself basically. This is one of those recipes that is a cinch to put together and then you just allow it to simmer. Three minute angel hair pasta makes it a breeze... 

Okay, so here is your quick and easy spaghetti with chicken recipe...

Quick and Easy Spaghetti with Chicken

 

 

Prep Time: None, unless you choose to use fresh onion and garlic.

Cook Time: 45 minutes to one hour

Ingredients: 

• 8-10 Boneless Chicken Thighs
• 1 Box of Angel Hair Pasta (takes 3 minutes to cook!)
• 2-28oz Cans of Crushed Tomatoes (My favorite is Contadina, but my mother loves her Tuttorosso.)
• 1-28oz Can of Petite Diced Tomatoes (any brand)
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese
• 1/4 tsp. of Onion Powder (or 1 onion chopped and diced)
• 1/4 tsp. of Garlic Powder (or a little bit of fresh garlic)
• 1/4 tsp. of Basil
• 1/4 tsp. of Oregano
• Sprinkle of Salt
• Sprinkle of Pepper

Directions:

1. Put the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, chicken thighs, Parmesan cheese, and seasonings into a Dutch oven pot and allow to simmer for 45 minutes to one hour on medium-low heat.
2. When your sauce is almost finished cooking, boil the water for the 3 minute angel hair pasta. Drain and serve.

And that's it! This is quick, easy, and tastes so yummy!! Serve with a veggie, Italian bread, bread and butter, salad, dinner rolls...whatever!

Enjoy! Nom, nom...

Carmen's Favorite Recipes: The Best Easter Ham Glaze EVER

Easy Ham Glaze

I know that Easter just passed, but this is a recipe that you could always tuck away for next year, or give it a try the next time you make ham. 

I love making ham because it's quick and easy. You don't need a glaze for ham, but they're great for adding more flavor. My mother always glazed ham, so I glaze ham.

I usually only make ham on New Year's and for Easter, but sometimes if I'm in the mood I'll make it in-between. I love making ham because of the quick and easy factors. In this house Easter dinner is the easiest of holiday meals to prepare and it's one of my favorites. 

And this year I forgot to buy biscuits (are we surprised here?), so I ended up making Bisquick biscuits from scratch. But, you know what? They were sooo much better than store bought! Sorry Pillsbury...I love my Pillsbury biscuits, too, but I really liked the way my Bisquick biscuits came out. 

So, back to the glaze... Every year, I always experiment with various ways to glaze the ham and yesterday I came up with a ham glaze masterpiece concoction. The ingredients to this glaze are simple to put together and the ham tasted beyond amazing. 

I'm not one to boast. If my cooking sucks I'll be the first to admit it, but everyone agreed that this was amazing. :D My cooking rarely sucks, but we do have the occasional epic fail or two. In the words of my 17-year-old, the ham looked "sexy," lol. I guess that means it looked good. Tasted as good as it looked too!

Carmen's Easy Ham Glaze Recipe

Prep Time:  5-10 minutes

Cook Time:  The glaze itself only needs 20-30 minutes to cook after being added to ham. Cooking time for ham will vary depending upon the ham type and the pounds.

Ingredients:

• Pineapple Juice from a Can of Pineapple Slices (I put the slices into a bowl to serve with dinner.)
• 1/2 Cup of Orange Juice
• 1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
• Sprinkle of Ground Nutmeg
• Sprinkle of Ground Cinnamon
• Sprinkle of Thyme Leaves
• Sprinkle of Ground Cloves
• A Dash of Rosemary Leaves

Cooking Directions:

1. Add all of the ingredients to a very small cooking pot and stir on low-heat. Allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes.
2. Add to ham for the last 20-30 minutes of cooking time.

I can guarantee you'll love this easy ham glaze!! I may try another concoction in the future, but for now this is my all time favorite!

Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas: Easy Cheesy Beefaroni Recipe

My Latest Concoction

This is a recipe that will appeal to anyone looking for something quick, looking for a way to switch up the traditional beefaroni, or anyone just looking for something different to try. If you love anything with pasta, cheese and meat, you'll love this!!

Beefaroni is something I love to make for dinner for several reasons. It's quick, it tastes good, and I can get a second night out of it where I don't have to cook. 

I don't make it all the time, but when I do one of my boys just doesn't care for it. It's not my cooking. He loves his mama's cooking and eats everything I cook. 

He just doesn't care for beefaroni. Now this is tough for me because when I make a pot of this we get a lot and could easily have it for a second night, which is another reason I love to make it. So in order to make it work I needed to find a way to get this boy to enjoy beefaroni. 

I thought of adding in a variety of cheeses and some Italian sausage. I added cheeses that I've used for other Italian recipes of mine that I'll share another time. Bottom line...the boy loved it. In the words of my two older teenage sons and a friend of theirs...my beefaroni was "bangin." Lol.

Easy Cheesy Beefaroni

 

Prep Time:  10-20 minutes

Cook Time:  This depends. If you add the sausage it will take a little longer. With the sausage it takes about 45 minutes-to-an-hour. Without the sausage and just the cheeses, not counting prep time, 20 minutes.

Servings:  10-12 or more

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 4-6 sweet Italian sausage links 
• 1-8oz box of macaroni elbows
• 2-28oz cans of crushed tomatoes (I use Contadina or Tuttorosso)
• 1 28oz can of petite diced tomatoes (any brand)
• 1 small onion chopped and diced (or onion powder if you're really crunched for time)
• 1 tbsp. of garlic powder (or 2-3 fresh cloves of garlic if you have time)
• 1 tbsp. oregano
• 1 tbsp. basil
• sprinkle of salt
• sprinkle of pepper
• 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup of cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup of sour cream
• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella

Directions:

1. Boil a pot of water to start your macaroni elbows. While you wait for the water to boil chop up your onion. Add the onion and ground beef to one frying pan to brown while you brown your sausage links in a separate frying pan. Brown the ground beef and sausages on medium-low heat for 10-20 minutes until no longer pink. Sprinkle a little bit of your favorite seasonings on the ground beef. It's okay if the sausage is a little pink cause you're going to finish cooking it in the sauce anyway. While doing all of this your water should have started to boil and you'll have started and finished your elbows by the time the sausage and ground beef are done browning. Drain the ground beef and sausage links on paper towels when finished.
2. Slice and quarter your pieces of Italian sausage.
3. Put the crushed tomatoes, petite diced tomatoes, garlic powder (if used), onion powder (if used), basil, oregano, and parmesan cheese into a large Dutch oven. Add in your ground beef and quartered sausage links. Cook on low heat for 45 minutes.
4. After 45 minutes, stir in 1/4 cup of cottage cheese, 1/4 cup of sour cream, 1 cup of mozzarella, and your elbows. Stir well, allow to cool, and serve!

Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas: Easy Oven Baked Chicken with Butter and Herbs

Before going in the oven.

A Quick and Easy Way to Make Chicken

When I was growing up, my mother made chicken like this a lot, so it's one of my favorite ways to make chicken and it's quick. 

She would serve either a couple of those packets of Lipton Knorr flavored rice with it, usually something chicken flavored, or some mashed potatoes. And a veggie of course. 

Lipton rices are really quick and easy to make and only take 7-10 minutes. I personally prefer homemade mashed potatoes when I make baked chicken but sometimes like to make the beef flavored rice with burgers. 

Scalloped potatoes are good with burgers, too. Oh, and roasted potatoes go great with this chicken recipe as well. Okay, I'm making myself hungry  now, lol. Back to the recipe...

Easy Oven Baked Chicken Recipe

 

Ingredients:  

• Chicken breast on the bone (as many as you need for your family size)
• 2 tbsp. of butter or olive oil (I use Imperial. That's what I was raised on.)
• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Cilantro
• Basil
• Oregeno
• Ground Black Pepper
• Salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Melt the stick of butter in a small frying pan on low heat.
3. Place the chicken breast on a baking sheet or in a shallow baking dish. Pierce each piece of chicken with a fork several times. Take a spoon and drizzle the butter over each piece of chicken. Then carefully and slowly (unless you're a seasoning pro!) sprinkle a little of each seasoning above. Adding too much will make the chicken over-spiced. 
4. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes.

I like to serve this with a little ranch dressing on the side. My teenagers and I love to dip the chicken in ranch dressing. You can remove the breast meat from the bone before serving or serve as-is. I always remove the meat for the smaller kids, obviously, and cut it up for my daughters. My older boys like it as-is.

So yummy!

 Enjoy! Nom, nom...

Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas: Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf Recipe - Project Meatloaf

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf - So Yummy

Still in the pan.

So I'm starting a new project, project meatloaf, and I have actually come up with many ways to make a meatloaf. It started with growing bored with traditional meatloaf. 

This was actually not my first meatloaf concoction but it's the first I'll share. I thought that putting bacon and cheese on top would be so yummy and I was right. 

This is a quick and easy dinner to make, too. You can make a meatloaf with any side dish you like, but I prefer good 'ol mashed potatoes with a veggie.

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf Recipe

 

Prep Time:  5-10 Minutes

Cook Time:  1 Hour

Servings:  7-8

Ingredients:

• 2 Pounds of Ground Beef
• 1 Small Onion Chopped and Diced
• 7-9 Slices of American Cheese 
• 7 Slices of Cooked Bacon
• 1/2 tsp of Oregano
• 1/2 tsp of Basil
• 1/2 tsp of Garlic Powder
• 2 Eggs (or 4 tbsp. of mayonnaise)
• 2 Cups of Seasoned Breadcrumbs
• 1/2 Cup of Water
• Optional:  1/2 tsp of Onion Powder Instead of 1 Small Onion)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix all of your ingredients, except for the cheese and bacon, in a large bowl. 
3. Place the ground beef in a baking pan with 1/2 cup of water in the pan to keep the bottom of the meatloaf from getting too dark. Shape the meatloaf. I like to make mine in the shape of a flat oval that way it cooks through good. Have a meat thermometer on hand to verify that you meatloaf is cooked through if you make a rounder shaped meatloaf.
4. Bake for 45 minutes and then take out of the oven to add your bacon and cheese.
5. I started with three slices of cheese, but you can top the cheese whatever way you like. I just found that it covered the meatloaf better by doing it this way, because I have tried other methods. What I do is I take three slices of cheese and place them one on the left side, in the middle and on the right in the shape of a diamond. Then I melt the cheese in the oven for maybe five minutes.
6. Strategically place your bacon on the meatloaf and add the remainder of cheese slices to cover the meatloaf. Return to the oven for another five minutes.

Enjoy! Nom, nom...

Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas: Homemade Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Kielbasa

Quick and Easy Dinner Idea

Homemade Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Kielbasa

So long time no see again. I've been really busy working and with my kids, etc. that I have neglected my blog and website once again. I enjoy adding recipes but got tired of having to link to other people's food photos because I was waiting on a new camera phone, lol. 

I have finally reentered modern civilization and have left the stone ages with my new camera phone that I've had for about a month now. Yay! So now I can excitedly add my favorite recipes, maybe restart project pancake and add my own pictures to recipes that I've already added. 

Most of my recipes have my own photos, but not all. There is just one quick update since I've last posted other than my ability to finally post pictures again. For anyone that has followed, I had been interested in going back to school this past January for Legal Studies. 

Some paperwork was holding up my start date for January, so I ended up switching to a fall start date, changing my major to Criminal Justice AND changing my school of choice in New York's SUNY college campus network. My placement test is in April and I'm excited! This will work out better for me with my youngest - my girls. They'll be starting preschool in September, so I can use the time that they're at preschool to study. 

I make my own work schedule, so I can juggle my work before everyone gets up, throughout the day and at night before I get some zzzzzzz. Can't wait! Okay. So back to my homemade baked mac and cheese with kielbasa recipe! This recipe here is the best if you love homemade baked mac and cheese. I've made kielbasa on the side with mac and cheese, and thought it would be cool to sort of make a casserole with it. It's quick, easy, cheesy and YUM!

Quick and Easy Homemade Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Kielbasa Recipe

Prep Time:  5-10 Minutes

Cook Time:   30 Minutes Total

Servings:  9-10 (Smaller families can reheat for leftovers.)

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion chopped and diced
• 8oz box of macaroni elbows
• 8oz package of shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 2 cups of milk
• 10 slices of yellow American cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 package of Kielbasa, cooked and sliced
• 1/2 cup of seasoned bread crumbs (or non-seasoned - depending upon preference)
• 1/2 cup - 1 cup of frozen peas and carrots

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Boil a large pot of water to cook your macaroni elbows for 10 minutes, while cooking the kielbasa in a separate large pot of water for the same length of time. You'll follow the directions per your package of kielbasa, but 10 minutes is basic cooking time. You'll only fill the pan with just enough water to cover the kielbasa as you cook it on medium heat.
3. While the elbows and kielbasa are cooking, you'll chop and dice your onion, and gather your supplies.
4. Drain the elbows and place the kielbasa on a cutting board. Slice the kielbasa. Depending upon how small your children are, you may wish to quarter the slices into smaller pieces to avoid a choking hazard.
5. Take one of the large pots that you already used (to save yourself some dishes!), rinse it out and use it to mix the cheese. Saute the onion with the butter in the rinsed out large pot.
6. Once the onion has been sauteed, mix in 2 tablespoons of flour into the onion and butter mixture. Mix well.
7. Slowly stir in the 2 cups of milk on medium to low heat. Mix well.
8. Carefully pour the package of shredded cheddar cheese into the mixture and stir until mixed well.
9. Begin adding your slices of American cheese until completely melted. I usually do 2 slices at a time and just keep folding them in, then stir. Once everything is mixed well, turn off the heat.
10. Take a casserole dish and pour the elbows into the casserole dish. Then slowly and carefully pour in the cheese mixture into the casserole dish of elbows. Stir well. Add a little bit of salt and pepper. 
11. Mix in the carrots and peas. Pour bread crumbs on top.
12. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy! Nom, nom...

Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas: Chicken Shepherd's Pie

A Little Taste of Heaven

I love shepherd's pie and I actually make a few versions of it, but this time I decided to add chicken. Wow...this came out so good and my very first thought as I was enjoying this meal was that it reminded me of Thanksgiving dinner!! 

Only, much easier, obviously. My second thought was that something would go perfect with this meal...cranberry sauce! So the next time I make it I'm gonna buy cranberry sauce and everyone will get a slice or two of cranberry sauce on their plates. 

Anything cranberry would go good with this...because it really does remind you of Thanksgiving. Definitely an enjoyable meal that's easy to make. If you like shepherd's pie you'll love this.

Chicken Shepherd's Pie Recipe

 

Prep Time:  20-30 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 1-2 lbs. chicken tenderloins 
• (2) 12oz jars of chicken gravy 
• (1) 15.25oz can of corn
• 5lb bag of potatoes (I use russet or Idaho. If you don't feel like making them from scratch, then you could always use a full box of instant potatoes. I just really like homemade potatoes.)
• 2 packets of stuffing (This was my first time making this little concoction and I only used one packet. Next time I plan on using two.)
• sprinkle of salt
• sprinkle of pepper
• 1/4 tsp of oregano
• 1/4 tsp basil
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  
• Optional:  small chopped onion
  

Chicken Shepherd's Pie Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325F
2. Peel potatoes and place inside of a large saucepan or Dutch-oven pot. Cover the potatoes with water and bring to a boil. Once the water begins to boil lower heat and cook on medium until soft.
3. While the potatoes are cooking place the chicken inside of a large saucepan or Dutch-oven pot, then fill the pot with just enough water to cover the chicken. Add seasonings and bring to a boil on high heat. Once the water begins to boil lower heat to medium for 15 minutes.
4. Drain potatoes and mash in a large bowl. I add butter, milk, salt and pepper to my mashed potatoes. 
5. Drain chicken onto a plate. Now that your chicken is done you could add the chicken "as is" or you can break it or shred it into smaller pieces.
6. Now you're going to make your stuffing. Instant stuffing only takes about five minutes, so it'll be done quick. Once the stuffing is done layer the stuffing into an oven-safe casserole dish.
7. Next take a medium-large mixing bowl and combine your chicken, gravy and corn. Layer this mixture inside of the casserole dish on top of the stuffing. Make sure to set aside about 1/2 cup of gravy for step eight.
8. Layer the mashed potatoes on top of the chicken mixture. Drizzle 1/2 cup of gravy on the mashed potatoes and carefully spread with a spoon, so the gravy is lightly covering all of the potato mixture.
9. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Serve with:  Dinner Rolls; Bread and Butter; Cranberry Sauce (or anything with cranberry); Salad, etc.

Enjoy! Nom, nom...

Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas: Easy Chili con Carne with Cheese and Rice

Chili is a great meal during the colder months of the year and it's also cheap, easy and quick.  Not to mention you definitely get leftovers out of it, which is a win-win when you're busy. If you don't have much time to cook or chop things up there are quicker methods of making a great chili.

Chili is also versatile, so on nights when you do have more time or do feel like chopping extra things up, then you can add in various things. You can also make it less spicy, or more spicy depending on your personal preference. I like mine spicy.

First, I'll share the easiest way that I make chili in my home, then I'll share optional things that you can add into your chili to make it even yummier. And, of course, serve that baby over some white rice with sour cream and shredded cheddar on top, so yummy.

Quick and Easy Chili Recipe

 

Prep Time:  None, unless you've decided to add ingredients from the 'Optional' section below.

Cook Time:  40-60 minutes

Servings:  10-12 depending on serving size

Ingredients:

•  (1) 28 oz. Can Diced Tomatoes (I like to use Contadina or Tuttorosso for my diced and crushed tomatoes.)
• (1) 28 oz. Can Crushed Tomatoes
• (2) 15.5oz. Cans Dark Red Kidney Beans, drained
• 1 tsp. Onion Powder
• 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp. Basil
• 1 tsp. Oregano
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• 2-3 tsp. Chili Powder (I don't measure my chili powder anymore. I just keep sprinkling it until it has the taste that I want.)
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• (1) 8 oz. Package of Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 - 1-1/2 Ground Beef
• 2-3 Cups of Medium-grained White Rice
• Sour Cream 

Optional:

If you have a night where you have more time, then these are some things that you can do differently with your chili.

• Use a small-medium, chopped and diced onion instead of onion powder.
• Use 2-3 crushed cloves of garlic instead of garlic powder.
• Add any of these extra ingredients:  green pepper, red pepper, red hot chili pepper.
• Add 1-2 cans of corn, or 1-2 cups of frozen corn to your chili. (I've personally never added corn, but many people do add it. I like to stick with chunky tomatoes, onion and peppers.)

Quick and Easy Chili Directions:

1. Brown the ground beef in a medium-sized frying pan on medium-low heat until no longer pink. If you've opted to use fresh onion you'll saute your onion with your ground beef.
2. Drain the ground beef onto a plate with a paper towel. Take another paper towel to soak up extra grease from the ground beef.
3. Place the ground beef into a Dutch oven or a large saucepan. Add in your crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, onion powder, garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and chili powder. If you decided to add in corn put the corn into the chili for the last 10-15 minutes of cooking time. Cook for 30-40 minutes on low heat.
4. While your chili is cooking bring a large saucepan or Dutch oven half-filled with lightly-salted water to a boil. Once the water begins boiling add your rice. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low (I use setting 4 on my gas stove) and cook for 20 minutes.
5. Once everything's finished cooking add a little bit of rice to each plate and top the rice with some chili. Finish arranging your plates by topping each plate of chili with a sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese and a spoon of sour cream.

Serve with any of these:  dinner rolls, bread and butter, salad, your veggie of choice, etc.

With a little shredded cheddar and sour cream on top. Yum!

 Enjoy! Nom, nom...

Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas: Quick and Easy Tuna Casserole Recipe

If you're looking for quick dinner ideas, then you'll love this. This is a great recipe, but I really have to be in the mood for it in order to make it. I've made it twice in the past month, but before that, it had been a while. 

I don't know, I've just been in the mood for it lately. One of my inspirations for making it recently is the fact that it's a cheap semi-healthy dinner, and let's not forget the fact that it's quick.

Can't forget that. So we have ourselves a win-win situation with this tuna casserole recipe. The first time that I made this was years ago and I remember that I decided to make it because I wanted to get away from "Tuna Helper."

In between my more time consuming healthy dinners, I would find myself buying quick dinners that were unhealthy - processed foods. I still buy some things that are processed, but have gotten away from most. I don't know if I'll ever be able to give up the occasional Perdue chicken nuggets and fish sticks, etc., unless I decide to take the time to make them from scratch.

You really have to be in the mood to do that... And...but still...I believe that these things are okay in moderation. As long as you don't eat them every day, you're good, is my motto. It's the same thing with fast food. Occasionally is okay in my book, but not everyday and certainly not every meal. Unless, of course, you want a short lifespan. 

But most of us would like to live as long as possible, especially when you're a parent...or grandparent. I'd like to live to become a great-grandparent one day. Okay, I'm babbling. Back to my recipe...  This recipe is delicious, fast and easy. You'll love it.

Quick and Easy Tuna Casserole Recipe

 

Servings:  This all depends upon what you view as a "serving size." In my house, there are seven of us. My older boys have larger appetites compared to my younger children. We could easily feed 8 with this recipe. So, in my house this feeds three teenagers, two who have large appetites, me, a soon-to-be 8 year old and two soon-to-be 4 year old's, plus a guest, if we had a guest. If you have a smaller family, which most people do, then you could easily reheat this for leftovers a second night. I miss the days when we had more leftovers, lol. Those days are longgg gone...

Ingredients:

• (2) 5oz cans of tuna (I use chunk light in water)
• (1) 15oz can of peas and carrots, or a small frozen bag of peas and carrots
• 1 package of extra-wide egg noodles
• a little bit of salt and pepper
• (2) 10.5oz cans of cream of mushroom soup
• 10 slices of American Cheese
• Optional:  1 small chopped and diced onion

 Directions:

1. Bring a large saucepan or a dutch oven pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Throw in your egg noodles and cook them for 7-10 minutes, depending on package instructions. If you have chosen to cook with frozen veggies, boil the veggies with the egg noodles. If you've chosen canned veggies, toss them in with step 3.
2. When the egg noodles are finished, turn off the heat and drain them. Put them back into the large saucepan or dutch oven after you've drained them.
3. Stir in your cream of mushroom soup, your tuna and your veggies on very low heat.
4. Sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper depending on preference.
5. Begin adding your cheese slices two-at-a-time. I try to stir them quickly, so I can continue adding them and how do I put it...get it over with already. Kidding. So I stir until it's creamy. Once everything is nice and creamy, I turn off the stove and let it sit for a little bit.

Serve with bread and butter or a nice salad, or both. I just serve it with bread and butter. This is a great recipe if you have a night where you don't have much time to cook, you're not in the mood to cook, or you're just in the mood for tuna casserole.

Enjoy!

Carmen's Favorite Recipes: Carne Guisada Recipe

How to Make Carne Guisada

My Favorite Carne Guisada Recipe 

(See below for pictures.)


Carne Guisada is sort of like a Puerto Rican beef stew and it is sooo good!! Give it a try and I guarantee you'll fall in love...

Carne Guisada - My Way  

Prep Time:  The only prepping that you really need to do is peeling and cutting the potatoes but that can be done while the stew beef is cooking.

Cook Time:  1 hour and 30 minutes

Servings:  8-10 (Depending on portion size - my 2 teenage sons had large portions and there was still enough for 6 of us.  If they had smaller portions, this could feed 10 easily.

Ingredients:

2 pounds of stew beef                      1 - 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
1/4 cup of Goya Sofrito Sauce          1 packet of Goya Sazon  
1 tbsp. of Goya Adobo                     1/2 tsp. Dried Oregeno
salt to taste                                     3 cups of potatoes
2 cups of baby carrots                      2 cups of green beans or peas 
3 tbsp. of corn starch                       1 cup of water

Carne Guisada Directions:

1.)  In a large pot, combine tomato sauce, sofrito sauce, sazon, adobo, oregeno and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes on medium-low heat. Add stew beef and cook until evenly browned. Next, add enough water to cover the stew beef, cover and simmer on medium-low heat for 1 hour.

2.)  Add peeled and cubed potatoes, baby carrots and green beans or peas. Cover again and simmer for another 30 minutes.

3.)  Mix 3 tbsp. of corn starch with 1 cup of cold water. Stir until mixed evenly. Slowly add the mixture to your stew and stir while simmering on low heat just until thickened. (This won't take long.)

Tips:  Serve with dinner rolls, white rice, a nice salad, etc. I like to cook white rice while this is cooking. I cook 2 cups of medium-grained white rice while the stew is cooking towards the end of cooking time that way the rice is finished when the stew is finished. Then I put a little rice on each plate and top it with the stew. I also do this with chili.  :) It's very good and filling. This is a very simple, quick and healthy dinner.

Carne Guisada - Yum!!

Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas: My Favorite Spaghetti with Meatballs and Sausage Recipe

Spaghetti with Meatballs and Italian Sausage

I swear, I did not deliberately try to make a smiley face. :)

What kid doesn't like spaghetti and meatballs? Add in some Italian sausage and, yum. Definitely can get at least two nights out of this as well. So let's get right into it...

My Recipe

Prep Time:  10 minutes

Cook Time:  1 hour and 15 minutes

Servings:  7-9  (Depends on how much pasta that you cook and how many meatballs or sausage each person eats.)

Ingredients for Meatballs:

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 5-6 Italian Sweet Sausage
• 1 cup of Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder     
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder  
• 1/2 tsp. basil                  
• 1/2 tsp. oregeno

Ingredients for Sauce:           

• 1/2 tsp. oregeno
• 1/2 tsp. basil
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 28oz. cans of crushed tomatoes (I use Contadina.)
• Small can of petite diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup of 100% Grated Parmesan & Romano cheese

Spaghetti with Meatballs and Sausage Directions:

1.)  Unless you buy fresh ground beef and sausage, you will need to defrost your meat. Here's what I do. I defrost my ground beef in the microwave first.

2.)  Once the ground beef is done defrosting, I put the ground beef into a bowl and then put the Italian Sweet Sausage in the microwave to begin defrosting while I work on the meatballs.

3.)  Add 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1/2 tsp. basil, 1/2 tsp. oregeno, 1 egg, bread crumbs and mix well. Start shaping your meatballs and then add to frying pan. Don't turn on the stove until you have added all meatballs to the frying pan.

4.)  Brown meatballs on all sides for about 10-15 minutes, depending on how long it takes to brown them. Cook on medium/low heat.

5.)  Pour both cans of crushed tomatoes into a large sauce pan or dutch oven, along with your petite diced tomatoes.

6.)  When meatballs are done cooking, depending on how much grease is in the pan, you might need to drain them on to a plate with a paper towel. If there isn't much grease, just place the meatballs into the sauce as is.

7.)  Your sausage should be done defrosting by now, unless you bought fresh that is. Place the sausage into the sauce next. Then add 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. basil, 1/2 tsp. orgeno and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Cover, stir well and bring to a slight boil on medium heat. Stir again, reduce heat to low and simmer covered for about an hour. (You can also brown the sausage if you choose to do so.  I don't usually do that; it's a time waster to me.)

8.)  Once your sauce has cooked for about 40 minutes, bring a large saucepan or dutch oven full of water to a boil. This is for your pasta. I prefer angel hair pasta, which takes only three minutes to cook once I place it into the boiling water. I sometimes use thin spaghetti or regular spaghetti, too. I mostly cook with the angel hair pasta, though. I like the taste and it's quick. 

9.)  Once your pasta is done cooking, drain the pasta in a strainer. I usually keep the pasta in the strainer and place it onto a plate so that any left over water doesn't drip all over the place.

10.)  Now, you serve. You can leave the sausage whole, you can cut it into halves, or you can cut it into slices...depends on how you like it. For my older boys I give them a whole sausage. My youngest gets a half a sausage cut up. My girls get one half of a sausage, cut up into small pieces and divided. I eat one half. 

Enjoy!

Carmen's Favorite Recipes: My Favorite Hamburger Recipe

Okay, first of all, even though making a hamburger is pretty basic, I decided to add this recipe, because for beginners it's not so easy and basic. I am pretty sure that when I was younger, I messed up a burger or two.

I'll never forget when I was 11/12 years old and went on a camping trip with an aunt. She let me cook cheeseburgers and I accidentally flipped the burgers after I had placed the cheese on them. Yes...I can assure you...we all laughed.

Carmen's Favorite Hamburger Recipe

Prep Time:  If you have to defrost your ground beef, we're not counting defrost time here. Prep time takes maybe 5 minutes.

Cook Time:  10 - 15 minutes. 5 - 10 minutes for each side on low to medium heat. Cook until you no longer see pink juice. Unless that's how you like your burgers. I like to make sure mine are cooked thoroughly.

Servings:  1 lb. of ground beef yields 7 - 8 burgers for me. It depends on how big you make your patties. For bigger patties and for more people, use more ground beef.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. of ground beef
• 1/2 tsp. of oregeno
• 1/2 tsp. of basil
• 1/2 tsp. of garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. of onion powder
• sprinkle of salt and pepper
• sliced cheese for cheeseburgers (optional)

(We always have cheeseburgers, but I forgot to buy cheese this week!)

My Favorite Hamburger Recipe Directions:

1.)  Defrost your ground beef, unless you bought fresh ground beef.  

2.)  Place ground beef into a bowl large enough to mix up your ground beef and seasonings without making a mess.

3.)  Add your ingredients and mix well.

4.)  Shape your patties onto a large dinner plate. This will save your counter from ground beef germs. Place each finished patty into frying pan while you make the rest of the patties. You will need two frying pans.

5.)  Cook on medium to low heat for 5- 10 minutes each side. On my gas stove, I use the number four setting on the knob. Cook until you no longer see pink juice.  

6.)  If you add cheese for cheeseburgers, wait until burgers are cooked thoroughly before adding cheese.  Reduce heat to low and then add cheese. Cook until cheese melts. And remember, don't flip the burger with the cheese on it! :D  

Note:  Always make sure to wash your hands, your counter space or anything that came in contact with ground beef, with antibacterial soap in between handling it to avoid Ecoli. I probably wash my hands a million times. I wash my hands after I begin defrosting, after I placed in the bowl, before I handle my seasonings, and after I made my patties. OCD much?

While the burgers are cooking, I soak anything that came in contact with raw ground beef in hot soapy water and clean my counter space that I worked on. I'm so careful that I even wash my spatula half way through cooking the burgers, lol. 

Also Note:  These are my basic favorite ingredients for just about everything from meatballs to chicken! These spices work well together!

 Ground beef with seasoning, not yet mixed up.

I make my patties on a plate. It's easier for me. I also do it to be careful with germs, etc.

 all of my patties - about to start cooking

 My 6 year old's plate.

 My plate.