Easy Peasy Chili Dinner

Here's an easy peasy lemon squeezy dinner for you to throw together in under 30 minutes.  That's right.  I said under 30 minutes.  It is one of the hub's favorites.  In fact, he requested this as his birthday meal.

All you need is a package of McCormick Chili Original seasoning mix, 1 lb. of ground turkey (or beef), 2 cans of tomato sauce and one can of Ranch beans (or chili beans).  That's it.

The first thing you do is brown the turkey meat and drain the fat.  Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.  Voila!  Your dinner is ready.

The hubs likes to eat his chili over Fritos with a little cheese or over rice.  I prefer the chips myself.  We have enough chili for at least two meals.

We have a birthday plate to serve cake to the birthday boy or girl.  :)  Makes them feel a little special, right?

I picked up a slice of cake from HEB and added a few decorations from home.

He was pretty content with his birthday dinner and cake.

Do you have any easy peasy dinners you can share?  I'd love to get some new ideas from you!

Take care,

xoxoxo

Debbie

Easy Peasy Spaghetti Dinner

There are some days when you are in need of a quick and easy peasy dinner choice.  On those days, I reach for McCormick's Italian Mushroom Spaghetti sauce mix.

Ingredients

1 lb. ground turkey (or beef)

1 pkg. McCormick Sauce Mix

2 1/4 cups water

1 can tomato paste (6 oz.)

1 tbsp. of butter (optional)

Angel Hair pasta (hubs' fav)

I brown the ground turkey first.  Next I add the seasoning, tomato paste and only 1 1/2 cups of water as we like the sauce a little thicker than the recipe calls for.

I bring everything to a boil, cover it and reduce the heat and let it simmer for at least 10 minutes.  As with most recipes, the flavoring is so much better on the second day.

You can boil your pasta while your meat is simmering.  Easy peasy!

Who doesn't love having dinner cooked in under 30 minutes with minimal dirty dishes.  :)  I know I do!

Have a fabulous Saturday!

xoxoxo

Debbie

Easy Crock Pot BBQ Ribs

I am always looking for new ways to prepare our meals and the crockpot is my favorite one of all.  I mean, who doesn't love combining ingredients in a large ceramic dish, walking away, and coming back hours later with dinner done?  Seriously!  I only wish I had used a crockpot when my kids were growing up.  It would have made dinner time so much easier.  Sorry girls!  :)

#lovethecrockpot

I love ribs.  Not just any ribs.  I'm talking good tasting fall off the bone kind of ribs.  So I tried this recipe from Leigh Ann Wilkes Home Based Mom's blog.  The ribs were delicious!!!  Fall off the bone delicious!!!  Better than I've had in some restaurants ribs!

The hubs is not a rib eater like I am so he was not as excited as I was to try the ribs.  He loved them.  They are finger licking good!

So hop on over to Home Based Mom's blog and check out the recipe.  I'm sure you have the ingredients you need to make these delicious ribs.

Hope you have a wonderful evening!

Take care,

xoxoxo

Debbie

Pronto Pizza Patties

I am in the process of purging my cookbooks (and all other books for that matter!) so I've been going through them making sure there isn't anything I want to try before I get rid of them.  So yesterday I decided to make the Pronto Pizza Patties from the It's Good For You cookbook by Pampered Chef.

I'm sure you've noticed by now that my results do not look like the photo in the cookbook.  :)  There really is a piece of bread under the patty.  The main reason they don't look the same is I did not buy the pre-made French bread.  I bought the one you bake in the oven yourself which apparently does not get as big around as the other.  :)  My reason for not buying the ready made was I wasn't sure how soon I was going to make the dish.  More times than not I have intentions to cook something and it all goes to "hell in a hand basket" because something comes up and it gets tabled.  I don't mind as long as it is not something that has to be used right away.  Follow me?

This was an easy recipe to follow and tasted pretty good.  If I was to make it again, I would add seasoning to the turkey (found it to be rather bland) and I would buy French bread from the Deli.

The hubs approved of it aside from the green bell peppers he picked out of it.  Heaven forbid he eat anything green other than green peas yuck!!!  You can find the recipe here if you can't read the one in the pic.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Take care,

xoxoxo

Debbie

Cajun Chili Cornbread Skillet

I came across this recipe in one of my cookbooks "All the Best" by Pampered Chef and decided to give it a try.  :)  I followed the recipe pretty closely except for a few things.  I used Tony Chachere's Creole Original Seasoning in place of the Pantry Cajun Herb Seasoning mix and I used mild cheddar cheese in place of the sharp cheddar cheese.

It was really easy to make and tasted delicious!  Even the hubs liked it after he pulled off the red and green bell peppers.  :)  I ate mine with a dollop of sour cream and it was so good.  It makes a lot so we had it for a couple of days.

Here's the recipe...

Just in case you have trouble reading the recipe, you can find it here.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Take care,

xoxoxo

Debbie

Great Tasting Ribs

Over the weekend the hubs made his famous pork ribs.  First  he seasoned the ribs with salt and pepper and placed them on the grill to brown them on both sides.  The ribs stay on the grill for 45 minutes, flipping them every 15 minutes.  Next he puts foil in a pan and places the ribs on top of the foil.  He pours two bottles of Kraft Original BBQ sauce over the ribs.  He adds an inch of water to each bottle to get the remainder of the sauce out.  He covers the ribs with foil leaving a small air pocket on top.  He places them in the oven at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.  They literally fall off the bone and are so good!!!

#iloveribs
#sogood

Hope you are having a great day!!!

Take care,

Debbie

Our Favorite Fruit Dip

I look for occasions and opportunities to make this dip.  I have made it for parties and celebrations at home and I have brought it to Bible Study classes.  The recipe calls for three ingredients and mixes up really quick.

Here's the recipe:

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1 7 oz. jar marshmallow cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Blend the ingredients really well and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.  That's it!!!  I love serving it with fresh strawberries or graham crackers.

#lovecreamcheese

#lovestrawberries

#lovethisdip

So if you are looking for something quick, easy and super delicious...this is your dish.  I made it for our 4th of July celebration and it was gone before I had a chance to have some for myself.  I won't name who ate the most of it.  :)  Once you dip your strawberry in...you are done.  It is so hard to move away from the dip.  :)

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Take care,

Debbie

A Yummy Smoothie

Yesterday I made a really yummy smoothie for brunch.  I didn't have breakfast and it was a little too early for lunch so I had brunch!  Don't you just love this Mickey Mouse glass with the straw to match.  It would have looked even better if I had switched the straw around!  My bad!  :)

I made the smoothie with Kroger's Private Selection Handpicked Blackberries, Strawberries and Blueberries.  I didn't measure it out.  I just grabbed a handful of each.

I added one scoop of Lean Body Vanilla ice cream protein mix, a cup of ice and about 8 ounces of water.  Surprisingly I wasn't hungry again until dinner.  In fact, I never once thought about grabbing a snack or anything.  I am going to make this my "go to" from now on.

The hubs has been so busy with work for so long now so I surprised him and had the grass cut when he got home from work.  We are supposed to get a lot of rain on Friday and Saturday so this way he doesn't have to worry about it.  He can enjoy a clean house and the yard work being done as he does paper work.  :)  And lots of quiet!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend doing the things you love with the people you love.  I will be traveling tomorrow to Kerrville, TX to attend the Kickapoo Kamp for Girls with my daughters and granddaughters.  It is their mother/daughter weekend so we are all going.  We paid our monies way back in January.  It should be a lot of fun!  I imagine I'll have lots of photos to share with you.  Like the ones I haven't shared yet of my trip to AZ.  It's on my list!

Take care,

xoxoxo

Debbie

Yummy Penne Pie

A couple of weeks ago I had the Today Show on and I happened to see Katie Lee prepare the Penne Pie.  It looked delicious and the cast all seemed to love it.  It seemed pretty easy to prepare so I decided to cook it for dinner.

I didn't have a 9x3 cake pan so I improvised and used a Corning Ware dish with similar dimensions.  It worked out perfectly as it also provided me a cover once we were finished eating.  Snap!  :)

Here's the recipe....

Penne Pie

1 pound penne pasta

1 pound ground beef (I used ground turkey)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 large eggs

2 cups marinara sauce (homemade or store bought) (I used store bought)

1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus 2 tablespoons

2 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley (I left this out because I didn't have any)

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Grease a 9x3 inch cake pan.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add penne pasta and cook three to four minutes less than the package recommends so that it is very al dente.  Drain and reserve a small amount of pasta water. I totally forgot this step.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, brown the beef (or turkey).  Season with salt and pepper.  Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.  Wipe the skillet clean with a paper towel.  Heat olive oil in the skillet over medium heat and saute onions until translucent, about four or five minutes.  Remove from heat.

In a large bowl whisk eggs, marinara, ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan, parsley, salt, pepper and two tablespoons reserved pasta water.  Add cooked penne, beef and onions.  Toss to evenly coat.  Transfer to prepared cake pan.  Top with mozzarella and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until cheese is bubbling and golden brown.  Let sit 5 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve.

It was delicious!  I will most definitely be adding this recipe to my collection.

I think it would make a nice and easy dinner to serve for family and/or friends.  And it came together rather quickly.

Take care and have a wonderful Wednesday!!!

xoxoxo

Debbie

Weekend Recap

I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  Ours was really busy except for Friday night which was nice and quiet.  We were able to have the fireplace on and that always makes me smile.

I made these meatloaf cupcakes for dinner Friday night.  Aren't they cute?  I had the recipe pinned on my Pinterest board.  You can find the recipe at Cincy Shopper.  They were a huge hit with the hubs as he is a fan of meatloaf.  I used 1 lb. of ground turkey and it made 12 cupcake loafs.  Its is very inexpensive to make.  I made the mashed potatoes from scratch and piped them from a zip lock bag.

The hubs, Brooke and I ran the roads on Saturday.  I finally found the perfect lamp for the foyer at Hobby Lobby on sale for $34.00.  (I'll share that with you later.)  We got home just in time for the kiddos to come over and spend the night with Maw Maw and Paw Paw.  I really wanted to go out and do something but it was too cold to be outside for any length of time so we decided to have a movie night.

This was the first time Mr. W has come over since we packed up Christmas.  He was so puzzled as to where Santa Claus went.  We kept telling him he was in the attic and will come back next year.  I can't tell you how many times he asked.

I was trying to take a selfie with Mr. W.  You can tell I'm not used to doing this as I almost cut myself out of the pic. :)

He and I were watching Home while Paw Paw, Ms. A and Sweet P were getting movies, candy and popcorn.  He is so sweet.  I love it when he wrinkles his nose.  Ms. A used to do that when she was little.

He loves this movie.  I have to admit it is becoming a favorite of mine, too.

Here's Ms. A and Mr. W watching Hotel Transylvania 2.  It is such a cute movie.  We all enjoyed it.

Sweet P is always hanging out with her Paw Paw.

After Hotel Transylvania the hubs, Mr. W and Sweet P went into the bedroom so Ms. A and I could watch Tomorrowland.  Mr. W passed out on the bed....

while Sweet P laid on the floor watching her show.

I carried him to the Grinch room.  He was sleeping so hard he never woke up.  (It looks like the overhead light is on but it is only the lamp.)

On Sunday morning Paw Paw made pancakes and bacon for breakfast.  He started crowing like a rooster and Mr. W was copying him only he was saying "honk a doodle doo".  He is so funny!

The girls are watching Star Wars from Netflix.  Yes I still have my Grinch comforter set out.  I am leaving it out until winter is over.  :)  It's way too cute to only have out for a few months.

 

Brooke has two containers of Beanie Babies in the attic.  Sweet P is on a kick to grab a couple every time they spend the night.  They each walked away with at least three of their favorite ones.

  We had a great time.  We hope they will always want to "hang out" with Maw Maw and Paw Paw.

How was your weekend?   Did you do anything special?

Hope you are having a great day....especially those of you that have been snowed in.  Stay safe and warm.

xoxoxo

Debbie

Amazing Meat Loaf "Muffins"

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend.  I finally got around to making the 15 Minute Meat Loaf Muffins I listed on my meal planning for last week.  Let me just say that the hubs kept saying over and over this is so good.  You can make this again.  :)  I'd say it was definitely a home run!  I served homemade mashed potatoes to go with the meatloaf muffins.

Here's the recipe:

15 Minute Meat Loaf Muffins

1 egg

1 lb. ground chuck

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/2 c. bread crumbs

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can condensed vegetable soup

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Beat egg in a large mixing bowl, add ground chuck, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, bread crumbs, onion and vegetable soup.  Mix with a fork.  (We like to use our hands to mix.)  Spray non-stick muffin tins with cooking spray.  Spoon meat mixture into muffin tins.  Round off tops.  Bake 15-20 minutes.

Here's what they looked like when I removed them from the oven.  Next time I will put a cookie sheet under the tin just in case the fat leaks over.

I also made this Frozen Fruit Salad for dessert.  Here's the recipe:

Frozen Fruit Salad

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 c. mayonaise

1 pt. whipping cream

1 c. diced bananas

1/2 c. pecans, chopped

1 c. crushed, drained pineapple

1 c. seedless grapes, halved

1 c. drained, pitted cherries (I chose to use Maraschino cherries.)

few Maraschino cherries

Beat cream cheese and mayonnaise until smooth.  Whip cream and add to cream cheese mixture.  Blend in bananas, pecans, pineapple, grapes and pitted cherries.  Spoon into papered muffin tins or molds and freeze until firm.  Let stand 15 minutes at room temperature before serving.  Garnish with maraschino cherries and serve on lettuce leaves.  10 to 12 servings.

I have to say it is very good.  However, for me, I would like a stronger cream cheese taste and less of a mayo taste.  Probably because I was craving cream cheese!!!

All of these recipes came from this gem of a cookbook.

This week I am not going to do an official meal planning post.  The hubs said he wants to eat lighter meals for dinner so who am I to complain and go against his wishes.  That means less time in the kitchen for me and more time working on projects which is what I prefer to do anyway.  Yay!!!  This means we will be having tuna sandwiches and grilled chicken for dinner.  No more oven!!!

Do you have any special recipes on your menu for this week?

Hope you have an awesome day today!

Take care,

Debbie

Hawaiian Pork Chops

I bet you are saying to yourself that's not Hawaiian Pork Chops.  If so, you're right!  It never dawned on me that I was going to be cooking these in the oven.  Yeah right!  Not in all this heat.  I quickly changed my mind and decided to grill them.  An added bonus was I was able to get in an extra 15 laps while waiting for it to be ready.  That's a win-win in my book.

We had brown rice, black-eye peas and deer sausage.  It was delicious!



Here is the recipe for what I mislead you to believe that I was going to be serving for dinner.  :)  It sounds delicious.

Hawaiian Pork Chops

6 3 oz. Boneless center-cut loin pork chops

1 8 1/2 oz. can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

1 T. lemon juice

1 T. honey

1 T. low sodium soy sauce

1/8 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

vegetable cooking spray

Trim fat from chops.  Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium heat until hot.  Add pork, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until lightly browned.  Place pork chops in a shallow baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Combine pineapple and remaining 6 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well.  Spread pineapple mixture over pork.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until tender when tested with a fork.


The hub's mom bought him a Rock'em Sock'em Robots game and she wanted some pics of him and the grandkids playing.

One of my goals being home was to start making smoothies again for breakfast.  We like Lean Body in the vanilla and the chocolate flavors.  For this smoothie I used frozen pineapple that I had in the freezer.  It makes it so much faster if you freeze your portions ahead of time.  I use a full scoop for the hub's smoothie and 1/2 of a scoop for mine.  I add about 6 ounces of water and more ice to make a smoothie this size.

I am hoping to settle down into a routine so I will be more consistent with my posts.  I have been all over the board this week except when it comes to getting my laps in.  I am swimming first thing in the morning so I don't get distracted during the day.  :)

Hope you are having a great day!

Take care,

Debbie