Favorite Fall Recipe: Noodle Casserole

As part of the November Blogathon I am sharing my favorite Fall recipe! I wasn't sure which recipe I was going to choose for this, then last night my mom made this casserole for my sister's boyfriend who is visiting from Holland. He really enjoyed this, and as always, the rest of the family did too!

Ingredients:

1-8 oz. package medium egg noodles
1 lb. ground beef
1 TBLS. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1 cup tomato puree
1 cup creamed cottage cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Cook noodles in boiling salted water. Rinse in cold water and drain.
Brown meat in butter, then add salt, pepper, garlic salt and tomato sauce.
Simmer for 5 minutes.
Combine cottage cheese, sour cream, chopped onions and noodles
Alternate (like lasagna) layers of noodles mixture and meat mixture and cheese in a two quart casserole, beginning with noodles and ending with meat.
Top with shredded cheese.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and browned.
Serves 8

I hope you enjoy this! I think this recipe smells like my Nana's house. If you are participating in the November Blogathon (or even if you aren't) link up your favorite Fall recipes in the comments!

Spicy Jalapeno Orzo

I will not lie to you guys.

Tonight I suffered from a "make whatever is in the pantry" dinner.

You know what I am talking about. When you haven't been to the grocery store...don't feel like going...refuse to get fast food...would rather eat all carbs than spend $40 on pizza delivery?

So what was on the menu tonight? A box of macaroni and cheese, reheated pretzel buns and what turned out to be excellent orzo.

I was so impressed with this orzo, I kept telling my husband to try it all night...until he finally did...and he loved it. Enough about how I am too lazy to go to the store. On to the recipe!

Spicy Jalapeno Orzo

2 Tablespoons Oil (olive, vegetable, whatever)
Quarter of a white Onion, chopped
Half of a Jalapeno, chopped (more if you can take the heat)
2 1/2 Cups Chicken Broth
1 Cup Orzo
Salt and Pepper (I use a lot, but this is all up to you)

Heat up your skillet: medium heat.
Saute the onion and jalapeno in the oil for about 5 minutes or until there is some color on the veggies.
Salt and pepper your veggies.
Pour in the chicken broth, bring to a boil.
Add the orzo. Salt and pepper. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Stir it, let it set for a few minutes and eat it up!

If your orzo starts to look a little dry, add a dash more chicken broth. If your orzo is a little soupy, simmer a bit longer.

My cooking is not an exact science, I wish it were so that I could give you amazing instructions. 

I hope you enjoy this! I sure did!

What's the weirdest "make whatever is in the pantry" dinner you have ever made?

Husband's Healthy Pizza

My husband Nathan made this for me last night and it was sooo good! He is being so supportive of my healthy eating, I just love him! :)

Ingredients:

1 Spinach soft tortilla
1 C Spinach leaves
1 Can of diced tomatoes (we didn't have any fresh ones handy, we used the kind mixed with oregano, basil and garlic)
1 C Mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly oil your cast iron skillet with olive oil (or anything so that it won't stick). Place the tortilla in the skillet. Cover with spinach leaves, tomatoes and cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until your cheese is melted how you like. Cut it like a delicious, veggie pizza!

Health Information:

Tortilla: 210 Calories, 4.5 g of Fat
Cheese: 120 Calories, 9 g of Fat
Spinach: 20 Calories, 0 g of Fat {Way to go Spinach!}
Canned Tomatoes: 140 Calories, 1.5 g of Fat

Total: 490 Calories, 15 g of Fat

This will vary depending on what type of ingredients you use. I think next time I might try and cut more calories by using fresh tomatoes and a different type of tortilla. Happy Cooking!

4 Ingredient Brownie Cookies...Yum!

Are they brownies or cookies? It definitely does not matter! I thought up this recipe this evening while we were snowed in. They are SO good! My husband actually said he was mad at me because they tasted so great ;)

How to make them:

Pouch of brownie mix (I used Everday Essentials)
Instant Chocolate Pudding
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the pouch of brownie mix and chocolate pudding mix. Add the egg and vegetable oil. Stir with a spoon until batter is moist, not runny.

Roll into little balls, place on cookie sheet.

Bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Makes about 15 cookies, depending on size. Enjoy!

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

This recipe happened by accident. It is the result of no clean baking pans or dishes. No matter how it happened, I am definitely glad it did! It is a different way of making and eating pizza. To serve, you can bring the skillet to the dinner table for a country home feel.

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

Ingredients:

Dough:
2 Packages active dry yeast
1 1/2 Cup of warm water
1 Teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 Cups of bread flour
2 Tablespoons Cornmeal
Cooking Spray

Toppings:
1/2 Jar of Pizza Sauce
1/2 Bag of Shredded Cheese
Various Toppings (pepperoni, sausage)

To make the dough:

1. Mix the 2 packages of yeast with 1 cup of warm water, let set for about 10 minutes.

2. Mix in the vegetable oil, salt and flour.

3. Let dough rise for 20 minutes. Place a towel over the bowl.

On to the Pizza:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2. Spray your cast iron skillet with cooking spray (Pam)

3. Dust the bottom of the skillet with the cornmeal.

4. Stretch out your dough across the skillet.

5. Bake the dough only for about 10 minutes.

6. Remove from oven and add pizza sauce, cheese and toppings.

7. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Enjoy your skillet pizza!

2012: My Favorite Projects!

Hey All! I decided to create my own link up of my favorite creations from 2012. Hope you enjoy!

Chocolate Mocha Banana Muffins?! Yum!

I remember making cooking creations in the kitchen when I was little. I'm pretty sure I drove my mother crazy. Well, I'm going to say it might have been worth it, because I came up with an amazing creation this morning! 

Chocolate Mocha Banana Muffins!

Enjoy this recipe and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cup Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1 Package Chocolate Pudding

2 Tablespoons Hot Chocolate Powder Mix

1/2 Cup Coffee

3 Bananas

1 Stick of Butter

1 Cup Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step One: Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt

Step Two: Mash your bananas with the back of a spoon (like my Nana taught me)

Step Three: In a separate bowl, mix your sugar, bananas, coffee and butter.

Step Four: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix well. 

Step Five: Add your package of chocolate pudding mix and the two Tablespoons of hot chocolate mix. 

Step Six: Pour mix into muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. 

Makes about 24 muffins. 

Enjoy!

Bubble Pizza and Italian Chicken

"I hear you taking pictures...does that mean dinner is ready?" ~My Husband

Oh the life of a man who is married to a blogger. I am so incredibly lucky that he supports me in everything I do!

Monday night was Bubble Up Pizza from Plain Chicken. This was great! It will definitely go into the "quick, easy and yummy" food bank. The total prep time is like 5 minutes and my husband asked me to cook this every night for the rest of our lives. It was a crowd pleaser.

Tonight I made the Italian Chicken Casserole from Tasty Kitchen. It was good, but definitely needed more seasonings. I was expecting a much fuller flavor. I loved every ingredient in this recipe, I just felt like it was missing something. My husband agreed. He added some Italian seasoning and garlic powder. I added some salt. 

Dinner Update: Beer Braised Chicken

Happy Monday!

Last night I made the Beer Braised Chicken Sliders with Hoisin Beer BBQ Sauce from The Beeroness. 

Boy, were these yummy!

My husband and I LOVED them, my son did not. They definitely had an Asian flare, which the adults loved, but the young one wasn't feeling it. Either way, these will definitely be made again!

What's for Dinner? {Third Edition}

Time to meal plan for the week again! It has been fun to do this the past few weeks and it seems like everyone enjoys it!

Sunday:

Beer Braised Chicken Sliders with Hoisin Beer BBQ Sauce from The Beeroness

Monday:

Bubble Up Pizza from Plain Chicken

Tuesday: *Election Day*

Italian Chicken Casserole from Tasty Kitchen

Wednesday: 

Crescent Pepperoni Roll Ups from Plain Chicken

Thursday:

Chile Colorado Burritos from The Food Pusher

Friday:

Buffalo Chicken Pizza from A Chick Who Can Cook

Last night I went out to a local bar and had some amazing junk food with my best friend and my husband to celebrate my friend's birthday. We also had some margaritas and other drinks of the alcoholic variety... :) With any luck, this coming Saturday my husband and I will eat out again. It's nice to have these little date nights and time with friends. We came to the conclusion last night that our 11 year old son goes out and parties way more than we do. Therefore, it's time to get up of the couch on the weekend, forget about the cleaning, and spend some time out together! 

I got some really great recipe suggestions last week that I have banked up for weeks to come. Feel free to comment something yummy! It can be from your blog or someone else's. 

Dinner Update: Beer Cheese Soup

Happy Halloween!

If you haven't linked up to my Social Stack Up blog hop, please do so here!

Now, on to one of the most amazing things I have ever tasted! Beer Mac and Cheese Soup with Pretzel Buns!

The soup was so delicious, I am totally in love! And the pretzel buns...OMG. I want to make these all the time! The only thing I changed a little is the cheese I used for the soup. I didn't plan ahead and realized I was out of cheddar cheese half way through recipe. I did have some Velveeta that I used. Honestly, next time I make this, I will probably use Velveeta again. I don't want to change a thing!

Dinner Update: Doritos and Italian Chicken

My husband actually cooked both of these meals (he is amazing)! He just called me in to snap a few photos. I had to steer away from my original meal plan because I failed to read some directions all the way through. I began making the pretzel rolls yesterday and added WAY too much water. I happened to use my last packet of yeast, so we had to change plans.

Sunday: Mexican Dorito Casserole

This was sooo sooo sooo good! My husband and I decided this would be awesome party or super bowl food. I'm pretty sure people will be begging you to bring it to everything!

Monday: Crockpot Italian Chicken

We loved this one too! My husband said it was better than the Dorito Casserole, but I might have to disagree. I thought it tasted wonderful, but I think I had really high expectations from all of the Pinterest hype. Either way, we will totally make this again!

What's for Dinner? {Second Edition}

I would consider last week's meal planning a success  Maybe we didn't like everything we tried, but we stayed on budget and I did find some AMAZING recipes that I will be making again!

So, on to this week:

Sunday:

Mexican Dorito Casserole from the website Jam Hands.

Monday:

Beer Mac and Cheese Soup with Pretzel Rolls from the website Closet Cooking

Tuesday:

Crockpot Italian Chicken from the website Southern Girl Cooking

Wednesday:

Halloween! We will be going to my mom's for Trick or Treating and a party. I think I will make the Bandito Dogs and bring them over. I might use little smokies instead of hotdogs to make it more of an appetizer. 

Thursday:

Pizza Casserole from the site Mom Endeavors

Friday:

Crockpot Roast Beef Sliders from the site Pearls, Handcuffs and Happy Hour (love the name!)

Maybe we will get lucky and have another date night on Saturday! I will try to update how we like each recipe during the week.

Any recipe suggestions? I will take them!

Happy Cooking!

Dinner Update: Hotdogs and Ham

On Thursday we cooked the Bandito Dogs and Friday we made the Ham and Cheese Sandwiches.

We LOVED the Bandito Dogs! They were so easy and so delicious! My son and husband loved them as much as I did. If you're a fan of chili cheese dogs, this one is for you!

We did not love the Ham and Cheese Sandwiches. The onions were very overpowering and I had only used 1/2 an onion. The sauce mixture didn't seem to go with the ham and cheese. You may like these if you love onion. I like the concept of cutting all of the rolls at one time and baking them with the cheese. I think next time I might look for a garlic butter sauce instead of onion.

We were pretty good all week with not eating out! I had Jack in the Box tacos one day at work, but other than that, we ate at home every night and I packed my lunch with leftovers or sandwiches.

Sooo...the hubby and I are going out for dinner while our son goes to Kid's Night Out at the YMCA. I think we're going to Outback Steak House, yum!

Tomorrow I'm going to shop and meal plan for this week. I have a few ideas. Any other suggestions?

Dinner Update: Cajun Fettuccine

Tonight I made the Cajun Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo from the blog "Comfortably Domestic". It was amazing! I just used regular Cajun spice because it was cheap and I didn't feel like looking for a special blackening spice...sometimes I'm lazy like that :) I also used fat free half and half instead of heavy cream. I saved a few calories on that one. 

Even with my substitutions, the recipe still turned out delish! And it looks pretty too!

Dinner Update: Cowboy Casserole

I royally screwed this thing up! I feel like I can't really give an accurate review of this casserole because I messed it up so badly :(

I really went wrong with the potatoes. Like I did for the previous casserole I made this week, I used fresh potatoes instead of frozen and I made this ahead of time. Two things went wrong with this. First, the freshly cut potatoes oxidized in the refrigerator and turned a purple-gray color. For someone who definitely eats with her eyes, this is no good. Second, the fresh potatoes require a longer cooking time so they are not crunchy, this took an additional 40 minutes.

I didn't add the meat the recipe calls for either (shhh don't tell my husband there was supposed to be ground beef)...I am not a vegetarian, but overall, I can do without most meats, especially ground beef.

So, there you have it. The overall taste wasn't bad, I just couldn't get over the gray potatoes. I'm a little bit weird anyway, so I am sure that contributed. I will not be making this again. I feel like even if it was done the right way, I might not be a fan.

There's always tomorrow!

Dinner Update: Buffalo Chicken and Potatoes

I made the Buffalo Chicken and Potatoes from the website "Tablespoons". I made this casserole on Sunday and we ate it on Monday. My husband is not a fan of green onions, so we skipped out on those. I also used fresh potatoes instead of frozen. When I went to the grocery store, we already had a big bag of potatoes at home, so I figured it was silly to buy frozen. I did cook the dish a bit longer (like 20 min) because the potatoes were kind of crunchy (not in a good way).

Here is what our version looked like (not as pretty as the original, lol):

Overall this dish was very yummy! It was just spicy enough without being too hot. Another meal I will make again!