Category Archives: Definitely Making it Again

September 29, 2012 · 3:17 pm

Baked Blueberry Pancakes

We love to have breakfast for dinner and we also love pancakes, but pancakes seem to take forever to make. I also must admit that I was WELL into adulthood before I figured out the finesse of making a pancake that wasn’t burnt on the outside or runny on the inside. This recipe gives you the taste of pancakes without all of the standing around and flipping them. Put these in to bake and get the rest of your dinner or breakfast made while these are doing their thing in the oven.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups milk
2 Tbsp melted butter, slightly cooled
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp sugar
2 cup flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup blueberries (frozen or fresh)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease an 8×8 baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together milk, butter, egg, and vanilla. Add sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Carefully stir in blueberries. Pour batter into pan.

Bake for 30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean minutes.

Cute into squares and serve with butter and maple syrup just like you would serve pancakes.

What did the family think? Our youngest who absolutely loves blueberries by themselves doesn’t like them in pancakes, so these didn’t go over well with them. That said, you could probably just make this dish without blueberries.

Where did this recipe come from? adapted from Plain Chicken

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Filed under After School Snacks, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Lent, Vegetarian

September 25, 2012 · 10:25 am

Chorizo Mac and Cheese

The kids like mac and cheese and hubby and I like chorizo so I knew that this was going to be a complete hit or a complete bomb. It turned out that the kids and I really liked it and hubby was not impressed. He wanted more chorizo which is super easy to do, but if you are cooking for a group (or for people who you know don’t want their food too spicy like the kids) you might not want to add the extra chorizo.

Ingredients:
2 cups elbow macaroni
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon corn starch
4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese (about 1 cup)
4 ounces shredded pepper jack cheese (about 1 cup)
6 ounces ground Mexican chorizo
1/4 cup red onion, finely minced
2 Tbsp flour
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 Tbsp breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp butter
Avocado slices, optional but highly recommended

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook pasta according to the directions on the package.

Combine cheese and cornstarch in a bowl and set aside.

Put the milk in a small saucepan to get warm. Do not let it boil.

In a large saucepan, cook chorizo until almost done and then add onions. Cook until onions are soft.

Add flour to the chorizo and stir well.

Add milk a little at a time. Continue to stir until you have a creamy mixture.

Add the cheese to the chorizo mixture and stir until it is well combined.

Add lime juice and pour mixture into casserole dish and spread evenly so the macaroni is level.

Add breadcrumbs to the top and dot with pieces of butter.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

We had this with a small salad and grapes with avocado slices on the side.

What did the family think? The boys loved it. Their dad did not. My favorite part was eating a bite of the warm, somewhat spicy chorizo with a bite of avocado to cool it down. Yum!

Did I change anything? I added less red onion and if you wanted it to be spicier you could definitely add more chorizo or use chunks of chorizo instead of the ground chorizo.

Where did this recipe come from? Simply Recipes

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Mexican, Spicy

September 20, 2012 · 2:09 pm

The Best Chicken Parmesan I’ve Ever Made

I have made this twice now and it so good…all of the yummy goodness of sauce and cheese coming together all at the same time.

Ingredients:
4 oz breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 egg whites
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2-inch thickness
Olive oil cooking spray
1 jar marinara sauce (about 3 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons Parmesan

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl, toss the bread crumbs with oregano, garlic powder, paprika, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

In another bowl, whisk the egg whites and milk together.

In a third bowl stir together the flour, and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Dip each piece of chicken, 1 piece at a time, in flour, shaking off excess, then egg, then bread crumbs, shaking off excess.

Place breaded chicken in a glass baking dish and spray on each side with cooking spray. Bake until cooked though and crumbs are browned, about 15 minutes. Top with marinara sauce, mozzarella and parmesan and return to oven for an additional 10 minutes, until cheese is bubbling.

We have this with pasta on the side and then a salad and maybe some fruit.

What did the family think? I think this is probably our favorite new dish. I have another chicken parmesan recipe that is good, but not as good as this one. We LOVE this one!

Did I change anything? The original recipe called for 4 teaspoons of paprika. That’s a LOT of paprika. I have made it once with no paprika and once with 2 teaspoons of paprika. I think one should be enough.

Where did this recipe come from? Food Network

I also love this recipe because it gives me an excuse to use my Creuset bakeware. 🙂

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Filed under Chicken, Definitely Making it Again, Italian

September 17, 2012 · 11:26 am

Roasted Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Cream Sauce

These tacos are SO good! The secret is in the sauce. WARNING: This sauce has a lot of garlic in it as well as a lot of cilantro. Do not eat this if you are planning on going to a party and talking to a lot of people anytime soon or just make sure you invest in a lot of mouthwash first.

Ingredients for Tacos:
Roasted chicken, by one from the store or use this CrockPot recipe
Small flour tortillas
Cabbage, thinly sliced or bagged broccoli slaw mix from the grocery store
Mexican cheese blend, shredded

Ingredients for Cilantro Cream Sauce:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 (7 ounce) jar tomatillo salsa
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 T fresh lime juice

Instructions for sauce:
Combine cream cheese, sour cream, salsa, pepper, celery salt, cumin, garlic powder, cilantro and lime juice in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy.

Instructions for assembling tacos:
Assemble tacos with chicken, cabbage and cheese. Serve with sauce on the side. OR Stir some of the sauce into the cabbage and let sit for about 15 minutes and serve on top of the tacos with some of the sauce on the side as well.

What did the family think? Hubby and I loved these. This sauce is AWESOME!!! The crunchiness of the cabbage with the warm soft tortillas is fantastic.

Where did this recipe come from? This recipe was inspired by: Allrecipes and Smells Like Home

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Mexican, Not so Easy

September 10, 2012 · 8:53 am

Chocolatey Chip Cookies

My husband had a rough week at work last week and the kids had survived their first week at school so Friday afternoon seemed like a great time to bake some cookies to kick off our weekend. A friend of mine had told me about this recipe which take the traditional Nestle recipe and tweaks it a little. The results were scrumptious.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup oatmeal

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and oatmeal. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

What did the family think? They have chocolate in them..no complaining here.

Did I change anything? The original recipe has less chocolate chips, more brown and white sugar and no oatmeal. The changes I made are reflected in the recipe above.

Where did this recipe come from? adapted from the original Nestle chocolate chip cookie recipe

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Filed under After School Snacks, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Everybody Ate It, Vegetarian

September 6, 2012 · 8:55 am

Peanut Butter Granola

I found a new granola recipe that I have fallen in love with. I can’t believe I was ever afraid of making homemade granola. I guess I thought it would be too hard or too time consuming. I’m not sure, but obviously it can’t be too hard since I make granola all the time now.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1 tsp cinnamon (I didn’t add this, but I think I will next time.)

Instructions:
Melt the butter and peanut butter together in a 3-quart saucepan.

Add the honey, vanilla and salt. Stir the mixture until it is smooth.

Add the oats and cinnamon. Stir until the oats are completely coated with the peanut butter mixture.

Turn the mixture onto an ungreased cookie sheet, or a large 9 by 13-inch pan. Spread the granola out evenly and bake it at 375° for 10-12 minutes. It will be brown and crispy.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan. Break up into pieces after it has cooled.

Transfer the granola to a sealed container. Add the raisins, if you are using them, when the granola is cool.

What did the family think? The kids don’t like granola and hubby won’t touch peanut butter granola. You know what I have to say to that? Good. More for me. 🙂

Where did this recipe come from? Hillbilly Housewife


Where’s the butter? I used the last of it in this recipe and the box made it into the trash before it made it into this picture.

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Filed under After School Snacks, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

August 24, 2012 · 6:53 pm

Dinner in a Hurry, Part 1

School is right around the corner for us which means the pace of life is going to pick up. School all day, then violin or soccer or tae kwon do, birthday parties, homework and on and on and on. One thing that is super important to us is that we all sit down together to have dinner. It doesn’t happen every single day of the year, but most days we make it happen. Sometimes that means we don’t eat until late…like really late…but at least we’re eating together.

One of my time-saving tricks on these nights is to have the kids shower while I am making dinner and they just eat dinner in their pajamas…that way we’re getting two things done at once and they’re all dressed for bed before dinner even begins.

Another timesaver is making sure that everyone is helping out. Someone can get out the plates while someone else gets the silverware out. Someone can get the drinks ready while someone else gets out the napkins…divide and conquer.

I have gathered a lot of super quick recipes to share with you, but instead of giving them out all at once, I thought I would start us off with a sampling and give you some new ones as the year progresses. That way you’ll have some new ideas under your belt throughout the year without having to try and remember all of these recipes from all the way back in August when you’re trying to find a quick dinner in February.

First of all, we have a couple of “go to” quick dinners at our house. No recipe necessary, but I thought I would put them on this list anyways.

1. Breakfast for dinner: Eggs, bacon/sausage, some fruit and maybe some toast

2. Pasta: pasta with some salad on the side…super fast. We usually have some fruit with it too.

3. Hamburgers: we usually have hamburgers with chips (we LOVE Kettle chips) and some fresh fruit

The rest of the dinners on this post are Crock Pot/slow cooker dinners:
4. Tacos are a super duper fast dinner. We keep ours pretty simple with some taco meat, salsa, cheese and these refried beans.

5. Our kids love this CrockPot Lasagna. Serve it with some salad and some fruit and call it a meal.

6. CrockPot BBQ Brisket Sandwiches: serve these with some fruit and this make ahead cole slaw and dinner will be ready when you walk in the door.

7. CrockPot Ravioli Lasagna with some fruit and a salad and…voila…dinner.

8. Slow Roasted Crock Pot Chicken…this cooks the chicken and the veggies all at the same time. Serve with some bread and butter and dinner is done.

9. West Caribbean Crock Pot Chicken…this might be a little too adventurous for the eaters as your house. It’s really, really good though.

10. This recipe for CrockPot Hawaiian Pulled Pork is seriously one of my favorite recipes on this whole blog. Have it with some Kettle chips and some pineapple…so good! Seriously.

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Super Easy to Make

August 4, 2012 · 11:02 am

Camping Menu

We have been camping a lot lately and when I say a lot I mean twice, which is a 200% increase in the amount of camping my husband and I had done in our previous 13 years of marriage.

One of the first things I had to figure out when we decided to take on this challenge of camping was to decide what we were going to eat. I now have a menu that works for us, it’s pretty low key, and it’s one that everyone will eat.

Day 1
Dinner-Hamburgers or hot dogs
Chips
Watermelon
Bread and butter pickles
Wine for the adults and water for the kids

Day 2
Breakfast-Cereal or pb&j sandwiches
Bananas
Milk or juice

Lunch-Turkey and cheese or pb&j sandwiches
Strawberries
Chips
Bread and butter pickles
Chocolate chip cookies

Snacks-Apples, popcorn, cheese slices, yogurt

Dinner-Grilled Italian Sausages on hot dog buns with marinara sauce
Chips
Watermelon
Bread and butter pickles
Wine for the adults and water for the kids
S’mores for dessert

Day 3
Breakfast-Cereal or pb&j sandwiches
Bananas
Milk or juice

Lunch-Turkey and cheese or pb&j sandwiches
Strawberries
Chips
Bread and butter pickles
Chocolate chip cookies

Snacks-Apples, popcorn, cheese slices, yogurt

Dinner-Kabobs (I bought these pre-made and pre-marinated at the grocery store.)
Chips
Watermelon
Bread and butter pickles
Wine for the adults and water for the kids
S’mores for dessert

Day 4
Breakfast-Cereal or pb&j sandwiches
Bananas
Milk or juice

You may have noticed there is a lot of repetition. Yes, there is. One of my goals when planning our camping menu was to keep it simple and to bring as little food as necessary and to have as few leftovers as possible so there wasn’t much to bring home with us.

I would love to know what your family likes to eat while camping. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 🙂

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Everybody Ate It

July 19, 2012 · 2:37 pm

Hummus, Avocado and Tomato Sandwich

Last summer, this heirloom tomato sandwich was my go to lunch. This week I discovered this sandwich. Since we don’t have any tomatoes from our garden yet, I had to buy one. (Which absolutely kills me, by the way. I have five tomato plants with green tomatoes on them. I need it to get warmer around here so the tomatoes will actually ripen!) Anyways, this is a tasty sandwich and great if it’s too hot to turn on the oven.

Ingredients:
2 slices of bread {toasted or not, whichever you’d like}
Hummus [store bought or homemade]
1 small avocado – halved, pitted, peeled and smashed
1 tomato, sliced
salt + pepper to taste

Instructions:
Spread hummus on a slice of bread. Add smashed avocado and sliced tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

What did the family think? I am the only one eating this yummy creation. It’s been my go to lunch this week.

Where did this recipe come from? Adapted from Eat, Live, Run

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Sandwich, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

July 17, 2012 · 2:22 pm

No Bake Berry Cream Cheese Tarts

My mother-in-law sent me this recipe before the 4th of July. Yes, this would have been a perfect dessert for the 4th, but we were out of town. I meant to make it last week, but the berries kept getting eaten before I could make the dessert. So, I finally got around to making this last night…we had all of the ingredients AND the family LOVED this! It only made four and there are four of us. The kids wanted to eat mine. Sorry…I am not handing over anything that involves cream cheese and berries.

Ingredients:
4 whole graham crackers (8 squares)
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
2 cups mixed berries: raspberries, strawberries and/or blueberries

Instructions:
Finely crush graham crackers and divide crumbs among four small bowls. I used ramekins.

In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar with a whisk.

Put mixture on top of graham cracker crumbs. Top with berries.

Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

What did the family think? We all loved it! Hubby actually hasn’t eaten his yet and he better hurry up or it’s going to be GONE.

Where did this recipe come from? KU Med Center

photo from KU Med Center

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Filed under After School Snacks, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Make Ahead of Time, Six Ingredients or Less, Vegetarian