Category Archives: Easy

May 21, 2011 · 11:00 am

Brown Bag Popcorn

We stopped buying microwavable popcorn quite a while ago because of all of the extra stuff that’s in it that doesn’t really need to be in popcorn. Plus, it’s pretty expensive for what it is. So, I bought a popcorn popper, but quite frankly, it’s a pain in the tush to clean. This recipe from 100 Days of Real Food is the answer to all of our popcorn problems.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup popcorn
2 teaspoons olive oil or vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Paper lunch bag
Optional: butter, seasoned salt

Instructions:
Put popcorn, oil and salt in lunch bag. Fold lunch bag over so things don’t going flying everywhere and shake to mix.

Place bag on its side in microwave for about 2-3 minutes or until there about 5 seconds in between pops…you don’t want it to burn.

Open bag carefully and pour into serving bowl. Add melted butter, seasoned salt, M & M’s…whatever your family likes in their popcorn.

Did I change anything? The original recipe wanted me to staple the bag shut, but I didn’t have any staples so I just folded it over and it worked just fine.

What did the family think? Perfect…we just needed a little butter on it.

picture from NASA

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Filed under After School Snacks, Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

May 20, 2011 · 9:21 am

Green Beans Almondine

My mom used to make this quite a bit and I loved it and it was easy enough that she would let me help her in the kitchen and make it. However, I don’t think I have ever made these before as an adult, which really surprises me since I loved having them growing up.

Ingredients:
1 lb. frozen French-style green beans
1 T butter (add more if you’d like)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions:
Cook green beans per the instructions on the package and drain.

Melt butter in a pan and add almonds. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until almonds start to get golden.

Pour almond/butter mixture over green beans. Add lemon juice. Toss to coat.

Did I change anything? My mom always used canned French-style green beans, which would work fine too.

What did the family think? Everyone in our house who eats green beans loved them. I bet you can guess which one of our lovely dinnertime friends doesn’t eat them. 🙂

photo from Serious Eats

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

May 19, 2011 · 8:39 am

Fancy Hot Dogs

How often do we eat hot dogs in our house? Um, never, but we do like a hot dog or two when we are at a ballgame, at Sonic, etc. You can make this with hot dogs or if you want to make a super fancy hot dog dish, you can make it with bockwurst. (Good luck finding it at your local grocers…I would stick with the hot dogs.)

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp butter (more if needed)
6 standard sized hot dogs (plan 1-2 per person, or fewer if you are serving kids), sliced into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch thick slices
1 cup chopped yellow onion
2/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup of water
Egg noodles

Instructions:
Cook egg noodles according to package directions.

Melt butter in a large skillet (cast iron works well for this purpose) on medium high heat. Add the chopped onions and sliced hot dogs. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions and the hot dogs are nicely browned, 5-10 minutes.

Add the sour cream and water, stir until creamy.

Serve over egg noodles.

Did I change anything? The original recipe called for chopped fresh parsley. I think fresh parsley tastes like grass, so I left it out.

What did the family think? Everyone LOVED it! No complaining whatsoever.

Where did the recipe come from? Simply Recipes

from Simply Recipes

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make

May 16, 2011 · 8:36 am

Cajun Orange Glazed Salmon

Sunday is usually fish night at our house which usually means salmon. I am always looking for new tasty ways to prepare it and this one from Aggie’s Kitchen was not a disappointment and was pretty easy too.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 boneless, skinless salmon fillets (6 oz. each)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1 tablespoon lime juice

Instructions:
Combine Cajun seasoning, brown sugar and salt in a small bowl. Rub over both sides of fillets.

Saute fillets in oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes. Turn and saute an additional 2-3 minutes. Cover and continue to cook turning occasionally.

Blend marmalade and lime juice; swirl in skillet until melted. Carefully turn fish to glaze on all sides. The salmon is done when it begins to flake when tested with a fork.

What did the family think? Hubby and I really liked it. The boys had fish sticks.

photo from Aggie’s Kitchen

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Fish, Lent

May 14, 2011 · 10:06 pm

Hershey’s No Bake Cookies

I was in a pinch one time and had to make some cookies for a meeting I was going to, but I had two napping kids who I didn’t want to wake up and take to the store and really, I didn’t want to take them to the store when they woke up either. So I rummaged around in the pantry. I had some Hershey’s cocoa powder and this recipe was on the back and-bonus-it turned out I had everything I needed to make these cookies. This recipe has been around forever and if you haven’t made them yourself, you have probably had some at a picnic or some other such gathering. Either way, they are yummy and easy to make.

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick oats

Instructions:
Combine the sugar, milk, cocoa and butter in saucepan. Cook over medium to high heat until mixture boils 1 1/2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add vanilla, peanut butter, salt and stir quickly. Add oats and stir together. Will be stiff.

Drop by tablespoon onto waxed paper. Let dry. Makes about 2 dozen.

What did the family think? I don’t think anyone in this house has ever turned down a cookie. 🙂

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Filed under After School Snacks, Definitely Making it Again, Desserts, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

May 9, 2011 · 9:45 am

Egg “Muffins”

We are going to be celebrating Mother’s Day next weekend since both grandmas will be in town, so I thought I would give this recipe a trial run before making it for our Mother’s Day brunch.

Ingredients:
10-12 eggs
2 T fat free half and half
1 1/2- 2 cups diced meat: canadian bacon, ham, cooked turkey sausage or cooked veggie sausage
1 1/2- 2 cups grated low fat cheese (I like sharp cheddar or feta)
Optional, but highly recommended, 3 green onions diced small.

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375.

Use regular or silicone muffin pan, 12 muffin size. If using silicone pan, spray with nonstick spray. If using regular muffin pan, put two paper liners into each slot, then spray liner with nonstick spray.

In the bottom of the muffin cups layer diced meat, cheese and green onions. You want the muffin cups to be 3/4 full, with just enough room to pour a little egg around the other ingredients. Beat eggs well with the half and half (you could use milk). Pour egg into each muffin cup until it is full to the brim, nearly overflowing.

Bake 25-30 minutes until muffins have risen above the rim of the muffin cups and are slightly browned and set.

Did I change anything? I made these with bacon and green onions for the adults and just cheese and eggs for the kids. They were very tasty and I found some fun polka-dotted muffin cup liners to use, so they were fun, too.

What did the family think? Everyone liked them. Be careful though, they take a while to cool off.

from Kalyn’s Kitchen

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Filed under After School Snacks, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Six Ingredients or Less

May 4, 2011 · 2:39 pm

Beer Bread

I love homemade bread, but I don’t like baking anything that has yeast in it…all the waiting and kneading…I don’t have time for all that. I haven’t had beer bread in years, but it is so good and you don’t need any yeast…the yeast’s in the beer. 🙂 When I came across this recipe I just had to make it.

Ingredients:
3 c. self-rising flour
3 tbsp. sugar
1 (12 oz.) bottle beer (or can)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix together until blended. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake 45 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

Did I change anything? Just make sure your beer isn’t too “hoppy” unless you want your bread to taste like hops.

What did the family think? They haven’t made it home yet to eat any, but I ate some and it was deeelish. I slathered some butter and honey on it while it was still warm. Yum!

from cooks.com

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Filed under After School Snacks, Bread, Breakfast, Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Side Dish, Six Ingredients or Less, Super Easy to Make, Vegetarian

May 3, 2011 · 10:27 am

Nachos

This is not a new recipe for MommaCooks, just a previous one with a tiny twist. Our oldest isn’t a big fan of tacos and will usually just eat the filling and not the tortilla, but he does love tortilla chips, so I decided to make nachos using the taco filling (from Jessica Seinfeld) that I normally make.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 14-oz. can crushed or diced tomatoes, with their juice
2 T cup sweet potato, carrot, or butternut squash puree (use baby food)
2 T wheat germ
1 packet taco seasoning
Tortilla chips

Garnish: cheese, sour cream, avocado, salsa…whatever you like on your tacos

Instructions:
Cook meat in large nonstick skillet. Drain fat.

Stir in the tomatoes and their juice, vegetable puree, wheat germ and seasoning mix.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the meat is no longer pink and the mixture begins to thicken, 8-10 minutes.

Make nachos by putting tortilla chips on a plate and topping with meat mixture. Add your favorite toppings.

Did I change anything? I added the wheat germ and reduced the amount of puree.

What did the family think? It was a hit!

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Filed under Definitely Making it Again, Easy, Everybody Ate It, Mexican, Super Easy to Make

April 30, 2011 · 7:10 am

Layered Meatball Casserole

I know my kids will eat anything that has meatballs, spaghetti sauce, egg noodles and cheese. 🙂

Ingredients:
2-1/2 c prepared spaghetti sauce,divided
1 (16 oz) pkg. frozen bite-size meatballs,thawed
1 (.75 oz.) pkg. fresh basil leaves
1 (7 oz.) can sliced mushrooms,drained
2 tomatoes,sliced 1/4″ thick
1 c whole milk ricotta cheese
1 c sour cream
2 large eggs
3 tsp minced roasted garlic
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 (12 oz) pkg. egg noodles,cooked according to directions and kept warm
1-1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 2-1/2 qt. baking dish with on-stick cooking spray.

Spread 1 cup spaghetti sauce over bottom of prepared dish. Place meatballs on top of sauce. Top with basil,mushrooms and tomatoes.

In medium bowl,whisk together ricotta,sour cream,eggs and remaining 1-1/2 cups spaghetti sauce. Stir in garlic,salt,oregano and prepared noodles.

Pour over layered ingredients in baking dish.

Top with mozzarella. Bake 45 minutes or till bubbly.

Did I change anything? We left out the mushrooms, tomatoes and I didn’t have any oregano so I used Italian seasoning instead. For the roasted garlic, I just roughly chopped up two cloves of garlic and put them in the oven while the oven was heating up and I was getting everything else ready. By the time everything else was done, the garlic was done and was ready to be added to the recipe.

What did the family think? Yum! I think just about all of us went back for seconds, too.

from grouprecipes.com

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

April 26, 2011 · 8:58 am

Coronado Casserole

This was a pretty easy casserole to throw together that had enough spice to keep it interesting, but not so much spice that the children would go running for the hills.

Ingredients:
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 c. chopped onions
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. EACH ground cumin & oregano
2 c. boned cooked chicken
3 c. cooked rice (I used brown Minute rice.)
1 c. sour cream
2 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 1/2 c. crushed corn chips

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine tomato sauce, broth, onions, green chilies and seasonings. Cook over low heat about 10 minutes. Add chicken. Set aside.

Mix rice and sour cream. Spoon into a shallow 2-quart casserole. Sprinkle with 1 cup cheese; pour sauce over all. Top with remaining cheese. Sprinkle with corn chips. Bake for 25 minutes.

Did I change anything? I didn’t have any oregano, so I used Italian seasoning instead. Also, next time I think I will add two cans of diced green chilis instead of just one. I didn’t have any corn chips either, so I used tortilla chips. I also only used probably about 1/2 cup onions.

What did the family think? Hubby and I liked it and even had seconds. Our oldest liked it, it wasn’t his favorite, but he ate it. Our youngest was not impressed at first, but he did manage to eat enough to make Mom and Dad happy.

from cooks.com

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Filed under Chicken, Definitely Making it Again, Easy