What's for dinner Wednesday......Pasta Casserole

It's Wednesday...What's for dinner?


I'm making a very easy and quick dinner, but Goose's favorite. It's basically a very picky person's Baked Ziti. When I was little, my mom would make it with egg noodles instead of ziti and my brother and I called it the noodley stuff. The name stuck, so even now as and adult, in our house we call it "Noodley Stuff".

This is a great basic recipe..but it is SO easy to add stuff and make it different each time

Ingredients:

Pasta (Ziti, Penne etc or try egg noodles!)
1 can of Hunt's Meat Sauce (or other tomato sauce)
1 package of ground beef
Mozzarella Cheese (slices or shredded)

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare pasta. Brown beef in the pan, and drain. Once drained, add tomato sauce. Combine sauce mixture and cooked and drained pasta. Mix well. Pour into a casserole dish (9x13) and top with cheese. Bake until the cheese melts and enjoy!

Sometimes we will add 1 bag of shredded Italian blend cheese with the pasta/sauce mix and pour into the casserole dish before topping it with the mozzarella cheese. You could also add ground Italian sausage as well...yum!

Glitter Ornaments!

Have you ever seen the movie Elf? (It is one of my favorites! )If you haven't, it's about a child who sneaks into Santa's bag and is raised by an older Elf in the North Pole. Buddy believes he is an Elf. It's funny. Check it out if you haven't seen it! That being said...

 I LOVE Christmas time. A few people jokingly refer to me as "Buddy" (the elf)  I like baking, and Christmas carols, and crafts, and the shows, the change in spirit people seem to have...you name it. I am going to share some of my Christmas activities and my most recent is glitter ornaments. Goose and I made some and I think they turned out cute!

They are SUPER easy to make, and take just minutes!

I bought the ornaments and glitter at Michael's (on sale!) I also bought an oil based Sharpie paint pen. The Pledge is the secret. I got it at Wal-Mart for less than $5, but I saw some generic mop and shine at Dollar General. It has acrylic protection and it's clear. I saw a yellow version, but it may discolor the glitter. I haven't tried it.



The first step is to take the metal tops of the ornament and put in a tiny amount of floor cleaner in the ornament. I swished it around the inside to coat it.





After it was coated, I poured out the remaining floor cleaner. (I just poured it into the next ornament) Then, I poured the glitter into the ornament and swished/shook it so that all the glitter stuck to the floor cleaner.

After you finish let them dry with the cap off. Once they are dry you can put the tops back on and decorate with ribbon or use a paint marker to write on them.

These are some different ideas on how you could dress them up!

So easy, and you can personalize them anyway you want to! Happy Crafting!

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What's For DInner Wednesdays..2....Spicy Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

It's Wednesday! So...what's for dinner?!? I'm going to be truthful, since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I've got some other things going on, I'm probably not going to make much tonight. However..I'm still going to do an easy "recipe" that I came across about 6 years ago! (I think it was on Semi-Homemade..I will check and update!) It uses condensed soups! If you like grilled cheese and tomato soup and don't feel like cooking...this is for you! We had this frequently when we first moved in together..


Spicy Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup:


1 can of tomato soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can of Southwestern Pepper jack Soup
1 bag shredded cheddar cheese
Bread of your choice
Dried Basil (or Italian Seasoning)
Hot Sauce (optional, could use red pepper flakes)
Butter
2-3 cups Milk (or spicy tomato juice)


Soup:

In a pot mix tomato soup, cheddar cheese soup, and milk (or tomato juice) Add a couple dashes of hot sauce and a couple pinches (about a teaspoon?) of basil/seasoning. Heat stirring occasionally.



In a bowl:


Mix one can of southwestern pepper jack soup and one bag of shredded cheese together in a bowl. This will be your filling for your grilled cheese. Spread the filling on bread with a knife and then butter the outside of the sandwiches and cook until golden brown on each side. The filling is thick, and to ensure it melts you can immediately cover the sandwiches on a tray with foil, or use a lid when frying them.



Dip in the soup and enjoy!

Diet Coke Brownies-My oPINion

While browsing on Pinterest, (go figure!) I saw a pin for Diet Coke Brownies. See it here. They were made with brownie mix, and one can of diet coke. Sounds sooo easy, and people were saying good things, so I decided to try it, with regular Coke, not diet.



I had one box of traditional brownie mix, and one can of regular Coke. I mixed them together and poured into a 9x9 glass pan. I baked them according to the directions on the box.





They looked and smelled sooo good........BUT I didn't care for them. They were moist, and pretty sticky, and chocolatey, but I could tell they were a lower calorie brownie, and let's face it, if I'm going to eat a brownie, I want to enjoy every. single. bite! I'd prefer to eat less and enjoy it more! (Sidenote: Brownies are a weakness of mine) They aren't terrible though, and Goose liked them, Pants said they were "okay" but he didn't like the middle that it reminded him of pudding?

If you are a brownie lover, stay tuned for my truffle brownie recipe. It's fabulous!

What's for Dinner Wednesday...Pot Roast

This is an idea I had, that I hope you like! Come back each week on Wednesday for a new recipe, and feel free to submit your own ideas!

Tonight for dinner is pot roast. I make it in the crock pot, it's so easy and one of my favorites, especially when it's cold outside! You can get fancier than mine, I've seen a lot of variations, but for the most part, I keep it simple.


Ingredients:

• Roast
• 1 packet of onion soup mix (for a larger roast, or more flavor use 2)
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Water

I combine everything in the CrockPot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Spoon into bowls and enjoy!

I'm thankful for....2012

Thanksgiving will be here soon, and this is the time of year where people like to say what they are thankful for. I see the posts on facebook and I love to hear what people are thankful for, but I hate that it's only once a year!

Here are a few things I am thankful for everyday, with more to come.

• I am so so thankful for my family. I have a wonderful husband and two amazing girls. They are my world.
• I am also so so so thankful, that I am able to stay home with my babies. I have been home since a couple weeks before Goose was born, and it is a hard job. Sometimes it makes me crazy. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love experiencing their firsts, and watching them learn.
• I'm also thankful for our good health.
• Having just spent an entire pregnancy with Hypermesis Gravidarum, and being almost helpless really made me appreciate feeling good. I still have some issues, but overall I'm healthy, and despite all my issues I gave birth to a perfect, healthy beautiful baby girl. Good health should be appreciated everyday!
•  I'm thankful for a nice house, and warm beds.
•  Food in our bellies.

These are a few of mine...what are YOU thankful for?

Crock Pot Italian Chicken

Chicken is so versatile. You can do SO many different things with it...and this is so easy and yummy. In the summer we usually marinate boneless skinless chicken breasts in a bottle of Italian salad dressing and grill it. It's always been one of my favorites. I saw a 'recipe' on Pinterest that called for italian dressing packet, and roasted garlic, mix in the crock pot and cook on low. It sounded good to me!


I decided to make chicken one day, but didn't have the packet, so I used half a bottle of Italian salad dressing and that was it! I've served it with roasted potatoes, I've shredded it for sandwiches...I've topped salads....so good!


Here's what I did:


Italian Dressing Chicken:

Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Italian dressing to cover

Place chicken and dressing in crock pot and cook on low 3-6 hours (depending on your slow cooker) Once chicken is finished serve as desired. I like it in sandwiches, salads and served with roasted potatoes!

I hope you enjoy it!