Quick and Easy........

Here are couple quick and easy recipes. The Pizza Bake is a nice standby and I usually try to make sure I always have the ingredients on hand. Have it with a salad and some fruit, and you have a quick, easy, mostly kid friendly meal (not alot is low-fat, hmmmm, need to work on that!) .

For those that don't know, I love to search the internet for recipes and try new things. My family is not always the most agreeable and the best test audience, but I try anyways. I have tried some real duds, but that doesn't stop me from trying....Most of time I search Pillsbury.com, Kraftfoods.com, BettyCrocker.com, Allrecipes.com, Cooks.com, I am sure there are more, but those are off the top of my head. Here is some quick and easy (also some of the photos come from the websites as well)........

Grands Pepperoni Pizza Bake

1-16.3 oz can Pillsbury Grand Biscuits
1-8 oz can pizza sauce
8 oz shredded Mozzarella cheese
Sliced Pepperoni

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Seperate dough into 8 biscuits and cut each biscuit into 8 pieces, place in medium bowl. Add pizza sauce and 1 cup of cheese, toss to coat. Spoon and spread mixture in 9 inch square pan, top with pepperoni and remaining cheese. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until golden brown and not doughy in middle. YUM!

Velveeta Down Home Macaroni and Cheese

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
8 oz Velveeta Cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked & drained
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
6 ritz crackers, crushed

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 3 tbsp butter in saucepan on medium heat. Whisk in flour, cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in milk; cook until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Add Velveeta, cook 3 minutes or until melted, stirring frequently. Stir in Macaroni.

Pour mixture in 2-qt casserole, sprinkle with cheddar, melt remaining butter, toss with crackers, sprinkle over casserole. Bake 20 minutes or until heated through.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie...

Ok, I can't believe I am going to share this recipe, but the copy I have is getting to smeared to read, so I needed to retype anyway, so thought I would post. Again, this is with my modificiations and how I make it........ENJOY!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

1 - 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon mil
1 cup (generous) peanut butter, creamy
1 - 8 oz frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 - 9 inch graham cracker crust
1 - 3.9 oz pkgs instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup cold milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 peanut butter cups, cut into pieces

In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, 1 tablespoon milk and peanut butter until smooth. Gently stir in 1 1/2 cups of whipped toping. Spread mixture in bottom of pie crust.

In a 2nd bowl, stir pudding mix with 1 cup milk and 1 cup heavy cream, mix until thick, immediately stirring in remaining whipped topping. Spread mixture over peanut butter layer.

Scatter peanut butter cups over top of pie, cover and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Of course, this recipe should be avoided by ALL who are trying to be good in this new year (Myself included). As you can see it is not exactly fat free. and to keep me honest, did 18 minutes on the elliptical last night. Each time I have added 1 or 2 minutes YAHOO for me!!

A Recap

I have survived my 1st week of unemployeement, let's recap....I think the earliest I have showered on any given day was 9:00 A.M., I have managed to catch up on all my DVR'd shows (Starter Wife, Top Chef, etc). Not sure why, but have NOT cooked dinner everynight because I was too busy or tired (BWHAHAHAHA). Hmmmm, let's see. I had my mom in hysterics when I asked her in a text message how to make a pot of coffee, because I did not know how much coffee to put in...........

I have my laundry almost caught up (washing bedding now) even folded (anyone who knows me very well, knows how scarey that statement is!), linen closet straightened up. Started to clean around the puter desk SCAREY, save that for another day and still need to do something with my room, but ya know, Rome was not built in a day.

I do think I need to get out my scrapbooking and quilting, maybe work on that. Thought about trying to teach myself to knit from youtube :D, we will see (I do still have some books to read)

A good thing (funny, that I would think this now), we start basketball games this week. Gunner plays at 5:30 @ Boys/Girls Club in Corvallis on Tuesday (1/13) and then again on Wednesday (1/14) @ 7:30 Boys/Girls Club in Lebanon. He plays his games in Lebanon, Albany and Corvallis. Drake starts games on the 21st and they are in Lebanon/Albany (will post schedules later)
I have had several requests for recipes, which I will continue to post, as that is one of my goals, is to organize my recipes. SO here is the recipe for today, it sounds weird, but it is DELISH!!!! Some of the recipes I have modified and will be posting the modified version, because I like them better! Enjoy!

Chiken Enchilada Quiche

1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on box
4 eggs
1 cup 1/2 and 1/2
1 can (12.5 oz) chunk chicken, in water, drained (or 1 1/2 cup chicken)
1 1/2 cups broken tortilla chips
3 cups shredded cheese (I usually use colby jack, or straight cheddar)
1 cup chunky salsa
1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place pie crust in 9 or 91/2 inch glass deep dish pie pan. In medium bowl, beat eggs with wire whisk until blended. Beat in 1/2 and 1/2. Stir in chicken, chips, cheese, 1 cup salsa, chiles and salt. Pour into crust lined pan. Sprinkle pepper over top of filling. Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until crust is light golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Cut into wedges, serve with Sour Cream and/or Salsa.

DAY 3 -- TGIF

TGIF, just what exactly does that mean to me anymore?! Not sure! Today was the ultimate though in the drop your kid off at school fashion statement (I can NOT believe I left the house like this) Flannel pj bottoms, baggie t-shirt, old ratty sweatshirt, of course flip flops, no bra, hair not combed and mascara down the side of my face. HOLY COW, what was I thinking!!!!
Although, I don't have the lion slipper, but this gives the general idear!!

Soo, I ended up doing 16 1/2 minutes on the ellipitical, at the end of 15 I was in the middle of a good song on the ipod, so had to wait for the song to end.

Went to lunch with Sally Sunshine (AKA Mary Jo) and had a really good chat and lunch. BTW, we walked from her office to the deli. Came home and wnated to take a nap, but it was cold in here, so I walked 1/2 way to the school and meet the boys and walked home with them. YES, I walked twice in addition to the ellipitcal!! Can you believe it!!!!

Since, I really don't have anything else to say, how about a recipe:

Beef Enchiladas -- basic recipe

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion chopped
1 (1.5 ounce) package dry enchilada sauce mix
10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 (2.25 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium skillet over medium high heat, cook the ground beef and onion until beef is evenly browned and onion is tender.

Prepare the enchilada sauce according to package directions. Pour 1/4 cup of the sauce into the bottom of 9x13 inch baking dish.

On each flour tortilla, place an equal portion of the ground beef mixture and about 1 ounce of cheddar cheese, reserving atleast 1/2 cup of the cheese. Then tightly roll the tortilla and place seam side down in the baking dish.

Pour the remaining sauce over the top, sprinkle with remaining cheese and olives.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and cheese is thoroughly melted.

Of course, this is a basic recipe and I modify. I put some of the olives inside, and I usually use more cheese than is called for. I also sometimes use a can of sauce instead of the packet. here is a pic again In the picture there are only olives on 1/2 of them because Drake won't eat olives. SO 1/2 are with and 1/2 are without.

Recipe....

Ok, I am not going to post them all now, but I will post as I can (or think about it!) But be warned, I have LOTS of recipes, because I LOVE to cook and try new recipes!!!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs (Ironically, I got this recipe from Missy YEARS ago, it is a favorite of Mark's. Used to make it alot, then made it while I was pregnant with Gunner, and something about the smell or something, but, it was probably atleast 5 years before I made it again. Now I make it about every other month or so, sometimes more/sometimes less. As i said, I have lots of recipes!!)

1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup oatmeal, uncooked
2 tbsp onion, chopped
1 beaten egg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Mix together, form into balls and brown. Then mix together the following in a saucepan

6 tbsp worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp vinegar
6 tbsp sugar
1 (heaping) cup of Ketchup
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup finely chopped onion

Bring to a boil, then pour over browned meatballs and simmer for about 30 minutes. Serve over rice.

This recipe, the meat part, is also good for meatloaf. Enjoy (picture of balls simmering in post below)......