Make It Monday! Chili Mac and Cheese!

So if you know me and I'd like to think that if you follow the blog you do know me... You know that I love cooking shows and shows that involve food... anyway I like Emerile lagasse and I know that a few years back he made an appearance on a particular show that was one of my guilty pleasures... on said show he made a recipe with the family called Chilli Mac and when I recently discovered that this show was on Netflix and I re-watched the entire show yes from season 1 right on through I remembered this recipe and when I heard Chilli Mac I thought wouldn't that be better as Chilli Mac and Cheese???

(PS can you name that show? 10 points if you can! haha)

And so My Chili Mac and cheese was born!

Here is the recipe... its easy....

Make your favorite Mac and cheese and also your favorite chili...

Here are my favorite recipes.

Creamy Mac and Cheese
2 TBSP Butter and flour
2 Cups Milk (at room temp)
2 Cups Cheese
1 TSP mustard
3 Cups cooked Macaroni

Start by making a rue with the butter and flour (melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the flour) cook the rue for a few minutes but don't let it brown too much. Add your milk and cook over medium heat until the mix thickens and can coat the back of a spoon. Add the mustard and then melt in 1 and 1/2 cups of the cheese (or as much as you like) once the cheese is completely melted add the macaroni and mix through.

Mild Marsh Chili
(There are no measurements for this recipe as you can make it as saucy or meaty as you like and of course you can make a batch that is as large or small as you need!)
Ground beef or chicken (turkey works well too)
Onion
Mushroom
Carrots (cooked and pureed)
Diced tomatoes
Tomato sauce
Chili powder, thyme, oregano, basil

Brown ground beef or other ground meat. Meanwhile cook carrots in a med pot, once cooked puree and set aside. Once the meat is cooked add mushrooms, onions, carrot puree and can tomatoes. Allow the mix to simmer and then add tomato sauce and spices to your taste. Simmer and serve. As with all Chili and tomato sauce the longer it simmers the better it is!

Now that you have that all done!

Layer your mac and cheese in the bottom of a pyrex dish, top with chili and then one more layer of the mac and cheese, top with cheese and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. (The above recipe for Mac and cheese will have more than you need for the Chili Mac and Cheese so I make a dish of just Mac and cheese too... just top it with more cheese and pop in the oven!)

It comes out a little spicy, very cheesy and super tasty!

My whole family loves it! And I love that there are lots of left overs for quick lunches, plus there is also lots of options for supper chili, chili mac and cheese or just mac and cheese...

Hope you enjoy! Do you ever dream up a recipe from hearing about another? Tell me about it I'd love to give it a try just leave a link in the comments!

Happy Monday!

Make It Monday! Pizza Casserole!

Your on Pinterest right.... Of course you are!

Well if your not following Momma Made It! pop over now and click the little follow button.... I'll make it worth your while!

Anyway....

If your on Pinterest you may have seen this recipe floating around over there and if you haven't here you go... your welcome! (see already worth your while!)

So I Pinned that Pin a while ago and like most other things on Pinterest I said yeah I'll go back to that and actually make it... except I DID!

And here is how it turned out!

I know right YUMMY!

Both the kids loved it and the hubby well it was Pizza in a bowl what can I say!

I did make a few adjustments to it as I used spiral pasta instead of the bow ties like the recipe says, and I didn't add the ham or the onion due to some picky eaters in our house... oh and I used the all natural peperoni you can buy at the deli (which is why the peperoni on mine is little wedges, it only comes in the lager slices so I just quartered them...)

So if you think this looks yummy stop drooling at the screen and hop on over to Cully's Kitchen and check out this awesome recipe that your family will love! (PS there will be left overs!)


Do you have a family favorite that I NEED to Pin? Leave me a link in the comments and I will be by to check it out ASAP!
Happy Monday Friends!

Make It Monday! Faking It!

So every now and then we all fake it... Its a necessity of life... just to keep your sanity you have to do it every now and then...

I am of course referring to fake baking... and no I don't mean at the tanning salon....

I have mentioned before that I was "cheating" and using a pre mixed dough to make cookies back when I was pregnant with Max, but that was out of the sheer need to bake, eat something that is just crazy bad for me and well not have to do all the work...

But today when I wanted to make a few muffins and saw the packet of oatmeal muffins in the cupboard I had no doubt in my mind today was a Faking It kind of day...

It's not hard to Fake It... you just have to put on enough of a show to make sure that your coving your bases and not to over do it because every one knows when your hollering at the top of your lungs just how great your muffins turned out your clearly not really doing it from scratch...

 

So here are my tips for Faking It!

I have two favorite ways to Fake It with Oatmeal Muffins...

The base of course is your plain Oatmeal muffin mix, on the back it will tell you to add water... DONT! Add milk instead then follow the rest of the instructions.

If you want to spice it up and make Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins add a dash of Cinnamon and Ginger then add a few Chocolate Chips and bake... Easy right....

And better still... if you want to make Oatmeal Raisin Muffins....

Add the Ginger and Cinnamon and of course your Raisins.... then when you put them in the pans to bake sprinkle a little brown sugar over the top and bake as usual, the sugar will melt and caramelize a little giving you a crunchy sweet topping!

Bring that to the school bake sale and you can bet your behind that none of the other Momma's will be guessing that you Faked It! Well unless they read my blog too... and lets be realistic friends... they don't...

Happy Monday! And Happy Faking It too!

Make It Monday! Blast from the Past!

So if you've been here for a while you may have noticed that I have a love of cupcakes as seen here, here and here... and also a love of Peanut butter seen here, here and here...

So when put together how can one go wrong....

It's a trick question, you can't! Hehehe

So when I picked up some books at this years Annual Canadian University women's used book sale and I saw this blast from the past (lets just be clear that this is well beyond my past) I had to pick it up knowing that it would have some fun recipes that Delaney and I could try together, and who are we kidding I can't walk past a cookbook and not look at it let alone buy it and try out a recipe or two!

I was leafing through last week and stumbled upon this gem and couldn't put it down until I baked up a batch and gave them a try!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes!

Crumble ingredients;
1/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Flour
2 Tbsp Peanut Butter
1 Tbsp Butter Melted
1/2 Tsp cinnamon

1/3 Cup Shortening (I used butter)
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla
1 Egg
1 1/4 Cup Flour
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Milk

Mix your crumble ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy, add the egg and vanilla, beat well. Add flour, baking powder and salt to the creamed mix and incorporate completely. Fill 12 muffin cups 1/2 way and top with the crumble mix. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes!

These are AWESOME and are as you can see super easy! Everyone who tasted these said they were great, and I agree but if I make them again.... who are we kidding I'm making more right now... I will add some peanut butter to the cake batter as well it needs just a little more of that rich peanut butter flavor...

Are you a fan of old recipes? How about old cook books? Share an old recipe with me in the comments and you never know it may just end up on a future Make It Monday!

Make It Monday! Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Knock Off!

So as you may (or may not) know we live with my sister, what you don't know unless you know my sister is that she loves Starbucks Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf.

So over the weekend while getting ready to visit our mom she looked around to see if she could find a recipe for "the most amazing thing in this world"... well maybe thats is an exaggeration but if you know my sister you know that she is the worlds biggest exaggerator... ok well maybe it runs in the family! As soon as she found this recipe posted by a lovely food blogger from Calgary, AB. (yes that is in Canada...) over at Tease-spoon of Sugar she emailed it to me and was on a desperate man food hunt for lemon extract and poppy seeds.

This is the recipe

3 Cups flour
2 1/2 Cups sugar
1 1/2 Tsp salt
1 1/2 Tsp baking soda
1 1/2 Tbsp Poppy Seeds
1 1/2 Cups Milk
1 Cup plus 2 Tbsp Canola Oil
3 Large Eggs
3 Tsp Lemon Extract
(or you could use vanilla and add lemon zest if you don't have lemon extract)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep 2 loaf pans... (YEP 2!) In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and poppy seeds. (I mixed with a fork and just made sure that it was well mixed but the original recipe said to use a stand mixer.) In another medium sized bowl, combine wet ingredients. Slowly pour the wet into the dry and mix with a stand mixer on lowest setting. Mix until completely combined and continue to beat for about 1 minute on medium. Pour into pans and bake for approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes; or until toothpick inserted into the loaves comes out clean.

I had to turn the temp down on my loaves to about 300 as they were completely brown after just 30 minutes and I was so afraid they would burn... and while they aren't black, they sure are over cooked! It is still very moist and its still very yummy but it is certainly over baked... 

I am still 100% behind this recipe and I will likely try it again and hope that the oven isn't out to get me on that occasion as well. 

But if you think this is good you also need to stop by Tease-spoon of Sugar and check out these other great recipes! Baked's Sweet and Salty cake which I will be making very soon and her Cinnamon Swirl Bread which will be on the top of my husbands MAKE THIS NOW list! There are so many great recipes over there that I could fill a full post with just the things I want to make! YUM! 

Do you have a knock off recipe that you just LOVE? Have you tried a knock off recipe that you were hoping would turn out just like the original? Let me know how your knock off went in the comments!

Make It Monday! Baked Asparagus!

Do you like asparagus?

We LOVE it! And surprisingly enough Delaney is the one who likes it most! We like it almost anyway but my sister decided to make me dinner not that long ago and she made the best asparagus I've ever had! Its super simple and super yummy too!

All you do need is asparagus, olive oil, salt and pepper and parmesan cheese.

Preheat the oven to 350 and drizzle your asparagus with olive oil, then shake a little salt, pepper and parmesan. Bake for about 5 minutes and then flip and bake for another 5 minutes and serve!

The greatest thing about this simple side is that it goes with anything! Steak, salmon (which is what we had), chicken really it goes with anything!

Do you have a simple side that is BEYOND simple and BEYOND easy!? Share away in the comments and maybe I can give your recipe a try!

Make It Monday! M&M Cookies!

Ok so I'm late with Make it Monday again... I've started to workout on Monday nights lately and I have been forgetting to post in the morning to avoid forgetting completely. However in my defence, I have to go to the gym more as all I have been making for Make it Monday has been COOKIES!!!


Now I love a good cookie, but I love, love, love M&M's... so why not put them together right... well there is that but also I get sucked into all the after holiday sales and I buy the ridiculously cheap bags of candy and chocolate... so this recipe uses up both Easter M&M's as well as a small solid Easter bunny.

I always buy that cheap chocolate and think this will be great for baking (because that was what my mom always said) but I tend to just chop it up and use it in chocolate chunk cookies. Oh well... at least they taste good!

M&M Cookies!

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup of margarine (softened)

1 egg

1 tbsp vanilla

1 3/4 cups flour 

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup M&M's

Small Easter bunny chopped into chunks or 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla and mix well. Add flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt, once combined add M&M's and chocolate. Bake on a prepared baking sheet at 350 for 8 minutes. 

These are a cakeyer cookie then I usually like but they are super yummy!

I also tried out this tip from the Fooducate blog!

Have you seen this tip floating around pinterest? Putting cookie dough into an ice cube tray and freezing it for later use! SO HELPFUL! I can now have a half dozen of these cookies or even just one or two of them for the kiddos lunch at anytime! 

How do you use up candy and chocolate from the holidays? Do you buy extra like me and what do you do with your extras? Let me know so I can use mine up... Haha

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins!

This should have been yesterdays Make it Monday recipe but to be honest with you I kept putting off posting and eventually I forgot... Oops.

Either way this is one super easy recipe that you can mix up and have on the snack tray in no time! And they are certainly a crowd pleaser... as long as you don't spill the beans on the secret ingredient because for some reason when you tell people that a recipe has this ingredient they tend to turn up their nose and walk away because this ingredient has a bad rep...

People think that prunes are an old persons food, and that their only purpose is as a laxative but prunes are soooo good for you! Not only are they are low in salt and fat and taste sweet, mostly because they are just dried plumes but they are the second most cultivated fruit in the world!

No matter how you feel about them here is the recipe for my Double Chocolate Banana Muffins!

3/4 cup dried pitted prunes
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup white sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 mashed banana
1 cup ground quick cooking oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup chocolate chunks

Chop prunes and place them in a small sauce pan with the water, bring to a boil and allow to simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the prunes are plumped up, allow to cool. Meanwhile cream your butter and sugar in a large bowl, add the egg and mix well. Once your prunes are cooled puree in a food processor or blender until completely smooth, then mix with your mashed banana. In a medium bowl mix your dry ingredients until combined then add the dry mix into the butter and sugar alternately with the mashed banana and prunes. Once all three are mixed well add your chocolate chips or chocolate chunks.
Bake at 350 in mini muffin pans.
Yields 48 mini muffins that are 56 calories each!

They are super yummy and go over  well with just about everyone... little girls and grown men included!


PS: Calorie information for the muffins came from here! And the prune information is from here!

Do you always tell your family what your "secret" ingredients are? Will you give your kids a food and tell them that it was made with something else just to get them to eat it? i'd love to know if i am the only one keeping a few ingredients "secret"!

Make It Monday! Easy Mac and Cheese!

You may remember a few weeks ago when I showed you my scalloped potatoes...

Well today I'm taking the easy way out of Make it Monday but its good because if you make the recipe that I shared in the scalloped potato post you can too!

If you remember when you make the recipe for the sauce to put on the potatoes you reserve 1/2 the sauce and you can freeze it for later and make scalloped potatoes on the fly.... but I ended up making this quick change and turning the potato sauce to make the creamiest and cheesiest Mac and Cheese EVER!

To make it I thawed the sauce, warmed it in a pot and melted about 1/4c shredded cheese into the sauce then I added cooked penne pasta rather than elbow noodles, top with a bit more cheese and popped it in the oven. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and serve to your fairies and regular children alike...

I love a recipe that I can get double duty out of. It makes me so happy when I can save time and money on supper... What are your favorite double duty recipes?

Make It Monday! Record Player Cake!

As you may know from last weeks Photo Friday we celebrated my Momma's 50th Birthday this past weekend, and what do you give to your Mom when she turns 50?

A party of course!!

As a matter of fact the only thing she wanted was a party... So that was what we got for her!

I started to look for ideas as to theme and colors and such last year and kept looking up until recently... I had an idea as to what I wanted to do, I knew that I wanted to do purple, black and gold as the theme colors and that I wanted to incorporate records into the decor in some way...

So I thought that I would share with you what I actually made (food wise anyway...) with you today.

So here it is!

The Record Player Cake!

This cake was so hard to make and yet sounds so easy when you put it into words... I was rushing at the end to get it done so I don't have any in progress pictures besides this one when my little baking helper was helping  me to prepare the brownie that would eventually become the record...

(Yes that sure is a late 80's early 90's side pony tail she is sporting there... a la the Robert Munch book "Stephanie's Ponytail"!)

I started to make this by making a batch of my favorite brownies I baked them in a cookie sheet, this kept the brownie as flat as possible. Once they cooled I took a pot lid that was the right size and placed it on the brownie and cut around it with a sharp knife to make the record. Once it was ready and I had the icing made (I made my favorite icing recipe) I iced the details on.

To make the cake I used a vanilla cake mix and made it marble (I reserved about 3/4 cup of the vanilla cake mix and added about 2-3 tablespoons of cocoa powder to make it chocolate and then I swirled it through the vanilla cake that was already in the baking pan.)

I then iced the cake with a crumb coat (to be sure that no crumbs were on the outside of the cake.) Then iced it with the purple, added the brownie record and did the rest of the icing and adding!

All in all it was great fun to make (despite having to make a second cake because the first wouldn't come out of the pan), it was super tasty and everyone loved it!



Have you helped someone celebrate a milestone birthday recently? I'd love to hear about your parties in the comments!

Make It Monday! Scalloped Potatoes!

I am such a lover of scalloped potatoes...
Its another one of those foods that I have only eaten since I have been an adult. I had never really tried them until I had them at Robyn's parents house, I didn't want to try them (I am not a fan of cream sauces... or I wasn't) but I gave it a try...

AND I fell in love...

I was trying to find a quick and easier way to make them and enjoy them without all the fuss. I found a few recipes but if you have been reading for a while you will know that I NEVER and I mean NEVER have everything needed for a recipe... so I made it my own with a few tricks found in those recipes...

Its a pretty easy recipe so here you go!

Momma's Super Quick Scalloped Potatoes!

1 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp Flour
1 cup Milk
1 Can Cream Soup (of your choice)
1/2 Cup Shredded Cheese
4 Potatoes (sliced thinly)
Additional Cheese

Place potatoes in a large bowl, pour a full kettle of boiling water over the potatoes. (if necessary weigh them down with a plate or small bowl so that the water covers all the potatoes you may need more or less water) wait until the water gets to room temperature before removing. Meanwhile make a rue with your flour and butter (melt the butter and add the flour, cook the mix for about 4-5 mins to cook the flour) add the milk (which is best at room temp.) when the milk thickens (think béchamel) add the entire can of cream soup. When the sauce and soup are well mixed add the cheese and stir until melted. Mix 1/2 of the sauce with the potatoes gently then put into an oven safe dish top with additional cheese and bake at 350 degrees until the potatoes are cooked and are no longer hard. (about 20 minutes)

Put the remaining sauce into a container or freezer bag pop it in the freezer and save it for the next time you want scalloped potatoes on the fly!

I totally stole the hot water on the potatoes thing from my mother in law... It slightly cooks the potatoes so that they don't take as long in the oven plus a lot of the starch from the potatoes comes out in the water so that when the potatoes cook they don't gum up together like you get sometimes with scalloped potatoes... Its a simple trick which saves you time and makes them yummier... totally worth the extra step!

Have you adjusted a favorite recipe to make it quicker or easier than the original but keep up on taste? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Make It Monday! Peanut-butter Cup Cake!

As I mentioned last week, we celebrated Robyn's Birthday! He isn't fussy so he usually just leaves the birthday plans to me and lets me make/plan whatever I want or whatever works.

This year with Delaney old enough to help me out I let her take the lead and tell me what she wanted to make for Daddy's cake and what decorations she wanted. It was adorable... she picked out the colors of the balloons and the color of the streamers and where it should all go.

She knew exactly what she wanted and just lead me with her directions.

She wanted a chocolate cake with peanut-butter icing... (I added some chocolate icing too, peanut-butter icing can be so rich.)

(no body says that it has to be pretty... and cake boss I aint!)

So I made a brownie cake... partly because I couldn't find a chocolate cake that really intrigued me and partially because I didn't have a box of mix... I love this recipe I have made it many times and dressed up like I made in the post you will reach with the link or just like the recipe calls for... either way they are in my opinion is the best of the best when it comes to brownies!

Then I made this chocolate butter cream icing... which yes as you can see in the link I used last year on Hubby's cake as well.

Then was the peanut-butter icing... I didn't have a recipe for this and I didn't know what was what when it comes to some recipes online.. plus as usual I didn't have everything on hand for most of the recipes... so what does a Momma do in a pinch??

Make it your own!

So here is my super quick Peanut-butter Icing recipe!

3 Tbsp Butter
3 Tbsp Peanut-butter
1 Tsp vanilla
11/2 to 2 cups icing sugar
3-6 Tbsp milk

(I based it off of the icing recipes that I am used to but added in the peanut-butter.)
Cream your butter and peanut-butter (much easier if you use smooth of course) and add your icing sugar in small additions as you mix. Add vanilla and 3 Tbsp milk and mix well. (If the icing is too thick add more of the milk.)

It was tasty and rich and was well loved! (Best part... gone in just 2 days!)

Daddy and his little girl loved the cake (we all did) and the boy well he looked on and cried the whole time we were eating... someone should teach that kid some manners... hehehe

We had a great time and the cake made the night!
Happy Birthday Hubby!

Make it Monday! Tortilla Pizza and Pizza Sauce!

What a weekend we had! With our whole family sick, and 2 trips to the ER... YIKES! Everyone is on the mend now and let me tell you thank goodness its Monday! (I know there is a part of me... the 16 year old in me going "my god your so old, I can't believe that your glad it's Monday!") but I am so glad back to reality and back to our routine!

The recipe that I want to share today is a quick and easy one which is good because when you have a house full of sickos you need to cook quick when hunger strikes!

I hope you enjoy it's one of my Favorites!
Tortilla Pizza!

Tortilla Pizza is one of the foods that I have made for our family for ages!
This simple supper is fast, easy, and has all the four food groups... not to mention that just the word PIZZA it gets little feet running to the table for a meal.

I used to make this for my lunch or supper when I worked full time before kids when I "thought" I was busy... (I was but boy oh boy am I glad I don't work full time with these two kiddos too!)

These pizzas are super simple...

Take one tortilla, slather it with sauce, add your toppings and then cheese, throw them in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes and you have a quick lunch or supper...
Looks tasty right...

Now for my Sauce!

Put one tin of tomato paste into a sauce pan, blend up a handful of cherry tomatoes, then blend a handful of spinach and add both to the paste. Next add spices to your taste, oregano, basil and thyme work well. Then bring to a boil and let simmer for 5-10 minutes.  (The kids will never know there is spinach in the sauce... and neither will you!)

Now by all means if you have a can of regular pasta sauce, that works just as well... (especially in a time crunch!)


Do you have a quick go-to food that gets you and the kids to the table pronto! Share it in the comments and you never know I may try out your recipe on a future Make it Monday!

Make it Monday! Marshmallow Snowballs!

(So it's Tuesday.. I know... but in my defense I started this post yesterday but between making valentines working on "school work" and feeding my offspring I got a little distracted but on the upside TWO posts today! YAY!!! I'm trying to get my act together and if posting a day late helps well its what I gotta do!)

These snowballs are not your average snowballs... and they are certainly not those yucky pink marshmallow ones either!

In this corner of Canada snowballs or at least the edible ones are made of chocolate and coconut and then rolled in more coconut... Not so nice if you don't like coconut but if you do... YUM!

These snowballs are from a recipe from my grandmother.... they are Christmas to me.... I love them soooo much that she once made me a batch (an entire batch just for me) for my Christmas gift! I love them sooo much that I finally asked for the recipe and I make them every year... except this year. I ran out of time and never got to make them.... but I so wish I had. 

So since I had the ingredients just sitting in the cupboards I thought that I would whip up a batch and I was so glad that I did....

NOTE: I have no pictures for this post... that may or may not be because I have eaten them all...

This is a super easy recipe and has just 6 ingredients....

2 tbsp butter (maybe a little more)

1 block of bakers chocolate (or more... I use chocolate chips and I use a cup or so, this will require more butter)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2c coconut (plus enough to roll the snowballs in)

2c graham crumbs

large marshmallows (cut in half)

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler then combine with other ingredients and wrap a small portion (about a teaspoon) around the 1/2 marshmallow then roll in coconut.

Do you have a family recipe that you just can't pass up? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Make it Monday! Garlic Twist Bread!

When we had spaghetti for supper when we were kids my mom would always put a bit of butter, garlic salt and cheese on a few slices of bread and pop it in the oven to warm while the sauce cooked... the result a toasty warm cheesy piece of garlic bread to enjoy with your pasta!

I loved it and I have done it in the past as well to kind of feel like a kid again or just to feel like I was still home with mom... 

But this past week I wanted to try something a bit different!

I have had garlic twist bread at restaurants and I have seen recipes online and even in cook books and I have always like it of at least the idea of it so while my spaghetti sauce was simmering away I gave it a try! 

With my own Momma Made it spin of course!

I made it easy first of all!

I started with a package of pre-mixed Pizza dough... Just add water and away you go! (you could however if you were so inclined make your own dough... )

Then I let it rise a little and when it was ready I rolled it out as you would for a pizza!

I then brushed it with about a tablespoon of melted butter, grated a clove of garlic or two over that and finally grated some parmigiano cheese over it as well! 

 Then I cut it into strips

 Then rolled it over its self! 

 Popped it into a 350 oven and away we went about 15 minutes later with garlic twist bread as a side!

(they kinda look like ribs.... he-he a good Halloween project/snack too!)

It was simple and easy and Delaney even helped me out with it... and not just the eating part! 

I would make this any night to go with pizza or pasta or even salad! And It only takes about 20 minutes prep (including letting it rise) and 15 minutes to bake so really you could even make it on a school night or a work night!

Hope you enjoy it!

Do you have an update to an old recipe that your parents used to make? Or just one that you loved but have put a new spin on? Share a link or two in the comments I'd love to see and try a few new updates to old favorites!

Make it Monday! Bruschetta Chicken!

While thumbing through a few Kraft Whats Cooking magazines I found this awesome chicken recipe... (also found online here) which shouldn't surprise me because I have made many things from there before and they usually turn out great!

So I thought hey whats the harm in trying it out right... because lord knows I've done everything else you can do with chicken!

So here is the original recipe...

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pkg.  (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken

1/2 cup water

2 cloves  garlic, minced

1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tsp.  dried basil leaves

1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

 

MIX tomatoes, stuffing mix, water and garlic just until stuffing mix is moistened. 

LAYER chicken, basil and cheese in 3-qt. casserole or 13x9-inch baking dish.

TOP with stuffing. Bake 30 min. or until chicken is done.

 

And here is mine!

Simple right!

 

Well if you know me you know that I never have on hand everything that a recipe calls for and so I kinda took the recipe and made it Momma style....

 

I don't buy stove top so I just added regular stuffing (actually I used left over turkey stuffing from thanksgiving... and yes I did make it right after thanksgiving I didn't let the stuffing sit around in my fridge) I also used marble cheese and dried basil because that is what I had on hand.  

 

It was super yummy and very easy! (and it tasted even better left over!)

They recommend you serve it with steamed veggies but a green salad or a light potato dish works great too!

I hope you like it as much as we did!

Would make for a great Halloween supper, fast, easy, nutritious and filling! 

Make it Monday! Butterscotch squares!

A few weeks ago while visiting Robyn's parents his mom went to the supermarket to find that they had Chip-its on sale for $1 a bag!!!! 

So like you would she stocked up! and picked up a bag or two for me too...

One of the bags she got for me was a bag of butterscotch Chip-its. I had never used them before and had no idea what I was going to make them into until she pointed out the recipe on the back... 

Tiger Bars.... 

They are super easy to make, and super yummy too but since making them the first time I have omitted the butterscotch drizzle because well I did it the fast and easy and wrong way the first time and I'm too lazy to try it the long and right way.... but here is the whole recipe you decide if you wanna do the drizzle....

1/4 c butter or margarine

1/4 c corn syrup

1/4 c packed brown sugar

1/2 c butterscotch chips

2 c crisp rice cereal

1 c semi sweet or milk chocolate chips

1/4 c butterscotch chips

1 tsp oil

Bring to a boil the sugar, butter and corn syrup. Then remove from heat and stir in butterscotch chips until melted and smooth, add rice cereal and press into a greased 8x8 dish or pan. Melt chocolate chips and spread over butterscotch mix. 

Melt the remaining butterscotch chips with oil in a double boiler, drizzle over bars. refrigerate until chilled enough to cut into bars.

That last part sounds easy hey melt in a double boiler and drizzle over bars... it would be if it didn't take three dishes to do... so me trying to take the easy way tried to do it in the microwave and well it didn't work... so I just crumbled it over the top of the bars. Honestly though I don't think it needs the drizzle, they are rich and sweet and crispy and yummy just the way they are...

Do you ever try out the recipes that come on the packages of the items you buy?? Or are you like me, try them and then make them the way you like??

Happy Monday! Treat yourself!

Make it Monday! Carrot Cake!

I love Carrot cake, but I don't make it often, it always seems so hard to do... 

although its really not. 

In fact I made one this weekend for Thanksgiving... 

I guess what seems so hard is the carrot grating... its a pain in the beeee-hind! 

I started to grate them and then I realized hey I have a food processor that can do this for me! (I'm not always so smart...) 

and after that it was a piece of cake...

(I know I'm a dork!)

So here you are my fabulous Carrot Cake! 

Momma's Carrot Cake!

2 c Flour

1 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Salt

2 tsps Cinnamon 

1 3/4 c Sugar 

1 c Vegetable oil

3 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

2 c Shredded Carrot

1 c Coconut

1 c Chopped Walnuts (optional)

1 Can (partially drained) Crushed Pineapple or 1/2 c Milk

Grease and dust pan with flour (I use a tube pan) 

preheat oven to 355 degrees.

mix baking powder, flour, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl (set aside) in another large bowl mix sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla, mix well. Then add carrot and coconut (walnuts and pineapple if using while reserving the juice in can) mix until combined. then add dry ingredients alternated with the milk until well mixed (if using pineapple mix juice from can in place of the milk.) Bake for 45 mins. Check it with a cake tester to be sure its done (not all ovens are alike you know) Cool completely before removing from pan! (it will stick if you don't wait... and trust me you don't want to clean that up, or have to make another cake. or if your like me scrap the cake altogether and go to dinner without desert)

Then ice it with your favorite cream cheese icing (homemade or from a can... I wont judge that's what I used)

It went over well and I loved it too! 

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian Followers, Friends and Family! and to those of you not enjoying a Holiday today.... Happy Monday (and sorry that you don't get to enjoy a long weekend...)

Make it Monday! Cheeseburger Meatloaf!

I love meatloaf I've posted about it before and I have posted my recipe here before. It's not something that we ate growing up but its something that now as an adult says comfort to me... 

But it can get a bit on the boring side if you don't jazz it up every now and again.

So very recently I got the Kraft Whats Cooking magazine, (you can click here to order it, its free and comes once per season) and I saw a very interesting recipe... I said the name out loud to Robyn and I think his mouth fell open, and a pool or drool fell on the floor... 

And you guessed it we had to try it! 

(a little greasy but YUMMY!)

The Cheeseburger Meatloaf in the magazine calls for Cheez Whiz (which I am always acused of saying wrong but that's another post....) but since I don't usually buy it I just made the cheese sauce I make for Macaroni and Cheese!

So for this make it Monday you are getting a twofer... you get the Meatloaf recipe and a quick cheese sauce recipe too!

My Cheese Sauce!

2 Tbsp of butter   

2 Tbsp flour   

2 Cups of milk  

1 Cup of Condensed canned milk  (we put it in our tea in these parts but most people use it for baking... and no don't use sweetened condensed milk it's not the same....) 

1 tsp Mustard

Cheese

Pepper

Melt your butter and add your flour, let the flour cook out a bit. then add your milks and let thicken (remember not to have your heat too high or you will burn your milk and let me tell you that's a mess you don't wanna clean up!) once your milk is thick add your mustard. (this gives your sauce a nice kick and keeps it from feeling too heavy) Then add pepper to taste. Finally add your cheese... I don't measure my cheese as I like it really cheesy but you can just add cheese until you one like the consistency and two think it tastes cheesy enough. 

Cheeseburger Meatloaf!

(as changed by me...)
1 lb of lean ground beef

1/3 cup of bread crumbs or crushed crackers

1/2 cup Cheez Whiz divided (or cheese sauce) 

1/2 of 1 Onion thinly diced or sliced (your preference)

1 Egg

2 tbsp of Ketchup or BBQ sauce

Mix your meat, egg, cracker crumbs, onion, BBQ sauce, with 2 Tbsp of cheese sauce. Mix well and form into a loaf or large burger shape and bake at 375 for 25 mins. Then add additional BBQ sauce to the top of the loaf and bake for 5 more mins, finally add the remainder of your cheese sauce to the top and cook for another 10 mins or until fully cooked through.

So good and such a nice change on meatloaf. Feeds the whole family and we had left overs for lunch too! 

Have you tried and switch up on an old standard recipe? Have you tried a recipe and substituted in your own homemade sauces rather than use store bought? Let me know how your recipes have worked out for you in the comments!

Happy Monday!