Tater Tot Casserole

This comes from Campbell's Kitchen .com.

And easy and tasty one. Not too healthy but not terribly unhealthy either.
Ive done French Fry Casserole, but this is my first time for this one.

1lb gr. beef, 1 medium onion chopped, 1 can Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (I used the one with roasted garlic) 1 tbs ketchup (I doubled the ketchup) 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce (I omitted this simply because I don't have it on hand and I'm trying to cut grocery costs down) 3 cups frozen tater tots
I also added tons of minced garlic in my ground beef, and hamburger seasoning, Mc.Kormic brand.

Cook beef and onion in skillet over med high heat until beef is brown, stirring to break up the meat. Pour off fat. I used lean meat so I didn't have any fat to pour off. I wonder how good ground turkey would be in this recipe?
Stir soup, ketchup and Worcestershire into skillet. Spoon mixture into 12x8 shallow baking dish. Arrange tots around edges of casserole. (I added some all over, not just on the edges) Bake at 425 for 25 minutes or until tots are done.

Deep Dish Sausage Pizza Bread

I got this recipe from K.raftFoods.com and let me just say this was just awesome! I WILL make this again! This isn't the best food to eat on my quest to eat healthier, but it wasn't terrible either and it was oh so delish.

what you need!
1 loaf (1 lb.) French bread ( I used 2 small baguettes, I didn't have an option)
3/4 lb. thawed frozen LOUIS RICH Turkey Sausage (I used a whole lb and reserved the extra meat and spinach mixture for an omelet the next morning!)
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese


make it!
HEAT oven to 375ºF.

CUT off top 1/3 of bread; scoop out insides, leaving 1/2-inch-thick shell. Reserve top and insides of bread for another use. Place bread shell on baking sheet.

COOK sausage in large skillet on medium-high heat 10 min. or until lightly browned, stirring frequently to break sausage into small pieces. Stir in spinach and Parmesan. Sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella onto bottom of bread shell; cover with sausage mixture and remaining mozzarella.

BAKE 20 min. or until mozzarella is melted and lightly browned.

I topped them both off with a little spaghetti meat sauce. Without the sauce I think it would be a little too dry.

This was sooooooo fricken yummy!

Nick and I also come up with the genius idea that you could use so many different stuffings with this...such as chicken and bbq sauce. Or a Philly Cheesesteak type.

SERVING SUGGESTIONServe with a crisp mixed green salad tossed with your favorite KRAFT Light Dressing.SPECIAL EXTRAFor added flavor, sprinkle lightly with Italian seasoning before baking as directed. Then, drizzle with warmed pizza sauce just before serving.COOKING KNOW-HOWFor best results, use a serrated knife to cut the bread.


So here is MY picture: The one in the front is the one with spinach, the one Kayla and I ate. And the one in the back is just plain sausage, for Nick.


Here is the picture from K.raft.

Bacon, Cheddar and Potato Salad

Bacon, Cheddar and Potato Salad

2 lbs red potatoes, cut into cubes, 1 cup mayo, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup sliced green onion, 8 slics of bacon crisp cooked, crumbled, 2 tbs milk, 1 tbs apple cider vinegar.

Cover potatoes with water, boil, simmer uncovered 10 minutes until tender. Drain and cool slightly.

In a large bowl combine remaining ingredients. Add potatoes, toss to coat. Serve chilled or at room temp.

This is delish. I made it for a group of people at a BBQ and everyone was asking who made it!

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

This recipe comes from The Pampered Chef.

A friend of mine made it a long time ago, when Kayla was around 8 or 9 months, I think. Kayla loved it. I always said I was going to try to make it and for some reason forgot about it and never did. Then a few days ago when searching new dinner ideas I found the recipe in my email. So, I printed it and when we went grocery shopping I got the stuff to make it. Its so simple to make, not many ingredients, on the healthy side and VERY YUMMY. I vow to make this more often. Especially since its good for the little ones to eat. I couldn't get the camera to focus right on the salsa, but you get the idea.



Cinnamon Chips:
4 (7-inch) flour tortillas (I used 3 8-inch)
1 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray tortillas with water. Combine sugar and cinnamon in flour/sugar. Sprinkle over tortillas. Cut each tortilla into 8 wedges; place in single layer on baking stone, or cookie sheet. Bake 8 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp. Remove to cooling rack.

Salsa:
2 medium apples, 1 cup strawberries, sliced
1 kiwi fruit, peeled and chopped
1 small orange, 2 tbs packed brown sugar (I used light brown) 2 tbs apple jelly

Peel, core and slice apples. Cut apples into quarters and chop. ( I chopped all the fruits fairly small so Kayla can chew easily. She still does not have all her teeth) Slice strawberries. Chop kiwi. Place in bowl. Zest orange and juice orange. Add zest and juice, brown sugar, apple jelly to fruit mixture. Mix gently.

Serve with cinnamon chips.

Coming Soon!

Coming Soon, to a blog near you......

Ok, that was cheesy.

But recipes coming soon.

Granola Banana Sticks
Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
Tater Tot Casserole
Apple Berry Salsa with Cinnamon Chips
Chicken Parmesan
Deep-Dish Sausage Pizza Bread
Manicoti Corden Bleu (sp?)

I so want to make these Banana Cheesecake!

Found this and want to make it!

Another version of a popular Banana Cake recipe...the yummy Banana Cheesecake recipe.

It's very easy to prepare, uses minimal ingredients and most importantly, it's soooo delicious!

Banana Cheesecake recipe.



Ingredients.

2 cups digestive biscuits or Chocolate Hob-Nobs, crushed

1/3 cup butter, melted

3 (8 ounce) packs of cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup caster or white sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/2 cup mashed bananas

1 banana, sliced, optional

Chocolate sauce, optional.

Preparation.

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C.

2. In a bowl, mix together the biscuits and melted butter. Press into the bottom of a greased medium-sized round baking dish. Place in the refrigerator to allow it to set.

3. Meantime, in another bowl, lightly beat the cream cheese with the sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, then the vanilla essence and mashed bananas. Pour into the prepared crust.

4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the center is set. Cool, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

5. Place the sliced bananas on the cheesecake and pour chocolate sauce on top.

Tips:

1. I recommend using Philadelphia Cream Cheese as it's really soft and seems to do well when baked.

2. You can crush the biscuits in two easy ways: either pound on them gently without taking them out of their wrapping or place them in freezer bags and pound them to crumbs.

Be careful that you don't tear the wrapping or the freezer bag. That will result in crumbs flying all over your kitchen counter! Yikes!

3. Melting butter is easy; after measuring, place the lump of butter into a saucepan and let it melt over very low fire or you can microwave it on medium. I prefer the saucepan method though.

4. You can purchase the chocolate sauce in most quality shops selling baking products or established supermarkets.

Enjoy preparing this Banana Cheesecake Recipe.

Lime Turkey Burgers

So, I really dont have a recipe per say...I just made this up as I went along.
I got the idea from a recipe I saw posted by someone on a recipe swap group I am part of on Face.Book. But that recipe was meant for already formed turkey patties.

Since the commissary here on Guam does not sell those, I had to get ground turkey and make them myself. I was also missing a few of the ingredients so I made some up as I went along.

The reason for turkey burgers is because I have committed to providing better, healthier meals for my family. Turkey instead of beef when I can is one of the permanent changes in my meal planning.

These burgers turned out very good. The only thing I would change is adding more lime juice and zest. I couldn't tell very much there was lime in them.

So onto the Lime Turkey Burgers!

I had 1 lb ground turkey. I juiced a whole lime (it was small) and added half of a lime of zest.

About 1/3 cup bread crumbs (which Kayla gladly dumped in for me) and 1 egg to make everything stick together.

Also 2 big cloves of minced garlic. A palm full of dried thyme, and palm full of cepotle (sp?) seasoning.

There is an avocado in the picture because I was going to top mine off with slices of it, but instead decided to top it off with a little hot sauce and bbq sauce.

I cooked them on the George.Foreman for a few minutes. Not long, just until done. Turkey cooks faster than beef.

The burgers were I hit. I served them on wheat bread. The husband and daughter loved them. The son...well...he has a few months to go before he can eat these. But he did enjoy the taste of his first orange yesterday!