Philadelphia Cooking Creme Chicken Pasta

Four ingredient fancy food! Love cooking, but love weeknight meals that only take 15 minutes from start to finish even more! I received a coupon for a free Philadelphia Cooking Creme for belonging to Kraft First Taste. I have received probably around 10 or so free food items and love that program! I was a little nervous to try this product...why? Who knows...so I waited until the day it expired, and I LOVED it! So did my non-dairy-loving husband!

This is how it went down...

First, I took my day's frustration out on some poor chicken breasts. Just kidding, I had a great day. :)

Add some Zesty Italian dressing to marinate, and grill.

Cook some noodles. I, very smartly (enter sarcasm), bought pasta in bulk at Sams...like a YEAR ago. We're still trying to carb our way through it.

Dump in your, expired :), Philadelphia Cooking Creme.

I had the flavor Italian Cheese and Herb, but there are others that look just as yummy.

Stir to coat.

Top with your sliced, grilled chicken!

Kraft also puts out a lot of cooking creme coupons to make this even more budget friendly! (LIKE!)

Ice Box Pudding

I'm back!!! I have been MIA in blogland lately, but for good reason! I'm on summer break and I've been busy! :) I was able to spend a good 3 1/2 weeks home in Kansas City, was in a good friend's wedding, ran around with my mom, melted in the heat, spend a couple days on the lake, melted in the heat (did I already say that), celebrated the hub's birthday, attended a family reunion (shout out to the nice ladies I met and who read my blog! :), and started way too many crafty projects that will keep me busy for a long time. It was nice to forget about my "real" world responsibilities for a bit. That's one of the best things about being a teacher!

This recipe is a family favorite. My grandma taught me to pour milk over it and eat it kinda like cereal. I completely gross out the hubby when I do that, but it is the best way to eat this stuff! Basically this Ice Box Pudding is glorified homemade chocolate pudding, so delicious and has graced my birthday meals for many a year.

Ice Box Pudding Ingredients:

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups milk

3 slightly beaten egg yolks

2 Tbsp. butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla

4 Tbsp. cocoa

Vanilla wafers

Scald the milk in a small saucepan. (Simply means that you heat the milk to boiling point.)

Mix cornstarch, sugar, salt, and cocoa together. Gradually add milk.

Cook over medium heat until thick (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly.

Slowly add a small amount of the hot mixture to egg yolks. This is to temper the eggs. You want to gently heat the egg yolk up before adding to the hot sauce so you don't end up with scrambled eggs in your pudding.

Once you've tempered the eggs, stir them into the remaining hot mixture. Continue to cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add butter and vanilla while still warm.

Butter a 9 inch square baking dish. Line bottom with vanilla wafers. Pour half of the mixture over wafers and spread evenly.

Add another layer of wafers.

Top with remaining pudding mixture.

May serve warm or cold, with whipped cream or in a bowl with milk.

Refrigerate leftovers.

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

For years, which thinking about it now seems ridiculous, I have been wanting to try to make stuffed peppers. I honestly hadn't ever even tried them before. I'm not a fan of raw green peppers and the yellow and red peppers are usually pretty pricey at the store. (The cooked ones are much more tolerable! :)) A few weeks ago Aldi had a bag of 3 peppers priced at 99 cents. I snatched up two bags and kind of hoarded them hoping they would last forever. :) Of course, the next time I looked at them, they were in desperate need to be used and in came this recipe. It was a great change from my usual Mexican meals and very filling. Now I'm left hoping Aldi runs another great deal soon...maybe I'll get three bags next time! ;)

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

2 cups white rice, cooked

4-6 bell peppers, any color

1 package taco seasoning

1 can diced tomatoes

1 cup shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil.

2. Prepare the bell peppers. Cut of top and use a spoon to remove the core and as much of the white inside as possible.

3. When water is boiling, carefully drop in the bell peppers and let cook for 3 minutes. Remove with tongs and let drain on a paper towel.

(Don't worry, the floaties seen in the pic are part of the cores I scooped out!)

4. Brown and drain ground beef.

5. Add in diced tomatoes, taco seasoning, and cooked rice. Stir to combine.

6. Place partially cooked bell peppers in a baking dish. You may need to slice a bit of the bottom off so they can stand up. Or just smoosh them in a snug dish.

7. Fill with the beef and rice mixture. If you use only 4 peppers, there will probably be leftover mixture but it tastes great in soft tacos or nachos for lunch the next day!

8. Top peppers with cheese and place in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Ole! ;)

Raspberry Fluff Salad

AKA potpourri. This made our house smell so good! We chose raspberries for the fruit in this salad, but I am ready to try more fruits and jello flavors. Perfect for a potluck or as a side dish for a family get together, this dish is so light and cool, perfect for spring!

Ingredients:

1 small box raspberry jello
2 small boxes tapioca pudding
12 ounce frozen raspberries
8 ounces cool whip
3 cups water

Boil 3 cups water.  Add jello and pudding; cook for 3-5 minutes.  Let stand a few minutes.   

Add raspberries.  Put in refrigerator until set or overnight.

Fold in cool whip before serving.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Why do the tastiest recipes always turn out to be the easiest? After years of trying different spinach and artichoke dips, I was finally handed this recipe and was blown away by the simplicity of it. I mean, seriously, you just cook it in the microwave and all the measurements are in 1/2 cups...someone could do this in their sleep! But seriously, I went to a friend's swap party (swapping shirts, pants, purses, jewelry, etc) and in walked this dish. The girl who brought it even saved the cooking part until she got there and just stuck it in the microwave. It was delicious and I knew I had to swap her recipe! Haha!

Spinach Artichoke Dip ingredients

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1 can artichokes, drained and chopped

1 box frozen spinach, thawed and drained

Mix all ingredients together, spread in a greased dish, cook in the microwave on high for approximately 8 minutes.

Stir and serve with tortilla chips.

I chose to use fat free sour cream and mayonnaise and combine that with the veggies I chalked this up to a pretty light appetizer!

Mom's Luncheon

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there! I have the best mom ever and I love every moment we spend together. With everything that we have in common from cooking to crafts to antiques to garage sales, we can definitely fill up our time together and we have so much fun while we're at it! These pictures are from a luncheon my mom hosted at my grandma's house for her sisters and their daughters. It was beautiful and very "Semi-Homemade" (check out the table-scape). I had the greatest time as her sous-chef and the food was delicious!

Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Brownie Cake

This is my new twist on the fabulous gooey butter cake. I posted the traditional recipe months ago and I was so glad I did! Come to find out, this was the only place I had the recipe, my blog really is paying off for me (hopefully someone else too). Well, I altered that recipe to fit all the chocoholics out there and it came out seriously close to a local grocery store bakery version. I did have a mishap on Easter when I went to share the cake with family. Lesson learned, gooey anything should not be overcooked, and yes, it did burn. I was so bummed. Oh well, guess it will go back on our meal plan to try again!

Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Brownie Cake

Ingredients:

Cake Crust:

1 package chocolate cake mix

1 egg

8 Tbsp. butter, melted

Filling:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese (1/3 less fat)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

8 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 box (16 oz.) powdered sugar

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips or 3/4 chopped semi-sweet chocolate bars

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine the cake mix, egg, and melted butter. Mix well.

3. Press into bottom of a greased 9x13 baking pan. 

4. Prepare the filling. beat cream cheese until smooth.

Add the eggs, vanilla, melted butter and mix well.

Next add the powdered sugar, and beat until smooth, scraping sides as needed. 

5.Spoon onto crust and spread evenly.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.

Center should be gooey, so make sure not to overcook.

7. Serve warm or at room temperature, and top with powdered sugar, if desired.

Veggie Pizza

Veggie Pizza: perfect for potlucks and as an appetizer. It can be a little pricey when you're buying all those vegetables and only use a fraction of them, but I made three separate pizzas over the course of a week to use with different get togethers. That, or you could just eat the veggies and do a body good. ;)

Ingredients:

2 packages crescent rolls

1 package cream cheese

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 envelope ranch dressing mix

assorted vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, red pepper, broccoli, etc.)

Spread crescent rolls onto jelly roll pan and seal seams.

Bake as directed on package (10-13 minutes) at 350 degrees.

Let cool completely.

Mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, and dressing mix.

Spread onto cooled crescent roll crust.

Finely dice vegetables and spread over pizza.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

When cool, press veggies into cream cheese mixture to help stick.

Cut into square pieces.

Sausage-Cheese Balls

To continue with the breakfast posts, here's another Christmas morning fav! My grandparents also serve up some sausage cheese balls with their cheese souffle. A bisquick classic, and why reinvent a wheel that's not broken?? I'm the biggest fan of back of the box cooking for that reason, of all the recipes their product can make, the ONE the marketing gurus choose to display on their packaging is surely the best. ;)

I cut this recipe in half for the two of us, and I will list both the full recipe's ingredients below as well as the halved amounts. I know that on a Thursday night (TGIF tomorrow!), I can't be the only one who appreciates not having to think that hard!

Sausage-Cheese Balls

Ingredients:

Full Recipe

3 cups Original Bisquick mix

1 pound ground sausage

4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed

1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes

Half Recipe

1 1/2 cups Original Bisquick mix

1/2 pound ground sausage

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed

1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease baking sheet.

Stir together all ingredients.

And YES, the sausage can be uncooked, who'da thought???

Shape mixture into 1 inch balls and place on baking sheet.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until brown. Immediately remove from pan.

Eat with Cheese Souffle!!!

Cheese Souffle

Family traditions are so important to our family. I love looking forward to them each time we get together. One of my favorite traditions is this breakfast souffle. We eat it every Christmas morning at my Grandpa and Grandma Carter's house.

I have been wanting to make it for forever, it seems like I love it so much once a year, and then don't see it until 365 days later. This year at Christmas I made a decision to make it a few extra times. So easy to put together...but, my goodness, does it have a lot of cheese! Don't think this is an egg bake or bread pudding. Nope! This is fluffy cheese! Yummy, all the same, but not something to add to a daily diet!

Cheese Souffle Ingredients:

6-10 slices of bread

3/4 lb graded mild cheddar cheese

4 eggs

2 cups milk

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

2 Tbsp. butter, melted (Ignore the tub of margarine.:))

Prehead oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9x13 making dish.

Remove crusts from bread and cut into cubes.

Layer half the bread cubes, half the cheese.

Then repeat with remaining bread cubes and cheese.

In a bowl, beat eggs slightly.

Add the remaining ingredients (milk, salt, dry mustard, melted butter) and stir together.

Pour mixture over bread and cheese.

Regrigerate overnight or for a few hours. (I'm good with about 20 minutes!)

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes.

Yummy and enough cheese to last you the whole week! Serve with yummy sausage balls and petite carmel rolls...I'll post those to round out my breakfast week blogs!