penne and italian sausage

made a very easy dinner tonight, have had a rough couple of days...

penne with sausage with a marinara sauce, with a salad and texas toast...

loaded baked potato soup

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/baked-potato-soup/c41d5252-b085-4ccf-9ae0-55df29ec31f7?src=SH

I did not follow the recipe exactly...I made a roux with the butter, flour and milk and then added the rest of the ingredients...for some reason it works out better for me this way...

delicious, everyone in the family loves it very much...

meatloaf (a new recipe) & corn cakes

I happen to love meat loaf very much and am constantly searching for the perfect recipe...lucky for me most of the members of my family also love it, cause I make it a lot...
I came upon this recipe from Kraft and it was pretty good...will it be my go to recipe for all times?  probably not...but I would most likely make it again...and everyone that ate said it was pretty good...

so with the meat loaf, I also made scalloped potatoes, broccoli, and a new recipe for corn cakes...

the corn cakes were very good and I will definitely make time and time again, there are so many possibilities with this recipe...I added a little bit of bacon and some cheese...

this dinner was a lot of work putting together but I wanted food to bring some harmony to our lives tonight and it seemed to do the trick...Tim was very happy (I had dinner done by the time he got out of work) cause between jury duty and work, he had not had a chance to eat today...he did ask if dinner would be a little lighter tomorrow?

link for the meatloaf:
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/make-ahead-cheesy-bacon-mini-133272.aspx

and the great thing about this recipe is that you can make up ahead of time and freeze them...

link for the corn cakes:
http://www.ezrapoundcake.com/archives/12345

very yummy, just make sure you add a ton of seasonings, otherwise they are a little bland...

homemade pizza

I went to a Pampered Chef's party and bought one of their large pizza stones and cutter...I could not wait to get it and use it...
today was the day...yay...

bought the pizza dough from Trader Joe's, jarred pizza sauce, mozarrella cheese, & paremesan cheese...

they turned out pretty well...

and typing this right now, I bought breadsticks to go with the pizza and forgot about them...LOL...

anyway it is fun seeing what each person puts on their pizza...

Tim googled "healthy" pizza and came up with a carmelized onion, apple and swiss cheese one...and he had his on wheat dough...
Zoe wanted pepperoni, olives and mozarrella cheese
Me?  I stuck with pepperoni and mozarrella cheese...

not bad for homemade pizza (well sort of)...

and I do love the stone...my friend said you can use the stone for all sort of things, so I will...

today?

today is National Fast Food Day

breakfast for dinner casserole

http://www.talkingdollarsandcents.net/breakfast-casserole-for-dinner

since I made this the last time, I have been thinking of it and decided it would make a good down home comfort dinner tonight...

several people in this family are not feeling real well, and maybe they need some TLC, this should do the trick...
tonight instead of the biscuit in the picture, I added a green salad and fresh fruit...

today?

today is National Raisin Bran Day and National Bundt Cake Day...

November National Days

Georgia Pecan Month
Good Nutrition Month
National Peanut Butter Lover's Month
National Pepper Month
Raisin Bread Month
Vegan Month
National Fig Week	First Week
National Split Pea Soup Week	2nd Week
National Turkey Day	4th Thursday
National Stuffing Day	4th Thursday
National Leftovers Day	4th Friday

chicken tortilla soup (new recipe)

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2012/11/chicken-tortilla-soup.html

I used the above link for the base of the soup...I love unusual recipes and this one was interesting to me...
I browned one diced onion and added 10 cut up corn tortillas and continued cooking till tortillas were limp (I did not add peppers per recipe) I then added the broth and blended until smooth...
then parting from the recipe, I added cooked diced chicken, black olives, corn and some black beans...
Zoe wanted to try it as soon as it was done and proclaimed it "perfect..."

I did want to add more seasonings than I did, but I was out...(next time)

snickerdoodles

do not ask me why I would do such a thing when I have a migraine?  just do not ask, not sure of why myself...I guess you could say all for the love of a little girl who loves to bake...

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/snickerdoodles/7ffc92a9-d847-4869-9ecb-99de3b751b14

macaroni and cheese

today I woke up with a pretty good migraine, the kind that warranted me 2 naps today and it still did not help...I still have a migraine, and will most likely have it until I go to bed tonight....yay team me...

still I wanted a good dinner for Tim when he got home from work...this dinner is quick to put together and I was able to pick up all of the ingredients at Wal Mart when I went to get dog food...when I have a migraine, I need quick, I need easy...and we haven't had this for awhile either...Tim is also on his "eat better" way of eating and not eating a lot of beef, yet hubby is sick of
chicken...
but speaking of hubby, he is in the dog house (so to speak)...sent him to the store to get some biscuits and he got more than just that...I went in to the bedroom to see if he wanted me to dish up his dinner,
(I am a good wife like that) and there he was, eating a sandwich he bought at Ralph's...he did not want this for dinner...nice, huh?

this is the kind of mac and cheese my mom would make (think of how much would have to be made for 12 kids???) and I like it though it is not my favorite kind of mac and cheese...I like a more creamier kind and actually am still searching for my favorite recipe that one that will be my go to one
all of the time...sometimes, I do like this recipe however and does bring up some memories...
not sure if I told this story before...
one night when my kids were in high school, and hubby had been laid off from his job and I was working at Wal Mart, and with only one paycheck, it was a bad time in our lives...this night it was a
couple of days before payday and the only ingredients in the house were for this recipe...I called hubby from work and asked him to make this mac and cheese...got home and was so hungry, could
not wait for dinner...took one bite and it was horrible...silly hubby had used sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated milk...funny thing is he ate his whole plate, where the kids and I could not...

so...
I take 1 1/2 pkgs of macaroni (I usually use shell roni but Wal Mart only had elbows) cook till al-dente...then I layer a small bit in bottom of 13x9 greased pan...layer with macaroni and cheese, ending with cheese...I add garlic salt and pepper...then pour 2 cans of evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed milk) over the top...bake at 400 for approx. 25 minutes...
I always make little smokies in BBQ sauce, broccoli and biscuits to go with this recipe...at tonight at least 4 of us liked dinner minus hubby...

chicken and wild rice casserole...OMGoodness

I have said it before and I will keep saying it, this is my hands down all time favorite dinner ever...
I love it so much and it makes terrific leftovers too...

it is a little bit of work getting it all together but very well worth every bit of trouble...
Christy's recipe calls for green beans and I put peas instead, that is how this family likes it...

http://www.southernplate.com/2012/01/chicken-and-wild-rice-casserole-and-becoming-the-crazy-daffodil-lady.html

I am so happy tonight and cannot wait for lunch tomorrow too...

porcupines

growing up as a kid, this was one of my most favorite meals (meat loaf and scalloped potatoes being the first...) with 12 kids (10 of them younger than me) I was usually in charge of cooking and for a lot of people too...

we were too poor for after school snacks and I would be starving by the time dinner came around but these meatballs, I could snack on them while I was cooking (my mom could never figure out why the amount of meatballs was way down when I cooked...)

and can I say here that there is no way possible that Zoe would wait after school till dinner to eat...OMGosh that kid, we have to meet her at school with a drink and a snack, or take her out...this year has not been such a problem as 6th graders eat lunch at 12:30 and they get out at 2...

another funny story, my kids love these and I had Christopher's friends convinced that this was really porcupine meat I was using...

so for porcupines, I add seasonings and uncooked rice to ground beef and brown them as meatballs, when browned, cover them with 2 cans of tomato soup (mixed with 1 can of water) and Tim likes to add shredded cheese to the top...

made parmesan noodles, broccoli and garlic cheese biscuits to the menu for tonight...

btw...hubby does not especially care for this dinner but I think it stems from his distaste of rice...

Bisquick mini pumpkin pies

stop what you are doing right now and go into the kitchen and make these and then eat them...they are
so yummy and take a very limited time to put them together...

I most definitely will make these again and again...

now, someone from Bisquick please come up with a recipe for Impossible Pecan Pie...

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/impossibly-easy-mini-pumpkin-pies/29854cdf-9068-4bf2-bacc-0696cd74887e

the only thing I would do differently is add more of the mixture to the muffin pan that the recipe calls for...

my grand daughter Sian cannot wait for me to come up tomorrow and bring some of these...

taco salad without lettuce (?)

I think I have posted this before how I love (love) taco salad but I do not like lettuce with it...haha...

and today it is still in the 90's here and I wanted something cool (but then dumb me, I also made some
individual pumpkin pies...)

so for my taco salad I brown hamburger, put some in a bowl, top with cheese, olives, green onions, tomatoes, crushed up chips and ranch dressing...

that is it...and I have been craving this for a couple of weeks...love it...

mini sausage and cheese pies with Bisquick

today the weather is so hot...in the 90's and I woke up with the worst migraine...still have the pain at dinner time...but sometimes I get tired of eating out and so here is what I came up with...
those terrific Bisquick sausage & cheese mini pies...we love them at our house...paired them with tator tots, fruit (no sugar added) and some carrots...

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/impossibly-easy-mini-breakfast-sausage-pies/daeffa4b-355d-466f-b712-86388de26b3f#?st=6&term=bisquick pie&ps=9&pi=9#?st=6&term=bisquick pie&ps=9&pi=9