Breakfast Edition: Garden Bacon Monkey Bread

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YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH BACON!!!!!!!!!!!!

There, I said it.  Moving on.  I made this for my boys a few weeks ago and just kept doing other blogs before this one.  I felt it was an appropriate time to do it since there was a bacon meal tonight!

Anyway, first thing's first: this was a breakfast I originally had little big man help me with that I think might have inspired him to start cooking!  Hmmmmm.  So as I WAS saying, little big man helped me cut the pop-n-fresh biscuits into thirds.  Then I added that to a bowl with some melted butter, chopped red and green bell pepper, along with crumbled bacon and shredded cheddar cheese   Then I poured it into a pre-greased bundt pan and baked it in my oven (preheat to 350 degrees!) for about 35 minutes.  Then, you know it...VOILA!!!  Breakfast was served!!!!!!!

This was so much fun for the boys to peel at it and munch, and it was so yummy.  It made 12 servings at 258 calories/serving and was only $2.46/serving!  Whoop!!!

Here's the recipe:

4 packs of biscuits (7.5 ounce), cut into thirds

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped

5 slices bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Happy cooking everyone!!!!

Sinister Sweets Edition: Impossibly Easy Mini Pumpkin Pies

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So I've decided that I wanted to start making delicious desserts and it would be my 'sinister sweets' edition.  HOWEVER, I'm going about it the WRONG way by starting with a dessert that's only 90 calories!  Sigh...ANYWAY, let's move on.

I felt that since little big man did so well and made such a yummy dinner that the LEAST I could do was make a yummy dessert!  We actually made some caramel apples together, but we're saving those for tomorrow!!

So first thing's first: I preheat my oven to 375 degrees and then sprayed a muffin pan with cooking spray.  After that, I mixed some canned pumpkin with some Bisquick, sugar, evaporated milk, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and eggs in a medium bowl.  Then I poured 1/4 cup of the mixture into each prepared muffin cup.

Once that was completed, I cooked the mini pies for 30 minutes, removing it and allowing it to cool for 10 minutes.  Then I removed the pies onto a plate and allowed it to cool for another 10 minutes.

After that was cooled, I added some whipped topping to it and VOILA!!  Dessert was served!

Like I mentioned earlier, these were only 90 calories/mini pie and was only $1.25/serving!!  So much yums all day long, I can't even stand it!

Here's the recipe:

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup Original Bisquick mix

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup evaporate milk

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup frozen (thawed) whipped topping

Happy SINISTER SNACKING my friends!!  :P

Son Can Cook Edition: BLT Salmon Tacos

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You heard me right.  BLT...salmon...tacos.  My son is absolutely SPOILING ME!!  He has a bit of obsession with salmon and I wanted to see how he could bring his flair to that yumminess and boy did he (see above photo of his display of 'flairness' :P)!

Here's the recipe:

8 4-inch tortillas

4 3-4 ounce salmon fillets

4 slices bacon, fried and crumbled

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 avocados, chopped

shredded lettuce for garnish

salt and pepper

So little big man put the salmon fillets on some foil (that he sprayed with cooking spray) and seasoned it with salt and pepper, then put it in the preheated oven and broiled it for about 4-5 minutes on each side.

When it was done, little big man flaked the salmon with a fork, then put each individual item in bowls for an awesome SALMON TACO BAR!!  This was so much yums and I can't wait to see what little big man makes tomorrow!!

The meal was 455 calories/serving with the meal making four servings, and it was only $3.18/serving!  Yeah buddy!

Happy cooking everyone!!

Queso Burgers

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Goodness gracious, this burger was so much yums it's ridiculous.  You mention cheese sauce and I'm ALL in.  This was also SUPER easy.
So first thing's first: I shaped some ground sirloin into 6 patties, grilling them on my preheated grill pan about 4-5 minutes on each side.
While that was grilling, I microwaved some velveeta cheese (previously cut into cubes) with some diced tomatoes with green chilies about 5 minutes, stirring after 3 minutes.
When that was done, I placed the patties on some hamburger buns, topping it with the velveeta sauce and topped it with lettuce leaves and tomatoes and VOILA!!  Dinner was served!!!!!
So simple, so easy yet sooooooo yummy!  It was only 360 calories/burger (this made 6 burgers) and only $2.10/serving!  Yay!
Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
1 pounds velveeta, cut into cubes
1 10 ounce can diced tomatoes and green chilies
6 hamburger buns
6 pieces leaf lettuce
1 large tomato, cut into 6 slices

Happy cooking everyone!!!!

Hubs Can Cook Edition: Healthified Italian Sausage Soup

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The amount of AWESOME I've been dealt lately with my boys all cooking for me is ENORMOUS!  I also feel you all should share in this families ability to cook, so I'm sharing it all!!  :)

So the weather has been getting cooler, of course, and I thought this recipe sounded warm and YUMMY and my hubs made sure it was!!  Once all the prep work was done it seemed to go by pretty quickly, so give this meal a try!
Here's the recipe:

2 slices bacon
1/2 pound lean Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
2 large russet potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
4 cups water
3 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
4 cups chopped fresh kale
1 15 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup fat free half and half

So hubs cooked the bacon, drained it on a paper towel, crumbled it and set it aside.  Then he cooked the sausage, drained THAT and set it aside.  In that same saucepan, my hubs then added the potatoes, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, water and broth and heat that to boiling!  Then he reduced it to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes.  When that was done, he added the bacon, sausage, kale and beans and allowed it to cook for another 10-15 minutes, until heated and VOILA!!  Dinner was served!!!!
This meal was so warm and filling and there was SO MANY LEFTOVERS!!!  Lunch for tomorrow!!
Best part?  It was only 190 calories/serving and it made at least 10 servings (I'm not really sure how much it made!).  It was also only $2.89/serving!  Yay!!!!!
Happy cooking everyone!

Son Can Cook Edition: Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup (Pho)

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Soooooooo, our son made yet ANOTHER meal tonight for us!  This is one of my tried and true pho recipes that I've actually done on here before, but I wanted to post it again to give little big man some credit!!  :)

This recipe is lots of chopping and measuring, but he handled it no problem!  As you can see by the image, I was also treated to some yummy tea with my meal, as well!!

Here's the recipe:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 cups chicken broth

1 jalapeno, thinly sliced

3 green onions, sliced

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 baby bok choy, chopped

5 ounces Chinese noodles (about half a package)

sriracha sauce

chopped cilantro for serving

So little big man started heating the sesame oil over medium high heat in a large stock pot and added the minced garlic and ginger, and he sauteed it for about 30 seconds.  Then he added the chicken and bok choy, sprinkled it with salt and let it cook for another three minutes.

After that he added the chicken broth, jalapeno and green onions and brought it to a simmer, allowing it to cook for another 15 minutes.  THEN he brought another pot of water to a boil and added the Chinese noodles to them, allowing them to cook as long as instructed, and then he drained and rinsed them with cold water.

Then he added the rice vinegar and soy sauce to the chicken mixture and stirred.  He added the noodles to the pot and VOILA!  Dinner was served!!  The meal made 6 servings at only 342 calories/serving ANNNNND was only 1.84/serving!  Yay!!
SOOOOOOO much yums and such a talented little chef.  I always knew he had it in him!  :)

Happy cooking everyone!

Son Can Cook Edition: Fried Egg Cheeseburger Skillet

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Hiya all!!  So the past few days I've had to work later than my normal hours and my boys have been working hard to make dinner for me!  I can only take credit for pre-purchasing the items, but other than that...MY BOYS CAN COOK!!!  We also wanted to show him that he can learn how to follow directions in anything by following directions from a recipe!

So I'll do just like I did on my Hubs Can Cook Edition and list the recipe and some brief instructions and you can take over from there!  I suggest working later once or twice a week, so YOUR kids can cook for you, too!  :P

So here's the recipe:

1 pound extra lean ground beef

1 box Hamburger Helper cheeseburger macaroni
1 cup hot water
2 cups milk (my son used 1%)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
4 eggs
salt and pepper

Cook the ground beef and drain.  Then stir in the season packet from the Hamburger Helper box, along with the hot water.  Add the milk and uncooked pasta and heat to boiling, stirring occasionally.  Reduce the heat and let that simmer, covered, for about 12 minutes, making sure to stir occasionally.
In a skillet, melt the butter and fry the eggs (over easy), sprinkling them with salt and pepper.  THEN serve the pasta mixture into bowls, top with the fried eggs and VOILA!!  Dinner was served!!!
This meal made four servings at exactly 500 calories/serving!!  Whoop!!  It was also only $2.83/serving!
Little big man can certainly cook.  This meal was sooooo delicious!!!!  Anything with a fried egg on top, I always say!  I love being spoiled once in a while.  :P

Happy cooking everyone!!

Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Garlic Chicken

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Mooooooooooorrrrrrreeeeee slow cooker goodness!!!  Seriously, I even made some slow cooker applesauce but I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE!  I know, it's ridiculous.  I'll make it again and show you all the awesomeness!!!

Anyhoo, back to this action!!!!  So this one needed no prior night prep.  All I had to do was season some chicken breasts (cut into fillets) with salt and pepper and put that in my slow cooker.  Then I whisked together some brown sugar, white vinegar, diet lemon soda (crazy, right?), soy sauce and 6 minced garlic cloves and poured it over the chicken.  I put my slow cooker on low and let it cook for 6 hours again.  I made this meal this week, but it was another of my hubs' day off and he was able to turn it onto warm once it cooked for those six hours (it didn't seem to need more than that).When I got home, I removed the chicken and shredded it and then set it aside.

I put the leftover juices into a small saucepan and set it over medium high heat.  While that started to warm, in a small bowl I added two tablespoons cold water and two tablespoons cornstarch and mixed well, adding it to the juices and allowing it to heat until the sauce started to thicken, about 3 minutes.  Then I removed it and let it sit for about another 2 minutes to thicken further.

This meal was also very low in calories (only 241 calories/serving and it made 6 servings!) that I was also able to serve this over rice.  So I placed the shredded chicken over the rice, poured the sauce over the top and VOILA!!!!  Dinner was served!!!

The sweet and sour flavor was amazing and such an easy meal to make!  It was also only $2.72/serving!  Yay!

Here's the recipe:

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup diet lemon lime soda

1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons cornstarch

 Salt and pepper to taste

Happy cooking everyone!!!

Slow Cooker Pork Chili

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'Tis the season for slow cooker recipes!!!!!  I love chili and, unbeknownst to me until I made this, I found out the first week in October is national chili week!  So awesome!  See, I plan food holidays without even meaning to!
So I did actually make this last week, but it has been crazy!  My new job has kept me RIDICULOUSLY busy, but I am in LOVE with it.  Hopefully you, my readers, won't mind the contact lessening, but I will work on it whenever I can, I promise!
So first thing's first: I actually prepped a lot of this the night before because I knew there would be no way I could get this started and into the slow cooker before taking our kids to school and heading to work.  If you've got the time, however, feel free to do it all in the morning!  The night before I cut some pork tenderloin into cubes, as well as finely chopped an onion and minced some fresh garlic.
The next morning, I sprayed my slow cooker with cooking spray, putting the onions on the bottom, topping it with the pork and garlic, and then adding a can of black beans, a can of diced tomatoes, two cans of diced green chiles, some lime juice, oregano, chili powder, cumin and some salt and pepper to taste.  Then I set that on low and let it cook for 6 hours.  The day I made this was my hubs' day off, so he was able to turn the slow cooker on 'low' at the 6 hour mark (it was definitely cooked by then) and when I got home it was...VOILA!!  Ready to be served!!!!  Seriously, I know, that was it!
This meal was so low calorie (only 199 calories per serving, and it made 8 servings!) that my hubs decided to make some homemade tortilla chips to dip into it.  DEEEEEElicious!  It was also only $1.84/serving!  Seriously!
Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into cubes
1 large onion, finely chopped
1-28oz can diced tomatoes
2-4oz can diced green chiles
1-15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
Juice from 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Happy cooking everyone!!

Snack Edition: Ice Cream Bread

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So, yeah, you read that right...ICE...CREAM...BREAD.  I can't make this stuff up, people.  This was SO easy, so much FUN to make, and the possibilities are ENDLESS!!

So here's all it took: ice cream and flour.  I KID YOU NOT!  We, for this bread I actually used Greek frozen yogurt, but I intend to try this again with MANY different flavors, just to see what works.

SOOOOOOO, first thing's first: I preheat my oven to 350 degrees, greased a loaf pan with cooking spray and then mixed the softened yogurt with the flour.  I added that mixture to the greased loaf pan, put it in the preheated oven for about 43 minutes and VOILA!!  THAT'S how you make ice cream bread!

It was sweet and the texture was different but delicious, AND it made 10 slices at only 106 calories/slice!  Whoop!  Also, only $0.86/serving!  I know!

Here's the recipe:

1 pint (2 cups) ice cream, softened

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

Happy snacking everyone!!

Asian Beef with Snow Peas

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Hey there cooking friends!  It has been a minute and I KNOW, but it has been nuts at this house!

SO, this meal was EASY and YUMMY.  Why not give it a whirl??  First thing's first: in a small bowl I combined some soy sauce with rice vinegar, brown sugar and cornstarch and then set it aside.

Once I completed that, I heated some oil in a skillet over medium high heat and added some minced ginger and garlic, cooking for 30 seconds.  Then I added some steak I had previously cut into thin strips and allowed that to cook for about 2 minutes until browned.  Once that was done, I added some frozen snow peas and then cooked it for an ADDITIONAL 3 minutes, adding the soy sauce mixture once that was done.

I lowered the heat and allowed it simmer until the sauce thickened and VOILA!!  Dinner was served!!

So, as I said, this meal was SUPER easy and very delicious!  The best part, of course, is that it was only 203 calories/serving!  This meal made 4 servings so I was even able to serve this over rice!  YUMS.  It was also only $1.49/serving!  Whoop!!

Here's the recipe!

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 pound beef round steak, cut into thin strips

8 ounces frozen snow peas

Happy cooking everyone!