Easy Baked Salmon

What you need:

Salmon

Mayonnaise

Dill

Pepper

Spread a thick layer of mayonnaise on the salmon. Sprinkle with dill and gresh ground black pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes in a foil lined dish.

Super easy and super yummy!

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Ingredients:

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Swiss Chicken

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 slices of Swiss cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 c. dry white cooking wine (I just used white wine I had in the fridge)
1 c. herb stuffing mix
1/2 c. melted butter

Directions:
- Place chicken breasts in a greased 9x13 baking dish.
- Top each breast with 2 pieces of cheese.
- In a small bowl stir together soup and wine and pour over chicken.
- In a small bowl melt your butter and stir in stuffing mix. Pour over soup mixture.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

I love easy, and this is about as easy as it gets!

Layered Fiesta Taco Salad Bake

Okay, now THIS is EASY and yummy! You like Mexican food??? Try this if you do!

Ingredients:

1lb. ground beef
1 can spicy chili beans, undrained (they don't have to be spicy if you want it mild)
1 can corn, drained (you can use Fiesta Corn if you want)
1 cup salsa
1 pkg. Taco seasoning
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1-2 cupa shredded cheese (I use closer to 2 cups)
1 large avocado, peeled and cubed/sliced
Shredded lettuce

What you do:
Coarsely crush two cups of tortilla chips and throw ‘em into a deep casserole dish.

Cook beef and drain. Return to large skillet and stir in beans, salsa, taco seasoning and corn.
Heat until boiling stirring often.

Remove from heat and pour into the casserole dish on top of the crushed chips.

Cut your veggies and layer the tomatoes on top of the meat mixture and then the green onions on top of that. Cover with cheese and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cheese is hot and bubbly.

YUMMMMMM!

Then garnish with lettuce and avocado and shove some chips along the outside just for fun!

So pretty, right!
Talk about EASY!

Crunchy Strawberry and Romaine Salad

I love me some fruit on my salads.

Do you love strawberries and romaine lettuce?!

YUM!

Ingredients:

Romaine lettuce (three hearts of romaine, chopped)
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
2 cups strawberries, sliced or chopped in bite-size chunks
1 pkg. Ramen noodles (discard seasoning packet)
1/4 cup butter
1 cup chopped walnuts or almonds (optional)

DRESSING:
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp soy sauce

Saute the Ramen and walnute/almonds in butter for about 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Meanwhile, chop your strawberries and onions and add to your romaine in a large salad bowl. Add the Ramen and nuts once they are ready. Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together, add to the salad and toss.

Voila!

Meatball Sandwich Casserole

Ingredients:

1 Baguette French Bread (cut into 18-24 slices, 1/4 inch thick)
Olive Oil
1 pkg. frozen Italian meatballs, bite sized {about 1 lb.}
1 pkg. frozen onion & bell pepper mix, thawed & drained
1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350. Meanwhile, slice your bread.

Brush each slice with olive oil on one side. Line the bottom and the side with the bread slices...oil side up...slightly overlapping the slices on the side. You won't need to grease your dish for this recipe! (You'll need a deep casserole dish for this meal.)

Bake bread for about 10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. In a separate bowl, mix meatballs, bell pepper & onion mix, & spaghetti sauce to coat. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the Tomato & Basil by Classico. SOOOOO good!!!!!
Spoon the meatball mixture into the dish on top of the bread. Return to oven and bake for 25 minutes or until thoroughly heated through in the center. Pull out, add the cheese on top and bake for 5-10 minutes more.

Enjoy!

Double Dressing Pasta Salad

When you see the ingredients for this, you may think it would be gross.

It's not...trust me. :)

Ingredients:

1 box penne pasta
1 brick Colby cheese, cubed
1 brick Muenster cheese, cubed
1 yellow pepper, chopped into large chunks
1 orange pepper, chopped into large chunks
Grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 bottle Ranch dressing
1/2 bottle of Italian dressing

Cut up all the veggies and cube the cheese. Add dressing to coat. Meanwhile, cook pasta.

Add pasta to veggies and dressing & toss. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until chilled. Remove from fridge and add a little more dressing to freshen things up. Serve & enjoy!

Chicken Marinade - Rosemary Lime

I made chicken breasts the other night and wanted to marinade them, so I made up a marinade with pretty much a bunch of random stuff from the fridge. Weird thing...it was SO DELICIOUS! So here it is before I forget...

All these measurements are approximate because I didn't measure anything!

Ingredients:

1 cup Vegetable Oil

2 Tblsp Mustard

1 Tblsp Lime Juice

1 Tsp Garlic Salt

1 Tsp Rosemary

Tsp(ish) fresh ground pepper

Wisk all the ingredients together and marinade your chicken in it for at least an hour.

Sorry, I didn't take a picture...it kinda just looks like chicken!

Glass Block Jello

I found this recipe HERE and made it for Christmas and LOVED IT!

It was a hit. :)

INGREDIENTS:

4 3-oz. packages assorted Jello (in whatever colors you want)
2 packets unflavored gelatin
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk


Spray 4 small food storage containers (like Tupperware/Gladware/Rubbermaid) with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.


Bring 5+ cups of water to a boil. Combine 1 c. boiling water with 1 package of Jello, stirring until dissolved. Place the dissolved Jello in one of the prepared containers. Repeat with the remaining packages of Jello. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferable overnight.


When the Jello has set, bring another 1 1/2 c. of water to a boil. While the water is heating, sprinkle 2 packets of unflavored gelatin over 1/2 c. of cold water. Allow to stand for about 4 minutes. When the water is boiling, pour 1 1/2 c. boiling water over the dissolved gelatin and stir to combine. Add the sweetened condensed milk and mix well. Allow to come to room temperature.

Lightly spray a 9x13" pan with non-stick cooking spray. Carefully cut the colored Jello into cubes and gently toss to combine in the 9x13" pan. Pour the cooled milk mixture over the colored Jello and, if necessary, rearrange some of the colored Jello to make sure it is evenly distributed and not sticking out of the white mixture too far.

Place the 9x13" pan in the refrigerator and chill overnight. Cut into squares, rectangles, or various shapes with cookie cutters and serve.

Baked Ziti

Sorry for the semi-gross picture.
I forgot to take a picture before we dug in.
Also, I used bow tie pasta because I didn't have ziti on hand.
Sara Knutson gave me this recipe a few years back and it's one of our favorites!

Ingredients:
1/2 box Ziti pasta
1 onion
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 lb. provolone cheese slices
8 oz sour cream
bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

Spray casserole dish
Cook pasta
Fry beef with onion (you can add some minced garlic and fresh mushrooms if choose). Add spaghetti sauce. Simmer
Layer:
1/2 ziti, provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozz. cheese, remaining sauce, sprinkle w/ parm. cheese.

Mushroom Canopes

These can be made from beginning to end in about 10 minutes and they are AMAZING!

Ingredients:
Party Bread (pumpernickel or party rye...I used pumpernickel)
2 cans sliced mushrooms (I sauteed fresh mushrooms in olive oil)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 small container french fried onions
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Toast 15 pieces of the party bread in a 350 degree oven for approximately 5 minutes. While that is toasting, mix all of the ingredients (I used fresh mushrooms sauteed in olive oil with garlic salt and spices which will make this MUCH richer, so if you want it more light, canned mushrooms might be better). Pile a spoonful of the mixture on each piece of bread and place on a cookie sheet and broil for about 3 minutes or until they're browned on top.

This makes about 15 pieces. You could stretch it to probably 20 pieces if you put less topping.

Spinach and Tomato Spaghetti

Today for lunch, we didn't really have anything that sounded good. So I scoured the cupboards and created this pasta dish that turned out really delicious and it was FAST and EASY!
Had I had a couple of other ingredients, I probably would have added them, but I will post the recipe just as I made it and then below specify the other ingredients that would be good added to it.

Ingredients:
16 oz. spaghetti noodles
4 Tblsp Olive Oil
5 or 6 cloves of garlic chopped
1 onion chopped
1 pkg frozen spinach
1 can stewed tomatoes (fresh tomatoes would be better!)
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Boil Spaghetti while you heat the olive oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and onions and saute. Once the garlic is browned and onions are tender, turn the pan down to low and add the spinach and let cook until the pasta is done. Once the pasta is done, add it to the veggies and stir. Then add the tomatoes and cook through for a few minutes. Stir in the cheese and a ladle of the pasta water. Stir together until cheese is melted and serve.
It was actually really delicious!

*Had I had fresh mushrooms, I would have sauteed those with the garlic and onions and it would have been delicious! Also, chicken or shrimp would be great in it if you want meat in it. And instead of stewed tomatoes, grape or cherry tomatoes halved would have probably been better. You could also substitute broccoli for the spinach if you want.

Roasted Cabbage w/ Lemon

Can you say yummy?!

Ingredients:
1 medium head of green cabbage
2T Olive Oil
3-4T Lemon Juice
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450F. Spray a roasting pan (I use a cookie sheet) with non-stick spray or olive oil. Cut the head of cabbage into 8 same-size wedges, cutting through the core and stem end. Then carefully trim the core strip and stem from each wedge and arrange wedges in a single layer on the roasting pan (leave some space around them as much as you can.)
Whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice (use the larger amount of lemon juice if you like a lot of lemon like I do.) Then use a pastry brush to brush the top sides of each cabbage wedge with the mixture and season generously with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Turn cabbage wedges carefully, then brush the second side with the olive oil/lemon juice mixture and season with salt and pepper.
Roast cabbage for about 15 minutes, or until the side touching the pan is nicely browned. Then turn each wedge carefully and roast 10-15 minutes more, until the cabbage is nicely browned and cooked through with a bit of chewiness remaining. Serve hot, with additional lemon slices to squeeze lemon juice on at the table if desired.

Tomato Salad w/ Balsamic Vinegar

Super easy, super delicious and super pretty!

Ingredients:
1 small package grape tomatoes (whole)
green onions (approx. 3 stems)
red onion (just a little, a small wedge finely chopped)
fresh basil chopped (3-4 leaves)
1/3 cup crumbled feta
drizzle of olive oil
healthy drizzle of balsamic vinegar (probably twice as much as the olive oil)
salt and cracked pepper

Stir it all together and enjoy!

Chicken Biscuit and Potato Minis

I had to make up the name because I made up the recipe.
I know it's not a very creative name.
But these were really good!Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts (boiled)
2 pckgs Biscuits
1/2 can cream of chicken
2 medium russet potatoes
1/2 cup French Onion Dip
3 Tblsp butter
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/8 cup milk
salt and pepper
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Dried Parsley
(Instead of the 3 seasonings above, I use a seasoning called Badia Complete Seasoning)

Boil the potatoes to make mashed potatoes and once mashed, add the butter and french onion dip and mix together. Boil the chicken and chop it or shred it. Mix it with the cream of chicken and milk, salt and pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, dried parsley or any sort of seasoning you like. Press the biscuit dough into muffin tins. This will make a dozen minis, so I just do the extra 4 biscuits normally and save for the next morning or something. :)
Scoop the chicken mixture into the biscuit cups until full and then put the potatoes on top. Sprinkle the cheese on top of that and bake according to the temp and time on the biscuits. I did have to add about 5 minutes to the baking time on the biscuit package to make sure they weren't too doughy.

They were delicious!

Ritzy Chicken

Sean named this casserole I made up tonight.

He's so creative. :)

This meal is far from "ritzy"!

Ingredients:
3 large chicken breasts
1 can Cream of Mushroom
1 can Cream of Chicken
8 oz Sour Cream
1 stick butter
1 cup cheddar cheese (I used sharp cheddar)
1 sleeve Ritz Crackers
1 Tblsp Minced Onion
Garlic Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Rice

Boil the chicken breasts and then cut them up. Mix them with the cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, sour cream, 1/2 stick of butter, garlic salt, pepper, minced onion and cheese. Pour into a greased 9x13 casserole dish. Crush the Ritz Crackers all over the top of the dish and then drizzle the other 1/2 a stick of melted butter. Bake for 3o minutes at 350.

Serve over Rice.

Chicken Salad

This is a SUPER DELICIOUS chicken salad recipe I made yesterday!
I can't stop eating it!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups diced, cooked chicken
4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1 (8 oz) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1 cup halved green grapes
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tblsp dried parsley flakes
2 teaspoons finely minced onions (I used dried minced onion)
1 tsp lemon juice (I used lime juice)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Combine chicken, bacon, water chestnuts, celery and grapes in a bowl, set aside. In another bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients; add to salad and toss to coat. Chill until serving.

Peanut Butter Pie

Seriously EASY and YUMMY!!!!
Stole it off another blog that I read. :)Ingredients:
1 pie crust (I just bought a frozen one)
3/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 pkg. Instant Vanilla Pudding (I used French Vanilla)
2 cups milk
8 oz. container whipped topping (or you could make your own)

Bake the pie crust and cool to room temp. Mix the peanut butter with the powdered sugar using a fork until you have a peanut butter crumble. Whisk the milk with the Instant Pudding mix and put into fridge for about 5 minutes while it sets. While that is setting, put about 3/4 of the peanut butter crumbles into the pie shell. Then, put the pudding on top of that and place in the fridge for a couple of minutes again. Spread the entire whipped topping container on top of it and then sprinkle the remaining peanut butter crumbles on the top. Keep refrigerated until you serve.

Italian Pasta Salad

Probably about a year ago, we went to my friend Jamie's house for a play date and lunch. She made this pasta salad and I loved it. There was even olives in it (which I picked out)!!! For those of you who don't know, I HATE olives.
So she sent me the recipe (which I lost), but I remember it was really easy and thought I may have remembered it...so Jamie, if you're reading this, SORRY if I botched the recipe! I just made it from memory...it was still delicious though!
(I forgot to take the picture until hours after I made it and it had been half eaten! Oops!)Ingredients:
1 box Rotini
1 bottle Italian Dressing
1 container grape tomatoes (cut in halves)
1 small can chopped black olives (Jamie may have used green when she made it)
1/2 red onion finely chopped
1 container of Feta Cheese Crumbles

All you do is cook the pasta, let it cool a bit and then add the dressing. I only used probably 3/4 of the bottle. I let it cool more while I chopped the veggies and then added those and refrigerated it until it was cold before I added the feta cheese.

I'm not a fan of blue cheese, but I'm sure you could use that as well in this recipe...and like I mentioned above, green olives would work too...or if you're like me, you could just leave them out all together! :)

Banana Bread w/ Chocolate Chips

Ingredients:
3 bananas (or 2 large bananas)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk (I just use regular 2%)
1 tsp baking soda
1 stick butter or margarine
pinch of salt
2 cups flour
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Mix all of the ingredients except the flour with mixer. Add the flour to the mixture and beat. Stir in about 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips if desired. Pour into 4 greased, mini loaf pans and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes, then remove from pan and cool to room temp on cooling rack.

(I can't take credit for this recipe...it's Brenda's and it's the best!)