Walking Tacos

Have you missed me?  Well, I've missed you!  My little sis informed me that I've been sorely neglecting you all.  Since I last posted, we moved, the kids all started school (and I somehow ended up as a room mom for the 3rd grader!), went through almost an entire season of soccer and lacrosse (2 more weeks, just 2 more weeks!), joined the gym (like 2 days ago.  Yikes!  I am SO sore!  Wish me luck!), and I couldn't find my baby.  For almost an entire half hour.  Talk about near heart failure!!  Luckily he just went to a little friends house and was playing on their way-super-awesome play set in the back yard.  I went from I'm-so-mad-I'll-strangle-the-little-monkey-when-I-find-him to, when I finally found him, oh-my-precious-perfect-little-angel-I-just-want-to-kiss-your-sweet-little-face-until-you-scream!

I have to say, I've forgotten how much of an ordeal moving is!  We were in our last place for 8 years.  Seems like a lifetime sometimes.  I guess it is for some people.  We moved in with a 6 month old baby and had 2 more little ones while we were there.  That's a lifetime for the 3 of them.  All though moving is the pits, it sure was nice to have some of the kids old enough to really help.  I think the actual moving part was the easy part.  Changing the address on all the mail and transferring the kid's schools was probably more stressful.  Not to mention the melt downs over leaving friends and the best. Schools. Ever.  Luckily, we're in a pretty awesome neighborhood with lots of little kiddies.

Do you have kids?  If you do, you're going to want to bookmark, pin, print out and save, whatever, this recipe!  These Walking Tacos are totally kid approved!  The kids thought (for at least 7 seconds!) that I was/am the coolest mom ever!  The 15 year old asked where I got the idea.  I told him Pinterest (Coolest. Site. Ever!).  He informed me that he would never EVER complain about Pinterest again!  Now THAT is HUGE!

1 pound ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
8-10 individual serving sized bags nacho cheese Doritos
Your favorite taco toppings like...
Lettuce, shredded
Cheese, grated
Tomatoes, diced
Sour cream
Olives, sliced
Salsa

Brown the ground beef and add taco seasoning (along with the water called for on the package).  To assemble, slightly crush chips, then squeeze the bottom of the bag to make it POP!  Pretty sure that was my favorite part.  The 15 year old was in the other room and asked what the popping noise was.  I completely lied to him and told him I didn't hear a thing.  Not sure if he believed me, but he didn't come to investigate.  If you are a little more civilized than we are here, feel free to either cut the top off the bags or pull them open.  Just open the little bags.  Add meat and desired toppings.  Mix it all up and grub up!

Recipe from....Well, I saw pictures on Pinterest and did my own thing.

Chicken in a Crockpot

Did you know you can cook a whole chicken in the crock pot?  It's true!  I had no clue until just recently (thanks to a sweet reader for letting me know!).  We love chicken around here, but I also use cooked chicken for so many things.  Things like Chicken Tamale Pie, Hawaiian Haystacks, Red Sauce Chicken Enchiladas, Green Chicken Enchiladas, Chicken Pot Pie, Baked Chicken Taquitos, and Chicken Tortilla Soup, just to name a few.  Cooking a whole chicken in the crock pot is the easiest way I have found to cook a chicken and the meat comes out SO tender and juicy.  A major plus!

This time I cooked my chicken on a bed of baby carrots and sliced onions.  Dinner can't get any easier than that!

1 whole chicken
salt and pepper or desired spices, to taste

Rinse chicken and place in a crock pot.  Cover and cook on high for 5 to 6 hours.

Strawberry Breakfast Parfait

We love breakfast foods at my house (well, we pretty much just love food :)).  These Strawberry Breakfast Parfaits and so quick and easy and the family loves them.  They aren't just for breakfast, though.  We also make them for an afternoon snack, dessert or a 10 pm snack (like last night :))  And I don't think it hurts that they look so pretty when they're finished.

2/3 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup diced strawberries
3 tablespoons granola (Susan's Granola is fabulous!)

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon granola in the bottom of a glass.  Top with 1/2 the vanilla yogurt, followed by 1 tablespoon granola, then 1/2 the strawberries.  Repeat layers.

Recipe from The Royal Cook - an original!

Linked on Get Your Brag On!, Tatertots and Jello, Breakfast Ideas Monday and Sweet for a Saturday.

Texas Roadhouse Cinnamon Butter

Do you like easy, like, SUPER easy? How about yummy, like, SUPER yummy? Well, have I got a treat for you! Texas Roadhouse Cinnamon Butter! It is both super easy and super yummy.

Have you ever been in the dog house? Not to worry, this will get you out! If my sweet hubby somehow ended up in the dog house and made me some Texas Roadhouse Cinnamon Butter, it would be his ticket out. And if he threw in some hot rolls like White Crescent Rolls, Oatmeal Dinner Rolls, White Rolls or even some Sweet Corn Bread, I think he would end up with a "get out of jail free" card.

1 cup butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup honey
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and beat until light and fluffy (it took me about 2 minutes. I think......)

Recipe from Fly Through Our Window.

Linked on Show Me What Ya Got #57, Sweets for a Saturday #52 and Country Mama Cooks.

Fruit Kabobs

My kids love kabobs. Any kind of kabobs. Put it on a stick and call it a kabob and they will eat it. For a special afternoon snack I make them fruit kabobs. Sometimes I will drizzle them with melted chocolate and sometimes we will have them with dip, or even plain. However I make them, they are always a hit.

Mmmmm. Don't they look pretty!

Fruit cut into bite sized pieces (I used pineapple, strawberries and grapes this time)
skewers

Slide fruit pieces onto skewers, alternating between different fruits.

Hot Chicken Sandwiches

When I was a kid, my parents would take us to a hometown cafe and they would often order hot sandwiches. I would sweet talk a bite out of them almost every time (man I was good!) I LOVED the hot sandwiches. They were served with potatoes and smothered in gravy. Yum!!! I usually serve mine with mashed potatoes as well, but when I pulled out the potato bag, it was.....*gulp*.....empty! Who does that!?! Who runs out of potatoes!?! That's right up there with running out of ground beef! (That's a whole other story. I know everyone is dying to hear, so brace your self. I get it free. That's right. FREE! And I still ran out.) I don't run out of things. Really, I don't. I am the neighbor that all the other neighbors go to when they run out of stuff. I always have what they don't. *Sigh* Oh well. I have potatoes now and am determined not to run out of them again (or ground beef for that matter).

2 cups chicken gravy
1 pound deli sliced chicken
6 sliced bread
butter

Toast the bread and butter. Warm the gravy in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and heat through. Divide the meat between the slices of toast and drizzle with any remaining gravy.

Recipe from The Royal Cook

Cheese Rolls

These little cheese rolls are SO easy and tasty!! Most people use flour tortillas, but we love them with corn tortillas. I almost feel silly sharing my "recipe", but the corn tortillas are a little different. Yum!!

When I make these for my girls, they insist on having them cut in half so they can count the rings and see how old they are (like trees - I guess they paid attention in school). They always tell me that I need to make them a really, REALLY old cheese roll. Old cheese rolls don't sound too appetizing to me. I imagine them growing green stuff all over them, kind of like leaves on trees. Kind of.....

Small corn tortillas
Shredded cheese
Butter (I use I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray)

Heat a flat bottomed frying pan on the stove over medium heat. Butter both sides of each tortilla. Place 1 tortilla in the hot frying pan. Cook for about 30 second - until the butter is melted and the tortilla is hot. Flip the tortilla and sprinkle with cheese (I use just under 1/4 cup on each tortilla) and cook for another 1 1/2 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Remove tortilla from pan and roll. Be careful with the melted cheese. It is HOT!

Bean Casserole

I grew up on a farm and my kids love to go back to the farm to visit Granny and Papa. My mom and I cook quite differently, and the kids will often ask for "farm food" (the kind of food that Granny cooks). This is one of the things that my mom made while I was growing up. When my kids ask for farm food, this is one of the things that I make. It is so simple and all of the kids eat it so well.

Just a little word of warning. Do NOT eat this with pink lemonade and laugh while trying to swallow a mouth full of both. The result - funky, unappetizing stuff spewing from your (my) nose. Yes, I know that one from personal experience....

1 pound ground beef
2 (15 oz) cans pork and beans
2 (15 oz) chili with beans
2 cups shredded cheese

Brown ground beef in a large skillet. Add chili with pork and beans to the ground beef. Heat through, sprinkle with cheese and cover to melt cheese. Mom would pour the casserole into a baking dish and top with cheese and bake to melt. Either way works well, but I prefer doing it in the skillet - fewer dishes to wash. I also will sometimes leave off the cheese and let the kids sprinkle it on while they have the casserole on their plates. My 2 year old will end up with cheese with a small side of casserole when we do it that way.

Homemade Tortilla Chips

My kids think I am VERY cool 'cause I can actually make tortilla chips. Honestly, they are so very easy. Almost as easy as opening a bag of chips. They are so easy, in fact, that I almost feel silly for sharing the recipe (if it can even be called that).

I love that these chips are not only simple, but healthier and lower in fat than the store bought chips. And I guess it doesn't hurt that they make me a cool mom too. I will take cool however I can get it.

The chips are great with Quick and Easy Salsa and the salsa can be made up while the chips are baking.

Corn tortillas
Oil
Salt

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly brush one side of the tortillas with oil (I will sometimes use I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray - 0 calories). Cut each tortilla into 6 triangles (in half, and then each half in thirds). I like to stack 3 or 4 tortillas and cut them with a pizza cutter. Place triangles with the oil side up on a cookie sheet. Lightly salt and bake for 5 minutes. Turn the chips over and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Pineapple Lime Sunday Salad

I don't know where the name came from - well, the lime from the Jell-O, the pineapple from the pineapple and the salad from the fact that it is a salad, but the Sunday part baffles me. I did make it for Sunday dinner when I made it last, so maybe that's where the Sunday comes from. Hmmm

I have a bunch of canned pineapple sitting in my pantry that needs to be used. There are only so many things that I can come up with to use up the pineapple. This has to be one of my favorite ways to use it. I love salads that combine whipped topping, gelatin and cottage cheese. YUMMY!!

1 (8 oz) tub frozen whipped topping ,thawed
1 (20 oz) can pineapple tidbits, drained
1 cup cottage cheese
1 (3 oz) package lime gelatin

Combine whipped topping, cottage cheese and gelatin. Mix well, then fold in pineapple.

Parmesan Garlic Bread

My kids love garlic bread. I love that it is easy. It doesn't matter how much I make, it always disappears super fast. And there is usually a battle over the last slice. The kids will have a race to see who can eat their dinner fastest so they can have seconds of the bread. When the bread gets down to the last couple of pieces, or even the last piece, the race is on again to finish the piece they have so they can get the last piece. You'd think I was starving them and it was their last meal!



1 Loaf french bread - sliced into 1" slices
Butter
Garlic powder
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Butter 1 side of each slice of french bread and place on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with garlic powder and then with Parmesan cheese (I use between 1 and 2 teaspoons per slice of bread). Broil on the top rack of the oven for 1 to 2 minutes - until the sides of the bread are lightly browned. Watch closely!! It doesn't take long for it to burn.

Yummy Corn

Happy New Year!! To start off the new year I thought I would share a healthy, low calorie, low fat, delicious recipe. Then I changed my mind and just went with delicious. I guess the corn even makes it healthy. Every time I make this, I get a ton of compliments. It is so easy and yummy. The kids even like it!

I got this recipe from my sister Riley. She calls it yummy corn, and, well, the name seems to fit perfectly. Thanks Riley!



1 (16 oz) bag white corn
1 (16 oz) bag petite yellow corn
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter

Thaw the corn and drain any liquid. Put in a microwave safe bowl and top with cream cheese and butter. Microwave on high until the butter and cream cheese are melted - stirring every 60 seconds.

Carmel Turtle Pretzels

Maybe I am getting old, maybe I have enough kids that I don't have a lot of extra time, but I like simple. These sure were simple! My sweet little 4 and 9 year olds made them all by themselves! The 4 year old peeled the wrappers off the candy ("accidentally" dropping a few and then having to eat them. She said she was making sure they were still good), and the 9 year old put the pecans on them. They were not only simple, but very yummy too!

I found the idea over at Mrs. Bettie Rocker.



Bite sized pretzels - I used the waffle shaped ones
1 bag Rolos with the wrappers removed
Pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with Parchment paper. Place pretzels on paper and top each one with an unwrapped Rolo. Bake for 3 to 4 minutes, just until the Rolo's are a bit shiny but still holding their shape. Press pecan halves on top of Rolo's and press down lightly. Allow to cool and dry before storing.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Need a way to get rid of some of that Halloween candy you have hanging around? This recipe is the perfect way to use some of it up. My all time favorite desert is brownies. I love them warm, cold, frosted, plain, with ice cream.... You get the idea. :) Yumm!! You just cant go wrong with brownies. Add in some peanut butter cups, and Mmmmmm. My mouth is watering just looking at this delicious picture!!



1 box brownie mix with ingredients to mix
8 fun sized peanut butter cups (or 4 regular sized candy bars)
frosting - optional

Mix brownies according to the box directions for cake like brownies. Quarter the peanut butter cups and add to the batter. Pour into greased baking dish and cook according to box directions. Frost if desired.