Easy Pizza Pasta Casserole

by penji1

Easy Pizza Pasta Casserole

My niece had a baby on Monday so I took dinner up to the family yesterday.  I was looking for some kid friendly pasta recipes for her other two kids since she said that they like pasta and came across this one on Food.com and it looked perfect, what kid doesn’t like pizza and pasta?

1 pound hamburger

1/2 of an onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 (26 oz) jar spaghetti sauce

8 oz rotini pasta, cooked and drained

2 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella

4 oz sliced pepperoni

1  Brown hamburger, onion, garlic and seasoning.  Drain off fat.

2  Stir in pasta, sauce and 1 1/2 cups cheese.

3  Pour mixture into greased 9 x 13″ pan.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

4  Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 25 – 30 minutes, until heated through.

Casserole can be frozen for up to 3 months.  When ready to use, thaw in fridge overnight then bake at 350 for 35 – 40 minutes.

Scrambled Egg Muffins

by penji1

Scrambled Egg Muffins

Whipped these up for breakfast on Saturday, they were yummy and gone quickly.  The recipe comes from “Six Sisters’ Stuff”, super easy to make too.

12 eggs

1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt (I’ll add 1 teaspoon next time)

2 – 3 tablespoons onion, diced (I had some green onions so used those)

1 cup cooked ham, bacon or sausage

pepper, to taste

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (I’ll add 1/2 teaspoon next time)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

they also added the following which I didn’t have on hand:

1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup mushrooms, diced

1/2 cup baby spinach, finely shredded

1  Preheat oven to 350.

2  Spray 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray liberally.

3  Beat eggs then add remaining ingredients.

4  Scoop 1/3 cup mixture into each muffin cup.  Bake 20 – 25 minutes or until center is set.

Bridal Shower Food and Fun in Dark Blue, Peach and Grey!

by penji1

Double Chocolate Cupcakes I spent the weekend helping Courtney with a Bridal Shower that she was throwing for her friend Keeley so in other words I had a great weekend, I got to hang out with Cort and make goodies!  Keeley’s colors are dark blue, peach and grey so we tried to incorporate those as much as possible. First up, these cupcakes which I think just turned out so cute!  They are the Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Truffle Filling topped with our favorite Buttercream Icing and then finished with little chocolate decorations that I made with some Wilton Orange Candy Melts mixed with some white candy melts to make them more of a peach color and a candy mold.  The dark blue cupcake liners came from Pick Your Plum of course.  They were easy to make but a little time consuming.  I used a squeeze bottle to get the chocolate in the molds are they were really small and delicate. Mini Bridal Shower Stripper Cake Up next, a mini stripper cake of course, apparently we are stripper cake decorators now!  This cake it is only about 6″ high, the bottom layer is about 6″ across, middle is 4″ and top is only about 2″, so it’s tiny.  The cake is Brown Sugar made from the White Almond Sour Cream cake recipe with brown sugar subbed in for the white, the infamous Buttercream Icing (see link above), Wilton White Fondant which you can buy at Michaels, some peach ribbon around the layers and some flowers to adorn, both also from Michaels and then to finish a paper straw “pole” and a Polly Fashion little dude for the stripper and that’s enough about that I think. Bridal Shower Candy Takeaway Treats While I was making the cupcake toppers, I made some little chocolate hearts in dark blue and peach as takeaway gifts using Wilton candy melts and some Valentine heart shaped molds.  The little green bags (didn’t have any appropriate sized bags in the wedding colors) came from the big craft sale near me in the old Kmart building and the Washi tape (in grey) came from Pick Your Plum, one of my all time favorite websites!  Some labels printed off and these were good to go. Flower Centerpieces I know these aren’t food and that this is a food blog but Cort made these and them came out so adorable and coordinated so well with everything else that I just had to share them, flowers and ribbon from Michaels of course!  And kudos to Cort on her flower arranging skills. Congratulations Keeley on the upcoming nuptials!   And thanks Cort for letting me play!

Easy Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas

by penji1

Easy Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas

My hubby loves fajitas but I’ve never made them as it seemed difficult so when I saw this easy recipe I knew I had to give a try and was it ever easy and surprisingly tasty, this will be one that we make over and over again.  It’s from a Betty Crocker recipe, (Betty does it again!), here’s my slightly altered version:

1 large onion

2 medium red bell peppers  (I wanted to use yellow and orange peppers too but they were so expensive!)

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 (1 oz) package fajita seasoning mix

2 tablespoons olive oil

your choice of tortillas your choice of toppings such as sour cream, salsa, guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, green onions

1  Heat oven to 400.  Spray 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray.  Cut onion and pepper into thin slices, place in pan.

2  Cut chicken breasts into thin slices and add to pan.  Sprinkle seasoning over top and drizzle with oil.  Stir until combined and pieces are coated.

3  Bake 35 – 40 minutes, stirring once halfway thru, until chicken is done.

4  Serve as desired.

White Bean, Potato and Ham Soup

by penji1

White Bean, Potato and Ham Soup

There’s a lot of ham left over from Easter and Bob has been sick with what turned out to be bronchitis so I decided to put some soup together for him.  A lot of the recipes I looked at for ham and potato soup had a cream base and I wanted to avoid those calories so I just started throwing things in the crock pot, turned out pretty tasty.

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced

3 Russet potatoes, diced (I left the skins on but you can peel if you prefer)

1 – 2 cups diced ham

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed (I used Great Northern but any kind of white bean would work)

3 (14.5 oz each) cans chicken broth

1 cup water

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 – 1 teaspoon pepper, depending on how spicy you want it

Add all ingredients to crock pot and cook on high for 5 – 6 hours.

Surprise – Inside Crescent Eggs

by penji1

Surprise-Inside Crescent Eggs

And one last Easter recipe (although this treat would be great anytime of year)!  We decided to do brunch yesterday inside of dinner so we had “Colleen’s Overnight French Toast”, ham, bacon, hash browns, scrambled eggs and “Italian Easter Bread” and it was all so, so good!  When we were done, I wanted just a little smidge of chocolate (but then when don’t I want just a smidge of chocolate?) so I whipped up these little guys which still went along with our brunch theme.  They were really easy to make, came together quickly and tasted great, almost like a chocolate croissant, although I did kind of give up on trying to make them look like eggs.  It’s a Pillsbury recipe.

1 (8 oz) can Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup vanilla creamy ready to spread frosting (I whipped up my own frosting with some powdered sugar, milk and vanilla, I made it thick so it would sit nicely on the treats)

colored sugar or candy sprinkles

1  Heat oven to 375.  Line cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper or a silicone nonstick baking mat.  (If you use stones like I do, then you can skip the paper or liner.)

2  Unroll can of rolls, separate into 8 triangles.  (I used my rolling pin to flatten them out a bit so they would be a little bigger and easier to work with.)  Place about 1/2 tablespoon of chocolate chips on base of each triangle (widest part not pointy part).

3  Fold sides of base up and over chips.  Bring long point of each triangle down and over chips, press to seal dough edges.

4  Roll each bundle in palms of hands to seal and form egg.  Place on cookie sheet.

5  Bake about 8 – 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove to cooling rack and cool about 20 minutes.

6  To frost, in small microwavable bowl, microwave 1/4 cup frosting on high 15 – 20 seconds or until melted and smooth.  Dip tops of each baked roll in frosting.  Sprinkle with sugar or sprinkles.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Truffle Filling

by penji1

Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Truffle Filling

Super chocolately birthday cupcakes for my friend Amber!  I doubled the batch so we could have some too and I’m glad I did because they are amazing!  The cupcake and frosting recipe comes from Hersheys and then I added the truffle filling because what’s better than chocolate?  More chocolate!

cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

2 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 sections (1/2 oz each) Hershey’s unsweetened chocolate baking bar, melted

1  Heat oven to 350.  Line muffin pans with paper baking cups.

2  Stir together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in mixing bowl.  Add water, oil, vinegar and vanilla and beat until batter is smooth.  Blend in chocolate.  Fill muffin cups.

3  Bake 16 – 18 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Remove to wire rack to cool.

truffle filling:

1 bag Lindor truffles of your choice

Lindor Truffles

1  Immediately upon removing cupcakes from oven, cut an “X” into the center of each with kitchen scissors and push an unwrapped truffle into each X in each cupcake.  Allow cupcakes to cool and truffles to melt before frosting.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Truffle Filling

chocolate frosting:

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup Hershey’s cocoa

2 – 3 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1  Beat butter, add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency.  Stir in vanilla.

2  Frost cupcakes by first placing a blob of frosting over the hole with the melted truffle and sealing the edges of the hole with the frosting to prevent the truffle from mixing in with the frosting.  Continue to frost as desired.

Happy Birthday Amber!  Hope you enjoyed the cupcakes!

Peeps Chicks Surprise-Inside Easter Cupcakes

by penji1

Peeps Chicks Surprise-Inside Easter Cupcakes

It looked like a cupcake shop in my kitchen yesterday.  My ankle is still giving me some trouble and slowing me down so I’m not getting out and around as much as I usually do so spending some time baking seemed like the perfect way to spend a day.  These little cuties come from “Betty Crocker”, I know they look like just any old cupcake on the outside but it’s the inside that makes them fun.  Here’s a look at the inside:

Peeps Chicks Surprise-Inside Easter Cupcakes

Right?  So here’s how:

1 cake mix of your choice plus ingredients to make cake (I used a Duncan Hines Pink Velvet cake mix)

assorted candies, jimmies, sprinkles of your choice (I used Cadbury Mini Eggs and Easter shaped sprinkles)

frosting of your choice (I used my favorite Buttercream Icing colored green)

green food coloring

24 Peeps brand marshmallow chicks

1  Prepare cake mix according to package directions and bake according to package directions for cupcakes.  Allow to cool after baking.

2  Using a melon baller, scoop out center of each cupcake, about 1″ deep.  Fill each with candies and sprinkles.

3  Using green colored frosting, place a blob directly over candies in the  hole and seal edges of hole so that candies do not get mixed in with frosting, continue frosting as desired.  Top with Peep after frosting each cupcake.

Candy Box Easter Baskets

by penji1

Candy Box Easter Basket

I can’t remember where I first saw this idea so I don’t know who to credit but it is all over Pinterest so you can look there for variations.  I still like to give my big kids something for Easter so when I saw these “baskets”, I knew what they were getting this year.  Everything you see here is from the dollar store or the dollar section in Target.  You need 4 large boxes of candy, make sure they are all of equal length so that your box will fit together nicely or make sure the sides are the same length and the ends are the same length.  I used a hot glue gun and glued them together and then used a piece of cardboard for the bottom of the box, also attached with the hot glue gun.  I attached the Nerds rope handle with washi tape since the handle is more for decoration as opposed to actually lifting.  I used a little wooden tag, more washi tape and some Baker’s twine (all from Pick Your Plum) to label each basket.  So cute and easy!  I was thinking too, you could use this for anything – birthdays, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Halloween, anything really.  Happy Easter everyone!

One Pot Spicy Lemon Chicken Pasta with Tomatoes

by penji1

One Pot Spicy Lemon Chicken Pasta with Tomatoes

Dinner last night, gotta love the one pot, 30 minute meals and this one was great.  The recipe comes from “Yellow Bliss Road”.

2 tablespoons olive oil (I ended up using 3)

1/2 cup diced yellow onion (I just used the whole onion)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 pound chicken breasts, chopped into bite sized pieces

8 oz (about 2 1/2 cups) small, dry pasta

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved (I used the whole pint)

2 cups chicken broth

juice from 1 large or 2 small lemons

1 cup water

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 cup shredded Mozzarella

1  Heat oil in large pot or skillet over medium high heat.

2  Add onion and stir, cooking until soft and nearly translucent.

3  Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

4  Add chicken and cook until brown.

5  Stir in pasta, tomatoes, chicken broth, lemon juice, water, basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

6  Bring to a boil and continue to stir often, uncovered, for about 9 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and pasta is tender.

7  Remove from heat, sprinkle cheese on top, cover for 10 minutes until cheese is melted and remaining liquid is absorbed.  (I skipped this step and let everyone put the cheese on or not themselves.)