Taco Calzones

Ole! These taco calzones were a hit in the Cook household tonight, or as Corey would say "A keeper". They were super easy to eat and for Savannah it was fun because of the dipping. What kid doesn't like to dip. The recipe called for sour cream and salsa on the side to dip them in, I actually mixed the two together for a yummy creamy sauce. So whip these up one night for a quick and easy dinner the whole family is gonna enjoy. 

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
1 8 oz package shredded cheese
2 pkgs pizza crust mix ( I just used the pillsbury pizza dough so I didn't have to mix up the mix it made it quicker)
Salsa, Sour Cream

Instructions
Cook ground beef
Stir in taco seasoning and 1/2 cup water Cook 4 min then set aside.
(If using mix)
Combine crust mix, 2/3 cup cheese, and 2 T taco seasoning. Stir in 1 cup water. Cover, let stand 5 min. Divide dough into 6 balls. Roll out each piece to 6 inch circle.
Divide meat and cheese and place in middle, fold over and seal with fork.
(With the premade dough, I just rolled it out and cut out the circles with a knife. It didn't have the other seasonings in it but it was quicker)
Bake at 375 for 20-25 min.
Dip in salsa and sour cream.

New Product Spotlight: Progresso Recipe Starters

Ever see a coupon or advertisement for a new product and wonder if it's really worth buying? I do ALL the time, especially things that are supposed to make things easier with cooking. Well I hope to every once in a while spotlight a recipe I make with one of these new products. Tonight I used one of the flavors of the new Progresso Recipe Staters (there was a coupon in last weeks paper). The recipe I made was called Meatballs and Mashers (think Ikea Swedish Meatballs but MUCH better). So pick up a can and try it out. I am going to try and get a different flavor this week and try a different recipe. It was so quick to make, seriously 15 minutes, and was very yummy. Except Savannah told me she doesn't eat balls, but that's just her being two. :-) What is a new product you have tried and enjoyed? Please share!

Ingredients
1 can (18 oz) Progresso™ Recipe Starters™ creamy portabella mushroom cooking sauce
1/2 cup Progresso® beef-flavored broth (from 32-oz carton)
24 frozen cooked meatballs (about 1 1/2 inches in diameter)
1 bag (16 oz) frozen red bell pepper and onions for stir-fry, thawed and drained on paper towels* (I used fresh bell pepper and onion and it worked just fine)
2 cups hot mashed potatoes

• Steps
• In 3-quart saucepan, mix all ingredients except potatoes; heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened.
• Serve over mashed potatoes

King Ranch Casserole

When judging what I cook I say it was either a hit (put it in the "save" folder) or miss (don't ever make that again), well tonight's dinner was a little bit of both, I'll explain. Corey and I loved it, we had seconds in fact, Savannah however didn't enjoy it because it was "spicy". As a newer mom, especially of a little one who is actually eating all of what we are eating now, I don't try to make her anything special, I don't want her to think I am a short order cook, so I am learning even now how to maybe tweak a little bit of recipes so that she can enjoy them as well. Her telling me she doesn't like peas mean I am going to not make peas anymore, but her saying something is spicy will make me remember this next time around. So if your kiddos aren't eating something, is it because it's green, or may it be a particular spice. This dish does have a little heat to it, so next time I think I will omit the chili powder, and I'm sure all of us will hh jjpoj it! The following recipe was really easy to make and had elements that could be made ahead of time (the whole dish could be made ahead of time and then cooked if desired). Great for working moms or moms who just have to much to do during the day and need something easy but yummy to go to as well. I am also putting this on my list of meals to bring to friends that need something brought to them!

King Ranch Casserole

10 corn tortillas

3 skinless boneless chicken breast

1 bag frozen seasoning veggies

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can rotel tomatoes

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

8 oz bag shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oven at 350 degrees.

Take chicken breast and boil it for about 20 minutes. Drain from water and chop up. (This step can be done ahead of time, especially if you like preparing ingredients on one day) 

Take chicken, veggies, soup, rotel, chili powder, and salt, and mix together in a bowl, set aside.

Take tortillas and cut into 1 inch strips.

Spray the bottom of 13x9 dish. 

Place 1/3 tortilla strips on bottom of dish. Place 1/3 of the chicken mixture and place on top of tortillas. Place 1/3 of the cheese on top.

Make 2 more layers like this. 

Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly. 

Enjoy!

Happy Teddy Bear Day!!!

In celebration of Teddy Bear Day (and Grandparents Day too) I thought I would jazz up Savannah's breakfast to make it a little more fun. Sometimes an extra little step can bring a big smile to your kids' faces. I hardly EVER make breakfast. I am not a morning person (none of us are in this household) so mommy cooking breakfast is a big treat. I realized I had bread and bacon that needed to be used, so I decided to cook up some french toast, eggs, and bacon. But now for the teddy bear twist. As most of you know I love to bake, baking is truly my thing, so I dug through my 1000000 cookie cutters and found my teddy bear one, and took two pieces of the bread (mommy and daddy don't care if our bread is in the shape of bears) and cut her bread into bear shapes before cooking. When she saw her little bear toast she was so excited. So next time when you are trying to do a little something special for your kiddos think of something simple like this just to give them that extra smile. So for those of you who don't have a french toast recipe here's a really simple one you can jazz up however you want. 

Easy French Toast

6 Pieces of bread (any kind really that you have will work)
2 Eggs
2/3 cup of milk
Whatever seasoning you want. I used about a teaspoon or so (I didn't really measure) of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Seasoning. 

Warm up a griddle on the stove. Take the eggs, milk, and seasoning and whisk together. Take the bread and coat both sides with egg mixture. Brown both sides of bread on griddle. Top with powder sugar, fruit, syrup, whatever you like. Enjoy!!!

Read the Labels

I'll have to admit most of my recipes come from things I find on the Internet on websites, Pintrest (recently), and the bazillion magazines I am subscribed to. The one place I need to look more at (and which I partially got inspiration from dinner tonight for) is the back of boxes, bags, pouches, whatever, that my food comes in. A while back one of my childhood friends posted about making french fried onion chicken and I thought "man that sounds really good" and my plan was to make it. Well today when I had taken chicken out for dinner but hadn't planned what to do with it (I was able to answer though that we were having chicken for dinner when my husband asked me). So I was sitting here and remembered I had a whole can of Fried Onions left over from dinner the other night, remembered my friend's post, and looked on the back of the can and there it was, dinner for tonight. So if you haven't tried it look on the back of your french fried onion can and if you don't have one around I'll provide the recipe I used. Let me know if you have any recipes you have found on the back of packages that you have saved in your files, and the next time you just don't know what to do for dinner search your pantry for any hidden recipes your might have!

French Fried Onion Chicken

2 cups of French Fried Onions
2 tablespoons flour
1 egg
4 chicken breast (I used tenderloins because they cook faster)

Take the onions and put it in a Ziploc bag and crush them up. Add flour to onions and shake them all together. Take the egg and beat it in a bowl. Put chicken in egg and the dip in onion mixture and place in baking dish. Bake in oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Quick, simple, and yummy!!!

Cowboy Casserole

Yee Haw!! Who doesn't love a good casserole? You can't fail with them and most of the time you can add and subtract what you want to create a new recipe to your liking. Tonight I tried a new recipe "Cowboy Casserole". Think shepherds pie with a cowboy twist. The one thing I love about casseroles is the fact that most of the time you can prepare them a night in advance so you have less cooking time the day before, and they usually can be thrown in a slow cooker if desired. Lucky for me I have a husband that gets home before me so he can throw it in the oven before I get home! So I got this recipe from a e-mail list that I am on and decided to give it a try. I prepared the hamburger mixture last night and then did the rest (with the help of Corey putting it in the oven) when I got home, dinner was ready in 15 minutes, beat that McDonalds! :-) So try this out and let me know what you think. What did you add or take away? (For example the original recipes calls for crumbled bacon to be added to the potatoes and fried onions but I didn't feel like dealing with that tonight so I didn't add it)

Cowboy Casserole

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
1 egg
2 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp salt
24 oz tub garlic mashed potatoes
1/4 c french fried onions
2/3 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese

Directions:

Combine beef, onion, breadcrumbs, BBQ sauce, egg, chili powder & salt. Press into bottom of sprayed 8 x 8 inch baking dish. Bake @ 375o for 20 – 25 min until cooked through. Pour off excess fat. While meat is cooking, heat potatoes per pkg directions. Stir in onions. Spread potatoes on top of beef mix & sprinkle with cheese. Broil 4– 5 min until lightly browned.

What's for dinner?

The inevitable question, what's for dinner? You know you hate hearing it, from your child, from your husband, from yourself, everybody has heard it, everyone has asked it. But what's always the answer. Here are a few you may have come across.

1. "I don't know ask your dad/mom"Which then the other person answers (nine times out of ten) "I don't know go ask....."

2. "Leftovers" Which is then met with groans....

3. "Dinner? You mean you are supposed to eat?"

After these questions are asked and the answers are given to appease the person asking, many times we find ourselves heading through the line at the next fast food place (or ordering pizza, Chinese, whatever delivers that didn't come the night before), digging through the fridge to see what leftovers are still eatable (I mean as long as there is no mold it's okay right? j/k people j/k), or we throw together PB&J and feed the kids and we find whatever we can once they go to bed. 

Well people it doesn't have to be like this. Trust me all the above are all easy ways out, but with a little preparation, teamwork (may it be with your spouse or even children), and creativity, the dinner question doesn't have to be so daunting. 

I hope through this blog I can help people with ideas on how to make cooking such a dreaded thing. I truly believe the table is a way to get the family together and sharing a great meal makes it all better!!