Black Bean Soup

This is what I had for lunch today and it was yummy! It was my first time making it and it turned out great.

1 can whole black beans
1 can broth (chicken, beef or vegetable)
1Tbs butter
1/2 small onion (chopped)
1 garlic clove (chopped)
sour cream (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion and garlic in butter. Than place 3/4 of the can of beans and the whole can of broth in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the mixture to the pan with the onions, garlic and remaining beans and than bring to a boil. Salt and pepper to taste.
Optional: Top with shredded cheese or sour cream.

Note: For a thick and creamy black bean soup use less broth, blend all of the ingredients together and stir in a spoonful of sour cream.

Baked Spasagna

Baked Spasagna is one of my favorite meals from Cheddar's restaurant. I was so excited when I found a similar recipe on the internet and I must share it with you. You will notice that I did not add the ground beef to the sauce in this photo. That's because on this particular day my family requested meatballs instead. (meatball recipe coming soon)

16 oz spaghetti noodles
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup milk
olive oil (for baking dish)

MEAT SAUCE:
1/2 pounds ground beef
24 oz jar of spaghetti sauce

Cook ground beef and than mix with spaghetti sauce and set aside.
Cook noodles according to the package. Rinse and drain noodles.
Mix together mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese and milk. Than use your hands to mix it with the noodles.
Rub a baking dish with olive oil and than pour the spaghetti mixture in the dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. After it's done and slightly cooled cut into squares and top with the meat sauce.

Salisbury Steak

1 pound ground sirloin beef
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
2 cups beef broth
1 small onion
mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste

Dice onion and mix with ground beef. Shape into oval patties about 1 inch thick. Cook over medium/high heat until juices run clear. Add a bit of salt and pepper and set aside.
Add butter to the pan and saute mushrooms until tender. Add the flour to mushrooms and than add beef broth. Whisk until well blended than add the beef patties and simmer until the gravy begins to thicken.

Bacon Alfredo Sauce

I love chicken and I love alfredo sauce but I'm not real fond of chicken in my alfredo sauce. Instead, I like real bacon bits in my sauce. Here is an easy alfredo sauce recipe I found:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter (real butter is better)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese (or bagged shredded Italian cheese blend)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)
pepper to taste
real bacon bits

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over low/med heat. Slowly pour in the heavy cream and continually mix with a whisk until it begins to simmer (do not let it boil). Add the cheese in a little at a time and whisk until it's smooth and creamy than add your seasonings. Top with the bacon pieces after it's been mixed with the pasta.
Note: If the sauce is to thin than add a couple tablespoons of flour to a very small amount of milk and than stir it until their are no lumps and than add it to the sauce.

Baked Pork Chops

Did you know you could use instant mashed potatoes as breading? Well, I didn't know that...until today. Anyway, I did not use instant mashed potatoes in this recipe but I will make a recipe using it soon because I can't wait to try it.

Ingredients:
Thin cut boneless pork chops
flour (to coat)
eggs
bread crumbs (any flavor)

Notice I didn't add an amount to the ingredients? Well, it's because it will depend on how many pork chops your cooking. Rinse and pat dry the pork chops, coat with flour, dip in eggs and than coat with bread crumbs. Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes.

Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs

I make these with turkey bacon and turkey dogs but they can be made with regular bacon and hot dogs. There are several ways to cook them. They can be cooked on the grill or fried in a pan until the bacon is crispy or baked in an oven. I prefer to cook them in the oven but I can't wait to try them on the grill.

Ingredients:
hot dogs
bacon
BBQ sauce

Wrap a slice of bacon around each hot dog. Slather it in BBQ sauce than grill them, fry them or bake them. I bake them at 400 for 20 minutes.
Note: I have not tried to fry them in a pan but I would think that you would leave the BBQ sauce off while you cook them and add it later.

Leave me a message and tell me how you cooked your bacon wrapped hot dogs. Did you use turkey or pork?

Ranch Chicken

This is a recipe I like to make from Betty Crocker. The only difference is I bake them instead of frying them in a pan. I try to avoid frying at all costs, not just because it's unhealthy but because I'm just not good at it. So it's safe to say that you will not find many (if any) fried foods on my blog. One of the things I like about this recipe is that you can use spicy mustard in place of the ranch dressing and it's just as good.

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken breasts (halves)

Ranch dressing (or spicy mustard)

bread crumbs (any flavor)

Parmesan cheese

Brush the dressing on all sides of the chicken and then coat with bread crumbs. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

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The taste will be mild so don't be afraid to slather it on. I used about a tablespoon of ranch dressing on each piece of chicken.

Honey BBQ Popcorn Chicken

Every time I go into Walmart or Price Cutter my kids beg for some boneless BBQ chicken from the deli. But it can get expensive when I want to buy enough for the whole family to eat for dinner. So I decided to make my own. All it took was a bag of popcorn chicken (real chicken, not the processed nuggets) and a bottle of honey BBQ sauce.

Pour the honey BBQ sauce over the popcorn chicken, mix it together and then bake it according to the instructions on the package of chicken. If you cook the whole bag like I do than you may want to add about 5 extra minutes to the cook time.

Meatloaf Patties

Every single person in my family are picky eaters (including myself). My husband and son like ground beef while my daughter and I like ground turkey. This is a meal that works with both ground beef and ground turkey. My husband and son eat it like a hamburger with cheese on a bun while my daughter and I just eat the patty with Katsup.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 box Stove Top stuffing
1 cup water
1 egg

Mix all of the ingredients together and then form them into patties (makes 6-8 patties). Cook them like you would a hamburger patty. I cook them on my George Foreman grill and they are done in about 5 minutes. That beats waiting an hour for meatloaf in the oven!

You don't have to make this into patties on the grill you can also make a meatloaf out of it and bake it in the oven at 375 for 1 hour. I've even seen a recipe where you cook it in a crock pot. I will have to try it.

Leave a comment and let me know how you like to cook yours. Did you make patties or a loaf?

Biscuit Wrapped Hot Dogs

I used a can of Pillsbury Crescent Rounds and a pack of Jennie-O Turkey Franks. Roll out the crescent rounds and wrap them around  the hot dogs than bake at 375 for 12 minutes.

Black Bean and Bacon Quesadilla's

This is a no fail meal in my house. My family would be happy to eat these everyday. This is my go to recipe when I'm too busy to cook a big meal. Quesadilla's are so easy to make and you can put almost anything on them. My favorite quesadilla is from a local mexican restaurant. It's called a black bean florentine quesadilla. It has spinach and black beans on it...yum! But I'm the only one in my family that will eat spinach so I don't make the Florentine at home.

Ingredients:
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 pack 8 inch tortillas
1/2 cup real bacon bits
2 cups shredded cheese
butter

Directions:
Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Spread a thin layer of butter on one side of a tortilla and than place it butter side down in the skillet. Sprinkle desired amount of cheese, black beans and bacon bits on top. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Use a spatula to fold it in half when it's done.