Beach Buffet Boogie

Each year, we go on vacation to the beach with my extended family. We stay in a house on the beach and enjoy lots of good times and good food! In my attempt to relax some while we’re there, I like to cook ahead!

It’s that time of year again, vacay time, so I thought I’d share some of my favorite make-to-take recipes with you (a couple recipes I’ve shared before, but I’ll link to them here – links have red/maroon text).
►BAKED SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE – So easy to build an “Italian Night” around!
►BLONDE CHICKEN PARMESAN – A light basic dish that can be dressed up quickly with a couple sides (like my spicy green beans) and hot buttered rolls.
►CHILI DE LAURIE – Good to have on hand for the first night there when all are tired from travelling and for quick soup and sandwich lunches.
I’ve combined ingredients and directions here – you just throw all these items into a large stockpot and simmer, simmer, simmer..til you’re ready to eat! I serve this chili with tortilla chips, sour cream, shredded sharp cheddar cheese and scallions. Here you go:
1-2 lbs. lean ground meat (browned & drained), 1 onion + 1 green pepper + garlic (diced and sauteed til browning), 1 large jar salsa, 2-3 cans diced tomatoes, 4 small cans tomato sauce, 1 large can light red kidney beans (drained), 1 can chili beans, chili powder + cumin (sprinkled in to taste) – feel free to adjust ingredient amounts per your preference
►CREAM CHEESE DANISH CASSEROLE – Soooo yummy with hot coffee or tea in the sunny morning.
►FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE – Absolutely sinful for breakfast or dessert and a big hit with kids. You can also provide various toppings such as fruit, powdered sugar, syrup, preserves, even chocolate sauce and whipped cream!
Ingredients: French bread (I have also used hoagies rolls before) to make 5 cups bread chunks/cubes, 4 eggs, 1-1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla flavoring, 1 Tbsp butter, 1 tsp cinnamon/sugar
Directions: Butter a 9x13 casserole dish/pan. Put about half of bread chunks/cubes on bottom of dish. Mix eggs, milk, sugar, salt and vanilla together. Pour about half of egg mixture over bread in dish. Sprinkle 1/2 of cinnamon/sugar over this layer. Use the rest of the bread to make another layer in dish. Pour remainder of egg misture over top bread layer. Sprinkle rest of cinnamon/sugar all over the top layer of bread. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until top layer of bread it starting to brown around the edges.
►ASSORTED SWEET GOODIES – Oh, c’mon, you know these will be scarfed.
I’ll take a large Tupperware box full of cookies, brownies, etc to include:

Peanut Butter Crunch                Dippy Cookies                   And More!

Hope you can use some of these ideas, they are def tried-and-true and never fail to be gobbled up quickly! Happy travelling this season! Be safe and eat well!
Hugs & Yums, Laurie

Building a Soup the Quick and Easy Way

Homemade soups are wonderful ~ I’d probably eat soup at least once a day if it was on hand! Lately, I’ve been experimenting with building homemade-like soup from store-bought ingredients, leftovers and resources already in the kitchen cab – kinda like a Sandra Lee Semi-Homeade approach!

►For example, I’m serving chicken soup and buttered bread this evening. Here’s what I’m combining for the soup:

leftover baked chicken breasts and rice

32 oz container chicken broth + one 32 oz can water

26 oz can cream of chicken soup

1 can kernel corn, with juices

12 or so baby carrots, diced

►Now what? Just put it all in a big stockpot and heat til boiling. Butter your bread and there ya go!

Do you like to make soup? Any other shortcut ideas for me?

{This post may be linked to blog parties in my sidebar.}

Hugs & Yums, Laurie

Extra-Tasty Taco Salad Buffet

I made taco salad fixins' for supper the other night and, rather than do the usual routine set-up, I came up with a couple ways to boost its appeal a bit, not that tacos need any help with that!

 

Taco Meat – In addition to taco seasoning, I also use about 1/2 jar of salsa and this time, I sprinkled in some seasoning salts (my new fave go-to spice) and some chili seasoning as well. When I salted the pan before browning the meat, I used the seasoning salts rather than table salt. Adds a little extra flavor.

   

Sour Cream - Instead of plain sour cream (truly awesome on its own), I spiced the sour cream up with taco and chili seasoning. Doing this extends the flavor a little further and also looks more interesting (to me!).

Dip - This time, I served queso cheese dip in addition to salsa and taco sauce. Now this takes no genius on my part, just the willingness to spend a little more money to treat the fam! We loves our cheese.

Here’s the finished taco buffet. I love it - easy, colorful and delicious! By the way, I know these ideas are very simple – you probably do twice as much to your tacos already! – it just takes moi a while to catch on and experiment! Just my 2 cents of ideas for the day!

Hope you’re eating well and enjoying life! God bless! {This post may be linked to blog parties in my sidebar.}

Hugs & Yums, Laurie

Brown Sugar Ham Grill

We love ham at our house (especially Ninja Kitty!), so last week I tried yet another little twist. I took baked ham, sliced it, put it on the trusty Foreman, and here’s the small twist – covered the tops of each slice with plain brown sugar, then grilled away!!

Yum-dilly-icious! Def doing this again, so easy and supremely tasty! We had this with our jazzed up BE peas and sweet potatoes, which I’ll explain another time…there’s a story there…

Try it, you’ll love it! Linking up to the fab foodie parties in the sidebar!

Hugs & Yums, Laurie

Cheeseburger Salad

In an effort to make the good ol’ cheeseburger healthier (and less carb-y), I came up with the idea of CHEESEBURGER SALAD for my hubby and me! I thought all three kids would want regular cheeseburgers, but 2 of the 3 wanted the salad as well!
We grilled our burgers and added American cheese slices to melt a bit. We prepped the salad separately (lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, shredded cheddar cheese – of course, you could add in whatever you like). At the last minute, we diced up the cheeseburger patties and added them to the salads. Yummy! We had pretzels on the side.
Also, I must note that I tried a new salad dressing with this meal:

I purchased this dressing at Kroger and it was very good, with a definite sweet and savory taste of cucumber. It would also make a great addition to a traditional cucumber salad.
Hugs & Yums, Laurie

Juiced Up Ham & Green Beans Dinner

We had a rather normal dinner of ham, green beans and rolls this evening. But! I added a couple creative twists!

HAM – I cut slices of ham, then halved them. I grilled them for a little while on my trusty George Foreman grill (LOVE it!) which thoroughly heated them, enhanced their tastiness and marked them with appetizing grill marks. Next, I put some pineapple slices on the grill to serve with the ham. Yum! Pineapple and ham go together so well!

GREEN BEANS – I wanted to make a green bean casserole, but didn’t have the cream of mushroom soup or the french fried onion bits. So, I brainstormed and used what I had – cream of chicken soup (1 can) and Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing mixed in with 2 cans of green beans (I also included the juice from one of the cans of beans), topped it all with more stuffing and baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. It was yummy!

ROLLS – No creativity per se here, just wise enough to buy some always scrumptious crescent rolls!

All in all, a very affordable, easy-to-make, balanced, delicious dinner for my sweeties and me! Even Waffles the Hungry Cat got his share of ham (he looooves any kind of pork meat!).

Hugs & Yums, Laurie

SMASH DOGS & HOME CHEESE FRIES

On Wednesday nights, we always plan to have a quick & easy meal because of the kids’ church activities.  Usually it’s not too interesting, but this week I decided to infuse some creativity!
The original menu was Hot Dogs and Steak Fries (the kind from the frozen food aisle).  My kids like their hot dog wieners grilled on our George Foreman.  This time, after grilling the dogs, I opened the buns and added the preferred condiments, but the dogs in, then put them back in the grill.  I firmly mashed the top of the grill closed on them.  One to two minutes later, I pulled out my new invention…

SMASH DOGS! 

The kids went crazy for them!
What about the Steak Fries?  I woke up in migraineville today and didn’t feel like doing much shopping.  Hmmm, I had a bag of red new potatoes I needed to use up (the buds were starting) so I decided to try and make my own fries!  I chopped them up, leaving some skin on and spread them out over a cookie sheet.  I drizzled a little olive oil, then generously sprinkled seasoning salts over them.  Baked them at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes, stirring them around and turning them over ever little while.  Then, because my teenage son looooooved cheese fries, I added shredded cheddar cheese and heating them for a minute or so in the microwave.  I also added bacon bits and light sour cream.  The kids were mucho excited! 

HOME CHEESE FRIES

Guess what I found in the freezer when I was cleaning up?  Yep, a 1/2 bag of steak fries!  Oh well, I’m glad I “forced” myself to try to make them on my own….they turned out even better!  I guess necessity (or is it a headache + hunger?) is the mother of invention!
See you next time – have a delicious week!
Hugs & Yums, Laurie

BLONDE CHICKEN PARMESAN!

Yes, I am a blonde but no, there is no hair in this dish!!!  I call it “blonde”
because this version of chicken parm does not have any red/tomato sauce!
This main dish is soooo easy and soooo delish!  Here are the before & after shots:

I decided to use my grandmother’s old heavy casserole pan, it is so dependable!
Here’s what you do:
1-Spray bottom of casserole dish/pan with non-stick spray. 
2-Wash boneless chicken breasts and cut each in 1/2.  I start with 3 of the large chicken breasts from ALDI.  Place chicken breasts in dish.  Since I used this round dish, this time I placed the breast pieces in a pretty spiral pattern.
3-Combine 1/2 cup mayo (can be low-fat) and 1/2 cup sour cream (can also be low-fat) and mix together.  Spread this mixture over the top of the chicken.
4-Sprinkle the top with either shredded or grated parmesan cheese.
5-This time, I also added some herb flavored stuffing crumbs and seasoned salt on top of that.
6-Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until chicken pieces are done in the middle and the top is starting to brown/look a little crispy.
7-Sit back and enjoy all the “This is great!”(s) you can get!
THIS DISH FREEZES BEAUTIFULLY!  I usually do the prep, then freeze, then thaw and bake.
Hugs & Yums,

SCRUMPTIOUS BROWN SUGAR HAM (slow cooker recipe)

I am loving the slow cooker these days!  I may have mentioned before that I have chronic migraines.  So, many afternoons (a/k/a supper prep time) find me clutching a heat pack to my head and definitely NOT feeling like getting in the kitchen and being creative!  So, the crock pot = my BFF!  Today was time to learn how to do ham in the slow cooker!

Our mouths are watering over here. Here’s how I did it:
Ingredients ► boneless ham roast, 1 cup brown sugar, 8 oz. pineapple juice
Directions  ► 1) Spread 3/4 c. brown sugar over bottom of crock pot; 2) Put ham roast on top of brown sugar layer, flat side down; 3) Rub remaining 1/4 c. brown sugar all over ham roast; 4) Gently pour pineapple juice around ham (pouring a little bit over it, but you don’t want to wash all the brown sugar off!) 5) You can cook it on low for 5-6 hours or high for 2 hours (that’s what I did).
I’m pairing this with creamy whole kernel corn (I combine 1 can cream corn and 1 can kernel corn), jalapeno black-eyed peas with bacon and angel biscuits (frozen).  Plus, my daughter insisted on making chocolate fudge brownies (she made me let her – ha!). All in all, a very yummy dinner shared with my fam – what a blessing!
Hugs & Yums,

FRESH CHICKEN & VEGGIE BAKE

A few months ago, I found a recipe for a chicken/vegetable dish on Kelly’s Korner blog.  I have enjoyed starting with the basics of her recipe, then adding my own touches.  I call it “Fresh Chicken & Veggie Bake” or “Lemony Chick-ables.”
PREP SHOT:

The key to the FRESHness is LEMON! 
1-Slice a two lemons into thin slices and line bottom of casserole dish with slices.  I hold out a large chunk of the lemon to juice/squeeze over the final dish before baking.
2-Place boneless chicken breasts (I get the bag of LARGE breasts from ALDI and cut each in 1/2) on top of lemon slices, leaving an open border the edge of the casserole dish.
3-Arrange green beans around the border of the chicken and sprinkle some in between the breasts as well.
4-Cut red new potatoes into chunks and place on top of green beans throughout the dish. 
5-I also added some diced baby carrots this time because I had a part of a bag on hand I wanted to finish.  You could changed to your taste.
6-Squeeze reserved lemon chunk so juice runs over chicken in dish.
7-Mix a small amount of olive oil and diced garlic together and pour lightly over chicken.
8-I finish it off by sprinkling seasoned salt over the entire dish.
9-Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes (until chicken starts to brown a little and the breasts are done in the middle).

10-Serve your family this health, delicious, fresh-tasting meal and they will enjoy!!!  I promise!  Sorry I didn’t get a pic of the full finished casserole dish!  My family was snatching at it left and right, so I had to make do with a photo of someone’s plate!
Hugs & Yums,

SAUCY LASAGNA ROLLS

I LOVE ALDI FOODS!  Do you shop there, too?  One day, I’m gonna post about all my favorite items there.  Today, however, an Italian dinner idea!

Aldi sells these pasta rolls for less than $5  The rolls are large and stuffed with delicious cheese.  No sauce, though.  Hey!  An opportunity to provide OPTIONS for my family (especially my teenage son, the pickiest of the bunch!).  This time, I whisked up a creamy pesto sauce (from a packet I got at ALDI!) and also served a spicy marinara with diced tomatoes.  But, you could easily add an alfredo sauce to the menu as well.  I made 1/2 with each sauce.  The result?
 
I added a simple salad and another recent DELICIOUS Bi-Lo find, GARLIC MONKEY BREAD(gonna have to learn how to make this – a huge hit at our house)!  Sorry, the pic is of the cinnamon (only one I could find), but the garlic parmesan flavor is in the same type box.


This easy-to-make supper resulted in a very happy (& full) family!
Hugs & Yums,
 
PS  You know I’m gonna try the cinnamon flavor, too!

AppleBerry Glazed Pork Loin

The Crock Pot strikes again!  We tried this recipe at our house last week and it was a hit!  I served it with sides of alfredo pasta (to please the kids) and spicy green beans.

I adapted this recipe from one in Fix It and Forget It Lightly - meaning I added and subtracted ingredients according to our tastes.  Here goes:

Here's the finished product in a serving dish + I had another small serving bowl of extra apple-cranberry sauce. 

Ingredients:

2 lbs. pork tenderloin, fat trimmed

2 Tbsp. canola oil

3 cups apple juice

3 Granny Smith apples, cut into chunks

2 cups cranberries (I used whole canned)

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

NEXT TIME, I'm going to added something to give it a little spicy heat, too!

Directions:

1-Brown pork on all sides in skillet in canola oil. Place in slow cooker.

2-Add remaining ingredients.

3-Cover. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.

4-Enjoy this yummy tenderloin!

Hope you'll try this one day soon - it's a keeper!

Hugs & Yums,