Bacon & Tater Tot Casserole

Bacon, tater tots, and cheese! This was one of the easiest casseroles I've ever made- you place the frozen tater tots into a large baking dish, mix in the other ingredients, and bake them. Couldn't be more easier on a Sunday fall morning.

Ingredients

• 1 (32 oz) package of frozen tater tots (we used tater rounds)
• 8 eggs
• 10 pieces of  bacon (uncooked), chopped*
• 8 chopped green onions
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
• Generous helping of salt and pepper

*Note: You do not cook your bacon before assembling this recipe.  Just chop up your raw bacon and stir it in with the rest of your ingredients.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 9×13 baking pan (I used Pam).  
3. Spread your frozen tater tots down across your baking pan.  Set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl, whisk together your eggs.  Stir in the bacon pieces, onions, cheeses and a big pinch of salt and pepper.
5. Pour mixture down over the tater tots.
6. Bake uncovered about 35 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly. (Mine took 1 hour to cook all the way)
7. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Yield: 8 servings

Source: Mix & Match Mama

Egg Muffins with Caramelized Onions, Avocado, and Thyme

This is a good portable healthy breakfast high in protein, good fats, and has fiber. To me, they are even easier than scrambled eggs and I pack 2 of these muffins for my breakfast for work.  Mix and match your ingredients to what you have on hand- as long as you have eggs and some veggies, the combinations are endless.

Ingredients

• Caramelized onions*
• 12 eggs
• Shredded cheese
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• Avocado, finely diced
• Salt & pepper
• Dried thyme

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a muffin pan with cooking spray. (I use my silicone muffin pan, and the egg muffins slip right out.)
2. Add a thin layer of caramelized onion on the bottom of each well.
3. Crack 1 egg into each muffin well.
4. Top the egg with 2 tsp of cheese per muffin.
5. Add the halved cherry tomato and some diced avocado on top.
6. Season each muffin with some salt, pepper, and dried thyme.
7. Bake for 23-25 minutes (depending on how well you like your egg cooked).
8. Remove from oven. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Good for 5 days.

Yield: 12 egg muffins (I eat 2 muffins for breakfast)

Caramelized onions

I like to make a large batch of caramelized onions on a weekend, and then freeze them in ice cube trays. Once frozen, then I add the frozen cubes in a freezer ziplock bag and store them when needed.

I like this recipe, but it takes me approximately 60-90 minutes, and I use a stainless steel pan.

Bluegrass BBQ Chicken

We LOVED this marinade! I made the marinade in the morning, allowed it to cool for an hour, and then added the chicken breasts and let it marinate all day before our BBQ.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 8-oz horseradish or Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp salt
• 6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions

1. Combine ingredients (Worcestershire sauce to salt) in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove from heat and cool.
3. Place chicken in a large Ziploc bag, pour cooled marinade over chicken, and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Yield: Plain Chicken

Blackening seasoning

We were looking for another way to make fish- we'd been sprinkling some Old Bay seasoning but you can only do this for so many days! Darin suggested we make a blackened fish, and found this great recipe on All Recipes. We adjusted it a little, and we made this for 3 straight days. It was that good!

We paired our blackened fish with some quinoa and green beans, and have also topped it over chopped romaine, diced hard boiled eggs, and some light Ranch dressing. Either way, it adds so much flavor!

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp paprika
• 2 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme (not ground thyme!)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder

Directions

1. Mix all seasonings into a bowl.

Yield: Will season (6) 4-oz fish fillets

How to... Hard boil eggs in an oven

With the upcoming warmer months, Darin and I have been making salads for lunches throughout the week. One of our favorite salads to make it a (healthier) version of Cobb salad.

One of the ingredients we can't live without are hard boiled eggs. I know the most common way to make them is over the stovetop, but Darin and I have been using this steamer, which makes it so easy. Nothing gets easier than just "setting it and forgetting it". However, as with any countertop appliance, countertop space is a luxury, and with my new blender permanently settled on our island, I needed to find another way to hard boil these eggs.

Alton Brown saves the day- his recipe instructs you to place an egg into a muffin (or mini muffin tin), bake for 30 minutes, and then place the baked eggs into a bowl of icy cold water.

The results yielded hard boiled eggs- not overly cooked (which can yield tough rubbery cooked egg whites), but perfect to the bite. The only con I saw was that there were some "brown" spots where the egg touched the sides of the muffin pan. Next time, I'll try to use a silicone muffin tin to see if I can prevent these brown spots, but this is going to be my new go-to method! Easy peasy.

Some "brown" spotting, but it didn't affect the texture or taste

Ingredients

• Large eggs
• Muffin tin (mini muffin or regular muffin; will try silicone muffin tin next time)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 320 degrees.
• Add 1 egg into each muffin well.
• Bake the eggs in the center of the oven for 30 minutes.
• 5 minutes before the eggs are done baking, fill a large bowl with ice water.
• Remove the eggs from the oven and immediately place into the ice cold water. Rest for 10 minutes.
• Peel the eggs, place in an airtight container, and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Yield: Alton Brown

Ina Garten's Ultimate Grilled Cheese

The title doesn't lie- this was the ultimate grilled cheese! We tested out a traditional recipe, Tyler Florence's Dijon-Apple grilled cheese, but we both agreed that Ina's was our favorite.

Her grilled cheese starts out with a Parmesan mayo mixture and topped with Cheddar and Swiss and a few slices of bacon. The flavor combination was amazing! So amazing, we made this 2 weekends in a row. I would definitely recommend using center cut bacon, sourdough bread (we used Brownberry sourdough bread, which is the perfect thickness), and ultra-thin sliced cheese (Sargento brand). Nothing is worse than your bread browning quicker than your cheese is able to melt.

We served these grilled cheese sandwiches with this creamy tomato soup. Perfect on a cold wintery day.

Ingredients

• 1 package (12-15 oz) center cut bacon
• 1 cup good mayonnaise (we use Hellmann's; not light!)
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (we used the grated kind)
• 1 tsp kosher salt (we now do 1/2 tsp)
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 loaf of sourdough bread, sliced 1/2" thick (12 slices) (Brownberry sourdough was perfect)
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6 oz ultra-thin sliced swiss cheese (we used Sargento's Ultra-Thin)
• 8-oz extra sharp sliced Cheddar cheese (we used Sargento's Ultra-Thin)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Arrange the bacon on a baking rack set over a sheet pan in a single layer and roast for 14-16 minutes, until nicely browned. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels and cut in 1-inch pieces.
2. Meanwhile, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, Parmesan, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. 
3. Lay 12 slices of bread on a board and spread each one lightly with butter. Flip the slices and spread each one generously with the mayonnaise mixture. Don't neglect the corners!
4. On 6 slices of bread, add 1 slice of Cheddar and 1 slice of Swiss on each slice.
5. Top the slices with 2-3 slices of cooked bacon.
6. Top the bacon with another 1 slice of Cheddar and 1 slice of Swiss.
7. Top that with the remaining bread slices, sauce side down.
8. Meanwhile, heat a griddle or a large saute pan. When it is hot, cook the sandwiches for 3 to 5 minutes in batches until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted. Allow to cool for 2 minutes. Cut in half and serve warm.

Source: Ina Garten

Creamy tomato soup

We made our newly favorite grilled cheese sandwiches, and tried out this tomato soup recipe. We have always picked up Trader Joe's roasted red pepper & tomato soup, but this creamy version was easy and tasted amazing! It is slightly thicker (which we like), and flavorful. Definitely a notch above your traditional soup (in a can).

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 10.75-oz can condensed tomato soup, undiluted
• 3/4 cup milk (we used skim)
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 8-oz package cream cheese, cubed (we used 1/3 fat)

Directions

1. In a large saucepan on medium low heat, saute onion in butter until tender (10-15 minutes). 
2. Stir in tomatoes, soup, milk, sugar, basil, paprika and garlic powder.
3. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. 
4. Stir in cream cheese until melted.
5. If you want a smoother texture, use an immersion blender.
6. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings (1 quart).

Source: Adapted from Taste of Home

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

This banana bread is one of my favorites to make (you don't even need to thaw butter to room temps), but I wanted to try a whole wheat version. With the combination of whole wheat pastry flour, ripe bananas, and yogurt, this bread was light but not cake-like, moist, and delicious. Even better when you toss in some chocolate chunks.
Side note- We used almond butter, and I barely tasted any peanut butter flavor.

Ingredients

• 4 medium ripe bananas, well mashed
• ⅓ cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt
• ⅓ cup crunchy peanut butter
• 3 Tbsp canola oil
• ⅓ cup plus 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup plus 1 Tbsp (packed) brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 3 Tbsp ground flax seed (flax meal)
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 11.5-oz bag chocolate chunks

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl, with a hand mixer), combine the mashed bananas, Greek yogurt, peanut butter and canola oil. Mix on medium speed until combined.
3. Add the granulated and brown sugars, and mix again until combined.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition.
5. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, ground flax seed, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
6. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture to the banana mixture. Beat until just combined.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Tap the pan sharply two times on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles.
8. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, approximately 1 hour. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. 
9. Remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Serve.

Source: Adapted from Cookin' Canuck

Skinnytaste's Cheeseburger Casserole

I had had this recipe bookmarked for a few months, but for some reason, I just hesitated to make it. I don't know if it was the mixture of tomatoes + mustard, or the chopped pickles on top- but quite a few people had recommended it to me so I finally decided to just take the plunge. The taste was surprisingly good. I should have just trusted the Dean brothers because there hasn't been a recipe that I haven't loved from them.

This recipe combines the flavors of a cheeseburger and is transformed into a warm casserole. I didn't originally put the recommended amount of pickles because I just wasn't sure how the taste would turn out, but we both loved the addition and ended up putting in more than what the recipe called for!

Ingredients

• 2 cups (6 oz) uncooked rotini pasta (we used penne paste)
• 2 tsp oil
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 lb lean ground beef (95% lean)
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 28 oz diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 2 cups reduced fat grated cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped dill pickles

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. 
2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta according to the package directions for al dente and drain well.
3. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 15 minutes. 
4. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. 
5. Stir in the beef and cook until browned; season with salt and pepper. 
6. Stir in the tomato paste, then add the tomatoes and mustard. Let the mixture bubble gently until it is slightly thickened, about 2-5 minutes. 
7. Toss the meat mixture with the pasta and spread it into the prepared dish. Top with the cheddar and bake until the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes. 
8. Sprinkle the chopped pickles over the top and serve. 

Makes about 9 cups.

Source: Adapted from Skinnytaste, originally from Bobby Dean

Paleo 5-Ingredient Spaghetti Pie

I had just cooked up a batch of spaghetti squash in the morning so make this for our dinner. I had about this on so many blogs (and rave reviews) and having it be only 5 ingredients, it was worth a try. Although it took an hour to bake, it was so easy to put together... and totally worth the wait.

Ingredients:

• 1 large spaghetti squash 
• 1 pound italian sausage (we have used breakfast sausage roll and chicken sausage successfully)
• ½ yellow onion, diced finely
• 1 cup pizza sauce 
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 eggs, whisked
• (optional: add anything you like with pizza: veggies, basil, even cheese if you do primal)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place spaghetti squash cut side down on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes or until the skin of the squash gives when you press on it. (Or, try this whole roasting method- easy peasy.)
3. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees, and grease an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray.
4. Once squash is done cooking, remove threads and place it in a large bowl.
5. Place a large pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, and saute until semi-soft. 
6. Add the sausage, and cook until pink no longer remains in the sausage and it is broken up into pieces.
7. Add pizza sauce, dried basil and salt and pepper to the pan and mix well.
8. Add sausage mixture to the bowl, and mix well with spaghetti squash threads.
9. Lastly, add whisked eggs to the bowl and mix everything together until you can no longer see the eggs.
10. Dump the mixture into the 8x8 greased dish.
11. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour or until the top of the mixture forms a slight crust that doesn't give when you press on it in the middle of the dish.
12. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Source: Adapted from PaleOMG

How to... Cook Spaghetti Squash (baking method)

I posted my microwave method here, and recently tried 2 other methods (using the oven).

In 1 recipe, the blogger really wanted to mimick the long spaghetti strands and she accomplished this by cutting the squash into "rings" (see pictures below).

After roasting the squash "rings", you can see how long the strands are since they go around the perimeter of the squash.

The only challenge I had with this method was cutting into the squash multiple times to make the "rings". I luckily had a butcher's knife but I was still somewhat scared since cutting into spaghetti squash is no easy feat. After I (somewhat) successfully cut it into rings, it roasted up terrific and I had the long-awaited long strands.

Cooking spaghetti squash ("ring" method)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Slice squash widthwise into 1" rings. Run a knife around the interior or the rings to remove the seeds. Place rings on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 1 hour.
3. Allow to cool for 15 minutes, then peel the skin away and separate the strands into long "noodles".

Source: Adapted from Eat Within Your Means

The 2nd method is roasting the squash whole. Hallelujah! This was a no brainer. You essentially take the whole squash, prick is all over with a fork (still not an easy feat but much safer than trying to slice it with a knife), and then just stick it in the oven for an hour. Once cooked, allow it to rest for an hour to cool down, and then you can easily cut the cooled squash in half, remove the seeds, and voila!

To me, the easiest way is definitely the whole roasting. As long as you've got 1.5 hours, this was easy, was safe, and only needed to clean 1 thing (the fork!). Although the strands weren't as long as the above-mentioned recipe, it was plenty long enough for me.

Cooking spaghetti squash ("whole squash" method)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Prick the whole squash all over with the tines of the fork.
3. Place the squash into the oven, and bake for 1:15 hours.
4. Remove from the oven, allow it to cool for 30 minutes (or until warm enough to handle).
5. Slice it horizontally, remove the seeds, and separate strands with a fork.

Source: Adapted from Craftsy

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

I love easy cake recipes, and this one is it. We've made this several times now, but I kept forgetting to blog about it. You essentially dump all the ingredients into a large bowl, give it a good beating via a mixer, and dump it into your bundt pan. Then voila! Delicious cake with minimal effort. Every single time. We love to pair a warm slice with some vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients

• 1 box of yellow cake mix
• 3.4-oz box of instant vanilla pudding
• 3.4-oz box of instant chocolate pudding
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1-1/4 cups of water
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Direction

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease a 10 inch bundt pan
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, puddings, oil, water and eggs. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed if you're using a high-powered mixer (like a KitchenAid mixer). (If you're using a handheld mixer, beat for 2 minutes on medium speed.) Batter will be somewhat thick!
4. Add in chocolate chips and stir by hand.  
5. Pour into prepared bundt pan. 
6. Bake 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Let cake rest on counter in pan 10 minutes.  Then, invert cake onto serving plate to finish cooling.  
8. Top with powdered sugar.

Source: Adapted from Mix and Match Mama

Banana Bread

I recently stumbled upon this blog and I bookmarked a ton of her recipes. Knowing I had a few ripe bananas that would be perfect for making banana bread shortly, I used this recipe because a) it was simple and b) I could melt my butter. This was perfect for whipping up a quick and tasty banana bread since I didn't have wait for the butter to come to room temperature.

Usually, I have to alter banana bread recipes since the insides always seem to be undercooked- well, not with this one. I (reluctantly) followed her baking guidelines and it turned out perfect! In fact, I probably could have cooked it for 45 minutes (vs the 50 minutes that I did), and it would have come out fine. Adding this to a great basic banana bread recipe!

Ingredients

• 1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp  baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas, from 2-3 large bananas
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour (or use this) a 9x5-inch metal loaf pan with cooking spray. (I didn't flour and the bread bottom kind of stuck to the pan- definitely flour!)
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the melted butter and sugar until blended. 
4. Add the eggs, mashed bananas, lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix well.
5. On low speed, stir in flour mixture until just incorporated. Do not over mix. 
6. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 - 50 minutes. 
7. Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Source: Once Upon A Chef

Slow Cooker Italian Pot Roast with Parmesan Risotto

This recipe is similar to my favorite pot roast (which also includes crushed tomatoes with a hint of thyme and rosemary), so I decided to give this one a go... definitely helped that I had all the ingredients on hand. This one couldn't have been easier- I put everything in my lined crockpot and let it do its job. 9 hours later, the pot roast was warm and smelled crazy good. Darin and I both said this was a keeper.

Note- We made the parmesan risotto, but we both agreed we liked this dish more with a baked potato. However, for a fancier dish, the risotto is the way to go.

For the Italian Pot Roast

• 2-3# pot roast (trimmed of visible fat)
• 1-1/2 cups tomato juice (I used (2) 5.5 fl oz cans)
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
• 1 Tbsp dried minced onion flakes
• 1-1/4 oz package Au Jus mix
• 1-oz package Italian salad dressing mix (I used the Zesty Italian Salad Dressing mix)
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Add a slow cooker liner to your crockpot. (I always ALWAYS use a liner- makes clean up a breeze!)
2. Place the roast into your slow cooker.
3. In a 2-cup measuring cup, add the remaining ingredients and mix well; then pour the liquid over the pot roast, set the temperature to LOW, and cook for 8-12 hours. (I cooked mine for 9 hours.)

Parmesan Risotto

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 3 cups chicken broth/stock
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, add the olive oil and rice. Evenly coat the rice with the oil.
2. Add the chicken broth, and mix well. Let the mixture come to a boil, then lower the heat and let it maintain a slow boil ("3" setting on my stovetop) until all the broth is absorbed (it took 17 minutes for me). Make sure to occasionally stir so the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the saucepan.
3. Once all the water has been absorbed, add the onion powder and black pepper.

Source: Adapted from Plain Chicken, originally from Food.com

Coach's Stack

I had just made Shay's Meatloaf the night before, and I used the leftover meatloaf to create another dish from her blog... the base is a garlicky Texas Toast topped with a slice of meatloaf, which is topped with homemade mashed potatoes.

I had already made the meatloaf the night before, and had leftover baked potatoes (which I quickly mashed with some butter and heavy cream). I love dishes that are versatile, and this was easy and tasty.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef (used 85% lean, but may use 90% lean next time)
• 1 cup Saltine cracker crumbs (that's about 12 crackers) (used whole wheat Saltines)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, divided
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup ketchup (will cut down to 2/3 cup next time)
• 2/3 cup brown sugar (will cut down to 1/4 cup next time)
• 1 tsp mustard
• Mashed potatoes (homemade or store bought)
• Texas Toast (baked, this is our favorite)
• French's fried onions (garnish)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix ground beef, cracker crumbs, eggs, onion, salt, 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce,  and tomato sauce in a bowl.  
3. Put in  a greased 9x9 inch baking dish, bake 60 minutes. (Toss in foil-wrapped baked potatoes simultaneously.)
4. Meanwhile, combine remaining 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, brown sugar and mustard in a bowl.  
5. Once 40 minutes is up, top casserole with sauce and return to oven for 15 minutes.
6. To assemble the "stack", place a piece of baked Texas Toast on your plate. Top it with a slice of meatloaf, and then some mashed potatoes on top. Garnish with fried onions.

Source: Mix and Match Mama