Seasoned Red Potatoes

These potatoes are SO delicious.. they are addicting.

The fact that they are super easy to throw together and take no time to cook makes them dangerous :)

INGREDIENTS:

12-14 small red potatoes

1/4 cup olive oil (I used vegetable oil)

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Peal a strip from around each potato.

Place the potatoes in an ungreased 3-qt baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine oil, butter and seasonings; drizzle over potatoes.

(I doubled the recipe so that there was extra to pour over the potatoes when we ate them to give them extra flavor)

2. Bake, uncovered at 350 Degrees for 50-55 minutes or until tender.

 (I baked them for a hour)

Stir every 15 minutes.

And Ta-Da! Amazingly tasty pototoes :)

ENJOY!

Ham, Spinach, and Mostaccioli Casserole

This recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens Volume 2. It is SO good! I'm just going to type it straight out of the cookbook though sometimes I make a little variations here and there.

8 ounces packaged dried mostaccioli, cut ziti, or elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons margarine or butter
3 medium onions, cut into think wedges, or 5 medium leeks, sliced (what are leeks, btw??)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups half-and-half, light cream, or milk (milk works just fine!)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (I think fresh spinach is better in this)

Cook pasta according to package directions, Drain pasta; rinse with cold water. Drain again.

In a large saucepan melt margarine or butter. Add onions and garlic. Cover and cook about 5 minutes or till onions are tender; stir occasionally. Stir in flour, thyme, and pepper. Add milk and the chicken broth all at once. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Stir in pasta, ham , and spinach. Spoon mixture into a 3-quart casserole.

Cover and bake in a 350 oven for 30 to 35 minutes or till heated through. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir gently before serving to distribute the rich and creamy sauce. Makes 6 servings.

**I don't do the whole "casserole thing" for the recipe. I cook the noodles at the end and we just pour however much sauce we want on it because we don't like noodles to be too soft.

Hobo Dinners

I was introduced to Hobo (aka tinfoil) Dinners this weekend. We made them with friends last night and liked them so much that we made our own for dinner tonight. What I think I love most is that there is no wrong way to make these, and you can totally make them unique based on what you prefer.

Ingredients:

-heavy duty tinfoil

-cream of mushroom soup (2-3 cans for 6 hobo dinners)

- hamburger

-veggies that you love (we used potatoes, carrots, and onions for Saturday and then added broccoli and cauliflower to the mix tonight)

-season salt or any other seasoning that you like

Step One: Roll out a large piece of tin foil and spread a thin layer of soup on the foil. This prevents your meat from sticking.

Step Two: Put your hamburger patty on the soup and then sprinkle seasoning on it. (Your patty can be as big/small as you want it to be)

Step Three: Top your hamburger with a glob of soup and then whatever veggies you choose to use.

Step Four: Sprinkle your veggies with seasoning and more soup.

Step Five: Wrap up your meal. I fold the top down in inch sections until you reach the food, then do the same thing with each sides. You want to keep a little air in there for the steam to circulate.

These are the six we made tonight, ready to be taken out to the grill. We carry them out on a baking sheet for convenience.

Step Six: Cook in your BBQ grill on low/medium heat for a good 30 minutes. Rumor has it that you can also cook in a dutch oven or in a campfire. (I'd never had these before last night and so the grill is all I know... :o) We turn them over every 10 minutes or so.

Step Seven: Unfold carefully- be careful you don't get a steam burn- and enjoy! We eat them right out of the foil. YUM!

Cinnamon Rolls For Dummies

*Sorry no pictures to go along with this post i was in a gigantic hurry*

This is our Easter weekend favorite tradition. It is so incredibly easy and delicious!

1 box white cake mix                          5 c. flour
2 T. yeast                                           pinch of salt
2 1/2 c. warm water

Sprinkle yeast on cake mix and add salt. Add warm water and mix well. Add flour. Rise until double in size. Punch down and roll out. Spread melted butter on top then sprinkle cinnamon, sugar, and brown sugar....sprinkle generously because as it rises it spreads out. Roll up into one big long roll and cut 1 inch slices with thread. Place rolls on greased cookie sheets and cover with a towel and let rise again. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until very very VERY light golden brown (in my oven they were ready in 14 minutes...i over cooked one batch and it just wasn't the same). Glaze while warm.

Glaze:
1 T. melted butter                             1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla                                  3 T. milk

(i usually have to double the glaze recipe in order to have enough glaze for all the cinnamon rolls)

enjoy!
-mary

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

Spaghetti Sauce

*We LOVE this recipe*

Super easy!

1 Lb Ground Beef {or} Italian Sausage

1 Medium Onion, Chopped

2 Cans (14 1/2 Oz. Each) Diced Tomatoes Undrained

1 Can 8 Oz Tomato Sauce

1 Can 6 Oz Tomato Paste

1 Bay Leaf

1 Tbs Brown Sugar

4 Garlic Cloves, Minced (I used minced garlic from produce department)

1-2 tsp Dried Basil

1-2 tsp dried Oregano

1 tsp Salt

1/2-1 tsp Dried Thyme

Hot Cooked Spaghetti Noodles

In skillet, cook beef or sausage with onion over medium until its no longer pink.

*ugh...sorry the shadow made the picture so dark*

Transfer your meat & onion mixture to your slow cooker.

Add all ingredients except the noodles.

Mix together.

Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or until heated through.

{Recipe says 7-8 hours, but it only took about 4 1/2 hours before it was done for me on low}

Disgard bay leaf when heated through.

Cook pasta according to package.

Serve sauce over noodles.

And ENJOY!

{again..picture is blurry because battery was dieing. i failed at pictures this time. so sorry!}

YUM!