Quick and Easy Bread Pudding

This was surprisingly delicious and super, duper easy! The best part... I already had all ingredients on hand. :)

Ingredients:
6 slices of bread (I used wheat to try and make it a bit healthy)
Butter
Non stick cooking spray
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
Cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Toast and butter each slice of bread. Cut each slice into even, small squares (9 squares per slice).
3. Put bread in the bottom of an 8 x 8 baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
4. Combine sugar and eggs in a medium bowl. Beat well. Add milk and vanilla and stir just a little until its all mixed.
5. Pour egg mixture over bread pieces.
6. Sprinkle with cinnamon. You could also add raisins and/or nuts if you want.
7. Bake for 45 minutes.
8. Serve warm. I topped mine with vanilla ice cream and it was DELISH!

Wagon Wheel Supper

Ever have those days where you have no clue what to make for dinner and really, really don't want to go to the grocery store to figure it out? That was me last week. I decided to just open my pantry to see what we had. Staring me down was an almost full box of wagon wheel pasta that I'd had to buy for a 4th grade science experiment. I hadn't know what to do with it, so it'd been sitting on the shelf for quite some time. Today was the day of conquest... so I threw some other random items together and the result was this DELICOUS pot of what I call "Wagon Wheel Supper".



Ingredients:
Wagon wheel pasta (or any other pasta really could work)... I used about 2 1/2 cups

1 pound of chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

1 jar of salsa

1 bag of frozen corn

5 oz cream cheese, cut into bite sizes pieces

Chili powder to taste (I think I used about 1/4 tsp... Maybe a little more)

Grated cheddar cheese

Steps:
1. Cook and drain pasta. Set aside.
2. While pasta is cooking, cook chicken in a LARGE skillet! (I used the biggest I had and ended up having to transfer it a to a pasta pot because it was overflowing...)
3. Add salsa, corn, cream cheese, and chili powder. Simmer and stir occasionally until the cream cheese is melted all the way.
4. Add pasta to the mix and a handful of cheddar cheese. Stir and simmer until the cheese is melted and it's warm all the way through.
5. Top with more cheddar cheese, but don't stir and just let it melt on top.
6. Grab a large bowl, dish up, and enjoy! :)

Salsa

This is an excellent non-chunky (which I prefer!) salsa recipe. Think Chili's type salsa. Yum!

Ingredients:

• 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
• 2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
• ¼ cups Chopped Onion
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
• ¼ teaspoons Sugar
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Cumin
• ½ cups Cilantro (more To Taste!)
• ½ whole Lime Juice

Instructions:

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel I didn't have any so I just used 2 more cans of tomatoes-it was fine, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like—I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Be careful to just do short pulses. The salsa starts to turn a little green if you mix it too much. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

All Day Chicken Noodle Soup

*This fills a 7 quart crock pot to the top.

Ingredients:

4 Cans Campbells Cream of Mushroom w/ Garlic
1 Can Cream of Chicken
4 Large Chicken Breasts (around 2 lbs)
2 Small White Onions
1/2 Bag of Baby Sized Carrots
6 Celery Stalks
2 Boxed Containers of Swanson Low Sodium Chicken Broth (16oz)
Egg Noodles

Directions:

Coat the chicken breasts in a little oil then salt and pepper a little more than you normally would. Roast the chicken breasts for 1 hour 30 minutes in the oven at 350.  When the chicken is done shred it into bite size pieces and set aside.  Cut up the onions, celery and carrots to a size you like.  Mix the broth, cream of chicken and cream of mushroom w/ garlic in the crock pot.  Add the chicken, carrots, onion and celery.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Boil the noodles and add however many you would like right at the end of cooking.

Cook on high for 4-6 hours.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

I usually make this and separate it into 3 batches.  2 go into the freezer and 1 into our bellies right away.  It is also delicious with a dumpling crust.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1-1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (3 very ripe bananas)
2 cups chocolate chips

*Preheat oven to 400'. Grease cookie sheets. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda together and set aside.
*Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Mix in the mashed bananas. Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.
*Bake at 400' for 12-15 minutes.

These cookies are cake-like and very moist... they'll dissapear FAST! :)

Breakfast Burritos

Oh man, these were good. Super simple and something a little different for dinner. We devoured them so quickly that I was only able to grab a pic of the last bite!



Ingredients:
Eggs
Precooked sausage pieces
Potatoes
Oil
Cheddar cheese
Milk
Seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder)
Tortillas
Ketchup

1. Cut potatoes into bite size pieces and cook in a hot skillet with oil. Season to taste and set aside.



2. Cook/reheat the sausage. These Jimmy Dean crumbles were SO good! I highly recommend the turkey sausage. It sounds weird but tastes the same (or better in my opinion)
and is a lot healthier for you.

3. Scramble your eggs. I usually make 6 and always pour a little milk in before cooking to make them fluffy.



4. Combine the potatoes, sausage, and eggs together in a skillet and sprinkle cheddar cheese while stirring. The melted cheese sticks it all together. Season it how you wish.

5. Serve in warm, cooked tortillas with ketchup and more cheese on top.

Taquitos with Sweet Potatoes & Black Beans

Isn't that the yummiest thing you've ever seen? Mmmm.

Okay, so for the taquitos head on over to Our Best Bites, their recipe is fabulous.

Sometimes when I'm feeling super ambitious I make my own tortillas. This is the recipe I used (I usually half it though, the lady whose blog I got it from has 9 kids. This is her mother's recipe and her mother is from Mexico)

Tortillas

9 cups of flour

2 tablespoons of salt

2 tablespoons of baking powder

1 cup shortening

3 1/2 to 4 cups warm water

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the shortening and knead until the mixture has a gritty texture. Add water a little at a time and knead dough until it forms a ball. Divide dough into small balls. With rolling pin, roll the dough balls into circles. The tortilla should be thin. Cook tortilla on the hot griddle (comal). Cook on each side for about 2-3 minutes or until lightly brown.

She's an amazing woman. Click here for a link to her blog.

I just saw on Our Best Bites that they too have a tortilla recipe. Gonna have to try that one, they always give great cooking tips.

And now for my FAVORITE part... this part is my very own creation inspired by something I saw once.

Sweet Potatoes with Black Beans

2 giant Sweet Potatoes or Yams, peeled and diced

2 cans black beans

1/2 cup - 1 cup Green Salsa

Put diced Sweet Potatoes in a baking dish at 400 degrees for about an hour or until soft. Combine Sweet potatoes, black beans, and salsa in a pan and simmer for a few minutes.

Then serve it with your taquitos (or enchiladas or anything mexican), sour cream, and avocado.

I think it's my new favorite meal. The only problem with this recipe, is how much I eat when I make it. :)