Yeah Yeah...

I know, 6 weeks has gone by.

It's Tax Season.

That means lots of evenings alone with the little boys, which means a lot of quick meals, since they don't care for people food unless it's in the form of a nugget, dog or something equally processed. In fact, I'm m trying to get my youngest to eat Tator Tot Casserole (TTC) riiiight now. He's eating about one pea every 5 minutes and glaring at me the whole time since I'm on Doggy Patrol...not letting Lola eat what he's throwing down to her. Spenny gave up and ate Fruit Loops in Jello...yeah, he put them IN his jello...whatever, he ate! lol

Before I get too far...how do you make your TTC? I make mine with frozen mixed veggies, which I have boiled, hamburger (or ground pork), cream of mushroom soup, a splash of milk and a handful of shredded cheese. I heat it all together, dump it in a pan, put my already browned tots on top and bake until its...all casserole-y. Makes the total cook time a lot less than when I used to just dump everything and bake until hot.

Anyway.

Most important thing I wanted to post:

REUBEN PIZZA!

I love me some Reubens...especially the sauerkraut. I bought a Mama Mia or whatever honey wheat crust (the pre-made kind, that you find in the pizza aisle) and smothered it in Thousand Island Dressing. Then I tore up about a 1/4 lb or corned beef and spread it all over the top of the dressing. Next was TONS of sauerkraut followed by a ton of shredded swiss then tossed in the oven until it was all golden and bubbly. Totally delish. I must admit, I got the inspiration from Chips, here in Ankeny, but they smother theirs in chopped pickles. SICK. Totally delish and it was the perfect size for my friend Missy and I.

Last week Spenny and I found an easy dessert to whip up as well....so easy, my 3 year old did most of it!

1/2 stick butter
1 c. milk
1 c. sugar
1 c. self-rising flour or Bisquick
1 can fruit pie filling (apple, cherry, peach, etc.)

Melt butter in medium Pyrex dish. Mix sugar, flour, and milk in separate bowl, then pour batter over butter. DO NOT STIR. Spoon filling over batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until brown.

That's it! We used cherry pie filling and Bisquick. I took it out at 50 minutes, it probably could have used the extra 10 minutes, so I'll keep that in mind for next time. Spenny loved being able to mix the ingredients, and of course, dump it into the pan. He wasn't so sure about the cherries tho :)

I have another post I might get around to making, I tried a new process, but I'm not sure how it'll work, so stay tuned.

What's new in your kitchen? Any recommendations for quick, easy, child-friendly recipes to get me through the next 8 weeks until tax season is over?

Breakfast Casserole

The other night Spencer had leftover spaghetti that he wanted (Sketti, Mom? pweeease?) so I needed to decide what to make for J and I. I wanted...NEEDED something quick, made of stuff we had on hand and yummy. After a quick survey of what we had around, I decided to make a breakfast casserole. Mom used to make these when I was younger and I refused to eat them, mostly because of the eggs. I'm slowly coming around to them tho, and this was a perfect start.

Ingredients:

Southern Style Hash-browns (I used the chunks, you could also use shreds, or even potatoes O'Brien)
6 eggs
Splash of Milk

The rest is really up to you. I made mushrooms and bacon and cheese in it, baked until mostly done, then sprinkled cheese on top.
However, you could add any omelet type toppings you would like:

Sausage, ham, mushrooms, onions, peppers, cheese, tomatoes, spinach, you name it.

Preheat the oven to about 350, pray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray, then fill the pan about 1/3 of the way with the hash-browns. Toss them in the oven and then stir them every once in a while, you basically want them cooked enough, they're not going to clump together in a little ball.

While those are cooking, mix your eggs, milk and fillings together, then pour over the potatoes when they are mostly done.

I usually bake around 15 minutes, give or take, depending on how thick the casserole is, the most important part is you want your eggs to be done. Once it is done, top with cheese and bake until melted and then serve.

It's also pretty easy to prepare the night before, just put in the fridge until time to bake, then just bake accordingly. This might take longer if you don't precook your hash browns first, but it's still yummy and also good to take to a breakfast or lunch potluck.

Lazy much?

So, lately, due to several different reasons (sick kids, myself, J...) I've been lacking in the cooking department, but a quick summary of the meals we've enjoyed:

Chicken and Biscuits

1 can cream of chicken
1/2 large bag or 1 small bag of frozen mixed veggies
1/2 cup sour cream
Milk
1 large can of chicken breast, rinsed(I'm sure you can use cooked chicken breast chunks as well)
1 tube of biscuts (I like the non-flaky kinds for this)

I cook the veggies some, mostly to get them un-frozen and warm, then drain them.

In a large bowl I mix the cream of chicken, sour cream, veggies, drained/rinsed chicken (I always buy the stuff that's packed in water, but I drain it/rinse it then kinda...shred it up so the chunks aren't so huge) and the I add the milk. The amount of milk I use varies, it's supposed to be creamy, but not runny, and. A good general rule is about 1/2 cup, but it gets a little runnier as it cooks, so you will probably want it on the thicker side rather than the runnier side.

I then heat this up either in a microwave safe bowl for about 10 minutes or on the stove top until it's just starting to boil, then pour it in an 8x8 baking dish sprayed with Pam, of course. Then open the biscuits and toss them on top and bake until the biscuits are done, probably around 15-20 minutes. The recipe doubles nicely for a 9x13 pan.