Unstuffed Pepper Bake

This pic is before it's baked and topped with the cheese and tomato sauce so you could see what it looks like :)

I got this recipe in the mail from Smith's Food and Drug with coupons for all the ingredients a couple years ago and thought I'd give it a try. Well, from that moment on it was on "the list." So much less work that actually stuffing a pepper (any easy way out haha...), this meal tastes great and freezes beautifully! I personally prefer it with ranch dressing, but the fam will stick with sour cream any day. And tortilla chips (in my humble opinion) are a must!! It must be good when our buddy had 3 or 4 platefuls in one sitting :) 

1 lb ground beef

1/3 cup chopped onion

1 ½ cups peppers chopped

2 garlic cloves

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 can diced tomatoes

1 ½ cups rice

1 tsp Worcestershire

1 tsp Italian seasoning

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 375. Saute hamburger, onions, peppers and garlic. Stir in tomatoes, rice, Worcestershire and Italian seasoning. Remove from heat, add 1 cup cheese

Spread mixture in 13x9 pan. Top with tomato sauce and remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for 20 min. Serve with tortilla chips.

Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

Photo from thecountrycook.net

Her pic is way better than mine and she deserves all the credit for this meal!

So I found this recipe from Brandie at thecountrycook.net, and my mouth immediately began to water. Just the name of it made me want it instantly,  but the picture got my mouth watering! I couldn't wait to try it out on my family the next day, and I have to say, THANK YOU BRANDIE! My family snarfed this down. I kid you not. They ate their fill before soccer practices and when we got back 2 hours later, they finished it off. Mr. Amazing will eat anything I cook and is usually accompanied by a "thank you" and hopefully "that was good." Well this one got me one heck of a kiss and a raving review that included the desire for it to be made again, and soon! This is an incredible make-over on normal tater-tot casserole recipes and it has made the dang good recipe list!

Ingredients:

1 (32 oz.) bag frozen tater tots

1 (3 oz.)bag bacon pieces

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 cup milk

salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Layer half of the frozen tater tots on the

bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the bacon pieces. Now top with 1/3 of the shredded cheese. Add diced chicken on top.  Season with salt & pepper. Now add 1/3 of the bacon pieces and another 1/3 of shredded cheese. Put the rest of the frozen tater tots on top.

Finish with the remaining 1/3 cheddar cheese and remaining 1/3 of bacon pieces. Pour 3/4 cup milk all over the top. Cover and cook on low about 4-5 hours.

Breakfast Casserole

I was shocked when I realized I hadn't posted this recipe yet! This is one of our biggest breakfast for dinner fav's EVER! My kids devour this pan so quickly that unfortunately, there is never enough for next night leftovers haha! This meal freezes so good, and I love to make a couple of extra pans to stick in the freezer. (Just note, that it takes quite a while to thaw out though and if not completely thawed out, plan on an extra 20-30 minutes cooking time!). 

1 lb bacon crumbled (or buy the pre-cooked crumbled bacon for an even quicker version :)

1/2 cup onion chopped

3/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped (optional. We like it both ways)

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

3/4 cup milk

12 eggs

1 pkg frozen hash browns, thawed

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cook bacon and then remove and saute onion and pepper. Set aside. In large bowl beat milk and eggs. Add the mustard, salt and pepper. Set aside. Grease a 9x13 and spread half of the hash browns in the dish. Spread the bacon onion pepper mixture on top. Sprinkle on 1 cup of cheese. Spread remaining hash browns  over top. Pour egg mixture over the top of hash browns. Bake, uncovered at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cup of cheese (and any extra bacon if you have it) on top! Serve with toasted English muffins or bread.

One Pot Mac and CheeseI

I ran into this recipe the other day on tipgarden.blogspot.com and thought it would be a perfect addition to the River Chicken (and easy meal for a super busy day). I threw all the ingredients into the crock pot 3 hours before dinner, and voila! My family had thought I had made the best meal ever :)

Cooking oil spray

2 cups milk

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/2 cups preshredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

Spray the pot of the slow cooker. In a mixing bowl whisk together milk, evaporate milk, egg, salt and pepper. Pour milk mixture into the crockpot. Add cheese and uncooked macaroni. Stir gently to mix.

Turn slow cooker on low and cook for 3 hours (this is a custard style mac and cheese so it gets really thick so it is supposed to be able to be cut like a brownie. I don't like this style as much, and it was plenty cooked at 3 hours, but was still creamy so don't cook more than 3 hours ON LOW if you don't want custard style and if you do want custard style, still don't cook more than 4 hours on low).

Blueberry French Toast

My family loved this meal. In truth, we were all surprised we did, though. None of us like soggy bread (who does?) and I have never had a french toast casserole turn out not soggy. But this one actually did! I used 12 slices of bread (we used the Texas toast), which was plenty! And next time I need to cube the cream cheese into smaller chunks and spread out more evenly because it never really melted. The sauce is to DIE for (pass the syrup... and give me a big spoon please!) and quite honestly, the french toast really isn't good without it. But with it... whoa baby, it's dang good! (Recipe from Jessi's sister in law).

Blueberry French Toast

14-16 slices of bread (crusts can be removed if desired)
4 - 8 oz of cream cheese
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
12 eggs
2 c milk
1/3 cup maple syrup or honey

Sauce:
1 c sugar
2 T cornstarch
1 c water
1 c blueberries
1 T butter

Cut or tear bread into 1 inch cubes. Place half of the bread cubes in an oiled 9 x 13 inch dish. Cut cream cheese into 1 inch cubes and place over bread. Top with the berries and remaining bread. Beat eggs well, then stir in milk and syrup or honey. Pour over bread mixture. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 25-30 minutes more or until golden brown and center is set. 

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and water. Boil mixture for 3 minutes on medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir in blueberries and simmer 8-10 minutes until berries burst. Stir in butter. Serve sauce over individual portions of the toast.

For freezer meal: Mix up the eggs, blueberries, milk and maple syrup in freezer bag. Thaw freezer bag with egg mixture and pour over the bread and cream cheese in the 9x13 pan. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 25-30 minutes more or until golden brown and center is set. Microwave the blueberry syrup (pre-make, let cool and then freeze in ziplock) and pour over individual portions of the toast.