Taco Ring

This recipe is fun especially because you can pick up the crescent rolls when you happen to catch them on sale and make a quick and easy dinner.  Over the last several years I've seen many different recipes using this same concept... like buffalo chicken (sounds delicious!) and philly cheese steak (also haven't tried but sounds delicious!)

I made this for the first time after having an in-home Pampered Chef party where I bought their Main Dishes cookbook.  I was pregnant with my Monkey Man at the time.  Crazy to think that was over 9 years ago!!  

Let's Get Crafty!

Preheat oven to 375

Make your taco meat just like you would for burritos and tacos.

The recipe (and the others I've seen) generally calls for 2 cans of crescent rolls.  I made it with two once and it was too much.  I've stuck with one each time going forward.

Lay out the triangles making a circle (the part of the triangle with the two points that are the closest being on the inside to make the circle.)  Put the meat along the circle and then pull the point from each crescent roll to the middle.  (See the bottom picture.) Rather than mixing the cheese in with the meat- I like to sprinkle it on top of the meat before pulling in the points. It feels like more cheese when you can see it.  :)

Bake for 20-25 minutes. 

Out of the oven and ready to dig in.  I like to put the salad in the middle to make it seem more fun for the kids.  I don't know that it makes them eat more salad... but it makes it more exciting for me too.  

How it looks before hitting the oven.

Baking Hard "Boiled" Eggs??? Yep!!

Oh.My.Goodess!  Can you say game-changer?  

I watched a video on Facebook from The Kitchen show on Food Network channel.  They baked their eggs in the oven versus boiling on the stove.    

I tried it - and guess what? - it worked!  And it's ridiculously easy!

Preheat the oven to 325

Using a muffin tin - put one egg in each of the twelve spots

Bake for 30 minutes

Put directly into a cold water bath (I added ice just to add a little cold kick.)

Pork Fajita Tacos

I tossed this into the crockpot on a Monday morning that I knew was going to be a busy week.  It ended up being a delicious dinner that kept us happy for a few meals.  We had tacos the night we cooked it then my husband took some for lunch in burritos (I had more tacos) and then finished it up Wednesday night on Naan bread.  I love it when 10 minutes of prep time can help with not one but two dinners (and lunches too!)

Let's Get Crafty
1 fajita sliced onion
1 fajita sliced pepper (I used orange for some fun color)
2 1/2 pound pork roast
1 packet taco or fajita seasoning (we buy a large container of Taco Seasoning at Costco - I use 4 tablespoons of it since the roast is a couple pounds)
1 can Rotel

Now... here is the controversial part... I cook my pork roast starting with it frozen.  Why is that controversial? I've read articles and blogs about not recommending this for fear that it won't be cooked enough.  When we use the crockpot on a workday - it will be in there for at least 10 hours.  We've never had problems with the meat not getting cooked.  When using thawed meat - we have had many times of overcooking it.

On with the details:
Put the roast in cool water for a few minutes while cutting up veggies so it will slide right out of the wrapping.  Then roll the roast around in the taco seasoning until well coated.

Put the sliced onions on the bottom of the crockpot and put the roast on top of it.  I layer the bell pepper around the outside.

Pour the can of rotel over the peppers around the outside.  (Not on top of the roast or it will wash off the seasoning.

So easy and so delicious! Please let me know if you try it - I would love hearing ways to mix it up or what people like to do differently with a similar recipe.  Happy Sunday!

Overnight Breakfast Bake

Why do I like to make breakfast the night before after just cleaning up dinner dishes?  Because... it's daylight savings night... people that know me know that this is a big adjustment for me twice a year. Since we are LOSING an hour overnight and getting the Monkey to Sunday School at 9 am is really 8 am... I need all the help I can get.  (Also because I'm trying to exercise more and hope to hit a walk in the morning while this is baking away in the oven.)

Let's Get Crafty!

Spray Pam in a 9x13 pan (preheat the oven to 350 if you are baking this bad boy right away)

Cut leftover rolls (I had about 8 to use up) into 1 inch pieces - toss into the pan
(You can also use french bread or regular sliced bread.)

1 cup shredded cheese spread on top of that (I always use whatever I have on hand... cheddar cheese would be my favorite... on this day it was a Colby Jack mix.)

2 cups diced ham (I LOVE to buy pre-cooked ham steaks when they are on sale at the store.  They are super easy and fast to thaw in cool water - as I did today.)

For the egg mixture - if possible - enlist a 9 year old to help with the egg-cracking and mixing 

(shout out for all Mamas trying to get used to having a little boy growing into a young man)

9 eggs

1/3 cup fat free 1/2 and 1/2 (whatever you use in your coffee or milk would work too)

1/4 teaspoon pepper 

I don't add any salt because the ham brings a lot to the table

Wisk together and pour evenly over the top

I covered mine with foil for the night and will pull out as soon as I wake up to get to room temp and throw in the oven.

If at room temperature - Baking at 350 for 30-40 minutes should be good.  Test with a knife to make sure the eggs are cooked.

Generally... I get over-zealous and throw it in still a little cold and it takes longer... so I check it in 5 minute intervals after 40 minutes until the top is nice and brown and the knife comes out clean.

Thank you for stopping by!  Happy Sunday Funday!

Lasagna Pasta Bake

Love the flavors of Lasagna but want to do something a little bit different?  That's was had me wanting to make this dish.  That and I thought it would be faster than regular lasagna.  Disclaimer... it wasn't any faster than making a traditional lasagna but it was fun to make and kids ate it up!

Preheat oven to 375 and spray Pam on the bottom and sides of the casserole

Here are the layers:
I like to get each of the layers ready and set them out on the counter close to my baking disk.  (This one is a 3 quart casserole from Rachael Ray.)

Pasta - Cooked and drained
1 box Mafalda pasta

Cheesiness - Mix together well
2 cups lowfat cottage cheese
1 cup part skim ricotta
1 egg
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Meatiness - Brown meat with the onion then add sauce
1 1/2 cups reduced fat sausage (I used a Jimmy Dean tube)
1/2 chopped onion

Sauce it up
1 large jar marinara sauce (1/2 cup as the foundation of the layers and then add the rest to the meat and onions.)

How I layered it up:
1/2 cup marinara spread around on the bottom of the casserole
1/3 of the cooked pasta
All of the cheesiness (if you are doing a smaller casserole dish- you might want to break this up)
1/3 cooked pasta
1/2 of the meat and sauce
Final 1/3 of the pasta
Rest of the meat and sauce
Top it off with 1 1/2 cups low fat mozzarella

Bake for 40-50 minutes.  I like to turn the oven to a low broil for the last 5 minutes to brown up the cheese.  Let it set a few minutes before diving in to help it hold it's shape when serving.  (The picture above is my piece after I added red pepper flakes.)

Happy Sunday Funday!

Eggs in a Basket

My son just loves these and I love that we can make them one morning and have them ready to pop into the microwave for a couple mornings to follow.

I love to mix it up with throwing in whatever veggies we have - diced peppers, mushrooms and chilis.  And oh my goodness- sprinkles of leftover bacon are awesome in these!  You get a big kick of bacon flavor without a lot of bacon.  Which means more tastiness for your calorie buck.  But not on this day... We went the simple approach on this morning with just ham and eggs. 

Let's get Crafty!
Preheat your oven to 400.
Spray your baking cups with non-sticking spray.

To fill our 12 muffin tins we used:
9 scrambled eggs
1/3 cup fat free 1/2 and 1/2
pepper to taste
12 pieces of honey ham lunch meat (depending on the size - ours were big enough to just need one slice for each muffin tin.
Cheddar cheese (I add a small pinch of cheese for each muffin tin once the ham is in)
The 1/3 cup measuring cup works well for getting the egg into the muffin tins.

We baked ours 15 minutes at 400 and they were perfect.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!