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A Lazy Cook’s Dream Appetizer Recipe!

A few weeks ago my sister asked me to help her out with the preparations for her upcoming get-together. A group of parents from her kids’ school had decided to organize a charity event, and my sister had invited everyone over for a casual meeting. She didn’t want to go overboard with the food so we decided to look for recipes that are both, inexpensive and easy to make.

I told her I had this incredibly easy dip recipe that I got from a lady at church, and when my sister heard it was for French onion dip – and only three ingredients, she immediately said: “We’re having it, for sure!”

I was glad she chose this one because I knew it would be easy to double or even triple, if needed. The French onion flavor also goes together with a variety of different sides; I have served this dip with vegetable sticks, crackers and chips. One time I even used this as a spread when I was making sandwiches; they turned out awesome!

Image credit Jason Lam.

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Quick Tip: Use low-fat ingredients to make this leaner.

This Festive Meal Won’t Break The Bank But It Will Make You Feel Like A Million Dollars!

If there is a traditional recipe in your holiday menu; one you can’t live without, I would love to hear about it. I enjoy learning more about everyone’s Christmas traditions, just to see how much they differ from mine. And I guess, also, to see if I would get new ideas! Kind of like what happened with this slow-braised beef in wine, that I found on Tesco Real Food.

I wasn’t planning on making a completely new dish this year, but about a month ago I found this recipe and it looked so inviting that I had to give it a try. When my husband came home from work and smelled this stew cooking in the oven, he immediately asked what we were going to have for dinner.

The meal turned out even more flavorful than I had imagined, and we decided we were definitely going to serve this over the holidays, when my sister’s family is coming over for a special dinner.

Recipe and image courtesy of Tesco Real Food.

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Quick Tip: Don’t rush this meal! Cooking it slowly will give you the best results.

This soup is the perfect prescription for a stuffy nose.

I was a good child. No! I am not kidding! I really was. At least when it came to food. I wasn’t a picky eater. Between my brother and me, it had been easier to feed me. I was the one who had always eaten what she was told to eat regardless of my preference. When I requested for chicken and there was fish on the table, I ate them. That’s why I can say that I truly love vegetables. It’s an acquired taste, but yeah, I managed to do so over the years. The only food I really couldn’t stomach back then (and until now actually) was pickled food, but I really did eat everything that my parents cooked for us.

They had a hard time with my younger brother. He really didn’t want to eat anything other than fried food and pasta. While pasta could be healthy, we only had that every weekend, which meant that the rest of the week, he was only eating fried, dried, and fatty food.

The best attempt my Mom had tried was vegetable soup renamed as creamy pasta soup. Well, it worked! Until I opened my big mouth and told him it was vegetable soup.

Photo and recipe courtesy of The Southern Lady Cooks.

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Quick Tip: Add any veggies that you want to this soup.

This dish right here will make you famous with your little ones.

Think of the perfect ooey, gooey mac and cheese dish.  I’m thinking something of Cracker Barrels or Panera Breads.  Both have big shell pasta and multiple kinds of cheese melted into it.  My favorite combination is Colby Jack and Cheddar.  These two bring the perfect amount of saltiness and tanginess to a mac and cheese.  Add a little pepper over the top and you’re good to go.

Now, just about every kid I know will eat a dish of mac and cheese, but how hard is it to get them to eat the protein in their dish?  My neighbor Anne is always telling me about her daily struggles on getting her kids to eat the dish she sets before them.  They will always load up on the bread or mashed potato or pasta but leave the chicken or beef she has prepared for them.

She has tried everything, but they just won’t eat it.  That is when we thought of chopping up the chicken and hiding it in the mac and cheese!  It’ll make it harder for them to leave it, and they’d likely just take one big bite and have both pasta and chicken in their fork.

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Quick Tip: Chop up the chicken into really small bite-sized pieces to fit perfectly with the mac.

Christmas morning just got a whole lot better with this casserole on the table.

My husband and I are not morning people whatsoever.  We hate getting up early and even more so, as much as we are absolutely starving almost instantly when we wake up, we detest making breakfast because it just takes so long.  We have made it (an almost unhealthy) habit to get up, make our bed, throw on a t-shirt and shorts and head out to breakfast in our area.  We’ll go to a Cuban bakery or a French café, but we never eat at home.

As of late, though, we’ve really been wanting to kick these habits.  We are always spending so much money and eating really fatty foods that have made us gain between 10-15 pounds in the last year.  It really isn’t helping our wallet or waists.  So, as usual, I asked my best friend Pinterest for some help.  And guess what?

Once again, it did not fail.  I found so many recipes, but my favorite so far has been this one.  It is a sausage, hash brown breakfast casserole with every delicious flavor you would want to enjoy for breakfast.  Now, I will admit, although it is cheaper, it does not mean it is healthier.  It is still pretty fatty as well. But mmm, so so good!

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Quick Tip: Swap the sausage for ham if you prefer.

In my house, we always had a tradition for Christmas morning breakfast.

My mom would make cinnamon rolls while my dad went to a local Cuban bakery and picked up some bread and pastries as well as coffee.  We would then, after opening our presents, gather around the table, and enjoy everything family style.  We would just lay it out and let everyone pick from what they wanted.  It was so fun to be gathered around the table in our PJs just enjoying the long-anticipated day.  We loved eating cinnamon rolls that my mom made only once a year for us, on Christmas morning.  It was something we truly looked forward to year after year.

Well, have you been looking for that perfect Christmas morning tradition recipe?  Look no further, I have it for you here.  It is so easy to prepare and it’s a crock pot dish which means you can be opening presents and spending quality time with your family while this is cooking away and preparing its delicious gooeyness just for you.

Everyone will think you slaved over the kitchen for hours to make this, while you just prepped everything and let the slow cooker do its thing.  That’s my type of meal!

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Quick Tip: Frost these while they’re warm for a gooey topping.

Forget your worries and eat fudge.

How can you even be stressed out when there is fudge to be made and eaten? Seriously, fudge has got to be one of the easiest candies to make. Even if you put a gazillion different ingredients into your batch it is still very easy to make. I love this salted caramel mocha fudge!

I plan to make a few batches of this yumminess for the holidays this year. My husband and kids are really excited about this because they love them some fudgy goodness 🙂

I’m super excited that I came across this recipe over on the 5 Dollar Dinners Blog! If you’d like to get the details on how to make this wonderful recipe please hop on over to the next page for a complete list of ingredients and instructions. Enjoy!

Recipe and image courtesy of 5 Dollar Dinners.

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Quick Tip: This fudge recipe is very easy to double.