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No Such Thing As Picky Eaters When You Make This Scrumptious Dinner

Oh my goodness, I have had it up to here with packing lunches and snacks, driving back and forth, vacuuming, dusting and doing laundry.

The last thing I need right now is chopping, boiling and standing by the stove – on top of it all my slow cooker broke down last week and I haven’t had a chance to get a new one yet!

Ok, I think that’s enough venting for one day. Thanks for listening! In return I’m going to give you this awesome, lifesaver of a recipe from Erin over at Making Memories With Your Kids.

I’m telling you, those memories will take a turn for the better for me AND my kids when I can whip up this yummy casserole in a heartbeat, instead of slaving away in the kitchen for hours!

A few simple ingredients, that you most likely already have on hand, is all it takes to make this tasty dinner. And what a meal it is!

My children are crazy about tater tots (aren’t we all?) so anything that has to do with them, is an immediate hit at our house.

You can make a few tweaks here and there; for example add some frozen veggies or use sausage instead of chicken. Here’s what Erin said about this casserole:

It is pure deliciousness!  I make it quite a bit.  It’s that good and it freezes great.  Perfect to divide up into single serve containers and freeze.  (And then perfect for me to take to work for lunch.)

 

That sounds perfect! I think I’m going to whip up two of these casseroles and freeze the other one for a rainy day!

Ingredients

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

2 cups Daisy sour cream

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1/4 tsp. McCormick onion powder

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 lb. bag frozen tater tots (not thawed)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all of the ingredients together and put into a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Bake for 1 hour or until hot and bubbly.

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Oh Em Gee, These Are Incredible!

I’m so excited about today’s recipe that I almost can’t sit still! I’m crazy about potatoes, any way you make’m, so I have collected a vast amount of potato recipes over the years.

I didn’t think it was possible to top them – you see, I figured I had already found and perfected the best of the best recipes out there. It turns out I was wrong, and I’m actually really happy about that!

I came across this caramelized roasted potatoes recipe on Vegan Food Lover’s channel, and it is TO DIE FOR.

Honestly, I could eat these potatoes seven days a week and twice on Sunday! Vegan Food Lover really has found a heavenly combination of ingredients for that marinade – and I didn’t even realize you could marinate potatoes!

I highly recommend checking out all of his recipes; that’s what I’ve been doing for the past couple of days, and I’ve found quite a few favorites already.

Let’s just say I’m going to pamper my family with these incredible dishes for the next couple of weeks, and you all should do the same!

These caramelized roasted potatoes from Vegan Food Lover are a staple in our dinner routine now, and trust me – I make them often!

I could probably live on these alone for a few weeks and I wouldn’t even miss any of my old favorite recipes!

If you haven’t taken a look at Vegan Food Lovers recipes yet, you should really do it now. My daughter said these taters were better than the ones she had at her favorite restaurant, and I believe her. These are amazing!

Ingredients

10 small potatoes

Veggie broth or veggie paste

Vegetable oil

For the Marinade:

1 tbsp Kikkoman soy sauce

1 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp Heinz ketchup

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp liquid smoke

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 fresh squeezed lime

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp chopped cilantro

1/2 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp sliced ginger

1 tsp hot sauce – optional

Instructions:

Wash your potatoes thoroughly and chop into big chunks.

Bring a pot of light vegetable broth to a boil. If you don’t have veggie broth, plain water is fine. Add a few dashes of salt, then add the potatoes. Cover and let simmer on medium heat for 10 min.

Drain the potatoes and set them aside in a colander.

Fill a deep, heavy bottom pan or casserole dish with 1/4″ of vegetable oil. Be sure to use an oil with a high smoke point, such as peanut oil, avocado oil, or refined sesame oil. We used the latter. Place the oil in the oven for 5 min at 425º F.

Remove the oil from the oven and place the parboiled potatoes in it. Use a pair of tongs to turn the potatoes and evenly coat them in oil. Put the pan back in the oven on the top rack for 30 min.

While the potatoes are cooking, start on the marinade. Add all ingredients to a blender and process until evenly mixed. Transfer marinade to a bowl and set on the stove top until ready to use.

Remove the potatoes from the oven, and in a separate bowl, toss them in the marinade. Transfer them back to the pan, and put them in oven for another 15 to 20 min, or until dark golden brown.

Toss the potatoes one more time in the left over marinade, and then transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Check out this great how-to video:

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Quick tip: Don’t let the tanginess of the fresh marinade scare you; when the potatoes are cooked, the flavor is perfect!

Recipe and image courtesy of YouTube and Vegan Food Lover – check out his great how-to video!

Bet You’ve Never Tried Pork Chops This Way Before!

I love making casseroles with ingredients that you normally wouldn’t make a casserole with.

However, this isn’t your ordinary casserole. In fact, some of you might even say it’s not a casserole at all. I think it’s a casserole but that’s just me. I found this over at Savory Moments and I thought it looked absolutely delightful. So, I just had to give it a go. And I’m so glad I did!

This is the perfect way to make pork chops when you want exceptionally delicious flavor.

It is a very easy one pot meal and you can double the ingredients if you’re making this for more than two people. Sauerkraut is the perfect match for those juicy pork chops – to switch things up a little you could use sausage instead of chops!

I like to serve this casserole with a dollop of sour cream and some homemade dinner rolls. It makes the perfect, comforting meal on a cold fall or winter night!

Be careful when making this, though – the wonderful aromas might bring the neighbors at your door!

I guess this isn’t your typical casserole as you’ll be making this in a skillet instead of a casserole dish, and there’s no cream or cheese involved.

However, I think this skillet casserole is one of the tastiest I’ve ever tried! The prep is easy and the results are pleasy – that’s what makes this one of my favorite meals on the planet.

This recipe serves two but you can add 2 more chops and potatoes to get 4 servings. Or add those chops in hopes of having leftovers – I gotta warn you, though, you probably won’t have any because this is delicious!

Ingredients

1 pat of Land O’ Lakes  butter

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 pork chops, preferably bone-in

1 medium white onion, diced

1 large Granny Smith apple, cored and diced

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

2 large Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-in discs

about 1-1/2 cups sauerkraut

3/4 cup chicken broth

Instructions:

In a large cast iron skillet, heat a pat of butter. Season the pork with salt and pepper. Add the pork to the hot pan and lightly brown on both sides. Remove the pork and set aside on a plate.

Add the onion, apple, and caraway seeds to the skillet. Stir well and cook until the onions begin to soften. Place on the plate with the pork.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Layer the potato slices on the bottom of the skillet in concentric circles. Season them with salt and pepper. Top with half on the apple-onion mixture. Then top with the sauerkraut and the remaining apple-onion mixture. Nestle the chops into the kraut and pour in the chicken broth.

Cover tightly with foil and bake until you can pierce the potatoes with a fork and the pork is cooked through, about 45 minutes.

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Quick tip: Serve with a dollop of sour cream or some cranberry jam.

Big thanks to Savory Moments for this delicious recipe!

My Grandma Used To Make These All The Time, Yummy!

I love all kinds of vegetables, but I know quite a few people who are not as fond of them as I am.

I have no idea why – at first I thought maybe they didn’t have that many vegetable dishes when they were growing up. Then again, I’m not sure I did, either. Growing up on a farm we obviously ate them, but vegetable were never emphasized in our diet, in any way.

Even when we had veggies, there was always some kind of meat mixed into the dish.

So I never had vegetable patties at home. The first time I ever tried them was in school and I immediately fell in love!

And you can imagine they weren’t the fresh type of veggie patties one makes at home – no, they were those industrially made, frozen patties and yet, I loved them. So, this recipe right here? This one totally blew my mind.

These veggie patties are outstanding!

As long as you remember to squeeze any excess moisture out of the ones that are moister than others, you can make these with pretty much any grated vegetables.

I love serving these with mashed potatoes – my husband’s favorite is when I fill a pitta bread with lettuce, tomatoes and yogurt dressing, and then add a couple of these patties in there!

Quickly frying them in the pan first will hold them together better, but overall baking in the oven is a healthier choice!

Ingredients

9 to 10 oz potatoes – cooked and mashed

1 garlic clove – mashed

1 small red onion – finely chopped

1 Eggland’s egg

grated cheese (low-fat or regular)

1 medium sized zucchini, grated (squeeze the water out of this)

1 medium sized carrot, grated

a small handful of sunflower seeds

salt & pepper

1 tablespoon Bertolli olive oil

fresh herbs, chopped

1 small green chili – chopped (optional)

Gold Medal flour

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 F.

Mix potatoes, garlic, onions and egg in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients (not the flour). Stir to combine well.

Form into patties and coat very lightly with the flour.

Quickly fry the patties on both sides until they just start to color.

Take out and pat dry. Put the patties on a baking tray and bake in the oven for approx. 15 minutes.

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Quick tip: Add oriental spices and a little bit of tahini sauce!

Are You Getting Takeout More Often Than You’d Like To Admit? These Stupid-Easy Recipes Will Change All That

Have you ever come back from work and just sighed at the thought of cooking dinner for your family? It happens to me all the time. Occasionally things just get a little overwhelming and cooking is the last thing on my check list (or it doesn’t make the check list at all…) I know it’s fine to opt for takeout but if you do that several times a week, it tends to get expensive. And often, a bit unhealthy, too. Enter – these super easy crockpot recipes!

I fell in love with my slow cooker the day I got it, and it has made me feel like a better mom. Seriously, a kitchen appliance that makes you feel good about yourself – how awesome is that!

I used to make mostly meat stews and soups in the slow cooker but it can do so much more. These days I use it to make desserts (cakes, even) and all kinds of exotic dinner recipes. I bet there are several recipes on this list that you didn’t even know you could make in a crock pot!

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Let’s get started! You’ll get to the first recipe by using the red Next Page link.

Have you heard? Carrot cake is all the rage when serving dessert at a dinner party.

Aunt Murrielle’s classic carrot cake is everyone’s favorite. My aunt loves to cook anything using vegetables as her main ingredients. Whenever we have a reunion and she is the one assigned to make something, we always expect her to make a cake such as a cucumber cake or even bean sprout cookies. The good thing about it is that you will not really mind that they are vegetables because they taste so good! All of my nieces and nephews, including my two kids, actually love all of her desserts. I have a lot of nephews who throw tantrums whenever they have to eat vegetables, but Aunt Murrielle’s desserts are always the exception. I even see a couple of my cousins begging her for her recipes, but she wouldn’t give them.

Aunt Murielle’s classic carrot cake is something that everyone requests even if it’s just for an afternoon tea. She makes the softest and the moistest carrot cake that everyone just couldn’t resist. Her classic carrot cake is already an institution in our reunions.

You are pretty sure that the serving platter will be empty by the end of a meal because everyone would really want a slice. I am not sure what is Aunt Murrielle’s secret, but everyone truly cannot say no to a slice of her wonderful carrot cake recipe!

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Quick Tip: If you like extreme sweet icing, then go ahead and add more sugar.

Did I ever tell you about my grandma’s famous sponge cake recipe? Welp, settle in folks because you’re about to hear it.

This sponge cake recipe is a must-know for every woman. My mother has always said that a girl needs to have a basic knowledge of any recipe in the kitchen. It’s because these basic recipes are actually what will help you create the more complicated recipes. She told me that if I want to make a complicated stew, I should know how to make a basic beef stew. If I want to make a really beautiful cake, I should be able to make a simple pound cake or a simple sponge cake, which are mostly the base for most cakes. My mom has her own sponge cake recipe, but I figured that sometimes, I need to find something on my own.

This sponge cake recipe is what I found. It’s very simple and very easy to make, but you will be surprised at how well it will turn out. Just follow all the steps indicated and you will have your perfect sponge cake by the end of it all.

This sponge cake recipe gives you the best moist sponge cake that I have ever tasted. Everyone will surely fall in love with this once you serve it to them. Other than that, you can make this simple sponge cake into a full-blown cake if it’s for a special occasion!

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Quick tip: The sponge cake will bake better if you don’t use a convection oven, meaning use heat coming from top and bottom only. Also, do not open the oven until the baking time is over.