Bolognese Spaghetti!

When I was in Paris I had the best meal of my entire life. It was spaghetti bolognese. So I decided to make it! Here's the recipe... It is missing a little something, so if you have suggestions, let me know.

Ingredients:

1 small onion chopped

1/4 cup of zesty italian dressing

1 lb. of ground beef

1 can (15 oz.) of tomato sauce

1 can (14 oz. ) diced tomatoes, undrained

3/4 lb. Spaghetti

2 tbsp. cream cheese

Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions:

Cook the onions with the Italian dressing until they are crisp and caramelized. At the same time, brown the meat and then drain the grease. Stir those two together, and add in the tomatoes and sauce. Boil, then simmer for 15 min. stirring occasionally.

At the same time, cook the spaghetti.

When both are done cooking, remove from heat. Add in the cream cheese to the sauce and wait until mixed and melted. You will know it's melted because it will be significantly lighter than before. Add sauce and spaghetti and top with parmesan cheese.

:] Hope you like it!

Mexican Lasagna. AKA Heaven on Earth

The finished product minus the weird layer..

The nasty burnt tortilla layer... Not so attractive..

Right before cooking. This is a good time to point out how it would have helped to have a square pan. *Cough* Christmas Present. *Cough*

The salsa, seasoning and meat.

The ingredients! Minus the meat.. Because I always start cooking before I remember to take pictures.. sorry!

I lately have been getting so tired of eating the same foods. This happens to me about once a month and then I find a nifty recipe, like this one here. It was delicious and I am definitely going to make it instead of my usual tacos because it has more vegetables (thanks Dad!) and is a better switch up.

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

3/4 cup thick and chunky salsa (I went with Medium and it was amazing)

Taco seasoning mix

Tortillas - either three big ones or six little ones

15 oz. of pinto beans - rinse these first

1.5 cups of Mexican cheese - mix in a bit of cream cheese and it's phenomenal. Just saying.

Direcciones!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, pronto!

First, brown the hamburger and drain the grease (ewww). Then mix in the seasoning and the salsa. I also added green peppers and onions, but that's up to you. Simmer on low for dies minutos (that's 10 minutes for those of you that are not in the Spanish mood yet). Spray a square pan. I used a 9x13 and it was a hot mess, so use a square one unless you want burnt things stuck into your pan everywhere.

Next, put some tortillas into the bottom of the pan. This depends on size, but if you're using little ones, then use 2 per layer, and big ones would be one. Then, spread the meat, cheese and beans. Repeat this until all the ingredients are done. The recipe told me to put tortillas on top, but mine burnt and were gross and made the dish look weird. So... with that in mind, it contains and cooks the bottom layers that way by trapping the heat, but I luckily caught mine before they were crusted onto the top. All a matter of preference.

Pop that into the oven for thirty minutes and enjoy!

Sidenote: Mine was kind of delicious and amazing, but I felt like spanish rice would have gone really well on the side. Yes, Dad, I said rice. And I said I wanted to eat it. In the same sentence. Be proud.

Sidenote 2: I hate this website sometimes because it always uploads pictures backwards. So sorry for all the confusing pictures!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

The finished product! (you can see the water around it)

Yummmmy

I'll be honest that the only reason I made this was because 1) chicken was on sale at Target, 2) the Hellman's commercial made it look so damnnn good.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts - thawed

1/2 cup mayo (I used Miracle Whip, but I would not advise that.. it was a weird flavor).

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

4 tsp of Italian dry bread crumb seasoning (I used pinches instead, but whatever floats your boat).

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mix the mayo/cheese into a bowl. Lay the breasts out onto a cookie sheet. Follow this up by putting the mixture onto the chicken in dollops and then spreading. Then pinch as much seasoning as you want onto each chicken. Cook for 20 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink.

Note: I noticed a lot of water in the pan, which kind of freaked me out so I left it in another ten minutes. Don't do this. It dries the chicken out and the water is from the cheese/mayo. It's done at 20 minutes if you put it on the middle rack of the oven.

Puppy Chow

Chocolate/Peanut butter goodness :]]]

All that you need to make your day a million times better.

Ugh. So good. It was hard not to eat the entire bowl instead of dinner.

So some people may be turned off by the name of this dish, but it has been one of my favorites since forever.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of peanut butter

5 blocks of semi-sweet baker's squares

1 box of chex (doesn't matter what kind)

Powdered sugar (the recipe calls for a tbsp but I for sure used about 1/2 a cup)

First melt the peanut butter and chocolate in the microwave until well blended.

Next, pour the cereal into a mixing bowl and put the chocolate/peanut butter deliciousness over it.

Allow it to cool. (I didn't do that, which is why the pictures don't show as much powdered sugar).

After it has cooled, pour the powdered sugar over the top and mix it all up.

Enjoy the deliciousness that is Puppy Chow.

Note: The recipe said to pour all the cereal out onto wax paper and make sure that none of them were overlapping. I guess you can do that if you happen to have a 36 hour day in your life, but I just mixed it all together because it's all the same to me. You can also put them in brown paper bags and shake it all up too. Also, the recipe says to use 2 boxes of cereal, and if you have a small army to feed, that's great. This recipe made about six or seven ziploc bags full of it (including the ones that I snuck here and there throughout the process).

Kerri's Chicken Casserole

This summer I've been living with my cousin, Robert. As a Campbell, he is notoriously known for eating large amounts of food based solely on his last name alone. Henceforth, we eat a casserole / meat product every night. I guess we can still say he's a growing boy...?

Anywho, he said that if I don't care about calories that he would make this dish for me. I care about calories to the extent of how much harder I have to work at the gym the next day in order to eat whatever I want the day before. That's the straight up truth. So he made me this dish and with the ingredients I'm sure you can see why he added a disclaimer.

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts. Cook them and then slice them up into edible pieces
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• Mayonnaise - the same amount as there is in the soup can so that it is a 1:1 ratio
• Cooked broccoli or corn work to make this dish more than just meat and soup
• Cheese - feel free to add as much as you would like!
• Rice or egg noodles to put the casserole over

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the cooked chicken into a 9x13 pan and cover with the soup/mayo mixture. You can include broccoli/corn if you'd like, otherwise the casserole is fine without it. Cook for 20 minutes. Add cheese on top and cook until the cheese starts to bubble, which is about ten more minutes.

Let cool and then serve over rice/egg noodles.

This is what it looks like over rice without vegetables.

This is the finished product. I clearly made it to the photography part after everyone had served themselves. Whoops!

It's like warmmmm apple pie

So now that you've had a throwback to the 90's with that title, we'll move on. This is my new favorite dessert to make because I feel like a baby Betty Crocker when I make it.

Ingredients:

• 4 apples - I find that the red ones are better no matter the kind, but whatever your preference is up to you
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 Tbs flour
• 2 Tbs cinnamon (I wayyy overdo it so feel free to cut back or add more!)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbs. Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Pillsbury Pie crust (or you can make your own but as stated earlier I am not that fond of baking so I take the easy route with that)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel and core the apples, then slice into whatever size pieces you like. I like to cut them into fifths and they seem to be the perfect size. Put the apple pieces aside.

In another bowl mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt and vinegar. After mixing those together, mix in the apples.

After adding the apples + delicious sugary concoction

Right before mixing together. It was too pretty not to photograph :]

In the meantime put the pie crust onto a pie pan. Next pour the apples. Try to keep the extra juices from getting in there, and when all the apples are gone, pour the extra juice over the top. Since the Pillsbury box comes with two pie crusts, you can either keep one for later and leave the top open or put the other crust over the top. Feel free to be creative!

Put in the oven for an hour or until it starts to get crispy.

Enjoy!

Taco Dip

My favorite thing to see at a party (next to little weinies!) is a big old plate of taco dip. It is the most fattening thing that is my secret vice of any food that I have ever seen. It's delicious and reminds me of tacos with every bite. Amazing.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of spicy taco seasoning
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 8 oz. sour cream
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Peppers
• Onions
• 1.5 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese (feel free to buy in bulk since you'll also be making cheesy potatoes!)
• 1 can of black olives

Mix the taco seasoning, cream cheese and sour cream together. Layer it onto a platter and cover with lettuce, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, black olives and cheese.

Absolutely the easiest recipe I've ever made and it has the most delicious results!

Cheesy Potatoes: Sure fire way to a man's heart

The finished product! This picture does this dish no justice.

Right before the oven :]

This is what it will look like when you mix all the ingredients (minus the sour cream) in. It looks disgusting but it's soooo good.

Cheesy potatoes have been my absolute favorite meal for as long as I can remember. The potatoes are so ooey gooey and despite the grease that comes off of them, I will gladly eat an entire pan if someone would let me. They are also a family recipe and by far my favorite in the plethora of recipes I've inherited over time.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 1 chopped up onion (you can put in as much as you like)
• 1 bag (32 oz.) of frozen hashbrowns -- Now this is where things get tricky. I personally like the O'Brien ones because the peppers add color to the potatoes, but I know that some like shredded, etc. Do whatever you feel is right in your food loving heart.
• 1 can (8 oz.) of sour cream
• 1 stick of butter ( Please don't hate me!)
• 2 cups sharp shredded cheddar cheese (I'm from Wisconsin so 2 cups doesn't usually cut it in my book)
• Salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan. Make sure that the butter has been melted and that the potatoes are thawed.

Mix together the cream of chicken soup, onion, sour cream, butter and salt. I find it is easiest to mix this first, then to add the bag of cheese. Next add the potatoes. You will need a pretty large bowl to mix all of this as the potatoes tend to not conform very easily to all the mixing. Mix these all together and put into the oven for about an hour. When the cheese starts bubbling on top that is when it's done.

I know some people are prone to putting corn flakes on top, but that is your business and you feel free to do whatever you like. :]

Also, when I was a vegetarian for three years I found it hard to turn this recipe down. If you want to make it veg friendly just switch out the chicken soup for cream of mushroom or cream of potato. Both work perfectly and the recipe is still delicious!

Bluberry Danish

Alright so I have to be honest. I definitely stole this recipe from Kraft in High School to make at a party. I can't help that it has been the most delicious dessert I have ever made and that people at all types of functions love it.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans (8 oz. each) of refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
• 2 pkg (8 oz. each) of cream cheese - Make sure to soften them in advance
• 3/4 cup of powdered sugar
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 tbsp. milk
• 1 can (20 oz.) of pie filling --- Some people like Cherry but I personally have found it to work the best with Blueberry

First preheat the oven to 350 degrees. This recipe starts out with two steps and then merges into one, so there will be two separate stations. This is also an added benefit because then you can delegate different stations out :]

Station 1: Unroll the first can of crescent rolls onto the bottom of a 9x13 pan that has been SPRAYED with cooking spray. For some reason I always forget that step, but it is veryyyy important. Make sure to press the seals together because this will be your base and you want to make sure that the gooey deliciousness doesn't seep through.

Station 2: Beat the cream cheese, 3/4 cup of powdered sugar, egg white, and vanilla until well blended. Also referred to as "until it looks so delicious that you envision yourself eating the entire bowl and blowing off the need to make this dessert". Spread this onto the crust. Then open the pie filling and pour it over this. You then will need to unroll the other can of crescent rolls onto wax paper preferably. This will help because now that the can has been sitting out for a bit, the rolls tend to be sticky and stick to any counter top after you try to push the seals together. With that in mind, press the seals together and lay on top of the other ingredients in the pan.

Lastly, bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. The recipe calls for sprinkling of some powdered sugar/milk mixture drizzle business, but since I have the patience of a gold fish I opt out of that and offer up Cool Whip instead. :]

Circus Food

Another one of my Grandmother's favorite recipes was for Circus Food.

According to family tradition, my great-great grandmother used to serve food to the workers of the Circus. At that time, they would take whatever they could make in bulk and for a low price and cook it up for all to eat. This is the result.

Ingredients:

• One pound hamburger
• Ketchup (you can add as much as you like. I tend to overdo it when it comes to ketchup and...pretty much anything)
• One box of macaroni noodles
• One can of baked beans (I prefer the kind with ham because it adds a bit of kick to the recipe)

Again, cook the hamburger and drain the grease. At the same time boil the noodles until they are done. Then add the beans, burger and noodles. You can add as much ketchup as you like, I usually do it so that it is too runny because I'd personally rather have sloppy than dry.

The wonderful family recipe that is fast, cheap and fun for kids of all ages. It has been passed down for generations and is still a family favorite!

Grandma's Mostaccioli! Opa!

This was my grandmother's favorite recipe to give me over the phone, every time I called. :]

Ingredients:

• One pound hamburger (cooked and drained)
• One box mostaccioli
• 2 cups of Mozzarella cheese
• One cup of water (to begin with, but I like to add more as the mixture dries out)
• One can of pasta sauce (I personally like Ragu Four Cheese for this recipe)
• Salt, pepper

According to Grandmama, you cook the hamburger in a separate pan first and drain the grease. Then you add the pasta, water, pasta sauce, meat, salt and pepper to the mix and put it on medium heat. You let this cook for about fifteen minutes covered on medium heat and then add the cheese and let cook for another fifteen minutes.

30 minutes total of cooking and you have a delicious meal that you can throw together at the drop of a hat. :]

Introduction Post

Hello all! I am going to have to begin my blog by posting without photos. I have been taking photos with my blackberry all summer (not thinking about starting a blog at all) of my cooking experiences. I apologize for not being able to add photos yet; I hate when food blogs don't include photos.

However, since these are all my favorite recipes, I will be making them frequently and will be adding wonderful pictures as soon as possible.

Until then, enjoy the recipes as they are some of my absolute favorites. :]