Macaroni and Beef with Cheese

Tonight we tried a pin that was originally pinned from Michael Ruhlman website.

It seemed pretty simple at first, but then got confusing....

Ingredients:

1 large onion, diced (I only used half an onion)
1 tablespoon canola oil
salt to taste
optional seasonings: black pepper, oregano, cumin, coriander, chopped garlic, hot smoked paprika, chilli powder—whatever you’re in the mood for (I used some pepper, oregano, crushed red chili peppers and a little garlic)
one 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, pureed with a blender
2 pounds lean ground beef (I used 1 3/4)
1 box macaroni (I used 4 cups - wasn't sure how much a box was)
1 cup each grated cheddar and mozzarella cheeses

Directions.

It said to sweat the onion in the oil with a 3 finger pinch of salt. I wasn't too sure what that meant so I sauteed it in the oil and salt a little and at a really high temperature. Add beef and cook. Add more salt and any of the dry spices you want. Add tomatoes and any fresh seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for an hour.

Cook macaroni until half done and drain. Add to the beef mixture. Let the noodles absorb the tomato juices and then pour into 2 baking pans. Cover with foil and bake at 400*F for 45 minutes. Remove foil. Add cheese and Broil for a few minutes. (I let mine broil too long and it got a little burnt. Other than that, it wasn't too bad).

I definitely like the idea to puree the tomatoes because I hate canned tomatoes. It took a long time to make when you add the hour to simmer and then adding the noodles and letting that sit and then baking time and broiling time on top of that! I also liked that it made another meal. I just put foil over the second pan. Wrote on top with a sharpie "Bake 400*F 45 min. Remove Foil, add 2 cups cheese and broil." that'll make my life a little easier one night. One hint - don't leave it too long in the freezer because it has noodles and won't last very long!.

Caramel Apple Trifle

We had a get-together with a bunch of people who used to (or still do) live in Fort McMurray. We were supposed to bring a salad or dessert. So - naturally ;) I chose to do a dessert. This recipe was originally pinned from the Taste of Home website...

Doesn't it look delicious!?!

I changed the way I put the cake in, used less pecans (and didn't toast them), and less caramel sauce (I didn't mean to - I just did it until I thought it looked good). Other than that, I stayed pretty darn close to the recipe. There was one other thing I changed.... I put it into 2 nice pretty bowls, still fairly large ones, instead of a punch bowl.

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix (just the normal sized ones)
6 cups cold milk
3 packages instant vanilla pudding mix (again - normal sized ones. I think they are about 120g each)
1 teaspoon apple pie spice (couldn't find this anywhere so I just used cinnamon powder to taste)
1 bottle caramel ice cream topping (it was 428 mL - i probably only used about half of it)
100g bag chopped pecans
2 cans (21 ounces each) apple pie filling
1L Cool Whip, thawed

Directions:

Prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using 9x13 baking pan. Cool for 10 minutes before removing to wires rack to cool completely.
In a large bowl, whisk milk, pudding mixes and apple pie spice (or cinnamon) for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. (mine was fully set before I used it.)
Cut cake into four. Crumble 1/4 into bottom of each bowl; gradually squirt the caramel topping over cake. Sprinkle with 1/6 pecans (on each) and spread with quarter of the pudding mixture on each one.
Spoon half a can of pie filling over pudding layers; spread with 1 cup of whipped topping on each.
Top with remaining cake and repeat layers. Drizzle with remaining caramel topping and sprinkle with remaining pecans. Refrigerate until serving.

It went over pretty well at our get-together. One person mentioned that it could use a little more spice and that apple pie spice is the same as pumpkin pie spice (or a mixture of allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves would be good too). Since it made two bowls of it, I now have another dessert for a different get-together tomorrow night too!

Ham and Potato Casserole

Last night's dinner was a recipe that was originally pinned from the six sister's stuff blog.

The amounts were a little weird to figure out and I find that I'm not always someone who measures my ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 (30 oz) package frozen hash brown potatoes, cubed or shredded (I used a 1 kg bag of the cubed stuff)
1 tablespoon dried minced onion (not too sure if it's the same but I just used onion powder)
1 teaspoon salt
1 (8 oz) container sour cream (I almost used 1 cup. I had a small one that I had used a little from. I just dumped what was left in)
1 (10.75 oz) can reduced fat cream of chicken soup (I just used the regular kind)
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (I had a medium freezer bag of low-fat mozzarella in my freezer. Not sure how much but I dumped it all in)
2 cups cooked chopped ham (ham leftovers are perfect for this recipe!) (I used ham slices that I had in my freezer. I stuck it in my tupperware chopper. Used about 9-12 slices)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 (6 oz) package, herb-seasoned stuffing mix (used a box of it. 120g)

Directions:

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Combine hash browns, dried onion, salt, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, cheese, and ham and place in slow cooker. Sprinkle stuffing mix over top, then drizzle melted butter over stuffing. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or high 2-4 hours. (mine cooked for about 2.5 hours on high)

Not sure I would do this one again. That is a lot of carbohydrates in one meal. It made a lot. We only used half of it and we all ate quite a bit. Fills the entire slow cooker full.

No Bake Peanut Butter Balls

I want to try to do about 1 dessert/snack every week. I was going to do it yesterday to have as snack for FHE but then we went to my in-laws for dinner. So, it's for tonight for FHE snack. I decided to try a No Bake Peanut Butter Balls recipe. I found this on the taste of home website originally.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup chunky peanut butter (I used the No Name superstore brand that has no sugar in it)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter, honey and vanilla. Stir in the milk powder, oats and graham cracker crumbs (You're going to have to use your hands to mix it). Shape into 1-in. balls. Cover and refrigerate until serving. Yield: 15 treats. (mine made 14)

This went over pretty good. My sister-in-law says it takes like a peanut butter cookie but better (pretty good for having no sugar, eh?). My kids all loved it. I thought it was surprisingly good (surprising because I'm not a big peanut butter fan).

The other thing they mentioned on the website was that it would be good with chocolate...

Orange Chicken

So, I've decided to start trying out some recipes from Pinterest. I figured I would share them with you along with any changes made...

The first recipe is Orange Chicken. Original recipe was pinned from six sisters blog. I changed just a little bit. I used 1/3 of the can of orange juice concentrate instead of using 6oz. I froze the other 2/3 in 1/3 amounts so I can use them next time I make this. I also added about 1/2 cup of water to the sauce so I would have extra sauce for my rice. Next time I will probably only use 1/4 - 1/3 cup of water...

You can see my Pinterest Board of Recipes I've tried here and the Board of Recipes I want to try here.

Slow Cooker Orange Chicken

Ingredients:

• boneless chicken breasts, chopped into small chunks (I used 4)
• 1/3 cup flour
• olive oil
• 1/2 Tbl. salt
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 Tbl. ketchup
• 1/3 can frozen orange juice concentrate (thaw or throw it in the microwave for 45 seconds)
• 4 Tbl. brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Water

Directions:

In a bowl, mix the orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, ketchup, and water. Pour the flour in a small bowl. Cover the chicken breast chunks in flour and shake off the excess. (mine turned into a paste on the chicken. There was no excess...)

Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and brown the flour-covered chicken.
The chicken doesn't need to be fully cooked since it's going in the crock pot.

After the chicken is done cooking, pour the pieces into the crock pot. Then cover the chicken with your sauce mixture and give the pot a stir. (I didn't stir it)

Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-3.(I did high for 2 hours. It smells delicious. My mouth was watering so much)

Serve over rice and even add veggies if you want a healthier meal.