Crock Pot Hamburger Stew

The kids and I are not big pot roast fans! So I got the idea to try something a little different and did the Hamburger Stew! I pre-cooked the hamburger meat last night and put in the fridge over night so I could just dump it in the crock pot this morning. I'm not sure about you but my morning routine trying to get kids off to school is already hectic enough without throwing in trying to brown some hamburger meat! =) Anyways, the kids LOVED this and Sawyer even ate a TON of carrots, which he has never done before! When I made the pot roast, it was a struggle getting them to eat it so this was a great response from my kids and I plan to have this again!

 

Ingredients:

 

1 pound of hamburger meat

 

2 cups of Tomato Juice

 

2 cups of Water

 

I can of green beans (drained)

 

2 cans of corn (drained)

 

1 package of Baby Carrots (raw)

 

10-12 Red Potatoes (raw and cut into quarters)

 

Salt & Pepper to taste

 

Directions: Brown and drain the hamburger meat then add in crock pot with all other ingredients. Cook on LOW for 8-10 hours and enjoy!

 

This was DELISH and of course super easy!!!

 

 

Tostados



If you know me you know I love Mexican food! And for the most part so do my kids. Homemade Tostados is something very easy to make and yet very filling!!

Ingredients:

1 packets of Tostado Shells
(I purchase mine from Target)

1 pound of hamburger meat

1 can of refriend beans

I package of taco season

1 package of shredded chesse
(I used the Mexican blend butany will do.)

Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Brown and drain the hamburger meat. After the meat is cooked, mix a package of taco seasoning (per package directions) and let simmer. On a cookie sheet lined with foil lay out the desired amount of Tostado shells. Put a layer of refriend beans on each shell then top with a scoop of hamburget meat and then top with shredded cheese. I generally will heat up the refriend beans before spreading on the shells. Bake in the oven about 10 minutes or until the chesse is meleted. After you have baked the shells you can top with any of your favorite Mexican indegrediants (japlaones, olives, slasa, etc.)

What did I tell you, these are SUPER easy!!! The kids will love them!

This picture is before I add toppings!

Chicken Spaghetti

Chicken Spaghetti

Just FYI, this makes a HUGE amount. We will make this a lot of times when we are cooking dinner to bring to someone that is sick or just had a baby. It is easy to split into two pans and like I said it makes a lot. I have also made it several times without chicken!! Which makes it pretty easy. Since you cook the noodles in chicken broth you still have the chicken taste.

Ingredient's:

4-6 chicken breasts

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 stick of margarine

1 1/2 lbs. Velveeta, cut in chunks

1- 16 oz. package of spaghetti

2 cans diced rotel (drained)

2-3 cartons of chicken broth

Boil chicken breasts until tender. DO NOT DRAIN! Remove breasts; cool, then chop. Cook spaghetti noodles in chicken broth (need at least 1/2 pot of broth) until tender. DO NOT DRAIN! Saute' chopped green pepper and onion in margarine. Add to noodles with the 2 cans of Rotel, Velveeta chunks, and chicken. Stir until cheese is melted. Pour in baking dish (covered) and cook 30-45 minutes until headed through on 350.



Chicken & Corn Chili

Chicken & Corn Chili is whats cooking!

This recipe is pretty easy and it was great! I got this from one of my dinner swap girls when we were doing freezer meals. But I haven't eve cooked myself until today!  Thanks Claire for the wonderful and easy recipe! =)

Chicken & Corn Chili

4 boneless chicken breasts

16oz jar of salsa

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

2- 11oz cans of mexi-style corn, un-drained

15 oz can pinto beans, un-drained

Combine all ingredients in crock pot EXCEPT corn and pinto beans. Cook either 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. For last hour, shred chicken with a fork and add the corn and pinto beans. Serves six.

You can put the chicken in the pot frozen or thawed. I also used regular canned corn instead of mexi-con and added some green chili's.

Got a 3 thumbs up from the fam, which makes this recipe even better!!

Quick and Super Easy Homemade Nachos!

Wednesday nights are busy for us because Maddie and Sawyer have evening activities at church. So I'm always looking for a quick and easy meal to fix them before heading out. Tonight I made homemade oven baked nachos! Of course I paired it with some Mexican corn and rice and the kids loved it! Also added some fruit to go with it.

 

Baked Nachos

 

Tortilla Chips (just use whatever kind you prefer)

Shredded Cheese (whatever kind you prefer)

 

Set oven to 350 or you can use the broiler. Lay your tortilla chips out on a cookie sheet and sprinkle the shredded cheese. Leave them in the oven about 7-10 minutes till the cheese is melted and serve!

 

How easy is that?? And the kids LOVED them!

Breakfast Burritos

We did this Friday night so I'm going to go ahead and post it! BEST OF all it got 4 thumbs up from my family! My three year old twins even enjoyed them- and they don't like eggs! Go figure!

This has got to be one of my most favorite recipes! It is super easy to make and it makes a good amount! There is two ways you can make these. (1) Ahead of time and freeze them individually and just pull out the number you want to cook or (2) make them fresh and freeze the leftovers individually. I have done them both ways and really prefer to fix them ahead of time to freeze! You wrap them individually in foil after you roll them and I put them in gallon size plastic freezer bags. I have also done these in large quantity like over 100 for a monthly dinner swap group. The cooking part is easy but takes FOREVER to roll!!

Breakfast Burritos

Recipe makes about 25 burritos! Yay for lots of leftovers!!!

Ingredients:

1 regular 16 oz. package of sausage with sage

1/2 small bag of hash browns

1/2 bag of frozen chopped bell pepper

1 large bag of shredded cheese (I use Colby & Monterrey Jack)

1 1/2 dozen eggs

25 fajita style flour tortillas (small)

Salt, Pepper, and Tonys to taste

Directions:

Brown sausage and crumble. Cook hash browns till lightly browned. Whisk 18 eggs with ¼ cup milk and softly scramble. Brown bell pepper. Mix all together and season to taste with salt, pepper, and Tony’s seasoning. Warm tortillas in oven as directed on package. Scoop approx ½ cup of mixture or more onto burrito. Sprinkle with cheese and roll up.

If you freeze, thaw and heat in microwave about 25 seconds. Serve with sour cream, salsa, or hot sauce. Add more cheese if you desire.

BBQ Chicken

This morning I was heading out of town bright and early for a Spring Product Premiere with Thirty-One Gifts (a company I'm a consultant for). I was anticipating being back around dinner time and so I wanted something for dinner that would cook on it's own and be pretty easy!! Of course I decided to pull out my trusted crock pot (which I love) and prepared dinner before heading out of town!

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

*I threw them in there thawed- but you can throw them in frozen as well

1 bottle BBQ Sauce - I love Sweet Baby Ray's

1/4 cup vinegar

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

1/4 cup brown sugar

Place the chicken in the crock pot. Mix BBQ Sauce with all ingredients and pour over the chicken. Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours. The chicken is so tender and falls apart!

This recipe was so easy! I paired it with green beans and crescent rolls!  Most importantly I got 3 thumbs up from the family!

Why I'm Blogging



In an effort to help me with one of my New Years Resolution, I have started to blog about family dinner time! Two things you need to know before you start following this blog! (1) I am not a cook by any means!! I actually HATED cooking. However, cooking is something I have started to enjoy. Over the last year I have participated in a monthly dinner swap that really changed my mind about cooking and I got lots of great recipes that my family really seems to enjoy! (2) I'm not a blogger!! So hopefully I can stick with this- and see it as a way to stick to my resolution.

I know for me it is hard to find quick and easy recipes that my family enjoys. So I also hope in blogging about this experience it will help you with more family friendly cooking ideas!