Do you like potato soup? Do you like cauliflower? Then you will love this soup. I just made it tonight for the first time and it was a hit! It was a cold rainy day today, and it was perfect! Thanks to Rebecca Sawyer for the yummy recipe!

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

1 head cauliflower, chopped (or broccoli)

½ c butter

2/3 c chopped onion

2 TBS flour

2 c chicken broth (made from cauliflower water and bullion)

2 c milk

½ tsp worchestershire sauce

¾ tsp salt

2 c cheese grated

Cook cauliflower reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid. In saucepan, melt butter and sauté onion. Add flour and then chicken broth. Stirring constantly, cook until boiling. Add reserved liquid, cauliflower, milk, worchestershire sauce and salt. Heat until hot. Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted. Serve with hot bread.

Chicken Taco Soup

You'll need:
2 large chicken breast cooked(you can use canned chicken if you like you'll need 2 cans)
1 can of pinto beans
1 can of water after you dump pinto beans
1 can of corn
2 cans of rotel
1/2 cup of rice (uncooked)
1 can of chicken broth
A packet of chicken taco seasoning
simmer all day you can add cheese and chips if you would like.

Corn-Potato Chowder

My favorite time of the year is here! I love all the soups and chowders to make you feel warm and cozy inside! (Although Arizona is an exception!) They are still fun to eat! Here is one of my favorite recipes:

1/3 c. butter, opt.

2 1/4 c. water

4 c. potatoes, cut up

2/3 c. celery, cut up

3 green onions, sliced

Cook together, simmer 20 minutes.

Make white sauce:

6 T. butter

6 T. flour

2 1/2 c. milk

1 1/2 tsp. dill weed

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Add to cooked vegetables and water. Add 16 oz. can corn and 2 c. grated cheese. Heat through. Enjoy!

Caramel

I don't know about you, but I always crave apples and caramel in October! I thought I would share a super simple, delicious recipe from my Aunt Debbie.

1 cup sugar

1 can condensed milk (Sego brand is best!)

1 cube butter

Boil slowly until desired thickness.

You can use as an ice cream topping and of course for apple dipping! Enjoy!

chicken burritos

yummy chicken burritos

mix together:

2 cans chicken chunks, shredded

1 bunch cilantro (optional if you don't like it)

1 cans black beans, drained

cumin to taste ...reallly good,
sauted onions, garlic and bell pepper. (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

3/4 to 1 jar of salsa

tortillas---uncooked are best, heated

or regular flour tortillas at room temp

Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture, top with cheese and roll up and place in baking dish. Top with more cheese. Bake at 375' for 10-15 minutes until hot and heated through and cheese is melted and browned.

Serve with sour cream, salsa and guacamole. (also lettuce and tomato)
picture to come later.....

good chili

I made this chili tonight for the first time, and everyone loved it! My finicky little eaters snarfed it down. I think one thing that helped my kids to eat it was that I let them be a part of making it.

They helped add ingredients, stir and even an occasional taste test along the way. Once they had helped be a party of making it, they were excited to try "their" dinner. They also liked that they could add a little cheese and sour cream. It was also quick and easy to make. If you brown the meat and onions first, then you could also add it all to a crock pot to simmer all afternoon. Hope you like it!

Ingredients

(I didn't have garlic cloves, so I added garlic powder. I also used canned pinto beans since I was out of chili beans, and it turned out great!)

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 (28 ounce) can chili beans

Directions

1. Saute meat, onions and garlic until done.
2. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 2 hours.

Top with cheese and a dollop of sour cream and serve!!

Philly Cheesesteak

Ok, so Philly Cheesesteaks never look too appetizing but they take less than 5 minutes to make and they are Deeliccciousss!!

1 box of Thinly Sliced Philly Beef Steak (You can buy a box at Walmart in the meat department in their freezer chests for I think $3.00)

2 slices of provolone cheese per sandwich

Hoagie bread (I like to get Le Francais soft french rolls, they are sooo soft, can be found near the bagels)

1/2 an onion, sliced

1/2 a bell pepper, sliced

Sprinkle Italian Seasoning over the top.

Cut up your onion, bell pepper, and prepare provolone cheese in the hoagie sandwhich as the next part goes quick.
Toss your sliced veggies in a medium to high frying pan and then add your meat cooking everything together.
Meat may be cooked from frozen or thawed. Place beef in preheated pan for 20- 30 seconds, tun beef over and begin to stir the meat to break it apart. Cook for another 2 1/2 mintues or until throughly browned.
Salt and Pepper the meat and vegetables really well.
Place inside the haogie with cheese already layed out inside.
Sprinkle italian seasoning over the sandwhich. Enjoy!
Total cooking time is 3 minutes.
Depending the number of beef patties used determines the serving size.

Happy Trails Mix

1 cup Chex-mix snack(any flavor)
1/2 cup frosted animal cookies
1/4 cup M&M's
1/4 cup raisins
Ice Cream cones

In A Ziploc bag mix all ingredients and pour into the Ice Cream cones. Makes a healthy snack for the kiddos. I usually use the colored ice cream cones.

Enjoy!!

black bean taco meat

Since we have been on the topic of tacos, here is a super simple way to spice up your taco meat!!
All you need is:

1 can black beans
1 lb. ground beef
1 8 oz can tomato sauce

Brown the ground beef and drain. Then add 1 can black beans and 1 can tomato sauce.
There you go, that's it! It is great for tacos, nachos, or beef burritos.

One- Pan Taco Beef and Noodle Skillet

I made this recipe for the first time.
It was easy to make and my family enjoyed
the taste, especially the chips.

Prep Time:
10 min
Total Time:
30 min

Makes:
4 servings, 1-3/4 cups each
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 pkg. (1-1/4 oz.) Taco Seasoning Mix
2 cups water
1 pkg. (7-1/4 oz.) Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
1/3 cup Sour Cream
1 large tomato, chopped
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 cup tortilla chips, broken up

BROWN meat in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Add seasoning mix, water and Macaroni; mix lightly. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover. Simmer 7 min. or until noodles are tender and liquid is almost completely absorbed.

STIR in sour cream and Cheese Sauce Mix until well blended.

TOP with tomatoes, lettuce and tortilla chips.

A Kraft foods recipe

Taco Soup

We had this for dinner last night and my kids loved it! Nothing left for today! It is so easy to make too.

Taco Soup

1lb hamburger
1 onion, chopped
1pkg taco seasoning
2-16oz cans diced tomatoes
1-5oz. can kidney beans, drained
1-16oz can corn, drained
2-8oz cans tomato sauce
Brown sugar to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste

Brown hamburger with onions. Remove any grease. Stir in remaining ingredients. Serve with cornbread, rolls or tortilla chips. Can add cheese and sour cream to your bowl of soup if desired.

Mac & Cheese Tuna Casserole

My kids love this easy and simple dinner.

Ingredients:
Box of Macaroni and Cheese
Can of Tuna
Can of Cream of Celery
Milk

Boil macaroni until noodles are soft, drain.
Mix tuna and cream of celery in a medium casserole dish.
Then add your macaroni and cheese powder, mix well
then add a little milk and stir.(add just enough to make it creamy,not soupy)
Place in Oven at 350* until warm (10-15 min.)

*You can mix in diced red peppers which is very yummy
and then top it off with crushed potato chips, place in oven.
Happy Eating!

Oven Steak Fries

5 potatoes, with skins, cut into thin wedges
3 tbl evoo(extra virgin olive oil)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp steak seasoning blend like Montreal Seasoning by McCormick Or salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.


Preheat oven to high. Cut potatoes and spread out on a cookie sheet. Coat potatoes with EVOO, dried herbs, and steak seasoning or salt and pepper. Spread potatoes to the corners of the cookie sheet and cook in a very hot oven, 25 minutes, turning them once halfway. Serve fries hot from the oven.

Enjoy!

Broccoli chicken Alfredo with Penne Pasta

We had this tonight and it was so good. All of my family loved it , too! This dinner would also work great as a casserole, too!

Broccoli chicken Alfredo with Penne Pasta

First cut 4-6 chicken breasts into strips. Saute chicken in olive oil, salt & pepper, garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning.

SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
  
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 cups milk
• 6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS FOR SAUCE

1. Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stir in Parmesan and pepper. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long

Toss with hot pasta to serve. Top with chicken and broccoli and some grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

A little twist to a basic peanut butter cookie.

These are so so yummy...
They are fast and very easy.
It's your basic peanut butter cookie recipe.
Then roll in sugar and place in mini muffin pan, bake.
when done push down a reese's peanut butter cup in the middle.
let cool. Then eat and enjoy with a cold glass of milk.

Yummy easy spaghetti sauce

This is my favorite spaghetti sauce recipe. It comes from a freezer cookbook called Once a Month Cooking. This makes alot so plan on freezing about half of the recipe.

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Ingredients

• 1 lb Italian sausage
• 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 3 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I used 1 TBS dried parsley)
  
• 2 teaspoons salt

Directions

1. Brown the sausage with the onion and drain.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer, partly covered, for 1-2 hours.
3. Simmering can be done in a crockpot, if desired.
4. This makes alot of sauce and can be frozen beautifully.

Crock pot BBQ Chicken

This is super easy....

4-6 Chicken Breasts
1 Bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Put chicken in crock pot and pour BBQ sauce on top. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

We serve this with rice and use the BBQ sauce as gravy on top. This can be used with any kind of chicken, even the kind that comes with bones :)

Mexican Fiesta Salad

Makes 4 servings

2 ripe avocados
3 vine-ripe tomatoes
1/2 sweet onion(yellow)
Chopped Cilantro(about 2 tbl)
coarse salt
Evoo(extra virgin olive oil)

Cut avocados in half. Remove the pit and carefully scoop out avocado halves with a spoon. Cut into wedges and pile in the center of a large platter. Seed and wedge the tomatoes and arrange around the avocados. Arrange sliced onion over platter and sprinkle all with cilantro. squeeze the juice of 2 limes evenly over vegetables. Season with coarse salt, drizzle with evoo and serve.

Very Light and refreshing Salad.
Enjoy!

Super Stuffed Potatoes

Makes 4 Servings

4 Slices center-cut bacon, chopped
2 all purpose potatoes
1/2 cup sour cream
2 scallions, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup of cheddar cheese, any kind will work

In a small skillet over medium heat brown bacon then drain on a paper towel.
Cook the potatoes in Microwave on high
Let the potatoes cool
Preheat your broiler
Carefully cut potatoes length wise and scoop out the potatoes and put into a bowl. Combine with sour cream, scallions, salt, pepper and cheese. Scoop back into the cut potatoes skins and place under broiler to lightly brown the tops and then serve.

You can put in kinds of vegetable in these to hide for the picky eaters in your house. Like broccoli chopped. If you don't like bacon use Ham instead. Also you can fry the potatoes skins and dip them into nacho cheese(without the filling of course).

Enjoy!

Baked Rigatoni or "BASAGNA" (as my kids call it!)

1 Box Rigatoni Noodles

2 cups shredded Mozarella
2 jars of Ragu Super Vegetable Primavera
(it tastes better with that specific sauce)
1 12ounce ( I think...it's a little bigger than a yogurt) Part Skim Ricotta Cheese


Cook noodles as directed.
Drain, and put back in pot.
Add 1 1/2 jars of sauce, 1/2 your mozarella, and all of the ricotta.
Mix Well.
Pour into Greased 9x13.
Pour the rest of sauce over it.
Sprinkle rest of mozarella over it.
Bake 350 for 20 or so minutes.

A TOTAL CROWD PLEASER!!! Everyone loves this. I took it as a meal to someone and they called asking (joking of course) for more! It really takes about 10 minutes to prepare, and then cook time! Way easy! And not expensive! And you know what my motto is :

If we are what we eat, I must be fast, cheap, and easy!

Cheddar Chicken Spaghetti

Another family favorite
1 package (7 ounces) spaghetti, broken
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon diced pimientos, optional
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the
chicken, 1 cup cheese, soup, milk, pimientos if desired, salt and pepper. Drain
spaghetti; add to the chicken mixture and toss to coat. Transfer to a greased
13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake,
uncovered, at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until heated through.

Yield: 6-8 servings.

Favorite Chicken Casserole

One of our family favorites.
2 cups sour cream
1 can (10-3/4) condensed cream of chicken
2-1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1-3/4 cups of butter-flavored cracker crumbs*
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

In bowl, combine the sour cream, soup.
Stir in chicken. Pour into a greased
11-in.x7in.x2in. baking dish(I just use any
small to medium dish). Combine the cracker crumbs
and butter; sprinkle over top. Bake uncovered at
350 for 25-30 minutes or until heated through
Yield 4 servings
*Side Note I sometimes use stove top stuffing
in place of crackers. Follow the instruction on box
once done place on top of casserole.

Serve with cooked carrots:
Add a few drops of honey to water as carrots are cooking.
Gives the carrots a sweet taste that children like.

need dinner ideas?

This blog is for finding and sharing every day dinner ideas that your family love. It gets hard to think of dinner ideas every day, and it's always nice to have some more ideas! So, this is the place to look for ideas and to share your family favorites.
If you want to be a contributor and add recipes, please email me to add your name.

When you post a new idea, we'd love to see a picture as well!

Happy cooking!