Beefy French Onion Potpie

• 1lb ground beef
• 1 small onion, diced (I was lazy so I used dried minced)
• 1 can french onion soup
• 4 slices of mozzarella cheese (or shredded)
• 1 can of refrigerator biscuits (reduced fat if you want, super fatty if you prefer, whatever)

1. Preheat over to 350-degrees.
2. Brown ground beef with diced onion.
3. Once browned, add soup and boil for 3-5 minutes.
4. Pour into 9x9 baking dish, pie dish, whatever.
5. Top with cheese and bake for 3-5 minutes, until it's melted.
6. Remove and top with biscuits.
7. Bake ~20 minutes.

Serves 6, 10pts + each.

Wild Rice & Shrimp Casserole

• 1 pkg wild rice mix, prepared
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 container mushrooms, chopped
• 1 Tbsp franks
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 1 cup fat-free half and half
• 1/2lb shrimp (frozen and cooked or raw - whichever)

1. preheat over to 350, grease baking dish
2. saute onion, green pepper and mushrooms in butter
3. once tender, add everything else and stir
4. transfer to baking dish
5. bake 30-45 minutes

We head to bake ours more like 45 minutes because I over did on my liquid a bit and our shrimp were frozen.  If it's soupy when the timer goes off, try again in another 5-7 minutes.  This didn't look very appetizing but it was delicious...even Bryker gobbled it up - vegetables and all!

Serves 4, 8pp each.

Hawaiian Meatloaf

Meat:
1 lb ground beef, 90%
1 egg
1/3 of a can of crushed pineapple (drain and save juice)
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 Tbsp pineapple juice
2/3 cup panko crumbs (more or less)
1 tsp salt

Sauce:
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup

1. Preheat over to 350
2. Mix meat ingredients together
3. Combine sauce ingredients in sauce pan, cook until it's all mixed together
4. Pour sauce on meatloaf
5. Bake for 1 hour

6 servings...7 ww points+

4 servings...10.5 ww points+

Some thoughts for cutting points down - cut the brown sugar to 1/4 cup.  Use less panko crumbs...mine needed the 2/3 cup, but maybe my pineapple was too juicy.

Meatloaf pictures always look disgusting - but here's a picture of it anyway...it was - DELICIOUS.

Tomato Tortelline Soup - with chicken!

Another pinterest find we adjusted to our tastes and it was delicious!  Bryker declared it REALLY good and claimed he's "in love with it"...I'd take that as a compliment.

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (or butter or whatever)
• 1 pkg frozen cheese tortellini
• 2 cans condensed tomato soup (I did one healthy recipe and one regular)
• 2 cups chicken broth (I used 3-4 cups to make it a little less creamy)
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 pint half-and-half
• 1/2 cup tomato paste (plain, seasoned, sun-dried - whatever you like)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan
• 1 cup shredded chicken (or diced or none at all)

1. Saute garlic, don't burn
2. Add soup, milk, half-and-half, chicken stock and spices
3. Bring to a simmer
4. Drop in pasta and chicken
5. Simmer another 10-15 minutes, until pasta is done
6. Serve with shredded parmesan and garlic bread

(This picture is from someone else's blog - not my kitchen...but it looks so delicious!)

Pretzel Bites

We love soft pretzels and cheese so it made perfect sense that I at least try to make some on my own...turns out...it isn't that hard!  And it was a fun recipe for Bryker to help with!

I actually only did half of the recipe the time I made it...and while delicious they were salty.  So next time I will probably eliminate the salt from the dough and just do salt for topping.

• 4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup + 1 tsp white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 5 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 4 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and 1 tsp sugar in warm water, let stand about 10 minutes
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, rest of the sugar and salt (as mentioned, I'd skip the salt here)
3. Make a well in the middle of the mixture and pour in the oil and yeast mixture - mix and form into dough
4. If dry, add a little water
5. Knead until smooth, about 7-8 minutes
6. Lightly oil a large bowl (I'm going to do melted butter next time), place dough in bowl and turn to coat
7. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour
8. Preheat oven to 450-degrees
9. Dissolve baking soda into hot water in a large bowl
10. When risen, turn dough out onto floured surface and divide into ropes, cut into bite sizes
11. Dip each piece into soda water mixture
12. Place on greased baking sheet, sprinkle with kosher salt
13. Bake for 8-10 minutes
14. Serve with nacho cheese!

(This picture is from all recipes, not my kitchen...)

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

This one was tasty but requires cooked chicken...so it's more of a leftover casserole :)

2 cups cooked rice
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
6 slices of cheese, whatever kind you like
10 slices of ham, diced
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of panko crumbs
garlic salt to taste
parsley to taste


Spray 9x13 with Pam.

Spread cooked rice on the bottom.

Spread chicken on the rice.

Lay 6 slices of cheese on top of the chicken (I used provolone).

Then sprinkle cut up ham slices on top of the cheese.

Mix cream of chicken soup, milk and sour cream together.


Add garlic salt and parsley to panko crumbs.


Sprinkle on top of casserole.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Breakfast Enchiladas

1 pkg of cooked bacon
1 can chiles, drained
1.5 cups shredded cheese
6-8 flour tortillas
8-10 eggs
1.5 cups milk
1 Tbsp flour

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with Pam - trust me.  I failed to do this on my first attempt and regretted it for days...

Mix chiles with 1 cup of the cheese.

In each tortilla fill with 1-2 slices of bacon and cheese mixture.  Set seam side down into 9x13 baking dish.

Scramble eggs with milk and flour.  Pour over rolled tortillas. 

Bake at 350-degrees for 30-40 minutes.  Pull out and top with remaining cheese, continue baking until melted.

You can prepare this the night before or right before baking - makes no difference - yum!

Green Pepper Casserole

This is a play on a favorite - only with stuffing!  Who can resist stuffing!?

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, diced
2-3 green peppers, diced
1 pkg chicken stuffing
1 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1 cup shredded cheese

Brown ground beef and onion together.

Steam green peppers in microwave so they aren't crunchy in the casserole.

Mix 1/4 cup of stuffing with the melted butter, set aside.

Once the ground beef is browned, add green peppers, corn and tomatoes and mix.  Once mixed, add remaining stuffing that isn't set aside.  Pour into 9x13 baking dish, cover and bake 25 minutes at 400-degrees.

Remove cover, top with reserved stuffing and cheese and bake another 5-10 minutes.

Easy Everything Chicken

So easy - so simple...throw it all together, cover and bake.

2-3 chicken breasts
1 pkg frozen green beans (or whatever veggie you like)
3 medium sized potatoes, diced into 1" chunks
1 stick of butter, melted
1 pkg of italian dressing seasoning mix

Spray a 9x13 baking dish, make three sections - one for chicken, one for veggies, one for potatoes.  Pour melted butter on top of everything.  Sprinkle seasoning packet on top of everything.  Cover with foil and bake at 350-degrees for 1 hour.

Burritos

It was delicious and a keeper!

2lbs stew meat
1 medium sized can of red enchilada sauce
2 beef bouillon cubes

Put these things into a crock pot for 8 hours on low.

4-6 flour tortillas
1 can refried beans, black beans, whatever
1 small pkg of rice (whatever flavor you like), prepared
1 cup of shredded cheese

Put meat into tortilla with beans and rice (optional), roll into burrito with seam side down in a baking dish.  Once you have all the tortillas filled, rolled and placed in the dish spoon the sauce from the crock pot on top, sprinkle with cheese and bake at 375-degrees for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Cheese Wontons

That's right.  I've attempted and perfected cheese wontons.  Yum.  Mee.

• 20 string cheese sticks
• 1 pkg wonton wrappers
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups bread crumbs
• black pepper
• fryer with oil
• marinara and/or honey mustard for dipping

1. have a bowl for bread crumbs (mixed with black pepper to taste)
2. have a bowl for your beaten eggs
3. cut each string cheese stick into thirds
4. place each piece of cheese into a wonton wrapper and roll up
5. once all the cheese is in rolled wrappers, begin to bread them
6. first dip in egg
7. then dip in bread crumbs
8. set aside
9. fry at 350-degrees for 2 minutes

I initially intended to bake these.  And I did try a sample batch via baking...but they were horrible.  So bad that Bryker wouldn't even try the fried version because he insisted they'd be just as bad as the baked ones.  His loss - because they weren't bad at all...in fact, they were incredibly delicious!

Just more proof that most things really are better when fried.

Sticky Buns

• 1 tube refrigerated biscuits
• 3 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup pecans, chopped (optional)

1. preheat oven to 375-degrees
2. spray bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray
3. combine butter and syrup, set aside
4. combine brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts, set aside
5. place half the syrup mixture in the pan, top with half the sugar mixture
6. lay biscuits in pan, slightly overlapping the edges
7. top with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures
8. bake 20-30 minutes, until golden brown
9. cool for a minute or two, invert onto serving plate/platter

Butterfingers

Yes - that's right - homemade butterfingers!

• 16oz bag of candy corn
• 16oz jar of creamy peanut butter
• 12oz bag of milk chocolate chips (or more if you want to coat the entire bar)

1. Melt the candy corn in the microwave...do 1 minute intervals at 50% power so it doesn't burn
2. Mix melted candy corn with peanut butter...warning: it looks disgusting
3. Pour onto a pan that you've lined with parchment paper (I did waxed paper and sprayed it with Pam)
4. Let it harden (a few hours or overnight)
5. Top or coat with melted chocolate chips

Ravioli Bake

• 1 pkg frozen cheese ravioli
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups shredded mozz
• 1 lb ground beef
• garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 450-degrees
2. Brown ground beef
3. Add in diced tomatoes, spaghetti sauce and garlic powder (to taste)
4. Layer sauce, ravioli and shredded cheese
5. Cover and bake 30-40 mins

Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

• 10 cups water
• 2 pkgs (4.3 oz) long grain and wild rice mix
• 2 envelopes chk soup mix, minus the noodles
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cans cream of chk soup
• shredded chk (we used a rotisserie chicken)

1. Mix all but the rice in and cook on low for 2-3 hours (or longer).
2. Add the rice mix about 45 minutes prior to serving.

Went back to calculate points plus...with 8 servings this comes out to 3-4pts per serving.

Sarah's Cheesey Taters

• 2 cups half-n-half (or milk)
• 24 oz potatoes o'brien, thawed
• 24 oz shredded hashbrowns, thawed
• 1.5 sticks butter
• 2/3 lb velveeta

1. melt butter, velveeta and milk on stove in large pot
2. salt & pepper to taste
3. stir in hashbrowns
4. pour into greased cake pan
5. bake for 1 hour at 350-degrees

Hashbrowns usually come in larger sizes so pay attention to the amount you're using.

French Dips

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 shallot (or small onion), diced
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 2 cans beef consomme
• 1.5 lbs deli sliced roast beef
• 4-6 slices of swiss or provolone cheese
• steak seasoning
• 4-6 hoagie buns

1. melt butter in skillet, add shallot/onion ans saute for 2 minutes
2. add flour to butter, cook 1 more minute
3. whisk in consomme, simmer over low heat (I sometimes thicken with corn starch)
4. pile meat loosely across work surface or cutting board and season with grill seasoning
5. then place meat in buns topped with cheese slice
6. bake 5-10 mins at 400-degrees
7. serve sandwiches with au jus

Ice cream (no-cook)

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2/3 cup half-n-half
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• add-ins (i.e. oreos, strawberry pieces, etc)

1. whisk sugar and cream
2. whisk in half-n-half and vanilla
3. churn in ice cream maker, add add-ins in last five minutes

Ice cream (requires cooking)

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup half-n-half
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup flavor (i.e. peanut butter, hot fudge, etc)

1. beat sugar and eggs with electric mixer for about 3 minutes, set aside
2. in a saucepan, bring milk to a simmer over low heat
3. gradually whisk in egg mixture
4. cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon
5. do not boil
6. remove from heat and whisk in flavoring
7. whisk in the remaining ingredients (sweetened condensed milk, half-n-half, vanilla)
8. refrigerate until chilled
9. pour into ice cream maker, church until ready

Sweet Corn

• a dozen ears of sweet corn, shucked
• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 1 pkg of real bacon pieces
• 2 Tbsp small shallot or onion, minced
• 2 Tbsp sun-dried tomatoes
• 6 ears yellow corn
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp flat-leaf parsley, minced (I used dried)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, minced (I didn't use any)
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (I didn't use any)
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• salt & pepper to taste

1. brush corn with olive oil
2. grill for about 15 minutes, rotating sides
3. while grilling, combine butter with all other ingredients
4. serve mixed butter on corn fresh off the grill