Tuna Casserole

Another easy favorite. I don't know where I got this recipe....but with crushed potato chips on top its hard not to take a trip down memory lane.

Tuna Casserole

1 1/2C Elbow Macaroni (or pasta of choice) - cooked as directed

1C Shredded Cheese (cheddar, colby jack etc)

1Can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1C Milk

1Can Mushroom Stems and Pieces - chopped

1Can Tuna - drained

2tsp Dried Minced Onion

1/2tsp Dry Mustard

1/2C Crushed Potato Chips

In large bowl mix together milk and soup until combined. Add all remaining ingredients (except potato chips) and mix well.

Pour into casserole dish or 8x8 and top with potato chips. Bake @ 350* for 25-35 minutes.

Mom's Meatloaf

I've never made another meatloaf, I've always gone for my Mom's recipe. Maybe one day I'll branch out and try a different recipe!

Meatloaf

1lb Ground Beef (Elk or Venison)

1 Egg

1C Cornflakes

1tsp Dry Mustard

1pkg Dry Onion Soup Mix

*Ketchup

*Milk

*Mix together about 1/2C ketchup with 1/8C milk until it's runny....but too runny. Add more milk if needed.

Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix by hand until combined well.

In greased pan, form meat into a loaf and bake @ 350* for 45-55 minutes.

Freezer Meals

I spent a couple hours in the kitchen on Sunday and made a ton of dinners for the freezer:

Meatloaf

Lasagna (1/2 recipe)

Spaghetti Sauce

Enchilada Casserole (1/2 recipe)

Tuna Casserole

I thawed out 2lbs of ground Elk and got busy. First I took 1lb of meat and put together the meatloaf while it was in the oven I browned the rest of the meat.....1/2lb for spaghetti sauce and 1/2lb for lasagna. The spaghetti sauce simmered in a pot while I was putting together everything else. I then worked on the lasagna (sorry no sharing on this recipe, family secret). While the lasagna was cooking. I moved on to the tuna casserole. And lastly I'd thawed out some leftover taco meat and threw together the enchilada casserole too. I didn't cook the enchiladas....just stuck the entire pan in the freezer to cook later. And for freezing. I let everything cool to room temp before packaging it up then I put it in the refrigerator overnight before everything found it's home in the freezer.

Not too bad for a couple hours work.....now my dinner life can be super easy those nights I don't feel like making anything.

Mojito Chicken Salad

This salad was so good....very Spring. It's another Pampered Chef recipe so of course it was fast and easy. Start to finish less than a half hour.

Mojito Chicken Salad

Dressing:

1 Can (15oz) Mandarin Oranges in light syrup - undrained

3T Sugar

2 Limes - 2tsp zest & juice

3T Mint leaves - chopped

1/4tsp Cayenne Pepper

3T Olive Oil

Drain syrup from oranges into microwave safe bowl, stir in sugar. Microwave on high 10-12 minutes until the syrup is thickened. and reduced by half. Add lime zest, lime juice, mint, cayenne and olive oil. Stir/wisk to combine. Set aside 1/4C dressing for chicken, refrigerate remaining until ready to use.

Chicken:

4 Chicken Breasts - salt & peppered

4C Salad Mix - Baby Spring

Mandarin Oranges

Grill chicken 5 mins, turn and brush with dressing. Continue cooking 5-7 mins or until done & brush with dressing.

Toss salad mix in 2T of dressing and divide evenly. Cut chicken into thin slices, arrange over salad plates. Top with oranges and drizzle with remaining dressing.

Sales this Week

Or at least the things I thought were good enough to buy!!

Safeway:

**Cereal for $1.50 or $2.00 per box with their 'mix & match. buy 5, save $5' promotion and you can sweeten the deal by adding coupons. I got 10 boxes (cheerios, fruit loops, crispix, mini wheats) for $10.10 after coupons (would have been $17 without).

**International Delight Coffee Creamer @ $1.99ea (in ad coupon) plus you can add coupons, if you have them.

**18 pk Eggs @ $1.88 (in ad coupon)

Albertsons:

** Quaker Sale, you can get multiple different items for $1 each using the $3 off 5 coupon in their ad. The sale includes cereal, granola bars, oatmeal, pancake mix, breakfast cookies etc.

**Hot Dogs @ $.88 each (in ad coupon)

**Yoplait Yogurt @ 10/$5

Rosauers:

**Orowheat Sandwich Thins @ $1.69ea

Super One:

**Grapes @ $.98lb

Happy Shopping:)

Tacos

I love Taco Night!! Easy and delicious!! How can you go wrong?! Well I was bummed we didn't have any avocados but I got over it. I won't make tacos unless we have everything....the more choices the better. My only problem is filling them too full.....not really a 'problem'!!

Taco Meat, Refried Beans and Black Beans

Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion and Olives

Cheese

Salsa and Sour Cream

Flour Tortillas

Egg Scramble

Or more like an omelet gone wrong....my pan was too hot so I ended up with egg scramble instead. It was still delicious it just didn't look as good!!

Eggs mixed with a little water or milk

Onions & Mushrooms - sliced & sauteed

Shredded Cheese

Bacon Bits (Recipe Bits and Pieces, or make your own)

Salt

Pepper

Saute onion and mushroom, set aside. Add eggs to pan over med heat, cook halfway. Add your veggies/meat and some cheese. Finish cooking. Top with cheese and serve. Or you could make an actual omelet:)

Pizza

With as much pizza as we eat around here I figured it was time to try a wheat crust. We used boboli (sp?) crust and they were pretty good. I still prefer regular ol pizza crust but we had to at least try right?! And what is easier than slapping sauce, cheese and toppings on an already made crust??

We used:

Canadian Bacon

Mushrooms

Olives

Onion

Pineapple

Pepperoni

Mozzarella Cheese

Ragu Sauce

Orange Glazed Ham

We don't make ham very often but when we do we ALWAYS use this recipe. I have no idea where I got it, it's just on a piece of notebook paper that is all folded up/stained/ripped that somehow always makes it back into my recipe box. It is just delicious!!

Orange Glazed Ham

10lb Ham - bone in

1 1/4C Brown Sugar Packed

1/3C Pineapple Juice

1/3C Honey

1/3 of a large Orange - both juice and zest

2T Dijon Mustard

Place ham in roasting pan. Score ham in a crisscross pattern....don't go too deep just a bit. Place in a 325* oven (it will take about 3 hours to cook). Meanwhile in small sauce pan combine remaining ingredients, mix well. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer for 5-10 minutes and set aside. Sauce will reduce and will thicken as it stands.

Bake ham 2 hours, brush with glaze and bake another 45-60 minutes (or until internal temp is 160*) basting every 10 minutes.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

What to do with all those hard boiled eggs after Easter? Serve them at your family Easter lunch, of course!! We had over 20 eggs to figure out what to do with so this was a perfect way to use some.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Hard Boiled Eggs - diced

Green Onion - diced

Bacon Bits - I prefer the "recipe bits and pieces" packages

Mayo

Mustard

Pepper

Paprika

Lettuce leaves

Bread/Rolls of Choice

This is another as much as as little as you prefer. For 10 eggs I used about 3 green onions and over half a package of bacon bits. Then I mixed it up before adding the mayo and mustard. I always add the mayo first and mix it well before adding the mustard a bit at a time. Once you think it tastes right add a bit of pepper and mix it again. Since there is so much bacon I don't add salt but if you think it needs it, add it.

I served them open faced on mini dinner rolls. Slice rools in half, place a tiny bit of egg salad on roll (to keep lettuce from sliding off), top with lettuce and then a tablespoon or so of egg salad. Place on serving tray and sprinkle with paprika.

Chicken and Rice

I was not in the mood to even think about dinner so we ended up with Chicken and Rice....an easy favorite. I added a few sesame seeds and called it done.

Again, no real recipe here. I used:

Chicken breasts marinated in Ken's Steakhouse Lite Asian Sesame Dressing (grilled by my husband) and served over white rice sprinkled with sesame seeds.

I used a little extra dressing in my bowl but my husband went with plain ol soy sauce. Either way it was good.

Creamy Peppercorn Steak

This is one of my favorite steak dinners. It's fast and easy and most of the time I already have all the ingredients I need to make it.

Creamy Peppercorn Steaks

4 Steaks of Choice - marinate in Zesty Italian Dressing 30min to overnight

1/3C Sour Cream

4-5tsp Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/4-1/2tsp Pepper

2T Zesty Italian Dressing (fat free works just fine)

1 Large Red Onion - sliced and rings separated

Grill steaks to perfection.

In small bowl combine sour cream, parmesan cheese, pepper and dressing. Mix well. Refrigerate until ready to use. Can be made the night before.

Cook onions in large non stick skillet in a bit of olive oil over med-high heat for 7-8 minutes or until golden brown.

Place steak on plates, top with onion and drizzle with sauce.

Nachos

Wow, these were great! Better than restaurant nachos if you ask us!!

No real recipe here.....just as much or as little as you want. We used:

Black Beans

Refried Beans (mixed with a little water)

Diced Red Onion

Olives

Tomatoes

Colby Jack Cheese (tons)

Sour Cream

Salsa

Guacamole (here)

Chips

Layer chips on baking dish, single layer. Sprinkle with beans, tomatoes, onions, olives and cheese. Repeat layer if needed. Bake @ 350* 10-15 minutes or until cheese melts. Top with sour cream, salsa and guacamole.