sixteen sunbuckles

RECIPE BOX | pizza casserole

Brandon's grandma gave me this recipe at my wedding shower. I love grandma recipes because they are usually simple, easy, and delicious. I was A-M-A-Z-E-D when Anna gobbled it up (meat and all) so I knew it was something I had to take out and make immediately (and often)! I especially love this because you can throw leftover ingredients into it. I usually dethaw leftover noodles from previous meals. Add a little green pepper if you are feeling spicy or a can of crushed tomatoes!

PIZZA CASSEROLE

1lb. hamburger (or ground turkey)
1/2 chopped small onion
2 cups cooked macaroni
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 pkg. shredded cheese
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. onion salt
1/2 cup puree carrot, cauliflower, squash (for the kid that doesn't eat vegetables)

Brown meat and onion in skillet. Season with last five ingredients. Combine meat, macaroni and sauce. Put half of mixture in a baking dish, then add half of cheese, repeat with sauce. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cheese looks melted.

Labels: casserole, dinner, pizza, pizza casserole, recipe, recipe box, recipe of the week

{recipe of the week} 20 freezer meals for less than $150 prepped in 2 hours

My husband and I are currently living apart. No, there isn't anything wrong with our marriage. He was relocated for work for the next 18 months. My daughter and I went to visit him for the past two weeks. If your husband is like mine, he would probably be living on soup and frozen pizza when you aren't around to cook for him. I was determined to leave there knowing he would have some hearty and easy meals to come home to after a 12 hour work day.

I strategically planned out 20 meals my husband could easily put together.
I purchased all the ingredients for under $150.
I prepped everything and cleaned up the mess during my daughter's two hour nap.
I might give myself wife of the year... or at least the day.

Give yourself wife of the year and try these. They are already getting high approval ratings from the husband. Most of them are crockpot with the exception of the stromboli recipe at the end. Its a simple freeze and bake later recipe. I divided all the crockpot recipes in half and put them into two gallon size bags since our family is small and we eat less at one time.

Easy peezy lemon squeezy. Let's get started.

Chicken Cacciatore
adapted from six sisters stuff

1 lb chicken breasts

1 (26 oz) jar of chunky vegetable-style spaghetti sauce

1 zucchini, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 sweet onion, chopped

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag and mix together.

Garnish: chopped black olives, shredded Parm cheese

When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.

1 lb. chicken
1 veggie style spaghetti sauce
1 zucchini
1 green pepper (I didn't use one)
1/2 onion
Chop everything. Place all ingredients in a gallon size freezer bag (I double bag to be double safe). Thaw in fridge 24 hours before ready to cook. Cook in crockpot on high 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Serve with noodles or rice.

Mexican Style Chicken Chili
adapted from snappy gourmet
2 lbs. chicken breast
1 green pepper
2 garlic cloves
4 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans black beans (or your favorite)
2 small jalapenos
1 lime
1/2 tsp. cumin
Chop all ingredients except lime. Zest and juice the lime. Place all ingredients in a gallon size freezer bag (I double bag to be double safe). Thaw in fridge 24 hours before ready to cook. Cook in crockpot on high 4 hours or low 8 hours. Serve.

Hearty Beef Stew
adapted from six sisters stuff
*this makes A LOT. You might even want to divide this into 3 or 4 bags.
2 lb. beef stew cubes
8 carrots sliced
8 red potatoes
2 package dry onion soup mix
3 8oz. cans tomato sauce
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 package frozen peas
Chop carrots and potatoes. Place all ingredients in a gallon size freezer bag (I double bag to be double safe). Thaw in fridge 24 hours before ready to cook. Cook in crockpot on high 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Serve.

Sesame Chicken
adapted from emilylovesfood
6 chicken thighs
1/2 onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. low sodium soy sauce
1 small can tomato puree
A couple good dashes of sesame seeds
2 c. broccoli florets
Chop onion and garlic cloves. Place all ingredients except broccoli in a gallon size freezer bag (I double bag to be double safe). Bring a sauce pan of water to boil. Place broccoli in boiling water and steam until they are a "tender crisp". You want them still crispy a little, NOT done. Cool broccoli and place in quart size freezer bag. Place quart size freezer bag and gallon size freezer bag together in freezer (I actually stuffed them both into another gallon freezer bag so they'd always be a pair). Thaw in fridge 24 hours before ready to cook. Cook everything except broccoli in crockpot on high 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Heat broccoli in microwave. Serve the entire dish over rice.

Cilantro Lime Chicken (with corn and black beans)
adapted from six sisters stuff
1 lb. chicken breast
Juice from 2 limes
1 bunch cilantro
1 bag frozen corn
2 minced garlic cloves
1 can drained black beans
1 tsp. cumin
Chop cilantro. Place all ingredients in gallon size freezer bag (I double bag to be double safe). Thaw in fridge 24 hours before ready to cook. Cook in crockpot on high 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Serve with tortillas and salsa.

Freeze, and Bake Stromboli
adapted from joel and kitty
1 package of provoline
1 box of frozen chopped spinach
2 packs of turkey pepperoni
1 big bag of shredded mozzarella
4 balls of pizza dough
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
4 aluminum 8x8 pans
aluminum foil

This makes 4 strombolis. Thaw out spinach ahead of time. Make dough into rectangles in aluminum pans. Layer sauce, cheese, pepperoni, and spinach. Wrap it up and pinch seams shut. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Thaw in fridge fully before baking. Place in warm oven then crank to 375 deg. F and bake until golden. As shown above I wrote the baking directions directly onto the foil with a black sharpie.

1 lb chicken breasts

1 (26 oz) jar of chunky vegetable-style spaghetti sauce

1 zucchini, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 sweet onion, chopped

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag and mix together.

Garnish: chopped black olives, shredded Parm cheese

When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.

Labels: fix and freeze, freeze and bake, recipe of the week

(recipe of the week) pot pie biscuit

I'm always trying to find ways to sneak in vegetables to my toddler's diet. About a year ago I made a more complex version with bisquik (check out that recipe here), but all I had today on hand was Pillsbury biscuits. So I improvised!

Anna is starting to become momma's lil helper. She loves when I get the little stool out so she can help me make dinner.

This recipe is pretty easy for a toddler to help with. Just make sure you have everything out and ready beforehand. And don't get upset if some spills on the floor. Find joy in the mess that's my new motto!

Pot Pie Biscuit
2 cans of refrigerated biscuits
2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup diced cooked chicken (or leftover thanksgiving turkey!) - I used tuna
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
Add two generous handfuls of shredded cheese if desired.
Mix in the tuna, veggies, and soup. Anna enjoyed eating the frozen veggies (my kid is crazy I know...frozen vegetables?)

Heat the oven to 375 deg. F. Press each biscuit into muffin tins. Make a small rim of "crust" around the sides. I also made mini biscuits in my mini muffin tin. Just cut the biscuit dough in half if you want to make minis.

Spoon in the vegetable mixture to each muffin cup. Don't overflow them. You might need to reshape your crust rim a little to make sure they don't seep. They should look something like this.

Now place them in your preheated oven for 18-22 minutes. You just want to brown the biscuit. Let them cool and pop them out of the tin. TO FREEZE: After cooled to room temperature, place in freezer bag. Pop them out and microwave for a quick meal.

Labels: biscuit, fix and freeze, pillsbury, pot pie, recipe box, recipe of the week, toddler meals, vegetables

{recipe of the week} Pumpkin Pancakes

My mom made me these while we were home visiting one weekend a few weekends back. I am still thinking about them! I have so many recipes so when I copy down a new one I have to be sure its worth while. This one is. With so many house guests arriving this time of year make some of these ahead of time and pull them out of your freezer! Now use up the rest of your pumpkin and get to baking.

Pumpkin Pancakes

the goods
2 c flour
3 Tbl brown sugar
1 Tbl baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4c milk
3 eggs lightly beaten
3/4 c pumpkin
1/4 c cooking oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger

let's get to baking
In a large bowl combine flour and other dry ingredients. In a second bowl combine eggs and remaining ingredients. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture until slightly lumpy. Heat a lightly greased griddle on a medium heat for each pancake. Pour 1/4 c batter. Cook until golden and turn.

make's 16 pancakes

Labels: breakfast, fall, pancake, pumpkin, recipe, recipe box, recipe of the week

{recipe of the week} pizza // chicken caesar

Adapted from Fitness Magazine

{the goods}
1/2 pound whole-wheat pizza dough
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves
3 anchovy fillets
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 pound chicken cutlets
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large head romaine lettuce, chopped (about 12 cups)

** Let's be honest. I didn't have time to make my own dough. I just used the whole-wheat already made pizza crust from Wal-mart. It comes as a two pack so I made this for myself and a traditional pepperoni for my husband. You can also freeze the extra crust for a later pizza night.

{get to bakin}

Preheat oven to 500 degrees . Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over high heat. Divide dough into four pieces and stretch each one to roughly the size of the skillet. Add 1/2 teaspoon oil to skillet, swirling to coat, and put in one piece of dough. Cook 1 minute, then flip and bake until brown and crisp, about 5 minutes; set aside. Repeat with remaining dough.

Meanwhile, using a blender or a hand blender, puree 2 tablespoons oil, garlic, anchovies, yogurt, lemon juice, mustard and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Return skillet to burner over high heat. Toss chicken with remaining oil and season with salt and remaining pepper. Cook, flipping once, until golden and cooked through, about 4 minutes.

Slice chicken into 1/2-inch pieces and toss with romaine and dressing in a large bowl. Divide among pizzas and sprinkle with Parmesan.

Labels: chicken, chicken caesar, fitness magazine, homemade, pizza, pizza dough, recipe box, recipe of the week

{recipe of the week} Real Simple's Lobster Rolls

My first time ever cooking lobster tail. Its not nearly as scary and intimidating as it sounds. This was husband approved (and I loved it too. I don't even like lobster). The dog got a few table scraps and I do believe he is hooked as well.

Adapted from the July 2013 Issue of Real Simple Magazine.
Serves 4
Cooking Time 20 minutes

{the goods}
4 lobster tails (1 1/2lbs.) thawed
3 Tbl. unsalted butter at room temperature
1 c. fresh corn (about 1 ear)
2 stalks of celery sliced
1/3 c. mayo
1 Tbl. lemon juice
salt and pepper
4 hot dog buns
** 1-2 dashes of cayenne pepper for a little kick

{to cook}
Fill large saucepan with 1 inch of water and fit with steamer basket. Bring to a simmer. Place tails in basket, cover, steam until opaque (8-10 minutes). Remove tails. Using shears cut straight down the central membrane and pull apart to break tail in half. Remove meat from shell immediately (to stop cooking) and chop. Cool. Heat oven broiler to low. Butter inside of hot dog buns and place on cookie sheet. Put in oven and broil until slightly crisp on edges. (WATCH and don't burn the buns!) This might only take you 5 minutes depending on your broiler. Take buns out of oven and divide salad between buns.

This is a great leftover recipe for lunch the next day.

Labels: lobster, lobster roll, recipe of the week

{Recipe of the Week} Anna's 1st Birthday // Colorful Dots // Fruit Cookies

Sometimes I get tired of balling melons all the time for fruit bowls. I whipped these up in no time for Anna's birthday part. They were a hit especially with her one year old friends.

Labels: anna's birthday, fruit cookies, recipe of the week, summer

{recipe of the week} Gwyneth Paltrow's Turkey Meatballs

As I flipped through her book, It's all Good I noticed these little babies call for a whole handful of argula. What? some greens? Ok, sounds good to me! I'm on a "greens" kick ever since my dietician at my physical told me I needed to eat more of them (oh yuck I told her). So If I can squeeze in a few good things for me while I'm eating a meatlball so be it!

Turkey Meatballs
{the goods}
1 small onion, roughly chopped (I just used onion salt)
2 garlic cloves roughly chopped
8 fresh sage leaves
8 large fresh basil leaves
Leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
Leaves from a 5-inch sprig of rosemary
1/4 cup of Italian parsley
1 large handful of arugula roughly chopped
1 pound of ground turkey
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 cups Tomato Sauce
3 Tbl extra virgin olive oil

** I didn't have any fresh herbs on hand so I used dry. Whenever you use dry you always use far less in quantity than you would fresh. Its a 3 to 1 ratio normally. I used one heaping Tbl of each. I'm not much for exact measurements.

Combine the onion, garlic, herbs, and arugula in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until very finely chopped.

Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl along with the turkey, salt, and pepper. (I also added a little zucchini and spaghetti squash puree here. Bonus for extra veggies you can't taste!) Use your hands to thoroughly combine all the ingredients, then roll the mixture into golf ball-sized meatballs (mine were a bit larger)

Place the tomato sauce in a large pot set over low heat and let it get warm.

While the sauce is warming, heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the meatballs, in batches if necessary, until they're browned all over 2-3 minutes on a side. (If they start to stick turn your heat down)

Transfer the browned meatballs to a simmering tomato sauce and partially cover the pot. let the meatballs cook gently for 1/2 hour, carefully stirring every now and then to make sure they're cooking evenly. Serve hot with your favorite pasta, a pot of polenta, or even on their own alongside some broccoli rabe. (We used pasta)

Labels: arugula, clean eating, recipe box, recipe of the week, turkey

{recipe of the week} Gwyneth Paltrow's Green Juice

I finally bought Gwyneth Paltrow's It's All Good Cookbook which I've been eyeing since January. It went 30% off at Safeway so I snatched it up and added it to the cart.

Its a beautiful cookbook. I wrote down a few things to try and the my first was her green Juice. I'm trying to appreciate green juice. Its mind over matter for me. I hate big leafy greens, but they are good for me and my doctor told me I need to eat more of them. So, here we go. Glasses up.

The Best Green Juice
{the goods}
5 large leaves of kale, ribs discarded, leaves roughly chopped (I only used 3)
1 lemon, zest and pith removed
1 large apple, roughly chopped (I used a fuji)
1 1-inch piece of fresh ginger (I used 1/8 tsp of dried ginger)
1 sprig of fresh mint

Push all ingredients through your juicer.

-Or- if you don't have a juicer (like me) you can use your trusty old blender.

^ Pull of the leaves from the ribs. If you have little ones they can help with this. Then chop or tear apart leaves ^

^ Zest your lemon, cut out the pitch (and seeds), cut into chunks ^

^ Core and cut your apple into chunks ^

^ Pull off your mint leaves from the stem ^

^ Throw everything in your blender with 1/4 cup of water. You might need to blend and stir, blend and stir. ^

^ When blended add a few ice cubes so its a cold drink. Then blend in the cubes. ^

^ Its going to be thick. Pour the contents into a wire mesh strainer over a bowl (or measuring cup) and let drip. You may need to stir the paste a little to keep the liquid flowing. ^

^ While that drains put your little one down for her morning nap. ^

^ Now enjoy your quiet house and green juice.^

{all pictures by Sixteen Sunbuckles}

Labels: anna, clean eating, green juice, recipe box, recipe of the week

(recipe of the week} my mom's crockpot lasagna with a spicy twist

I love trying new recipes. I also love a new cookbook. I'm obsessed and if our house was any bigger I would probably be a hoarder of cookbooks. But before you start passing judgment let me just say that I DO use them all. And I have them all color coded (maybe cookbook organization is for another day?)

Here was the dilemma for the night.

Sometimes I'm not feeling overly adventurous and just need some good ole wholesome comfort food (aka... momma's cooking). My momma lives over 1800 miles away so I know we can't sit down at her kitchen table any time soon.

AND its my husband's birthday (well and mine. We are a day apart) so I definitely don't feel like cooking. And he loves lasagna which is such a high maintenance dinner I dread it. (I always burn myself on those noodles)

So... here comes Mom to the rescue (as always). My three favorite ladies of all time gave me this handwritten recipe book for Christmas a few years back. Its a treasure. Her crockpot lasagna is delicious. Mom however never lived in south Texas. Brandon and I usually enjoy a bit more "kick" to our food so here is her lasagna with my own personal twist. If you don't like it spicy then don't add the kick!

Oh and did I mention its crockpot and SUPER easy???

Crockpot Lasagna with a Spicy Twist
{the goods}
1/2 lb. spicy italian sausage
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 c. chopped onion (or a couple dashes of onion salt since we don't eat onions here)
1 green pepper chopped
dash of red pepper flakes
2 cans tomato sauce (i used spaghetti sauce)
2 tsp. salt
15 oz. carton part-skim ricotta cheese (or cottage which I prefer because its creamier)
1 small box of dethawed chopped spinach
1 c. parmesean grated
3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
12 uncooked lasagna noodles

^ Got all your ingredients? ^

^ my new favorite crockpot secret -- no mess and easy clean up ^

^ get your little helper situated with something that will entertain her (for 2 minutes at least)

^ if you can buy already ground sausage that is recommended ^

^ I always buy my ground beef in bulk at Costco. Then I divide and freeze the rest for another day(s) ^

In a large skillet, cook sausage, ground beef, and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink (8-10 min or so) stirring occasionally. Drain

^ Cut up your green pepper (and onion) and any other vegetables you might want to add ^

^ I threw in some spaghetti squash puree. Anna has decided she only likes finger food now. No one in our family will even notice there are EXTRA vegetables in this lasagna. Add squash, cauliflower, carrots, etc. You'll feel like super mom knowing everyone is getting an extra serving of vegetables. ^

^ Stir in your vegetables, tomato sauce, italian seasoning, and salt. ^

^ In a medium bowl mix ricotta cheese, parmesean cheese, 2 c. mozzarella cheese, and spinach. You may need to add a little of one thing or the other to get the right blend. I like mine a bit creamier. ^