Makeover Tater Tot Hotdish

I love tater tot hotdish and when I saw this recipe that makes it a little healthier, I just had to try it! It has the meat and potatoes that a recipe needs to make the hubby happy!! It calls for thawing both the vegetables and the tater tots, but as usual, I forgot to do this so I just threw them in and it turned out great! It's always nice to skip a step!!

Makeover Tater Tot Hotdish
(recipe found in Taste of Home Healthy Cooking)
serves: 8

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound extra lean ground turkey
1 package (16 ounces) frozen mixed vegatables, thawed and drained
3/4 cup french fried onions
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) reduced fat & sodium condensed cream of celery soup, undiluted
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) reduced fat & sodium condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/2 cup fat free milk
4 cups frozen tater tots, thawed

In a large skillet, cook beef and turkey over medium heat until no longer pink. In a 13x9 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray, layer the meat mixture, vegetables and onions. In a small bowl, combine soups and milk; spread over onions. Top with tater tots. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until golden brown.

English Muffin Pizza

Here's a quick and easy recipe that I use with my daycare kids quite a bit!! They love it and I don't have a lot of prep work, which makes it great when you have a houseful of hungry kiddos!

English Muffin Pizza

english muffins
pizza sauce
pepperoni
cheese

Preheat oven to 450. Place english muffin halves on a sheet pan. Spoon pizza sauce on each half and spread around. Top with pepperoni and cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and browned.

I made this recipe the other day and realized that I had forgotten to pick up some pizza sauce. I had alfredo sauce in my fridge, so I substituted this and used mozzarella cheese instead of the regular cheddar that I usually use. The kids still loved it and Josh DEVOURED any extras that I had that night!!

Peach Crisp

Our fire department sells peaches as a fundraiser at the end of each summer, so I love to try new recipes with the peaches - as well as eat them constantly for breakfast, as a snack, etc. I love crisp recipes and found this peach crisp recipe on line. I doubled it for company that we were having and put it in a 9x13 pan. It was a little full and we could have easily gotten by with the regular amount! Whoops... at least there are a lot of leftovers for us to enjoy!

Peach Crisp
(recipe found at www.bakingdessertssuite101.com)

6 cups fresh or frozen peach slices, peeled and pitted
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup unbleached flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick butter, cold, cut in 8 pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9" X 9" glass baking pan or 2 quart stoneware baking dish. Set aside.

In a large bowl, toss peeled and pitted ripe peach slices with 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour and lemon juice and arrange in prepared baking dish. Set aside.

Combine 1 cup flour, 3/4 cup brown sugar, oatmeal and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until blended. With the food processor running, add cold butter a few pieces at a time. Pulse until the butter is incorporated and looks like coarse meal. (If you don't have a food processor, just combine all topping ingredients and use a fork to combine together. Or use your hands like I do, it is a little messy, but it gets the job done! :)

Spread topping ingredients evenly over the peaches and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until peaches are bubbling through and the topping is starting to brown. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes or more before serving.

Black Bean Taco Pizza

Here's another recipe that I wanted to try that I knew Josh wouldn't be super excited about! :) Luckily he was home late from work and stopped for supper on the way home... Black beans and my hubby do not equal a happy camper! The kids and I enjoyed this recipe though - although the green chilies made it a little too spicy for Beau and had him grabbing his tongue quite a bit!

Black Bean Taco Pizza
(recipe found in Taste of Home Healthy Cooking)
Serves: 6

1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 package (6 1/2 ounces) pizza crust mix
1 bottle (8 ounces) taco sauce
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3/4 cup canned black beans
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
2 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups shredded reduced fat colby monterey jack cheese

Coat a 12 inch pizza pan with cooking spray; sprinkle with cornmeal. Prepare pizza dough according to package directions. With floured hands, press dough onto pan. Bake at 450 for 7 minutes or until lightly browned.

Spread with taco sauce. Top with tomatoes, beans, corn, chilies, onions and cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is golden. Serve with sour cream if desired.

Creamy Chicken Tacos

Can anyone say CROCK POT?? I love being able to throw something in the crock pot, leave it and come back to deliciousness for supper! This was a tasty taco recipe that I found... It even calls for starting with FROZEN chicken breasts!! It can't get any better then that!! You can add whatever taco toppings you want, but we just went with a little cheese and lettuce at our house! It was super easy and very yummy!

Creamy Chicken Tacos
(recipe found on jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com)
Serves: 6

5 FROZEN chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups salsa
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup sour cream

Spray the inside of your crock pot with cooking spray and place the chicken inside. In a small mixing bowl, stir together all other ingredients but the butter and sour cream. Pour the sauce over the top of the chicken. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.

Take the chicken out of the crock pot and place on a plate. Shred it all up with a fork and place back in crock pot. Add the little pat of butter and the sour cream, stir it all around until mixed together. Cook for an additional hour.

French Cheeseburger Loaf

This recipe was so quick and easy and tasted delicious all at the same time! I got it ready during naps and threw it in the oven when it was almost supper time. A quick side of veggies and it was a great weeknight meal for our family!

French Cheeseburger Loaf
(recipe found in Taste of Home Healthy Cooking)
Serves: 6

3/4 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
1 small green pepper, chopped
2 garlic, cloves, minced
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tube (11 ounces) refrigerated crusty french loaf
4 slices cheese
1 egg white, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion, pepper and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Stir in the flour, mustard and ketchup; set aside.

Unroll dough starting at the seam. Pat into a 14x12 inch rectangle. Spoon meat mixture lengthwise down the center of the dough; top with cheese slices. Bring long sides of dough to the center over filling; pinch seams to seal. Place seam side down on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Brush with egg white. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. With a sharp knife cut diagonal slits in top of loaf. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Sugar Donut Muffins

I was looking for something yummy for the first day back to daycare for the kids to have for snack and I thought that I would try this recipe that I found. They were seriously so delicious!! OMG, I wanted to sit down and eat all of them by myself! Even the couple of kids that I have that either don't like muffins or don't like "sweets" loved these! They are definitely a keeper recipe that I will make again!

Sugar Donut Muffins
(recipe found on anniebakes.net)
Makes: 10

3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar, for topping

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar and egg until light in color. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Pour into egg mixture and stir to combine. Pour in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract. Divide batter evenly into the muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-18 minutes. When muffins are done, lightly brush the tops with the melted butter and dip into a bowl of sugar. Cool on a wire rack.