Mommy's Mexican Meatloaf

This is easily one of my favorite recipes EVER!! It's so much better than normal meatloaves. And of course, like all my recipes, easy peasy. 

What you need:

1 cup each, Chopped onion and Green Pepper
2 cloves garlic chopped or 2 t. garlic Powder
1 pkg Instant Beef Broth (or beef packet in Ramen noodles)
1.5 pounds Ground meat
3oz Shredded Cheddar Cheese
½ C Salsa
½ C Sour cream
2T Parsley
2tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp. Chili Powder

Sauce for topping
½ C Ketchup
1/4C Brown Sugar
¼ Cup Mustard
½ tsp. Nutmeg

What to do:

Mix all the ingredients well. I use my Kitchen Aid mixer. 

Place in a loaf pan or casserole dish and shape into a loaf.

Cover with foil and place in preheated oven at 375 degrees.

Bake for 45-60 minutes.

I drain the grease at 40 minutes, add topping, and bake until done.

This recipe is DELICIOUS! I serve it with mashed potatoes. Hooray for comfort food!

DIY Easy Disney Shirts!

DIY Disney Shirts!

Hey guys! Happy Sunday! The hubby and I are taking a trip to Disney World and SeaWorld for a week on Saturday! We're so excited to go and the Disney has some awesome discounts for the military and we get to go to SeaWorld for free! How cool is that?!

Being on a budget I knew we wouldn't be able to buy expensive Disney shirts at the park and I love to be crafty so I decided to make my own! I purchased 5 shirts, the fabric, and the materials to make 7 shirts (I had 2 tanks at home) for under $30! That's the price of ONE shirt at Disney.

 Here's how you can make your own Disney shirts! It's so easy! You can do it!

What you need:

T-Shirts
Fabric (I got all of mine at Walmart- the thin, regular fabric is great!
Iron
Paper and Pencil
Heat N Bond (see picture below)

( I got 5 yards so I could have plenty for more shirts down the road. The 1 yard package will make 5 shirts easily)


What to do:

1. Find an outline of Mickey Mouse or a princess that you like and print it at different percentages until you find the size you want for your shirt. (or you can do like me and hold up a thin piece of paper or wax paper and trace it from your computer screen.)


2. Cut it out carefully

3. Hold the cut out piece against a sheet of Heat n Bond Ultrahold and trace it onto the smooth side 

4. Cut out the shape! 

5. Next, lay your fabric on the wrong side up and iron the Heat n Bond shape (iron on the smooth side and place the rough side against the fabric). Press and pick up the iron instead of running the iron all over the shape. Follow the directions on the package. 

6. After the shape is has been ironed on, let it cool, then peel the paper off. You'll be left with a shiny shape.

7. Take fabric scissors and cut out your shape. 

8. Iron the shape onto the shirt shiny side down and follow the directions on the Heat n Bond package. 

9. You're done!! You now have some custom DIY Disney shirts! 

An easy and affordable way to make your own Disney shirts. Cute, huh?!

7 Up Biscuits- 4 ingredients

7 Up Biscuits

These biscuits are delicious and as all the recipes I try- EASY! 4 ingredients. That's it! 

What you need:

2.5 cups Bisquick

1 cup 7 Up

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup butter melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2. Whisk baking mix, 7 Up, sour cream, and melted butter into a bowl until batter is smooth. (if the dough is too thick add a little 7 up, if it's too thin add a little Bisquick)

3. Drop biscuits by large spoonfuls onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or greased. 

4. Bake in preheated oven for about 10-14 minutes or until golden brown. Let biscuits rest for about 5 minutes before serving. 

These only take about 5 minutes to make! I'll definitely be making these again. 

**These may not rise to be thick biscuits. Mine were a little flat but still great

**update from my sister in law: "if you add all the ingredients except the soda, combine well, then fold in the 7-UP gently without overmixing, they'll rise better - you won't lose the carbonation. Hope that helps!"

Easy Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings

(feeds 4)

This recipe is SUPER easy and so yummy! I love comfort foods. 

What you need:

(1) 49 oz can chicken broth

(1) 26 oz can cream of chicken 

1 C. water

1 big can of refrigerated biscuits (or more for more dumplings)

2 C. shredded cooked chicken (I always use leftover rotisserie chicken)

What to do:

Pour chicken broth, cream of chicken, and water into a large stock pot and bring to boil. Once broth is at a steady boil, take biscuits and pull apart 1 to 2 inch pieces and drop into boiling broth. Make sure they're fully immersed for at least a moment. Once all of the dough is in the pot, carefully stir so each piece get covered by the broth. Cover pot and simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cooked chicken and continue to let it simmer for an additional 5 minutes. 

Comments: Leftover rotisserie chicken has always been easiest for us. You can use canned chicken (2 large cans) instead or cooked and shredded chicken breast. If I don't have enough leftover rotisserie chicken I will often add a can of chicken to add a little more meat. Add more biscuit dough or chicken to make it how you like! 

Homemade Puppy Ice Cream

Puppy Ice Cream

Murphy loves ice cream for dogs from the grocery store but it's $3 for 4 teeny tiny cups so we rarely buy it. I saw a recipe on Pinterest for homemade puppy ice cream and decided to try it out! I made a few tweaks to the original recipe.

What you need:

1 (32 oz) Vanilla yogurt

3 tbsp Peanut butter

1 tbsp Honey

2 jars Banana baby food

What to do:

Use a mixer or blender (I used a mixer) and put all the ingredients into the bowl. Stir on medium speed until fully mixed. Pour into small cups or an ice cube tray. 

This recipe made 7 medium sized clear cups full! And the ingredients only cost $3.50! Much cheaper than the grocery store and I know exactly what I'm feeding my fur baby. 

Tomato Tortellini Soup

Tomato Tortellini Soup!

What you need:

1 package (9 oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini
2 cans condensed tomato soup
2 cups chicken broth
1.5 cups milk
2 cups half-and-half (Fat free is okay)
1 small can tomato paste
1 can Italian style stewed tomatoes with oregano, garlic, and basil (drained and diced)
Shredded mozzarella or parmesan cheese to top

What to do:

Add tomato soup, tomato paste, milk, half and half, chicken broth, and tomatoes to large stock pot.

Bring soup to simmer. Once simmering add noodles and cook according to package directions. Mine took around 8 minutes. Top with cheese.

Enjoy!

**Suggestions: The refrigerated tortellini is much more expensive than the frozen kind. I bought Food Club frozen tortellini in a 19 oz. package and thawed out half of the package in warm water before cooking it in the soup for 8 minutes.

Add in additional seasonings or garlic if you wish!

Let me know if you tried it out! I hope you love it as much as we did.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

This recipe is super easy to throw together and was delicious!

What you need:

• 12 Oreo Cookies (off brand is fine too), finely crushed
• 2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted 
• 1/3 cup white chocolate baking chips
• 2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, I prefer Philadelphia
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• Raspberry preserves for topping

How to make it:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Mix crushed oreos and butter and press into bottom of 8x8 pan
• Melt white chocolate in microwave (30 second intervals until melted)
• Beat cream cheese until smooth, add sugar and vanilla
• Add melted chocolate to mixture until blended smoothly
• Add eggs one at a time and beat on low speed
• Pour over crust
• Bake for 25 minutes or until center is almost set
• Cool for 10-15 minutes and spread raspberry preserves on top until fully covered
• Top with some extra white chocolate chips if desired
• Refrigerate for 4 hours

Save on some calories by choosing reduced fat oreos and fat free cream cheese! 

Hope you love this recipe as much as we did! 

Cherry Cheese Pie

Growing up my Grandmother would always make us Cherry Cheese Pie and it has always been one of my favorite desserts! This is incredibly easy and absolutely delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1- 9'' graham cracker crust
• 1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling

*I typically use all off brand ingredients except for the cream cheese. Philadelphia cream cheese is the best for this recipe and blends better. 

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth and fluffy (make sure there are no small chunks), gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Stir in lemon juice and vanilla. 
2. Pour into the pie crust and chill for 4 hours or until set
3. Top with pie filing
4. Store in refrigerator

To speed up the setting process I often put the pie in the freezer for an hour and then transfer to the fridge to finish setting. 

New blog!

Welcome to my new blog!! My name's Elizabeth and I love to bake and cook! I have a wonderful husband, Chris, a cat named Louie, and last but definitely not least the most handsome Goldendoodle in the world, Murphy!

I love to try out new recipes and am always looking for something quick and easy to make. I can't wait to pass along some new dinners and dessert ideas for you to try!