Sunday Family Dinners: Chili Cheese Dog Enchiladas

Enchiladas are a family favorite in our household. I think if it was up to the guys we’d have them every week. And ok I could eat them every week too. And we probably eat them way more than we should! I found a recipe for Chili Cheese Dog Enchiladas and knew we had to try it. Cause Chili Cheese Dogs are awesome and Enchiladas are awesome so combine the two and Yum, just Yum!

Here’s what you’ll need:

10-12 Hot dogs

10-12 Tortillas

2 cans of Chili (without beans)

1 can Enchilada Sauce

2 cups shredded Cheese

Here’s how you make it:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a 13x9 inch pan spread a few spoonfuls of the enchilada sauce in the bottom. Then roll each hotdog up into a tortilla, and place into the pan. Cover with the Chili and Enchilada Sauce, top with Cheese. Bake for 30-45 minutes. Serve with a little shredded cheese.

Enjoy. 

Dark Chocolate Mousse

At the store the other day I saw a package of Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Pudding Mix! 

Ok ya know I had to buy it right! I mean DARK CHOCOLATE PUDDING! I didn’t really know if I was going to just make pudding with it or try something else. Well I decided to try something else. Chocolate Mousse! I’ve made chocolate mousse before with regular pudding and with Nutella you can see that recipe Here. But I wanted to try it with this pudding. It was such a good choice!! I’m pretty sure I will have to come up with some other recipes using this pudding it’s so good!

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 box Pudding

1 ½ cups Milk

1 container Cool Whip

Here’s how you make it:

In a mixing bowl, combine the pudding and the milk, until creamy, add in the cool whip, and whip until no more white is showing. Pour into individual cups, and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve. You can top with whipped cream or shaved chocolate or chocolate chips like I did!

Enjoy

Throw Pillows

Don’t you love it when it seems like there is nothing going on and then BAM your week is jam packed with things to do? That’s us this week. We have Military Functions and School things and Youth Group EVERY SINGLE NIGHT this week! Actually tomorrow we have 2 different events luckily they are not at the same time! It’s nice to be busy, if only because it makes you enjoy the down time that much more! And with our Spring Break starting next week, I know we will be enjoying our down time, after this week.

In a random moment of free time I finally got around to finishing these throw pillows. I’ve had them sewn and ready to be filled for MONTHS now. Just sitting there waiting for stuffing… yeah, I’m a bit of a procrastinator!

This is pretty straight forward and good beginning sewing project. It’s once piece of fabric, folded in half, right sides facing each other and sewn up three sides, leaving a gap wide enough to fill with batting. Turn the pillow right side out and fill with the batting, fold over the opening. Now you can either hand sew this portion or try to do it on the sewing machine.

Enjoy

Healthy Meals: Roasted Cabbage

I’ve been scouring the interwebs (at a recent girls night one of the ladies used that term and I’ve been dying to get it in somewhere) for healthy recipes. The main dishes aren't the hard part for me it’s what to serve with it. Especially if you are trying to watch the bad carbs. I mean if it’s not rice, potatoes or pasta, what else is there? At least that’s what the Hubster thinks! So I am attempting to expand our culinary horizons. And at the same time I am still trying to lose some weight. Which has not been going well! I’ve actually gained 10lbs since the Hubster came back from Afghanistan. Which SUCKS to put it mildly. Ugh anyway this recipe is great, it’s simple and healthy and filling.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 head of Cabbage

1 TBSP Olive Oil

2 TBSP Lemon Juice

1 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

4 strips of Bacon, cooked and crumbled

Here’s how you make it:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Slice the cabbage into 4 wedges. In a small bowl combine the Oil, Lemon Juice, Worcestershire Sauce, and Salt and Pepper and mix. Take 4 sheets of foil, Place a wedge of Cabbage into each sheet of foil, spoon on about 2 TBSP of the sauce onto each wedge. Then top with the bacon crumbles. Fold up the foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 30-45 minutes. Serve warm.

Enjoy

Banana Pumpkin Muffins

I was looking for an easy breakfast, like always. I’ve been feeling a little tired during the week and Man-Child has been complaining about the frequency that cereal is being served. It’s not his favorite thing for breakfast to begin with and especially not when all we have is Cheerios! I’ve been on this kick where I won’t buy new cereal until the box that’s open is finished. We don’t usually eat cereal that often and so it tends to go stale on us, which is wasteful and I hate wasting food! It’s a Mom thing right? I think it comes from our Mom’s telling us to eat our food because of the starving kids in Africa. So cereal has been served more days than not lately and I feel bad about that. I was trying to find a recipe that wouldn’t take long would taste great and would be good for you. I sort of succeeded with this recipe. It’s quick, tastes great and is healthy-ish.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 box Yellow Cake Mix

1 can Pumpkin

2 ripe Bananas

Here’s how you make it:

In a mixing bowl combine all the ingredients. Mix until combined. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners into your muffin pan and fill the liners about 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Enjoy

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

Are y’all having Corned Beef and Cabbage? I guess one of these days I should try it. I was going to this year and then just never got around to it! I mentioned last week that we eat Hamburger Gravy and dye it green for St. Patrick’s Day. Maybe one day if I can figure out a way to get a good picture of it I will make that for the blog too! 

I thought I would share another green dish with everyone today. In case you aren’t into Corned Beef either. We tried this great recipe for Broccoli Cheddar Soup. It was SOOOO good too! Creamy and Rich and just DELISH!

Surprisingly the Hubster liked it too! I was a little worried since it was a vegetarian meal.

You can get the recipe Here.

Enjoy

Seasonal Eating: Mango Peach Smoothie

This year is going by so quickly we are already a third of the way into it! Hard to believe right? I wonder if it’s just because we are getting older that time seems to go by so fast or if it’s just because of how busy our lives have gotten? I know we seem to be busier and busier every time I turn around! It’s almost Baseball season here too so that’ll mean we will be ever busier! We get a little break between football season and baseball season since those are the only 2 sports that Man-Child really plays. Which is kind of nice. Sometimes I wonder how Moms and Dads do it when their kids play every sport! I think it was back when Man-Child was in 5^th grade that he did Football, Basketball and then Baseball, I was wiped out! It felt like we were always on a field or in a gym that year. It’s kind of nice that he plays School sports now, and the practices are after school, frees up a little more time for me!

So here we are in March and that means it’s time to check in and see what fruits and vegies are in season right now! As you can probably guess its slim picking this time of year. Only 2 fruits and 2 vegetables are actually in season right now.

Lettuce and Broccoli are the vegetables and Pineapple and Mango are the fruits. I decided to focus on the fruits this time and decided to make a smoothie. I used fresh Mango, frozen peaches and bananas. It's really refreshing, and light tastes a little like Summer to me!

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 cup Sliced Peaches, frozen

1 cup Mango, cut up

1 Banana, frozen

1 cup Water

Here’s how you make it:

Combine all the ingredients in a blender. Blend on high until everything is well mixed and smooth. Pour into a glass and Serve.

Enjoy!

St. Patrick's Day: Un-decorated

So I really like St. Patrick’s Day, we always wear green and have green foods and drinks. We don’t typically eat Corned Beef and Cabbage, I actually usually make Hamburger Gravy and put green food coloring in it! Which while it is festive and delicious it doesn’t necessarily look appetizing especially not leftover! But it’s our Family tradition that my Mom started I don’t even know how long ago because she doesn’t like Corned Beef!

Anyways, since the Hubster built our Mantle I’ve been trying to decorate it. It’s not that hard when it comes to the everyday, I have lots of things to put up there! But when it comes to a Holiday besides Christmas, I’ve been having a hard time decorating it. Maybe it’s because I don’t really decorate much for anything besides Christmas, Easter, and Fall/Halloween?! My post today was supposed to be a festive St. Patrick’s Day Mantle. But I just couldn’t decide what I wanted to put up there. Also I didn’t want to spend a ton of $$. And DIY décor was leaving me stumped! So my mantle isn’t decorated and St. Patrick’s Day is next week which means it isn’t going to be decorated! I just thought I would share this today! A glimpse into our not so perfect life!

Do you decorate for every Holiday? If so what’s your favorite!?

Maybe I’ll have better LUCK with Easter!

Enjoy!

Tamale Pie

It’s that time of year when I want easy comfort food. Day light savings has just started and since we lost an hour of sleep I feel like I’m in zombie mode?! I love the extra day light in the evenings and for me it means one step closer to Summer so I’m not mad at it, just need a few days to get used to it. But I still want to provide a healthy satisfying dinner for my guys every night.

Tamale Pie fits that bill for me. It’s pretty simple and yet totally filling at the same time. My Mom used to make this for us and while this isn’t her exact recipe, only because I didn’t call her and ask for it this time I just made it as I went. It’s pretty close in flavor to me.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Filling:

1lb Hamburger

2 cans tomato sauce

2tsp Diced Dried Onions (or ½ fresh onion, diced)

3TBSP Chili Powder

1TBSP Adobo Seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 can Black Beans

1 cup Frozen Corn

1 can (14oz) Olives (we were out and I really wish I had remembered to get them)

Topping:

¾ cups Corn Meal

1 ¼ cups Flour

¼ cup Sugar

½ tsp Salt

1 cup Milk

1 Egg

¼ cup Vegetable Oil

½ cup Shredded Cheese (save for the end)

Here’s how you make it:

In a skillet over medium heat, brown the Hamburger and onions, add in the Tomato Sauce, Chili Powder, Adobo Seasoning, Salt and Pepper. Let cook for about 10 minutes then add in the corn, beans and olives. Let cook another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile in a mixing bowl combine all the ingredients for the topping. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Pour the Filling into a deep baking dish. Then pour the Topping over covering the filling completely.

Bake for 15 minutes then top with the Cheese. Finish baking for another 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Healthy Desserts: Energy Bites

In my never ending quest to find a sweet treat that is not only good for you but tastes good as well, I found a bunch of recipes for energy bites. I'd had a version of these before, but I'd never made them myself. All I can say is YUM! Really these are super simple to make as well! Most of it is stuff that you probably already have in your Pantry. The other great thing about this recipe is that it is completely customizable to you and your families tastes.

They are great because they only have about 200 calories and they give you 5 grams of protein, per serving. A serving size is 2 Bites and the recipe makes about 24 Bites.

You can add different things to up the health factor like chia and flax seeds, use different nut butters to change the flavor up, or add in dried fruits to give it a little something extra! Whatever you like really can go in these.

Here's what you'll need:

1 cup Oats

1/2 cup Peanut Butter

1/2 cup Pumpkin Seeds

1/3 cup Honey

1/2 cup Chocolate Chips (I used Mini Chips)

1TBSP Chia Seeds

1tsp Vanilla

Here's how you make it:

Combine everything in a mixing bowl until all the ingredients are incorporated. Let cool for 30 minutes. The scoop out and roll into 1 inch balls. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Homemade Shower Cleaner

I really struggle with keeping the showers looking great. Well ok lets be honest for just a second I struggle with all things House keeping related. I just do, it is well, it is what it is. I love a clean house, I love organized spaces, however its the getting to clean and the staying organzied that I struggle with. But this is one idea I think I can keep up with.
It's a simple idea. Spray your shower or bath with a cleaning solution after every use. Easy right? I wanted to to use a cleaner that was going to work and be gentle enough to use every day on the tile and grout.

I decided to use a cleaner that I made, equal parts vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. With a few drops of Dawn Dish soap in each bottle. You could also add a few drops of essential oil if you want to cover up the vinegar scent. Before spraying just shake the bottle a little. Spray over the walls as you finish your shower. And it should keep your showers fresh and clean!

Enjoy!

Ranch Crackers

Growing up the Hubsters family would always make these Ranch Crackers. They would make great big tubs full of them. Which I mean they had to with 2 growing boys in the house. The Hubsters Mom always jokes that when his older brother left home she thought they would save money but actually ended up spending more just to feed him! Which I totally believe that man has a hollow leg for sure! And now that we are raising a teenage boy I find myself wondering where all the groceries always go. I fondly remember the days when Man-Child and I would share meals when we went out, not anymore!

These crackers are a great simple inexpensive snack to keep on hand.

Here's what you'll need:

1 pkg Oyster Crackers

1 Ranch Seasoning Packet

1/4 cup Vegetable Oil

Here's how you make it:

In a large bowl (that has a lid) combine all the ingredients. Place the lid on top and shake the bowl to get all the seasonings to cover all the crackers. Let sit for about an hour. Store in an air tight container for up to 1 week.

Enjoy