Mommy and Me's Tasty Treats

Our thoughts and prayers are with all the 911 families today. We will not forget. Even after 20 years. I remember the feeling I had that Americans were in trouble. I remember the people around me, hovering around the little TV that was available, waiting on more information to be given. I remember the looks on their faces. I remember wondering how we could let this happen three times? I remember my heart breaking as our military put boots in the sand to find those responsible, and the sick feeling I had every time I heard a soldier was killed or hurt. Most of all, I remember the faces of those who knew the fate of their loved ones, but who were clinging to hope that they would be rescued. We remember in order to help prevent this from happening again, and to honor those who lost their lives. Let us remember today how we came together to help our fellow Americans. There was no division on that day. We stood strong together.

Weekly Menu

Monday - Bread bowl filled with chicken and broccoli 🥦 Alfredo.

Tuesday - Philly cheesesteak quesadillas

Wednesday - Chicken and quinoa protein bowl

Thursday - Bacon wrapped cabbage wedges with baked potatoes

Friday - Pierogies with ham and asparagus

Salisbury Steak

Frozen Meat Mixture from previous recipe
1 Package Sliced Mushrooms
2-3 Tablespoons Oil
2 Tablespoons Butter
2-3 Tablespoons Flour
1 Container Beef Broth
Salt/Pepper to taste

Remove the meat mixture from the freezer that you made earlier in the week. Allow to thaw completely. Form into 4 patties. Heat a little oil and butter in a skillet. Brown patties on both sides. Remove patties and discard any excess oil. Save a little to brown your mushrooms and make your gravy. About 2-3 Tablespoons. Brown mushrooms. Add more oil/butter if needed to make gravy. Add flour and cook for a couple minutes. Add broth 1 cup at a time and allow to thicken to desired consistency. Season gravy. Add steak patties to the gravy, and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes.

I served this with garlic parmesan mashed potatoes and green beans.

Crispy Chicken Sandwich

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast - I bought the thinly sliced.
Salt/Pepper to taste
1/2 Cup Corn Starch
1 Cup Flour
2 Cups Buttermilk
6 Cups Oil for frying

Soak chicken in buttermilk overnight. Remove and allow to reach room temperature. Heat oil in cast iron or a Dutch oven until the temperature reaches 350. Mix corn starch and flour along with a teaspoon of salt and a half teaspoon pepper. Drizzle a little bit of the buttermilk throughout the flour mixture to form clumps. Season chicken and dredge in flour mixture. When oil reaches 350, add a couple chicken breast at a time, and fry until golden brown. I sprinkled a bit of salt as they cooled on a wire rack.

I used Asiago cheese slices, parmesan ranch dressing, and butter lettuce for our sandwiches. I also toasted and seasoned the buns. I made extra for wraps for lunch on Tuesday.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

1-2 Packages of Egg Noodles
1 Large Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Pack Golden Onion Soup Mix
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
2 Small Cans Tuna
1 Can of Peas and Carrots
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook noodles according to package directions. Mix in remaining ingredients and heat until cooked through. You can top with French's Onions if desired.

There's really no recipe needed for Naan bread pizza. I brush the outer crust with garlic butter and sprinkle it with parmesan cheese. Add your favorite sauce and toppings. Baking instructions are on the package of Naan bread. 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Here is our recipe for sheet pan mini meatloaves with sweet potatoes. Make a DOUBLE recipe. You will use the extra mixture the end of the week for the salisbury steak. This will save you time.

Meatloaf
1 1/2 Pound ground beef
1 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 Cup Catsup
1/4 Cup Milk
1/2 Onion - Grated
1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic
1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs or Cubes
1 Egg
Sliced Bread - Enough to put under each loaf

Sweet Potatoes
3 Sweet Potatoes - Cut in Chunks
2-3 Tablespoons Melted Butter
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Asparagus
1 Bunch Asparagus - Washed and Prepared
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Mix together all ingredients except for the sliced bread. You can use ground chicken or turkey if you prefer, but you will need to adjust the other ingredients for taste. Preheat oven to 375. Line baking sheet with foil. Spray your foil, and line bread slices down the middle of the baking sheet. This step will keep the juices from the meat loaf from getting into your sweet potatoes and asparagus. Form 4 mini loaves and place on top of bread slices. I top the loaves with a mixture of catsup, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. You can also use your favorite BBQ sauce.

Steam sweet potatoes in the microwave for 6 minutes. toss with butter, sugar and cinnamon, and place on baking sheet next to the mini meatloaves.

I baked the mini meatloaves and sweet potatoes for 15 minutes prior to adding the asparagus. Toss asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on the empty section of the baking sheet, and continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes. Check to see if done, and bake an additional 10 minutes if needed.

Freeze the extra mixture for use later in the week. Enjoy!!

Our menu for the week:

Monday:
Sheet pan meatloaf with sweet potatoes and vegetable.

Tuesday:
Naan flatbread pizzas with pesto, chicken, bacon, red onion, and mozzarella cheese. This will be served with a side salad.

Wednesday:
Crispy chicken sandwiches served with sweet potato fries.

Thursday:
Tuna noodle casserole served with garlic cheese biscuits.

Friday:
Baked salisbury steak with mushroom gravy served with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy.

You don't have to wait on St. Patrick's Day to have a wonderful Irish meal. This next recipe can be added to your weekly menu, and will become a favorite. Tonight we tried Bangers and Mash. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! If you haven't tried this, you really must. Mashed potatoes made with Irish butter, crumbled bacon, cream, milk, and cabbage cooked in the bacon grease. What could be any better than that?

Recipe will be added to our weekly menu for next week. Next addition to our tasty treat lineup is cookie butter......Yes....You read that correctly....COOKIE BUTTER. 🥰

We will have a few quarts of salted caramel and hot fudge in our shop this week. We have added lots of great items, and will have pancake mixes and syrup the first of next week. Please stay tuned for our weekly menus. We've been working to get our shop set up, but will finish with that in the next week or two.

Our latest creation was for Miss Noelle's 7th birthday party. She chose an ice cream theme party this year. Her cupcakes were vanilla cake with lots of sprinkles. We topped each cupcake with a dollop of buttercream frosting in a variety of pastel colors to resemble a scoop of ice cream. On top of the buttercream we drizzled magic shell ice cream topping, added whip cream and a cherry. Soooo cute. Happy Birthday Noelle.

Happy New Year everyone!! Hope all of you have the best 2021. We have 2020 balloons ready to kick out the door at midnight. We are so done with this year. Stay safe!!!

Chick-Fil-A Chicken tenders. SHHHHHH! Don't tell the littles they are marinated in pickle juice. They loved them. Recipe will be posted soon.

We want to thank all Veterans today. You are loved and appreciated.

Lasagna night!!!! Had to fry hamburger for another meal, so I thought I would make two meals in one night. Makes life much easier the next day. Here is how I make mine. DON'T FORGET TO SPRAY YOUR FOIL. If you do not, you will most likely pull off all the cheese on top when you remove it. I might have done this once. Hopefully this little tip will keep you from having a sad looking lasagna. 🙂🙂

Ingredients:

2 Pounds of Ground Beef, Browned and Drained
1 Box of Lasagna Noodles. I use the "no bake" kind to make life much easier.
1 Large Jar of Sauce
1 Large Container of Ricotta Cheese
2 Eggs
Parmesan Cheese
4 Cup Bag of Shredded Mozzarella
Salt, Pepper, Italian Seasoning

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season your ground beef, and brown in a skillet. Drain off the excess fat, and add your sauce to the beef. Taste your sauce and add seasonings if needed. Mix your ricotta cheese, eggs, 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, and 3/4 to 1 cup of mozzarella in separate bowl. In a deep 13/9 casserole dish, add a thin layer of sauce. Place three lasagna noodles over the sauce. The will not touch, and that is ok. Place another layer of your sauce/beef mixture on top of the noodles. Spread half the cheese mixture, and then three more noodles. Again, top with more sauce/beef mixture, but save some to top the lasagna with. Add the remaining cheese, and then three more noodles. Top with sauce, more parmesan cheese and however much mozzarella you dare to add. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour covered with foil. Remove foil, and then bake at least 15 more minutes.

Let's bring a little "Positive" into today. Share some inspiration for others!!! https://social.tastefullysimple.com/4vhvnm

Make everyone happy on December 8th, and make brownies. Who wouldn't want to celebrate this one? https://social.tastefullysimple.com/4vhvkg

Good morning!! Hope all of you had the best Thanksgiving!!! We wanted to share a new recipe with you that is a new family go to when they are in the mood for pizza. It is easy, and can be made many different ways. It also reheats well if you have leftovers. This is our Tortilla Pizza

Ingredients:

You will need two flour tortillas per pizza
Butter - Enough to coat the pan between toasting the tortillas
Pizza Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Pepperoni
Parmesan Cheese - Grated
Favorite Pizza Toppings

Directions:

In a cast iron skillet, melt butter and toast tortillas until slightly browned. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. For each pizza, spread a layer of pizza sauce on one tortilla, and top with a little parmesan and mozzarella cheese. I urge you to be careful adding too much cheese in this step. You will have trouble keeping the pizza together if you add too much. Top first tortilla with a second one, and add more pizza sauce. Top sauce with parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Add your favorite toppings at this point. I added pepperoni, thinly sliced peppers, thinly sliced red onion and chopped mushrooms. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow pizza to set for a few minutes for the cheese to set up a bit before cutting.

There are so many variations you can make of this. Just a couple ideas would be a Mexican pizza. Use salsa instead of sauce. Top with chicken or beef seasoned with taco seasoning. Once this pizza is baked you can add your favorite taco toppings such as sour cream, tomatoes, onions, and black olives. A little avocado wouldn't be a bad idea either.

The next variation we are trying is a pesto pizza. We will be using the Tastefully Simple Pesto for this one, and will top it with rotisserie chicken, parmesan and mozzarella cheese. A little diced peppers, onions and tomatoes would be divine as well.

Today our recipe share is my grandmother's pecan pie. I took a photo of her recipe from her recipe book that is forever embedded with flour, baking soda, salt, and all the other ingredients she used over the years. The pages are crinkled from wet hands flipping through the pages and the occasional spill. It's my favorite cookbook by far. My only change to this recipe is that I do not grind my pecans. This was her signature pie that we looked forward to every year. What's your favorite holiday menu item?

After 9 hours of no electric due to what the power company said was a transformer issue, I got my early start at 3:00 AM. It wouldn't be a holiday without a little drama i guess. Anyway, two pies are complete, and the dressing has been started. Had to move the time of the dinner up a couple hours, but that's no big deal. Just thankful for the opportunity to make this meal.

We wanted to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving! Please make sure if you are the holiday chef, that you remember this is your holiday as well. Ask for help. Especially with the clean up. Take time to eat, visit with those you love, and don't forget to relax a little. Soak up all the stories, memorize each face, and savor every delicious bite of food. Lots of love from our house to yours!!

Our Tuesday Thanksgiving recipe is a change from the traditional pumpkin pie. Not a favorite of the kids, so we are gonna give this Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie a try. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 bag (10 oz) large marshmallows
1 cup pure pumpkin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon salt
1 carton (8 oz) Cool Whip (thawed)
1 (6 oz) store-bought graham cracker crust

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium saucepan, combine marshmallows, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring, until marshmallows are melted and combined. Remove from heat and scrape into a large bowl. Let cool to room temperature.
Fold whipped topping into pumpkin mixture and scrape into prepared crust. Smooth top and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.
Pipe whipped topping around edge of pie and sprinkle with more pumpkin pie spice.

How many of you have your Thanksgiving dinner at noon? Do you ever struggle with what to do with dinner following such a big meal? No one feels like putting together a meal after making Thanksgiving dinner. Have you considered a charcuterie board? This is something you can put together as you are cleaning up following your meal. Some of it can even be done the night before depending on what you include on your board. Below is a photo of what a charcuterie board looks like. This is kind of what I do for lunch each day for my picky six year old. She loves them.

Please remember it is your holiday to. Ask for help, make a few dishes that are loved by your family, but don't overwhelm yourself. You can also have your guests bring items, so you can concentrate on doing a few things, but still have time to enjoy your day.

Monday's Thanksgiving Tip - Have you taken the time to locate, and pull the tableware, plates, pie pans, baking dishes, cups and so forth that you will be using? If you have chosen disposable items, have you matched them up to the number of people attending as well as the menu items? This would be a good day to do so. Also a good day to go over your menu and make sure you have all the ingredients you need.

Bacon and Beer Cheese Stuffing

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
1/2 cup beer
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
10 cups French bread, cubed, dried out overnight
10 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked, drained, and chopped, divided
1 cup shredded gruyere cheese, divided
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped and divided
2 teaspoons fresh sage, chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray, then set aside.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add celery and onions and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until veggies are tender. Add beer to skillet and bring to a simmer. Cook for 2-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until liquid is reduced by 1/2 and an opaque golden color. Remove skillet from heat.
In a small bowl, whisk eggs until well beaten, then pour in Worcestershire sauce and chicken broth. Stir until mixed, then set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, add French bread, 1/2 of the bacon, 1/2 cup mild cheddar, 1/2 tablespoon thyme, and sage, then toss to mix. Pour beer buttery veggies and chicken broth mixture in the bowl and then gently mix until bread is thoroughly saturated.
Pour stuffing in prepared baking dish and gently smooth into an even layer. Garnish the top of the stuffing with the remaining bacon, mild cheddar, and thyme.

Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and cook for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20-30 minutes or until the top of stuffing is lightly crisp and golden brown.

Serve Bacon Beer Cheese Stuffing immediately.

I promised food pictures for the weekend, so here you go. I'm already working on our New Year's menu, and these will be included. Meatball and bloody mary chicken sliders. The meatball slider includes marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. The bloody mary sauce includes a sautéed onion and blue cheese spread, and is topped with parmesan and mozzarella cheese.

This is your reminder to put your frozen turkey in the fridge to thaw!

Fell in LOVE with these. What an awesome stocking stuffer, and something to help keep the kids busy while home for the holidays. These would also make great gifts for coworkers, friends, teachers, coaches and so forth. https://social.tastefullysimple.com/4vfg3x

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Tonight will be chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes. We do have a couple of weekend recipes that we are excited about, and will share those soon. Also to come will be our choice recipes for a show stopping Thanksgiving menu. Keep an eye out for our beer cheese stuffing recipe that will be the first menu item we share.

One recipe that will not be altered or replaced is the traditional green bean casserole. Our precious Mom/Grandma made that, so it will always have a place at our table. Love your family this year. There may be some that will not be at your table in 2021. Hugs to all those who have lost someone and are hurting. You will be in our prayers this holiday.