Make it Yourself:Homemade Hamburger Helper

So everybody likes Hamburger Helper, right? I know! Me too!

But wait, what's in that little envelope of powdery yumminess?

I DON"T KNOW!!! Hehe!

I found this recipe the other day and thought I would give it a try. I wish I could remember where I found it so I could give them credit but I've racked my brain, So if this is your recipe, I'm sorry and thank you!!! Because it is GOOD! And so easy. It is just as easy as making the stuff from the box-- I promise.

Also, I am not kidding when I say it tastes just like the original. You're gonna love it!


Hamburger Helper

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 lb pasta (I used the mulit-colored veggie pasta from Whole Foods)

2 c. water

1 1/4 cup tomato sauce

2 tsp sugar (or whatever sweetener you use)

squirt of mustard

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp onion powder (I ended up using a real onion- small)

salt to taste (at least 1/2 tsp?)

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Brown and drain beef. Stir in pepper, onion powder, tomato sauce, sugar, and mustard, water and pasta. Bring to a boil and reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the water is absorbed and the pasta is cooked.

Turn the heat off and stir in the cheese.
 

There you go: yummy "Hamburger Helper" and you know all the ingredients!!

I especially love using the veggie pasta for this because the nutrients don't get boiled away in pasta water.

Each color is made from a different vegetable: Purple- beets, orange- carrots, green- spinach. It's a good way to sneak in a few more veggies.

Recycled Coffee Can Planter

My escapades with the Milk Jug Tomato Planter got me thinking about other things I could recycle and I came up with this:

A Coffee Can Planter!

I used an old plastic coffee can to plant my cherry tomatoes in (don't forget to drill drainage holes in the bottom). It will sit out on my porch instead of hanging from the porch.

The real reason I did this is because I didn't want to make another milk jug planter last night! It was a lot of work!

Now I need to figure out what to do about the strawberries!

Easy Spring Dinner: Cheesy Chicken Corn Tostadas

As of late, my dinner menus have been really chaotic. Actually, our life has been a little chaotic... A family head cold that just will not go away, a brand new baby niece, trying to catch up on all the household things, ect. I threw this together the other night (when I forgot to defrost hamburger) for a quick dinner. And we absolutely loved it. So I thought I would share the recipe. I didn't measure any ingredients. I just kind of tossed it all together.

Shredded chicken (left over from my crockpot chicken)
Thawed frozen corn
Cream Cheese
Sour cream
White or pinto beans
Shredded cheese
Green onions
Green chiles

Mix these things together until it resembles a creamy chicken salad. Spoon the mixture onto corn tortillas and top with a little shredded cheese. Bake at 400 degrees until gooey and tortillas are crisp (I prebaked my tortillas a little). Top with sour cream and avocado.

Playing in the snow...

Snow Ice Cream

The massive snow storm that barreled through here last week inspired me to make snow ice cream for Corky. She actually preferred eating just the snow, but Hubby and I loved it! Here's how I did it:

1. Fill a bowl with snow.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine 1 pint of Heavy Cream, Agave Necter (make it as sweet as you like), and 1/2 Tbs. Vanilla Extract.

3. Mix together, but don't whip it (You can do it by hand, I just wanted an excuse to use my mixer!).

 

4. Pour slowly over the snow. Stir it all up until it resembles ice cream. It usually has the same texture as freshly homemade ice cream!

5. Enjoy!!

Make It Yourself: Crockpot Yogurt

You can make yogurt in your crockpot... did you know that?? I discovered this fact a few months ago and tried it out. It is super easy and it makes the most delicious yogurt for a fraction of the cost of buying it!
This is what I do:

First, gather the ingredients. You need a half gallon of milk  (organic, raw, or regular pasteurized), 1 1/2 cups of powdered milk, sweetener (I used honey and agave), vanilla extract (or some vanilla beans), and 3/4 cup of yogurt with live active cultures. Also, you need a 2 quart crockpot (I bought this one especially for yogurt making for $4.00 on black friday).

*** Edit*** I no longer use the powdered milk and the yogurt still turns out great!

Pour the half gallon of milk into the crock and set it on low for 2 hours and 45 mins.

Now turn the crockpot off and let the milk cool with the lid on for 3 hours. When 3 hours have passed, remove 2 cups of the warm milk to a bowl.

To the bowl/milk, add 3/4 cup of yogurt with live active cultures. Wisk well.                                                  

To the crock, add the rest of the ingredients ( if you want plain yogurt, just leave out the vanilla and sweetener) and mix well.                                                                                                              

Pour the yogurt mix back into the crock and stir. Replace the lid and wrap the whole crock in a thick bath towel.                                                                                                                                                     

Let the yogurt sit in a warm place for 8-12 hours. In order to culture, the yogurt has to stay warm. Since my house stays pretty cold, I warmed my oven a little (too hot will kill the bacteria in the yogurt), then turned it off and placed the whole bundle in there.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

After, it cultures, chill thoroughly before eating.

At this point you can add fruit if you like. I don't suggest putting the fruit in until it is completely finished. So easy! Try it!                                                                                                                                          

What to do with a whole chicken... or what I did anyway...

I recently posted about changing my poultry habits. Since it costs more to buy "good" chicken, I took the cheaper route and purchased a whole chicken. You could just take your whole chicken and roast it or cut it up, but I don't really like dark meat (did I also mention that I detest handling raw poultry? I do it, obviously, but It really grosses me out!) but my husband does and I was determined to get the most out of my chicken so... I got creative.

First, I figured out the easiest way to cook it was in the crockpot (because you don't have to handle it much, of course). I just plopped the bird (mine was approx. 3 1/2 pounds) in the crock and added enough water to cover the bird halfway. I added a quartered onion, and some parsley and thyme. Then I just let it go. It only took about three hours and it was falling off the bones! Next, I removed the chicken to a plate and stripped the skin off. I pulled out as many bones and junk as I could and threw it, with the skin back into the crock. I let this reduce into a nice little chicken stock. I then strained it and poured it into quart jars (this chicken made 2 quarts) and stored one in the freezer and one in the fridge! It turned out very dark and gelatinous (it tasted very good too)!

Now for the meat... I let the chicken cool and shredded all the meat. You could chop some, slice it, whatever... I used the white meat to make chicken salad, enchiladas, ect. For the dark meat, I added BBQ sauce and my husband had BBQ sandwhichs. I also found that I could add some of the dryer dark meat to the chicken salad and it didn't offend my palate (it's the slimy dark meat that I don't like)!

I was very satisfied that nothing went to waste. Also, having shredded chicken on hand made putting dinner together a cinch!

Who knew it could be so easy... Part 2

Corndogs... who doesn't love them?? But...the ones that you can buy in the store are full of junk, fried in trans fats, and who knows where those hotdogs came from! In walks the perfect solution: Corndog Muffins!!!

They are super easy! Line your muffin pan. Cut each hotdog into thirds (use all beef or all chicken). Fill each cup 1/4 full with your favorite cornbread batter. Add one hotdog piece, then more cornbread batter. Bake at 400 degrees. Here they are:

Don't they look yummy (pardon the abused muffin tin)!

These are really easy for kids to eat. They are a good portable food as well, great for school lunches, ect. Also, they freeze really well so you could make a big batch and go straight from the freezer to the microwave for an easy lunch!

Your kids will be pleasantly surprised to find a hotdog in their cornbread!!

Who knew it could be so easy...

Tonight for dinner I tried a new recipe. Easy Mac-n-cheese, found here. I don't usually like to make homemade mac-n-cheese because it is a two-pot process. One to boil the pasta and one to make the sauce... oh and you have to make a roux and... let's admit it. It is easier to just resort to the box stuff! Especially when you have a three year old pulling on your pant leg! Well... say bye bye to the boxed macaroni that is chalk full of junk that you don't really want in your body! This was sooooooo easy!
One pot.
No waiting for water to boil.
No straining the pasta.
No making sauce.

Are you ready?? Here is the recipe:


Easy Mac and Cheese*


2 1/2 cups whole wheat pasta

3 3/4 cups whole milk

1 t. sea salt

2 cups shredded cheese (I use white cheddar and colbyjack)

Mix pasta, milk and salt in a large sauce pan. Cook over medium-high heat STIRRING ALMOST CONSTANTLY until the pasta is tender (10-15 minutes). Remove from heat. Add cheese and stir until melted. Serve immediately.


This is what it looks like when you start:

Here it is when it is all finished:

It looks a little soupy in the picture but its not. It turned out really thick and creamy. The starch from the pasta mixes with the milk to make a super simple sauce. No flour or butter needed! I know it's hard to believe, but it really is that easy! You gotta try it to believe it!!

*The recipe above is not the original. I tweaked the original a little (added more salt, milk, and cheese- I like it really cheesy). For the original recipe, visit the link above.

Homemade Reusable Swiffer Wet-jet Pads

So, have you noticed how expensive Swiffer Wet-jet Pads are?? Not to mention the added waste that ends up in the landfills. I LOVE my Swiffer, but I needed a cheaper and more earth friendly alternative (read here about the huge trash swirl). I needed something thick and absorbant and something with some texture to make the pads. So I found these at our local Ross store:

 

They are 12x12 microfiber cloths. Since the microfiber doesn't fray, I just cut them into thirds.

This resulted in three pads that were slightly smaller than my Wet-jet surface. When I used them, it seemed to work out well. However, next time I might just cut the cloth in half to make them a little bigger.

These are great because they stick to the velcro on the bottom of the Swiffer very well and are quite absorbent. When I'm done with them, they go in the bucket with all my other dirty cleaning rags and get washed along with them. Easy! It is very simple step to being more frugal and green.

In tomarrow's post, I'll tell you how to refill your used Swiffer solution bottle with your own homemade cleaning solution!

Puddin' Paint

We spent father's day weekend at my parent's house. My dad is very sick (terminal) so we often travel 120 miles to their house and stay for the weekend. This is good because they get to see Corky and we all get to visit. She loves to go to Granny and Papa's house! Today, she was in a very crafty mood so we made Puddin' Paint! It's easy, all you need is some vanilla pudding cups and food coloring. You can also use different flavors of pudding if you don't want to add the food coloring. Or you could color it with natural things like blueberries. Her favorite color is purple, so we just made purple and pink. The best part is that it is completely edible. Surprisingly, she painted more than she ate! Here are some of her masterpieces!

More steam bag recipes:

Steamed fruit:
3 cups of sliced fruit (stone fruits, apples, and pears work best)
2 Tbs. apple juice
2 Tbs. brown sugar or natural honey (or both)
Dash of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

Mix together the apple juice, brown sugar, and cinnamon until smooth. Combine all ingredients in a steam bag and microwave for 3-4 minutes. Let cool for 2 minutes. Shake bag slightly to distribute ingredients. Serve with ice cream, frozen yogurt, whipped cream, or enjoy by itself! Also makes a great pancake topper!


Chicken Italiano:
1 chicken breast, raw, chopped into bite sized pieces
14 oz. can diced tomatoes
½ cup chopped artichoke hearts
¼ cup chopped mushrooms
½ cup chopped zucchini or eggplant
6 oz. dry rotini pasta (whole wheat)
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1 Tsp. onion powder
2 Tbs. diced sun-dried tomatoes

Combine all the ingredients in a steam bag and microwave for approx. five minutes or until pasta is soft (feel through the bag- do not open the bag). Serve with garlic bread and a salad. Serves two.

I love it when I find something that makes my life easier!
In an effort to get healthier, my husband and I walk a mile and a half every evening (mostly every evening). We usually eat dinner afterward. So our walks have really cut into my dinner prep time. When I've had a really crazy day and didn’t set anything out to thaw, our dinner ends up being pretty late.
So I set about trying to come up with easier solutions. I hate those pre-made frozen meals-n-a-bag that you pop in the microwave because they taste cardboardy and have tons of sodium. However, they gave me a good idea. I found a product (you may have heard of them) called Glad Simply Cooking Steam Bags. These are amazing. You can have a complete meal made in about 10-15 minutes, including prep time!
They are very versatile. You can put uncooked pasta, veggies, raw meat, potatoes, eggs, anything in these bags and it is perfectly cooked in minutes! Also, you can make the meals up ahead of time and store them in the freezer. Then you just pop them in the microwave. Add some bread or a side salad and you have a meal! Here is a good recipe:

Pork Lo-mien
2 small/ 1 med. boneless pork loin chops, sliced into bite-sized pieces
½ cup chopped broccoli florets
½ cup sliced carrots
½ cup snap peas
1/3 cup diced mushrooms
½ Tbs. minced garlic
2 Tbs. chopped scallions
4 oz. dry spaghetti (whole wheat)
2 Tbs. soy sauce
1/3 cup beef, chicken, or pork broth
2 Tbs. teriyaki sauce (try light or sugar free)
Place all the ingredients in a steam bag and microwave for approximately five minutes. Let the bag cool for two minutes. The veggies should have a vibrant color, pork should be firm, and pasta should be tender. You should be able to feel this through the bag (handle the bag carefully- it will be hot!). Serve with spring rolls or fried rice. Serves two.