Star-filled Egg in a Basket lunch

My little dude loves stars.  So one lunch I raced over and made him this lunch, and it didn't even take that long.  I took my star cookie cutters out, then took the larger one and cut a hole in the bread.

 The little guy ate the bread star while I cooked.  Then I sprayed the pan with some cooking spray, preheated it, placed the bread on the pan, and cracked an egg in the middle.  I sprinkled some roasted red pepper spice on it because my guy likes spiced up food, but it would look better plain.

Cook until star looks opaque and flip if desired (I did to make sure the egg was cooked through, no runny egg stains in my kid's clothes) or cook sunny side up, but keep an eye on the bread if you do so it doesn't burn.  

Et voila! I cut another bread star for the plate, along with some small stars out of cheese slices, and placed the cheese on a dollop of marinara sauce I had left over from a pizza dipping sauce.

Spooky lunch... i.e what we ate for Halloween

Macaroni and Ghosts

I made some of that Amy's white cheddar and shells pasta, then took a hard boiled egg that had been peeled and nicked the bottom off with a knife.  Next I put the egg in the pasta cut side down, and used a toothpick to paint on a ghost face with some black food colouring gel (I used Wilton's)   I have seen various colouring on food with toothpicks in the past, and this seemed like a good way to add something special to Halloween lunch.  As a plus, the black gel started to leak a little green colour around the edges and looked extra cool.  

In case you are wondering, the black flecks are pepper... I got enthused and almost ate my portion of lunch before taking the picture.  As a side note, you may want to give the egg a minute to dry before handing it to a starving toddler who thinks it is also cute, as my son had 'eye' prints on his fingers, haha.

Kraft Dinner of the week: Mac and Cheese Pizza

Macaroni & Cheese Pizza

Yes, you did read that right, now take a deep breath and release, then look at the picture from 1 Fine Cookie showing her take on this odd combination food.

Tell me you do not want to eat that.  I feel my waist expand just looking at it.  It is almost at 'deep-fried mars bar' level... which means it is probably delicious too.  Obviously you should check out the link and see how she adds truffle oil to the pizza and is claiming to have one of the best pizza dough recipes. This pizza could be a creativity gold mine if you are willing to experiment with toppings.

KD of the week: 14K Mac 'n Cheese

14K Mac 'n Cheese

1 package of Kraft Dinner or similar macaroni and cheese

1 jar or pureed carrot baby food, or puree your own carrots to taste

2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese

Directions:  Prepare macaroni and cheese, stir in pureed carrots, top with Parmesan to serve.  I opted for jarred carrot because it is quick and easy, always available and won't over-power your dish with a carrot-y taste.  Good for children, if they hate veggies, they would barely notice, and you could make it with whole wheat KD or that Smart KD, for extra healthy stuff. 

As always with KD, the more cheese the better, so feel free to add a slice, or some grated to it and mix over low heat till blended for a more cheesy experience. 

KD of the week: Macaroni Bake

KD of the Week:  Macaroni Bake

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground beef (or for me I would substitute either veggie meat, TVP or ground chicken)

1/2 cup  chopped onion 

1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce 

1/3 cup  KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided 

1/4 tsp. Ground cinnamon 

1/8 tsp.  Ground nutmeg 

1 pkg. (14 oz.) KRAFT Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner 

2 Tbsp.  Butter or margarine 

2 Tbsp. Flour 

1-1/2 cups  Milk 

2 Eggs, lightly beaten 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Brown meat or heat veggie substitution for meat; drain. Add onion; cook and stir until tender. Stir in tomato sauce, half of the Parmesan cheese and spices; simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

Prepare Kraft Dinner as directed on package. Spread mixture onto bottom of 9-inch square baking dish; top with prepared KD. 

Melt butter in medium saucepan on low heat. Blend in flour. Gradually add milk; cook on low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir small amount of hot mixture into eggs. Return to remaining hot mixture in saucepan; mix well. Pour over KD; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. 

Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown.

Original recipe found here:

elbow macaroni

 

 

KD of the week: Fiesta KD

  

For those of you who are waiting for me to do something other than the KD of the week, never fear, I am working on a few things, but this time I want to try them first instead of putting more stuff on my 'wish list' in this scrapbook-type page I have here.  There is nothing wrong with my wish list, its just that sometimes you can tell when something will taste good, and other times when its better for me to be the guinea pig... and then if it is horrible I will still tell you all about it!  

 For the time being though, here is this week's Kraft Dinner recipe.

Fiesta KD

This recipe is very similar to Mexican KD, but has it's own merit to stand alone as a recipe.

1 pkg. (14 oz.) KRAFT Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner (or any kind of KD like substance)

1 lb.  lean ground beef (or substitute with TVP, veggie meat, ground chicken, or even omit entirely)

1 large Green pepper, chopped 

 

1 pkg.  (10 oz.) frozen corn, thawed 

 

1 cup Thick and Chunky style Salsa 

 

(optional)  1/2 cup of chopped sun-dried tomatoes

 (optional)  a shot or two of hot sauce or a can of chopped jalapenos for spicy lovers

 Directions: 

Prepare in large saucepan as directed on package, cooking Macaroni for just 8 min. 

Meanwhile, brown meat(or prepare substitute) with green pepper in skillet; drain

Combine meat(or substitute) mixture, corn and salsa to prepared KD; mix well. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally.

Add chopped fresh cilantro to this dish just before serving.

Kraft Dinner of the Week: KD Taco Bake

KD Taco Bake

Ingredients:

1 pkg. KRAFT Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner (or any KD or KD substitute)

 

1 lb.  Ground beef or beef substitute (like veggie ground round or TVP)

1 pkg. (1-1/4 oz.) Taco Seasoning Mix 

 

3/4 cup Sour Cream 

 

1-1/2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided 

 

1 cup  Thick 'N Chunky Salsa 

 

 

Directions:

  Heat the oven to 400°F. Prepare Dinner as directed on package. While Macaroni is cooking, cook meat (or meat substitute.) with taco seasoning as directed on package.

 Stir sour cream into prepared Dinner; spoon 1/2 into 8-inch square baking dish. Top with layers of meat mixture, 1 cup cheese and remaining Dinner mixture; cover with foil.

Bake it for 15 min.; top with salsa and remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, 5 min. or until cheese is melted.


Original recipe found here:

KD of the week: Mac and Cheese Lasagna

Mac and Cheese Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (7-1/4 oz.) Kraft Dinner 

1-1/2 cups  Spaghetti sauce 

1/2 lb. lean ground beef  (or substitute 1 cup chopped leftover cooked chicken or 1/2 pkg. of veggie ground round)

1 cup  Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese 

2 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

HEAT oven to 350°F.
PREPARE Dinner, using the Light Prep directions on package. Meanwhile, brown meat in skillet; drain.
SPOON half the Dinner into lightly greased 8-inch square baking dish; top with layers of half each sauce, meat and shredded cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with Parmesan.
BAKE 20 min. or until heated through.

Original recipe found at link below:

Kraft Dinner of the Week: mac & cheese stuffed poblanos

Mac and Cheese Stuffed Poblanos

Ingredients:

2 pkg. (7-1/4 oz. each) KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Dinner 

 

3   OSCAR MAYER Wieners, chopped 

 

1-1/2 cups KRAFT Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese, divided 

 

8   Poblano chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded 

 

1/2 tsp. Paprika

Directions:

HEAT oven to 350º F.

PREPARE Dinners as directed on package. Stir in wieners and 1 cup cheese.

FILL chiles with Dinner mixture; place, filled-sides up, in single layer in shallow baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Top with remaining cheese and paprika.

BAKE 15 min. or until cheese is melted and peppers are heated through.

How to Roast, Peel and Seed Poblano Peppers

 

Heat broiler. Place peppers on rack of broiler pan. Broil until skins are charred or covered with black blisters, turning occasionally. Place hot peppers in resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Let stand 10 min. Remove peppers from bag. Place peppers under cold running water and remove peels, being careful not to break the skins. To remove the seeds, make vertical cut in each pepper. Remove small cluster of seeds attached to the base.

 

This recipe was found at the link below without any alterations, this time.

Kraft Dinner of the Week: Apple-Glazed Chicken KD

 Apple-Glazed Chicken KD

 

I know.  Apple?  Hey, give anything a try once, you never know what is good out there in the big, wide world.  I once made chicken burgers for my baby and covered them in carrot baby food while I baked it (I felt he needed more veggies that day, and that is what I had on hand)  and that actually turned out amazing, so now my world view on 'what goes with what' is askew.  Anyways, back to the Mac and Cheese stuffs.

Ingredients 

2 boxes of kraft dinner
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2-4 cloves garlic (depending on how much you love garlic, and you could chop some onion too, my husband hates onion though, so to each their own...)
1/4 cup apple juice 
2 -3 cups broccoli florets and/or cauliflower, cooked
1/2 tsp. dill weed
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare Kraft Dinner and set aside.  Chop chicken in bite size pieces and cook in some olive oil or oil of choice until fully cooked.  Remove chicken from the pan and add more butter or oil if needed in pan and keep the pan hot. Chop the garlic into chunks and coat with  your salt, pepper and dill, then saute in the hot oil for a few minutes.  Pour apple juice in the garlic-oil concoction and return the chicken to pan.  Cover and simmer for a few minutes, then mix in the prepared Kraft Dinner.  Lastly add the cooked broccoli and/or cauliflower, and mix a bit together.

This recipe was adapted from the 'Super Kraft Dinner Recipe' I found here.

Chow for the Chubster: using up infant cereal

Although I have not had any infant cereal in the house for quite a while, I thought I would look into recipes that use it up, as it tends to get wasted and well, babies don't really like it.  There are many ways to get iron into your baby, but infant cereal is an easy way, so why not have some fun with it if you have it.

 Always supervise children when eating any finger foods

BABY OATMEAL CEREAL COOKIES
2 c. flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2-3 c. baby oatmeal cereal
2 eggs
1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix eggs, sugars, oil and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Bake at 350 degrees about 15 minutes.

 You can use the infant cereal to thicken your smoothies, for you or the baby.  Added vitamins never hurt a smoothie.

The plainer varieties can be used in meatloaf and meatballs instead of bread crumbs.  It's best to buy plain anyways, because a few spoons of baby food or applesauce tastes much better for baby anyways, and adds real fruit in the mix, instead of fake powdered fruit.  On the same note, you could use it to top macaroni and cheese casseroles, and you could use the fruity ones with a bit of butter and brown sugar to top your muffin recipes.

Dip chicken strips in plain yogurt and then roll or shake in plain cereal and bake them.  Makes a good chicken finger for toddlers.

Teething Biscuit Recipes - Egg-less Baby Cereal Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup dry infant rice cereal with bananas (or other flavored or
unflavored infant cereal)
3 tablespoons cooking oil
ice water

Directions:
Preheat oven 425F
Mix flour and cereal.
Gradually stir in oil. Mix a little ice water at a time (start with 1/4 cup) until dough begins to form a ball and pull away from the bowl.
Roll out to the thickness of a cracker on a floured surface and cut into desired shapes.
Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet 10-12 min. or until lightly brown. Cool completely.

Store in an airtight container. (you may want to try 1/2 plain and 1/2 flavored baby cereal as the taste when using full flavored baby cereal is very strong.)

Orange and date muffins

250 ml pure orange juice
1/2 cup of finely chopped dates
1 egg(you can us 2 egg yolk only if there are egg allergies in family)
3tbs canola oil
3tbs honey(you can use sugar instead)
1 cup flour
2 cups fortified baby cereal(I found rice made the dough tougher, so I prefered oatmeal)
2tsp baking powder
2ml of salt

-mix wet ingredients together
-mix all dry in a seperate bowl, then pour wet mixture with dry until just blended.
-in greased muffin tins, add then bake at 200C(400F) for about 15 mins.
should make about 24 muffins. They can be kept for 4 days in the fridge or up to 3months in the freezer.

If you find the mixture to dry, you can add a bit more liquid.

Cereal Pancakes

1 egg
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp oil
3/4 cup dry infant cereal
1/4 cup flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda.

In a med bowl, beat egg; add rest of ingredients and mix. Pour 1/2 cup batter onto hot, greased skillet for each pancake. Turn pancakes as soon as they are puffed and full of bubbles. Cook other side until golden brown. Makes 6-9 pancakes.

Baby Cereal Cookies

1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups infant cereal
3 TBsp whole milk.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet or spray with nonstick spray. Lightly cream molasses and butter. Mix in egg and vanilla. In a seperate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and cereal. Add to the butter mixture. Blend. Add milk. Drop on the cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes.

 There.  No more waste.  The recipes I found mostly on the internet in various forums, and there are plenty more if you 'Google' or 'Swagbucks' them.

Crock pot chicken

This is the easiest dinner I can even think of.  You may think you need a recipe to successfully crock-pot, but it really is a simple process requiring little thought depending on what you are cooking.  Today we look at chicken.

When I do chicken in the crock-pot, I take whatever chicken or turkey was the cheapest, be it bone-in chicken breast or turkey wings (surprisingly good) or what have you, then spray the crock-pot of choice with spray or put 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil or oil of choice in the bottom.  Place in the chicken pieces, any chopped vegetables you may want, then you can use a can of soup and a touch of water to add in for flavour and moisture.

Mushroom soup works well, and you can add a tablespoon or so of  Mrs.dash, parsley or your spice of choice to the soup before covering the chicken.  If you have the pot mostly full, you may want a second can of soup, but do not add a lot of water, it doesn't escape the pot and you will end up with soup instead.

If you want the chicken to have a bit of crispness on top, don't fill with soup over the chicken level, and put the veggies on the bottom.  For moister chicken, veggies on top and coat with soup.  All you have to do now is turn on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.  This will depend on your unit, but if you are worried go to the max on low, if you are not, just pick a time that best suites your dinner time.  I find it depends when I can get my kid down for a nap and can get to actually throwing things in the pot.

Kraft Dinner of the Week: Souped up KD

Souped up Kraft Dinner

Sorry for the delay in KD recipes,  with the husband getting over illness, baby with pinkeye and myself catching said illness the husband is getting over, I am afraid that my thoughts have been towards soup instead of KD.  This, however, makes this KD recipe more appropriate than ever being about soup and all.

PREPARE 1 package Kraft Dinner as usual, replacing the milk with 1 can (10oz/284mL) tomato soup, and 1 soup can of water.
HEAT.

That wasn't so painful.  Found that 'recipe' at Kraft Canada.

KD of the week: Lentil Mac and Cheese Bake

Lentil Mac and Cheese Bake

Ingredients

• 2 pkg. Kraft macaroni and cheese
• 1  can of lentils
• 1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen mixed vegetables, any variety, as red bell pepper, broccoli, mushrooms or any vegetables you enjoy
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 3/4 c. milk
• Shredded cheese
• 1/4 cup of bread crumbs or coating mix (like shake and bake or something, you could also use panko)

Preparation

• Bring water to boil, add macaroni.  With 5 minutes left on the clock add frozen vegetables. (3 minutes for any fresh or canned veggies) Cook until tender, drain. Add lentils, butter, cheese mix, milk and additional shredded cheese. Mix well. Place in casserole dish and top with more shredded cheese and bread crumbs. Bake 30 minutes in 350 degree oven or until browned and bubbly, depending on your oven.

Chicken Meatballs

 

Chicken Meatballs

Yes, chicken meatballs.  I do not eat beef, and choose not to feed my baby boy soy meatballs (my favorite Oh! Naturel frozen ones) due to soy not being so great for growing boys and their hormone balance... and this recipe turned out better than I could have hoped for.  I only think I will change the size of the meatballs, because I want to be bombarded with tonnes of tiny balls instead of a few honkin' sized chews.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I used southern fried chicken coating aka fake shake & bake)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or a teaspoon of garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons fresh oregano (or the equivalent dried)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (I omit salt... its up to you)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. Place ground chicken,egg,1/2 cup Parmesan,bread crumbs, garlic,oregano and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium bowl.

2. Knead mixture together with hand till evenly combined.

3. Form mixture into 1-inch balls.  (I think I will make mini meatballs next time though, they are one big chunk of ball)

4. In large non-stick skillet, warm olive oil over high heat.

5.  Place meatballs in pan,up to 8 at a time,and cook until all sides are browned,approximately 8 minutes for each meatball.

6. Remove with slotted spoon,and add to your favorite spaghetti sauce.

    Secondary cooking method:  I chose to bake the meatballs on a cookie sheet, at 400 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes, then added them to my spaghetti sauce.   If you cook them 5 - 10 more minutes they would probably be easily frozen to pop into recipes as needed.

KD of the week: Cheesy Chicken Cacciatore

Cheesy Chicken Cacciatore

1 tsp. oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts - chopped
1 small onion - chopped
1 Tbsp. Oregano
1 can (19 fl oz) Aylmer Chili Style Tomatoes
1 can of water (empty can from tomatoes)
1 box of KD (any variety)
1 cup shredded cheese or a couple slices of cheese from the fridge.

-Heat oil in large skillet. Add chicken and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until no longer pink.

-Add oregano, tomatoes, water and pasta from KD. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and do so until pasta is tender.

-Stir in cheese sauce and extra cheese and remain cooking until heated through.

(note:  I love to add extra cheese to almost all of my KD... my husband is not always fond of that though, so to each their own)

*adapted from a recipe found here (I found it through a web search... not from being a member lol)
http://forums.plentyoffish.com/3547572datingPostpage2.aspx

OAMC Vegetarian Cabbage Roll Casserole

In my quest for frugal recipes while I was pregnant, I did a lot of searching for OAMC recipes (once a month cooking)  and recently I flipped back through my other blog and discovered this recipe in a post, which I will now copy over to this site for good measure.  By the way, I still have not had the chance to make this one, but it still excites me so it is good to have in the collection.

I found a recipe for a cabbage roll casserole, and that one truly makes me excited, because my aunt used to make cabbage rolls when I was young and I loved them, but I haven't had anything close to that experience in years due to the fact that you just don't see vegetarian cabbage rolls, its just not done. I hope this one works out well :)

A lot of the best freezer planning and meal planning advice and recipes I have found came from this site: http://www.momsbudget.com/ which also covers money management and decor too, so it is one of my more visited pages.

Also, in case you were curious, this is the cabbage roll casserole recipe ;)

 

OAMC Vegetarian Cabbage Roll Casserole(serves 10)

 

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked brown rice

1/2 cup olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 cups mushrooms, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cups sunflower seeds

1 head cabbage, shredded

4 cups tomato juice or tomato puree

Optional sweet-sour tang:1/3 cup brown sugar (add to sauce)3 tablespoons cider or rice wine vinegar (add to sauce)1 cup raisins (add to rice with mushrooms) 

 

Directions:

In deep, heavy pot saute onion, pepper and mushrooms in oil until tender. Add garlic and seeds. Add rice.

In large pan layer 1 cups juice or puree,then 1/3 of cabbage (approx.) then 2 cups rice and vegetable mixture.

Repeat twice. Pour remaining juice or puree over top. Cover and freeze.

To serve, place directly into 350 degrees oven from freezer. Bake 1 1/2 - 2 hours or more until cooked through.

KD of the week: Shipwrecked KD

 Shipwrecked KD

Ingredients:
3/4 lb. (340 g) extra lean ground beef  (or if you don't eat beef like me, use a package of Yves ground round)
1 pkg.  (225 g) KRAFT DINNER Macaroni and Cheese
1 can (19 fl oz/540mL) stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 cup  frozen green peas
1 cup skim milk (that is what they call for... I say 2% is in the fridge already...)
1/2 cup  KRAFT Part Skim Mozzarella Shredded Cheese (... and I don't like to 'skinny' my cheese either...)

Directions:

BROWN meat in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat; drain. reserving meat in skillet.
STIR in Macaroni, Cheese Sauce, tomatoes, peas and milk. Bring to boil; cover. Simmer on medium-low 12 min. or until macaroni is tender, stirring occasionally.
TOP with mozzarella. Let stand, covered, 5 min. or until melted.

Original recipe... found in many places, but this link has a person who is very passionate about their KD, I find that commendable.
Say Radio - Gourmet Kraft Dinner Recipes

KD of the week: Mac and Cheese Pizza

Mac and Cheese Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 (7 ounce) box macaroni and cheese mix, prepared according to package directions
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 (4 ounce) can mushrooms
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• any other favorite toppings you have, my man likes pineapple and chicken on his pizza

Directions

1. Mix prepared macaroni and cheese with eggs and put into a greased 9-inch x 13-inch pan.

2. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

3. Top with the tomato sauce, basil and oregano.

4. Then add the rest of the ingredients.

   This recipe would probably go well into packed lunches and seems pretty kid-friendly too.  Pizza is a fairly universal food and even in mac form should please most people.
   I had seen the basic idea for this recipe in many places long ago, but this recipe has been adapted from the one I found here:
   http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Pizza-with-Macaroni-Crust-64329

KD of the week: Chili Chicken mac & cheese

Chili Chicken Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (200 g) Kraft Dinner Whole Wheat Macaroni and Cheese

3/4 lb. (340 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tsp. chili powder

1/4 cup shredded Cracker Barrel Old Cheddar Cheese Light

1/4 cup salsa

PREPARE Dinner as directed on package, using the Sensible Solution directions. Meanwhile, toss chicken with chili powder in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray; cook and stir on medium heat 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through.
ADD prepared Dinner to chicken; mix lightly.
SERVE topped with remaining ingredients.

recipe found at: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/chili-chicken-mac-cheese-112602.aspx