Beefy Baked Ravioli

Here's another quick and easy meal. I'm in the middle of making a new creation so I am too busy to write a big long paragraph! Enjoy!!

Beefy Baked Ravioli~

Ingredients:1 lb. ground beef

1 20 oz. package of cheese ravioli
1 jar marinara sauce
2 cup mozzarella cheese
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:
1.) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a separate skillet brown pound of ground beef. Drain.

2.) In a large bowl mix together marinara sauce, ground beef, diced tomatoes, and ravioli, mix together until ravioli is covered in sauce.

3.) Transfer to baking dish and sprinkle the top with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover dish and bake for another 15 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.

Cheeseburger Rice

Here is yet another casserole that I learned how to make from my Step-Mom Rhonda. You know...I have always given credit to my Grandma Murphy and my Dad for showing me how to cook but seeing that this is the third recipe in about a week and a half that gives credit to my Step-Mom I am wondering just how much help my Grandma and Dad provided me. Who am I kidding, my Grandma was the best and boy how I miss some of her meals. I love using the bowls and other dishes that I got from her estate when she passed, it helps to keep her memories alive.

Boy did I get way off track there for a minute, let's get back to the dish. This is another very easy dish to make and I can guarantee that you have every ingredient ready and waiting in your fridge/pantry. Daniel loves it when I make this dish and I will admit to eating two helpings whenever I make this.
Cheeseburger Rice~

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef

1/2 onion, chopped
1-3/4 cups water
2/3 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
2 cups instant white rice, uncooked
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

1.) Brown meat in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Add onion and cook until translucent.

2.) Add water, ketchup and mustard; mix well. Bring to boil.
3.) Stir in rice. Sprinkle with cheese; cover. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5 min. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 min. Stir.

I actually found this recipe on kraftfoods.com but I can almost guarantee she cut it out of a magazine somewhere. You should see the box of recipes that she has collected over the years. Piles and piles of recipes cut out from magazines, newspapers, the back of food boxes, and written down by hand. She and my Dad have been divorced for quite awhile now and it has been years since I have been to her house so I haven't seen the recipe box for quite a bit of time, but I can guarantee it's still a frightful, unorganized mess. It's the reason why even in high school I started my own box, even though it's not quite as large and it's packed away somewhere. Now I just print everything off of the Internet so I have piles on desks, in the kitchen, even in the car.

A few tips when making this, we added the onion to the dish, the original recipe doesn't call for it but I couldn't imagine making this dish without it. Also, we like ours really cheesy so I put more than a cup of cheese in it, probably closer to two. Another big tip is once you have added the cheese turn off the heat. If you aren't careful the bottom will burn and you might as well forget about it then. Keep an eye on this dish once you have added the cheese and the rice has absorbed the liquid.

Hope you enjoy, these casseroles have been bringing back a lot of memories for me.

Open Faced Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwich

I love going to Bob Evans. I especially love their open faced sandwiches and I have managed to re-create one right here at home. Here's how you do it...

Ingredients:
Texas Toast
Pulled BBQ Chicken
Mashed Potatoes
Shredded Cheese
Garlic Powder

I prepare one chicken breast per sandwich by baking it in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for one and a half hours. Slather on about 1/3 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce to each piece of chicken before placing in oven. Once the chicken is out of the oven I shred it and pour on about two more tablespoons of sauce.

For the mashed potatoes I use instant. I know, I know, but I add about a teaspoon of garlic powder to kick them up a notch. You are more than welcome to use real potatoes to make your mashed potatoes. You will need between 1/2 cup to a full cup of potato for each sandwich. I used closer to a cup because I love mashed potatoes!

In a toaster, toast one piece of your Texas toast.

Now once all of these steps are completed begin layering your ingredients by taking your piece of toast and topping on it these ingredients in the following order; mashed potatoes, shredded chicken, and then shredded cheese.

This meal contains some of my favorite ingredients...bread, mashed potatoes, meat slathered in some sort of sauce, and topped with cheese. How can you go wrong with that?

Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies

When I used to work in another department at my place of employment we used to have the most amazing carry-ins. The food that everyone brought in was some of the best and if you left hungry then there was something wrong with you. Normally I am not a sweets person. Yes I do love chocolate but growing up we didn't get served a lot of desserts. For us after dinner meant you could have two Oreo cookies and be done. Two Oreo cookies?? That makes me laugh today because seriously...who can stop at just two Oreo cookies?


Anyway, a new lady in our department brought these brownies in and from that point on she was designated the official brownie person. Now like I said, I am not a sweets person, but with these I find myself going back for seconds, and thirds, oh who am I kidding...I could probably eat the whole pan if I really wanted to. Once again they are simple to make using store bought ingredients but with the addition of the melted Andes mints you would swear they were homemade.

Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies~
1 box brownie mix, baked as directed
1 bag of Ande's Mint Chips

Directions:
1.) Make brownies as instructed on the box. The fudgier the better. Allow to cool.
2.) In a double boiler, bring water to a boil and add chocolate chips to a glass bowl and melt.
3.) Spread melted chocolate over brownies and refrigerate until the chocolate has hardened.

* Make sure the water in your pan does not touch the bottom of the glass dish you are melting your chocolate in. Also before adding your chocolate to the bowl bring the heat down so that the escaping steam does not hit your chocolate. If water hit's your chocolate your in trouble.

* Instead of melting the chocolate for icing, you can just add the chips to your batter and cook them that way. Either way the hint of mint will have your guests asking for the recipe!

Chicken Alfredo Casserole

I must be on a casserole kick here lately as here we go with yet another one. This is a new one that I just whipped up after realizing I had a jar of Alfredo sauce that has been lurking in my pantry from the last time we made our Murphy's Madness Pizza. I didn't want to just do chicken Alfredo, that would be to boring, so I thought let's kick it up a notch and turn it into a really good casserole.

Chicken Alfredo Casserole~

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 jar Alfredo sauce
1/2 lb. Linguine noodles
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 tsp. garlic powder
shredded cheese
butter

Directions:
1.) In a skillet add about a tablespoon of butter and add chicken which has been cut into bite size pieces. Sprinkle with garlic powder and allow to brown. Add in chopped onion and cook until translucent.
2.) In a separate pot bring to a boil enough water to cook 1/2 lb. of linguine noodles. Cook as instructed on the box.
3.) Mix together chicken and onions with Alfredo sauce and gently toss in the cooked pasta.
4.) Add to a casserole dish and sprinkle with your shredded cheese.
5.) Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes or until cheese is melted and nice and golden in color.


Linguine means "little tongues" and this is definitely a tongue pleaser. I was pleasantly surprised by how well this came out and the shredded cheese on top is so good. I went back for seconds on this one and can't wait for the leftovers.

Easy Tuna Casserole

Growing up with divorced parents I got to be served two variations of this dish. Unfortunately for my Mom, my Step-Mom wins this hands down. Although, settle down now Mother, I do like yours as well. Not sure where my Step-Mom got the recipe from but I have been making it for years. I love this stuff with a slice or two of buttered bread. It calls for simple ingredients, which seems to be my kick here lately, and most importantly those simple ingredients are more than likely just sitting in your pantry waiting to be used.

Easy Tuna Casserole~
Ingredients:
1 box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, yes the stuff in the blue box

1/2 c. chopped onion

2-5 oz. cans Tuna, drained

1/2 C. milk

1 can cream of celery
French's Fried Onions

Directions:
1.) Cook macaroni and cheese according to the box, yes you want to add the powdered cheese.
2.) Chop up onion and with the rest of the ingredients add to your macaroni and cheese in an oven safe casserole dish.
3.) Sprinkle dish with your fried onions and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about forty five minutes or so. You want the top to be a golden color and everything to be heated through.

I used to make this meal all of the time during my days as a single gal living on her own. It's cheap to make and makes great leftovers. I hope you and yours enjoy as much as I have through the years.

*I also wanted to share with everyone that my Doctor is finally starting to realize that my Crohn's isn't what has been making me sick this past year. Deep down inside I knew this, simply because none of the systems I have been dealing with are even remotely similar to what I deal with when coming out of remission with my Crohn's disease. Everyone has been screaming "it's your gall bladder, have them check your gall bladder" and sure enough yesterday he admitted that it sounds like it could be my gall bladder. For the first time in the year I have been dealing with this he was sympathetic to the fact I am miserable and not making this stuff up. I have an ultrasound scheduled for this Sunday and I have an Endoscopy scheduled for June 3rd. I pray that my gall bladder will show right away that it needs to be removed. I am to the point now I don't know what I will do if they find that my gall bladder is normal and will not need to be removed. I am running out of options and would really like to get my life back on track. I feel like I have wasted the past year of my life being sick and I don't want to repeat that with this year. I have places to go, people to see, and I really want to start dedicating some time to starting a family with my husband. I refuse to get pregnant while I am sick for the simple fact I do not want to complicate a pregnancy that will already be considered high risk because of my Crohns disease and Remicade treatments. Everyone please keep your fingers crossed that my gall bladder is shot, I would appreciate it.

Turtle Soup...

Just kidding!! If I ate turtle soup it would be because I wasn't aware of there being turtle in my soup and once I found out...I don't think it would stay in my stomach for long if you know what I mean. Anyway, all of our pretty wedding photos were taken at Cox Arboretum here in Dayton and because yesterday was our wedding anniversary and because I have been wanting to pay the place a visit with my new camera, we swung by yesterday afternoon. I wanted to share these pictures with everyone because I think it turned out so well. You can tell spring is in the air when you spot the turtles sunbathing.


Anyone know how to put a stamp on my published pictures for copy right issues? I should know how to do this however I am stumped. I do have photoscape so if anyone knows how to do it, please let me know! Help is very much appreciated!