Golden Oreo Dream Salad

Being a mom comes with a whole lot of duties. I found out a new one on Saturday when I was making this. My new one is hiding downstairs with my blender while Miss K sleeps on the floor upstairs. I have quickly learned that you will do ANYTHING not to disrupt a sleeping baby. Anyone else been there before?

Even though I may have blended my Oreos in a laundry room this still turned out AH-MAZ-ING! Plus how do I call myself a "food blogger" and I don't even own a food processor? I really think I need to invest in one of those....

What's with calling a calorie laden delectable dish a salad anyways? Is it our way of making us feel less guilty about the indulgence? Hey if it works I'm all for that!

This fabulous little "Salad" will be the star of your dinner so go out there and make it now!!

Golden Oreo Dream Salad
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Ingredients
1 Package Oreos, crushed
8 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. butter, softened
1 c. powdered sugar
3 c. milk
2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding
1/2 tsp vanilla
12 oz Cool Whip, thawed

1. Cream together the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla.

2. In a separate LARGE bowl mix milk and vanilla pudding. Chill until set. Fold in Cool Whip. Add cream cheese mixture.

3. Layer pudding mixture then Oreos, alternating until done. Chill until ready to serve.

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Crack Potatoes

Well we have Crack Dip and now we have Crack Potatoes. The Crack dip is one of the most popular blog posts on the blog. I'm guessing it just might be in the name!

These potatoes are AH-MAZ-ING! Like stuff your face in the plate good. They make 3 lbs of potatoes and let's just say between three of us we polished off all of them. Carb overload anyone?! My little bro happened to be there the night I made these and he had already made dinner plans so as we were scarfing these down and oohing and aahing over them he was telling us to shut our holes. What can I say? He totally missed out on pure deliciousness!

There's even an added bonus. They are SO EASY! You don't even have to peel the potatoes!

If you are looking for a sure hit dish for tonight this is your ticket!

Crack Potatoes
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Ingredients

3 lb potatoes, washed and cubed
4 Tbsp, butter, cubed
1/4 c. Real Bacon Bits
1/4 c. ranch dressing
1/2 c. cheese

1. Put potatoes in an 8x8 in glass dish. Put butter on top of potatoes. Sprinkle bacon bit on top. Cover with aluminim foil and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.

2. Take potatoes out of oven and top with ranch dressing and cheese. Stir. Put back in oven until cheese is melted.

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Grilled Zucchini

Oh my this is so super easy I don't think I can really call it a recipe!

I was looking for a way to use up all my zucchini and I love it when I got to a restaurant and get served a side of zucchini. With this in mind I decided to whip up my own side dish. I don't know about you but I get tired of beans, peas, corn etc as my side dish every single night so this was a welcomed changed.

If you don't want to grill this it can be easily made on the stove also! Here's another way to use that zucchini up that you have coming out of your ears!

Grilled Zucchini

Ingredients
Zucchini
Butter
Lowry's

1. Cut the zucchini into bit size pieces.

2. Place zucchini in aluminum foil. Cut butter into pieces and put it on the zucchini. Sprinkle with seasoning. Close foil up.

3. Grill on top rack of grill 5-10 minutes until down. Make sure not to let it to long. No one likes super soft and squishy zucchini!

*You can also do this on the stove in a frying pan!

Strawberry Topioca Salad

This is the other salad I made for baptism. I figured the Cashew Chicken Rotini Salad had enough "weird" stuff in it I better make another one that was kid friendly and hubby friendly! I don't know how you consider grapes and cashews weird but he certainly does.

This salad, can you really call it a salad, is the real question I do believe. Anyways I'll skip that discussion for another time. This has been a staple in our house and for get togethers for a long time. It's one of my mom's "go to" salads when she needs to bring out to a family outing or potluck. It's super easy and everyone always seems to love it.

It's your lucky day. I've decided to share it with all of you! If you are looking for something kid friendly to whip up and need it to be a hit, this is your salad!

Strawberry Topioca Salad
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Ingredients
1 box tapioca pudding
1 box vanilla pudding
3 c. water
1 (.3 oz) pkg strawberry jello
12 oz Cool Whip
1 c. strawberries, cut up

1. Mix tapioca and vanilla puddings. Add water. Bring to a boil, stir constantly until thick. About 3-5 minutes. Add strawberry jello. Cool.

2. When it is cool add cool whip and strawberries. Mix well.

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Flour Me With Love

Cashew Chicken Rotini Salad

This salad would be the perfect 4th of July side dish!

I made this last weekend for Kinzee's baptism. I needed two different salads to make and this was one of them. I'll share the other one with you soon!

We had a wonderful day for Kinzee's baptism. It was gorgeous out. A true gift from God. Bless my mom's heart she hosted the dinner after baptism. My house is the size of peanut and we all love each other but we would have had to sit on each other's lap to all fit in it! She made the famous Sweet 'n' Sour Meatballs and they were hits. If you haven't checked out this recipe you must!

I think this salad was also a hit because my sister-in-law asked after dinner, "Hey, is this going on your blog?" I love it when when I get asked for recipes to go on my blog!

Cashew Chicken Rotini Salad
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Ingredients
1 (16 oz) pkg rotini
4 c. cubed chicken
1 c. seedless green grapes, halved
1 c. seedless red grapes, halved
1 (5 oz) pkg dried cranberries
1 c. ranch salad dressing
3/4 c. mayonnaise
2 c. salted cashews

1. Cook the pasta according to packaged directions. Drain pasta and rinse in cold water.

2. In a large bowl combine chicken, grapes and cranberries. Add pasta.

3. In a small bowl, whisk ranch dressing and mayonnaise. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

4. Just before serving stir in cashews.

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Our Delightful Home
Weekend Potluck 

Oven Baked Bacon

Did you know that when I see a recipe that has bacon listed as an ingredient I will actually avoid making it?

I mean I love bacon don't get me wrong but I don't love that terrible smell in your house and the mess of the grease flying everywhere when you fry it.

These leads me to my new attempt of Oven Baked Bacon. I had heard about this, saw it and never tried. Well I finally took the leap and tried it. I will be making my bacon like this forever. It's super simple and easy and it smells way less then actually frying it. Plus the grease drips from it, you get perfectly straight fried bacon piece and you can get it just to the right amount of crispiness.

Come back on Wednesday to see what I used my lovely Oven Baked Bacon for!!

Oven Baked Bacon

Bacon Strips
Cooling Rack
Sheet Pan

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Place your cooling rack (for cookies) on a baking sheet.

3. Spray your cooling rack with cooking spray. Place bacon strips on the cooling rack.

4. Bake 15 - 18 minutes until they reach your desired crispiness!

Macaroni Salad

The hubby has requested this salad since were were married I think. I had some leftover ham in the fridge so I decided to attempt this recipe. It really wasn't an "attempt" as it's a pretty simple recipe, but this was round two on it!

The first time I made this I didn't have his mother's recipe and he just didn't think it tasted right so after that I learned, always get the original! I bugged his sister and she delivered so I had the actual recipe this time.

I'm proud to say his whole face lit up when he saw that I had made this salad. This salad must be his favorite because he even remembers his mom made it for graduation! He then quickly dished himself an entire bowl and snuck off to the basement to watch his "shows" and enjoy the salad.

This would be perfect for all your summer grilling and time at the lake!

Macaroni Salad
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Ingredients
16 oz shell macaroni (boiled with 1 Tbsp oil)
1/2 tsp celery salt
1 tsp onion salt
1 pt salad dressing
3/4 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp seasoning salt
8 oz cheddar cheese, grated
1 pkg frozen peas, rinsed with warm water
Diced ham


1. Boil shell macaroni according to directions. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.

2. Mix together celery salt, onion salt, salad dressing, mustard, seasoning salt in large bowl. Add noodles, cheddar cheese, peas and ham. Mix well. Chill until serving.

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Weekend Potluck 

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

I LOVE twice baked potatoes so when I saw this recipe I knew it was right up my alley of course. Plus with this dish I can make it ahead of time and pop it in the oven when I need it.

I was craving Sweet 'N' Sour Meatballs and thought this recipe would be the perfect accompaniment. I knew I wouldn't have enough time to make this meal plus get to volleyball so I made both recipes and stuck them in the fridge for the next night. Then I got to looking and realized and I now had 3 lbs of meatballs and 5 lbs of potatoes. My hubby is hearty eater but not quite that hearty!

Time to call in reinforcements. After a quick text to my 'lil bro and 'lil bro in law I had rounded up my victims for supper. They raved about it. I must say I think I might call them again for when I need a confidence boost! Bro in law even said the text message was the highlight of his day and he hadn't ate this good of a supper for over a month. He possibly could have been sucking up but I think he was just being honest!

If you are in charge of the potatoes for your Easter get together these would be perfect!

Twice Baked Potatoes
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Ingredients
5 lb russet potatoes
Real Bacon Bits (3 oz)
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sour cream
2 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper


1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch chunks. Place in a large pot and add enough cold water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Cook until tender and easily pierced with a paring knife, about 20 minutes. Drain and put in a LARGE bowl.

2. Using a mixer beat potatoes until light and fluffy. Add cream cheese, butter, sour cream and stir until combined and smooth. Add cheddar cheese, half the bacon bits, salt and pepper. Mix until well combined.

3. Transfer to a butter 3 qt baking dish. Top with remaining 1/2 c. of cheddar cheese and bacon bits. Bake for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are heated through and the top is slightly golden brown.

*I made these the night before by stopping after I put them in the baking dish. The next day I just pulled them out and topped with the cheese and bacon bits. I cooked them for 45 minutes since they were cold to start.

Recipe Adapted From: Six Sisters' Stuff

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Olive Garden Breadsticks

I LOVE Olive Garden. It's a good thing that I live two hours from the closet one or I would have gained about 50 lbs and spent mucho dinero at that place by now. I can't say I'm in love with any particular pasta dish. It's the breadsticks and salad that do me in.

Now I've found the perfect recipe to cure my breadstick craving when it comes to Olive Garden. I'm just going to have to find the dressing recipe for Olive Garden now!

I think the key ingredient in these breadsticks is the sea salt so this is your warning if you don't have sea salt go buy some!

These are super simple to make. Remember I'm scared of yeast! They do take a while to prepare as they have to rise etc. so please plan ample time. This is your warning because one night I was in a hurry and attempted these and it backfired. Good thing I gave them a second chance when I had more time! Also, the recipe makes quite a few breadsticks, so I halved the recipe.

Olive Garden Breadsticks
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Ingredients

Dough
1 1/2 c. warm water
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp year
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp butter, softened
4 c. flour

Topping
3 Tbsp butter, Melted & Divided
Sea salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder

1. For the dough, pour the water into a stand mixer with the sugar and yeast, let that sit and froth for about 10 minutes.

2. Add salt, butter, and 2 cups of flour. Mix the dough on low. Add the rest of the flour a half cup at a time, until dough scrapes the sides of the bowl clean. Mix the dough about 5 minutes on medium speed, until its soft and easy to work with.

3. Roll the dough out into a long log, cut the dough into 12-14 pieces. Roll those pieces into about 6 inch long snakes. Spray 2 large cookie sheets with cooking spray, and lay the breadsticks out leaving about 2 inches between each one. Place them in the oven with the temperature turned to 170 degrees. Let them rise for about 20 minutes, or until doubled in size.

4. Once risen, brush them with the 1 1/2 T of melted butter and sprinkle them with salt.

5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and bake them for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. While they are baking combine the rest of the melted butter with 1/4 t garlic powder. When the breadsticks are golden brown, remove them from the oven and brush them with the butter/garlic mixture.

Recipe From: Readable Eatables

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Newlyweds

Fried Rice

Since I was all adventurous a few nights ago and tried my first Chinese dish, Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken, I had to have something to serve with. This is where this recipe comes in. It was a fabulous meal.

I was skeptical that the hubby would eat this as it has carrots in it. *GASP* The horrors! He never even mentioned that they were in there. I wonder if he noticed? I swear he just thinks he doesn't like vegetables and is being impossible! I didn't let him on my little secret that there were a few carrots in this dish!

Fried Rice
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Ingredients

3-4 cups cooked white rice, day old or leftover rice works best!

3 Tbsp sesame oil

1 c. frozen peas and carrots, thawed

1 small onion, chopped

2 tsp minced garlic

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 c. soy sauce

1. On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok.  Add the peas/carrots mix, onion and garlic. Stir fry until tender. 

2. Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture off to one side, then pour your eggs on the other side of skillet and stir fry until scrambled. 

3.  Add the rice and soy sauce and blend all together well. Stir fry until thoroughly heated!

*If you want to use this as more of a main dish feel free to add in some chicken!

Adapted from: Life as a Lofthouse

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Newlyweds

Vanilla Pudding

This recipe comes from when I was in about 5th grade and in 4-H. Each month at the meetings a few kids had to do "demonstrations". My friend, Lucy, made this pudding and we have been hooked ever since. It's soooo easy and so yummy.

Young and old love this recipe. My niece is in love with it and so is my hubby and her daddy likes it too. It's great plain but we found out while camping that if you throw a few strawberries in it right before you eat it that makes it super yummy!

Excuse the picture...I made this when the hubby had his wisdom teeth out and he was not waiting patiently for me to serve him a bowl of this!

Vanilla Pudding
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Ingredients
2 boxes instant vanilla pudding
1 container Cool Whip
4 cups milk

1. Mix pudding and milk together. Let sit until it is thick. Add Cool Whip and mix together.

2. Enjoy!

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

Can you believe it? I've officially posted three times this week once again. I bet you thought I wasn't capable of it!

This is a staple for our holiday get togethers and I recommend it becomes yours too. The fact that you can make it ahead and then just stick it in the oven that day is a wonderful benefit. I mean honestly as much as we like to have it together sometimes the day of the holiday gets a bit hectic!

This recipe is another "mom" original so I'm once again saying you can't go wrong!

If you are looking for something for that holiday get together this is it!

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
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Ingredients
5 bls potatoes (13 medium)
4 oz cream cheese
1 c. sour cream
2 tsp onion salt
1 tsp salt (if desired)
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp butter

1. Cook potatoes and drain off water. Add ingredients and beat till fluffy. Add milk if needed.

2. Cover and refrigerate ~ Use within two weeks.

3. Bake in 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.

Layered Strawberry Salad

Why hello Cyber Monday. It's so nice to meet you!

Did any of the rest of you hit up online shopping instead of braving the crowds on Black Friday? I know I did! I have went once and that one time was enough for this girl. Maybe if I found something super cheap that I had to have I would again, but that has yet to happen.

Instead I sat at my computer on Cyber Monday and embraced the online deals. I scratched off a few more people on my list and hope to be done shopping after Friday when my mom and I head out of town and hit up the malls.

The recipe I'm sharing with you originates from my mom once again. It's a super simple, delicious salad that is a crowd please at holidays. I know I have enough get-togethers this time of year and am always looking for new recipes! Funny thing about this salad is that the recipe doesn't specifically say it is supposed to layer. My mom's always does, mine did, but when my Aunt Mary tries it the layering does not happen.  You'll have to let me know if it works out for you!

Layered Strawberry Salad
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Ingredients
2 large packages of strawberry jello
4 c. water
1 pt heaving whipping cream, whipped
2 packages frozen strawberries

1. Boil water and add jello to water. Stir until it is dissolved.

2. Stir in strawberries until the mixture becomes syrupy. *Side note - Mine never got syrupy so I just went to the next step and it turned out fine!

3. Whisk in the whipping cream (that has been whipped to form stiff peaks) to the jello mixture. It will dissolve and shouldn't have lumps left in the mixture.

4. Pour into a glass bowl. Make sure it's a big bowl! Let sit in the fridge until it sets up. I left mine overnight.

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Smashed Potatoes

It's time for another Secret Recipe Club Reveal! This month I was assigned Kate's Kitchen. This blog is full of all kinds of great and unique recipes. I mean TONS of recipes! I choose the Smashed Grilled Potatoes.

If you aren't familiar with the Secret Recipe Club it's a group and we have a "reveal" group. We each get assigned a random blog from the group, we visit the blog, pick out a recipe, make it and then write a blog post about it. Then we all reveal our posts on the same day. It's fun and we get to check out new blogs we might not have found every month!

I'm always look for different side dishes for week night suppers so when I saw this recipe I knew it was right up my alley. I had to adapt it a little because, well I live in Minnesota and it's November and this equals not great grilling weather! I am looking forward to trying these out on the grill next summer. These would be easy to do while camping also. Feel free to use whatever seasonings or spices you'd like on your potatoes. Like sour cream? Top it with that when they are done!

Smashed Potatoes
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Ingredients
3 potatoes
Olive Oil
Seasoned Salt
Grated Parmesan Cheese

1. Clean potatoes, make several cuts in them, and microwave for 6-7 minutes, or until fork tender. Watch them carefully if you microwave them to long they will shrivel up! No one likes a shriveled potato. Don't want to microwave? Feel free to boil that potatoes instead. I just figure it's faster and I'm always looking for short cuts!

2. Take the potatoes and put them onto a baking sheet. Smash them with a fork a little. Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes. Sprinkle seasoned salt or whatever you would like on top. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

3. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Cabbage Casserole

I talk about my mom a lot don't I? Well sorry I'm going to do it again in this post. No, I'm not sorry because a fab mother. Honestly. My friends used to call her mom. I mean how many mom's would make you chocolate chip cookies at 10:00 on a Friday night because your friends were hanging out downstairs and we just wanted some? Not many. But my mom would. No wonder why they liked to come out to my house even though we lived in kinda the middle of no where. Dang and I thought they liked me! Well I guess I gotta work with what I got and if it's mom's cooking/baking I got then I'll work with it.

Mom's my best friend. Kinda corny huh? She is and I'm not going to lie. Maybe it's because she's my mom and she has to love me even though sometimes I kinds snitty when I get stressed. A horrible and awful trait of mine. Ask my hubby. Ask my mom. Wait ask my little brother. Now he taught my hubby how to handle these moments. It goes something like this, "Julie need a hug? Julie need a hug?" (Julie running away and little bro chasing, catching and Julie fighting it) "Awwww Julie needed a hug!" Now my hubby does it minus the chasing usually I know by now just to give in. And it works. Gotta love my family.

Wait (easily distracted) ok back to mom and her cooking/baking. This recipe was actually passed down from my great aunt Nettie. Now she was a cooker/baker and gardener. Mom missed out on the gardener trait. But I still love her just as much don't worry. I always loved this recipe and I was surprised the first time she made it because it was cabbage. Ah the horror when I was growing up and mom made cabbage. And I liked it. Wait that shouldn't be possible but it was. Now I know why I liked it. Cream. It makes anything edible more than likely. So even if this has cabbage in it I think the cream might just cross out the healthy factor. It's awesome so if you are wondering what to do with that cabbage because you were blessed with the gardener gene here you go. If you weren't blessed I highly recommend a trip to the farmer's market or grocery store so you can enjoy this!

Cabbage Casserole
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Ingredients
1/2 - 1 head cabbage, chopped
1 Tbsp flour
2 tsp mustard powder
Salt, pinch
1 c. cream
7 bacon strips, cooked

1. Fill a 2 quart casserole dish with cabbage. Sprikle flour, mustard powder and salt over the cabbage. Pour the cream over the mixture. Lay bacon strips over the top.

2. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cut strips of bacon with scissors before serving.

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Mandy's Recipe Box: Totally Tasty Tuesdays 

Hugs & Cookies 

Stained Glass Jello

Looking for a fun treat for the Labor Day Weekend? I have got just the thing for you today! Oh glorious long holiday weekend I'm ready for you. I was just talking to a coworker saying I haven't had an actual vacation day since my honeymoon last August. How depressing is that? I went and switched jobs so I have to wait six months for a vacation day, which isn't bad compared to some jobs and then I got paid out my vacation at the last job when I quit so I never go to use it. I'm ready for a true vacation, although I don't have any planned!

Another little tidbit....I've added a new tab to my blog "Beyond Food". It will be posts about life and not much to do with food. It's a separate blog feed so if you've subscribed to my blog via email or Google reader you won't get these posts. If you want them make sure to subscribe on "Beyond Food" page! My first post is up and ready for you to read!

As you can see I made this treat for a 4th of July picnic and never got around to posting it till now. I figured we were all having our last big horah before the end of summer and this would be the perfect thing to share with you. It's easily adaptable to whatever colors you want to incorporate. It's cute, fun and you get lots of compliments when you bring it somewhere. I mean come on who doesn't like compliments? It makes you feel like the star of the picnic. So if you are looking to be the star (and I know you are!) I highly recommend making this. Enjoy!

 Stained Glass Jello
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Ingredients
2 strawberry jello (.3 oz)
2 blueberry jello (.3 oz)
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (Knox)
Water

1. Dissolve strawberry jello in 2 c. boiling water. Dissolve blueberry jello in 2 c. boiling water. Pour into two separate 9 x 13 in pans. Chill at least 3 hours (I did mine overnight). After chilling cut the jello into small blocks. Arrange blocks in a 9 x 13 in pan, mixing the colors together.

2. In a separate bowl sprinkle 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin into 1/2 c. cold water. After the gelatin blooms add 1 1/2 c. boiling water and dissolve. Add the condensed milk. Stir and let cool. Make sure you let it cool before you pour it over the jello blocks or the blocks melt and you turn out with a mess! Skim off any small bubbles.

3. Chill overnight or at least three hours. Cut and serve!

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Everyday Mom's Meal: Church Supper

Creamy Primavera Risotto Cakes

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program I was selected to try out the new Birds Eye Chef's Favorites. It's a line up of steam fresh and ready to serve veggies in minutes. I'm a big fan of steam fresh veggies and have frequently tried them before. My hubby isn't a big veggie fan so if I can have a bag that I can steam and save the leftovers for the next night I'm all for it.

I tried the Creamy Primavera Risotto. I've actually never had Risotto so I tried half of it as is - out of the bag after I had steamed it. It was good but nothing that knocked my socks off. The second half I made into a cake after it had cooled. I put a little olive oil in a frying pan and fried the cake over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, flipping it half way through. I definetely liked his option better as it added a little crunch to it. If you are looking for a healthy option this might not be for you. Make sure you read the labels on the back of these bags!

Look for this product in your grocery freezer in September!

Shredded Potato Casserole

Cheese and potatoes. In the same dish. Did I mention lots and lots and lots of cheese? How can you go wrong? I'm saying you probably can't, but in this dish you for sure won't.

Then you top it with just a little bit of crunch with the Krispies. Mmmmm Heaven on earth. Seriously. Also, I think I'm a carbaholic, but at least I've admitted it. Isn't that the first step?

Oh did I mention these are super duper easy. I mean it uses frozen hash browns. You don't even have to chop, dice, shred or what not to make these potatoes.  

I bet you are falling in love just I like might have. Never mind. I did fall in love. I think I want more.

I promise you that if you try these potatoes you won't be disappointed. Wait do I say that in every post? I suppose I do because I wouldn't share it with you if I wasn't in love with the dish! Enjoy!

Shredded Potato Casserole
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Ingredients
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. milk
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c. butter, melted, divided
1 package (30 oz) frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
1 c. Rice Krispies
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1. In a large bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, milk, cheddar cheese and 1/4 c. butter. Stir in hash browns.

2. Transfer to a greased 13 in x 9 in x 2 in baking dish.

3. Combine the Rice Krispies, Parmesan cheese and remaining butter; sprinkle over the top of hash brown mixture.

4. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

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Everyday Mom's Meals: Church Supper Sunday ~ 8/7/11

Parmesan Orzo

Is it Friday yet? Better yet I'm going to ask is it Saturday yet this week. I think this is my last crazy busy week I have on the calendar and I'm so looking forward to it being over. We have Relay for Life this weekend, I have to close out a Scentsy party, play softball, and of course entertain you, which is obviously the most important thing on my agenda. Oh and then I'll squeeze going to work in there also since that does pay the bills. I'm asking if it's Saturday this week because Relay for Life on Saturday night will make for a crazy, busy  and late Friday. I can't imagine life with kids quite frankly. When we hit that point I've decided that something has got to go because I will go crazy and you will all have to come visit me in the loony bin. I promise it won't be that blog and you'll continue to get the attention you all deserve! The recipe I'm sharing tonight is a quick and easy side dish that is yummy. I saw Orzo Recipes all over the blog world. Yes there is a blog world out there. If you aren't familiar with it I'm telling you it's an amazing place. Tons of cooking blogs and all kinds of delicous recipes flying around. I picked this one because it seemed simple and had ingredients I knew we would like in it. I went to the store to buy my Orzo and I couldn't find any. I had no idea what I was looking for. Was it in the bean aisle? Was it in the rice aisle? Was it in the pasta aisle? I think I finally came home and looked it up on Google. Honeslty I often wonder how the world survived without Google. I learned that it was in the pasta aisle and went off to our local grocery store and found it. After that mission was accomplished, I'm telling you this seriously was the hardest part of the recipe, I was on my way to making my first successful Orzo! The hubby said multiple times tonight, Oh wow is this good. Best part about it was it was super easy. I'm always looking for simple side dishes and I know this one is soon to be a regular in our house. Enjoy!

Parmesan Orzo
Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients
1 c. Orzo
1 Tbsp butter
1 can chicken broth
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. In small saucepan combine the orzo and butter. Melt butter and stir regularly. Lightly toast the Orzo.

2. Pour the can of broth and the garlic in the orzo mixture. Heat over low heat, stirring regularly until all the broth is absorbed. Make sure not to turn it up to high or the broth will be absorbed before the orzo is done.

3. Stir in cheese until melted.

Adapted from: Stephanie Cooks

Herbed Potatoes & Green Beans

I've officially survived three days of work at my new job! On Monday I woke up with a horrible cold. Like the worst one I've had all winter. Of course. Perfect. First day of my new job. I had a ton of sick days at my old job I never used but noooo I couldn't get the cold last week. So I toughed it out and went in. I'm sure I was super impressive blowing my nose every three minutes but I got through it and maybe even retained a little bit of the information I was told. I'm feeling much better and over the last few days have retained even more information. I keep telling them I'd like to just fast forward about a month so I was a little bit comfortable with things. So far I'm really enjoying the things I have learned and am still excited about the job. Good sign right?! I emailed my friend today and told her the only thing I have to complain about is the fact that I haven't figured when to get my work out in every day. She informed me that if that's the only thing I have to complain about so far I'm doing pretty good! The workout complex - I tried working out after supper last night and well full stomach + workout = not productive workout. Today I tried working out after work. It was ok but the gym was full and all I could think about was man I wish that I could go back to my normal workout before work. The thing is I have to be to work an hour earlier and I have a 15 minute drive now. So tomorrow morning I'm going to rise at the crack of down and try out the workout before work. I'll let you know how that goes! It's just so nice to be done with work and not have to dread the fact that you still have to workout! Ok enough about me and onto this recipe again. I had picked up some fresh green beans at the grocery store last week and saw this recipe and figured I'd try it since I can always use a different side dish. It turned out great and it was a nice change of pace. Enjoy!

Herbed Potatoes & Green Beans
Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients

12 oz potatoes (3 small russet or 5 red potatoes approximately)
1/2 lb green beans, ends trimmed
Chicken Broth - At least two cups
1/2 Tbsp dried minced onion
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
Paprika
3 green onions, diced (I omitted this of course!)
Salt & Pepper

1. In large skillet with lid, spray surface with cooking spray. Turn heat to medium and add potatoes. Flip after 5 minutes and brown other side.

2. Pour in about 1 c. chicken broth or until potatoes are about half covered with broth. Cover and allow to steam over medium/low heat 5-10 minutes until liquid is almost absorbed.

3. Add 1 cup more broth or half way up potatoes again. Add green beans, minced, onion powder and paprika. Stir. Replace lid and allow to steam 5-10 minutes. Once veggies are cooked through turn up heat and reduce broth. As it thickens stir to coat veggies.

4. Season with salt and pepper. Top with minced onions - I of course skipped this step!

Recipes from: Stephanie Cooks