A Quick, Easy Happy Family Casserole Your Family Will Adore

Recently, my son, once again, threw me under the bus with my husband. Here's how it played out:

My husband wants me to cook organic meals for the kids from scratch. Unfortunately, the kids don't want those meals – they want crap, like frozen pizza and microwaveable fried chicken. My daughter will settle for pasta (Kraft mac and cheese – as long as REAL cheese is not involved), but Junior is really picky. Half the stuff I make, he won't eat, yet, whenever Daddy's around, the kid becomes a martyr and wails, “Mom, I WANT nutritious food, Mom, but you never make it!!!” SUCH BULLSHIT!! So tonight, I came up with my easy:

Happy Family Casserole

Since it was made on the fly, measurements are approximate.  

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds of ground meat (turkey, beef – whatever the family will eat); I used lean ground turkey
• 2 cups of frozen or fresh veggies (again, whatever the hell they'll eat); I used chopped broccoli because I wanted there to be a lot of small pieces
• ¼ c of Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1 cup of diced frozen or fresh onions (if they'll eat them)
• 2 cups of frozen hash brown potatoes
• ¼ cup of butter or margarine
• 1 package of shredded American cheese (again, if they like it)

Instructions:

1. Brown the meat and onions in a skillet and add the Worcestershire sauce.
2. Spray a lasagna pan (approximately 10x14) with non-stick spray.
3. Spoon the mixture into the bottom of the pan; add salt and pepper if you want.
4. Layer your vegetables over the meat and sprinkle with a handful or two of cheese.
5. Spread the two cups of frozen hash browns.
6. Using a teaspoon, drop teaspoons of the margarine over the hash browns and sprinkle the top liberally with the shredded cheese. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

What you have now looks like a pseudo-lasagna. Bake at 400 degrees until the potatoes are brown and the cheese on the top has melted.

That's it!

This dish was popular with the family for several reasons:

1. My husband liked it because it was nutritious.
2. The kids liked it because it involved meat and vegetables COVERED with cheese (always popular here).
3. I LOVED it because of its versatility. 
   
   

You can easily use shredded chicken and whatever veggies your kids will eat (or whatever you can hide among the meat).  In the future, I'll use black beans and some salsa, for a Southwest flavor. If your family is vegetarian, use soy crumbles or tofu. Got fresh veggies from your garden? Throw them in! This dish also freezes really well. 

The Happy Family Casserole will be on my list of go-to dishes and it looks nice enough to even serve company.

Try it and let me know                                  

what YOUR variations are!

Thanks for reading!

 

EASY Crockpot Crab Chowder

My son and I ate a LOT of crab chowder during our recent visit to Virginia Beach. Why?  Because the crab was fresh and each restaurant's version was better than the last!   Junior loved it so much that upon our return, I embarked on a quest for simple recipe I could make at home. Since we're on the road a lot in the fall, I looked for one I could make in the crockpot. I tried several recipes, modified them, and here's the end result (drumroll, please!): 

Linda's EASY Crockpot Crab Chowder

* Makes about 6 servings.*  Prep time about 10 minutes. * Cooking time 5 hours.   *Calorie content: no idea.

Ingredients:

1 pound of crab meat or imitation crabmeat – diced

1 cup chopped onions (I use frozen ones)

2 cups of diced, unpeeled red potatos

2 10-ounce packages of frozen corn

1 tsp. Worchestershire sauce

1 T paprika

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

2 cups of water

12-oz. can evaporated milk

2 T Old Bay Seasoning

1 T Xanthan Gum (thickener) as needed

½ cup of bacon (I use jarred bacon you find in the salad fixings aisle)

2 T liquid smoke

Here's the EASY part:  

 

1. Load all of the ingredients EXCEPT the evaporated milk and crab meat into your crockpot.
2. Cover and cook on high for 4-1/2 hours.
3. Stir in the crab and evaporated milk. Cover and cook 30 more minutes.
4. If the soup is too watery for your liking, stir in the Xanthan Gum and cook for 20 more minutes; if it's STILL too watery, stir in more of the gum.
   
   
   
   
    That's IT!   
   
   
   
   
   
    

This recipe is going to be a staple of ours this coming Winter. It's easy to make and the crockpot ensures that no matter what time family members come home, they'll have a hot meal ready.

Try it and let me know what YOU think!

As always, thanks for reading!   Come back soon, y'hear!  

Growing Bean Plants - A BLAST For Kids Of All Ages

I'm a teacher's aide at an elementary school and I'm constantly flabbergasted at what the kids are learning!  Sure, I've seen this stuff before, but not in a long time, and it's fun asking the kids to explain to me what they're doing. Thus, I was thrilled when the 4^th graders recently showed me the interesting plants growing on their desks. 

They were growing bean plants from ordinary beans and the plants looked incredible!

My bean plant growing in dirt - I'm having so much fun growing it!

So I asked them to teach me (or re-teach me since I'd grown them when I was in school eons ago). 

Bean plants are great for any kid (or adult) to cultivate because they require very little care and sprout so quickly you can virtually watch them grow. Here's what you'll need to start:

Any unused beans are going into chili.

Dried beans – I purchased a bag of Goya beans. I separated out the lima beans (which the family won't eat anyway) because they're big and easy to see. I saved the rest of the beans for use in chili.

A paper towel

A small dish

Here's what you do:

1.  Wet a paper towel and fold it so it fits inside the dish. 

2.  Slide a bean or two between the folds of the wet paper towel.

3.  Wet the towel every day (if it dries out, sometimes I wet it twice)

Could it BE any easier?!!

In a day or so, you'll see the bean start to crack and a green shoot emerging. When the shoot is an inch long, plant it in dirt. 

Future bean plants.

Again, you'll be amazed at how fast your plant will grow. 

For an incredible stop-action clip showing the process from bean to plant, visit http://www.instructables.com/file/F0GT0TJFW4JU0VO/.

Thanks for reading!!!

The Lazy Mom's BEST Ribollita (Bean) Soup EVER!

If you've been reading this blog, you KNOW that I cannot cook. I burn, I nuke (microwave), and make salads quite well, but cooking is not one of my talents. 

Still, many years ago before kids (BK), I traveled to Tuscany and experienced tried a food that changed my life.  It's called ribollita. 

For those who don't know, ribollita is a Tuscan bean soup. According to Wikipedia, the soup has peasant roots when it was originally made by reheating (or reboiling) leftover minestrone soup from the previous day. Some say the soup dates back to the Middle Ages when servants gathered up the bread from their lords' banquets and used it in their own dinners. Ribollita is made from leftover vegetables you have in your kitchen, beans, stock, perhaps some cheese, and old, crusty bread. It's one of those “throw together” suppers. The ribollita we had at a restaurant was so thick and hearty, you could eat it with a fork. 

Ribollita is a hearty, healthy soup!

Ever since then, I've been trying to re-create that original dish, but to no avail. Either my stock is off or the mix of vegetables isn't right. Until now. On the website Chewnibblenosh.com, they had a recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentis (find her original here). 

Yesterday, I modified the recipe even further to come up with THE BEST version of ribollita I've had since that original experience in Italy years ago!

Before I even list the ingredients, let me preface this by saying that MOST Italian food tastes better when it's had time to gel. By that I mean, make this either in the morning of the evening you're going to serve it, as I did, or the day before. In time, the flavors will coalesce, making it more flavorful the longer you leave it. This recipe supposedly serves 4 to 6 people, but my family had at least 6 servings of it yesterday, and we can easily get three more out of it. 

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

½ c extra-virgin olive oil

2 chopped onions (I used frozen chopped onions since I hate chopping them)

4 small carrots, chopped

4 to 6 ounces of chopped pancetta (I bought this in a package at the grocery store)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

½ teaspoon of salt & pepper (to taste)

1 6 oz. can of tomato paste

1 (14.5 oz.) can of diced tomatos, with the juice

1 (10 oz.) box of frozen, chopped spinach

2 cans of Cannelini beans

1 teaspoon each of dried thyme and rosemary

6 cups of low-sodium chicken broth

1 bay leaf

3 inch piece of Parmesan rind – save the rest of the cheese for grating on top

Any other veggies you might have lying around

1 cup of mozzarella cheese

½ loaf of leftover Italian or French bread (you can also use leftover bagels, matzoh, etc.)

Instructions:

1. In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, pancetta, garlic, salt & pepper. Cook about 10 minutes until the onion browns and the pancetta begins to crisp. Add the tomato paste and stir into the mixture. Then add the tomatos with the juice and the broth, stirring constantly.
2. Add the beans, spinach, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, broth, leftover veggies, mozzarella, and the Parmesan rind. Break the bread into pieces and put it on top of the soup. Bring the soup to a low boil and keep it going for at least 25 minutes. I had it going until it boiled over, then just left it on the stove (sans heat) for a few hours.
3. Discard the bay leaf, stir the bread (which has absorbed the soup) into the ribollita, and spoon the soup into bowls. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
   
   
   
   

   

   I had three bowls of this ribollita and could EASILY have had more!

   
   

Ribollita  is a great dish during cold season and can easily be adapted depending on what vegetables the family likes.

It's nutritious and makes the house smell wonderful!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to grab another bowl before the family gets to it.  I LOVE this soup!  

Thanks for reading!!!

Here's A Novel Way To Re-Use Wine Corks AND Candle Wax

Having grown up poor, I try not to waste stuff.  We didn't have much money, so if I wanted something, I'd either have to go without or make it in some way.  My mantra has always been:

There's GOT to be another use for everything!!

Wine corks used to tick me off. I mean, I KNEW they were good for more than just corking wine.   I'd looked at dozens of ideas on Pinterest and even made a less-than-attractive trivet using my corks. 

But recently, when I saw all the melted wax in a candle I'd been burning, I had an EUREKA moment!

Wine corks + discarded candle wax =

I grabbed a few corks and dipped them in the melted wax. After they'd dried, I tried using them in the fireplace to start a fire.

They were easy to make, worked perfectly and helped me re-purpose two materials: melted candle wax and wine corks.

FIRESTARTERS!

I found this nifty tutorial on how to make firestarters using dryer lint, an empty cardboard egg carton, old candle stubs, dental floss, and scissors.  While I like it and they like like cute little packages, I'm too lazy to make them.  

So I modified thes “recipe” by instead, cutting a cardboard egg carton apart, filling each compartment with dryer lint, and then pouring melted candle wax into the cups. They're not as pretty as the ones in the tutorial, but work well. 

Guess I've GOT to go drink more wine!  

THANKS FOR READING!!!

EASY Gluten-Free Southwest Chicken And Rice Casserole

When a friend accepted our dinner invitation and casually added, “Oh, yeah! I'm gluten-free now,” I panicked. Most of my guest dishes involve pasta and are usually variations of lasagna.  How would I ever cook a gluten-free entree that my guests and my family, especially my finicky kids, would eat?

This EASY gluten-free Southwest Chicken & Rice Casserole is delicious and freezes really well!

This dish is my solution. It can be made with pre-cooked  (and even pre-bought) chicken and Minute Rice, can be as spicy or not as you want, and the only one I could see it challenging would be a lactose-intolerate person (but even there, you could use lactose-free cheese). 

So, here's my Easy Gluten-Free Southwest Chicken And Rice Casserole. This particular version serves about 12 people and leftovers freeze really well for future microwave suppers. 

Ingredients:

5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts which have been grilled and either shredded or cut into bite-sized pieces

8 cups of cooked brown rice

2 cans (15.25 ounces each) of DelMonte Southwest Corn (it contains red peppers and poblanos which adds color as well as flavor)

2 cans (15 ounces each) of drained black beans

2 cups of plain Greek Yogurt

1 cup of chunky salsa

2 cups of grated Mexican cheese (or a Cheddar/Monterey Jack combo) – 1-1/2 cups will go in the dish with the other ½ cup going on top

This would be a lovely kitchen to make this dish in.  Sadly, the kitchen is not mine.

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350. In a LARGE bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix them thoroughly, being especially careful to make sure that the yogurt and cheese are dispersed throughout. Place it in a lasagna pan or other oven-safe dish and top with the extra cheese. Bake it for about 25 minutes.

Options: You can use sour cream instead of yogurt for a little extra sourness and sprinkle a bit of ground chili pepper on top for more color. Since my kids LOVE black beans, I actually add another cup of those in and serve with extra salsa on the side for those who want it even hotter.

With things so busy during the holidays, make this on a Sunday for dinner and it could last your family through Tuesday of that week.  

Bon Appetite!  

EASIEST Fish Tacos EVER!

My son is in love - with fish tacos!  He was in heaven with his first bite into the crispy, spicy dish and has savored them each time we've been in Southern California.  So, after playing with several recipes which proved to be too time-consuming and dissecting what, exactly, he loved about them (I'm not a fan), I came up with the winner below.  He ate 6 (yes, six) of them last night for dinner and just begged me for more when we walked through the door after school.

EASIEST FISH TACOS

You could use this seasoning mix for the fish tacos, but any taco seasoning mix works well.

Ingredients:  10 ounces of breaded frozen fish fillets (Mrs. Pauls, VanDeKamps, etc.), 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon of taco seasoning, 1 - 4.6 ounce package of taco shells and/or low-carb tortillas (my husband is on a low-carb diet), 2 cups of coleslaw from your deli, 1/2 cup of salsa

My family's FAVORITE salsa

Directions:  

1.  Sprinkle the fish with the chili powder and taco seasoning.  Bake as directed on the package.

2.  Take the fish out of the oven and cut it into bite-size pieces or strips.

3.  Spoon a teaspoon of coleslaw into each shell (if you're using a tortilla, halve the tortilla first and use each half), top with some fish, and a tablespoon or so of salsa. 

ENJOY! 

Variations:  You can add avocado, sour cream, cheese, sauteed red pepper strips, etc.  Make it your own. 

 

My son is getting all the benefits of fish with the cabbage from the slaw and tomatoes (which he won't touch otherwise) from the salsa.  This also makes a great "make it yourself" leftovers dish since once the fish is cooked, all he has to do is heat it up for about a minute before assembling the taco. 



Try it and tell me what you think of it!  And, as always, thanks for reading!  

The Lazy Mom's Life-Changing Vacuum

The Shedder

Anyone who knows me knows that I am NOT fond of cleaning. I'd rather have root canal, without anesthesia, than clean.  Life is just too damn short to worry about dust and there are far better things I could be doing (like writing or Tweeting) than tidying a house that, with two kids, is going to look like a typhoon hit it 5 minutes after it's been cleaned anyway. Plus I've got a cat that sheds fur balls the size of hamsters every time she jumps off the couch. I mean, why bother?

Hubby, who likes a clean house (what is WRONG with that guy?!), tends to do the heavy-duty vacuuming on the weekends. I supplement with a lightweight Red Devil, which picked up the aforementioned fur balls and potato chip crumbs, just to keep bugs at bay. I swore I'd never use our big, clunky, main vacuum until pigs fly. Still, when the old vacuum started to smell like the fireplace (can you say “upcoming explosion”), we decided it was time to get a new, primary vacuum. After a good amount of research, we headed over to Walmart to buy (drum roll please)..

 The Shark Navigator Lift-Away!

This sucker (pun intended) is only 12 pounds, so it weighs two pounds less than the damn cat! It swivels, which is convenient, yes, but it makes it remarkably easy to maneuver. With a flick of a switch, you can go from floor setting to rug, unlike the Hoover we returned because you basically needed a degree in Engineering to figure the bloody thing out. With our previous vacuum I used to use earphones to protect my hearing from the deafening motor; this one is loud, but not unpleasantly so. It even picks up cat hair like an over-caffeinated, crazed Mother-In-Law.


But the BEST thing about the Shark Navigator Lift-Away is that it comes apart in many, many ways. Why is this important?

• I can take the canister off the main part (see photo – that's not me) so I can vacuum the stairs without dragging the whole thing up and down.
  
• I can take the canister off, take it outside to the garbage, and then empty the dust cup via an upper trap door or lower one. In other words, it's EASY to dump the dust without making a mess!
• The attachments can be connected at any number of points and work really well to clean the couch of potato chip crumbs and even more cat hair (she may be going bald).

There are only two cons to the vacuum so far: 1) The non-retractable extension chord. Yes, it's a 25 foot chord, but a retractable one is more fun. 2) There's no place to put the attachments. There's a pedestal for one, but when I put one of the brushes up there, it still fell off. I got a boo-boo on my foot.

Still, this vacuum is a PLEASURE to use! I put the Red Devil away and am using this sucker a few times a week just because it's fun. Reviewers on Amazon had said that you don't know how dirty your house is until you get the Shark Navigator and I believe it! It's picking up stuff I didn't know was in the carpets.

Take a look at it here on Amazon, but check out the price at Walmart where it was much cheaper. Seriously, again, I am cleaning the house much more often because the vacuum is fun to use. Apparently pigs do fly! 

Thanks for reading!   My daughter has decided she wants a voodoo doll.  It's still playing out, so please check back in with me.  This should be interesting, folks! 

The Crock-Pot Makes Even A Culinary Disaster Like Me Look Good

 
It's snowing...again...for the third time this week. Those cute little signs and whatnot saying, “Let It Snow” are making me see red because clearly, whoever manufactured them in China has never had the dubious pleasure of repeatedly shoveling out a walkway and driveway in that frozen mess. Anyway, it's time to pay homage to my FAVORITE wintertime appliance: the crock-pot.


Even before I had kids, I marveled at this low-wattage miracle device which allowed me to, literally, throw in a bunch of ingredients (2 points if I get the carrots in) and after a long day at work, come home to a hot, delicious meal. Even if I had errands or chores (shoveling, for example), the food usually didn't burn and if it did, it wasn't a lot. I'd walk in to a house so fragrant, one would swear someone had been cooking all day just for my pleasure.


Now that I have kids and a husband who works long hours, I still rely on the crock-pot for its simplicity and convenience. The devices are fairly inexpensive (in the $20 to $150 range) and the one I have has a 4-quart capacity which is perfect for my family. To learn more about choosing a slow-cooker, visit About.com (http://cookingequipment.about.com/od/slowcooker1/a/Aboutslowcooker.htm). Also, since I'm a renowned culinary disaster, I redeem myself with this appliance.


Here are three of my favorite recipes:


Turkey Chili


I make this at least once a week in the winter because my son loves it and it freezes well. Come to think of it, most of the crock-pot dishes I make freeze well...


Ingredients:


1-1/2 to 2 pounds of ground turkey
2 15.5 cans of drained black beans
1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes (I'd use diced tomatoes, but the boy can't stand tomato chunks.)
1 or 2 packages of chili mix (depending on how spicy I want it)
1 40 oz. can of drained red kidney beans


Directions:

1. Spray the inside of the pot with cooking spray.
   
2. Add all ingredients and set on the Low setting to cook for about 8 hours.
   
3. Stir periodically.
   

Variations: I've added some canned corn and frozen chopped spinach, served it over brown rice, and thrown a tablespoon or two of sour cream and diced Mexican cheese on top just for fun. To stretch it, add a can of Hormel chili.


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Turkey Meatloaf


Again, an easy-peasy recipe that yields the filling for an amazing sandwich the next day.


Ingredients:


2 pounds of ground turkey
2 eggs, beaten (or 1/3 cup of liquid egg whites)
¾ cup of milk or water
3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs (I use whole wheat ones)
1 cup of ketchup

Directions:

1. Spray the inside of the pot with cooking spray.
   
2. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk or water, breadcrumbs, and meat. Mix thoroughly and shape into a large ball. The ball should be large enough that it won't touch the sides of the pot.
   
3. Place the ball into the pot and add about ½ cup of water.
   
4. Pour the ketchup over the top and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.
   

Variations: To get extra vegetables into my son, I've added a jar of babyfood – squash or sweet potatos work well. You may need to increase the amount of breadcrumbs by ½ cup if you do this.


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Chicken Soup


Ingredients:


1 to 2 cups of shredded chicken (I use thighs because they're cheaper than breasts.)
1 cup of water
2 cups of frozen, diced vegetables (Generic ones from the grocery store work fine, just be careful what they have in them. If there's a lima bean in the assortment, my kids won't touch the soup.)
6 cups of chicken broth or 6 chicken bouillon cubes
leftover rice or pasta, if you have any
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

1. Put all of the ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours. Taste periodically and adjust the seasonings to whatever you like.
   

I've served this over rice, added leftover vegetables and had fun with this recipe. Ask a young child to help – they love it.


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For more crock-pot recipes, visit the following sites:


CookingLight.com – Here's the link to a whopping 105 slow-cooker recipes: http://www.cookinglight.com/food/top-rated-recipes/slow-cooker-favorites-00400000038588.


Spoonful.com – This link has 30 recipes: http://spoonful.com/recipes/slow-cooker-recipes
Chef-In-Training.com – Nikki lists 50 recipes here: http://www.chef-in-training.com/2012/08/50-slow-cooker-recipes.


CrockpotLadies.com – They list an Apple Pie Moonshine that sounds compelling. Their link is http://crockpotladies.com.


About.com – Linda Larsen has a great article on 5-ingredient recipes here: http://busycooks.about.com/od/fiveingredientsorles1/a/5ingredient.htm.


Foodnetwork.com – Probably the best cooking site for cooking. Their Slow Cooker Collection can be found at http://www.foodnetwork.com/search/delegate.do?fnSearchString=slow+cooker&fnSearchType=site


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Please check back in with me when I'll be suggesting some Christmas Eve and Christmas Day activities for goys and non-goys alike.