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Showing posts from February, 2014

Copycat Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese

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Copycat Friday! What time is it? It's cheese time folks! Copycat Friday has just went cheese crazy. Today, I present to you my copycat version of Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese ! Yes, I said Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese, it's one of the only "cooked" foods that I will eat from frozen. This reminds me of childhood, I don't why because my mother always made macaroni and cheese from scratch, lol. Maybe I ate this at someone's else home when I was a kid and just can't remember who! I used Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup to give my knock off version some extra creaminess. I made a sauce with lots of jack and sharp cheese, and don't forget the spices. Fold in the macaroni and bake at 375 degrees in a greased casserole dish. After 30 minutes, it's time to serve this baby up! This is a full meal, I don't need any meat with this dish. I want my taste buds to focus strictly on the macaroni, cheesy goodness people! Grab that fork and dig in

Zone Perfect Blog Forward Challenge!

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Yep, it's that time of year again, time to reflect on goals, resolutions, and accomplishments! The choice to eat healthier and stick to it, is often the hardest thing to accomplish! I am so honored to be chosen as a Zone Perfect Blog Forward Challenger! image provided by zone perfect What's a Zone Perfect Blog Forward Challenger you ask? It's like a Brand Ambassador for Zone Perfect. Myself and lots of other bloggers are creating healthy resolutions throughout the year, and along with Zone Perfect we're sticking to them! My top 3 resolutions are: Eating breakfast daily. I often skip breakfast because I am so busy working. This is not a good idea. I will make an effort to create a healthy, nutritious breakfast daily. Refueling my day with Zone Perfect Bars , instead of cookies and unhealthy snacks. Exercise, Exercise, Exercise, get moving and stay in the Zone with 30 minutes of exercise daily. My 2014 Resolution Letter to Myself: Hey Lisa, Girl, you know what to do, yo

Easy Banana Pudding

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I love eating a big bowl of creamy banana pudding, who doesn't? What I love even more than eating pudding is my quick method of making pudding! Yes, you can stand over the stove, whisking custard from scratch for about 30 minutes if you like, and yes, sometimes I do make banana pudding the traditional method. But, sometimes I just want a quick pudding and this is my go to recipe. You pretty much just take everything, mix it well in a mixing bowl or blender, fold in some whipped cream topping and that's it! I layer a little pudding on the bottom of my casserole dish, top the pudding with Nilla wafers, then bananas, more wafers, remaining pudding, and lastly we end with extra wafers on top. After about 4 hours in the fridge, or preferably overnight, the pudding is set and ready to eat. The pudding turned out fantastic, and it didn't last long enough to add more whipped cream topping. Enjoy! Easy Banana Pudding Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 0 Total Time: 10 minutest Serving

Slow Cooker Smothered Short Ribs

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It's Slow Cooker Sunday and today I am going straight southern on you guys! My Smothered Slow Cooker Short Ribs are comfort food at it's best!   Traditionally, these Smothered Short Ribs would be cooked on top of the stove in a dutch oven or cooked low and slow in the oven.   I decided, why not cook them low and slow in my Crock-Pot Slow Cooker . The key to this dish is you must take a few minutes to brown the lightly floured short ribs in a pan with olive oil. This step not only allows you to keep that seasoning stuck on those ribs, it also builds a level of flavor that you only get from browning the meat in hot oil, then using that same oil to saute the veggies in. Look at this, it's just layers of flavor goodness! Lastly, cover the slow cooker and cook for about 4 hours on high.   Don't forget, during the last hour of cooking time, remove the lid so the gravy will thicken. The Smothered Goodness is all ready to eat, serve over hot rice, garnished with green onions an

Panda Express Firecracker Chicken Copycat

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 We're back! Copy Cat Friday is a huge hit thanks to you! I've received numerous request for me to recreate peoples favorite restaurant eats. Today, I am sharing with you, Panda Express Firecracker Chicken Copycat recipe.  This recipe includes chucks of chicken breast, sauteed with pineapple and peppers, all smothered in a spicy firecracker sauce.  After about 20 minutes, we have recreated food deliciousness! I serve this dish over hot rice, but noodles would work great! Copycat results: better than the original! I believe my version is packed full of flavor and spice with a nice sweet balance due to the pineapple chunks! This is so quick and simple, it will take you less time to make this at home, so take a break from take out and create a wonderful from scratch meal!   Panda Express Firecracker Chicken Copycat Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 25 minutes Servings: 4 Ingredients: 1 lb chicken breast, boneless, skinless 1 cup bell pepper, diced 1 cup pine

Chocolate Pecan Bayou Brownies

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It's that time again...Brownie Time! I wanted to do something different then my traditional fudgy wudgy brownies I always make. I wanted a brownie that's so rich, you would need two glasses of milk to wash it down. Found it folks, right on the pages of Southern Living Magazine !    Bayou Brownies are made using butter, cream cheese, nuts, did I mention butter, and yellow cake mix. Well, I didn't have any yellow cake mix, but I did have Duncan Hines Devils Food Chocolate! Let the baking begin people. This recipe is so simple, but the flavor is out of this world! Mix the chocolate cake mix, melted butter, nuts and one egg together, press that mixture into a greased 13X9 inch baking pan. Next, mix remaining eggs, cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar. Top the chocolate mixture with the cream cheese and bake for about 40 minutes at 325 degrees. All done, ready to eat, and pass the milk!!!! Chocolate Pecan Bayou Brownies Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 40 minutes Total Time:

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Easy Slow Cooker Pulled Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

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Yes, I know it's not Slow Cooker Sunday. Remember all the computer issues I had this pass weekend, well I solved them all! Yep, all those pictures I had stuck in my camera have now been uploaded and ready to share. Therefore, Slow Cooker Sunday will be Slow Cooker Tuesday, this week only! My Slow Cooker Pulled Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches are seriously a simple one pot meal. Take boneless skinless chicken breast and place it in your Crock-Pot Slow Cooker . Next top the chicken with hot sauce, spices, and a quick homemade barbeque sauce, and don't forget the ranch salad dressing. After three hours on high, the chicken is ready to shred and pile on a soft sandwich roll. I decided what would go best with Buffalo Chicken, HELLO...lots of blue cheese! This sandwich is da bomb! Baby Girl and I loved the chicken so much, we just ate it with a fork, straight from the slow cooker. Yes, we do that sometimes, trying to save time on washing all those dishes, lol. Oh, and those are my new fav

Stuffed Cheese Curd Turkey Sausage Burgers

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People, it's been a rough weekend! My USB, I think that's what it's called broke, then my SD card slot broke, so I couldn't upload all the pictures I took. I had to skip Slow Cooker Sunday, which was not good, because I had a great recipe to share with you.   All is not lost on the weekend, look what I made today, Stuffed Cheese Curd Turkey Sausage Burgers...try saying that quickly! I took burger meat, I am using ground turkey, but ground chuck would work as well.   I seasoned the meat, divided the meat into four balls, then took each ball and divided it again, stuffed the burger with cheese curds. YEP...cheese curds, topped the curds with the other half of burger and closed the sides well. I let my burgers chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes. This not only gave me time to fry up my sausage, I think the burger holds its shape better when they chill out. I didn't want to risk my curds popping out during cooking. I fried these babies up with olive oil, using my c