Lyndee's Lazy Day Tacos

I walked to the kitchen about 15 times yesterday, hoping each time I opened the fridge door that some food would’ve magically appeared. I was feeling so lazy I didn’t even want to go out and pick up food at a restaurant.  A friend suggested that tacos make everything better and I couldn’t disagree with that logic at all.  I whipped these up and I was not disappointed! They took little effort and totally hit the spot. 

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef, browned

1 small onion

1 tbsp. minced garlic

Hot sauce

Salt and pepper

3 tbsp. taco seasoning

¾ cup water

Small flour tortillas

Toppings

Shredded cheese

Feta cheese

Green onions

Salsa or pico

Cilantro

Brown ground beef with chopped onion, minced garlic, a few dashes of hot sauce and salt and pepper.  Drain. Add the taco seasoning and ¾ cup of water.  Stir and let simmer for 5-10 minutes. 

Spray small pan with cooking spray and cook tortilla a few minutes on each side to warm. You can also throw tortillas in the microwave for 15 seconds too.

Garnish with the cheese and toppings of your choice! I like shredded Colby jack, feta cheese, green onion, cilantro and salsa.  But feel free to add olives, sour cream, tomatoes or anything else that floats your boat. 

Lyndee's Yum Dip

Ingredients:

1 tsp garlic powder

3 tbsp Hidden Valley dry ranch mix

2 cups shredded cheddar

1 cup bacon pieces

2 blocks cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup mayo

1 tbsp sriracha

2 stalks green onions, chopped

Mix cream cheese, mayo, garlic, ranch, sriracha together until well blended.  Stir in bacon, cheese and green onions. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving with crackers, tortilla chips or veggies.

Note: The amount of sriracha can be more or less depending on your taste for heat.  It was just right for the average tongue but next time I might try a wee bit more. 

Million Dollar Cream Cheese and Garlic Dip

Everyone knows I finding new dip recipes for get-togethers.  This dip has only six ingredients but many flavors to satisfy your taste buds. 

Ingredients:

8 oz whipped cream cheese

1 cup of mayonnaise

2 cups of shredded colby jack cheese

5 green onions, chopped

2 Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 cup of bacon, chopped into small pieces

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and stir well. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve with chips, crackers, or your favorite vegetables. 

Cold day casserole

I could call this “what I had on hand” casserole but that doesn’t seem to have the same ring to it.  Seeing how its -10 degrees here today, I wanted to bake something warm to in the oven.  The pictures do not do it justice! It’s like a sloppy joe loaded mashed potato explosion.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 can cream of mushroom

1/3 cup bbq sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s sweet and spicy)

Diced onions

Minced garlic

1 packet Idahoan butter homestyle mashed potatoes (large size)

½ stick of butter

1 block cream cheese

Shredded cheese

Bacon crumbles

Green onion

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown ground beef with some diced onion and a heaping scoop of minced garlic.  Drain and mix in cream of mushroom soup and bbq sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Prepare potatoes as directed (basically mine was boil four cups of water). Whip potatoes with a fork.  Add butter and cream cheese to potatoes.

Spread meat mixture on the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan.  Then layer the potatoes over the top.  Sprinkle with bacon bits and shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until cheese is starting to brown.  Garnish with green onion and serve.  

Crockpot Sausage Jalapeno Popper Dip

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground Italian sausage (or regular pork or whatever appeals to you)

8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1 C. shredded cheddar cheese

1 lb. jalapenos, seeded and diced

1 green onion, finely chopped

16 oz. sour cream

1/2 C. mayo

2 tbsp. minced garlic

1 tbsp. hot sauce  

Brown sausage and minced garlic. Drain.  Mix all ingredients together and dump into crockpot.  Cook on high for one hour.  Serve warm with ritz crackers or tortilla chips.  We also discovered this is great on top of a freshly grilled burger!  

Twice-Baked Potato Pie with BBQ Meatloaf Crust

Ingredients:

Mashed Potatoes:

1 packet of Idahoan loaded baked potato mix.  Make as directed and add a bit of butter, salt & pepper, dash of garlic and some jalapeno cream cheese.   Or you can make your own loaded mashed from scratch. 

BBQ Meatloaf:

1 lb ground beef

½ cup crushed saltine crackers

½ cup minced onion

½ tsp salt

½ tsp montreal steak seasoning

½ tsp minced garlic or garlic powder

1 egg

3 tbsp plus 3 tbsp BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s)

Toppings:

shredded cheese

green onions

cooked, diced bacon

diced tomatoes

Directions: 

Make mashed potatoes as directed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine uncooked beef, crackers, onion, salt, garlic powder, egg and 3 tbsp BBQ sauce. Press into ungreased 9" pie plate or 9" square baking dish and up the sides to form the crust. Brush meatloaf with remaining 3 tbsp BBQ sauce.

Cover with mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with tomatoes, bacon and green onions (or any other toppings you want!).

Dragon Noodles (spicy noodles)

Do you love Asian food but don’t think you have the time or skills to make it?  Just made these dragon noodles and they were phenomenal! Super easy to make and taste amazing.  Had just enough spice to  make it nice but not painful or overbearing.  Total time was just under 10 minutes and I had all the ingredients on hand except for the lo mein noodles which I found at the local Asian mart.  This recipe will definitely be going in the rotation for wonderful, quick dinners! Next time I might try adding some chopped up chicken for protein.

Ingredients:

4 oz. lo mein noodles

2 Tbsp butter

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

1 large egg

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp sriracha (rooster sauce)

1 handful fresh cilantro

1 sliced green onion

Begin to boil water for the noodles. Once the water reaches a full boil, add the noodles and cook according to the package directions (boil for 5-7 minutes).

While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl stir together the brown sugar, soy sauce, and sriracha.  In a large skillet melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat. Add the red pepper to the butter as it melts. Whisk an egg in a bowl and then add to the melted butter. Stir gently and cook through. Once the egg is done cooking, turn off the heat.

When the noodles are tender, drain the water and then add them to the skillet with the cooked egg. Also add the prepared sauce. Turn the heat on low to evaporate excess moisture, and stir until everything is coated well with the sauce. Sprinkle the sliced green onions and cilantro leaves (whole) on top and serve. 

Low carb egg muffins

15 eggs (for silicone muffin pans, use 12 eggs for metal muffin tins)

1-2 cups grated low fat cheese (I like sharp cheddar or a blend of cheddar/Jack cheese, use less cheese if using meat)

Optional, but highly recommended, 3 green onions diced small.

Optional: chopped veggies such as blanched broccoli, spinach, red pepper, zucchini, mushrooms, etc.

Optional: diced Canadian bacon, lean ham, or crumbled cooked turkey sausage

Preheat oven to 375 F. Use regular or silicone muffin pan, 12 muffin size. If using silicone pan, spray with nonstick spray. If using regular muffin pan, put two paper liners into each slot, then spray liner with nonstick spray.

In the bottom of the muffin cups layer meat, vegetables, cheese and green onions. You want the muffin cups to be about 2/3 full, with just enough room to pour a little egg around the other ingredients. Break eggs into large measuring bowl, add salt and pepper and beat well.  Pour egg into each muffin cup until it is 3/4 full.  Bake 25-35 minutes until muffins have risen and are slightly browned and set.

Muffins will keep more than a week in the refrigerator without freezing. Egg muffins can be frozen and reheated, but I like them best when they're just refrigerated. For best results, thaw in refrigerator before reheating. Microwave on high about 1-2 minutes to reheat.

I used egg beaters, ground turkey breakfast sausage, shredded cheddar, minced garlic and green onion.  I put a few dashes of hot sauce in the sausage when I was cooking it.  These turned out great! A super easy breakfast to grab and go.  Warmed up well.  And only 130 calories per serving in my Pampered Chef brownie pan! 

Buffalo chicken bread

Ever wonder what to do with leftover buffalo wings? I know, as if that happens very often! But it happened to me this week and rather than eat them plain or throw them away, I came up with this delicious concoction. 

Ingredients:

2 pieces garlic bread/texas toast (I use the frozen kind that already has butter and seasonings on it)

Buffalo wings

Ranch

Hot sauce

Green onions

Shredded cheese

Sprinkle bread with some garlic.  Pull the chicken off the bone and shred.  Drizzle bread with ranch dressing and hot sauce.  Top with chicken, shredded cheese and green onions.  Bake at 350 until the cheese is melty and golden brown.  Or if you have a pizazz, use that! Quick and easy no stress dinner. 

Smashed baby potatoes

Ingredients

8 whole new potatoes (I used baby reds)

3 Tbsp olive oil

Kosher salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

Dash of garlic

Rosemary (or other herbs of choice)

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.  On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato. With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil. Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

I topped these with shredded Colby jack, sour cream and some diced green onions. They were great.  Thanks, Pioneer Woman for the recipe. 

Corn dip

Review by Audra:

Ingredients:

2 cans mexi corn
1 can green chili
Green onions, chopped
2 jalapenos, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayo

Dice green onions, green pepper and jalapenos.  Mix all ingredients together and chill in the fridge for one hour.  Serve with tortilla chips. 

Potato bites

Review by Audra:

Ingredients:

Potatoes, sliced

Bacon bits

Green onions, chopped

Shredded cheese

Cut potato into fairly thick slices. Place on baking sheet, brushing each side with butter.  Cook at 350 for 30-40 min, until crisp. Sprinkle with cheese, green onions and bacon bits. Continue baking until cheese is melted. Salt & pepper to taste.  Can be eaten plain, with sour cream or ranch.  

Can you say yum? Easy to make, easy on the tastebuds and the kids loved them.

Ritz Bruschetta

Who doesn’t love a good bruschetta?  For those times when you don’t have a loaf of crusty bread on hand this is a great substation because if your house is like mine, there are always crackers in the cupboards. 

Ingredients:

3 plum tomatoes, chopped (1 cup)

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 green onions, chopped

1 Tbsp. zesty Italian dressing (I used a light version)

36 Ritz crackers (I used reduced fat)

2 Tbsp. shredded parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 400°F. Combine first 4 ingredients.  Place crackers on baking sheet; top with tomato mixture and Parmesan cheese.  

Bake 8 to 10 min. or until cheese is melted. Serve warm.

This was tasty and super simple to make. Next time I would make the topping beforehand so that the flavors had time to mix together a bit more.  But as far as a quick and easy snack, this was all that and more. 

Broiled Salmon with Thai Sweet Chili Glaze

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients 1-1/2 pounds (or four 6-ounce pieces) salmon, skin on or off 6 tablespoons Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (best quality, such as Mae Ploy or Thai Kitchen) 3 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon peeled and finely grated fresh ginger 1-2 scallions, green parts only, finely sliced Directions Set oven rack 5-6 inches from top (in my oven, it's the second highest rung) and preheat broiler.   Make marinade by combining sweet chili sauce, soy sauce and ginger in a shallow baking dish. Spoon 1/4 cup marinade into a small dish and set aside (this will be the sauce for the cooked fish). Add salmon fillets, skin side up, to remaining marinade and marinate for 1 hour in refrigerator. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer salmon fillets to prepared baking sheet, skin side down, and drizzle a bit of the marinade over top. Go easy -- you don't want it to pool too much on the baking sheet because it will burn in the oven. Broil salmon for 6-10 minutes, or until browned in spots and almost opaque in the center. Transfer salmon to serving platter and pour reserved sauce over top. Garnish with scallions and serve hot. I mixed my glaze together and used it on a pre-made salmon burger patty.  I put the patty in the pan on medium heat and put half the glaze on the top.  I flipped it after 3-4 minutes and cooked for another 3-4 minutes.  Then poured the rest of the glaze on and topped with green onions.  It was awesome! Easy to make, healthy and quick.

Firecracker Shrimp

Review by Lyndee:

I love seafood.  All of it.  But especially shrimp! When I saw this recipe I was pretty excited to try it.  It was easy to make and pretty dang tasty.

Ingredients:

1 cup of mayonnaise (I used fat free)

¼ cup of Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

1 tablespoon of Hot Sauce

1 pound of frozen fried popcorn shrimp

Chopped lettuce

½ cup of chopped scallions

Instructions:

Preheat your oven per package directions on your popcorn shrimp. Spread the frozen shrimp out on your cookie sheet in a single layer and bake according to package directions.

While shrimp is baking, mix your sauce. First, mix your mayonnaise with the Thai Sweet Chili Sauce. Add Sriracha. Mix well.

Once shrimp is cooked, allow for a few minutes to cool. Toss the shrimp in the mixing bowl so it gets coated with the mixture. On a separate plate, make a bed from your chopped lettuce. Once your shrimp is coated, lay it out on your bed of lettuce for some lovely presentation. Sprinkle with chopped scallions.

Overnight Ham and Cheese Breakfast Enchiladas

Review by Lyndee: 

Ingredients:

2 cups cubed and cooked ham

1/2 cup chopped green onions

2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

10 flour tortillas (6-8 inches)

1 1/4 cup half-and-half

4 whole eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon flour

salsa, sour cream, and additional green onions for serving

In a medium bowl stir together ham, green onions and 2 cups of cheese (save the remaining 1/2 cup for later). Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Use a 1/3-cup measuring cup to scoop out cheese mixture onto a tortilla. Roll up tortilla and place seam side down in the baking dish. Roll up all tortillas and place them into the baking dish with the sides touching.

Whisk together half-and-half, eggs, salt, and flour. Pour over tortillas. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, preheat oven to 350º. Bake covered for 30-40 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of cheese over enchiladas. Bake for 10 more minutes or until tops are golden brown and the egg mixture is set.   Serve with salsa, sour cream, and additional green onions.

I was a little skeptical of this recipe.  When I poured on the egg mixture it didn’t seem to cover much area and I didn’t want dry, crunchy tortillas.  I baked it last night and warmed it for breakfast this morning to have all week.  It was surprisingly excellent.  Very tasty! I added just a tiny bit of salsa and sour cream on a few bites but it wasn’t needed because it’s so rich and yummy.  Definitely will put this on the docket for when company is coming to town.   

Cheesy Ham Biscuit Pull Aparts

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients:

1 egg

2 T. milk

1 (16.3 oz) Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layers Biscuits

3/4 cup diced ham pieces

1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion

3 oz. (3/4 cup) finely shredded Mexican-styled cheese

1/2 t. granulated garlic

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 11 x 7 or 12 x 8 glass baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl, beat egg and milk with a wire whisk until smooth. Separate dough into individual biscuits and cut each biscuit into quarters. Gently stir biscuit pieces into egg mixture to coat evenly. Fold in ham, cheese, onions and granulated garlic. Spoon mixture into prepared dish, arrange biscuit pieces in a single layer.

Baked at 350 for 23 - 25 minutes or until golden brown. You can either cut into squares or just pull apart and serve.

This was ok. Not my favorite breakfast ever.  I think I would try it again but use 2 eggs and bacon instead of ham.  

Sweet chili crab dip

Review by Lyndee:

2 blocks of cream cheese

Chopped green onion

1 can crab

1 tbsp Worcestershire

2 tbsp mayo

1 tsp garlic powder

Sweet chili sauce

Mix all ingredients but the sweet chili sauce.  Chill for an hour.  When ready to serve, cover with sweet chili sauce. Serve with crackers.  

I’ve made a few hot crab dips but I needed something that didn’t need to be warm for a get together over the 4^th so I threw this together.  I think it turned out super tasty.  Warning that if it sits in room temperature for too long it gets a little runny so you might want to keep it on an ice pack.  The flavor is awesome and a little goes a long way.  

Healthified Brunch Squares

Review by Lyndee:

So Molly gave me the Pampered Chef brownie pan I’ve been dreaming of getting for an early birthday present this weekend.  And they give you some recipes to try with it.  This thing isn’t just for brownies.  You can do lasagna, muffins, cheesecakes, egg bakes, etc. and the beautiful thing is, it’s portion controlled!  I decided I would use it to make my breakfast for the week. Then I got really crazy and decided to use their recipe for Brunch Squares.  I made some substitutions to healthify it and it is excellent! 

36 tater tots (You could use hashbrowns if you don’t have tater tots)

½ package cream cheese (I used reduced fat)

8 eggs (I used 2 cups of egg beaters)

3 green onions

Diced ham or sausage (I used 1 pound of turkey breakfast sausage)

Shredded Cheddar cheese (I used 2%)

Place 3 tater tots in each well. Mix cream cheese and eggs in batter bowl. Salt and pepper to taste. Add meat and green onions to egg mixture. Use large scoop and place 1 scoop of mixture into each well. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Test with a knife to make sure eggs are set.

These are yummy and easy! I brought two for breakfast and popped them in the microwave to warm up for 2 minutes.  Delicious! I can’t wait to make them again next week. 

Crab Rangoon Flatbread (healthified)

Crab Rangoon Flatbread

Review by Lyndee

There’s a restaurant in town that makes a crab rangoon flatbread that is to die for.  I wanted to make my own healthified version at home and this is what I came up with. 

Ingredients:

1 flatbread (I used Flatout Light Italian Herb)

Italian shredded cheese (I used 2%)

2 wonton papers cut in small strips

Sweet chili sauce

1 green onion

Crab Rangoon mixture

1 six ounce cans crab meat

1 eight ounce cream cheese softened (I used reduced fat

2 green onions chopped

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp powdered sugar

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp lemon juice

Spread a layer of the crab rangoon mixture on top of the flatout bread.  Sprinkle with Italian cheese and green onions.  Put on the pizazz or in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.  Spray butter or olive oil on to wonton strips.  Bake for 5-10 minutes or until golden brown and crunchy.  When flatbread is done, sprinkle wontons on top. Drizzle with sweet chili sauce. 

This turned out amazing! I will definitely be making this again! The crab rangoon mixture makes enough for 3-4 flatbreads so you can keep it on hand if you’re only making a single serving or throw it in the fridge for next time.