Cheeseburger Casserole

It has been gloomy out and I have had an itch to make a casserole lately so that is what I did last night. It actually turned out better than I expected and I will for sure be making it again. I like the flavor the mustard added. It was a big hit and we had no leftovers which is always a good sign. Should feed about 4 people large portions.

What you need~
2 cups  uncooked rotini pasta
1 1/2 cups onions, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped OR 1 tbsp minced garlic

1 lb lean ground beef
2 tbsp tomato paste
28 oz diced tomatoes
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 cups cheddar cheese
1/4 cup dill pickles diced
Worcester sauce to taste
Nature's Seasoning to taste 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta according to the package directions for al dente and drain well.

In a large skillet, heat some olive oil in a pan.  I cut up my onions in the food processor. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Season this mixture with your Nature's Seasoning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Stir in the beef and brown. Mix in some worcester sauce and Nature's Seasoning as you go. Add in the tomato paste, add tomatoes ( I pulsed mine in the food processor first as I have people I was feeding who dislike large chunks of tomato) and mustard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here is the mix before and after adding the mustard. Trust me you need to add the mustard it added a ton of good flavor. Let the mixture bubble gently until it is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

Toss the meat mixture with the pasta and spread it into the prepared dish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top with the cheddar and bake until the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.

So yummy looking!

Mom's homemade pickles on top.

Top with pickles and eat once done in the oven. This was so good and because I used leaner beef/a low calorie pasta with only 2 cups for the whole dish it was semi-healthy. 

Until next time~

XOXO Emily

 

Spicy Salsa Chicken Soup

I had made chicken and venison tacos for Cinco De Mayo. I had a ton of left over ingredients just sitting in the fridge so on Sunday I decided to throw together a quick soup in the crockpot while we were running all over the place for mother's day.

I like the flavor that turned out and I wish I would have remembered to add noodles as there was a ton of broth left. Moral of the story make sure you add noodles and this soup will be perfect.

What you need~
2 cups of salsa
2-3 cups of  chopped chicken
16 cups of water
1 tablespoon of chicken bouillon
1/2 cup chopped onion
1.5 cups of chopped sweet peppers
2 cups of noodles
Cumin
Cajun seasoning
Natures seasoning

Chop up all ingredients. Layer into the crockpot.

Layering the soup ingredients.

Add seasonings as you go!

I did not add a ton of heat to my soup as I used a black bean salsa and habanero salsa. SPICY!

Here it is before cooking on low for 8 hours. I would highly recommend adding 2 cups of noodles at the end or you will have a ton of broth. Could do rice instead too.

It had awesome flavor and it really healthy without the noodles added.

Until next time~
XOXO Emily

Easy Gardening

I have had my house for a while now and I love that I have room to garden. I tried an experiment last year. Instead of following the standard cut everything down before winter and covering it I left everything alone. I did not cut my roses back, I did not trim my hydrangeas and did not cut down my vines on the trestle. I left it all alone and you know what it was the best thing I could have done for my garden. I have what are called perennials (they come back every year). I have slowly over the years added flowers and plants for all seasons. It has been a process but I feel like my gardens are finally getting to where I want them. Here are some of my pictures in this spring season. Please ignore the bare ground in all the pictures. Ryan stopped to get wood chips for the gardens yesterday and we will be spreading that around this weekend.

 I have a ton of chives in my garden. My cat and dog love to eat them. If you do not have little goat pets like me you may need to trim them frequently. This is easy if you love eating chives!

Also word of caution they do spread fast so be mindful of this. They are relatively hardy and do not need a ton of maintenance each year.

It has taken me years to figure out how to get my climbing vines to really climb well. The first year I did not even know what they were until I saw them trying to climb up the house. Added the trestle's and stopped trimming them and they happily climb now.

Last year I had planted some tulips and alliums. The tulips did well but I felt the alliums looked strange with only like 1 or 2 giant balls. So, last fall I planted more tulips, alliums and daffodils. They are all slowly coming up and looking great. Even with Luna (my husky) digging in the garden during the winter.

Here is the daffodils this year. I did not realize the size difference. Some are  really large like a tulip and some are tiny. I like their bright yellow color.









They have the perfect little flowers.

Here is my greatest success story so far with gardening. I was so disappointed two years ago when I planted this hydrangea and it was tiny each year. I mean it was thin and had maybe 3-4 blooms a year. This year no matter what I was not going to cut it back. I left it completely alone and as you can see it has the largest leaf growth.

Random add unrelated to the garden. Do you see my lazy lawn ornament of a husky in the background?

This are original to the house when I moved in.  I have not moved them and they signal spring each year. They are the first thing to come up.

Here come the hosta's! Some people think they are boring but they are perfect greenery for under my pine tree. They will literally grow in any climate (shade/sun) and are really hard to kill. I have a couple varieties (avocado, fragrant etc).

 I have literally no idea what this plant is. It was original to the house and I have researched forever to figure it out. You can sort of see a rope in the background. This plant gets so large it has to be staked up with a rope and piece of wood. It is really a pretty black/purple color when grown.

ROSES! I love my rose bush. I have a knockout double red rose bush. It is the easiest and low maintenance rose you can buy. I make sure to dust it with sevin bug killer every once and a while. That is all I have to do to keep it growing up and gorgeous. I made the mistake when I first planted it of cutting it back before winter. That is why the center of the plan has some dead growth which makes me sad but reminds me to leave the plant alone.

Had to save the large beast for last. I got this rhubarb plant from a little old lady at the farmers market one year. The last two years it has exploded in size. It grew to this size in a week! I need to get out there and harvest some for baking. Make sure when harvesting you twist the branches out and do not cut them. Also, the leaves are poisonous so only eat the stalks. I have the sour variety so I need to eat/bake with sugar or fruit.

That is my garden so far this year. I cannot wait to do more this year. Ryan is going to work on the wood chips this weekend so that will make the gardens look even better.

Until next time~
XoXo Emily 

Easy Blackened Tilapia

I have wanted to try this recipe in some fashion for a while. I was always afraid the fish would stick to the pan and I would have a mess. That was not the case at all and honestly this maybe my favorite way to make tilapia now. I do like the breaded kind you can get from the store but this was so much better and easy to do in half the time!

What you need~
2 full tilapia fillets (thawed)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Cajun seasoning
Non-stick pan
Fish spatula (or normal if you do not have one)

This is the cajun seasoning you see me using all the time in my recipes. It is my favorite to use with taco's etc. I bought this giant container at Sam's Club for $6ish. I was surprised at the variety of spices they sell there.


You want to start by heating your pan to medium/high heat and then add your olive oil. Let that get nice and hot in the pan. While that is happening pat dry your fish with papertowel. Put the fillets in a bowl and heavily season with the cajun seasoning. Really coat it on heavy!

Let them cook in the oil for 3-4 minutes and flip over to cook for about the same amount of time on the other side.

Here is my fish spatula that I finally used for its real purpose.  I actually like to use it for cookie baking as well due to the thinness of the spatula.

Man this was tasty and really not all that bad for you as this fish is pretty lean. We will be making this again and very soon.

Until next time~
XoXo Emily

Puppy Chow

I love making treats for work and my team. I made these last week and they were a huge hit for our team meeting. I did not realize how easy it is to make puppy chow (mud buddies). Here is the recipe and some really blurry pictures.

What you need~
9 cups of chex cereal
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In a large bowl measure out your cereal.

In a 1 quart bowl (microwavable) microwave the chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered for 1 minute. Stir your mixture. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smoothly.

 Mix in the vanilla.

Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Put cereal into a large grocery store bag.

 Looks yummy. Add the powdered sugar to the bag and shake until well coated.












Looks so good. Pour out onto wax paper to dry.

I was tempted to eat it all instead of bringing to work but I behaved. I hope you enjoy this classic treat.

Until next time~
XoXo Emily