From Powder to Broth to Excellent Meal!

I was recently sent these two bouillon flavors from Knorr. I haven't really had any experience with bouillon. I typically just bought broth - premade.

But after trying this option, I just might make the switch. I have been using them in various other recipes that call for broth and found that they work just as well, if not better, than those premade broth options.

A spoonful in 2 cups of water makes enough for just about every recipe I have on hand.

It mixes really well. And quickly. I think it also added to the flavoring. 

What about you? Have you tried these? Would you? Let me know in the comments down below! 

Recipes That Are Easy, Yet Well-Loved

Cooking can be difficult for the disabled Mom. But that doesn't mean I can just stop making meals for my family. I have 2 growing boys that can eat us out of house and home. 2 girls that go through times of wanting to snack themselves into fullness. And a husband who has fallen in love with his southern brides culinary skills. I have been researching recipes that are simple, yet delicious. Things that we can all enjoy. I decided to share some of them with you. Enjoy!

Plov - this one was found while researching Russia recipes as part of our studies on other countries. We like to try recipes from around the world. I will admit, we tweaked it a bit as it felt too dry for our tastes. However, this is my oldest daughters favorite when she requests meals. I even make it partially in the rice cooker. Essentially, it is rice with vegetables and beef. So I found that I can cook the rice with frozen vegetables (even added chopped frozen onion) in the rice cooker. I cook the beef on the stove top and add it all together one they finish cooking. If it is too dry, my family has discovered that they like adding a little Italian dressing over it. I would swear that if there were an apocalypse event, Italian dressing would be one thing we would need to have in our bugout bags. Along with hot sauce...

Chicken casserole - This is a no-brainer. Casseroles are anything you like, thrown together, and baked. I like doing either pasta or rice. Pasta is simpler. I cook the noodles, add cooked chopped chicken, veggies of choice, 1-2 cans of cream of (I prefer celery or chicken), seasonings of choice, and then top it all with cheese. You could add diced tomatoes. I have some kids who don't like them, so I sometimes make 2 pans and only put that in one pan for myself. Once everything is mixed and in the pans, add a sprinkling of cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees until it is all warmed up. Voila! Dinner is served.

Korean beef bowls - This is one of our family favorites. Super quick and easy to put together. I make this when we get beef from the Mill King Dairy. 

I've reviewed some of my other easy recipes and thought I'd re-share them as well.  

Italian Sausage and Bean soup is perfect for the chilly weather. I can't share this one with my family these days. Seems like I'm the only one who enjoys beans lately. So I like making it and splitting it into servings for reheating as a single serve meal.  

Low Sodium One-Pot Lemon Herb Chicken and Rice was a recipe that we found while trying to lessen the sodium content in our diet.

3 Ingredient Nutella Cookie recipe is a quick treat. 

Cheesy Rotini and Tuna

Ham and Cheese Roll Ups 

Cake Batter Cookies 

Low Sodium Spaghetti and Alfredo Sauce

We don't eat spaghetti nearly as often as we used to. My family loves to pick on me for how much we used to make it. But it has been a favorite of the kids. And a simple meal that I can throw together in a rush. With the need to drop all the extra sodium, however, I had to rethink making it or chicken Alfredo. That is, until I found some homemade recipes for them. We have found that we actually prefer it this way! The flavor of jarred sauces has become so bland. We bought Ragu in the past. It was within our price range, but had some flavor to it. I would always add my own seasonings though when I used them. But with these recipes, I can easily make sauces ahead of time, freeze them and pull them out as needed. I can make multiple batches with ease. The lower sodium count keeps my mind at ease too. So if you are looking to cut out the extra sodium or maybe you just want a great recipe to make your own sauces, then look no farther! Simply delightful! 

Spaghetti Sauce

 

2 tbsp basil
3 tsp garlic
1/4 onions
1 1/2 tsp ground oregano
8 tbsp tomato paste (no salt added)
15 oz tomato sauce (no salt added)
1 1/2 cups of water
red pepper flakes to taste, optional

Mix everything in a sauce pan on low heat. I cooked it for about 10 minutes while stirring occasionally. You can then let it cool and then store it in the freezer for later or use immediately. 

For lower sodium meatballs, switch to Kikkoman's Panko breadcrumbs. Super low in sodium compared to the Progresso I used to use. Don't add the salt! Stick with herbs and seasonings instead. I use oregano, mostly, but also basil. If you want tangy meatballs, try adding low sodium soy sauce, I use Kikkoman, and a little ginger and brown sugar. Mmmm it is magnificent! 

Alfredo Sauce 

3 tbsp garlic
3 tsp parsley
2 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
3 tsp lemon juice
3 tbsp all purpose flour
3 tbsp olive oil 
2 1/4 cup 1% milk
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 package of pasta

Start by sauteing the garlic and flour in the oil. Then add in all the other ingredients except the pasta. Simmer on low. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain and mix with sauce. It is just that easy! 

New Recipes My Family Loves

I have been trying to pull my family out of the dinner rut. We duplicate so many meals every couple weeks. So throwing in something new here and there, keeps us from feeling food stale. Here are some of the recipes we are liking in the mix. Enjoy!


Our version of Chinese Dinner Night - Sometimes, you come across products that might not be homemade or authentic, but your family loves them. Our local HEB offers just such options. My family loves our version of Chinese Night. I get Sesame Chicken, General Tso's Chicken, Potstickers, Egg Rolls and make homemade fried rice to complete the assembly.

Hearing the call for seconds and thirds is a normal occurrence on these nights. So, I greatly encourage you to check out your local grocery store for similar items. I'm not the best with foreign cooking, but if you can manage to make such foods, even better!

 One Pot Cajun Chicken and Sausage Alfredo Pasta was a huge hit at our house. It reminds me of the Cajun Chicken Pasta dish served by Cheddar's. 

Teriyaki Meatballs and Fried Rice is something we made while trying out Kikkoman products. 2/3 of my kids loved them! (The baby isn't ready for them yet.) My mom even used the recipe to make a meatloaf from it! So it you are looking to get tangy with your cooking, this is the way to go!

Breakfast for dinner! We don't often get to eat breakfast as a family. In fact, several of us are not even morning people. To better enjoy these wonderful foods, we have them for dinner. And the best part of all? There are so many "breakfast" options that you can switch it up from time to time. We like pancakes or waffles, hash browns (or rounds), eggs, bacon and/or sausage, biscuits or toast and fresh fruits or even a smoothie to complete the meal. 

Slow Cooker Creole Chicken and Sausage is a personal favorite. Not as much to the kids, but my husband liked it too. You can spice it up or keep it mild depending on how your family prefers it.

5 Pinterest Recipes We Are Loving Right Now

To get our budget truly in line with where we need it to be, I've been doubling my efforts to plan out our meals. I use as much as we need only and sometimes combine leftovers if possible to create another dish. Pinterest has been my go-to for help in this. We get tired of the normal recipes, that while they may be favorites, you can only have them so many times within a couple weeks. So here are our favorites from this past week that we have decided are worth sharing and keeping in our planning list. 

1. Korean Beef Bowl

This is my absolute favorite. So simple, yet so delicious. My husband agreed that the both of us would definitely be okay with eating this once a week. Sadly, the kids were not as thrilled. Instead of using plain white rice, we found these Veetee Thai Lime and Herb rice dishes at our local HEB.

They are just under $2 each. It has about 2 servings each. We love the way the cilantro and lime flavors enhances the taste of the beef. We also make chicken potstickers with this meal (mostly because we love those so much too!).

2. Oven Baked Meatball Sandwiches.

The kids were not a huge fan of this one either. Yes, I have super picky eaters. However, they at least ate one and my husband said they were a keeper. Super simple, they don't take long to make. I like to get pre-made meatballs from HEB. I will NEVER AGAIN buy the brand that Walmart had. There is something seriously wrong with these meatballs. 

My kids love meatballs, but they wouldn't touch these after one bite. Weird taste to them. I tried marinating them and everything... Anyhow! Back to the recipe. Heat up your meatballs and sauce, then top your hoagies and add mozzarella. Once the cheese is melted -voila! Dinner is served. 

3. Creamy Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

Another really simple dish that doesn't take too much effort. This one worked for the whole family. I had maybe 3 servings left which I decided to freeze for later use. I made garlic breadsticks to go with it and Mmmm we all ate good! 

4. Buffalo Chicken Tortilla Roll Ups

I have used these in the form suggested, but you can use the filling as a dip too with tortilla chips. The kids say its too spicy for them, so my husband and I use these for a light lunch, snack or as the dip side for a party or lunch. 

5.Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole

We had this one most recently. My kids were having seconds and thirds. They asked if we can make it every day for 14 days. Why 14 days? I have no idea. Guess it was just the number that popped into their heads. So creamy and delicious! I had absolutely no leftovers from my 9x9 baking dish! And the craziest part? I didn't even have the bacon for it! They asked that we include that next time though. 

So that was this past weeks meals. I have a few others lined up to try and will share if they turn out to be just as delightful! Do you have any Pinterest favorites? Share them in the comments below and if it looks like something we can try, I'll re-pin!

Kikkoman House Party

I love hosting House Parties. You never quite know what to expect. Granted, this time around, my party was a bit farther delayed than we originally planned. My daughter decided to come when we least expected. So I took the turkey, brined in Teriyaki sauce instead of soy, to my future in-laws house for Thanksgiving.

I've never brined a turkey. I've always had the traditional kind. But I'm always up for trying something new. And that's what we did. Granted, with every new trial, comes the first time mistakes. My turkey came out a little dried.

And I suppose that with teriyaki sauce, you need more of it than the soy to truly taste it.
They sent recipes, shirts, coupons for free products, and an oven mitt.

The recipe they sent for the soy brined turkey is here.

As I mentioned, my turkey wasn't as beautiful or juicy. But you have to test it out differently to get it right. My suggestion if you decide to do something other than the recipe, go bigger.

We purchased a 9lb Butterball turkey. I got a 10 ounce bottle of Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce, and threw in the spices with water to my largest pot.

Granted I used half that amount of teriyaki sauce. And therein lies my mistake.

We could barely taste it. Scratch that, couldn't taste it at all.

We found that there are way more Kikkoman products than we originally thought.

More than just soy sauces.

I'm actually considering trying another recipe. I'll tweak it a bit. But I'd like to try a teriyaki turkey one day.

As for the party. I enjoyed the time we shared and the thoughts that were put into words about the turkey. Brining was nothing new to them. But soy and teriyaki was. Adding more flavor next time would be advisable to make this a more successful event. And having more options about shirt sizes wouldn't be a bad idea either. We only had large and extra large shirts, sadly. But the coupons I passed around were appreciated. Everyone got the chance to get their own Kikkoman products to try for free. What can be better than that?

My opinions voiced here are my own. I was sponsored in trying and hosting this party. I was not paid or otherwise told what to say.

Light but tasty snack ideas

Sometimes you want something to snack on that might not be the healthiest, but its just oh so good! One that I like doing is bacon wrapped, cheese smothered tater tots. Simple to make, takes only 3 ingredients… how can it get better than that?

What you need:

Bag of frozen tater tots

1 package of your favorite bacon (turkey doesn’t work too well for this one)

1 package of cheese (any of your favorite kinds)  

I like to deviate from the way I’ve seen them made online. I own a deep fryer, so I fry some tater tots first. Don’t need to crisp them too much though! Then you will want to let those sit on a napkin while you prep your next step. I cut my bacon strips in half. Get out that baking sheet and preheat your oven to 375. I cover mine in aluminum foil and spray it lightly with cooking spray. This helps to keep it from sticking too badly.

Grab one of the bacon strips, wrap up the tater tot, and place it on the baking sheet. Repeat this step with the rest of your bacon and tater tots until you have the desired amount. Bake for about 10 minutes. Then add your cheese and bake again for another 10 or so minutes. You want the bacon to be cooked and the cheese to be completely melted around your tots. You can make as much or as little as you want, based on how many people you are serving. I've also added chili to it and then covered it with cheese.

Another recipe I love is Doritos Nachos.

You know how Taco Bell has those tacos in the shells with Doritos flavoring? Well, you can pull that off with nachos as well.

What you need:

Your favorite Doritos chips (I use the HEB brand of them sometimes)

Cheese

ground beef

salsa

First thing you want to do is get that baking sheet ready. Preheat your oven to 375. Spread your favorite tortilla chips on it.

You can then top it with your favorite nachos ingredients such as ground beef, cheese, etc.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until the cheese is all melted.

At my house, the kids like when I pour the Taco Bell sauce over them and then serve. You can use your favorite sauce and sour cream as well.

And lastly, I made bacon and cheese crescent rolls. I took a can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, some bacon strips cut in half, and cheese that I sliced into strips and rolled them up together.

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes until they are golden brown. You can use any kind of cheese and your favorite bacon. Or you can switch it out for pepperoni or sliced deli meats.

Caramel Apple cake, oh my!

Its the wonderful season of caramel apples and fall flavors! I was wanting to try something new in cake form to bring to work. The last treats I made looked like Easter ones.

They were colorful with several different flavorings for the icing.

 

I went searching for recipes and found this one: Moist Caramel Apple Cake. That wasn't quite the recipe for me though. So I decided to experiment with that one and my Plain White Cake recipe. I wanted to create something a little more special. I came up with the following!

 

Caramel Apple Bundt Cake

 

What you will need: 

 

Cake batter

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 pkg. (3.4 oz) Jell-O Vanilla Instant pudding

3/4 cup water

 

Drizzle

1 can (13.4 oz) Nestle Le Lechera caramel

3 tablespoons milk

 

Mix it up:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

 

In the same order as listed, mix your ingredients together for the cake batter. Spray your bundt pan with cooking spray and put some larger chopped pieces of apple in the bottom.

Then pour your batter on top.

I had enough extra batter to make some cupcakes as well, since I doubled the recipe. I put the batter in the paper cups and put a piece of apple slice on top of each one.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until the knife comes out clean.

It make take longer depending on your stove.

Loosen the cake from the pan and flip over onto your cake serving dish. Let it cool completely. Mix the caramel and milk together to make the drizzle.

Warm in the microwave until smooth. Let it slightly thicken and pour over the top of your cake just before serving.

 

Enjoy!

Another recipe idea

My reader, Alisa, shared a recipe she tried out from All Recipes.com. Ham and Cheese Crescent Roll-Ups. It turned out to be a real hit with her kids, so I hope to test it out here too.

It requires only three ingredients:

1. A can of Pillsbury Crescent Dinner Rolls (more if you have more mouths to feed)
2. 4 thin slices of cheese, cut into strips
3. 8 thin slices of cooked ham (you can substitute another meat)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread out the crescent rolls.

Sprinkle a little bit of cheese on top. Then add the ham over that with more cheese to top it off.

Roll them up carefully and place on your cookie sheet.

Put them in the oven for about 10 minutes

or until the tops are golden brown.

Even her pickiest eater enjoyed them.