Potato Foil Packets

I wish I had some beautiful Easter dishes to share with you today, but I didn't cook a thing over the Easter Holiday.  We ate at my in-laws, sisters and my mom's and had wonderful meals each time.  My only contribution was the veggie tray I bought to take to my sisters.  I feel bad that each of them put on a beautiful spread and I contributed nothing.  But living 3 hours away makes that a little hard to prepare something and bring.  Plus, our time at home is always jammed with stuff and buying something at the store seems to be the way I do it anymore.  But when they all come here in 3 weeks for 1st Communion, I will cook for the crowd and no one with bring a thing.  So it evens out :)

My husband is on his perpetual "modified Atkins" diet and it's driving me crazy.  It so hard to make a nice meal of pasta and know he won't eat it.  So, I have been trying to make things that are Atkins friendly but feed my kids and myself as well. 

So, last night we had steaks on the grill and I threw my favorite Potato Foil Packets together to go with them on the grill as well.  They are super easy and they are done in no time with very little work by me :)

Potato Foil Packets
5 russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/2" thick
1 stick and 1/2 butter
salt/pepper
Parmesan cheese shred
aluminum foil

Tear off 4 aluminum foil sheets to be about 11" long.  Place 1/4 of the potatoes on each sheet of foil.  Salt and pepper to your taste. Slice butter in teaspoon pats and 4 or 5 pats on each portion of potatoes.  Sprinkle a handful of cheese on each portion of potatoes and wrap up so you have the seem side up and the sides foiled into nice packets.  Place on grill (my hubby puts them on the bottom for 10 minutes and then up top for the remaining time) for 20-25 minutes. 

When you open the packets be careful, they will be hot and the steam can be a little much.  The bottom few will be all crunchy goodness.  My FAVORITE part of the pack. 

Enjoy!!! 

I forgot to take a picture after and will update this the next time we have them. 

BBQ Beef

I made one of my favorite family recipes the other night.  My kids LOVE this and we have it for A LOT of family gatherings.  It doubles and even triples really well.  It is easy enough to do mid week and reheats well.  I always fix it with mac and cheese (I wish it was my homemade recipe) and fruit.  My kids eat it on buns or alone.  It can be made ahead and put into a crock pot for an event.  It is my "GO TO" main course for any event I need to feed a lot of people.  I hope you like the Tangy taste.

BBQ Beef
1/2 envelope (3 Tbls) dry onion soup mix
2 Tbl sugar
1/2 tsp salt
dash pepper
1 Tbl mustard
3/4 c water
1/2 c ketchup
1/4 c vinegar
1 Tbl lemon juice
1 or 1/1/2 lb hamburger

Combine all in saucepan; bring to boil.  Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Brown hamburger, drain, pour sauce over and simmer 5 - 10 minutes.  Serve on hamburger buns.

Here it is all ready to be served and the photo above is the sandwich on my plate!!!  I use hamburger buns but you could dress it up with some french rolls or whatever you have on hand.

Parmesan Tilapia

Another Friday night during lent and my hubby bought frozen Tilapia at the store thinking we could do something with it.  I had found this recipe and wanted to try it.  Mine didn't get "golden brown" but it was delicious and super easy.  I defrosted the fish first and then did mine in 2 pans because I had more than enough for one 9x13 dish.  My kids like it but my hubby LOVED it.  We had 2 pieces leftover and he polished those off later that night. 

 

 

Parmesan Tilapia
2 lbs tilapia fillets

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 tablespoons butter, room temperature

3 tablespoons mayo

1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

black pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In buttered 13-by-9-inch baking dish, lay fillets in single layer. Brush tops with lemon juice.

In bowl combine cheese, butter, mayonnaise and seasonings. Mix well with fork.

Bake fish in preheated oven 10 to 20 minutes or until fish just starts to flake.
Spread cheese mixture over top and bake until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Baking time will depend on the thickness of the fish you use.
Watch fish closely so that it does not overcook.

Hot Sausage Dip

I needed to make something for a casual night in with girlfriends and this sounded yummy and I had everything on hand to whip this up quick.  I put it in a dip crock to keep it warm and will serve it with tortilla chips.

Hot Sausage Dip

1 lb sausage
2 pkgs (8oz) cream cheese
1 canned diced tomato's, undrained
1 can (4oz) diced green chilies, undrained

Brown the sausage and drain.  Reduce heat and add tomato's, cream cheese and chilies.  Continue to cook, stir frequently.  It will steam and notify you it's starting to burn so watch for it.  Cook until mix is heated through.  Serve Warm with tortilla chips.

Seafood Lasagna

I found this recipe on Pinterest and I wanted to try it out for myself.  It was very easy and I planned for it so I had everything but the ricotta in my freezer or pantry.  The jar Alfredo sauce really made this taste amazing.  My son ate an entire piece before asking me what was in it.  He was shocked when he realized he ate shrimp, crab meat AND scallops.  I loved that I had another recipe for us for Friday's during Lent.  It's not on my hubby's diet (carbs), so he missed out :( 

Seafood Lasagna
9 lasagna noodles
2 jars (16oz) Alfredo pasta sauce
1 package of shrimp without tails
(I buy the frozen bag of medium size shrimp, thaw & pull tails)
1 package of scallops (I used the frozen package and I cooked them according to the directions)
1 can crab meat
1 container (18oz) ricotta cheese
1 egg
black pepper
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook noodles according to package, prepare shrimp and scallops as needed.  Combine the ricotta cheese, egg and black pepper (just so much that you can see it when you spread it).

You put a layer of noodles first then lay out a spread of ricotta cheese, followed by shrimp, scallops and crab (any other type of seafood you wish to have as well). Followed by Alfredo sauce to cover up the seafood then a layer of cheese. Follow these steps until ingredients are used making sure that the cheese is the last thing you do.

Bake the lasagna for 45 minutes uncovered and then for another 15 covered (aluminum foil will do).

I let it stand for about 15 minutes so that it doesn't fall apart when you serve.  It was great with a salad and garlic bread.  The perfect Friday night dinner.

Homemade Pizza

My kids LOVE my homemade pizza and I always forget how easy and inexpensive I can make this.  I made it the other night and my youngest who eats next too nothing had 3 pieces.  Of course it was the cheese 1/2 but that is OK.  My favorite thing about homemade pizza is I can put whatever toppings on it I want or have on hand.

This picture is before I put it in the oven because I knew I would forget after I took it out!

Homemade Pizza
1 Jiffy Pizza Crust Mix (89 cents at Walmart)
1 jar (14oz) Pizza sauce ($1.25)
2 cups mozzarella cheese
Your choice of toppings - pepperoni slices, browned sausage, mushrooms, onions

Add 1/2 cup hot tap water to contents of jiffy crust package in bowl.  Stir until moist.  Cover and let stand for at least 5 minutes in a warm place. (I put mine on the stove as the stove warms up)  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Grease a pizza pan and press dough onto pizza pan.  I spray my spatula so the dough doesn't stick to it and makes it easier to spread out.  Use 1/2 the jar of pizza sauce to cover the dough.  Cover with your favorite toppings and finally the cheese.  Bake for at least 18 minutes.  Check so you don't burn it.  I make up 2 pizza's because the 5 of us eat it all pretty quick.

Enjoy and let me know what your favorite combination for toppings is.  I did sausage and extra cheese on 1/2 this week.  It was really good!!

1000 HITS!!!!

I have 1000 hits on my site.  I am thrilled that someone is checking me out.  Lots of my recipes have been pinned and repinned and it makes me happy.  I have been trying out a lot of new recipes lately and haven't made some of my favorites.  So, tonight it was back to basics at my house.  We made homemade pizza (I will upload tomorrow) and my little one ate 3 pieces.  3 whole pieces.  She only eats mac & cheese, strawberries, brats, and chicken nuggets.  And not that much.  But 3 pieces of pizza is huge for my 35lb 4 year old!!!

So, Thanks for checking me out and getting me to 1,000 hits in such a short amount of time!!!