Bierock Casserole Recipe

Recently I made biercok casserole for my daughters birthday, per her request. I offered Chick-Fil-A, but she insisted on the casserole. Lots of people have been requesting my recipe, so here you go.

Please note that I cook like Rachel Ray and just guesstimate on ingredients...really is there any other way to cook?! HA!

Bierock Casserole

Ingredients:
1# ground beef
1 roll (1#??) of ground sausage. I get mild, but that is your call.
onion
1 pkg of coleslaw mix/greens,
sharp cheddar (I have subbed other types of cheese b/c that is what I had, but the sharp cheddar makes it the best!)
2 tubes of crescent rolls or the sheet kind of dough (I prefer the sheet kind)

Directions:
Pe-heat oven to 350F
In a  greased/Pam 9x13 pan put 1 pkg of crescent rolls/or sheet dough on bottom of pan. I poke holes in it with a fork to keep it from bubbling up. (Your welcome)
Bake the dough for 10ish minutes just to slightly crisp it up, does NOT need to be fully cooked.
Meanwhile, boil the coleslw mix. I have no set time on this, when it smells cabbage-y it is done. Drain Well or it will make your casserole soggy.
Brown both meats together with some chopped onion if you like.
I drain excess fat off the meats.
Then combine the cook meat with the well drained coleslaw mix with 2ish cups of cheddar cheese (the amount that comes in a small bag--we shred our own, so I just guess.)
Mix it all up and dump on top of the partially cooked crescent rolls.
Then top with the other tube of crescent rolls.
Bake for 20+ minutes. Want the top dough to be golden brown.
Serve and Enjoy.

Note I prefer the sheet dough b/c crecent rolls triangles are hard to smooth out and not make a big wreck of it, but it can be done, just work with it.


Let me know if you have questions. Sorry no pic...I just never think to take  pics of my food. Ha!

Recipes

Lately, I have been trying to be much healthier with our eating habits and working out etc. I mean let's face it I am 29y and 10m; it isn't gettin' any easier to stay my current size and apparently I can NOT eat my weight in chocolate chips any more and expect to fit into last year's short/jeans. Just sayin'. Stupid 30 and stupid metabolism. And let's just ice the metaphorical cake with the fact that we aren't millionaires so to do this with tight purse strings, you need to be smart about it.

Insert vegetarian meals.
Yeah, that is the same response my husband gave too, but it isn't that bad. First up we had Black Bean, Sweet Potato Quesdillas. {found on the Lean Green Bean's blog, which I linked}I could eat these daily. Even the hubs like them and they were surprisingly filling--even for Chad. The kids did ok, they are getting pickier day by day it seems, so their opinion counts very little to me. :)

The Recipe in case you don't want to jump over:

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Quesadilla

1 c black beans
1/2 a sweet potatoes diced, microwaved until soft 

{cooked mine in a crock pot in foil 2-3 hours, just to do several to use in other recipes}
1/3 c green pepper, diced
1/4 c onion, diced
cayenne pepper, to taste 

{didn't have so didn't use}
2% shredded Mexican cheese
2- 8 in whole wheat tortillas

Saute onion and green pepper until crisp tender.
Add black beans and sweet potato and heat through.
Spoon mixture onto tortilla, top with cheese.
Cook in a pan, oven or panini press.

———————————-

This made 2 quesadillas with enough filling leftover to make one more.
I cooked them on a hot skillet.

We also tried Lentil Almond Burgers---they were "ok" but they will not be making a comeback. I over cooked the lentils for another recipe so this was me trying to salvage them. But surprisingly the kids seemed to like them...go figure.

And for my final recipe, is my favorite breakfast treat. Sweet potato pancakes! {Are yo seeing a theme for sweet potatoes?! They are such a rock star food how can you not just stuff them in all your recipes?!}

Sweet Potato Pancakes:

1 1/4 C Flour

2 1/2 tsp baking POWDER

3 TBSP sugar

3/4tsp Salt (I usually just put a tiny pinch in--you know less sodium and all)

1 egg

1 C milk (I use 1%)

3 TBSP melted butter

1/4 C of mashed sweet potato (who am I kidding I don't measure that stuff, this is just my best guesstimate)

And then spoon onto hot griddle/pan however you make pancakes and viola yummy breakfast. These turn out nice and moist. Probably my favorite pancake "flavor."

So anyway I am going to try and let you know how my vegetarian meals go and what we are trying to do to eat better. Every one can always use a good recipe right? Sorry for the lack of pics...I never remember to take pictures of my food before I stuff it in my face. Next time?!?!

Miscellany Monday

Ok first of all who hates the new blogger layout? Um, ME! I am barely computer literate anyway and now this. And so far I have escaped FB timeline upgrade, not sure how much longer I will be using the old school version before I get the bump, but I don't like it one bit. {This may be one of the #first world problems. HA!}

I really feel like my life is BOR-RING! This weekend's fun consisted of installing ceiling fans in the kids' rooms. Well mostly Chad did it. It was a project that was suppose to be 2 hours tops. The box even said "5 minutes" BAHAHAHA!  It took Chad 4 days just to do MW's. Now in his defense we kept running into road blocks, not having the right tools and Micah's nap/sleep schedule. It was so frustrating but in the end we got 'er done.  Yay Chad!!

I spent all day uploading scrapbook pages to order...again a project that should have taken 10 minutes to me the better part of the afternoon. I told you not computer literate. Sigh. But it is done and they should be here in a few days. This company, Persnickety Prints, is AMAZING. You should definitely check them out for photo needs. Plus, maybe it will get me motivated to get 2012 going...uh! I hate being behind.

Lo and I did managed to sneak out for a bit and watch a little friend at her gymnastic meet! It was so fun, makes me want to re-live my glory days, but then my back started aching and well glory days are officially over now. HA! Lo is so ready to start gymnastics this month and I can't wait to see her in action! MW even is learning how to do a somersault and handstand!! For real this boy is strong, just like his mommy. Every day I realize more and more I am just raising myself, so that definitely keeps my patience meter running. HA!

However, this weekend I made the.best.fajitas evah. And it was all done in my beloved crock pot. I know you are thinking that totally defeats the definition of fajitas, but jest if you like they were good and took no effort. And because I love you here is the recipe:


Crock Pot Fajitas
frozen chicken tenderloins or breast {which ever you prefer}--enough for your family-- we do 1/3 of a bag.
frozen (or fresh again what ever floats your boat) red/green bell peppers onion blend
1pkg of onion soup mix
2tsp (totally guessing here as I measure nothing and just dump) chicken bouillon

Throw everything in the crockpot and walk.away.
Cook on low 6-8 hours, high 3-4 hours
Once the chicken is cooked through and everything has been heated thoroughly (you can put ready to eat foods with raw meat as long as you cook it long and hot enough to kill any potential bacteria--fyi) shred up chicken with a fork and heap it on your tortilla.
Serve with cheese, gauc, salsa...whatever you like.

I  thought they were amazing. Let me know if you try them. :)

I guess it is good when life is low key...it just doesn't make for anything interesting to blog about. HA!

Our days are filled with nothing more than the simple joys of playing at the park, feeding ducks and evening fun with friends. All in all life is good.

What did I do before Pinterest?

Pinterest has taken over my life like so many of yours. I have found a bazillion things I would like to do on there. I have found time to do a few of them here is my short list.

I created a kitchen command center from the inspiration below.

Source: tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com via Michele on Pinterest

My take on it:


And this idea is genius! I pride myself on being organized and already had a cord box, but this takes it to a whole new level. Done!

Source: storageandglee.blogspot.com via Sara on Pinterest

My take on it: Not as "nice" but works.

I desperate want this in ground trampoline! I mean come on is that not the coolest?! That slide isn't too shabby either, but the trampoline is awesome!

Source: google.com via Michele on Pinterest

I made this cool little mobile for Micah's room. One day I will get his room completely finished hopefully before he is two! Only mine is a little more slapped together, but it serves it purpose.

Source: etsy.com via Michele on Pinterest

My take on it:

My biggest hang up in his room is getting this little beauty done. This inspiration actually comes from a girl I went highschool with and I love it. Just the right blend of boyish and cute.

Source: themcclenahans.blogspot.com via Michele on Pinterest

And finally kale chips! {click for the recipe} My friend Kelley talked about them once either on her blog or fb and I had some on hand for a soup and decided to give it a go. First batch I wasn't too sure I like them. The texture is weird. Crunchy yet dissolves in your mouth like space food. Taste was good, just like a chip. Lo liked them, so I gave it another go a few days later and LOVED them. They may make a regular appearance around here. Your welcome Chad! ;)

Is pinterest taking over your life? I love finding ideas from food to photo ideas. I have several more projects under way. To be honest I use to always grab links and save them to a folder to remember them this site just frees up my hard drive space! So until next time...

A Good Night's Sleep.

It is amazing what a good night's sleep does for you. I don't even remember the last time I have slept through the night. Pre-pregnancy with Micah maybe?! Anyway Friday I was battling the early stages of a migraine and felt terrible. I decided once I got Micah in bed around 7-730ish I would go to bed too and I did. Micah must have known his momma needed some rest because the first time he got up was at 6a the next morning! Chad said he woke up at 10p and cried for 20minutes, but I must have been in a coma because I didn't hear a peep. HA!

A good night's rest brought to you courtesy of Micah.

When I awoke the next morning I have never felt so refreshed and energized. I felt like taking on the world, but my house was a good place to start. HA!

I started off the morning baking mini banana muffins with both kids. Normally, I would wait and just do it with Lo, but with all my energy thought I could take it on with both kids help!


Lo got this baking kit for Christmas and I am just now getting around to using it with her. We had fun and they were delicious.

While the muffins were baking I took on my next task. Organizing my recipes. Am I the only one who rips recipes out of magazines and then throws them in their recipe book cupboard?!

Not a dramatization, a true before pic of the mess. HA!

This was my first recipe book I got when Chad and I were to be married. It was from working in a hospital kitchen. Needless to say it became a recipe catch all. IT was time for some organization. Seldom do I even use recipes, so not sure why I have all of these, but on the rare occasion I can't remember the recipe or my Rachel Ray measurements come out wrong... it is nice to be able to find it in a timely manner without a hundred pages come dumping on my head.

I also got laundry done.
Caught Lo's scrapbook up through March. {post to come}
Finished Micah's mobile for his room. {post to come}
And even just relaxed some.
Bliss.

Then on Sunday morning I got another full nights sleep and woke up to this:

I love seeing God's fingerprint.

On another note here is our first Mommy School project: {A Bird feeder}
Lo was so proud. And as soon as it was hung she started shouting: "Here birds, come and get it!"
So far no birds, but we did have a squirrel attempt to steal our food. Hopefully when the fall comes they will come to our bird feeder.

As for last night. Micah was up by 2a (he got 7.5 hours) so for him that is sleeping through the night. He has learned to sit up in his crib and I think he was scared. But then after nursing he fell right back to sleep until morning. {645a}.
Not going to count my chickens, but just hoping after 32 weeks he will FINALLY start sleeping through the night by my standards. {12 hours!}

Resurrection Cookies

Easter is quickly approaching.
And I wanted to share this tradition with everyone. {This will be my first year to do it with Lo, since she is finally old enough to "help."}

When I was younger we use to make Resurrection Cookies on Easter Eve (for lack of a better term). This is something I wanted to continue with my own kids and thought some of you may want to do the same. Because personally I want to put in a little more Jesus and a little less bunny. :)

What You will Need:
*1C whole pecans OR 1C mini choc chips
*1tsp vinegar
*3 egg whites
*pinch of salt
*1C sugar
*ziplock bag
*Wooden spoon
*Tape
*Bible

Instructions:
1. Pre heat oven 300*F
2. Place pecans (or mini choc. chips) in bag and let kids beat them w/ a wooden spoon to break into small pieces.
Explain that after Jesus was arrested, the Roman soldiers beat him. (Rd John 19:1-3)

3. Let each child smell the vinegar before putting it into the mixing bowl.
Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, he was given vinegar to drink. (Rd John 19:28-30)

4. Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life.
Explain that Jesus gave his life to give us life. (Rd. John 10:10-11)

5. Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the mixing bowl.
Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers and the bitterness of our own sin. (Rd Luke 23:27)

6. Add sugar.
Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because he loves us. He wants us to know him and belong to him. (Rd Psalm 38:8 and John 3:16)

7. Beat egg white mixture with a mixer on high for 12-15 minutes or until stiff peaks are formed.
Explain that the color white represents the purity of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. (Rd Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3)

8. Fold in broken nut or choc chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet covered w/ wax paper.
Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. (Rd Matthew 27:57-60)

9. Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn OFF the oven. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.
Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. (Rd. Matthew 27:65-66)

10. Got to bed.
Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers felt despair when the tomb was sealed too. (Rd John 16:20-22)

11. On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie.
Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookie is hollow! On this first Easter morn, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb empty. He is risen! He is risen indeed!! (Rd Matthew 28:1-9)


What are some of your Easter Traditions!

Miscellany Monday

I feel like my life is filled with constant randomness and blogging about it helps to make it make more sense. So welcome to Miscellany Monday. :)

ONE.
I have been trying out a few new recipes. When I had Micah my friend Jennifer brought over this delicious casserole, and we may or may not have eaten the entire thing the first night. Chad has been pestering me to make it and I finally gave in. Seriously, it looks harder than it is. And by "harder" I mean requiring more than 4 ingredients, because that is how I roll. Less is more. :)

It is Chicken Tamale Casserole:

Ingredients

• 1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided
• 1/3 cup fat-free milk
• 1/4 cup egg substitute
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
• 1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)
• 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
• Cooking spray
• 1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
• 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

I am also into making homemade brown bag popcorn. I eat popcorn nearly every night as a snack and the store bought kind can get pricey. So I tried my hand at this and it super easy and cheap.

1 brown paper lunch sack
1/4 C popcorn kernels
1-2tsp of olive oil or popcorn oil (I recommend the popcorn oil for more flavor).
popcorn salt (not table salt---it doesn't stick as well)
or other seasoning combos you dream up. :)

dump everything into the sack
fold over twice
microwave on high for 2-3 minutes--just listen for the pops to slow down.
viola, yummy popcorn!

TWO.
Remember womb bear? Well, brace yourselves. Are you sitting down?


He died. ::tear::
I know very very sad. But don't cry too much because I returned him and got a sound machine.
Womb bear either has a defect or the batteries can't last longer than a week. Who knows, and I can't deal with a broken womb bear at 2a! So I decided this sound machine that plugs in was a much better idea and let's face it it does the same thing. :) So now this will be my go to gift. HA!


THREE.
Well, it finally happened. I got the call for a house showing and I was alone in getting two kids, two dogs, and the house spotless in 4 hours by myself. Sounds crazy but it is harder than you think and I was pretty proud of myself. The last 5 showings Chad has always been here to help!

FOUR.
Micah is pretty fussy. Borders on colic. :( But he is NOT as terrible as Lo was and he has a lot more health things going on than she did which I am pretty sure is a major contributor to said "colic" problem. Anyway I thought he might "enjoy" life better if he could sit up. So as much as I don't want one more thing to hide for house showings. I busted out the bumbo. He loves it.

Starting to get some real smiles!

Of course Lo had to try it out too!

I had to post this to compare.
This was Lo at 12 weeks when she first tried it out.
Micah is 11 weeks old now.

FIVE.
My shutterfly account is finally {almost} up-to-date. It took me literally forever and a day to upload to it. I have no idea what the deal is/was (since I haven't tried since), but family go nuts! :) I just hate when my "projects" that should take 5 minutes take 100x longer than that.

SIX.
Only in Kansas can it be 80* on Sunday and 56* on Monday. Come on Spring!

Well, that is pretty much it. We went to Sesame Street Live on Saturday and Lo loved it. But that will be a whole post unto itself.

Have a great Monday! Check out all the other Miscellany by clicking on the icon below.

Recipe

A few of you asked for my "nursing" brownie recipe. I have to be honest, I have never made them. Not once. My awesome mommy makes them for me every time. Moms are the best. Anyway, I asked her for the recipe, one for you all and two, I am thinking I may hook Lo on them as her birthday "cake." HA!

Chocolate Mint Brownies:

2 boxes of brownie mix. (My mom subs in lite applesauce instead of oil)
Bake as instructed.
Cool completely.

Icing:
2.5 C of powdered sugar
1/2 C + 1Tbsp of Butter
2.5tsp of Creme de Menthe Liqueor

Cream together and spread over cooled brownies.

Chocolate Glaze:
1C chocolate chips
6Tbsp of butter

Melt the glaze ingredients in a microwave until melted. Approx. 1 minute
Let cool slightly and spread of Mint Icing layer.

Chill.
And viola. The best brownies ever. And just pretend there are no calories involved, they taste better that way! ;)

Miscellany Monday (on Tues that should have posted Monday)

Note: So I schedule some of my blogs. This should have posted yesterday and I just got home from work and realized it didn't post...grrrr.

1. We went to the movie A-Team last Wed for a small group outing. I figured it would be ok I have sat through worse movies ::cough. Lord of the Rings:: that is 9 hours of my life I will never get back...anyway this movie was AWESOME. I laughed so hard throughout. The action was great. All this to say...go see it!

2. I finally got my prayer journal up and running. I back tracked all my old prayer requests and praises. Can I just say how amazing it was to go back again and read all God has done in my life and the life of my friends. Just going through those entries clearly shows God's amazing power. I highly encourage people to have a prayer/praise journal, it is a good place to go when you get down and forget about God's faithfulness to us.

3. My job is going really great! I am really enjoying what I do. I split my time between clinical work (ie checking on patient charts) and doing a food service audit. Making sure their facility is within the health code rules and regulations before the State gets their. And if time permits which so far it hasn't I get to do in-service trainings.

4. It is H-O-T! So we are spending plenty of time by the pool (both of them :) ).


5. I am in love with THIS pizza dough recipe. It is so quick and simple and I use it for all sorts of dough needing things like: pizza, bread sticks, bierock casserole and anything else you need a basic dough for. Just thought I would share in case any of you out there love to make bread like I do!!

Such a good little helper

Sort of a boring Miscellany Monday...I think I am running out of miscellany things. HA!

Hungry Girl 200 under 200

A week or two ago I won my FIRST ever giveaway from this great blog The Life and Times of a Dietetic Intern (she is in the process up updating her page, so the link may not work right away.) Most of you know I am a RD by trade, so when I stumbled upon her blog a few months ago I was super excited to meet a fellow (soon to be) dietitian! I find it interesting to compare her internship to mine because it is a completely different program. This is what I love most about blogging, "meeting" new people with common interests.

ANYWAY she hosted a giveaway for this AWESOME book!!

I saw it featured on Rachel Ray several months ago and was very intrigued. There are so many delicious recipes for all your favorite "junk" foods that are all 200 calories or less! While I like to consider myself Rachel Ray because I seldom follow a recipe exactly or ever, I am extremely excited to try these out. I have high hopes of posting about some of them in the future!!
Thanks Jessica for the great giveaway!