High Impact Mom » Recipe

Upside Down Pizza Casserole

Amanda — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:57:42 +0000

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Looking for a quick alternative to your pizza or spaghetti night? Look no further than our delicious variation on Better Homes & Garden’s Upside Down Pizza Casserole. Add whatever extras you like regularly on your pizza for a fast weekday dinner – this meal can be customized for any tastes.

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Upside Down Pizza Casserole

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound ground chicken - browned & drained
1 pound extra lean ground beef - browned & drained
1 15-ounce can of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup of your favorite pizza extras - mushrooms, sauteed peppers and peppers, pepperoni, green and black olives, you name it
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 10-ounce package of refrigerated biscuits.

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Mix meat and spaghetti sauce.
Pour mixture into a large casserole dish.
Sprinkle the top with cheese.
Top with slightly flattened biscuits.
Bake in 400 degree over for 15-18 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

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Apricot Glazed Pork Tenderloin Recipe

Amanda — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 06:01:58 +0000

If you’re looking for an alternative to the traditional Easter dinner, why not have an apricot glazed pork tenderloin paired with cheesy-mashed potatoes and peas? The sweet tangy flavor of the apricot preserves mixes well with slight bite of dijon mustard and when baked the two form a delicious glaze coating a juicy pork loin.

Glazed Pork Tenderloin Ingredients

1 3lb boneless pork loin

2-3 TBS of apricot preserves (to your tastes)

2 TBS of Dijon mustard (again: to your tastes)

{you could add a pinch of horseradish [a very small pinch] if you weren’t serving this to children}

Glazed Pork Tenderloin Directions

Spray your crock-pot with no-stick spray and add just enough water to cover the bottom on the pot. Add your tenderloin and cook on high for 6 hours.

After 6 hours, set your over to broil and transfer the pork tenderloin to a large roasting pan.

Mix the apricot preserves, Dijon mustard, and optional horseradish well until they form a smooth glaze.

Spread the glaze all over the tops and sides of your tenderloin and place uncovered in the over to broil.

Let broil for 5-10 minutes or until the glaze has formed a chewy crust.

To complete the meal: Just add cheesy mashed potatoes, your favorite veggie and some home-made bread to round out this non-traditional Easter meal. Treat your family to a Easter dinner of apricot glazed pork tenderloin that will satisfy and keep them coming back for more!

Do you have a recipe to share this Manic Monday? Make sure to link up here!

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Homemade Chocolate Fudge Pudding

Amanda — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 16:57:13 +0000

*Side-note: I honestly already had this written, but WP apparently ate it…so this month’s link up is a little late. Sorry everyone!*

With Valentine’s Day less than a month away, you may already be thinking about what to get your honey…but I challenge you to save your money and try out the age-old adage: “The way to a man’s heart is through is stomach.” with this month’s recipe: Homemade Chocolate Fudge Pudding. Sure you can go out an buy the cheap box version or you can show him you care by going to all the “trouble” of making the most delicious fudge pudding he’ll ever put in his mouth. And your kids will thank you too!

Homemade Chocolate Fudge Pudding

Ingredients

1 cup sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups boiling water

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar, and two table spoons cocoa. Add milk, margarine, and vanilla and mix until smooth. Pour into greased 1/2 quart casserole dish. Mix the brown sugar with the remaining four tablespoons cocoa. Sprinkle over mixture in casserole dish. Pour the boiling water evenly on top. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Cool until desired temperature.

This is a favorite in our house for special occasions and while it does take a bit (ok a lot) longer than the boxed variety, I can promise you it also tastes A LOT better than it as well. So I vote if you really want to show your family some love this Valentine’s Day, whip up a batch of this pudding and serve it on your best china with their favorite meal. What is your favorite way to say “I love you”?

If you’ve also got a great recipe to share, be sure and link up with Mr. Linky!

*Image Credit: Lin Pernille Photography*

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Semi-homemade Monkey Bread Rolls

Amanda — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:21:51 +0000

I wanted to kick off this series on holiday recipes with a recipe that is a huge favorite in our house. Monkey bread rolls. When I was a child, my grandmother and aunt would get up early during the holiday season and make monkey bread from scratch for us. Times have changed and I find we’re always pressed for time, but I still want to share the delicious-ness that is Monkey Bread. So for breakfast on the holidays {Thanksgiving Day & Christmas Day}, I share a favorite treat with my girls in a semi-homemade fashion.

In keeping with the spirit of the holidays, I want to share this easy-to-make, sticky, and oh-so-worth-it recipe with you and your family and hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

*Disclaimer: This recipe is messy and does require clean-up.*

Ingredients

*1 can refrigerated cinnamon (or orange) rolls
*1/3 cup chopped pecans
*1/4 cup butter or margarine
*1/2 cup sugar
*1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
*1 tablespoon maple syrup

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line 12 2 1/2-inch muffin cups with cupcake wrappers & spray generously with cooking spray. Divide the pecans evenly among the muffin cups.

Melt butter in microwave. While butter is melting, pour 1/4 cup of sugar into a small bowl.

Using a pizza slicer, cut each roll into 4 pieces.

Dip each piece into the melted butter, then roll in sugar.

Place 2-3 pieces in each muffin cup on top of the pecans. Drizzle with any remaining butter and sugar.

Mix caramel & maple syrup; drizzle mixture over top of rolls.

Place muffin pan in shallow baking pan and bake 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on wire rack for about 1 minute and serve until warm.

I usually serve this with a fruit salad and milk {and coffee for the adults}. I hope you’ll try this and let me know what you think.

Do you have a favorite holiday breakfast?

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Tyson’s Grilled and Ready Chicken & Dressing Casserole Helps Show Teachers a Little Appreciation

Amanda — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:37:26 +0000

Due to testing the “official” week of Teacher Appreciation, our school postponed observance until this week. In honor of the hard work our teachers put forth the PTSO provides a catered, homemade, and/or hot meal each day for the teachers. My designated day was Wednesday and I was charged with providing one hot casserole of my choice by the mid-morning. One of my family’s favorite casserole is our chicken & dressing casserole. My grandmother made this for me growing up and it was one of the first meals I prepared in our new home. I make this meal every Christmas Eve for our small family gathering while allowing my family to provide the sides. It’s easy to make and can also be put in the CrockPot and allowed to cook while you went about your day.

Instead of using shredded baked chicken pieces I switched out and used Tyson’s Grilled and Ready Frozen Fully Cooked Chicken Breast Strips.

Chicken & Dressing Casserole

Ingredients

3/4 package of Tyson’s Grilled and Ready Frozen Fully Cooked Chicken Breast Strips

2 14 oz. cans of Swanson’s Chicken Broth

2 pkg. Stouffer’s Stuffing

1 TBS butter, cut up

1 12 oz jar Heinz Classic Chicken Gravy

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix stuffing and broth as directed on stuffing box, allow to moisten. Spread chicken into 13×9 inch pan, cover with stuffing, add pieces of cut-up butter to top, now spread the gravy on top of the stuffing and sprinkle the cheese on top of that. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until hot. Serve with hot rolls.

Now this isn’t the most healthy meal, but for a special occasion or to say “Thank You” I think we can overlook health issues. Try it and see if you don’t find something to appreciate!

Disclosure: Collective Bias & Tyson provided me with a $50 gift card and 10 free product coupons for this campaign. This compensation in no ways hinders my ability to provide unbiased facts and reviews. If you have any questions about my disclosure policy please see my disclosure policy.

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Tyson’s Grilled And Ready Chicken Noodle Soup

Amanda — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:28:23 +0000

Recently I had the opportunity to try Tyson’s new Grilled & Ready Chicken in some of my family’s favorite recipes. Now we eat a lot of chicken in our house and participate in tons of extracurricular activities so I’m always on the look out for great nutritional “shortcuts” to making my family a healthy delicious evening meal. Being short on time can make it difficult to eat healthy if you don’t plan ahead, thankfully Tyson now offers fully-cooked, grilled, and preservative free alternative to boiled/baked/or fried chicken. I took two of my family’s favorite meals (Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup and Chicken & Dressing Casserole) and substituted a 1.37-pound bag of Tyson’s Grilled and Ready Frozen Fully Cooked Chicken Breast Strips ($6.98@Walmart) for the 3 pounds of baked chicken ($6.68@Walmart) I would have baked before starting these meals.

When you consider that I normally bake all of my chicken at one time for the week (usually 3 pounds) and this takes approximately an hour (I bake from frozen, because I always forget to thaw first), by using the Tyson chicken I have already saved myself 30 minutes per meal. That’s not a small number for my family. We have a lot of extracurricular activities that take place Mon-Wed each week (Tuesdays being the worst time-wise) and I firmly believe in the power of a Family Dinner in the lives of children, so I struggle to find ways to provide a nutritious, tasty, and timely dinner each night. I admit there are times when I fail, but I do the best I can, if I can save 30 minutes prep-cooking time…well, that frees up some more family time.

Anyway…I digress, here’s a look at my recipes:

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients

3 14oz. cans of Swanson’s Chicken Broth

3 cups of water

1/2 package of Ronzoni’s Healthy Harvest Extra Wide Noodles

1 large carrot shredded ( my kids don’t notice them this way, they think it’s cheese)

1/2 package of Tyson’s Grilled & Ready Frozen Fully Cooked Chicken Breast Strips-cut in thirds (Or you can buy Tyson’s Grilled & Ready Frozen Fully Cooked Oven Roasted Diced Chicken Breast)

1 cup-your choice of added frozen veggies

Directions

Bring water and broth to a boil, then add the noodles and chicken. Boil until are almost done, add frozen veggies and carrots (along with any extra seasonings you might wish to add.)

Serve with a salad. Quick and easy…not to mention delicious and nutritious.

The Verdict

My only real complaint about the chicken is that there are a few pieces that are a little grisly and fatty, but if you don’t mind trimming it off before you cook with it that’s really no problem. The chicken tastes as good as the chicken I would make in my own oven (though I can’t really tell if there is a “grilled” taste) and it does save me time. While I would have to pay a premium (almost twice what I would pay for uncooked chicken), the Tyson chicken will make a great notch to my arsenal of providing delicious healthy meals for my family. I won’t stop baking my own chicken completely, because while there aren’t any preservatives used, Tyson does contain 330mg of Sodium per serving. All in all though, I am thankful to have found a welcome “helper” for my kitchen and I’ll be using Tyson’s chicken in the future.

Stay tuned tomorrow, I’ll be giving you the Chicken & Dressing Casserole recipe and showing you how this casserole helped me show my appreciation to some very deserving teachers. I’ll also give you the details on a delicious giveaway.

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Spicy Macaroni Casserole Recipe

Amanda — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:14:09 +0000

When I was growing up our family at a lot of pasta, whether because it was considered good for us or because it was cheap I don’t know…nevertheless it was not something I enjoyed. I never fully appreciated a good pasta meal until I was much older, but even while growing up Spicy Macaroni Casserole was always a favorite.

I’ve made some slight changes to the original recipe to make it slightly more healthy (and less spicy) for the girls. I added whole grain pasta (instead of white), added some chopped green peppers and shredded carrot for extra nutrients, and use light mozzarella cheese to control the fat content. But every time I put that first forkful in my mouth I’m taken back to a time when I didn’t have to do my own cooking/dishes and I can still taste the love Mommaw puts in every dinner.

Spicy Macaroni Casserole

Ingredients

1 lb. Lean Ground Beef/Turkey/or Pork Sausage
1 Medium Onion
1 Medium Green Pepper
2 Medium Carrots
1 16oz can Tomato Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Basil
8oz Shredded Low-Fat Mozzarella Cheese
17 oz package whole grain pasta (macaroni, penne)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare pasta as directed on packaging.
Brown hamburger-add chopped onion and wilt, add green peppers-drain. Add tomato sauce, basil, and carrots and allow to simmer (this allows the flavors to combine and the carrots to soften).
Using a casserole dish, alternate layers: meat mixture, macaroni, and cheese. Bake uncovered in 350 oven for 30-45 minutes or until cheese is brown.
Serve with tossed salad and garlic bread.
Enjoy.

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that I can start it and then walk away. The bake time allows me to pick up the house and do that last load of laundry before dinner.

Do you have a family recipe that you have changed for the healthier?

*Note: I added some cheddar cheese at the end of cook time because I ran out of mozzarella. We are going to add a little more tomato sauce next time, it was a little dry.*

Disclosure: Ronzoni Pasta sent me two boxes of Ronzoni Smart Taste whole grain pasta. The penne pasta was used in preparation of the above recipe and appears in the pictures above.

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Pink Salad Recipe – Perfect for any Holiday

Amanda — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:46 +0000

One of the main staples at my Mommaw’s (and Aunt’s) home for holiday meals is Pink Salad. I can remember growing up in Mommaw’s home and looking forward to the holidays for two main reasons: Turkey and Mommaw’s Pink Salad. As an early adopter of cherries, I became addicted to Pink Salad also at an early age. There many years I gorged myself on this salad only miss out on the other delicious treats. After all these years and the many additions to our family meals, Pink Salad is still by far my favorite and while yes, I could make this for myself at home any time I want…it just wouldn’t be the same as Mommaw’s.

Spooning into this cool, sweet treat is just what is needed to finish off an amazing Thanksgiving/Christmas/Easter meal. The color of Pink Salad is perfect for Christmas and looks great up against a fat turkey. It’s super simple to mix up (takes less than 5 minutes) and then you just allow it to set in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve it. You know what that means right?

You can make it the day before and pull it out just before dinner or dessert. Major time and sanity saver!

Pink Salad Recipe

Ingredients

1 can Cherry Pie Filling
1 can Crushed Pineapple (drained)
1 cup Chopped Pecans
1 small can Eagle Brand Milk (sweetened condensed milk)
1 average size Cool Whip

Directions

Mix together and store in refrigerator.

Yep, that’s it. If you mix this in the pretty bowl you are planning to use for the meal you can also save yourself some time with dishes.

Do you have a favorite holiday side?

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Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday: Type A Mom Conference

Amanda — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:34:27 +0000

I’ll be leaving Wednesday for Type A Mom Conference and won’t be returning until Sunday night, so I really only have to play two nights worth of dinners. My Aunt will be feeding the girls dinner Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Jon will be just be making soup and frozen organic pizza for the girls Saturday and Sunday.

*Recipes at the end*

Monday: Chicken and dressing casserole*, peas, and dinner rolls (frozen)

Tuesday: Chicken Noodle Soup* (made with the leftover chicken)

Recipes

Chicken and Dressing

Ingredients:

3 lbs. Chicken Breasts

Pinch* of Thyme and Garlic

Organic Low-Sodium Chicken Stock (I use 2 cartons, sorry, I don’t know exactly how much)

2 Boxes StoveTop Dressing

1 Jar Chicken Gravy

Mini Carrots (your choice on how many) *optional*

Directions:

Add chicken, chicken stock, thyme, and garlic in your handy-dandy crockpot and cook it all day, or you know until done. Once done, separate chicken in half (store the other half for tomorrow night); strain chicken stock and store for tomorrow also (with the exception of enough for stuffing). Shred chicken and add to 8X8 casserole dish, cover the entire bottom evenly. Prepare dressing according to directions, substituting chicken stock for the water. Layer on top of chicken; add chicken gravy evenly on top. Bake at 375 25 minutes.

Add your favorite veggie and dinner rolls.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs. Chicken (Leftover from last night)

Leftover Chicken Stock (from last night)

Carrots (from last night also)

Celery

Penne noodles (or your preference)

Directions:

This is so easy! Grab a big ol’pot; add your chicken stock and celery: bring to a boil; throw in your already cooked chicken, carrots; add noodles and boil until noodles are done.

Add a salad and more tasty rolls.

Serve. Yup, it’s that easy! SO delish!

Enjoy!!

What is your favorite comfort food? Mine? That chicken noodle soup.

Check out Chive Talkn’ and I’m an Organizing Junkie for more great menu’s and recipes!

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Menu Plan Monday

Amanda — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:18:26 +0000

This week, I got a Beef Stew Kit from Kroger for about $10, which is usually a lot more than I like to spend on one item, but I probably couldn’t make it from scratch for that cheap and it will make one dinner and two lunches for hubby. I also got some chopped pork chops this week since they were on sale. We’ll be having a lot of the same things we have every week, since my girls are creatures of habit.

Monday: CrockPot Beef Stew

Rolls

Tuesday: Pork Chops

Mashed Potatoes
Green beans

Wednesday: CrockPot Pepper-Thyme Chicken Breasts

Dressing
Peas

Thursday: Pancakes

Yogurt

Friday: Homemade BBQ Chicken and Corn Pizza

Salad

Saturday: Lasagna

Rolls
Salad

Sunday: Skyline Chili and Pasta

For More Delicious Menu’s check out Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday.

Do you ever wonder why you aren’t wealthy yet? Check out my Money Talk Monday series.

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CrockPot Pepper Thyme Chicken

3 lbs Chicken

1 1/2Tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper

1 TBS dried Thyme

3 cups Sodium Free Organic Chicken Stock

In a CrockPot place the chicken breasts, add Black Pepper, and cover with chicken stock. About an hour before you’re ready to eat add the Thyme. If you add the Thyme too early, the heat diminishes the taste of the herbs.

You will want to save half of this to use in later recipes.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Store bought Pizza Dough

1 lb of Crockpot Black Pepper-Thyme Chicken

1 Cup favorite BBQ sauce

1 Cup Frozen Organic Corn

2 cups Mozzerella Cheese

Prepare pizza dough according to package details. Mix the chicken with half of the BBQ sauce and set to the side. Spread the rest of the BBQ sauce on the pizza dough, sprinkle the chicken all over, add corn, and cover with cheese. Bake in a 425 oven until cheese is bubbly and brown. Enjoy!

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Menu Plan Monday