Burrito Cups

Yield – 4 servings
Preparation Time – 20 minutes
Cooking Time – 50 minutes for the rice, none for assembling cups

Ingredients

• 2-3 cups cooked rice
• 1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups cooked black beans)
• about 1/2 cup shredded cheese
• 2 avocados, diced
• about 1 cup chunky salsa
• Cilantro, optional garnish
• Other burrito cup mix-ins ideas – taco meat (homemade taco seasoning), taco meat with beans, shredded chicken taco meat, sour cream, other favorite burrito fillings
• Tortilla chips, optional

Directions

• Cook the rice as directed.
• Set out the black beans, shredded cheese, diced avocado, and salsa (along with any other mixins).
• Spoon the ingredients into cups. Eat. Repeat.
• Serve Burrito Cups, as is, or with tortilla chips.

Salt Dough Footprint Keepsakes

Salt dough recipe:

1 cup salt
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup of water









Mix together into a large bowl and knead it until smooth and stretchy. This last part is important otherwise the dough remains sticky and quite granular from the salt. If it is still too sticky add a bit more flour, if too dry and crumbly then add a tiny touch more water. A little bit of trial and error is all that is needed and it really is so easy!

Once the dough is kneaded, divided it into equal parts and found a shallow bowl that was big enough to accommodate the full length of the childs feet.  Then squish one part into the bowl and flattened it around to the edges.

Then teased it away from the edges slightly and flip it out onto a plate. The underside will be very smooth with a lovely finish, perfect as a canvas for the footprints!

Then get the child to tread one foot into the middle of their dough plaques, one at a time. A firm straight down impression and then lift straight off again works really well. If it gets messed up, the great thing is that you can reform it and try again!

The plaques then go into the oven for 3 hours at 100 degrees C (around 200 degrees F). They need to be placed on baking parchment or greaseproof paper so that they don't stick. It needs to be on a very low heat for a length of time to thoroughly dry out and harden. If the oven is too hot they will rise and "cook". The thinner the dough and the lower the temperature, the better these will turn out! If they are still doughy in the centre after 3 hours then turn them over and put them back in for another 2 hours. If you want to hang yours on the wall then you need to add a hole with a straw before it goes in the oven.

Allow the plaques to cool over night, then feel free to paint & decorate. It's truely that simple & a great keepsake or gift. HAVE FUN!!!!

Beef Stew and Noodles

Yield – 4-6 servings
Preparation Time – 5 minutes
Cooking Time – 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cans of beef stew
• 1 bag of egg noodles
• Dash of salt

Directions

• Gather ingredients from the pantry {my 3.5 year old loves helping with this step}.
• Set a large pot of water on the stove to boil.
• When the water is rapidly boiling, add a dash of salt and the bag of egg noodles – adjust the temperature to maintain a low boil.
• Boil according to package instructions {about 7-8 minutes}.
• Open the cans of beef stew and dump them into a large microwavable bowl {my 5.5 year old loves helping with this step}.
• Cover the stew bowl and microwave according to package instructions {about 5 minutes}.
• When the noodles are cooked, drain them and return them to the pot {remove the pot from the heat source}
• Dump the beef stew {cooked} onto the noodles.
• Stir the beef stew and noodles together and serve.

Chunky Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients:

• 3- carrot sticks, peeled and grated
• 1/2- red onion, finely chopped
• 2- celery stalks, chopped
• 4- slices bacon
• 2- garlic cloves, crushed
• 1- lb. ground beef
• 2- 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
• 2- 6 oz cans tomato paste
• 1Tbsp Italian seasonings
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lb. whole wheat spaghetti noodles
• 1- box frozen spinach

Directions

1. Peel and grate carrots, chop red onion and celery.
2. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, cook the bacon. Then set aside on paper towels and crush/chop.
3. In the same saucepan, saute all the veggies with the crushed garlic for 5 minutes. Add the ground beef and brown.
4. Once browned, add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste and about 3 tomato paste cans worth of water. Stir in the bacon and the Italian seasonings. Let simmer for about 15 minutes. (Cover if you simmer longer.) Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Cook noodles and spinach as directed on package.
6. Serve Chunky Bolognese Sauce over noodles with side of spinach.

Southern Beans and Rice

Here's What You Need:

Dried beans ($1 for a pound)
Onion, celery, carrot ($1 for one piece of each)
Green Pepper ($.50 for half)
Veggie stock ($.50 for roughly two cups)
Brown rice ($.50 for half pound)
Diced tomatoes ($1 for a can)
Sour cream or cheese ($.50 for a little topping)

Directions:


Soak beans for at least a few hours, or better, overnight. Chop and saute veggies for a few minutes to get a little color on them before adding the beans. Add just enough water to cover the beans. Keep adding just enough water to keep them covered. Cook until beans are nearly done, but not yet soft. Add stock, tomatoes, and rice. Cook until rice and beans are finished. Add salt if needed, and top with cheese or sour cream.

Cheesy Bologna Wraps

Ingredients:

1 Bologna Slice
1 Cheese Slice
1 small flour tortilla
1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
1 Dill Sandwich Slice Pickle



Directions:

Spread mustard on tortilla. Top with remaining ingredients; roll up. (Microwave if preferred)
SERVE immediately or wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Penne with Creamy Pesto Sauce

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup (12 ounces) whole-wheat penne pasta
1/2 cup homemade or store-bought pesto
1/4 cup milk
Shredded parmesan cheese
Fresh basil leaves for garnish

Directions:

Boil the penne noodles, drain and rinse with cool water.

In a mixing bowl, combine the pesto and milk. Toss with the cooled pasta. Top with shredded Parmesan cheese and garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Cranberry Pork Chops with Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 4 pork chops
• 1/2 bag fresh cranberries
• 1/2 cup apple or orange juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 large sweet potatoes

Yields: 4 servings

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Preparation:

1. Place pork chops in bottom of crockpot.

2. In bowl, combine fresh or canned cranberries, apple or orange juice, sugars and ground cloves. Stir well. Pour over the pork chops in the crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours.

3. Slit sweet potatoes with knife or vent with fork. Bake sweet potatoes at 350 for 1 hour in baking dish with 1/4 inch water. Cover with foil. Remove and let cool about 10 minutes. Peel skins off of the potato and mash. Serve with cinnamon and butter if you like.

4. Serve pork chops with cranberry sauce and a side of mashed sweet potatoes.

Bacon and Egg Quesadillas

Cook breakfast for less than $5!

Ingredients:

• 6 strips of bacon
• 6 to 8 eggs
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• 8 tortillas
• Salsa
• 2 Pears or 2 pieces of your favorite fruit!

Yields: 4 servings

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Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 300˚F.

2. Cook bacon in skillet on stovetop. Remove and place on paper towel to drain excess fats. Pour most of the fat from the skillet.

3. Scramble eggs in skillet that you cooked the bacon in. This way you don’t need to add salt, as it’s already in the bacon. Might not be the healthiest, but its certainly the tastiest!

4.Place 4 tortillas on cookie sheet, top with scrambled eggs, bacon strips and sprinkle cheese on top. Place remaining tortillas on top.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, until cheese melts and tortillas are slightly crispy. Remove and slice quesadillas into quarters.

6. Serve Bacon and Egg Quesadillas with salsa and sliced pears or other fresh fruit!