Let me start by saying my kids love this. It is a kid friendly and fun meal. I know it is not the healthiest of dinner choices, but it is a good. Monica recently posted a similar recipe that her family enjoys.

I love to make a meal like this when I am tempted to go out to dinner. This may not be the healthiest meal, but it is healthier and cheaper than eating dinner out.

Serve this with a salad and you have a quick and easy dinner in no time. I like to keep cooked chicken in the freezer just for meals like this. It makes putting this dish together much easier.

I have a similar version of this I make with beef that we also enjoy.

Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chicken Bake

• 8 cups nacho cheese tortilla chips, crushed ( I used cool ranch Doritos now because they are supposed to be gf)
• 2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted ( I used a homemade version to make it gf)
• 2 cup cooked chicken
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 cup  shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
• Additional shredded cheddar cheese for topping

Arrange chips in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. In a bowl, combine the soup, chicken, salsa, cheese, and chilies. Pour over chips. Sprinkle with additional cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly.

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I was recently contacted about trying some of the SunBird Asian Seasoning Packets. Now, I will start by saying this is not something I usually buy. If you are familiar with my site than you know that I like to make things from scratch.

However, since going gluten free, I have not been able to make many of my family’s favorite quick and easy meals. Eating out is also almost impossible, especially in the small town we live in.

I knew that mixes like this would provide a quick and easy meal. Sunbird offered to send me several of their seasonings that were gluten free, so I decided to give them a try.

After trying several of the sauces, the General Tsos Chicken was all of our favorite. It was spicy, but not too spicy, or at least not too spicy for my family. The mixes were quick and easy to make. In fact, I had them ready in less time than it took to cook the rice.

Not only did Sunbird send me seasonings to try, they offered to giveaway a case of their seasoning mixes and a $25 gift card  to one of my readers.

This giveaway will end Tuesday March 23, 2010 at 6:00 pm.

US residence only please

For a chance to win the case of seasoning mixes and the $25 gift card:

1. All you have to do is leave me a comment

For bonus entries:

2. If you are a subscriber to my site, thank you, leave me a comment letting me know that you subscribe. If you are not a subscriber yet, you can sign up for my free updates via email or RSS and then come back and let me know you subscribed.

3. If you are a facebook fan leave a comment letting me know, if you are not a facebook fan become one and come back and let me know that you became a fan.

Sunbird sent me four packages of seasoning and money to cover the cost of ingredients and the time for reviewing these mixes. However, the opinions in the post are my own.

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I will start by admitting that chocolate banana smoothies are not the healthiest smoothie, but they are so good. I do make healthy smoothies, but I will admit I also make unhealthy, more dessert like smoothies.

My kids love it when I serve chocolate banana smoothies as part of lunch or even as a snack or dessert. Really, I think my kids would eat these anytime.

I love smoothies because not only do they taste good, they are quick, easy, and frugal.

What is your favorite kind of smoothie to make?

Chocolate Banana Smoothies

• 1  1/2 cups milk
• 1  1/2 cups vanilla yogurt
• 3-4 bananas ( I like these to be frozen because I think they give the smoothie a better texture)
• 10 ice cubes
• chocolate syrup to taste, or use my homemade hot fudge sauce

Mix ingredients together in the blender until smooth or desired consistency.

This post linked to Frugal Fridays.

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Last month I got to met Jessica of Life As Mom and Good Cheap Eats.

Life As Mom was one of the first blogs that I read regularly, so in many ways I felt like I already knew her.

When we met in real life, we really connected. We have so much in common, including our love of food and cooking. We could spend hours just talking about different cooking ideas.

Jessica is doing a series about building a frugal pantry and this week the subject is eggs. Breakfast for dinner is always an easy and frugal meal. So, today I did a guest post for her sharing one of my family’s favorite recipes that I make when we have breakfast for dinner. If you are looking for a new breakfast or breakfast for dinner idea you should check it out.

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Rice pudding is an old fashioned classic dessert. People have been making it for a long time, and there are a lot of different versions.

I have tried many versions of rice pudding, but this one is my current favorite. I love it.

I made this rice pudding a little bit more special by using sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips. What isn’t good with those two ingredients in it?

Chocolate Tres Leches Rice Pudding

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2/3 cup chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Combine rice, milk, and water in a pan and bring to a boil. Turn to low and cover and cook until the rice is tender which takes 18-20 minutes.

Stir in the sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and heavy cream. Cook on low for 3-4  minutes or until the pudding thickens slightly and chocolate is melted. Stirring frequently.

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Spoon pudding into individual bowls. Serve warm or cold. I liked this warm, but my husband prefers it cold.

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I had several people email me asking for the recipe for the granola bars that I pictured in my menu plan. I had planned on posting this in a week or two, but since you requested it, I decided to go ahead and post it now. I hope you enjoy!

My kids love granola bars, but it does not take long for a box of granola bars to disappear with three kids in the house.

I have been trying for a long time to find a homemade granola bar that we liked. I knew I could make a homemade version that was cheaper and better for you than the store bought versions. I have tried many recipes and some were good, but none were great.

I tried some recipes that were very healthy, but tasted terrible. I have made some that were so dry they fell apart. Others were so sticky that they were hard to eat. A few recipes were so sweet that they tasted more like a dessert than a snack or breakfast item. I wanted a healthy and good homemade granola bar.

I kept tweaking and trying recipes determined to find one that we liked and that was at least semi healthy. Recently, I finally developed a recipe that we liked. In fact, we liked this so much that I made them three times last week.

These are a perfect blend of crunchy, yet soft and chewy. These really are a cross between a soft and a hard granola bar. I think they are the best of both.

Now, I know that these are not the healthiest granola bars, but they are healthier than what I can buy. I know what is in these and I can control what goes into them.  And yes I know they have a little corn syrup in them, but that is what helps give them the great texture that they have, and I figure it is not much.

One tip is to follow the directions on cutting and removing these from the pan. It will make them much easier to remove from the pan.

Easy Homemade Granola Bars

• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 2  1/3 cups quick cooking oats

Grease and 8×8 pan. In a pan combine the butter, brown sugar, honey, and corn syrup.  Stir constantly over medium heat until butter melts,  sugar dissolves, and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and add oats. Stir well until oats are well coated. Spread mixture into 8×8 or similar pan. Bake at 350 for 22 minutes. Cool 5 minutes and cut into bars. Cool for about 1 hour more in the pan and then remove bars from the pan.

If you wait to cut and remove the bars from the pan until the pan is completely cooled, the bars will be very hard to remove.

For different variations, stir in a few chocolate chips when you add the oats,

or for something even healthier, add a few raisins, when you stir in the oats.

This post linked to DIY Day and Tasty Tuesday.

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This recipe came from my sister. She told me about it and I immediately tried it because my husband and girls love spinach. They love anything to do with spinach.

My son and I however only like spinach if it is covered in cheese, which is why we enjoy this recipe. If your kids or others in your family do not like spinach, you should give this a try. They might actually decide that they like it.

I like this recipe because it is meatless. I enjoy having a meatless meal once in a while and this is a meatless meal that my husband actually loves.

Not only is this meatless, it is really easy to put together.  If you want to make it even easier, instead of making regular enchiladas, layer it like an enchilada pie. I do that when I am in a hurry and it works really well.

I like to serve this with my Mexican Rice.

Spinach Enchiladas

• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach , thawed, drained and squeezed dry
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 10 (6 inch) corn tortillas
• 1 (19 ounce) can enchilada sauce ( or use my homemade enchilada sauce)

Cook onion in oil for a few minutes until tender. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute longer.

Stir in spinach, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat, and mix in cottage cheese, sour cream, and 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese.

In a skillet over medium heat, warm tortillas one at a time until flexible, about 15 seconds.

Spoon about 1/4 cup of the spinach mixture onto the center of each tortilla. Roll up, and place seam side down in a 9×13 inch baking dish.

Pour enchilada sauce over the top, and sprinkle with the remaining cup of Monterey Jack.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until heated through.

This recipe works for me.

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I have talked a lot about my struggles with breakfast lately, well this week I had a big break through. It may seem simple to many of you, but for me it was huge.

I realized this week that I can tolerate oatmeal. Oatmeal is one of the foods that you are told to stay away from on a gluten free diet. If you eat oats, you should eat gluten free oatmeal. Oats have a very high risk of contamination and if you are celiac or are very sensitive, you have to be very careful and only use gluten free oatmeal. The trouble with gluten free oats  is that they are really, really expensive.

After doing some reading and research, I realized that some people with just gluten intolerance, can tolerate regular oats. So, this week I decided to give regular old Quaker Oats a try.

Honestly, I was really worried how I would react. It has taken me over five months to try them because I did not want to take the chance. Well this week I ate a bunch of oats, and I did not have a reaction at all. This is big for me because there have been several times where I ate something that contained wheat without realizing it, and I instantly had issues. I was so relieved that I could tolerate oats. I know some people will disagree with me and say that I should avoid oats. I understand that, but since I am not celiac, I am going by how I feel when it comes to issues like this.

So, on the menu plan this week is several items that contain oatmeal.

Breakfast

southwestern eggs

waffles

lazy granola

pancakes

baked oatmeal squares

smoothies and homemade granola bars

Dinner

mexican rice and quesadillas

rice, meat, and veggies

slow cooked pepper steak

oven fries and salad

pizza

slow cooked stew

slow cooked fajitas

For more meal planning ideas see Menu Planning Mondays.

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It is March, which means it is the time of year that corned beef goes on sale. Just about every store carries and marks down corn beef around St. Patrick’s Day. In my area it is really the only time of year you find corned beef for a good price.

Corned beef is one of those things that I learned to like after I got married. It was not that I did not like it, I had never had it, until my mother inlaw served it for dinner when my husband and I were dating. The first few times I had corned beef it was not my favorite, however my husband loves it, so I was determined to find a way to cook it that we both liked.

I kept looking at recipes for corned beef trying to figure out what it was that I did not like. If you have ever cooked corned beef purchased from the store, you know that it comes with a seasoning pack that you are supposed to use. My mother inlaw always used it, so I did too. When I was looking at different recipes, I came across one that said to throw the seasoning pack out and not use it.

Well, I decided this was worth a try. I cooked it without the seasonings from the package and it was the best corned beef I had ever had. I actually liked it this way. What I discovered was that it was not the corned beef I did not like, it was the seasoning that came with the corned beef. I had found a way to cook corned beef that both my husband and I enjoyed.

I now try to cook corned beef at least once a year and it is usually in March when it goes on sale. This slow cooked corned beef has become my favorite way to cook it. It is so easy and so good.

This is one of the few recipes that I use beer in. I hate beer. I can’t stand even the smell of it. However, it makes meat tender and works especially well in this recipe. Because this cooks all day in the crockpot, you really can’t even taste the beer in it. It just gives it a really good flavor and texture.

Now I am curious, how many of you eat corned beef? How many of you have never eaten corned beef?

Slow Cooked Corned Beef and Cabbage

• 1 – 2 to 3 pound corned beef (toss the package of seasoning into the trash)
• 8 red potatoes, cut in half or 1/4 if they are large
• 6 carrots, peeled, and cut into pieces ( or use baby carrots like I did)
• 1 onion, cut into chunks
• 1 cabbage quartered
• 1  12 ounce bottle of beer ( I used gluten free beer I found at whole foods)

Place all ingredient into a crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Slice corned beef and serve with vegetables. Enjoy.

This recipe linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

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Growing up we ate a lot of stew. It was on the menu often. It was one of my dad’s favorite ways to eat beef, so we had it frequently.

For a long time I did not like stew. I think I ate too much of it growing up, but my husband loves it, so I find myself now cooking it.

I have realized what a great meal it is for feeding a family. It is a meal in one. Meat, potatoes, and vegetables all served together. Meals like that are perfect for busy families.

One of my favorite ways right now to cook stew is in the crockpot. My mom did not have a crockpot until I was older, but if she would have had one when I was growing up, I am sure she would have used it for stew.

Using a crockpot for stew makes it so easy. You can start this in the morning and by 6:00 you will have a healthy and hearty meal waiting for you.

Slow Cooked Beef Stew

• 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes ( you can also use another cheaper type cut of meat)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour ( I now use a gf flour blend)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 3 potatoes, diced
• 4 carrots, sliced

In a bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper.  Add meat and stir to coat. Place in meat mixture in crockpot and add  garlic, paprika, worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, and carrots. Cover, and cook on low setting for 10 to 12 hours.

For more frugal dinner ideas see $5 Dinners.

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