Lasagna Loving

Before spring break I made a delicious vegetarian lasagna! I adapted the recipe from Baked Bree veggie lasagna and just substituted some of my own flavors. 

It ended up making two pans and I froze the second one for later in the month when I run out of groceries!

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings

I made Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings today and they were simple and delicious! I followed this recipe almost exactly:
http://www.polishthestars.com/

Next time I would definitely add some vegetables or serve it over mashed potatoes. Worth trying out!

Mini apple pies

My Thanksgiving cooking consisted mostly of desserts! These mini apple pies were fairly easy and extremely tasty! Bite size is the best way to go.

Mini apple pies
Adapted from http://www.littlebitfunky.com/
 

I cut the original recipe in half and only made 12 mini pies

4-5 apples, peeled and cut up into little cubes

6 tablespoons flour

3/4 cup of sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4ish teaspoon of nutmeg

2 tablespoons butter (not melted) cut up into 12 pieces 

1 box of pilsbury pie crust

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Mix apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in big bowl, making sure the apples are completely coated with the mixture 

Take the pie crust out and cut out mini crusts with mason jar top (I had my little helper do this job.) Use a rolling pin to flatten out the pies extremely thin. 

I used cupcake liners to place in the pan and then put the pie dough over top of them, adding the pie mixture into each cup. 

Place a piece of butter on top of each pie and then add the extra pie crust scraps to the top of the pie.

Bake for about 20 minutes, checking to make sure the pies don't brown too much and ta da! Mini apple pies!

 

Crock Pot Potato Soup

My friend Trish came to visit for the Nebraska @ Michigan game this weekend (we only won 45-17...go blue!) and I wanted to make something easy but tasty for us to snack on throughout the day so I made my own version of a baked potato soup recipe from http://www.mamalovesfood.com (Warning: It tastes a lot better than it looks)



Crock Pot Potato Soup
(portions can vary depending on the size of the crock pot)

3 large potatoes, peeled and cut up into cubes
2 cans chicken broth, whichever kind you prefer
3 peels off of an onion, cut up and diced into little pieces
2 cloves garlic, chopped up and crushed
1 package cream cheese
Splash of Italian/Everyday seasoning

I took all of this and cut it up and threw it in the crock pot. Cook for about 6-8 hours on low and enjoy! Make sure the cream cheese is dissolved before serving. If you use low fat or fat free cream cheese it is harder to dissolve, so it doesn't look as good, but it still tastes great! I used Philadelphia 1/3 fat cream cheese. Top with sprinkle cheese.

This was so good that I made some the next day with for my boyfriend! So easy and good. A must try.

Banquet Masks!

Today my fellow APOers and I made some fantastic masks for banquet on Friday. Getting crafty in the union-Marigold's mask didn't turn out so well, but hey, she's a total duck up anyway.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies

I'm not a huge sweets eater, but I like to make cookies, which my roommates and boyfriend love to take advantage of. I attempted to copy a recipe but this just turned into my own rendition of cookies from http://penniesonaplatter.com



They are basically chocolate cookies with peanut butter on the inside. Mine turned out kind of messy with the peanut butter poking through! Still tasty though. Probably wouldn't make them again-too much trouble!

South of the Boarder Sandwiches

Recipe adapted from http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com
I really like this cooking blog! She has fantastic recipes.. check it out!





These sandwiches were a great snack as well! They don't taste as good heated up, so I would recommend only making the amount needed for the current setting. 

1 loaf French bread, cut into 3/4" thick slices (try to slice thinly, as the sandwiches get piled high and therefore hard to fit into your mouth!)

½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup lite mayonnaise
1/3 cup nonfat sour cream
1/3 cup green onions, chopped
1 pound sliced turkey (I used chicken lunch meat because I like it better)
2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 ripe avocados, sliced
¾ cup cheddar cheese, shredded
¾ cup pepper jack or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded


Turn the oven on to 350 degrees


Combine the chili powder, cumin, and salt in a bowl, then add the mayo, sour cream, and onions to the remaining mix


Put the slices of the french bread on the baking sheet and then spread the mayo mixture on the slices. Add the tomato, turkey, avocado, and cheese. Apply more mixture in between layers if necessary.
Cook for about ten minutes! Pretty easy, and also delicious. Great appetizer for parties or any group gathering.