Chicken Parmesan or Italian Style Meatball Casserole

This is a recipe from a cold day in Maine one year 
For dinner tonight since Its freezing here in Maine 17 degrees, I decided to make a casserole. I cut a corner because of costs of the ingredients. I used Rotini pasta and a package of frozen Italian style mini meatballs. It’s full of melty cheese, and the tomato sauce totally counts as a veggie.

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:


1 pound lean ground chicken
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk


For the casserole:


1 pound campanelle pasta (any small shape is fine, such as ziti)
1 jar (24 ounces) marinara sauce (Barilla)
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook for 1 minute less than package directions state.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the meatballs. Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and use your hands to mix them together well. Form into small balls, about 1 inch in diameter and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until cooked through and no longer pink. Remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Add the pasta sauce to a large bowl and stir in the cooked pasta and meatballs. Stir gently to coat everything in sauce.
Spread half of the pasta and meatballs into a 9x13 baking dish. Top with half of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Serve immediately.
*To freeze this dish, stop just short of baking the casserole, cover tightly with foil, and freeze until ready to bake. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until hot and bubbly.*

Iced Tea

  Refrigerator iced tea is smooth without bitterness, and it's easy to make. It's safer to drink than sun tea and you get all of the cancer fighting health benefits found in tea.                                                                                           

4 Tea bags or 4 teaspoons loose leaf tea                                                    

   Liquids                            

4 cups Tap or room temperature water

Use a 1-quart Mason jar or pitcher.

--If using tea bags: hang tea bags inside pitcher or jar with strings hanging over the rim (for easy removal later). Add water making sure that tea is immersed, cover, and put in fridge for 6-12 hours. Remove tea bags and serve.

--If using loose leaf tea: add 4 teaspoons tea leaves to a tea basket, tea ball or tea filter bag. Rest over top of jar or pitcher so the tea will be exposed to the water, but it can easily be removed after the tea has steeped. Place in the refrigerator for 6-12 hours. Remove tea leaves, and it's ready to serve.

ADJUST RECIPE FOR ANY QUANTITY.  Use 1 teabag or 1 teaspoon of loose leaf tea per cup of water. 

Serves 4 

Coconut Milk Coffee Creamer

Total Time: 2 minutes

Serves: 4-8

Ingredients:

• 1 can coconut milk
• 1-2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• Honey or vanilla stevia to taste
• Sea salt to taste, optional

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix until well combined. Use in coffee as desired.

Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients:1 (32 oz.) bag frozen tater tots
1 (3 oz.) bag bacon pieces
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup milk
salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Layer half of the frozen tater tots on the bottom of the slow cooker.
3. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the bacon pieces.
4. Now top with 1/3 of the shredded cheese.
5. Add diced chicken on top.
6. Season with salt & pepper.
7. Now add 1/3 of the bacon pieces and another 1/3 of shredded cheese.
8. Put the rest of the frozen tater tots on top.
9. Finish with the remaining 1/3 cheddar cheese and remaining 1/3 of bacon pieces.
10. Pour 3/4 cup milk all over the top.
11. Cover and cook on low about 4-6 hours.

Pumpkin Muffins – TWO ingredients!

 Pumpkin Muffins – TWO ingredients!

Serves	12
Prep time	5 minutes
Cook time	15 minutes
Total time	20 minutes
Meal type	Breakfast, Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 box Cake mix - Spice (Plain works too if you don't have the spice one.)
• 1 can Pumpkin (15 or 16 oz - not pumpkin filling)

Directions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 F

Step 2

Assemble your tools - pan for 12 medium cupcakes, spoon to mix, Pam.

Step 3

Pour cake mix into your favorite red bowl.

Step 4

Add canned pumpkin to bowl

Step 5

Stir the two ingredients together.

Step 6

Keep stirring! It really starts looking like batter.

Step 7

Put batter into 12 medium muffin tin.

Step 8

Bake for 18 - 20 minutes. Test for doneness with toothpick (or a skewer stick!).

Maple and Brown Sugar Overnight Oatmeal

Well I decided to make some maple and brown sugar oatmeal in the crock pot today.. It came out good. I ended up having a nice bowl of it, there wasn't any need to add any sugar.. Just a different taste because I never had Steel oats before today. But its a lot more health for you..

Ingredients

6 servings

• ¼ cups Maple Syrup
• 2 cups Steel Cut Oats
• ⅓ cups Brown Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 3 tablespoons Butter
• ¾ cups chop Pecans
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon

• 6 cups Water (serving day)

Directions

Coat inside of a 4-5 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Add all ingredients to slow cooker and stir. Cook for 7-8 hours on low. Stir before serving.

Creamy Crockpot Chicken and Broccoli Over Rice

I made this recipe twice, It's a keeper around here. YUM

Prep time: 5 min | Cook time: 3-6 hours | Total time: 6 hours

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 14 ounce can Cream of Chicken Soup
• 14 ounce can Cheddar Soup
• 14 ounces Chicken Broth
• 1/2 teaspoon Cajun Seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 6 cups steamed broccoli florets (Boiled in hot water for 3 minutes then drained)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Place soups, chicken broth, Cajun and garlic salt into a crockpot over low heat.  Whisk until smooth.  Add chicken, pressing to the bottom. Cover lid and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours.
2. When chicken is cooked, use 2 forks to shred into bite size pieces.  Stir in sour cream and broccoli.
3. Serve over steamed rice and sprinkle with cheese if desired.

Makes 4-6 Servings

French Vanilla Creamer

I found its cheaper to buy the milk and the other ingredients to make the creamer unless you hit a good deal at your local grocery store for creamer that's on sale or a good savings with coupons..

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

14-oz. milk (whole, lowfat, or skim – it doesn’t matter)

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Pour all of the ingredients into a jar. Screw the lid on tightly, and shake vigorously for a few minutes until well-combined.

DYI Dryer Sheets

I decided to give this a try why not sounds pretty simple that I can make without messing it up LOL.

What You'll Need:

• 1/2 cup of Vinegar
• 8 drops tea tree or other essential oil (I used 100% pure Lavender)
• Sealable container
• Cotton cloths ie: old towels, inexpensive dish towels from the dollar store or old tee shirts, linens.

Directions:

1. Start by cutting your towels, tee shirts, linens dish towels, into smaller sections. I used an old towel.
2. Mix together the vinegar and essential oil in a small bowl. Vinegar is a natural softener, and the essential oil gives your clothes a gentle, natural scent. Pour the mixture over the cloths until they are dampened but not soaked. Keep in a securely closed container.
3. To use, simply remove a sheet from the container, squeezing any excess liquid back into the jar, and toss into the dryer. To reduce static cling in clothes, reduce the heat temperature of your dryer. When clothes are dry, simply place the sheet back in the jar for use later.

My Spinach Ball Recipe

My Spinach Ball Recipe

2 pkg. Frozen Spinach, Drained
6 Well Beaten Eggs
1/2 c. Parmesan Cheese
3/4 c. Melted Butter
1/2 tsp. Garlic Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper
2 1/2 c. Seasoned Breadcrumbs

Cook spinach then drain and squeeze out moisture (Very important! Squeeze all the moisture out!)
Combine all ingredients and chill
Shape into balls (size of golf ball) and place on greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350F for 15-20mins

Note: You can add some finely diced onion or 1/2 tsp. thyme if you want.