Stuffed Peppers

One of our goals this year was to work on coming up with a weekly menu and cooking better and new foods for dinner. 

I found this recipe on laurenconrad.com and thought they looked pretty darn good.  I have never had stuffed peppers before so it took a bit of convincing before the husband said sure lets try them. 

This recipe has simple ingredients and was very easy to put together.  Both my husband and I thought it was excellent...Olivia ate a little bit so that's a win for her! She isn't sold on peppers yet...

If you are looking for a healthy quick meal - try this, it is so good!

Muffin Omelets

I have been searching for a quick healthy breakfast to replace my regular bowl of Captain Crunch every morning. I don't have a lot of time in the morning and there is no way I can wake up any earlier to make a warm healthy breakfast!

I found this recipe online and instantly wanted to make it! Individual omelets - such a great idea!

You can customize the omelets to your liking, we made sausage and cheese because that was all we had in the house when I decided to make them.

I had two omelets this morning and they kept me surprisingly full. Usually I have a granola bar mid morning because I am so hungry and sometimes I just eat my lunch extra early... this stops that!

I am so excited to try other combinations - what is your favorite breakfast?

My new favorite....

dessert! The Brookie.... a brownie AND a cookie all in one! SO GOOD!

image via

I spotted this recipe on Pinterest and it immediately got my attention.  A Brownie AND a Cookie - Yes please! After scouring the internet for a simple recipe and finding nothing quite up to my standards of lazy... I just winged it!

Here is the recipe: 

Brookies

1 Box of your favorite brownie mix

1 thing of your favorite (or in my case the cheapest) pre-made chocolate chip cookie mix. 

 * You could make your own cookies if you wanted - this was just way easier for me!

Make the brownies as you would and preheat the oven to whatever the brownies say.  My cookies and brownies both said 350 degrees. 

I made mine in a couple muffin tins.  I sprayed the crap out of the tins with cooking spray - and they were still a little hard to get out.  Maybe if you used a silicone muffin pan like this it would not stick as much. I think I am going to pick one up the next time I am at Target!

So you put the brownie mix in the bottom. I used an ice cream scoop to make it less messy.  Fill each cup about a half inch high. Mine made about 20. 

After the brownie mix is in the bottom - take your already prepared cookies dough and flatten each piece so it is about the size of the muffin tin.  Place on top and stick it in the oven.  

I cooked mine for about 15 minutes.  Mine were gooey in the middle (just how we like them).  Make sure you stick a knife or toothpick in to make sure they are done to your liking. 

There you are! The best dessert ever - for now anyway! Bring them to a party and everybody will love you!

Brownie Cookies...oh so good!

I was looking for something different to make a dessert last week.  Not quite sure how I found this but I am so happy I did! 

Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies - made from a box of brownies! I love anything easy, anything delicious, and anything that has the word brownie in it!

I found this on Six Sisters' Stuff Blog! They were definitely a hit.  Here is the recipe!

Double Chocolate Brownie Mix Cookies Recipe:

(Recipe from Food.com)

21 ounce box brownie mix (I used Duncan Hines Milk Chocolate)
 ½ cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons canola oil
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons water
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ cup nuts , chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.  In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Stir until well blended. Drop mix from a teaspoon onto a cookie sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes.

Once cookies have lost their gloss, yet still feel soft to the touch, remove from oven. DO NOT OVER BAKE THESE COOKIES.  Let cool 1 minute, then remove to racks to finish cooling. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Try these.  You will not be disappointed! 

One of my favorite dinners

I am not huge into making lasagna - probably because I have never actually made it. I ran across a recipe a while back for lasagna roll ups that looked super easy.

And of course I can't find the first recipe that I made it from but I will tell you how I did it! Here is a recipe that is similar!

Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups

1 Box of Lasagna Noodles
1 pound ground turkey
1 Block of frozen spinach (completely thawed)
2 Jars of Spaghetti Sauce
1 Medium tub of Cottage Cheese
1 bag of shredded Parmesan Cheese
1-2 bags of shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Italian Seasoning to taste

The original recipe used like 6 noodles so I always double it (leftovers!)

First thing I do is put the frozen spinach in the fridge a day or two ahead of when I am going to make it.  This is the easiest way to thaw it out.  Putting it in hot water will also work but is really messy!

* Preheat oven to 350.
* Cook your noodles according to the box.  Drain and rinse with cool water.  If you can lay them out to cool a little bit as they will be hot!
* Cook your meat and season how you would like (I throw some Italian seasoning in there).  Drain any grease. 
* Mix the spinach (if it is still wet - squeeze any extra water out with a paper towel), meat, cottage cheese, about half of the Parmesan cheese and almost a whole jar of sauce (I think it is like 2 cups).  I also add a little more seasoning in! This is your inside mixture.
* Take a noodle - spread desired amount of mixture on it (load it up) and then roll!
* Pour the remaining sauce in the bottom of the pans - save some sauce for the tops of the roll ups though!
* Place the rolls ups in the pan.
* Do this until you run out of noodles or mixture! It usually makes 2 cake pans worth of rolls.
* Top roll ups with additional sauce if desired.
*Generously sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over tops of roll ups.
*Sprinkle additional Parmesan cheese on top of that.
*Sprinkle additional Italian Seasoning on top of cheese.

Cover with tin foil - throw in the oven - remove foil after 25-30 minutes (if cheese on top is melted then it is done! If not keep it in the oven until it is!)

No exact science on measurements and timing.  Never really liked that.  It always turns out good!  AND so easy!

Zucchini Bread Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

We went to the Farmer's Market a couple weeks ago and loaded up on fresh veggies (YUM!).  We got this gigantic zucchini that we planned on grilling up.  Our awesome neighbors then brought over a load more of zucchini and we couldn't say no.  On to Pinterest I went to look for recipes that had zucchini in them.  I have never had zucchini bread before so I thought I would try that.  After much searching I found this recipe for Frosted Zucchini Bread Muffins.

I thought they looked good because lets face it - anything with cream cheese frosting is most likely going to be amazing!

They were a hit! Everyone loved them - they are definitely on the list to make again.

Here is a tip: when I was making the frosting I made a double batch (because it didn't look like there would be enough - there was).  So now I have a tupperwear full of extra frosting that tastes really good with animal crackers! So if you want a tasty treat after those muffins are gone, make a bit more frosting!  YUM!