Thrifty Decorating: recipes

Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts

March 25, 2012

Fun Family Dinner.....create a salad bar!

I try to make Friday nights special in our house.....but in reality, by the

time I hit Friday, I am exhausted and ready for a break!

Usually I am more prepared and will throw together this recipe for homemade

dough and we have homemade pizza, but the other night it

was 5:25 pm and all I had in the refrigerator were 3 chicken breasts....not

a real exciting start to a "fun" family dinner!

As I rummaged through the fridge taking inventory, I had a brainstorm....

what if I made a salad bar??

For my kids, everything tastes better if it's in a pretty bowl and lined up on the counter!

So I started grabbing some fixings and putting them in pretty bowls!

I tried to think of what would be on a real salad bar and tried to imitate...

salad fixings...

mandarin orange...

vanilla pudding...

mac and cheese.....

seasoned chicken.....

My kids thought that I was amazing!

Here are some of my other go-to fun family recipes:

Sausage Turnovers

Restaurant Knock-off Fajitas

Quesadillas

and I make homemade pizza crusts with the

dough recipe from the sausage turnovers.

Do you have any fun family dinner ideas??

March 17, 2012

Last Minute St. Patrick's Day Ideas

Did you procrastinate because of the beautiful weather and have nothing

ready for a St. Patrick's Day meal?

Here are some quick suggestions:

{White Chocolate Dipped Oreos}

What's on your menu today??

March 8, 2012

Shamrock Floats

As I've mentioned before, St. Patrick's Day ranks up there next to Christmas for my hubby,

so I try to think of fun "green" food for the holiday.

When I made these ice cream floats for Valentine's Day, I knew from their

success that a St. Patrick's Day version would be in the future! So here it is...

You will need:

green sherbet

ginger ale

whipped topping

sprinkles

mint jelly candy

St. Patrick's Day free printables

Take your green mint candy and smush it between wax paper with a rolling pin.

(I also used my fingers!)

Cut out your hearts with kitchen shears to form a shamrock.

Because ginger ale is on the yellow side, I decided to add blue food coloring

first to get to the color green. I then added yellow until I got my desired color.

Add a little whipped cream, some sprinkles and your shamrock and you've

got an easy St. Patrick's Day treat!

If you are looking for other St. Patrick's Day ideas, check out my Pinterest Board!

Oh....and you'll have to look at your shamrock really quickly because

it will sink to the bottom before you know it!

February 27, 2012

No Peek Chicken

I spend my Monday's giving piano lessons from about 2 pm until 6 pm with

no time to make dinner.....so on Mondays I need a meal

that is easy to prepare and cooks itself....

This is a favorite "Monday meal".....

Ingredients:

1 box Uncle Ben's Long Grain Wild Rice (original recipe)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can water

(You can add another can of water for moister rice.)

Chicken breasts or tenders

In a greased 9 x 13 pan, mix the box of rice, cans of celery and mushroom soup and
one can of water. I always add the extra can of water because I like moist rice.

Arrange the raw chicken on top of the rice mixture....

Cover and seal with foil......

Bake at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours and "Don't Peek!"

Your house will smell amazing!

February 20, 2012

Beef Taquitos

Last week, I shared my recipe for "homemade" salsa.....you'll

need that recipe for these beef taquitos.

You can use ground turkey or ground beef. I have only been using ground

turkey for the past couple of years and my family has been protesting, so

I made these with ground beef.

I made a "kid" version and an "adult" version.....the kid version had only

beef, a little bit of taco seasoning, and cheese.

The adult version had about 1-2 Tablespoons of salsa mixed with

2-3 Tablespoons of cooked beef and then sprinkled with sharp cheddar cheese.

After trial and error, I found that it's best to spread a thin layer

of the mixture over the entire tortilla and then pick a side and roll

from that side otherwise all the meat is in the middle.

To get the tortillas crispy, my trick is to spray them with non-stick canola oil.

I baked them at 425 degrees keeping a close eye on them until they were browned....about 10 minutes.

I just added some guacamole, sour cream, corn (leftover from the salsa) and my "homemade" salsa and it was a dinner that was a hit!

What are your favorite family dinners?

February 12, 2012

Looks like homemade salsa....

I'm not sure why my brain never thought of this idea, but sadly....it didn't!

This is the creation of my wonderful friend, Cheryl, who is an amazing cook!

We had a homeschool Mom's night and she brought this amazing looking salsa.

When we asked her how she made it, she said that she just "spruced up" jar salsa!

Here's what you'll need.....

I started with corn, red and green pepper and tomatoes.

I also added some black beans and Cheryl suggests fresh cilantro.....I never

have fresh spices, but if you do....add them! She says the are the best part!

I just chopped the veggies that I had leftover in my fridge....many times I get

the $0.10 and $0.25 ones off the "not-so-fresh" veggie table at our local country store....

that's mainly what I put in my "homemade" salsa.

The salsa was a healthy part of this beef taquitos meal....I'll share that recipe with you

later in the week!

Doesn't it look like it's made from scratch!

February 3, 2012

Easy Chocolate Truffles

Rebecca from Sister-Dipity is guest posting for me today while I am hopefully

enjoying the warm beaches of Hawaii!!

Her post is just in time to make some wonderful treats

for Valentine's day!

---------------------------------------------------

This chocolate truffle recipe is so easy and so delicious! They are very rich, filling little chocolate bites that would make the perfect little treat for your Valentine!

Here's what you need...

1 12oz. bag of milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sweet cream butter
1 bag Heath English Toffee Bits
1 bag Andes Creme De Mint Baking Chips
miniature cupcake liners

In a medium sauce pan melt the entire bag of milk chocolate chips with the whipping cream and the butter on low heat, stirring frequently.

When the chocolate is smooth and the butter is completely melted, remove from heat. Pour into a glass pie plate.

Refrigerate for about two hours. The chocolate should become firm, but not too hard to scoop out.

Set out the cupcake liners individually so they are ready to go!

Pour the toffee bits in a small bowl. Pour the mint chips in a separate bowl.

Using a spoon (I actually like to use a small cookie dough scoop), scoop out small spoonfuls of the chocolate. Shape into a ball. Drop ball into one of the bowls of toppings - either the toffee bits or the mint chips and roll until completely covered. Then set the truffle into a cupcake liner. Repeat process...over and over and over! Roll some in the toffee and some in the mint chips for two different types of truffles.

Refrigerate truffles until ready to serve.

I like to put these on pretty plates or tucked in fancy little boxes to give as gifts. I always get tons of compliments on these little treats! And they are so easy!

I usually use the mint chips and toffee chips when I make truffles, but you can try lots of other tasty toppings too. In the past I have rolled them in nuts, coconut, sprinkles, and cookie crumbs. I have also rolled them in red and white peppermint bark pieces as seen on the left side of the first photo.

Surprise your sweetie with these homemade treats this Valentine's Day! They are sure to impress!

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Be sure to go visit Sister-Dipity! Here are some of Rebecca's other projects....