Turkey & Corn Enchilada Lasagna Bake

After Thanksgiving turkey can be a bit of a mystery.  I mean a person can only eat so many leftover turkey slices and turkey melts.  What about something COMPLETELY different than the turkey dinner with stuffing and accouterments you are still eating days after your Thanksgiving meal?

Enter Turkey & Corn Enchilada Lasagna Bake.

This recipe is adapted from this one and this one with lasagna-style layers.

Despite the experimental nature of this recipe, the end result was cheesy deliciousness!

What You Need:

2 C. turkey pieces

1 C. corn (I used leftovers for this too)

1 C. mozzarella cheese

1 C. cheddar cheese

6-12 small or large tortillas of any kind

1 small can of green chillis

2 Tbsp olive oil

Salt

Pepper

½ block cream cheese

1 Tsp minced garlic

Butter to grease 9x13 pan

1 C. whole milk

What You Do:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees & grease a 9x13 pan with butter.  

Heat large skillet and cook olive oil, garlic, green chillis, salt & pepper (to taste) through 3 minutes.  

Add half shredded cheese and the cream cheese and melt.  Add turkey and corn.  Stir to combine.  

Put a layer of tortillas to line the bottom of the pan.  

Put turkey, corn, cheese mixture over the top of the tortillas and add another layer of tortillas.  Pour 1 cup of whole milk (or you can use heavy cream if you have it on hand) over tortillas.  

Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes.  Serve with salsa & sour cream.

Scotcheroos – A DELICIOUS DESSERT recipe

I am FINALLY sharing pretty much my FAVORITE sweet dessert since childhood. 

I’ve had this gem of yumminess just WAITING to be posted for quite some time and as summer winds up AND with labor day weekend just a few weeks away I thought perhaps some of you might have some BBQs or picnics coming up to celebrate the end of summer.  What better way to celebrate the end of summer with a DELICIOUS peanut butter/chocolate/butterscotch DESSERT?

Scotcheroos:

Ingredients:

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Cup Light Corn Syrup

1 Cup Sugar

5ish Cups Rice Krispy’
1 Cup Chocolate Chips

1 Cup Butterscotch Chips

What You Do:

Melt peanut butter, light corn syrup & sugar together over low heat until smooth.  

Remove from heat.  

Add in Rice Krispy’s one cup at a time and stir.  

Pour into 9x13 pan coated with either butter or cooking spray.  

Melt chocolate & butterscotch chips in the microwave 20 seconds at a time stirring in between each time until melted.  

Pour over rice krispy’s mixture and spread around evenly.  Let cool.  Cut into bars.

Disclaimer:  I only made 1/2 a batch this time.  Not enough ingredients for a full!  BIG BUMMER, however calorie saving it is!

These are SOOOO GOOD!  You seriously need to run and try them ASAP!

Quinoa Mac 'n Cheese - Yes PLEASE!

Happy Monday friends!

I'm over @ The Hollie Rogue today sharing a favorite summer tradition with her readers!  Click on over there and check that out.  I honestly can't believe it's August already!!!  This summer has FLOWN by!  SADFACE!  :(

I’m happy to share a YUMMO & kid friendly (and husband friendly if I’m being honest here) quinoa recipe from Pinterest that I originally shared over on Brooke's blog.

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Quinoa is SUPER popular these days!  You can do a zillion things with it and it’s GOOD for you! 

Here are a few Quinoa facts!

1)   Let me quell your curiositiy…it’s pronounced (keen-wah).

2)   It was around 5,000 years ago!

3)   Totally related to spinach, chard & BEETS…even though it doesn’t remotely look or taste like ANY of those things!

4)   It’s a COMPLETE protein!

5)   It’s gluten-free.

If you'd like to learn more click here.

Cheesy Quinoa Mac ‘n Cheese

Check out the original recipe here…I am just copying it below for you for your convenience…adding a few of my observations and photos along the way.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained

Veggies of your choice (optional)

good pinch of salt

a few grinds of seasoning salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 large eggs

1 cup soy milk or non-fat milk

1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, more for sprinkling

Optional- Crushed Red Pepper, Panko Bread crumbs for topping

Toppings (optional)- salsa, hot sauce, sour cream, scallions

What you do:

Lightly saute any veggies you would like in this dish.

Cook quinoa to packaged instructions until fully cooked. (About 15 minutes)

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

Coat 13x9 inch dish (or 8 individual ramekins) with cooking spray.

Whisk together eggs and milk in large bowl. 

Fold in quinoa mixture and cheese. Stir very well and let some of the cheese melt.  

Transfer to prepared baking dish and if using Panko Crumbs or Bread crumbs add now and bake 30-35 mins, until bread crumbs are browned.

--

Here are my observations:

This is my FIRST time cooking quinoa and I was nervous to burn it.  I added more water than it calls for when I cooked it because it just seemed really dry.  That must have been a good call because it cooked up to a good consistency. 

Also, I SOAKED my quinoa in water for about an hour, then rinsed it in the sink for 2 minutes (ish).  THEN I cooked it.  NOTE:  Quinoa is tiny so it may slip right through the holes in your colander when you attempt to drain and rinse it.  To avoid having to order pizza because dinner went down the drain you can line your colander with a cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel.  That’s what I did and it worked just fine.

I sauteed some frozen broccoli in a bit of olive oil and added it to this dish.

I didn’t use breadcrumbs because I didn’t have them on hand BUT I did broil it for about a minute or so when It was done baking because I love for the cheese to be a little bit brown and bubbly. 

I am VERY VERY happy with my first quinoa experience!  The kids ate it up quickly which means LOVE for them and J said it was a “make again” which is how we judge new recipes in our house!

Do any of you have any good quinoa recipes?  If so, I’d LOVE for you to send them to me to try out!  I may or may not be getting obsessed with it!

Menu Plan – Back in Action

Happy Monday!  

Do you menu plan? 

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I never did until I was home with my kids.  I was all over the place planning ANYTHING when I was working.  

BIG PROPS to all you working outside the home mamas!!!  I say outside the home, because I know from experience commute time takes a CHUNK out of your life!!  Here in the suburbs of DC, traffic is hectic to say the least!  I don’t miss that AT ALL.  At least if you are working at home you might have a bit of extra time to throw something in the crock pot or throw some marinade over chicken and stick it in the fridge quickly.

I thought I'd share our menu plan for June.  We go with SIMPLE around here!  I find just doing a simple, relatively quick plan helps us to 1) save money because we aren’t going to the grocery every few days for randomness and 2) ensures a bit of variety.  I can say that with GREAT confidence because I haven’t been good about planning a menu since March and in the time between then and now our grocery bill was a bit higher AND we ate a lot of not only boring but also…shall we say “interesting” combinations. 

Just click on this link to access.

You will notice links to a few of the recipes and if you see anything else you’d like to know more about just email me.

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A special shout out goes to Feeding My Temple & Eat Yourself Skinny for having fantastic blogs that helped me plan this month’s meals!!!

Oh and and FYI,,,you will also see tabs on the google doc for my ATTEMPT at a schedule!  I am FAILING at this though.  I will say i'm just NOT consistent and it's it's pretty much driving me nuts!  

Anyone wanna do a guest post on sticking to a schedule SUCCESSFULLY????  Seriously, email me.  I'd LOVE to have you!

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100+ Follower Giveaway & Monday Meet Up!!!

The past 3ish months with this new project called blogging have been AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have met some of the most FANTASTIC FRIENDS and I NEVER would have believed it! 

You, You & You make my days happy!!! 

I am not exactly a gushy person BUT blogging makes me GUSHY.  I swear it’s really weird!  

To celebrate how much I LOVE you I am bringing you this FANTASTIC giveaway.  I mean IT’S GREAT!!!!!!!!  Like, really CRAZY GREAT!

I want to THANK everyone who participated and WANTED to partner with me for this giveaway.  I am BLOWN AWAY to put it mildly that you all would care AT ALL to be a part of MY giveaway!!! 

I mean HOLY COW we are giving away 13 prizes/prize packages to 13 people!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

AND THEY ARE ALL AWESOME IN EVERY WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!  (PS:  If you ARE one of my giveaway sponsors PLEASE enter for one of the other awesome prizes yourself!!!!  Pretty please?!?!)

Soooo check out the goods:

1)  "I {heart} Africa" embroidered pendant necklace from my gorgeous RL friend Andi @ The Hollie Rogue.  This piece of jewelry has a BEAUTIFUL story.  You can read ALL about it here.  OOH and she's going to be guest posting this week so be sure to come back to check her out!!

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2)  One LARGE AD SPACE for the month of June from my sweet sweet friend Sarah @ The Fontenot Four.  ALSO, PLEASE check out her hand-knit shop here.  This chick is ONE talented mama!

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3)  THIS BEAUTIFUL purse from this crazy AWESOME girl Mariah from   Thee Fire Wife.  I SOOOO want to keep it for myself by the way!   Check out her shop here.

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4)  A hemp, chain & rhinestone bracelet from the FOREVER FUN & SWEET Brooke @ Covered in Grace.  ARE you getting EXCITED yet?  Told you this was an AWESOME giveaway!!!

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5)  2 Months of Ad Space AND a $5 shop credit from Katlyn @ Dreamy Meadow.  Check out her ruffled necklaces!!!  I personally LOVE them!  They are PERFECT because I've never seen anything exactly like them.  SUPER FUN!

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6)  A silver, adjustable charm bracelet from Paparazzi Accessories from Alicia @ The Seeley Family.  I LOVE THIS GIRL!!!!  She was one of my very first bloggy friends!  We should be RL friends!!

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7)  One Month of Ad Space & a handmade teal fabric rosette ring from Reannah @ Shaped by Grace.  If you don't know Reannah PLEASE go say hi!  She is REALLY REALLY fantastic!!!  PS:  I want to keep this one too!!!  Hehe!  I know this is a GIVEAWAY BUT...

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8)  Blank Canvas cards from Christina @ Tico&Tina.  Why is this a FANTASTIC win?   BlankCanvas™ cards are a fun and unique way to say what YOU want to say - they will work for any occasion because they're just waiting for your choice of words or picture on the canvas in a fun location - yes, these are for real, no Photoshopping wizardry :) The blank canvas is a symbol to us of how we choose to look at life, and our tag line, "Life is a blank canvas - paint an adventure!", is what we are about - we want to encourage everyone to look at their life as an adventure, too! (this is one example of having to choose to see the adventure not long ago!)  Visit the shop here.  

PS You ever meet someone who has this weird ability to see EXACTLY what's in your head pretty much at all times?  That's who Christina is to me!  

     

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9)  Organic hard lotion & lip balm from Kristina @ City Corporate to Suburban Mama.  This STUFF is SO SPECIAL because it's from her BRAND NEW Etsy shop!!!!!!  AND YOU GUYS get 1ST look!!!!!  I KNOW how special you must feel!!!!!  I know I feel special to have her sharing it on MY blog!  YAY!

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10)  A tutu & matching bow from my RL Friend Angel @ Angel's Heavenly Hair Boutique!  I AM SUPER EXCITED to be working with Angel!!  We haven't seen each other since HS and she has ALWAYS been one of the kindest people I've EVER known!  Some things NEVER change and that is a WONDERFUL thing!  She makes the most adorable hair accessories for little girls and has now added tutus to her collection!!!  I DIE!!!!!!!!!!  Guess what Julia's going to be getting VERY SOON????????

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The Foley Fam - Unedited

11)  A small ad space that includes a 250x100 sidebar button and facebook and twitter shout outs from the AWESOME AWESOME...did i say AWESOME?...Kristine @ The Foley Fam - Unedited!!!  Kristine is SO SWEET and SOOO super friendly I am blown away each time!  Thank you for being YOU girl!

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12)  A handmade e-reader case from the CRAFTY (jealous of your SKILLZ girl) Paige @ Artsy Anthropology!!  I am SUPER excited to have her join my giveaway!  I won a FANTASTIC giveaway on her blog when I was blogging for 3 WEEKS!!  She has been AWESOME!!!

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13)  And last but not least (Lucky #13...i SUPPOSE in THIS case that's a good thing!) a $10 Target gift card from Yours Truly ME! Because I'm totally not cool enough to have a shop and who can't use a Target gift card

Oooh, and BEFORE we get to all that Rafflecopter business I HAVE to share with you that I'm guest posting over at Covered in Grace for her Monday Meet-up!  You want to go over there because i'm sharing this FANTASTICALLY DELICIOUS quinoa recipe!  Can you say "Mac N Cheese please!!!"???

<center><a href="http://brookecoveredingrace.blogspot.com/search/label/monday%20meet%20up" target="_blank"><img alt="Covered in Grace" src="http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i54/tayskye3/covered%20in%20grace/page%20elements/mondaymeet-cig.jpg"/></a></center>

Alright Lovely Ladies {and Gents}... 

It's your turn. 

Link up your favorite posts-all week long! 

Woo us to you blog. Let us get to know you! 

Meet other amazing bloggers and extend your blogging community! 

Party Rules 

1. Link to your blog's main page, or your specific posts...it's your choice! =)
2. Grab the button above and include it somewhere on your blog so your readers can come see what the fun is all about!
3. Make sure you visit (and comment) on other posts linked up-- what fun is a party if no one talks to each other? Make some new friends!
4. You must be a follower of Covered in Grace to link up. And pretty please follow our lovely guest poster as well.

Soooo continuing with the giveaway...here we go guys!!!  

Thank you SO much for joining me in this fun as well as sharing yourselves with me.  I am so proud to be a part of this blog world!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jarrett Pasta – Pure YUMMY! Pure EASY!

So my bro in law is a total foodie!!  

Oh and he's a pretty good singer/songwriter too...just sayin...

Jarrett Randazzo as Hathaway Brown

He makes ALL kinds of DELICIOUSNESS!!!  And boy do we love sampling…

HOWEVER, I put a kid friendly spin on some delicious and EASY pasta he once showed me how to make. 

What you need:

Olive oil

Butter

Kosher salt

Pepper

Pasta (maybe penne…whatever ya got)

Lemon juice

Parmesan cheese (freshly grated is DEFINITELY BEST)

Fresh garlic or the kind in the glass jar...that's what i had

What you do:

I’m telling you this is so easy I’m almost embarrassed to post on this but it’s SO EASY and SO TASTY that anyone in need of a quick weeknight dinner (or lazy night dinner) can count on this for sure!

Boil your pasta according to the package directions.  Drain.  

In the saucepan (you know the one you just cooked your pasta in) pour a bit of olive oil & add about ½ stick of butter (real BUTTER people!!)  

Add a clove or 2 of minced garlic (or a little bit of the minced garlic from the glass jar like me this time).  

Add a bit of salt and a tiny bit of pepper and grate some parmesan cheese in there too.  

Oh also squeeze a half a lemon and add the juice.  You don’t HAVE to add the lemon I just think it really brightens up the flavor.  SO GOOD!

Next, next add back in the pasta, stir and add more parmesan cheese and olive oil until it looks like you think it should.  

I KNOW this is general people but it’s pretty easy to eyeball I PROMISE!! 

Now, THIS is my kid friendly version…and UNFORTUNATELY I didn’t have a block of parmesan in the fridge and had to use the kraft grated from Costco that is normally just reserved for lasagna…(I know Jarrett I know...I feel like i'm blaspheming!!!).  STILL tasty I promise!!!!

So for the not so kid friendly version….add truffle oil!!  Man is it GOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!  This version is ALSO more expensive due to the truffle oil but some days a little splurge is worth it!!!

Oh and I sometimes add in some sautéed spinach and/or grilled chicken. 

SOOOOO GOOOD ANY WAY YOU DO IT!  

Sooo...here's a FAIL to make you feel better about your day...my husband wanted some garlic toast with his meal...OF COURSE I didn't set the timer...i ALWAYS NEED to set the timer because THIS HAPPENS! 

The photo doesn't REALLY look that bad....but the black parts were SMOKING....I told you...FAIL!

A Sausage Gravy Recipe – a YUMMY tribute to my roots

As some of you know I’m a Midwesterner born and raised.  

There is something to be said for the way I was raised…for WHERE I was raised. 

The house I grew up in was surrounded by fields (corn or soy beans depending on the crop rotation that year) on 3 sides and there was a cow pasture on the 4^th side. 

Although I didn’t live on a farm, some of my GREATEST childhood memories consisted of going to my cousins house on the weekends and playing in the barn.  We’d make forts in the hay mow.  It was SO much fun!!!  We’d spend HOURS out there!  

Then, we’d all go over to my Aunt Marty & Uncle Louis’ and have a bonfire and roast hot dogs.  Uncle Louis and my Papaw would make these HUGE fires and get them going like crazy and all the women would freak out a little bit…but mostly just laugh and laugh (if you know those women then you know the “Mac laugh”…it’s LOUD but very happy!!!)…you couldn’t get mad at those 2!  You REALLY couldn’t…they had that special quality…this sweetness that comes rarely.  Those 2 are causing trouble up in heaven with Jesus now.  And I know Jesus himself can’t help but get in on the fun they are having!

I guess I've been doing a lot of reminiscing without really realizing it…last week I totally made things I don’t normally make…actually things that I’ve NEVER even made myself.  I made things that remind me of home.  I sorta got off my menu plan and one of the things I made was homemade sausage gravy with biscuits (biscuits NOT homemade but still good).  

Gravy can be a bit tricky in my opinion and I was SOOO happy when it turned out DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!  I was impressed with myself!!!!  And that does NOT happen often!  Haha!

So here’s what you need for this tasty sausage gravy:

a roll of ground sausage

salt

pepper

all-purpose flour

milk

And here’s what you do:

Brown the sausage in a frying pan.  Take the sausage out with a slotted spoon after it is fully cooked and let it drain on a plate with a paper towel. 

Yep, I used WHOLE milk!

Make sure the heat is still on the frying pan with remaining grease still in there.  Add about a half cup milk and a couple tablespoons of flour to the grease and start stirring.  

My girlfriend Amber gave me the AWESOME tip of using a wisk and it worked PERFECTLY!!!  THANKS girl!!  

It is VERY important that you keep stirring and keep the heat medium-high.  When the consistency starts to get pasty, add more milk and alternate milk and flour and continue mixing until you get the amount of gravy that you desire for your meal.  

Add back in the sausage and mix a little bit more.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

PLEASE NOTE:  If you don’t cook it long enough the gravy will taste like flour.  EW!  SO DEFINITELY taste it before you eat it! 

This dish just takes like "home" to me.