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Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters – Chocolate or Vanilla

November 28, 2023 by Laura 2 Comments

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I have discovered a new idea and I’ve decided to call these: Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters.

I didn’t actually invent this recipe. I happened upon it whilst scrolling Facebook and an ad popped up for Weight Watchers recipes. I don’t care about counting WW points, but I do like the idea of adding pumpkin to goodies. Any opportunity to add nourishment to food – I’m all in.

I was also very attracted to the idea of a two-ingredient recipe. It’s just a cake mix and a can of pumpkin. Easy and includes a vegetable? Yes please.

Now, I didn’t used to buy cake mixes. Those most certainly include ingredients that aren’t great. But alas, here I am, ignoring the ingredient list and paying $0.98 for a box of convenience. Then I add a huge wad of spinach to the cake, declaring that I am somehow still winning the war on food. Can we also occasionally add an entire can of pumpkin to such a mix? Yes, we can. So now we can cringe as we buy cake mix, then smile as we add spinach or pumpkin.

And if I’m lucky, I might also have time to take a shower. Seriously, I have so many reasons to buy cake mix now. Here are my youngest 5 reasons. Plus Malachi, who is quite low maintenance but does also like to eat.

Why did I decide to name them Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters? Two reasons:

Buying a cake mix is sort of cheating, making us sort of cheaters, but again, we like to shower sometimes and this is how we are surviving right now.
These treats are some kind of cross between a cupcake and a muffin. They are too sugary to really be a muffin but too pumpkin-y to really be a cupcake. I couldn’t land on what to call them. A muffcake? Perhaps. But then Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters came to mind and I decided I liked it.

Is it possible I spend too much time reading nursery rhymes? Nah.

Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters – Chocolate or VanillaYum

Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters - Chocolate or Vanilla

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Author: Laura

Serves: 12

Ingredients

1 cake mix, chocolate or vanilla
15-ounce can pumpkin
½ cup water
½ teaspoon cinnamon if you'd like!

Instructions

Mix ingredients together until smooth.
Scoop into 12 paper-lined muffin tins (you'll fill them a little bit more full than a typical cupcake or muffin).
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

You can add chocolate chips, but I skip that because I don’t want to add extra sugar. Also have you seen what happens when toddlers eat melted chocolate chips? Oy, so messy.

And there you have it, friends. Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters are fun and easy to make. The pumpkin makes these moist and pumpkin is a superfood. Ha. I declare these to be a win.

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Simple Salmon Burgers – $1.00 Meal!

July 5, 2023 by Laura Leave a Comment

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Do you need a change from regular sandwiches? I made these Simple Salmon Burgers for my family a few weeks ago and they were a huge hit!

Canned salmon is something I always have on hand but almost never use. It’s one of those things that is great to have in the pantry as a backup meal option – yet I forget to actually use it. Silly!

Recently I was challenging myself to use up food we had in an effort to save money so I pulled out two cans of salmon to make Salmon Patties. As I was cooking, I decided that the kids might eat them better in the form of a sandwich. So I spread mayo on hamburger buns, added the cooked salmon patties, and they were a hit!

Here’s a quick picture I snapped on my phone after I’d taken round one of the sandwiches out to the kids to eat. It was a beautiful day so they were enjoying lunch on the porch! Playing outside makes them extra hungry, so I hurried to finish another batch of burgers!

You can add cheese, pickles, extra lemon juice, sliced tomatoes, lettuce, guacomole – whatever you would like – to your sandwiches. I love how mild these taste, so even those of you who aren’t huge fans of fish may still enjoy these as a great meal option!

Simple Salmon BurgersYum

Simple Salmon Burgers

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Author: Laura

Serves: 6

Ingredients

14-ounces canned salmon
1 egg
½ cup bread crumbs or crushed cornflakes
1 teaspoon lemon juice
oil for cooking (I use palm shortening or coconut oil)
Buns and your favorite condiments

Instructions

In a bowl, mix together salmon, egg, bread crumbs and lemon juice.
Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet.
Spoon balls of the salmon mixture into the oil, flatten and cook for about five minutes, turning once.
When the salmon patties are golden brown, serve them on burger buns.

How great is it that you can make these Salmon Burgers for such a low cost! Serve them with fresh fruit and raw veggies and your meal is nourishing and delicious.

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Easiest Crock Pot Pasta (5-Minute Prep!)

June 7, 2023 by Laura 3 Comments

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This truly is the Easiest Crock Pot Pasta recipe. Ready to spend only five minutes making tonight’s dinner? :)

Here are the fine details about this Easiest Crock Pot Pasta dish and why it truly only takes five minutes to prepare:

You can use whatever cooked meat you have in the fridge or freezer. Leftover hamburger meat, taco meat, cooked chicken, cooked turkey, diced ham, bacon, sausage…
You can use whatever variety of pasta you like and have on hand.
You throw the pasta into the crock pot UNCOOKED. This is my favorite.

Ready for the “recipe?” Such as it is…

Easiest Crock Pot PastaYum

Easiest Crock Pot Pasta (5-Minute Prep!)

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Author: Laura

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

16-ounces uncooked pasta, any variety
1-2 pounds cookied meat, any variety
32-ounces chicken or beef broth
2 cups water
3 Tablespoons dried minced onion
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups shredded cheese

Instructions

Stir everything except for the cream and cheese into a crock pot.
Cook on low for 3 hours.
Stir cream and cheese into the crock pot mixture.
Serve.

Do you see how easy this is? Do you see how wonderfully this uses up leftovers you have in your fridge or random bits of pasta you might have in your pantry? Isn’t it lovely that you can dump all this into a crock pot and then walk away?

I suggest serving this dish with a steamed veggie or a salad, and fruit as side dishes. Miracle of miracles, all 10 of the people who eat food at our house loved this. This almost never happens, but with this dish, everyone eats it happily!

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Easy Make-Ahead Meatloaf

April 16, 2023 by Laura 4 Comments

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This recipe for Easy Make-Ahead Meatloaf is going to look incredibly similar to our Easy Meatballs recipe. That’s because it’s the same recipe. Shhhhh.

I grew up eating meatloaf every single week for eighteen years if I remember correctly. My mom made it with baked potatoes and probably green beans (because we didn’t eat a lot of veggie variety when I was growing up, hehe). This was one of my favorite meals. But just like I said in my Meatball post, Matt isn’t a huge fan of meatballs or meatloaf. So this recipe takes a backburner at our house.

I just got a fantastic deal on ground beef though, so I decided to go ahead and make a few meatloaves for the freezer. This is a great meat to serve kids and well, we have a lot of them!

How to make this meatloaf ahead of timeYum

Make this meatloaf and freeze it without the sauce. Then when you’re ready to bake it, thaw it, add the sauce, then bake. It freezes so well! I typically make mine in 9×13-inch dishes, but making it into an actual loaf – in a bread pan – works great. Fun fact: my mom always made ours in a casserole dish so I was a lot of many years old before I learned that meatloaf was supposed to look like a loaf.

If you don’t make your meatloaf ahead and freeze it, at the very least, I recommend making this quickly in the morning, refrigerating it, then baking it later at meal time. This makes dinner prep so fast and easy!

Easy Make-Ahead Meatloaf

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Author: Laura

Serves: 6-10 servings

Ingredients

2-pounds ground beef
3 Tablespoons minced onion
½ teaspoons garlic powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup milk
2 eggs
4 Tablespoons rolled oats
Sauce for Meatloaf
¾ cup ketchup
2 Tablespoons minced onion
¼ teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 Tablespoons brown sugar, molasses or honey

Instructions

Mix first seven ingredients together thoroughly.
Press the mixture into a 9x13 inch glass casserole dish or a 9-inch loaf pan.
Stir sauce ingredients together in a small bowl, then spread over the meatloaf.
Bake uncovered in at 350 degrees for one hour.

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Mini Crustless Jelly Swirl Cheesecake Cups (5 Ingredients!)

April 9, 2023 by Laura Leave a Comment

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These Mini Crustless Jelly Swirl Cheesecake Cups are so easy and only 5 ingredients!

Why are these crustless? Because it’s easier that way and they taste just as good! I love blending the cheesecake ingredients together, scooping the mixture into cups, swirling in a little jelly, then baking as-is. These are such a good grab-and-go breakfast or snack!

Why not dessert? Well sure, they can be a dessert too! I just find them to be filling as a breakfast option also simply because they are low in sugar and high in protein. They are great with a cup of coffee in the morning!

Make a batch of these and keep them in your fridge for easy meal and snack options!

Mini Crustless Jelly Swirl Cheesecake CupsYum

Mini Crustless Jelly Swirl Cheesecake Cups

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Author: Laura

Serves: 12

Ingredients

2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
4 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup 100% fruit jelly (any kind)

Instructions

Blend first four ingredients together until smooth.
Pour into 12 muffin cups. (I use a silicone muffin "pan" for this and they pop right out once cooled.)
Spoon a small amount of jelly into each cup and swirl with a butter knife.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
Turn off heat, open the oven door, and leave the cheesecakes in the oven for an additional 20 minutes. (Cheesecakes will puff up during baking but deflate while continuing to sit in the oven.)
Transfer cheesecakes to the fridge and chill for at least two hours before serving.

How about Peanut Butter and Jelly Swirl Cheesecake Cups?!

Yes, please! Simply blend 1/3 cup of natural creamy peanut butter into the cheesecake ingredients along with an additional egg. Follow the rest of the recipe as directed!

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Simple Bran Muffin Recipe

March 29, 2023 by Laura 2 Comments

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Silly as it may be, I think this Simple Bran Muffin Recipe may be my favorite of all the muffins.

And trust, me, there are a lot of muffins. I have over 40 muffin recipes here, and many of them include chocolate chips or a cheesecake topping! So to say that these Bran Muffins are a favorite is saying something.

I believe it stems back to my college days when the cafeteria sometimes featured a muffin like this one. I didn’t love many of the cafeteria foods, but those muffins were a favorite and I always got excited when they were serving them!

These stir together easily and you can use any brand of Bran Flakes cereal you like!

Simple Bran Muffin RecipeYum

Simple Bran Muffin Recipe

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Author: Laura

Serves: 12

Ingredients

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
½ cup brown sugar or rapadura
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 egg
1 ½ cups milk
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
3 cups Bran Flakes cereal
½ cup raisins (optional)

Instructions

Mix together flour, brown sugar, soda, cinnamon, and salt.
Add egg, milk, and oil.
Stir in cereal until well combined (along with raisins if you like)
Scoop mixture into 12 paper-lined muffin tins.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-22 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.

One of my kids favorite ways to eat a muffin is if I cut them in half, smear butter on them, then warm them in our big air fryer. (We use our air fryer as a toaster oven as it works great to fill it with bread, bagels, or muffins and warm/toast them slightly. YUM!)

These taste great for breakfast, and also as a side dish with soup.

Are you an “add raisins to your muffins” kind of person or a “raisins don’t belong in muffins or cookies” kind of person? (Raisins are a no-go for me, except for snacks for the kids, ha!)

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Easy Meatballs with Sweet Sauce (Freezer Friendly)

March 26, 2023 by Laura 2 Comments

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Ready to make these Easy Meatballs with Sweet Sauce?

This is a favorite recipe from our newlywed days. I’d given up on making them for a couple of reasons:

Meatballs aren’t Matt’s favorite.
I don’t have time to scoop out cute balls of meat anymore.

So I’ve been cheating and buying frozen meatballs at Costco. The kids LOVE those. But Matt (who doesn’t love meatballs anyway) and I (one who does love meatballs but NOT the frozen packaged kind) couldn’t stand it anymore. We would either go meatball-less, or I’d find a few extra minutes to make them myself.

Ah, and I suppose there is a third reason I haven’t been making meatballs as of late:

3. Ground beef has gotten pretty expensive.

We’ve been opting for more chicken and pork and less beef these days. Meatballs weren’t making the cut when it came to inexpensive meals we could make for our large family.

But doggonit, I was hungry for meatballs. The real kind. The good kind. And after the packaged variety, even Matt welcomed the homemade variety.

I’d “splurged” on some of the good ground beef one day at Costco, and I decided to use all six pounds of it to make these meatballs. This gave us three wonderful meals!! I baked two pounds the night I made them, then I froze the remaining 4 pounds of pre-made (unbaked) meatballs to thaw and bake another day. Wonderful!

This meal is a huge hit with our family, and having these meatballs premade in the freezer is a huge time saver!

Easy Meatballs with Sweet SauceYum

Easy Meatballs with Sweet Sauce

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Author: Laura

Ingredients

2-pounds ground beef
3 Tablespoons minced onion
½ teaspoons garlic powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup milk
2 eggs
4 Tablespoons rolled oats
Sauce for Meatballs
¾ cup ketchup
2 Tablespoons minced onion
¼ teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 Tablespoons brown sugar, molasses or honey

Instructions

Mix first seven ingredients together thoroughly.
Form into 1½ inch balls and place side by side in a 9x13 inch glass casserole dish.
Stir sauce ingredients together in a small bowl, then spread over each meatball.
Bake uncovered in at 350 degrees for one hour.

NOTE: I estimated our meal cost a total of around $22.00, which fed 4 adults and 7 kids that night, plus we had some leftovers. So a little over $2.00/person, even with “expensive” ground beef. Not bad! :)

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How to Make Uncrustables

March 22, 2023 by Laura 1 Comment

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Let’s talk about how to make Uncrustables and all the reasons you should make them at home!

Yum

What is an Uncrustable?

Uncrustables are a lovely convenience item found in the freezer section of the grocery store. They are pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwich with crusts removed. Perfect for most of our kids, right?

Yes, but the cost.

I can’t let myself spend $4.18 for just four crustless pb&j sandwiches. Surely it costs much less to throw together a simple sandwich at home, right? Right.

Here’s what you need to make Uncrustables:

100% Whole Wheat Bread: $0.19/sandwich
Natural Peanut Butter: $0.13/sandwich
100% Fruit Jelly: $0.13/sandwich

Uncrustables at the store: $1.05 per sandwich (made with less-nourishing ingredients)
Cost for a Homemaade Uncrustable: $0.45 (made with much better ingredients)

Oh, and you’ll need this handy tool which is a one-time, very worth it purchase.

Don’t waste the crust!!

When I use two loaves of bread to make 20 Uncrustables, I end up with a 10×13 inch pyrex full of crusts. I can’t stand the idea of throwing them out, so I use them to make Easy Bread Pudding. My family loves this and I love that nothing goes to waste!

How to make your own Peanut Butter

Want to make your own peanut butter? It’s truly the most delicious! Here’s the recipe. It’s so very easy to make!

If you don’t make your own peanut butter, look for brands that don’t have hydrogenated oils in them. Those oils are best avoided. :)

The joy of Homemade Uncrustables

If you make Uncrustables, I recommend making many at once so that you get more mass for your mess. :) I make two loaves of bread worth each time I make Uncrustables (which produces 20). Then I freeze them to pull out for quick lunches for my kids (either at home or in lunchboxes at school). Having these ready in the freezer is so handy! And if we’re at home and want to eat them straight from the freezer, we put them into our air fryer for a minute or two to thaw/crisp up. So good!

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The Easiest No-Bake Cheesecake

March 19, 2023 by Laura 5 Comments

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Ready for the Easiest No-Bake Cheesecake recipe?

This cheesecake is always a hit when I serve it and since it’s so easy to make, I can serve it to guests often.

Ingredient Info

I buy cream cheese at Aldi by the case because it is a great price for great cream cheese (not all off-brand cream cheese is good). So there’s my cream cheese recommendation. :)

Meanwhile, I have learned the hard way that higher-quality whipping cream does not work as well in this recipe. :( When I used Horizon Organic Whipping Cream, I couldn’t get this mixture to thicken and set up. But when I used regular whipping cream from Walmart, it worked like a charm. So there you go. For this recipe, use low-quality whipping cream. Ugh, who even am I anyway??

The Easiest No-Bake CheesecakeYum

The Easiest No-Bake Cheescake

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Author: Laura

Serves: 15

Ingredients

2 sleeves honey graham crackers
2 sticks butter
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup raw sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

In a gallon sized Ziploc bag, crush graham crackers with a rolling pin.
Melt butter in a small saucepan.
Pour crushed graham crackers and melted butter into a 9 x 13 inch pan.
Stir ingredients together and pat it down to create crust. Set aside.
In a high power blender or using a hand mixer, blend together cream cheese, sugar, whipping cream and vanilla until mixture is combined and thick.
Smooth mixture over the crust. Chill for at least two hours before serving.

This cheesecake is great as-is, but you can also add fresh berries to make it fancier. Or, you can top it with candy bars for a fun treat! (One week, I had a package of a variety of candy bars that I wanted to get rid of so I used them up for a college student lunch. It was a huge hit!)

If you study the above picture, you’ll see that on the left, I used the cheapo whipping cream that actually thickened. On the right, I used good whipping cream and the mixture remained runny. I served it to our guests anyway and it all tasted great. But now you can see what I was talking about regarding whipping cream above. :)

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Breakfast Cookie Cups – Perfect for Grab-and-Go!

March 5, 2023 by Laura 5 Comments

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I turned my breakfast cookie recipe into Breakfast Cookie Cups. This is genius. Plus below I’ve shared several other great grab-and-go breakfast ideas!

Not that Breakfast Cookies aren’t already convenient as a quick grab-and-go breakfast or snack option. But somehow having them in cupcake wrappers and baked in a muffin tin makes them even easier. Maybe they’re less crumbly? I dunno, but I really like them this way!

My kids are loving them, however, for our littlest, I skipped the chocolate chips to avoid extra messes. (How do they end up with chocolate chips melted onto their bottoms every time, I don’t know. So chocolate chip-less Breakfast Cookie Cups for all who are two and under at our house.)