Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Simple 5-Minute Shredded Chicken

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Just in case you have forgotten this truth, here it is again: Cooking meals for our families does not have to be a difficult job. This Simple 5-Minute Shredded Chicken is going to drop-kick the “cooking is hard” lie straight out the window.

Even if you don’t enjoy cooking, you can make this. Even if you don’t have time to cook, you can make this. Even if you can’t afford to spend much on groceries, you can make this. Even if you forgot to thaw meat, you can make this. Even if the idea of making a homemade meal brings tears to your eyes – wipe your tears, find 5-minutes, and make this. Even if you’re allergic to poultry…oh wait. That one is for real. If that is the case, please don’t make this.

To sum up, unless you are allergic to birds, there is no reason you should not make this (overuse of negatives, anyone?). Just make the chicken.

Let’s take a moment to get excited together about why making this Simple 5-Minute Chicken is a fabulous idea:

  • It takes 5-minutes of “work.” This was obvious, but worth shouting about because no one can even go through a drive-thru in 5-minutes.
  • You can make several meals worth of this chicken at the same time, storing it in the fridge or freezer, then pulling it out to add to meals as needed. This means that if you make 3-meals worth of this chicken at once, your 5-minutes of effort turns out 1.6666-Minute Chicken. #mathintherealworld
  • If you have made this chicken ahead of time and you are storing it in your fridge, you now have ready-made chicken which has now become 0-Minute Chicken.
  • Simple 5-Minute Chicken tastes really good and it is real food. We can’t say that about all convenience food, now can we?

Please note that the following recipe is barely a recipe. I am here to make your real food cooking life EASY. Simply get out chicken and get out spices. Place in crock pot, sprinkle, plug in, walk away, enjoy.

Simple 5-Minute Shredded Chicken

5.0 from 1 reviews
Simple 5-Minute Chicken
 
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Serves: 2-3 meals
Ingredients
  • 3-pounds boneless chicken thighs or breasts
  • Any seasonings you like (I use garlic powder, sea salt, paprika, and parsley flakes)
Instructions
  1. Place chicken in a crock pot and sprinkle with any herbs or spices you like.
  2. Cook on low for 4-5 hours.
  3. Shred chicken to use in any of your favorite recipes or to serve in tacos, or even as a main dish as-is!

How to use your 5-Minute Chicken

Add it to:

Or eat it plain with veggies on the side. So easy and delicious!

Having Alfredo? Just add Simple 5-Minute Shredded Chicken…

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How to Cook a Frozen Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot

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What is it with me and frozen meat? Can I not get my act together and actually thaw the meat before cooking it? No, I cannot. I’ve come to terms with it. My chicken has come to terms with it. Gratefully, my Instant Pot has agreed to my terms. And that, my friends, is why we can cook a Frozen Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot in one hour or less! How incredible is it that we can take a frozen solid chicken from the freezer and have a great dinner an hour later!

I’ve been wanting to try this ever since I invested in an Instant Pot. A year and a half later, I finally gave it a go (no time like the present).

I love that my Instant Pot allows me to cook almost every variety of frozen meat! I cook several pounds of frozen hamburger meat in it (in just 30 minutes!). I cook frozen boneless chicken thighs in it. I even cook frozen beef roast in it. Now, introducing How to Cook a Frozen Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot!

How to Cook a Frozen Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot

How to Cook a Frozen Whole Chicken in the Instant Pot
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 3-5 pound whole chicken
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • Sea salt
  • Pepper
  • Parsley Flakes
  • Garlic Powder
Instructions
  1. Set trivet in the bottom of the Instant Pot.
  2. Pour 1 cup broth into the bottom.
  3. Set Chicken on the trivet.
  4. Sprinkle with your desired amount of herbs and spices.
  5. Seal and cook at hi pressure for 10-minutes PER POUND of chicken. (i.e. 3 pound chicken=30 minutes)
  6. Allow pressure to release naturally.

This chicken pairs great with Stick of Butter Rice. And of course, you can steam or roast a veggie or two and get out the salad fixin’s. Talk about a super good, super nourishing meal!

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Simple Summer Suppers: Sloppy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

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Have leftover Sloppy Joe Meat? Use it to quickly make Sloppy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches!

How’s that for a twist on Sloppy Joes and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches? Sure it’s a tiny bit messy. That’s the point. The flavor is super fun and delicious with the butter, the cheese, and the meat.

These can be thrown together quickly and served with simple sides like fresh fruit and raw veggies. You can have your entire meal on the table in ten minutes!

I’m quite sure most of you know how to make a Grilled Cheese Sandwich. I’m also quite sure that it’s obvious that to make a Sloppy Grilled Cheese Sandwich you simply add sloppy joe meat to your grilled cheese. Thus, writing specific directions below to describe exactly how to make a Sloppy Grilled Cheese Sandwich was an interesting adventure. How did I do? Please be impressed.

Sloppy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

5.0 from 1 reviews
Simple Summer Suppers: Sloppy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
 
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Ingredients
  • Leftover Sloppy Joe Meat (recipe link above)
  • Whole grain bread
  • Softened butter
  • Cheese slices (we like Colby jack or Pepper jack)
Instructions
  1. Rewarm sloppy joe meat in a saucepan until bubbly.
  2. Butter two slices of bread and place on a warm/hot griddle.
  3. Lay a piece of cheese on each unbuttered side of bread, allowing cheese to melt.
  4. Spread warm meat over one piece of cheese bread.
  5. Place the other slice of cheese bread onto the sloppy joe/cheese bread to make a sandwich.
  6. Cook until both sides of bread are golden and cooked to your liking.

Add as much or as little Sloppy Joe Meat to your sandwich as you like. We think these are delicious!

Have you seen our other Simple Summer Suppers? Here’s a running list:

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Simple Cheeseburger Hashbrown Cups (or Casserole)

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Sometimes I experiment with recipe ideas and they turn out to be big flops. You don’t know about these because they don’t get shared here, for all the obvious, not-so-tasty reasons. This Simple Cheeseburger Hashbrown Cup or Casserole recipe got rave reviews at our house, making it definitely blog worthy. How can cooking real food continue to get easier??!

Have I mentioned that I discovered Mr. Dells Frozen Hashbrowns at the grocery store and declare them to be a fabulous option? They contain one ingredient: Potatoes. Other frozen hashbrowns at the store have a slew of ingredients listed that I can’t pronounce. So either make your own frozen hashbrowns or see if you can find a brand like Mr. Dells that includes plain ol’ potatoes. I try to have big bags of these on hand at all times now as they are super convenient!

To make this recipe, simply brown meat and stir in the remaining ingredients. Spread mixture into a casserole dish (easy!!) or scoop the mixture into muffin tins (still easy but one more step). Bake and serve. Enjoy the deliciousness!

Simple Cheeseburger Hashbrown Cups or Casserole

Simple Cheeseburger Hashbrown Cups or Casserole
 
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Serves: 24 cups or 6-8 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 pound ground beef, lamb, or turkey
  • 15-ounces frozen shredded hashbrowns
  • ½ - 1 cup ketchup (depending on how much your family likes ketchup)
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 Tablespoons dried minced onion
  • 2 cups shredded cheese (we like Colby jack or pepper jack best, but any variety will work!)
  • Sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Brown meat in a skillet until no longer pink.
  2. Mix cooked meat and remaining ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.
  3. For Cups: Scoop mixture into prepared muffin tins (I find that it works best to melt a bit of oil in each tin so that the baked nests pop right out!) Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
  4. For Casserole: Spread mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Freezer Friendly!

Make this recipe into a casserole, cover, and freeze. When you’re ready to bake it, take it from the freezer, cover it with foil and slide it into a cold oven. Bake at 250 degrees for 2.5 hours or until bubbly.

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Simple Build-a-Spanish-Rice-Bowl

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Sometimes I think I have picky eaters at my house. Then I realize that my kids eat a huge variety of foods and I should be grateful.

I mean, when I was a little girl, I liked exactly two varieties of fruits and vegetables: green beans (canned) and apples (with the peeling off). Somehow this kept me alive, I made it to college, and learned to eat salads (to avoid the Freshman 15, of course). Later, I got married and found out about a thing called broccoli. Little by little through the years, I’ve tried and liked dozens of fruits and veggies, expanding my repertoire many times over.

Though I still don’t like jicama.

It’s okay though because I often sit in my recliner snacking on raw spinach, which isn’t even weird, not even a little bit, am I right? I can’t figure out why my teenagers tease me about this.

Well anyway, my kids aren’t really picky, I’m realizing, because they like and eat a big variety of fruits and veggies. But still, we all have our preferences. Some of us really like cheese and some of us think it’s fun to snack on spinach.

Because of our wide variety of preferences, sometimes, instead of making a meal that everyone has to eat whether they like it or not, it’s fun to instead set out a big buffet of choices and everyone can build their own plate or bowl.

I love this idea so much that I include a category for this every single week in our Simple Meals plans. Build-Your-Own buffets are a huge time saver and make for a really fun meal too!

Today’s idea is Build a Spanish Rice Bowl.

I used to make Spanish Rice all in one pot, but some people like corn and some don’t. Some like black beans and some don’t. Some want sour cream and some don’t. I have found it easiest to simply set out all the fixin’s and let everyone build their bowl the way they like.

We each pile in our favorites:

spanish rice bowl41

Then stir it up and dive in.

spanish rice bowl11

The bowl above has a lot of greens (bet you can guess which mom that belongs to), no rice (can we even still call it spanish rice?), a whole lotta ground beef and black beans, and a dollop of sour cream.

But this one got piled up with rice, meat, beans, corn, and salsa without the greens and sour cream.

spanish rice bowls21

So it got stirred up to look like this.

spanish rice bowls31

At the end of the meal, everyone was satisfied and happy because their bowl was filled with everything they wanted and nothing they didn’t want. Of course, many participants in this meal filled their bowl more than once, which is also fun because they could either choose to fill it the same way as the first time or create something new the second (or third) time around.

Build a Spanish Rice Bowl

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Simple Build-a-Spanish-Rice-Bowl
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 pound ground beef, seasoned with chili powder, garlic powder, and salt
  • 2 cups cooked brown rice
  • 1 can black beans
  • 1 can sliced olives
  • Shredded cheese
  • Sour cream
  • Salsa
  • Fresh greens
  • Cooked corn
Instructions
  1. Set out any or all of the ingredients listed above, along with anything else your family might like.
  2. Allow each person to fill their bowl the way they like.

Those are just some of the foods you might want to set out for your Build a Spanish Rice Bowl buffet. I’d love to hear of any add-in ideas your family might like.

Build a Spanish Rice Bowl

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Simple Pizza Chicken Bake

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Once again, a Simple Recipe saves the day. Three cheers for Simple Pizza Chicken Bake! (Hip, hip…okay, let’s just get to the recipe.)

pizza-chicken-bake

Truth: I have been too busy to cook lately. Why? Well, for one thing, I’ve been quite occupied by writing about how to put simple meals on the table.

Do not miss the irony of this.

Oh my dears. We hosted people for Thanksgiving, then turned right around and traveled to Kansas. We arrived home a few days later happy and tired, and very behind on all of our work. We began to play catch up while getting ready for Christmas and finishing up our kids’ semester of school work. Our youngest has been in our big downtown Christmas play, so we’ve been running to practices and performances and hosting family who came into town to watch. We hosted Christmas parties for two groups of college students, and enjoyed a big basketball triangular in town with the team our two middle boys are involved with.

Did I mention we’re getting ready to drive to California to see family at Christmastime?

All this fun in the midst of trying to keep up with everyday life has threatened to push me into the next level of crazy-head. (No one wants to see what that looks like.) So when Matt got home from his current job site one day last week and asked how he could help with dinner, I looked up from my computer (where I was editing a post about keeping dinner simple) and said, “I’ve been too busy writing about how to put food on the table easily to actually get food on the table. I love you. I’m hungry. Malachi needs to leave for practice in 15 minutes.”

Fun times. I have no recollection of what we actually ate that night. But no one starved, and I think I’m back on track this week to at least have the brain power to throw something in the crock pot or oven at a reasonable time.

Keep this new Simple Recipe in your back pocket. It truly is a no-brainer, and maybe it’s just me, but I think we can all use no-brainer recipes this time of year and always.

Simple Pizza Chicken BakeYum

5.0 from 2 reviews
Simple Pizza Chicken Bake
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 3 pounds boneless chicken breasts or thighs
  • 14 ounces pizza sauce
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 6 ounces sliced pepperoni
Instructions
  1. Cut chicken into thin strips and spread them into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
  2. Spread pizza sauce over the chicken.
  3. Sprinkle with cheese.
  4. Top with pepperoni.
  5. Bake, uncovered in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.

simple-pizza-chicken-bake

I’m happy to report that the work I was behind on is almost caught up, and the work I’m trying to get ahead on is coming along at a nice pace. I got to a good enough point a few days ago that I told Matt, “Hey, I think I’ll be able to go to California with you for Christmas after all.” Now here’s hoping he gets all his work done so he can go too.

Other Simple Recipes I’ve Shared Recently:

If you haven’t joined Simple Meals, we invite you to come aboard! We’ll provide the plans. We’ll provide the recipes. We’ll provide the grocery list. All you have to do is take a deep breath and enjoy how simple your life in the kitchen has become! Join Simple Meals!

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Veggie-n-Egg Scramble ~ A Great Last Minute Meal Idea

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I think this Veggie-n-Egg Scramble might become one of my favorite and most relied upon go-to meals.

Veggie and Egg Scramble

Yum

I used to make something like this years ago, but kind of forgot about it. Weird how that happens.

A few weeks ago, I needed a quick meal before we headed out to a soccer game. I didn’t have time to cook meat, but I did have a fridge full of veggies and a few dozen eggs. I called the boys into the kitchen and started throwing vegetables and knives at them. Hold on. That didn’t come out right. I didn’t throw knives at them. (Peppers maybe, but not knives.) I’m just saying I started handing out jobs and we all worked together to make this quick and nourishing meal.

Everyone started chopping until my big electric skillet looked like this:

Veggies for veggie scramble
All the veggies are good in this Veggie-n-Egg Scramble, but I will suggest that onions are a key player. Onions give this dish such amazing flavor! Sweet peppers are a close second. Broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, and spinach come next. The beauty is that you can use whatever veggies you like and whatever you have on hand.

Saute the veggies in olive oil or butter until tender. Scramble in some eggs with salt. Toss in a little cheese for extra amazingness. So much deliciousness. Very little work. Extra wonderful nourishment.

Veggie-n-Egg Scramble ~ A Great Last Minute Meal Idea
 
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Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
  • 4 cups chopped veggies (onions, sweet peppers, zucchini, asparagus, spinach, broccoli, or any others you like in any combination)
  • 3 Tablespoons butter or olive oil
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons milk
  • sea salt to taste
  • shredded cheese to taste
Instructions
  1. Saute vegetables in oil or butter until tender.
  2. Meanwhile, crack eggs into a bowl and whip with milk.
  3. Pour egg mixture over cooked veggies and salt as you like.
  4. Scramble the eggs with the veggies until they are cooked through.
  5. Sprinkle cheese on top to melt.
  6. Serve

I at least double this for my family of 6 big eaters. Plus we serve it with fresh fruit. Buttered toast also helps fill them up. Seriously. We really do eat and keep eating at our house.

TIP: If you happen to have leftover ham or bacon – even chicken or beef – hanging out in your fridge, those would be a wonderful addition to this dish.

This meal has become one of the easiest ways to get my family to eat a big variety of veggies in one meal. It ranks right up there with Easy Noodle Stir-Fry.

Easy Veggie and Egg Scramble

Do you ever make a meal like this at your house? What veggies would you or do you include? 

It’s meals like this that make “teaching our kids about nutrition” quite natural.

P.S. It is worth noting that this dish makes it possible to feed my family very well for about $1.00 per plate. (We won’t talk about how many plates we go through during a meal…)

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Easy Chicken With Cream Cheese Sauce

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I have a wonderful chicken recipe to share with you. But first, a story.

Cream Cheese Chicken

Once upon a time, I was dating my husband. I mean, my boyfriend. I mean, we weren’t married yet when we were dating but then we did get married and all of that barely has anything to do with this recipe.

But back in the days of our dating, engagement, and early marriage we drove an hour away from our college town each Sunday morning to a small church with a sweet youth group. Matt was their youth leader, teaching Bible classes and forming relationships with the teens. These dear ones became our church family, worshiping with us, throwing us a wedding shower, celebrating our marriage, being a part of our first pregnancy, and welcoming Baby #1 into the world with us.

Some of our fondest memories of those years are looking back to the Sunday afternoons in the homes of various church family members. They took turns signing up to feed us after church. Those meals!!! Talk about a church full of good cooks. The fellowship was precious and I can remember in detail many of the ladies’ specialties. We were very well taken care of, that is for sure.

Well, one of these ladies frequently made chicken that was slathered in the most delicious cream sauce. When we knew Carlene had signed up to feed us, I’d always say to Matt, “Ooooh, I hope she made that chicken this time!” Anytime she did make it and we sat there gushing over the meal, she’d always shake her head at us and say, “Oh. It’s just food.”

Right. Just food. Just the best chicken I’ve ever eaten!!!

Since that time, I’ve always regretted that I never got her recipe. I’m not even kidding you that 20 years later I still get hungry for that meal. Finally about a month ago I thought to myself, “Laura, are you or are you not the lady who invents recipes? For Pete’s sake, woman. Go to the kitchen and figure out how to make Carlene’s chicken.”

You’d think I would have considered this option before.

Well, my friends. I now present to you Not-Quite-Carlene’s Chicken with Cream Cheese Sauce. Make this.

Easy Chicken with Cream Cheese SauceYum

Easy Chicken With Cream Cheese Sauce
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
  • 1 beaten egg
  • ⅔ cup whole wheat flour
  • Sea salt and pepper to taste
  • ½ cup palm shortening or other oil for frying
  • 8 ounces softened cream cheese
  • 2 cups chicken broth
Instructions
  1. Mix flour, salt, and pepper.
  2. Dip chicken in egg, then coat in flour mixture.
  3. Fry in oil for just a few minutes on each side. (Do not over cook or the chicken will become dry.)
  4. Remove chicken from pan.
  5. Pour chicken broth into the pan, scraping up the chicken drippings.
  6. Add softened cream cheese, stirring until smooth.
  7. Place cooked chicken back into the pan, coating on both sides with sauce.
  8. Serve with rice or pasta.

Make-Ahead Instructions

Prepare and fry meat as directed. Allow it to cool, then cover and store in the refrigerator for up to two days. Prepare sauce as directed and stir in the chicken, heating through.

Freezer Instructions

Prepare and fry meat as directed. Allow it to cool. Freeze in a well-sealed freezer bag for up to three months. To serve, thaw cooked meat. Prepare sauce as directed and stir in the chicken, heating through.

Easy Chicken with Cream Cheese Sauce Recipe

I can’t think of a brilliant way to end this post. Go make this chicken! There. That oughta do it.

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Easy (Make-Ahead) Baked Potato and Bacon Casserole

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It’s a Potato and Bacon Casserole. Life is good.

Bacon Baked Potato Casserole

This is so easy we can hardly call it a recipe. I’m pretty sure my family will be having this every other week for the rest of our lives for the following reasons:

  1. Bacon. Of course. And also, cheese.
  2. We can slather it with Spicy Ranch Dressing, which tastes so good I believe I shall become addicted to it.
  3. I can make several of these casseroles at once and freeze them for later, making this easy meal even easier.

This “casserole” is basically baked potatoes cut up in a dish with bacon and cheese all over it. I’m sorry that I can’t make it more complicated for all of you who would rather spend many more minutes sauteing, braising, and broiling. This time, you’ll have to get your steeping and zesting fix elsewhere.

Everyone else: I lovingly suggest that you go scrub some potatoes. You’re having this for dinner tonight.

Baked Potato and Bacon CasseroleYum

Easy (Make-Ahead) Baked Potato and Bacon Casserole
 
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8 medium-sized potatoes (any variety) 1 pound bacon 2 cups shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese Sour cream, chives, and/or Spicy Ranch Dressing for topping
Author:
Ingredients
  • 8 medium-sized potatoes (any variety)
  • 1 pound bacon
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese
  • Sour cream, chives, and/or Spicy Ranch Dressing for topping
Instructions
  1. Scrub and bake potatoes by putting them into a covered dish in a 350° oven for 1½ hours.
  2. In the meantime, cut bacon into bite-sized pieces and cook thoroughly on the stove-top.
  3. Cut baked potatoes into chunks, spreading them out into a 9x13" baking dish.
  4. Sprinkle cooked bacon over the potatoes.
  5. Top with shredded cheese.
  6. Bake in a 350° oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Offer sour cream, chives, and/or Spicy Ranch Dressing to complete this main course. Serve with a salad and another fruit or veggie. It is too easy. Makes 6-8 servings.

Baked Potato Bacon Casserole

To Freeze This Dish: 

Make it as directed above. Allow it to cool completely. Cover and label. Put it in the freezer.

To Reheat and Serve This Dish:

This is my favorite trick. Get the casserole out of the freezer. Cover the frozen dish with foil (somebody needs to invent a 9×13 glass cover for my pyrex dishes). Put the frozen casserole into a COLD oven. Turn the oven on to 250° allowing it to heat up along with the casserole. After one hour, turn the oven up to 350° and bake for one more hour or until the casserole is thawed, heated through, and looks like wonderful cheesy deliciousness.

Let us all add this recipe to our “Reasons to Make Extra Baked Potatoes When We’re Making Baked Potatoes Anyway” list.

7 Ways to Use Baked Potatoes

Switch out the bacon in this casserole for other cooked meats. Switch out the regular potatoes for sweet potatoes. Just whatever you do, try it with the Spicy Ranch Dressing. Ah-mazing.

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Make Pizza Boats on the Grill ~ Fast and Easy!

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Grilled pizza boats! Who knew!!?

Ever since I became a big girl and learned how to turn on our grill, a whole new world of summertime food opened up to me. I think I turned 38 that summer. I had always left certain tasks like that up to my husband – things like installing our window air conditioners, getting the oil changed in our car, and grilling meat.

Then one day I was like, dude it sure would be nice to get dinner cooked instead of waiting for Matt to get home and grill the meat. (The deep thoughts of a hungry 38 year old…)

So I prepared myself for a detailed lesson in propane and matches and safety and how to avoid setting the house on fire. Then Matt got home and showed me how to simultaneously turn a knob and push a button. Four seconds later, the grill was aflame.

Hmmm, thought I. I probably could have even learned that when I was as young as 37.

Don’t tease. Need I remind those of you who have been operating a grill since adolescence that some of us experienced trauma at age 17 which may or may not have involved a fire and the total destruction of a huge barn on my family’s property? Some of us have hated fire for a very, very long time. Some of us might have equated lighting a grill to lighting a barn on fire and watching it smolder for three to fourteen days. Some of us.

So now I’m 41 (and three quarters) and the grill is my best friend in the summertime. In my 3 years of grilling experience, I have not burned anything down – not our house, not someone else’s house, not even a barn.

Regarding food of many kinds: if I can grill it, I do. If I’ve never seen it grilled before, I try it. Anything to avoid turning on the oven on a hot day. Plus, grilled food is fun and special and it feels like a big deal to say, “we’re grilling chicken tonight” instead of simply saying, “we’re having chicken.” Right? Can’t you hear the difference?

So enter: Grilled Pizza Boats

Making pizza on the grill (the regular crust kind) is quite doable and very yummy. You can learn how to do that here. But that is a bit time sensitive and laborious (woe is me) so I rarely go to the trouble. Pizza Boats, however? Well this is absolutely too easy.

Make a Quick Meal of Pizza Boats - On the Grill!

How to Make a Pizza BoatYum

Slice a loaf of French or Italian bread in half the long way (you know, like a boat). Top each half with your favorite pizza goodies. Bake in a 350° oven or on the grill until the cheese is melted (about 10 minutes).

It’s as easy as that.

In fact, it’s one of the easiest meals there is. Slice the pizza boats and serve them with salad and fresh fruit.

And then I just have to say it: Be sure you turn off your grill. I refuse to be the one responsible for any other fires, large or small. I’ve met my quota.

What are your favorite foods to grill?

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