Clean, Healthy, Gluten-Free Banana Pancakes

A favorite breakfast meal for my son is pancakes. He loves them! Well, the recipe I use is not very healthy, even though I make them from scratch. I could make the recipe clean but I am looking for something different and easy. Yesterday we found the recipe!

Tater Tot Casserole

Last week I posted an easy recipe and this week I am doing the same. This new recipe is so easy to make and one of our favorites. It does take an hour to cook but it is so worth it. There are many variations to tater tot casserole and I have tried a few different varieties.  However, I found one that my family loves. I really do not measure anything out except the milk. The rest is just by knowing what my family likes.

Chicken Ranch Nachos (crock-pot)

 

My sister told me about a recipe she thought we would enjoy. I made it and we really enjoyed it. The recipe was chicken ranch tacos and there are many different variations floating around on Pinterest. One day as I was preparing it I was thinking it would be really delicious as nachos. So that is what I did. I made the tacos into nachos and tweaked the recipe a bit.

Peek-A-Boo Chicken

Peek-A-Boo chicken was one of the first recipes I received from my mom after I first got married. When I first got married I did not even know how to properly make a grilled cheese sandwich. Seriously! I was an utter mess in the kitchen so I needed easy to follow recipes.  My mom passed this on to me and it is so easy to make! Thanks Mom!!!
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
2 cans cream of chicken
2 cans of water
2 cans of rice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix soup, water, and rice together.

3. Place chicken breast in baking dish and then pour soup mixture over chicken.

4.  Place in oven and bake for about one hour.

5.  Enjoy!

See I told you it was easy!

Easy Dishwashing and Laundry Soap That Actually Work Great!

Yesterday I shared ten simple and easy ways to become frugal. If you missed that post you can find it here.  In that post I mentioned a good friend of mine sharing a laundry soap and dishwasher soap that she found. I have tried a dishwasher soap a few years ago and did not like it at all. Since then I have not even tried another because I was convinced that I would not find one that did not leave the white film on my dishes. I have tried a liquid laundry soap before and I liked it. The liquid laundry soap saved us a good amount of money considering our laundry soap lasted about eight months. I did like the liquid but I felt it was messy when I had to refill my soap bottle. This time I was more interested in trying the powder. Let me just say I am so thankful that my friend Karyn shared the recipes with me that she found.

The dishwasher soap is extremely easy to make and only takes a few minutes. My friend Karyn told me when you make this, to place the ingredients in a large Ziploc bag and to mash it for a few days. Otherwise the result will be one large rock that will require you to chip it off with a knife. You may still use the dishwashing soap while it is in the bag. I LOVE this recipe!!! The dishes come out so clean and no white film is left. Put it this way, my husband is even amazed at how great the dishes come out. He kept talking about it hours after he pulled a glass out of the dishwasher.  The best part is it makes a large amount and you only need one tablespoon per wash!

The laundry soap is just as easy as the dishwashing soap! My friend Karyn did add some powdered Clorox 2 bleach to her recipe and I added Purex powdered bleach. Karyn also mentioned putting some of the powered mixture with the grated soap into the blender just to get the grated soap a little more finely chopped. DO NOT JUST DO THE GRATED SOAP OTHERWISE IT WILL CLOG YOUR BLENDER! I am so thankful for my wise frugal friends!

All the ingredients can be found in the laundry and dishwashing aisles at the store. I found all my ingredients at Wal-mart. The best part is both recipes call for almost the same items and the batches last so long that you will not run out as often as buying store bought soaps. In the end you will be saving money! Nothing wrong with saving money!

I am very curious to see how long each one of these recipes last. We do not use the dishwasher everyday so I know that this will last for a few months. The laundry soap seems that it will last just as long. I did date my soaps just so I can get an idea of how much each batch will last.

Do you make your own dishwashing or laundry soap? Are you interested in making your own soap?

Pizza Bagels

The other day I made pizza bagels for lunch. I have not made these for years. Last time I made these was back in 2008 when I was doing in-home daycare. My daycare kids and my own children loved pizza bagel day! On Sunday when my family and I were preparing our menus, my daughter and I simultaneously said pizza bagels. I am glad we did!

Pizza bagels are such an easy meal to prepare. The meal can actually be a pretty frugal meal if you make your own sauce and bagels. I was able to pick up some pizza sauce on a low price and I purchase bagels from the bread store. Not as frugal as it can be but I have yet to find a bagel recipe that I like.  Any recipes would be greatly appreciated!

Now like I said pizza bagels are super easy to make, and a quick meal to prepare. I will be adding them to our menu more often.

Ingredients:
Bagels (any size)
Pizza sauce or your own preferred sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Any other pizza toppings.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Spread sauce on each bagel slice, add cheese, and any other toppings you choose.

3. Place bagels on foiled-lined baking sheet and bake until cheese is melted.

That is it!

How easy is that?!?!

Yummy Smoothies

 

My daughter and son love smoothies!

Of course anyone can run to the coffee shops or some fast-food restaurants and spend a couple dollars for smoothies. I, on the other hand, do not spend the money on these type of smoothies.  Mine are done frugally.

Some may think that making smoothies at home can be somewhat difficult, but I am here to tell you, they are far from difficult. 

All I use is fruit, some milk, and a blender.  That is it!

When I grocery shop I either buy frozen fruit or fresh produce.  Depending on the seasons here in Alaska it is usually cheaper to buy the fruit frozen.  However, if I come across some bananas on clearance or any other fruit I will come home, cut the fruit into pieces, and then freeze them in the freezer. 

When it is time to make a smoothie, I take the fruit out of the freezer, pour some into the blender, and add milk.  I do not measure anything.  If you want a more thicker smoothie do not add as much milk, if you want a more thinner smoothie add more milk.  There are times where I may add some sugar for sweetness.  Because the fruit is already frozen there is no need for ice cubes. 

Add it all to the blender, and within minutes you have a wonderful, frugal-style, smoothie.
 
For more Frugal Friday tips jump on over to Life As Mom.

Monkey Bread

My family loves monkey bread and it is such an easy recipe.  My homemade biscuits never turn out, so I buy the Pillsbury Grands biscuits because I can usually get those at a good price.  One can of Grands biscuits is enough for my family of four.  I make monkey bread two different ways depending on how much time I have.  One way is cutting each biscuit into fours and have bite size pieces or not cutting the biscuits. 

Ingredients:

1 can biscuits
melted butter
cinnamon and sugar mixture
*sorry I do not measure these items

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Dip entire biscuit into melted butter.

3.  Sprinkle biscuit with cinnamon and sugar mixture until evenly coated.  We like the biscuit with a lot of the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

4.  Bake biscuits as directed.

Ready to go into oven

5. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Applesauce

The other day I had some apples that I needed to use up and decided to throw some ingredients together in a crock pot and made some yummy applesauce.  This recipe is so easy and will definitely make your house smelling good.

Ingredients:

5 apples peeled and cored and cut into fourths
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1.  Put all ingredients in crock pot and cook on high for about two hours. 

2.  Stir and keep in covered container in refrigerator.  (I used a mason jar.)

Too easy! This batch that I have made is already gone and I will be making more this week but will probably double it this time. 

Enjoy!

Crock-Pot Ham

This recipe is one of hubby's favorites.  Whenever I ask what he wants for dinner he always says crock-pot ham.  The ham tends to be a little bit to pricey for me so I try to make it once a pay period or once a month.  It makes a great leftover for lunch!  My favorite part is that it so easy; it takes less than five minutes to prepare!  I am not a fan of pineapple at all but for some reason I like it on ham.

Ingredients:
a small ham (around 3-5 pounds or what every size that will fit in your crock pot)
brown sugar
pineapple (either sliced, crushed or diced)

1.  Place ham in crock pot and rub brown sugar all over ham.  Sometimes I will pour a little amount of water on ham for sugar to stick to it.

2.  Place pineapple on top of ham and on bottom of crock pot. 

It looks prettier with sliced pineapple but I already had a crushed pineapple open

3.  I usually cook mine on low for about 5-6 hours.  The ham I purchase is already cooked so I just need to warm it back up.  (I  know cheating but it works!)

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I am not a fan of chocolate chip muffins but the rest of the family is.  So I thought why not try to add some bananas to the mix and see what happens and I am happy to say that I really like these.  Unfortunately, I have a formal dress to fit into in December so I will not have to many of these.

Ingredients:

 

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

1 large egg

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 banana (mashed)

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease bottom of muffin pan.

2.  In a large bowl, beat milk, egg and oil with a wire wisk or fork until well blended.

3.  Add rest of ingredients except chocolate chips to batter.  Mix until flour is moistened.  Then fold the chocolate chips into batter.

4.  Add batter evenly to muffin pan and bake 15-20 minutes. 

**I had planned on taking photos throughout the process and forgot.  I even had my camera sitting right where was baking; I guess I was to pre-occupied**

Chocolate Crinkles

I made these cookies yesterday and oh my goodness they are so delicious!  I made about 15 cookies yesterday and then froze the rest of the batter. 

Ingredients:

2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla
4 oz unsweetened melted and cooled baking chocolate
4 large eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2-1 cup powdered sugar to coat

1. Mix sugar, oil, vanilla, and chocolate.  Stir in one egg at a time.

2.  Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt. 

3.  Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours.

4.  Grease cookie sheet and heat oven to 350 degrees.

5.  Drop spoonfuls of dough into powdered sugar and then roll into balls.

6.  Place cookies on baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes and place on wire rack to cool.

Vanilla Popcorn

My daughter and I love this popcorn recipe.  It is very easy to make and I am ashamed (well not really) to say that the popcorn is all gone within about ten minutes.  This recipe is not very healthy but so good and it only takes about ten minutes to make.  I usually make this at Christmastime and hand out to neighbors.

Ingredients:

About 3 cups popped popcorn
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1.  Have popped popcorn in large bowl and set aside.

2.  In a saucepan combine sugar, butter, and corn syrup and bring to boil over medium heat.

3.  Stir and boil until mixture is a golden color for about two minutes and remove from heat.

4.  Stir in baking soda and vanilla.

5.  Pour over popcorn and toss to coat.  Slightly cool and break apart while warm.

May store in airtight container.

Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

I just made these muffins yesterday and my kids love them. The best part is that they are so easy to make.  You throw everything into one bowl, mix and then put into a muffin pan.  Yummy!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large apple chopped, peeled, and cored
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Grease bottom of muffin if not using muffin baking cups.

3.  In a large bowl, beat milk, oil, egg and apples with a wire whisk.  After it is well mixed stir in flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until flour is moistened.  The batter will be lumpy.

4.  Put batter into muffin pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. 

Butterscotch Brownies

A really good friend of mine introduced me to The Betty Crocker Cookbook and I LOVE it.  It has many great recipes and my favorite, the desserts.  One of those desserts are the butterscotch brownies and they are so rich you can only eat a little at a time.  You may add a few different toppings such as powdered sugar or vanilla or chocolate glaze.  

Ingredients for brownies:

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbs milk
1 large egg
1 cup all purpose flour (if using self-rising flour omit baking powder and salt)
1/2 cup chopped nuts, if desired
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease bottom and sides of an 8 inch square pan with shortening.

2.  In 1 1/2 quart saucepan, melt butter over low heat; remove from heat.  Stir in brown sugar, vanilla, milk and egg.  Stir in remaining ingredients. Spread in pan.

3.  Bake about 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool five minutes in pan or on wire rack.  You can cut them into four rows by four rows while warm.

4.  Spread or drizzle icing or powdered sugar.  ENJOY!

Ingredients for chocolate glaze:


1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 Tbs butter or margarine
2 Tbs corn syrup
1 to 2 tsp hot water

1.  In saucepan heat chocolate chips, butter, and corn syrup over low heat, stirring frequently until chocolate chips are melted.  Cool about 10 minutes.

2.  Stir in hot water, 1 tsp at a time, until consistency of thick syrup. 

Ingredients for vanilla glaze:

1/3 cup butter or margarine
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp regular vanilla or clear vanilla
2 to 4 Tbs hot water

1.  In saucepan, melt butter over low heat and remove from heat.  Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla.

2.  Stir in hot water, 1 Tbs at a time, until smooth and consistency of thick syrup.


For more Frugal Friday tips jump on over to Life As Mom.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

My family and I really enjoy these chicken nuggets.  They are very easy to make, and only take about 30 minutes to make from start to finish.  The longest part is cutting the chicken to the size you like; I tend to cut larger pieces. Eventually, I will cut about five to six pounds of chicken and freeze them so then it will not take as long to make.

Ingredients:
1-2 pounds of chicken breast
1 cup bread crumbs
parmesan cheese
pepper
onion powder
garlic powder


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2.  Mix dry ingredients in a ziploc bag and shake so all ingredients or mix together in a bowl.

3.  Cut chicken into bite size chunks or desired size.

4.  Moisten chicken either with water or butter.

5.  Add chicken to mixture in ziploc bag and shake until well coated or in a mixing bowl.

6.  Place chicken on baking sheet or 13X9 inch pan. 

7.  Bake in oven for about 15-20 mintues or until chicken juice is clear.

                                     ***YUUUUUMMMMMMY***

Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe

I had every intention of taking photos of this recipe but it is soooo easy that I figured I did not need to take pictures. 

Ingredients:

1 box of fettuccine noodles
1 cup of butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream or 12 ounce can Evaporated milk
1/2 to 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
Dash of pepper

1.  Cook fettuccine

2.  While the noodles are cooking, heat butter and whipping cream over medium heat, stirring frequently until butter is melted and mixture starts to boil.  Reduce heat to low.

3.  Simmer for about 5-7 minutes stirring constantly, and until slightly thicken.  Remove from heat.

4.  Stir in cheese, salt and pepper.

5.  Drain fettuccine and pour sauce over noodles until fully coated.

Some different options you may choose to do with this recipe are add chicken, or mushrooms, or broccoli, parsley, or all of the above. 

Hope you enjoy!!!

Snickerdoodle Coffee Cake Recipe

One of my favorite bloggers, PennyPinchinMomma, recently posted this YUUUUUMMMY recipe for snickerdoodle coffee cake and I wanted to share it with you. 

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter (melted)
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Mix all ingredients together.

3. Pour into greased & floured 8 or 9 inch square pan.

4.  Sprinkle top heavily with sugar (this gives the crusty top)

5.  Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.


This recipe is very easy to make, and it is so YUUUUMMMMY!!!!  I have had this recipe on my menus in the past but had yet to make it, until today.  My son, who tends to be a picky eater, had three helpings!!!  Trust me, if you like snickerdoodle cookies, you will LOVE this cake!!!!!

Enchiladas

My dear sister in law made these for us and we LOVED them.  Plus, they are so easy to make.

What you will need:
Mozzarella Cheese (can use as much as you prefer)
10 oz can of  red enchilada sauce
4 oz can of diced green chiles
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 pound of ground turkey or beef
1 package of burrito tortillas (I use homemade, and you can find that recipe here)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Brown meat, when done add all ingredients

                                          ***Doesn't that look yummy ;)***
3.  Stir all together cook on low/medium heat until a slight boil (I usually just mix all together and then jump to next step).  It will look like this:

4.  When mix is ready, you can start adding spoonful of mix into tortillas.  I usually add about 3 large spoonfuls; you will and want extra sauce leftover.  Roll each tortilla and let the fold be under the enchilada, so it won't unroll.  Continue this step until the pan is full.

5.  When pan is full, pour leftover sauce over all enchiladas.  Then cover the enchiladas with mozzarella cheese, or as much as you like.  Sometimes I add the cheese inside the enchilada and on top.

6. Place enchiladas in preheated oven for about ten minutes or until the cheese if fully melted.

Then enjoy!

The hubby and I LOVE these enchiladas, and they are so easy to make.  We usually add some sour cream on top...YUUUUUUMMY!!!!!
They also taste reeeeeallyyyyy good the next day.  I tend to make these on a Friday and we will eat them throughout the weekend.