Bread Pudding

Ingredients:
-5 pieces of bread
-2 tablespoons butter
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/4 cup raisins
-3 eggs
-1/2 cup sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1.5 cups milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut the bread into chunks and put into a large bowl.

Melt the butter and stir in the cinnamon.

Pour over the bread and stir to combine. Add the raisins and stir to incorporate.

Pour into a baking dish.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs. Add the vanilla, sugar, and salt and stir to combine.

Heat the milk up until it's hot, then add to the egg mixture.

Mix well, then pour over the bread mixture in the baking dish.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until the pudding has set and the whole thing is baked through.

Yum! Serve hot, room temp, or cold. Doesn't really matter.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is a chicken pot pie made from whatever I had left in my kitchen. So...it was interesting. Haha. It turned out pretty well though! I was impressed. Always good when that happens.

This isn't too far off from what I would do for chicken pot pie usually, but the hashbrowns would usually be regular potatoes, and I would usually have carrots as well as the other veggies included. I also don't particularly love the crust on chicken pot pie, so this was perfect because I only used one leftover refrigerated pie crust. So all around, this was lovely. Away we go. :)

Ingredients:
-1/4 c butter, divided
-2 tablespoons flour
-1 cup heavy cream
-1 cup milk
-1/2 cup corn
-1/2 cup frozen peas
-3/4 cup frozen hashbrowns
-2 chicken breasts
-refrigerator pie crust

Directions:
In a skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Cook the chicken, turning once, until no longer pink in the center.

Remove from the skillet, leaving the butter and brown stuff in the bottom of the pan. Add the rest of the butter, and reduce heat to medium.

Whisk in the flour to make a roux.

Add the cream and stir to combine.

Let thicken slightly. Add milk and stir to incorporate. Let heat up. Add corn, peas, chicken, hashbrowns to large bowl. Stir to distribute.

Add the sauce to the chicken and veggies.

Pour the mixture into a pie plate.

Cover the edges with foil so they don't get over browned. Bake according to package directions until the crust is golden brown and flaky and yummy.

Cut into slices and serve. Yum!

Make-Do Sliders

Have you heard of sliders? They're pretty popular these days, it seems. Little tiny burgers are just too fun to pass up, I suppose. Haha. I admit, I enjoy them on occasion too. So when I looked in my freezer and saw I had some frozen dinner rolls, the gears started turning. I decided to try to make my own sliders, just for fun. I also had some leftover frozen french fries from the last time we made burgers, so it was perfect. So I "made-do" with what I had and ended up with sliders. Hence the title of this post. :)

These were easy, and although the rolls took a little while to bake, that was pretty much the longest part of the process. The fries also took a little while, but it was still easy. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:
-frozen dinner rolls
-1 lb ground beef
-cheese slices (I used one slice for 4 sliders)
-Worcestershire sauce, to taste (I probably used just under a teaspoon)
-onion powder to taste (I used probably half a teaspoon)
-desired condiments

Directions:
Bake the rolls according to package directions.

When done, set aside.

Start the french fries. This was the second longest part of the meal, so I started them early. Bake according to package directions.

In a small bowl, mix together the beef, Worcestershire sauce, and onion powder. Shape into small patties.

Place on a grill.

Grill the patties until no longer pink.

I used my little countertop grill, so this took basically no time. When cooked through and still hot, add the cheese slices so they'll melt just slightly.

Slice the rolls in half to make a little hamburger bun. Place the meat onto the "bun" and add any desired condiments.

Serve with the hot fries and enjoy! Yum!

Rotini Pasta Bake

I almost always have pasta in the house, so it's no surprise that when I'm looking in my pantry for before-moving leftovers to make dinner, there was some pasta involved. This meal originated from some pasta, some leftover diced tomatoes, and some leftover cheeses I had in the fridge. Super easy, tasty, and wonderful. I will say it's pretty darn cheesy, so if you don't like cheese as much as I do, then reduce the amount slightly. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:
-half box of pasta (about 8 oz, I used rotini)
-half can of diced tomatoes
-2 tablespoons garlic powder
-1 tablespoon onion powder
-1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
-1/2 cup water
-3 cups cheese, shredded-I used three types: asiago, mozzarella, and parmesan, about 1 cup each.

Directions:
In a large pot, boil some water. Add the pasta and cook until just al dente. Drain and set aside.

While the pasta is cooking, in a medium sauce pan over medium/medium high heat, add in the tomatoes, water, garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning.

Stir to combine. Let it come to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low. Simmer until the sauce has reduced down a bit, stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

When the sauce has reduced down, add to the pasta and stir to coat.

Add in about half of each cheese and stir to combine.

Pour into a baking dish.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the pasta.

Bake in the 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and yummy.

Remove from oven and serve.

Yum!