Yummy Taco Lasagna

I found this recipe at a linky party last year and it has been a family favorite ever since. I wish I could thank the blogger who posted it because she has made my family very happy with this dish. Unfortunately dummy me did not take note of who the blogger was, so if you are out there and this recipe looks familiar to you, pleeeeease accept my undying gratitude! 

This recipe is so incredibly tasty but yet very simple to make.

What you will need...

2-3 lb. ground beef (for a lower fat option you can substitute lean ground beef like sirloin or even ground turkey or chicken.) 

12-16 oz. cream cheese depending on how creamy you'd like your dish to be

Seasonings include...chili powder, garlic, onion powder, salt & pepper, cumin and red pepper if you like it hot!
2 jars taco sauce or you can put salsa in the blender with regular tomato sauce if you don't have any taco sauce on hand   4 cups shredded cheese or taco blend About 14-15 lasagna noodles
1 cup of tortilla chips, crushed
What you need to do...   1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, and then boil lasagna noodles for about 8 minutes

2) Generously season your beef and brown in a skillet. Partially melt cream cheese in microwave and then add to the ground meat and blend.

3) Spray 13×9 pan with cooking spray and then lay out your first 4 noodles lengthwise and then cut one more noodle to fit in perpendicular to the other 4 to completely cover the bottom of the baking dish. Spoon 1/2 of the beef mixture onto the pasta. Pour 1/3 of the taco sauce over the meat, and top with a third of the taco or Cheddar cheese.

4) Make another layer of noodles like the first and then add the other half of the beef, add another 1/3 of sauce, and then another 1/3 of the cheese. Top with last 3 lasagna noodles.

5) Pour the last of the taco sauce on top, then sprinkle on the last of the cheese.

6) Grab a handful of chips and crunch them up on top of the cheese.

7) Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and dish is heated through.

And Enjoy! XO

Sharing this post at linky parties over at these super blogs...

The Shady Porch

The Best Blog Recipes

StoneGable

Cedar Hill Ranch

Savvy Southern Style

Call me PMC

The Dedicated House

Foodie Friends Friday

School Cafeteria Sugar Cookies

This cookie recipe is the one both my grade school and high school cafeterias use to make, yes way back in the olden days!!! Whenever I smell the amazing aroma of these wonderful little cookies baking, I am transported immediately back to my carefree school days. And these cookies couldn't be any easier to make, just 5 simple ingredients are needed. This recipe yields 48 cookies.

The 5 super simple ingredients are...

1 lb. butter (or 4 sticks), softened

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 egg

2 tsp. of good vanilla

3 2/3 cups of all-purpose flour

What you will need to do...

Cream together all ingredients and using a tablespoon, drop onto un-greased cookie sheet. Make sure there is plenty of space between your cookies because they do spread out while baking. Bake at 350 degrees until the edges become golden brown, about 11-14 minutes. And that's it! Remove cookies from the pan and let cool on wire rack.

It's just too incredibly easy to make these scrumptious confections!

Trust me when I say that they are the best sugar cookies ever...and how could they not be with a pound of butter in them right?

Have a great Day!!!

XO

Sharing this post at link parties over at these super blogs...

Foodie Friends Friday

Miz Helen's Country Kitchen

Being Featured Today...

OK I cannot believe that this is the second time BGFB is being featured as a host pick over at the Daily Dish Magazine. The theme of last week's party was Fun Kid recipes. This time my traffic light kiddie treat received the nod!

To check out all of the other fabulous features at the Daily Dish just click on the link below.

Foodie Friends Friday

Have a great day!!!

xo

Baked Asparagus Fries

Spring is here and asparagus is totally in season! I am always looking for different ways to prepare this green, and this recipe is sooo different from anything else I've ever come across. It's best to use the pencil thin asparagus because they are much more tender.

one lb. of asparagus

Cut the ends off of the asparagus and then cut each stalk in half.

2 cups of Panko bread crumbs and 1 cup of sliced almonds

Blend the two together in food processor or blender.

1 cup flour

2 eggs lightly beaten

Roll stalks in flour and then dip them into the beaten eggs. Roll them in the nut and Panko mixture and place on a jelly roll pan which has been coated with cooking spray.

Season generously with salt and pepper and then bake in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for about 35 minutes. The asparagus should be golden brown.

To make the dipping sauce blend together equal parts of sour cream and mayonnaise. Add crumbled blue cheese, a touch of blue cheese dressing and a splash of lemon juice and mix.

Enjoy!

XO

This recipe has been adapted from the blog Spoon Fork Bacon.

Linking up to foodie linky parties at these super blogs...

StoneGable

Nap Time Creations

Dolly is Cooking

This Chick Cooks

Healthy Traffic Light Snack for Kids

If you have school age children you know how difficult it can be to get them to eat a healthy after school snack. Well I saw this on Facebook today and thought they were the cutest dang things...who wouldn't want to eat one of these stop lights? And as it happened, I had everything needed in my frig to make these.

What is used to  make these darling lights are as follows...

Celery stalks cut in 3 inch pieces

cream cheese

red, yellow and green bell peppers

Skewers

The steps to make the traffic light treat...

ONE: Spread cream cheese onto the celery smoothly and clean the edges of the celery

TWO: Cut circles from your bell peppers using a metal Wilton frosting tip.

THREE: Pop the circle out of the frosting tip using a sharp knife.

FOUR: Place the circles on the the cream cheese.

FIVE: Skewer the celery with wood skewer.

And ENJOY!!!

Have a super weekend!

This recipe was found at the Super Healthy Kids website. To see more healthy ideas for kids you can visit their site by clicking here.

Sharing this post at these blog link parties...

Foodie Friends Friday
This Chick Cooks

Mom's Favorite Salad ~ Cucumber and Onion Salad

This is a little twist on my mother's favorite salad. She pretty much used white onion with white vinegar and some salt and pepper. I on the other hand, used red onion which is a little more mild, and I tossed in some fresh dill.

Just combine all the ingredients plus some good old H2O, plus salt and pepper, and let the mixture sit for a few hours or until the next day. The longer it marinates the better the taste. 

Pack it up in a jar and it is the perfect addition to a picnic lunch!

And the best part is that this cool and refreshing salad has absolutely no calories. 

This can certainly be served at room temperature but I prefer it cold, just the way my mother use to make it!

XO

Sharing this post at link parties over at these super blogs...

This Chic Cooks

Daily Dish Magazine

All You Need is a SPOON ~ No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

Have you the recent Women's Day magazine?  This is the recipe featured on the cover of April's issue and when I saw it I thought what a perfect Easter dessert for the kiddies. Women's Day used raspberries, but they were almost 5 dollars per container  at my local Thriftway, so I used strawberries instead. This dessert is so easy and no mess...all the kiddies need is to open the jar, grab a spoon and enjoy!

To make the cheesecake batter all you need is...

1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese at room temp.

3 T. sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1 T fresh lemon juice

Other ingredients includes...

1 cup of crushed graham crackers

10 oz. of fresh strawberries, pieces and slices 

1/2 c strawberry jam

5-6 8 oz jelly jars

In a large beat the cream cheese with the sugar. Gradually add the cream, the whole mixture sure begin to thicken after about two minutes of high speed beating.

In the empty jars add 2 T. of the crushed graham crackers. Next add a full T of the cream cheese mixture and top it off with some of the fresh strawberries and a tablespoon of the jam. Repeat and ed with a smearing of the cream cheese mixture on top. Place a few strawberry slices on to and then refrigerate with the jar lid screwed on for at least 2 hours before serving.

XO

Linking this post to these blog link parties...

The Best Blog Recipes

Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Savvy Southern Style

Creamy Carrot Ginger Soup

Just in time for spring is this delicious carrot soup which is low on the glycemic index for all those of you who are counting carbs. This soup only has 13 carbohydrates and is under 300 calories per serving. Also remember to use fresh ginger root for this recipe. Just try to keep this soup away from the Easter Bunny!

Ingredients:

1/4 c. olive oil (or you can use a small amount of chicken broth to cut

back on calories)

1 onion chopped

2 stalks of celery chopped

1 inch fresh ginger root peeled and chopped

4 large carrots. peeled and chopped

1 granny smith apple peeled and chopped

4 c. chicken broth

salt and white pepper

1/2 c. heavy cream (or low fat half-n-half to again reduce calories)

Method:

In a large pot, heat olive oil or broth and saute the onion, celery, apple and the ginger for about 5 minutes. Then add the both and carrots and cook until carrots are tender about 20 minutes.

Let mixture cool slightly then go ahead and puree in the blender in batches. Return all of the mixture to the pot after it is pureed, heat through and swirl a little cream or H-n-H before serving.

XO

Sharing this post at the following blog link parties...

This Chick Cooks

Being Featured Today!!!

I'm so excited today as my mini Rice Krispy cupcakes are a host favorite over at the Daily Dish Magazine!!! Woohoo...my first feature here at the BGFB. Thank you so much to the hosts of this week's party for the shout out.

If you want to check out all of the super recipes being featured today...

...just click on the link below.

Foodie Friends Friday

 And have a great day!!!

XO

Brussels Sprouts with a Dijon and Balsamic Glaze

My kids actually ask for these Brussels sprouts! They are so yummy, most specially the burnt leaves, Grace tells me the burn it all! But really this is an incredible simple way of preparing these sprouts and it is all done stove top.

What you will need...

Brussels Sprouts, trimmed

olive oil for sauteing

garlic, chopped

Dijon mustard

balsamic vinegar

Parmesan cheese

salt an pepper to taste

Preferably in a seasoned cast iron skillet or in any good sized skillet, heat olive oil and garlic for about 2 minutes. Toss in your Brussels sprouts and saute another 5 minutes. Whisk together equal parts of Dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar and toss into the pan coating the sprouts. Continue to saute for another 7-10 minutes adding a little more olive oil if the mixture begins to dry. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese cook one more minute and serve. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!
XO