easy

Name: Easy Balsamic Veggie Pasta
Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 22 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 3 cups pasta; 1 ⁄2 tsp Sriracha hot sauce; 1 Tbsp EVOO; 1 ⁄4 cup soy sauce; 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar; 1 ⁄2 tsp ground ginger; 4 cups uncooked mixed vegetables

Easy Balsamic Veggie Pasta

by Ashley Mullen

When you add a puppy to your family things get a little out of whack and you forget to think about things like supper. Eventually however, people need to be feed, no matter how much fun we’re all having playing we need to eat. This balsamic veggie pasta is easy to make, easy to throw together when you have forgotten to make supper.

This is a great budget friendly, meatless meal. Healthy and filling.

Easy Balsamic Veggie Pasta

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We have been becoming big on roasted veggies. I buy bags of frozen mixed veggies from Costco, frozen because there is less chances of them getting lost in the fridge and going bad.

But also, frozen veggies have a more likely chance of being used in a meal instead of my kids snacking on them instead. Big vegetable eaters my kids. Which, I love, but sometimes it’s nice to actually have the vegetables for meal time too.

What you need:

3 cups pasta
1 ⁄2 tsp Sriracha hot sauce
1 Tbsp EVOO
1 ⁄4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 ⁄2 tsp ground ginger
4 cups uncooked mixed vegetables

How to make Easy Balsamic Veggie Pasta:

Take a cookie sheet and line with parchment paper. Bake in your oven at 425. This is how we all love our veggies at supper time. We’ll actually “fight” over them, that’s how much we love them.

We don’t like mushy vegetables, we like them roasted and delicious. This is how I made them for this pasta dish as well. Simply bake until golden brown and slightly crispy.

Cook 3 cups of pasta following the directions on your pasta.

While the pasta and veggies are cooking, mix up the sauce. Simply just toss all the ingredients together in a bowl, or measuring cup.

Tasty Chicken, Broccoli and Pasta Skillet - pasta

All very simple, and not time consuming at all. Perfect for those days when you kind of forget to make supper until the last minute.

When the vegetables and pasta are cooked, toss everything together in a bowl (or large pot). We added a little bacon bits to the top of ours for a little extra.

Another you could top this with would be French’s Crispy Fried Onions. We actually have an auto subscribe set up for these.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.

Easy Balsamic Veggie Pasta

Yield: 8

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 22 minutes

Ingredients

3 cups pasta
1 ⁄2 tsp Sriracha hot sauce
1 Tbsp EVOO
1 ⁄4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 ⁄2 tsp ground ginger
4 cups uncooked mixed vegetables

Instructions

Bake vegetables at 425 for 15 minutes or until cooked the way you like.
Boil 3 cups of pasta.
Mix together remaining ingredients together in a small bowl. This is the sauce.
Once pasta is cooked, drain.
Mix together pasta, vegetables and sauce.
Serve while hot.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g

Slow Cooker Poor Man’s Stew

by Ashley Mullen

Do you have those days where you just don’t know what to make, what to do with the package of ground beef you took out of the freezer? Here’s an idea: Poor Man’s Stew. I make this a couple times a year, just because I forget about it. My recipe box is my recipe box and where I go to get my meal ideas too.

Poor Man’s Stew

*This post may contain affiliate links. You can learn more about them in my disclosure policy.*

I figured maybe if I share it with you all, I’ll remember to make it more often. If you you’re looking for a cheap meal, this is it, it’s all there in the title: Poor Man’s Stew…

What you need:

1 lb. ground beef browned and drained
1.5 lbs potatoes diced large
3 carrots sliced
1 onion diced
1 garlic clove minced
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
2 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. dried oregano

How to make Poor Man’s Stew:

Start by browning your ground beef, the smaller it is the better. While your ground beef is browning start chopping up carrots and potatoes into bite sized pieces, and dice an onion.

Drain and rinse the grease off the ground beef. I always use hot water to run over my ground beef because I don’t like it to be greasy tasting at all.

Dumb everything into your slow cooker. Add in a small can of tomato paste, two cups of beef broth, and seasonings. Give it a good stir.

Now you can slow cook on low for 6-8 hours in your crock pot. I don’t recommend the high setting to have it cooked in a shorter amount of time simply because I find the potato need the longer time to cook through and to evenly cook.

I hope you enjoy Poor Man’s Stew as much as we do. Just like other stews, this is amazing reheated the next day for lunch. I try to make enough for supper each night so that we have at least one, if not two, servings for lunch the next day.

Poor Man’s Stew

Yield: 5

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 5 hours

Total Time: 5 hours 15 minutes

A slow cooker meal that is easy on the budget.

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
1.5 lbs potatoes, diced large
3 carrots, sliced
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
2 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. dried oregano

Instructions

Add the cooked ground beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic to a 5-quart or larger slow cooker.
Pour in tomato paste, water, beef bouillon, add in seasonings, mix together.
Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g

This is a great summer meal. It is filling in your belly, but you don’t have to spend an hour or two over the hot stove. You could remove standing over the stove completely by browning your ground beef in your slow cooker ahead of time too. I do this when I buy large packages for freezing.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Ashley Mullen

I love to bake, and to save money. We were heading out the other day so I planned on making cookies for my kiddos to snack on. I originally planned on making Thumb Print cook i es, because I can’t really screw them up. I had no brown sugar so I moved on to these cookies. Double Chocolate Chip cookies, its been a long time since I made them, and it seems I can make them without burning them, too much anyways.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

What you need:

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup cocoa
1 1/2 – 2 cup chocolate chips

How to make Double Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Whip together the sugar and eggs for a few minutes before adding in the butter. Your batter will be fluffy.

Add in all but the chocolate chips and mix well. Once all mixed in add in the chocolate chips.

I made small little cookies, for my kids before adding chocolate chips, because I wanted them to be the perfect snack size while we were out. You can use a cookie scoop to make them uniform in size and bake evenly.

One nice thing about these cookies besides their chocolate-ness, is that they do not spread. The shape and size, and spacing you place them on the cookie sheet is how they will be when you take them out of the oven 11 minutes later.

The fact they are don’t spread makes it easy for kids to scoop them on to the pan because you fon’t have to worry about ending up with one giant cookie.

These are a simple cookie to make, and perfect for your kids to either help you make, or to make on their own as they get older and more confident in their skills.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: 15

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup cocoa
1 1/2 - 2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven 350.
Cream together eggs, sugar, and butter until fluffy.
Mix in all but the chocolate chips until well mixed.
Add in chocolate chips.
Spoon onto greased cookie sheet. They don't spread.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until slightly browned on bottom. They will continue to crisp once out of the oven.

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g

Cinnamon Roll Baked Oatmeal

by Ashley Mullen

We eat a lot of oatmeal in this house, a lot. Two of children would eat 3 packets of the instant oatmeal each morning if I let them. While yes oatmeal is great for them, so much better than sugary cereal, the instant kind gets to be expensive, so I try to cut it with some quick oats to make it go a little farther.

Cinnamon Roll Baked Oatmeal

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I too, eat oatmeal quite often for breakfast, but instead of instant oatmeal, I usually have quick oats with berries and some sliced almonds.

But even that gets old after a while. So I tried making a baked oatmeal. It was a hit, it tasted great and fills you up fast, and has become something I make at least once a month for something different from the normal toast and cereal that we usually stick with.

What you need:

3 cups instant oats
1/2 – 1 cup white sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground all spice
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter

For the icing:

1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp water

How to make Cinnamon Roll Baked Oatmeal:

Cream together the sugar, eggs and butter. Then add in dry ingredients alternating between the milk and oats for easy mixing. It will be quite wet/watery. Don’t worry though, those oats will do their stuff. Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper, and spread the batter out evenly.

Bake in oven preheated to 350 for 35-45 minutes, bake it until solid with a little spring in it at a touch, and brown.

Mix together some icing sugar, a little vanilla, and water to make a icing that you can drizzle over it. Cut into squares and serve. Best while its warm. This is filling, and taste great.

If you want thicker pieces bake in a 9×9 pan, you’ll just have to cook it closer to the 45 minutes. Either way, it is amazing!

So tell me, how do you like your cinnamon roll? Do you like it a little more healthy like our baked oatmeal here, or are you like me and you want it for dessert like my Cinnamon Roll Bundt cake?

Cinnamon Roll Baked Oatmeal

Yield: 10

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Make ahead breakfast baked oatmeal.

Ingredients

3 cups instant oats
1/2 - 1 cup white sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground all spice
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter

For the icing

1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp water

Instructions

Cream together the sugar, eggs and butter.
Add in dry ingredients alternating between the milk and oats for easy mixing. It will be quite wet/watery.
Bake in oven preheated to 350 for 35-45 minutes, bake it until solid with a little spring in it at a touch, and brown.
Mix up your icing, watery enough to be able to drizzle over your oatmeal. You may need a little more water, as I don't actually measure the water.

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g

Simply Delicious Chocolate Cookies

by Ashley Mullen

For those times when you just need to have some chocolate and you can’t find it hidden in you house, that’s when you go to this simple chocolate cookie recipe. They hit the spot, every time.

Last week everything came to a head. I had papers everywhere that needed to be dealt with. It was crazy around here. And with it all, I just need some good comfort foods. Its a good thing that it has been cooler through the week because I was running the oven continuously making casseroles and, of course, these chocolate cookies.

Simply Delicious Chocolate Cookies

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Cream together the butter and egg, add in the sugar. Add in salt, vanilla and cocoa. Then add in flour. No liquids. No baking soda or baking powder.

This dough is really good! I’m not saying you should eat it, because, well, it has egg in it. I’m just letting you know that it taste good…

What you need:

1/2 cup butter softened
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 egg

How to make Chocolate Cookies

Scoop onto either a greased cookie sheet, or a silicone mat.

They will be the size that you place them on the sheet, no rising and very little spreading.

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350. They will be really soft, they’ll look basically no different but for the very slight toasted look. They will be lightly golden on the bottom. They will firm up as they cool down.

Enjoy with a glass of milk, a cup of tea or coffee, or a glass of wine, or just sit down with a big ol’ plate of cookies and get your fill of them.

Simply Delicious Chocolate Cookies

Yield: 24

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 egg

Instructions

Cream together the butter and egg, add in the sugar.
Add in salt, vanilla and cocoa.
Then add in flour.
Scoop onto either a greased cookie sheet, or a silicone sheet. They will be the size that you place them on the sheet, no rising and very little spreading.
Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350.

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g

easy

Easy Balsamic Veggie Pasta

How to make Easy Balsamic Veggie Pasta:

Ingredients

Instructions

Nutrition Information:

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