Cheesy Broccoli and Hamburger Casserole

5 STARS!!


This is seriously good. It would also be really easy to tweak to make it your own.

I know good blog posts are dependent on good pictures, so I'm sorry :/  I have a really old point and shoot, the pan is disgust (my good ones are at a friend's house), and I don't own any trivets so it had to stay on the stove... In due time, I guess. It'll just take some practice to get the prettiest shot possible. Oh, and did I mention I was STARVING. It was at least an hour past our normal eating time and I get quite cranky when I'm hungry. The picture was the last thing on my mind :) The only problem I have with this dish is what to make for a side dish! It already has the meat and vegetables in it. Maybe some squash or something? So without further ado:



1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup onion, chopped, 1 1/4 ounces
4 ounce can mushrooms, drained (*first time I used fresh, but it didn't seem to make a difference in taste*)
16 ounces frozen broccoli (*first time I used steamed, fresh broccoli and it was so much better than with the frozen broccoli*)
Salt and pepper, to taste


Sauce:
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise




Brown the ground beef, onion and mushrooms in a medium skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Drain the fat. Meanwhile, put the frozen broccoli in a 2 1/2-3 quart casserole with a lid. Add 2 tablespoons water, cover and microwave on HIGH about 6-8 minutes, stirring every couple minutes until tender crisp. Drain the broccoli; stir in ground beef mixture. In a 4-cup glass measure place all of the sauce ingredients, microwave on HIGH about 2 1/2 minutes, or until melted and smooth, stirring every minute. Add to the broccoli mixture and mix well; adjust the seasoning to taste. Bake at 350º 20 minutes until hot and bubbly.




It really is THAT easy. I do all the cheese shredding and vegetable chopping hours before i need to start dinner so that when the time comes, all I need to do is the actual cooking parts. Makes it so much faster, in my opinion. Thanks for stopping by!




Linking to:

Truth and Dare Thursday

<center><a href="http://craftycove.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x307/Kimra_Kuoha/craftycovebutton.jpg" /></a></center>

Since I don't have any followers yet, I made this an easy one.

Here's my TRUTH: my major guilty pleasures are Diet Dr Pepper and reading. I love a good book, and even more so, reading a good book in a nice long bath. The book in the picture is the one I'm reading right now (part of the Ender series). It sucks, but I have to finish it. My husband just downloaded Hunger Games for me on the kindle. I am a little too freakin excited to start reading it. And the Dr Pepper - I have 2 a day (shhhhh, don't tell my mom, she'd lecture me). 

Now for the DARE. I DARE you to reveal your most major guilty pleasures. I'm sure we'll all find someone we have something in common with. Just leave a comment!

Linking to:

LambAround

A Restaurant Quality, 5 Star Meal

Artichoke Chicken

In my opinion, this is actually 7 out of 5 stars. That's how good it is. The first time we had it, my husband said it was good enough to have come from a restaurant. Like how I tried getting all fancy with the asparagus? I have a feeling square plates work so much better for arranging food. If you ask my sisters what I wanted to be when I grew up, they'd know I wanted to be a food photographer. We'd be in the Sonic drive through and I would just sit there analyzing their food posters. I guess this new cooking spree of mine will help me get better! Ok, down to business. This is such an easy recipe.



4 boneless chicken breasts (*I used six boneless chicken thighs*)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup parmesan cheese, 4 ounces (*My cheaper hack: Italian Style Six Cheese Blend*)
1 clove garlic, minced
Pepper, to taste
14 ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

Pound the chicken breasts flat(*did not do this*) and place them on a rimmed foil-lined baking sheet. Mix the remaining ingredients and spread evenly over the chicken. Bake at 375º 15 minutes (*I cook mine for 35 minutes because I have no idea how long it takes chicken to cook and the thighs don't dry out if overcooked*). Keeping the chicken on the center oven rack, turn on the broiler and broil the chicken about 5-7 minutes until the topping has browned, watching it closely so that it doesn't burn (*I did not broil mine at all*).

Seriously, plan to make this meal. You won't be disappointed. I'm sure kids would love it as well (as long as you don't say artichoke).



Linking to:
Somewhat Simple
It's a Keeper
Food Trip Friday
Ekat's Kitchen

exactly!!

image via fiveoeight via designsponge

THIS is what I've been picturing in my mind for so long. I want to make these shelves! Now I have an image to give my husband an idea of what's in my head. Too bad I won't start decorating for at least a year while we focus on spending money on necessities only. Oh well, this way I can plan plan plan so everything is perfect. I love design inspiration. If you haven't checked out fiveoeight.com you should!

Valentine's Gift for Hubs

Message in a bottle. What better way to let your husband know how much you love him than writing a love letter? Hopefully he doesn't see this blog! A message in a bottle, stuck into his lunch on Valentine's Day. I can't wait to give it to him. And it was 100% cost free. The glass bottle I got from a friend, the cardboard tag was cut off of some packaging from a christmas toy I think, and the ribbon was from some dish towels I bought.

I hope everyone has a very happy valentine's day! Spread the love!!


Linking to:
Blue Cricket Designs
Sassy Sites

A Fish Dish!

Yes, to change up the flavor of chicken and ground beef, I actually cooked fish tonight. I'm not a huge fish fan (although I loooove sushi), so this was more for Tony; I could eat ground beef 2 meals a day, every day. I saw this recipe and was like Fish drenched in ranch dressing? Now that's how you eat fish. I was willing to give it a try. That's how you do it, right? Anything you don't like you just dip in ranch dressing? As a kid, that's how I ate green beans. We both gave it 3 stars because it was good, but we're not the hugest fish fans and therefore don't want to eat it very often, just as an occasional change-up. So here goes:

6 tilapia filets, thawed, about 1 1/2 pounds (*I was only able to fit 4 filets in my pan, but that's all we needed*)
1 cup prepared ranch dressing
2 ounces parmesan cheese, grated, about 3/4 cup (*I cheat by buying the 'italian six cheese blend' packages of cheese - so much cheaper*)




Spread half of the ranch dressing in the bottom of a greased 9x13" metal baking pan (*I covered the pan with foil and sprayed it with cooking spray*). Arrange the fish in a single layer over the dressing. Spread the remaining dressing evenly over the top of the fish. Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Bake at 425º 15-20 minutes or until the fish is done (*I did 20 min*). If the top needs browning put the baking pan under the broiler for a few minutes until nice and brown. (*I broiled mine for 1 minute*)

Low Carb Snacks

While all yall are watching the superbowl, here I am at home, watching Dora and blogging :) I'd actually rather be doing this than watching football so I'm happy. Tony is over at friends place watching game. I was thinking he would need snacks for the game, and since we're doing the low carb thing right now, I came up with 2 snacks for him. Sooo jealous that the snacks are over there and not here with me... oh well. Ham Rolls and Deviled Eggs. YUM!

First the Deviled Eggs. I used the tutorial over at deviledeggs.com to cook the eggs. I didn't prepare in advance so I didn't do everything she suggests, but i do suggest this tutorial - the eggs were cooked PERFECTLY. For the filling i just added mayo and prepared mustard. Super simple, nothing fancy. I put the prepared yolk filling in a ziploc freezer bag with a star piping tip thing to make it all fancy-likeish and sprinkled paprika. They turned out pretty darn good.

Now on to the Ham Rolls. My family makes these for New Years Eve snacks and they've always been one of my favorites. You need:

Packaged ham (rectangular shaped)
Flavored cream cheese - I used 'artichoke and spinach' and 'chive and onion'

growing up, chive and onion was always my fave but I think the artichoke and spinach is my new favorite. My family has done pineapple flavored, honey nut flavored, and I'm sure all the other flavors offered in the store.

First, dry the ham with paper towels

Then spread a layer of the cream cheese on the ham. Put as little or as much as you like.

Roll up the piece of ham. You can roll width-wise or length-wise, it doesn't matter.

And for the last thing: cut into yummy bite-size pieces!!

That's all there is to it! Fast, easy, and low carb! And oh-so-yummy. Mmmmm.



Linking to:
LambAround
Today's Creative Blog
It's a Hodge Podge Life
Fingerprints On The Fridge
Young and Crafty