Tuesday Dinner with Friends … Hamburger Noodle Bake

We got back on our Tuesday dinner with my friend and her son.  It was great to have them back over it has been a few weeks and we were able to let the kids play and we were able to sit and chat and have some wine.  I haven’t been to the grocery store in a while so I’m using what we have in the house.  I found this recipe for Hamburger Noodle Bake on the Weight Watcher website.  I did switch it out with Turkey so I guess mine would be Turkey Noodle Bake!

Ingredients

• 12 oz uncooked no-yolk egg noodles  
• 2 medium uncooked red onion(s), chopped  
• 1 small green pepper(s), yellow pepper or green pepper, chopped  
• 1 1/2 pound(s) uncooked 95% lean ground beef  
• 29 oz canned diced tomatoes  
• 1/3 cup(s) parsley, flat-leaf, chopped  
• 1/4 tsp black pepper  
• 1 1/2 cup(s) low-fat shredded Cheddar cheese  
• 3 3/4 oz Nabisco Ritz Reduced-fat crackers, about 35 crackers  

Instructions

• Cook the noodles according to the package directions, omitting the salt if desired.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
• Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add the red onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
• Combine the beef mixture, noodles, tomatoes, parsley, and pepper in the baking dish. Stir in the ¾ cup of the cheese. Sprinkle the top with the remaining ¾ cup of cheese and the crackers. Spray the topping with nonstick spray. Bake until hot and the cheese is melted, about 45 minutes.

Now my little tweaks were using Ground Turkey & Whole Wheat Noodles.  This was delish, very easy to throw together and even our little picky eater who usually is not a noodle fan loved it.

Tuesday Friends with Light Comfort Foods

Well I’m back to my normal schedule which is good for my sleep lol.  The extra hours I worked will help us get over the hump.  I will miss the extra hours but it’s a good move what my boss did.  Of course this crazy person had a minor freak out when I first noticed what happened but all is good.  Have I mentioned I have a slight abandonment issue? LOL, so my weeks won’t be a long and crazy and as always I know the Lord will provide until we work at all the changes with Rick’s new job.

We had a great Tuesday night dinner at our house this week.  I have not one but two friends from High School come by for dinner!  One friend had never had ground turkey so I of course had to find a recipe for her to try it out.  Meatloaf is always a hit with the boys so I found this recipe from the Hungry Girls’s Crazy Good Turkey Taco Meatloaf.  It was cheesy and good all wrapped into one!  The whole pan was gone before I could say another word (I did put one a side for Rick).

Next on the request list was for Mac and Cheese, I wanted to find  a healthy version.  This recipe called for winter squash but all I could find was butternut squash which I’ve used before in a mac and cheese so I took a gamble and made it again.  This Macaroni and 4 Cheeses off the food network and it turned out wonderful!

And we must end with dessert so why not a Banana-Peach Smoothie Pie that didn’t set up before our guest where to leave so we had a not set up pie that was super yummy!

Hope you all have a wonderful Friday, it looks like it will be a nice day here.  Maybe I can get the whole family out for a walk or something fun.

Tuesday Dinner Twist on Spaghetti & Apple Pie

We had our Tuesday dinner friend come over tonight and I found some yummy things to try (yes on Pinterest).  I wanted to try this braided bread but the dough it called for I couldn’t find so I made my own!  I found this Italian Parmesan Bread for Bread Machine that smelled so yummy and made the recipe pop!  I put it on the dough cycle and let it do the work for me!

The recipe I needed the bread for was this Braided Spaghetti Bread that was so YUMMY!  I made a few tweaks the bread I made (was half white & half whole wheat flour), I added low fat chicken sausage and used whole wheat noodles.

Last on my list was a yummy dessert that was lower in points and so delish!  Apple Dumplings with Orange Sauce for you weight watcher people this is 5 points.  Enjoy a sweet treat, you deserve it!

Happy Wednesday!  Hope you have a fab day!

Tuesday Friends with Full Bellies

Last week was a Mexican meal week, I didn’t realize that while I was making my meal plan for the week. This was super yummy and I can’t believe how easy! This Bubble-Up Enchiladas were a hit even my friends son that is a picky eater.

Then for dessert I made a Apple Oatmeal Crisp, that was easy and way to yummy!

So what is on your menu tonight?

Is it a Holiday Themed Meal Already?

So I was in the mood for a holiday themed meal and found some favorites in a weight watcher themed way!  For you who have asked you would think with all this eating healthy I would be loosing weight sadly just staying the same … ugh.  But I’m sure soon something will go my way … lol.

First I start out with a Corn, Ham & Potato Scallop with was done in the crockpot.  For those who know me, know I love the crockpot since it’s so easy to throw things in and be done when I’m done with work.

Next on the list was a yummy side dish, not your usual Sweet Potato Casserole.  This recipe I found on my favorite site Skinny Taste. Now the pineapple was a different addition to this recipe, it gave the texture a different feel to it.  It also made it very sweet which means you can’t eat much which of course is a good thing in my case … lol.

Next on my list was a dessert, Cherry Cobbler.  The original recipe called for it to be in the crockpot but I put it in the oven since my crockpot was busy.  My little helper really enjoyed helping on this meal.  Sadly I had tons of left overs our dinner guest that night were sick and then the next day I got sick so left over’s went to waste .

So there you go a meal with a flair for the upcoming holidays. I’m sorry I’m still sick, feeling better but my voice is gone which is challenging since I’m on the phone all day long. 

Anything special for dinner tonight?

Tuesday Dinner w/ Friends Chicken & Mini Apple Pies

Last Tuesday I whipped up this meal that was a huge hit!  First off I made Chicken Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini and Mozzarella, now mine wasn’t as pretty as here’s but mine was still very tasty!  PLUS it’s always a good way to get veggies into the kids.  Mine aren’t usually picky but our neighbor’s boy did come over and at first he was I don’t like veggies but we had him try a bite and he said wow this is good!

Next on this list was Easiest Pasta and Broccoli Recipe which was a hit with everyone but me … lol I know it was just ok but everyone else LOVED it!

Next on my list was some bite sized apple pies, it called for store bought pie crust so I made my own Baker’s Secret Pie Crust.  Sometimes I must say it may just be easier to buy it even though it is a heck of lot cheaper … lol.

Happy Monday everyone hope you had a wonderful weekend we had a busy one as usual and mom is still not feeling up to par (had a crud … ugh). 

So what is on your menu for tonight?

Weekend with the Fair and a Pooped Mom!

Friday after work I rushed to pick up Cole and then started to head to Puyallup.  Only to get a call from my parents that my mom isn’t home yet so it would be a little bit until they get there.  No worries I found STREET parking (yup no paid parking … yeah). It was about 6 blocks from the fair so we stopped at Safeway picked up some snacks along with grapes for the kids. 

We then meet up with my parents and headed to the fair.  NOW I don’t usually use strollers for the boys since they are older but it helps when we’re here for 5 hours plus my knee was acting up and as many of you know my dad had back surgery this Tuesday so the Friday before he was having problems walking so it helped him too.

Caden is not much for anything fast or goes up and down so he sticks to slow rides.  Our first stop was the carousel with Monnie, yup won’t even go on the horses … lol.  We of course had to see the fire trucks.

Next went to have the boys caricatures done, mom wanted to have them framed.  I know what a cool idea .  Then we stopped at the tattoo’s … yes airbrushed! Cole had a dragon and Caden a shark.

Then Cole and mom headed out for the bigger rides so Caden and I hit the Sillyville smaller rides.  Caden did the peaceful boat ride, me & him road the train, then we went to the cars and of course the dump truck.  Then we hit the airplanes all was good until they went up and down … YIKES oh poor thing cried and cried.  Got him calmed down and we hit motorcycles and all was good.  Both boys did the Jungle gym.

I didn’t get many pictures of Cole on rides since him and mom went off on their own.  They both loved the spinning ride and doing the slide.  Even a smaller roller coaster he talked Caden to go on with, which had to be stopped early so Caden can get off … lol.   So we only did the crusty pups, free parking and dad spent $80 for rides … YIKES.

Saturday had work off from his regular job to work his 2nd job (of the 3 jobs) so I took my chance and ran to get my toes done!!!  Quiet time, a good cup of coffee and time to read.

I picked up a kit from Lowe’s and let the boys do it with Rick at home.  it was so much fun and yeah we have firetrucks that make noises … lol.

I had birdhouse’s left over from a previous kid’s day so the boys made those also. Hehe Rick got a taste of putting this together as one person and two kid ratio!

Yes I had ONE more kit to make and the lady was so sweet she gave me 2 extra’s so we waited for or Tuesday dinner friends to come over and even had one extra for the neighbor’s son to make them too!  The Goofy Golf kit was a hit!

So there you have it a busy but slow weekend … lol.  I was pooped after Friday’s Fair day so we didn’t do much which made the boys jump off the walls.

On a side note Dad had Surgery on Tuesday, he is currently in recovery.  I will hope to have more information soon. Thanks again for all the prayers and thoughts!

Tuesday Dinner (Carne Asada w/ Coconut Cream Pie)

As many of you know Tuesday’s here is dinner with my friend from high school and her son.  The boys get play time and we get time to sit and chat about our week or the husbands .  Last week I made my first Carne Asada and Coconut Cream Pie.  I know two first time recipes, believe me this situation has not ALWAYS worked in my favor.  Just ask Rick we have had to scrap the meal and pick something up, I’m glad to say this wasn’t the case with this meal.  The dinner was delicious the only thing that happened is the kids left more cheese on my floor then in their bellies … hehe

First on the menu was Carne Asada Marinade that we then put on whole wheat flour tortilla’s.   The marinade was to make and my favorite was it was made the night before and then the next night I was able to throw it on my indoor grill.

And for the dessert I made HG's Crazy-Amazing Coconut Cream Pie.  I have been lead to Hungry Girl’s website and I am VERY impressed!  She has the book 300 under 300 (calories) and is on the Food Network.  Her revamp of meals is amazing plus she gives WW points for those who follow that program.

Happy Tuesday Everyone!  Thanks for stopping by .