Tasteful OF Tuesday...Link Up

Hello everyone! HAPPY Tuesday, Mondays are always busy for me and i never ever seem to be able to get on my blog. Its a new week which means school starts over and i have to get through all that and get organized and then right now we have puppy classes. I hope everyday had a great Monday and is having a great Tuesday.

On Thursday we have started a tradition, either we to our friends house for dinner or they come over. Last night was our turn to host dinner. So i got creative and thanks to my auntie i made an amazing dinner and dessert! I am here today to share and YOU BETTER TRY IT!!!

Today I am linking up for Taste of Tuesday with Blissfully Miller and Let's Get Bananas. 
I can share two new recipes I have just recently made. 

Loaded Baked Potato Soup- 

4 Large potatoes ( i used 7 smaller ones)
2/3 cup butter
2/3 flour
6 cups milk ( i used fat free skim milk)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 green onions, chopped ( i used 5)
1 large pkg bacon bits ( i bought 2 and used a little of the 2nd pkg)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream

1. cook your potatoes. Cut them in half and scoop all potatoes out and put in bowl.
2. melt butter in a large pot, add flour and then gradually add the milk. Stir constantly until smooth, thickened and bubbly
3. stir in potatoes, salt, pepper, 3/4 of the green onions, bacon bits, and cheese. stir and cook little bit longer and then add in sour cream.
4. Your are all done, either leave it on warm on your stove or transfer to a crock pot. Take some green onions, bacon bits and cheese to top it off and serve :)

ONLY picture I took, sorry lol

Strawberry Trifle- ( we added other fruit)


1 Carton of strawberries
1 pineapple
4 kiwi
14oz sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cup cold water
1 lareg pack of vanilla pudding
family size pound cake-cut up also, into small cubes
16oz, cool whip

1. Chop up all your fruit.
2. Mix the water, sweetened condensed milk, and pudding mix together.
3. Chill in the refrigerator for NO MORE, NO LESS than 5 minutes.
4. Fold in whipping cream to mixture made in step two.
5. Refrigerate for at least two hours….the longer, the better.
AND ENJOY! its soo good! 

My dinner and dessert was a hit :) Let me know if you try it! Pass along the recipe!

Oh and for those who don't follow me on IF i got blonde high lights!

Mouthewatering Monday

I have saved my Monday posts for yummy recipes. If you haven't noticed.
I like to be able to go back and make these :)

One the agenda today for Mouthwatering Mondays is
Healthy Meal (Ex: Gluten Free) 

I am gonna find a Diabetic friendly recipe to post, since Tevis is a diabetic i always try to find something yummy that we can enjoy and he does not have to worry about his sugar! 

This recipe is a TEVIS recipe for sure. At my parents house, we get Pizza Hut everytime because unlike the greenwood area, up north has TACO pizza!! I think i should make this as a surprise for him VERY SOON. 

Deep Dish taco Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1/2 cup frozen chopped onion
• 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained
• 1 teaspoon salt-free Mexican seasoning
• 1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough ( i will look at whats best for diabetics and most healthy for the crust)
• Cooking spray
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp Cheddar or part-skim mozzarella cheese
• Salsa (optional)
• Reduced-fat sour cream (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°.

Cook beef and onion in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until beef is browned, stirring to crumble. Drain well, and return beef mixture to pan. Stir in tomatoes and seasoning; cook over medium-high heat 1 minute or until thoroughly heated; set aside.

Unroll pizza crust dough. Press into bottom and halfway up sides of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon beef mixture over pizza crust dough.

Bake at 425° for 12 minutes. Top with cheese, and bake 5 minutes or until cheese melts and edges of crust are browned. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Serve warm. Top with salsa and sour cream, if desired.

Mouthwatering Monday!

The schedule for the coming weeks:

• Aug 12:  Favorite Side-dish
• Aug 19: Breakfast Food for Dinner
• Aug 26: Healthy Meal (Ex: Gluten Free)

I love biscuits and gravy and also looking for new things to cook and surprise Tevis with. I never cooked a lot for tevis so its hard to find out what he likes that I cook, i seen this recipe, and I WANT TO MAKE IT. I think he would love it.

Breakfast food for dinner!

Biscuits, Sausage & Gravy Casserole, serves 4 (2 biscuits per person)
Inspired by Pillsbury

• 1 lb breakfast sausage, casing removed
• 7 oz can of green chilies, mild
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 24 oz bag frozen potatoes (diced/cubed/hashbrowns — whatever you like!)
• 10 oz can of diced tomatoes with chilies (I used Rotel)
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 package of dry gravy mix
• 1 can of jumbo biscuits, 8 biscuits (Pillsbury Grands are great!)
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a hot skillet, add sausage and chilies. Cook until the sausage is no longer pink.
3. In a separate skillet, add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, potatoes and canned tomatoes. Cook about 8 – 10 minutes. The potatoes don’t need to be browned, just done enough to hold their shape. Season with salt & pepper.
4. Prepare the gravy — follow the directions on the packet.
5. Grease a casserole dish and add 1/2 of the potato mixture. Place biscuits on top and add the rest of the potatoes, sausage and gravy. Top with a little cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Let the casserole sit a few minutes before digging in.

Butterfinger Dessert

Another recipe i seen on facebook that i most def. want to try! 

 
-Weight Watchers =easy and low in sugar

1 (10") prepared angel food cake, cut into 1' cubes
1 ( 1 oz.) package of sugar free, fat free butterscotch pudding mix
1 1/2 cups skim milk
2 ( 8 oz. ) containers of cool whip FREE, thawed
10 fun-sized butterfingers candy bars, crushed ( I used mini food processor)


1. Spray 9 x 13" pan with cooking spray. Arrange half the angel food cake cubes in bottom of pan.


2. In large bowl, combine the pudding mix with skim milk. Whisk until starting to thicken. Fold in both containers of cool whip FREE.


3. Pour half the "fluff" mixture over the cubed angel food cake in pan. Top with half the crushed butterfinger candies. Repeat with rest of cake, fluff and candy. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving, or overnight. Enjoy!

DIABETIC FRIENDLY STRAWBERRY PIE

My mom passed this recipe along to me! Tevis isnt a fan of Jello, but i may still try it one day!
 
4 cups fresh strawberries
1 (6-ounce) graham cracker crust
1 (4-ounce) package JELL-O® Vanilla Sugar-Free Cook & Serve Pudding
1 (4-ounce) package JELL-O® Strawberry Sugar-Free Gelatin
1 ½ cups water
1 cup Reduced-Calorie or Fat-Free Cool Whip
½ tsp. vanilla extract (optional)

Arrange strawberries in pie crust. In large saucepan, combine dry pudding mix
dry gelatin and water. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens and starts
to boil. Stir often. Spoon hot sauce over strawberries. Refrigerate at least 2
hours. Mix topping and vanilla and cover pie evenly. Serves 8.

Cake Mix Cookie Bars

*recipe is from a family friend who brought them over last week when we had friends over for a steak dinner!
 *sorry no pictures for this one, totally forgot and then they were ALL gone!

*Prep Time: 5 minutes 

*Cook Time: 20-30 minutes 

1 box yellow cake mix

1 small box instant vanilla pudding

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup oil

2 eggs

 1 cup of whatever flavor chips you want. 

( Reese is THE BEST in my opinion, & m&M's)

Preheat oven: 350 degrees   

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, water, oil, eggs and chips into a large bowl. Pour the batter (its going to be thick) into a greased 10x13 baking dish pan. Bake for 20-30 minutes. It may look raw in the middle but if the edges are golden brown and looks crispy then its perfect! 

Cut and ENJOY! This is a must make dessert! its very yummy! 

 

Cherry Angel Food Cake

Don't really know what to call this dessert! The picture will basically tell you the recipe! VERY easy and oh so yummy!!!!!!!!!!

No Bake Cookies!

 

Tevy's Request! 

2 cups white sugar (i will try splenda next time for Tevis)

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter or 1 whole stick of butter

6 TB cocoa

3 cups quick oats

2 tbs creamy peanut butter

Boil sugar, milk, butter

3 minutes

then add in cocoa, peanut butter & then oats.

Stir well and drop teaspoon or larger sizes on to wax paper

Clean Eating Chili Mac

Found this recipe on a blog I follow. Skinny Meg. She is a very inspirational women and i love her wild side and serious side! Her blog has made me cry reading about her past and struggling with weight loss. I found some of her favorite clean eating recipes and wanted to share this one!

Ingredients: Clean eating chili mac

• 1 1/2 pounds lean, ground turkey
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil
• 1/4 cup dehydrated onions (or 1 large onion, chopped fine)
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder (or 8 fresh cloves, minced)
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce, no sugar added, low sodium is best
• 1 cup water
• Whole grain macaroni, cooked to package directions (as much as you like)
• Salt to taste
• Parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions:

1. In a medium to large soup pot, cook the turkey in the oil.
2. When the meat is about half way cooked, stir in all the spices.
3. When the meat is finished cooking, stir in the pasta.
4. Served topped with Parmesan cheese.

Diabetic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I made these for Tevis and his Dad a few times because they are both diabetic & i wanted to try and get them some sweets they could eat without worrying too much. They were amazingly good, i need to make them again SOON! 

Diabetic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup self-rising flour

½ cup butter

2 tablespoons white splenda

2 tablespoons milk

1 ½ cup Quick oats

1 egg

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup splenda brown sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

½ cup dark raisin

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Mix the flour with the cinnamon

Cream the butter and both the sugars until fluffy. Add the egg, milk and vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture.

Stir in oats and Raisins.

Drop by teaspoonful’s if small cookies are desired, tablespoons if larger cookies are desired.

Bake until golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire racks. 

I recommend trying these they are good for ya too :) 

Mini Taco Pizza's

This was a hit at my house and my moms! 

Mini Taco Pizza

1 pound lean ground beef
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits   
shredded cheddar cheese

lettuce

Shredded cheese

Onion

Taco sauce

Tomatoes

Directions: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Brown ground beef in a large skillet, over medium-high heat. Drain grease. Add taco seasoning to the ground beef according to package directions.

Take each biscuit and smash into a nice flat round circle onto an ungreased cookie sheet (They should look like a mini pizza). Let dough sit at room temperature for 5 minutes. Take your cooked hamburger meat and put some on each little pizza. Place in oven and bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden, Whatever the direction say for the biscuits. Then take out of oven. I placed little bit of cheese and placed back in oven for just a little bit to melt some cheese.

Once you take them out of the oven. This is where you add all your toppings. Serve and Enjoy! 

here is a picture of my masterpiece!

 They were so easy to make and like i said they were a hit! Please feel free to ask me if you have any questions. 

XOXO!