You guys are in for a treat with this recipe!  It’s a great twist on a classic childhood favorite, grilled cheese sandwiches.  And they are SUPER easy to make too!

My friend Karen over at In the Kitchen with KP shared a picture of her awesome Double Cheese & Pepperoni Grilled Cheese on Facebook today, and I knew I had to make them.  Like right away.  Which worked out perfectly because it was time for lunch and I had just realized we were out of eggs so the egg salad I had planned was a no-go!

I didn’t have everything for her exact recipe, so I had to tweak it a little for what I had in the fridge.  I really wanted to do something with roasted red peppers, but the jar I had in the fridge had gone bad.  Don’t you hate when that happens?  I ended up with pepperoni, raw spinach, a shredded cheese blend, a halfway smashed loaf of white bread, and a jar of tomato basil pasta sauce.  Lol.

Spinach & Pepperoni Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

(makes six sandwiches)

Ingredients:

3 Tbs unsalted butter, softened

2 Tbs Parmesan cheese

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp salt

12 slices of bread

2 cups of cheese

30 slices of pepperoni

2 cups of chopped raw spinach

1 cup of tomato basil pasta sauce

Directions:

1.  Mix together butter, garlic powder, Italian seasoning,

Parmesan, and salt.

2.  Heat skillet to medium heat.

3.  Spread butter mix on one side of each bread slice.

4.  Place bread, butter side down, in heated skillet.

5.  Top bread with 2 Tbsp shredded cheese, 5 slices pepperoni,

1/4 cup spinach, and another 2 Tbsp cheese.

6.  Place another piece of bread on top, with buttered side up.

7.  Cook for 30-45 seconds until bread is browned, then flip and

cook for another 30-45 seconds.

8.  Remove from heat and serve with warm pasta sauce for dipping.

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Thank you again to In the Kitchen with KP for the inspiration for this tasty lunch recipe!

The butter spread really puts this sandwich over the top.  You can switch it up and use bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, any sort of veggies instead or (or along with) the spinach and pepperoni.  You can also use any sort of tomato based sauce for dipping, I just happened to have the tomato basil on hand.  I bet ranch would be really delicious too!

What’s your favorite way to make grilled cheese sandwiches?

We had family over last week for brunch and I put off planning food until literally an hour before everyone showed up.  I am either to one extreme or the other – planning meals a week in advance, or flying by the seat of my pants.  So I got online that morning and started searching for brunch recipes.  And what did I find?  Quiche.  And more Quiche.  Oh, and quiche.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE quiche, but just did not want to make it for brunch.  And also, I didn’t want to go to the store and buy the ingredients. 😉

So I went in the kitchen and did what I do, just started digging through the fridge and grabbing things.  I ended up with potatoes, cheese, 4 eggs, sausage links, and a slightly wrinkly pepper.

So what do you make when that’s what you’re working with?  

Twice baked breakfast potatoes, of course!  

These potatoes are pretty simple to make, and they are incredibly delicious.  Plus they seem like they would take a long time, but really they don’t.  (shhhh…..most of the time is just cooking them in the microwave)

Twice Baked Breakfast Potatoes

Ingredients:

5 large potatoes, washed

4 eggs

1 cups cooked sausage (I chopped up links)

1/4 cup chopped bell peppers

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 cup shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Poke holes in potatoes with a fork and cook all together in microwave for 20 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 400.

3. Mix together eggs, sausage, peppers, and spices.

4. When potatoes are done cooking, cut in half and scoop out the middle.

5. Pour egg and sausage mix into potatoes and top with cheese.

6. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until egg is cooked all the way.

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These are so easy to make, and everyone will love them, trust me!  the hardest part is scooping out the potatoes, and that’s not even difficult.  Just be sure you don’t burn yourself, they will be hot!  And save all the potato scoopings in a container, because you can make them into a small potato salad, add them in to soup, etc.

What’s your favorite family friendly brunch dish?  Share in the comments below!

Earlier this month, I received a free voucher for Johnsonville Premium Fully Cooked Dinner Sausages from BzzAgent, and I knew right away what flavor I wanted to try.  They have 5 different varieties, but I am an Andouille fanatic, so that’s what I headed straight for when we got to Kroger.

When I got home, I logged on to AllRecipes.com, one of my favorite sites for cooking inspiration.  Well, you know, besides Pinterest of course! 😉  I found an easy jambalaya recipe that I could start with, but of course I modified it along the way to suit my family’s tastes.

Easy Cajun Jambalaya

Ingredients:

1 Tbs olive oil

1 lb Johnsonville Premium Andouille sausage, diced

They like to help in the kitchen, can you tell? 🙂

2 10 oz cans of chicken breast meat, drained

2 onions, diced

2 green bell peppers, diced

3 ribs of celery, diced

1/4 cup minced garlic

1 Tbs onion powder

1 Tbs Cajun seasoning

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (more if you like it spicy!)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

4 cups of uncooked rice

12 cups of chicken broth (I used water and bouillon cubes)

6 bay leaves

1 1/2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp Texas Pete hot sauce

Directions:

1.  Heat oil in a stock pot over medium high heat.

2.  Saute sausage for five minutes until browned.

3.  Add in chicken, onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic.

4.  Season with Cajun seasoning, cayenne, onion powder, salt and pepper.

5.  Mix well and cook until onions start to soften.

6.  Add in rice, chicken broth, and bay leaves.

7.  Bring to a boil, then simmer while covered for 20-25 minutes.

8.  Mix in Worcestershire and hot sauce.

9.  Remove bay leaves and serve.

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This isn’t a traditional version, but it sure is tasty!  Have you tried to make jambalaya at home before?

I received a voucher for free product from Johnsonville and BzzAgent but this recipe and all opinions expressed are my own.

We’ve all been to restaurants that offer those delicious looking molten lava chocolate cakes on the dessert menu. They look amazing, but frankly I am a little too cheap to order dessert out after having dinner. When I saw this mix on clearance at Aldi, I immediately grabbed it because I knew my family would really enjoy it.

I expected to find some sort of chocolate truffle balls in the mix that go in the middle of the cakes, so I was surprised when we open it up and found nothing but a bag of cake mix. At that point, I was a little skeptical of how exactly they were going to turn out. But we all love chocolate, so we dug right in anyway, lol!

(By the way, I’m not listing ingredients and measurements because this is a box mix, and each one is different.  I don’t want to give you directions that are different from the ones on the box you may purchase.)

This was one of the simplest mixes I have ever seen.  It only required eggs and butter, and of course the bag mix.  Instead of using ramekins, we used the muffin tin we had.  The recipe called for us to oil the tin first, but I chose to use Cake Release that I had on hand.  If you haven’t ever used Cake Release, it is AMAZING!  You can literally just dump the cake right out of the pan after baking.  Be sure to use it liberally, or your cake will stick. It has the consistency of a soft butter, not quite as thin as oil.  You should be able to find it at any grocery store or specialty baking shop for under $3.00.

The directions are pretty easy.  Whisk the eggs, melt the butter, and slowly mix the two together.  Then add in the bag mix and stir until mixed completely (don’t beat).  Then pour into the greased pan and pop it in the oven.  That’s it!

The key to making these molten lava mini cakes is to cook them until the tops are just barely done.  The middle ends up being soft and runny, but the heat is enough to cook the eggs inside, so don’t worry about that.

Flip the cakes out of the pan and serve them upside down.  I dusted these with powdered sugar to add a nice touch at the end.  When you cut into the cake with a fork, you can see the yummy chocolaty center.

Doesn’t it look divine?  I was so impressed that this bit of deliciousness came from a box mix, and only took a few minutes to throw together.  And the best part of making these cakes?  Licking the bowl, of course! 🙂

Have you ever made a molten lava cake from a box mix?  What’s your favorite cake to make from a box?

Macaroni and cheese is one of my favorite dishes.  Not the fake version that comes in the blue box, but the real deal.  My mother made it from scratch when I was a child, and now I do the same for my family.  Often times I’ll just make it with American cheese and a little bit of butter and milk, but lately I’ve been playing around with richer, creamier versions.  Multiple cheeses, heavy cream, and even a pinch of cayenne can take this simple comfort food to an entirely new level.  My newest recipe (which I’m sharing today) has quickly become a favorite in our home.  A layer of seasoned breadcrumbs and a few minutes in the broiler gives it a lightly crispy topping that is a perfect compliment to the delicious, creamy sauce.  The result is a delicious dish that is similar to one you would get at a restaurant!  (For more make-at-home restaurant style dishes, check out this post with 10 of my favorite copycat recipes!)

Restaurant Style Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

6 cups water

2 cups elbow noodles

1 Tbs butter, unsalted

3/4 c milk

3/4 c shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese

3/4 c shredded Italian style cheese

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Pinch of cayenne

1/2 c Parmesan herb panko bread crumbs (Private Selection from Kroger)

Directions:

1.  Bring water to a boil on high heat.

2.  Add in noodles and boil for 8-10 minutes.

3.  Remove from heat and drain in a colander. Set aside.

4.  Set oven to high broil.

5.  Melt butter in pot on medium heat.

6.  Add in milk, cheese, and spices.  Whisk until melted completely.

7.  Fold in elbow noodles, stirring gently to coat with sauce.

8.  Pour noodles into oven safe dish.

9.  Top with panko bread crumbs.

10.  Place in oven for 2 minutes until top is browned.

11.  Remove from oven and serve immediately.

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Do you have a macaroni and cheese recipe that’s a family favorite?  I’d love to hear your version, please take a moment to share in the comments below!

One of my favorite dishes to make is chili.  It’s effortless, great for any season, and it freezes perfectly!  It’s also a great source of protein, and can be very good for you when it’s not coming from a can!  I’ve been making lots of chili over the last month because the hubs won’t stop eating all the frozen stock I put away.  He eats it on everything.  Fries, hot dogs, rice, nachos, potatoes….you name it, he’ll cover it with chili.  Luckily it’s made with ingredients that are simple to find at any grocery store, and I spend about 10 minutes physically preparing it, so it’s not too bad.  Don’t let the longer list of spice ingredients scare you off either.  I promise this spice mix is 1000x times better than what you get in the pack at the store, and it’s wheat and preservative free!

My favorite two ingredients in this chili are the sausage and the smoked paprika.  Something about chili with sausage is just SO much better to me than plain ol’ beef.  Of course, if you don’t eat pork, just switch it out for more beef.  If you aren’t familiar with smoked paprika, it is one of my most favorite spices of all time.  It’s subtle and smoky, and you don’t need too much, but it gives you a delicious finish that would make you swear that the meat in your chili had been cooked on a smoker.  Just don’t go nuts with it, too much smoky flavor can be a bad thing!

The Bizy Mommy’s Best Chili Recipe

Ingredients:

1 Tbs oil
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 lb beef
1 lb sausage (I use mild)
1 can light red kidney beans (drained)
1 can chili beans (I use mild)
1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
2 can diced tomatoes (15 oz)
4 beef bouillion cubes
4 cups water
1.5 Tbs chili powder
1/4 Tbs red pepper flakes
1.5 Tbs onion powder
2 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs ground cumin
1 Tbs parsley
3/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbs salt

Directions:

1. Heat oil on medium high in a stock pot and add in pepper and onion.  Cook until the onions start to soften.
2. Add in beef and sausage and cook on medium high until browned throughout.
3. Add in all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring frequently to prevent burning to the bottom.
4. Once boiling, reduce heat to low/med and cover.  Let simmer for at least 2 hours, the longer the better.

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-It’s going to look *really* thin while it’s simmering.  Don’t worry, it thickens up as it cooks and then cools.

-The red pepper flakes give it a tiny bit of heat, but it’s not spicy.  If you don’t do heat, leave that out.  If you love heat, keep on pourin!

-You can sub out 4 c. beef broth for the bouillion cubes and water.

-Smoked paprika *really* gives this a nice finish.  If you can get it, I would really suggest using it!

-This makes about 16-18 cups of chili, so if you don’t need a ton, throw it in the freezer for lazy dinner nights!

-If your slow cooker is big enough, you could definitely simmer the chili in it all day.  I would still cook the peppers, onions, and meat in another pot first though, and then add in everything on medium heat for an hour, and then low heat for another 3-4.

Hope you enjoy our family’s favorite chili recipe!  Let me know what you think!