Delicious Hash Brown Casserole

This casserole is one of my family's favorite side dishes, it is so creamy, cheesy, and delicious, who wouldn't want to eat it! Usually hash brown casseroles can be quiet heavy in the calorie department, but I have lightened it up a little bit and found that there is no real difference in taste. Now you can eat this family favorite without worrying about the added inches to your waist line!

1 (2 lb) bag frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
1  (10.75 oz) can low-fat condensed cream of potato soup; I can't always find the low fat kind so original will also work
1/2 cup melted butter; 1/4 cup for the topping, 1/4 cup for the casserole
1 (8 oz) container Greek yogurt
2 cups low-fat shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
2 cups crushed corn flakes
Cooking Spray
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9x13in casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the hash browns, cream of potato soup, 1/4 cup melted butter, Greek yogurt, shredded cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Stir until all the ingredients are well combined. Place the mixture in the casserole dish.

In a bowl mix together the crushed corn flakes and 1/4 cup melted butter. Top the hash brown casserole with the corn flake mixture. Bake the casserole in the oven, uncovered, for approximately 40 minutes or until the casserole is heated through and bubbly. Enjoy!

Mexican Pizza

This recipe is so quick and easy! Start to finish it took me a total of 20 minutes to make...what could be easier then that? This pizza also comes in under 500 calories a serving which is always a plus when you are trying to eat healthy. This pizza reminds me of the Tostada Pizza that California Pizza Kitchen serves, the base of this Mexican pizza uses Pillsbury Crescent rolls, where as California Pizza Kitchen uses pizza dough. Either type of base will work, depending on what your family likes. Pizza dough would also bring the calorie count down even more if you wanted to go in that direction.

Bake the pizza in the oven at 375 degrees until the cheese has melted.

Ingredients-

1 lb. ground beef; 90% lean, 10% fat

2 (8 oz) cans Pillsbury Crescent rolls

2 tbs. Taco seasoning

2 (16 oz) cans refried beans

2 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, I used low-fat cheese

5 scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup tomatoes, diced

1/3 cup black olives, sliced

4 cups shredded lettuce, I used Romaine

1/3 cup low-fat Greek yogurt

1 tbs. Ranch seasoning

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Unroll the Pillsbury Crescent rolls into rectangles and place in an ungreased 11 1/2 in x 16 1/2in jelly roll pan or baking sheet. Press the dough into the bottom of the pan and up the sides. The rolls may overlap slightly, that is ok. Bake the crust in the oven 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. 

While the crust is baking, brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat, about 10 minutes. Drain off any extra grease. Season the ground beef with salt, pepper, and taco seasoning. While the ground beef is cooking, heat the refried beans in a medium sized pot over medium heat. 

Once the crust is done cooking, carefully spread a layer of the refried beans over the crust. Next, spread that browned ground beef over the crust and top with the shredded cheese and scallions. Place back in the oven and cook for another 4-6 minutes until the cheese has melted. 

While the pizza is cooking, in a large bowl, mix together the Greek yogurt and ranch seasoning. Toss the lettuce, tomatoes, and olives in with the yogurt mixture until all the lettuce is nicely coated. When the pizza comes out of the oven top with the salad mixture and serve. Enjoy!

Angel Wings or Crostoli

Angel Wings is a recipe that my Grandma Balogh used to make for us children. Although the family recipe has been lost, this is the closest that my aunt and I have come to the original. Making these cookies brings back fond memories of special treats that Grandma used to make!

Here is what you will need:

1 lb Flour (4 cups)
1 Tbs Crisco or Lard
2 Egg Yokes
1 Whole Egg
1/3 Cup Sugar
2 tsp orange extract or Brandy (we used Almond Extract instead - yum!)
1/4 tsp Salt
1 cup Milk
Powdered Sugar
2 cups Crisco or Lard
2 cups Vegetable Oil

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, 1 tsp lard (or Crisco), egg yolks, whole eggs, extract or brandy and salt. Gradually add milk until the dough forms a firm ball and begins to pull away from the side or the bowl. Turn out onto a floured surface and gently knead for about 5 minutes. This dough will be elastic, but firm. Cover and refrigerate for about 10 minutes. Cut dough into four parts, keeping all but one covered. Keeping surface floured, roll one quarter of the dough to about 1/8" thick. With a pastry wheel, pizza wheel or knife, cut dough into 4X2 diamonds or strips. Make a small horizontal slit in the center of each strip and draw an end of the strip through and curl it back in the opposite direction.

In a deep pan, heat oil and lard (or Crisco) to about 375 degrees. Oil is ready when a test strip of dough bubbles. Fry in hot oil until golden, about 30 seconds on each side, gently turning with tongs. Place angel wings on paper towels and sprinkle generously with powdered sugar when cooled. Store in an airtight container.

Note: My aunt and I have also used 1 tsp ground cardamom to season these cookies.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 1st Birthday Party

My son's birthday party was so much fun, everyone loved the decorations and the Mickey Mouse theme was a huge hit. One way we kept cost down for the party was to keep the food really simple. We had a "Hot Diggity Dog Bar", veggies, fruit, kettle corn, and chips. We were able to buy all the food and drinks at Costco, which was a big help with 60+ people to feed. Dessert however is a different story, my sister and I made a Mickey Mouse cake, Mickey Mouse cupcakes, and Mickey Mouse Oreo pops. The cake only served about 20 people, which is why we added the cupcakes. I also made a large majority of the decorations and used a lot of my son's Mickey Mouse toys to help fill the tables. Be sure to check out all the pictures of the party!

          

My sister and I used a special Mickey Mouse cake pan for the
base of the cake. We used crushed Oreos for the ears, nose, and sides.
Black melting chocolates for the eyes, M&M's for the rope on the hat,
and surprisingly Starburst for the face, tongue, and hat!

                      

We had two tables inside that I decorated with a red table cloth, Mickey Mouse confetti, my son's toys, books, cups, DVDs, and M&M's. We also had two tables outside that were decorated with a red table cloth and balloons. A great way to help with the costs of the decorations is to use things from around your house, which worked especially well since my son already had quiet a bit of Mickey Mouse paraphernalia. 

              

                 

One way to keep cost down is to choose a color theme along with the party theme. We choose red, yellow, and black to help fit in with Mickey Mouse. I was able to buy all the table cloths, napkins, utensils, and paper plates at the dollar store. If you choose primary or secondary colors it will be very easy for you to purchase most of your paper goods at the dollar store. 

I found the template for the food labels at this website: wonderfulchaoticlife.blogspot.com. I simply downloaded them and made up fun names for the different foods we were serving. 

Unfortunately we did not get a good picture of the Mickey Mouse head that the Oreo pops were placed in, I made them out of two small half spheres and one large half spheres. I painted the spheres black and held the "ears" on with toothpicks. 

This was such a fun project for me to make and it barely took any time or money. Just a piece of scrapbook paper, a frame from the dollar store, and picture printer paper. Everyone loved looking at the pictures and seeing how our son has grown. 

I saw a sign like this one online, I thought it was so adorable I decided to make my own. I downloaded free Mickey Mouse and Disney fonts online and bought the frame at the dollar store. Cheap, Easy, and Super Cute!

If you have any questions on how to make the decorations or where I found all the supplies, please don't hesitate to ask!

Blueberry Banana Buttermilk Bread

So you make a recipe that calls for 1 cup of buttermilk and then you think to yourself, what am I going to do with the rest of this cartoon. It sits in the fridge, gets shuffled around to make room for other food, and finally goes bad... Well not anymore, this recipe allows you to use that buttermilk and those over-ripe bananas that no one wants to eat. Add some fresh or frozen blueberries, some almond extract and you have a delicious breakfast bread that is sure to satisfy.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup blueberries, plus more to top the bread

Cooking Spray

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat two non-stick loaf pans with cooking spray. 

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy for about 3-5 minutes. On low speed, add one egg at a time until combined. Next add the buttermilk, vanilla extract and almond extract, mix on low speed till combined. Mix in the mashed bananas on medium speed. Gradually add in the flour mixture on low speed until just combined, making sure not to over-mix as this will make the bread tough. With a spatula, gently fold in 1 cup of blueberries.

Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans and top with a few blueberries. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the bread comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool for about 15 minutes. Then remove the bread from the loaf pans, place on a wire baking rack and allow to cool completely. Enjoy!

Note: The loafs of bread are relatively small as you can see from the picture above; if you would prefer to make one big loaf of bread that would be fine as well, just make sure to cook the bread longer in the oven.