Easy Cheesy Salsa Potatoes

How can you go wrong with a recipe with both easy and cheesy in the title?

2 cups shredded cheddar
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can cream of whatever (original recipe called for condensed cheddar, but I used cream of chicken, and still tasted great)
1/2 tsp pepper
1 bag (24 oz) frozen hash browns, thawed
1 cup plain bread crumbs (I used cracker crumbs instead)
1/4 cup melted butter

Heat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13. (Picture shows a half recipe, smaller casserole dish)

Mix cheese, salsa, onion, sour cream, soup and pepper in a large bowl. Stir in potatoes and spread into dish.

In small bowl mix the crumbs and butter. Sprinkle over potatoes.

Bake 45-60 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

ChickenEtti

Chicken Etti

1 package spaghetti noodles

3 cups diced, cooked chicken

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1 cup chicken broth

1 pound cheese (Velveeta)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can cream of chicken soup

Directions:

Boil spaghetti noodles, and put them into a large bowl.

Add chicken, green pepper, and chicken broth.

In a smaller bowl, combine the cheese, diced tomatoes, and cream of chicken soup. Stir, and melt mixture in the microwave.

Pour the cheese mixture into the large bowl, and mix.

Pour the mixture into a casserole dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Tuna Casserole - THE BEST

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook up one box of pasta according to directions.

Spray 9 x 13 pan with non-stick spray.

In a bowl combine the following:

3 cans tuna - mostly drained (I used white albacore chunk)
2 cans diced tomatoes - mostly drained
1 can water chestnuts - drained and diced
1 can cream of chicken soup.
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup dijon mustard
Pepper and garlic powder to taste.

Return the drained pasta to the pot. Dump in the contents of the bowl. Stir until mixed. Pour into 9 x 13 pan. Top with shredded cheeese (of course!). Bake until warm, melty and yummy. About 30 minutes.

Turkey and rice bake

This one is a variation on leftover turkey casserole.
In a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup chopped cooked turkey and 2 cups of cooked rice (that's how much rice I measured before I cooked it). Add 1/2 cup diced onions, 1 can cream of chicken, 1 can cream of celery, and 1/2 cup of milk. Mix and spread in glass pan. Cover with cheddar. Bake 30 min at 350 degrees.

Mild Mexi Puffs

I messed around with some ingredients I had in the kitchen and came up with a mildly pleasant suprise in these. Sorry, no photos! Oops. The kids LOVED them.

2 cans of 10 each small refrigerated biscuits
1 pound hamburger
2 cups corn
2 TBS chilli powder
1 can black beans
1/2 cup mayo
2 cups shredded cheese (whatever you've got. I had cheddar.)

Brown hamburger in skillet and while it's browing add the chilli powder and corn.
While this is cooking, use you fingers (or fingers belonging to little ones!) to spread out the biscuits till they're really thin. Place the biscuits in a well-greased large muffin tin. You'll need two tins.
After the hamburger mix is done, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Spoon into the biscuits and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, or untill dark golden brown. The biscuits will puff up around the filling and make yummy pastries.
After removing them from the oven, be sure to knife the around edges well, or they'll stick to the pan.

Grilled bread with zucchini, ricotta, & basil

Do you like the picture I took of this meal? Amazing how it looks just like the image from "Real Simple", where I got the recipe. This was REALLY yummy. And really easy. Think of it as a sandwich, when it comes to meal planning. Or I think you could use smaller pieces of bread and make an appetizer out of it. Finally, I didn't have fresh basil or crushed red-pepper. So I used dried basil and black pepper as an adjustment. Seems like a very flexible recipe.

6-8 1/2-inch-thick slices of country bread
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 small zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 cup fresh basil, leaves torn
1/4 teaspooon crushed red pepper
Kosher salt
1 cup ricotta (about)

Heat grill to medium-high. Brush the bread with 1 tablespoon of the oil and grill until golden and crisp, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to plates

Grill the zucchini until tender and slightly charred, 3 to 4 minutes per side. (Yes, I grilled the 'skin' cut of the zucchini, too. Ymmmmm).

In a large bowl, combine ricotta, red pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the remaining tablespoon of oil.

Top the bread with ricotta, basil, and zucchini. Enjoy the mouth-watering yumminess.