Minute with Mandy

The holidays are right around the corner and one of my favorite traditional holiday recipes is a good old corn casserole!

With only six ingredients, ten minutes to prepare and an hour in the oven – your entire family is sure to love this recipe.

It’s so easy. SO EASY. Just take the five ingredients below and mix them all together in a mixing bowl, then spray a casserole dish with nonstick spray (or muffin tins with liners work too for mini casseroles) and then pour the creamy corny goodness into the dish.

Pop it in the oven for one hour at 350 degrees.

BAM… it’s done.

• 1 can of corn, drained
• 1 can of creamed corn
• 1 cup of sour cream
• 1 stick of melted butter (1/2 cup)
• 1 box of Jiffy Corn Muffin mix
• 2 eggs (beaten)

Enjoy!

Mandy

Recently I have been CRAVING peanut butter and for someone with a peanut allergy this can cause BIG problems. I was determined to find something that would cure my craving and after trying about a thousand different crackers, ice creams, snacks and more I have finally found something that provides the peanut butter flavor I was looking for that’s also pretty healthy!

Ingredients:

• Rolled Oats
• Honey
• Peanut Butter (I can’t eat peanut butter so I used a peanut butter substitute)
• Chocolate Chips

These are so easy to make.

First I poured the whole package of rolled oats into a mixing bowl.

Next, I added about a quarter cup of honey.

Then I added all of the peanut butter.

In my opinion it’s easier to roll them when the mixture is warm so I stuck the mixing bowl in the microwave for about 45 seconds.

Then I add in the chocolate chips. Sometimes I add a lot and sometimes I only add a little.

The fun part of this recipe is that you can add in a lot of things – you could add sunflower seeds, flax seed, chia seeds, nuts – the sky is the limit!

You can make as much or as little as you want which is what is great about this recipe. You just need to add enough honey and peanut butter to create a “sticky” mixture you can roll into balls.

If you don’t want to roll it into balls you can just pour it into a baking pan and compress the mixture by laying a piece of wax paper on top of it and squishing it down (like you would do if you were making Rice Krispie treats).

ENJOY!

I love my vegetables but sadly, broccoli is not high up on my list of veggie favorites.

I don’t like the way it smells when you cook it and I don’t like the soggy texture when it’s cooked.

I LOVE raw broccoli. I love it even more in this tasty broccoli salad.

It’s a super-easy way to get in some extra veggies.

Dressing:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

Salad:

• 2 heads of broccoli (or two bags of frozen broccoli)
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 small red onion
• 12 slices of bacon (you can skip the meat if you don’t want to include it)

Note: You can add in nuts (peanuts or almonds) but I have a nut allergy so I skip this step.

How to Make It:

1. Mix mayo, sugar, and vinegar. Set aside.
2. Cook bacon so it’s good and crispy and chop into bits.
3. Cut broccoli, chop onion, and dressing.
4. Boil 2 cups of water and quickly “dunk” the broccoli into the water (I do it in the strainer for no more than 30 seconds)… this makes the broccoli a little softer.
5. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
6. Let sit in the fridge overnight so all the flavor mixes and soaks into the broccoli.

Summer is almost over and our weekday routines are back in full force.

Here are five of my favorite one-dish dinners so you can avoid turning on the hot stove, get out of the kitchen and spend the spare time that you do have with your loved ones.

ONE: Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup 

This is one of my favorite things to make because it’s so easy and it makes SO much!

I get a rotisserie chicken for dinner. After we are done eating the bulk of the chicken, I take the leftover chicken and bones and toss them into a crock pot and cover it with water. I let this cook down for a few hours so the chicken falls off and it makes a nice broth.

After 3-4 hours I pull out the bones and toss in frozen vegetables, grains and noodles.

Let that cook until the noodles are tender an you’re done!

I really like a lot of seasoning in my soup so I add salt and pepper at the end.

For the picture below I did save some of the chicken breast and cut it up into cubes to dress it up a little.

TWO: Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

This is SO easy. I like to purchase the Taco “Kit” that comes with the shells and seasoning. I use the amount of chicken listed on the seasoning packet and just put the chicken, seasoning and double the amount of water into the crockpot and let it cook for 8 hours (or a full work day) on low. Then when I get home it’s usually so tender that I can just stir the meat and it pulls apart.

If there is still some extra water in the crock pot I turn it up to high and let it sit for an hour and it usually evaporates.

THREE: Grilled Chicken 

My favorite way to make grilled chicken is to soak it for a few hours in Olive Garden Italian Dressing!

Then just place it on the grill and cook! I like to cook mine until it has some burnt spots (I think they make it taste the best!

FOUR: Mom’s Chicken Pot Pie 

This recipe is something my mom has made for years! You can use anything you want for the crust – Phyllo Dough, Pie Crust, Crescent Rolls or Crushed up Crackers!