Favorites- Fried Fresh Mozzarella and Chicken Parm

These are two of my all time favorite "special" dinner recipes...

Fried Fresh Mozzarella and Chicken Parm!

Sometimes we make them together but plenty of times I'll make up the fried Mozzarella with some pasta and salad...or as an appetizer when friends come over.

The plate gets devoured.

Cheese.. fried.. c'mon. amazingness.

The Chicken Parm is such an easy meal to make when you have company coming over. You can have all the messy work done with it ready to go..

The chicken parm in the oven! kitchen clean... pasta boiling!

These recipes are low fat, low calories, low everything.........

just go with that. ;)

Once you make this one time you'll be able to cook

without even pulling up the recipe! super easy. 

FRIED MOZZARELLA

(Better than store OR restaurant bought!)

Originally posted here when I discovered the recipe on recipezaar.com

I've changed it up to fit how we like it! Below is the recipe I use.

(not the prettiest photo below..but you get the idea! this wasn't a planned post. ;)

INGREDIENTS:

pack of fresh mozzarella (ball or log)..cut into pieces

2 eggs beaten

2 tablespoons water

3/4 cup panko italian bread crumbs

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoon dried oregano (I LOVE this spice. heavy handed with it)

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/3 cup flour

pinch or two of salt and pepper

olive oil (for frying)

DIRECTIONS:

--Pull out three bowls.

--In one bowl combine the water and egg.

--In your second bowl but the flour

--In the third, and final bowl, combine the bread crumbs and spices.

--Dip the piece of fresh mozzarella into the egg mixture, flour mixture, egg mixture and lastly in the bread mixture. Place on a plate.

--Repeat till all the cheese is coated.

--Cover the plate of breaded cheese with foil and put in freezer.

This helps the cheese to hold it's shape when fried.

--When you are ready pull out the cheese a little before frying.

--Heat up your saucepan..and then add olive oil.

--Make sure it's hot enough.. (test with a pinch of flour.)

--I put in enough oil to have them soaked but not swimming in it!

You'll get the hang of how much to put in.

--Place your cheese in the pan and brown both sides. make sure not to overcrowd the pan.

--Tongs make this whole frying process easier.

--SOMETIMES I place on paper towels to drain..but sometimes if the cheese is melting already I skip that or you'll have a big ol mess. I don't put in too much oil to begin with.

--EAT UP! You can dip in marinara or spaghetti sauce.

CHICKEN PARM

The ingredients are the same as the fried mozzarella... same idea..

You just need thin chicken breasts.. and maybe a little more

of the dry ingredients depending on how much chicken you are making up!

INGREDIENTS:

Same as Fried Mozzarella

+ Jar of Spaghetti Sauce

+Pasta of choice (sometimes we'll make just chicken parm with thin spaghetti)

+Thin sliced Mozzarella (You could use deli sliced...

shredded mozzarella.. or even the fresh ball/log sliced thin)

DIRECTIONS:

--Bread the chicken and brown in pan, the same way I explained the fried Mozzarella.

--put some of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of your casserole pan

--Layer the chicken, sauce and cheese

--Cover with foil

--Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.. depending on how thin your chicken is!

(The chicken is browned but just needs to be cooked through. I always check occasionally)

--You can remove the foil near the end if you want it a little toasted!

--enjoy!

--Leftovers are great for chicken parm sandwiches!

little tip when covering recipes that are cheesy on top, with foil....

spray the foil with cooking spray before you cover!

GENIUSSSSSS. I know. Can't remember who

told me that trick but it's awesome.

(photo from when I last made lasagna roll ups)

If you are looking for a good dressing to go on salad...

This is our all time favorite in the house.

Enjoy!

Freezer Crock Pot Meal Prep Day- TAKE TWO

My first try at Freezer Crock Pot Meals was such a hit,

with hundreds of pin and repins..

I thought I would share again my second try at it!

Seems like a lot of us are wanting to make

grocery shopping/cooking/meal planning easier!

By shopping at both Aldi's and Giant Eagle this week

I was able to get the price per meal to under $4!

Here's the list of recipes I made up this past week:

Click to be taken to original recipe I used (my documents with the recipes are changed a little)

Guinness Beef Stew

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Zuppa Toscana

Creamy Beef Stroganoff 

Meatball Minestrone Soup

Pulled Pork (based off this recipe...

my version is in the file to download below)

Chicken and Dumplings

You can download the RECIPES HERE featuring what to write on each Freezer Bag!

(use sharpie and write on bag BEFORE you fill them up.

knowing what to put on them ahead of time makes it so much quicker!)

and my categorized GROCERY LIST can be downloaded HERE

Not sure yet how these all cook up..some are new ones.. let me know what you think!

And thanks for trying it out with me :)

(PS. My favorite is the chicken and dumplings...

I cook it for 2 hours on high and then 30 or so minutes with the biscuits dropped in!)

You can also check out my First Try at this money and time saving project HERE for

more info and other recipes! (downloadable grocery and recipe list)

MY NOTES ON MY FIRST TRY AT FREEZER CROCK POT MEALS.

** LOVE the Chicken and Dumplings..always have. that's why I'm doubling it this time.

**not a fan of the chicken and rice.

**red potatoes turned brown only in ONE of the recipes.. wierd. So this time I put the potatoes in a seperate freezer bag to do a little trial..and see if they turn brown or not. if they do..I'll just throw in some fresh when it's time.

**Pulled Pork last time was yummy to use for tacos.. but we really like it with barbecue the most. So I went ahead and poured in the Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue sauce right away this time. :) LOVEEE eating the barbecue pulled pork on tacos with cheese. it's delicious. trust me.

Creamed Spinach Pasta

This is one of my FAVORITE

super quick (meatless) meals!

Creamed Spinach Pasta

--Pasta..(choo choo wheels because sienna can eat them easy)

--a box of frozen creamed spinach (I used Bird's Eye)

--A 'splash' of Heavy Whipping Cream to moisten it up. (or you could use milk)

--Salt and Pepper to taste!

Sienna gobbles this up..just like me. :)

This meal is perfect for those of you

looking for meatless meal ideas for lent!

Freezer Crock Pot Meals- Prep Day

One of my New Year Resolutions...

was to figure out a better system for cooking/cleaning.

Now that I have a crowd...

(a husband, a 4 yr old, 2 yr old and 7 week old)

I knew that I needed a plan to tackle feeding this crew that made it easier and saved us money.

There were far too many nights it would be 5 and

I would have no clue what I was going to make for dinner.

This new system of Freezer Crock Pot Meals has helped TREMENDOUSLY!!!

It saves you time..because the meals are prepped and ready to go....

And it saves you money! Each of my 17 meals only cost us $4.00!

Each recipe gives our family 2 meals...one even 3 meals!

So one day of cooking and I have 17 meals taken care of!

Below I've listed the recipes (sourcing the original recipe)

You can download the RECIPES and FREEZER BAG DIRECTIONS here to print...

along with the GROCERY LIST sorted by sections for easy shopping.

Be sure to check over the list because you most likely already have many of the items!

*I added crock pot liners to the list...because they are AMAZING.*

Now I think that some people might do the Prep Work at night..when hubby is home.

But lately my 7 week old is super fussy at that time..and If I'm not holding/nursing him..

I just want to relax by the end of the day! So my plan is to do most of the prep

(even if it's divided up) during one day. I'm realistic in that it will take me a while...

and probably will be interrupted by melt downs..nap time.. and tea parties..

but It is do able and will be worth it. (Be sure not to leave meat out.

I saved that part to when I knew I could cut/bag/refrigerate without interruptions.)

Here's how your first attempt at

Freezer Crock Pot Meals should go:

First...start the morning off with a dance party to t swift.

mom hair..wet hair on top of head..is not required. but c'mon... I look good.

Then.. let the kids destroy the house while you chop everything up!

(You can clean the family room up later while they make a mess in their room.)

Hopefully at least one of the bambinos will co-operate and sleep..

occasionally push the battery dead swing with your foot to keep baby asleep...

Take a break to make "lunch" for kids..... be hilarious.

"Girl Faces" will probably be requested. Now that your kids know you are funny you

will never be able to serve a boring lunch again without a revolt.

you have no one to blame but yourself for that.

Label your Gallon sized ziplock bags with each Recipe...

Including the cook time/heat level..and any directions for when you are cooking.

(My husband "made" dinner..and was able to read the bag and make it happen

while I nursed baby. perfecto. mission accomplished.)

These are the recipes that I chose to make for my

first try at Freezer Crock Pot Meals.

I did 3 tried and true favorites..and 4 new ones.
If you are wanting to pick just a few of these recipes...
go with the Chicken and Dumplings..Pulled Pork..and Lasagna. they are our favorites!
Our Picky eater, Sienna, LOVES the cheesy chicken and rice.. and we all LOVE the chicken and dumplings. I just pulled that out to make up tomorrow night. :)

I suggest purchasing most of your items at a store like Aldi's or Bottom Dollar.

However, When I decided to try this out..it was new years day...
so Aldi's was closed and I did my shopping at Giant Eagle.
I think I could have spent a lot less shopping at Aldi's or with coupons.
This time though.....I spent $68.00 for 17 meals...
equaling out to $4.00 per meal for my family.
(The lasagna bag gives 2 meals of lasagna with extra meat sauce for a pasta meal!)
My new routine is to pull out a frozen bag and put in fridge the
night before (at bed or when I'm finishing up dinner) so that it is thawed and ready to go the next day. You could put plenty of these in frozen...it would just take longer to cook obviously.
As far as leftovers with these meals... I love that you can use the pulled pork another day for tacos.. and change up the extra lasagna meat sauce with a different type of pasta. You could divide up even more the soup or the cheesy chicken potatoes if you add more potatoes.

Here are the original recipes I used this time around.

Be sure to download the grocery

and recipe list above for how I made them up!

Chicken & Dumplings

Beef Barley Stew

Curry Chicken

Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli & Potatoes

Lasagna/Pasta Sauce

Cheesy Chicken and Rice

PULLED PORK

This was my first try and I'm
happy to share what we did!
If I can do it, a mama with babies at her feet and in her arms, so can you!
I'm excited to put this new system into work at our house.
Sophie kept asking me what I was doing...
I told her I was cooking all day so that later in
the week I could play instead of cook!
She was all about that idea. I think she cheered. ;)


ADDED FEBRUARY 18TH:

MY NOTES ON MY FIRST TRY AT FREEZER CROCK POT MEALS.

** LOVE the Chicken and Dumplings..always have.

that's why I'm doubling it this next time.

**not a fan of the chicken and rice. too..thick.

**red potatoes turned brown only in ONE of the recipes.. wierd.

So this next time I put the potatoes in a seperate freezer bag to do a little trial..

and see if they turn brown or not. if they do..I'll just throw in some fresh when it's time.

**Pulled Pork last time was yummy to use for tacos.. but we really like it with barbecue the most. So I went ahead and poured in the Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue sauce right away this time. :) LOVEEE eating the barbecue pulled pork on tacos with cheese.

it's delicious. trust me.

October & Fall Fun Ideas!

I wanted to do a round up of some

of the past fun our little family has

had that are October and Fall related!

Some are fun craft and gifting ideas...

but most are yummy fall recipes and treat ideas!

Looking forward to adding more to this round up as the month continues. :)

1. Owl Cupcakes

2. Felt Monsters

(almost made puppet versions of the Felt Monsters DIY!

will post about them soon- lots of play time value)

3. Pumpkin Spice Bars OF YOUR DREAMS.

4. Itsy Bitsy Spider Treats

5. Halloween Treat Bags

6. Oatmeal Scotchies

7. DIY Bride Costumes

8. Peek A Boo Pop Up Halloween Card

9. Gifting Halloween Treats

10. Apple Crisp (Family Favorite)

My girls and I just brought in our pumpkins and filled up our

empty stone fireplace with them!

I like them better inside..we can enjoy them.

But I think we need 2 more to fill out the space best.

Glad we found them at Aldi's for $1.99 each. ;)

 (thanks to my blog readers on facebook who gave

me tips on where to find cheap pumpkins!!)

I also saw candles on sale for 3 for $10 at Michael's.. the big kind!

and there are coupons going on right now for 20% off your entire purchase..

I love their cinnamon apple ones. mmmm. smells like fall.

Might stop by there over the weekend to grab up that deal.

Happy Fall everyone!

Creamed Spinach Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes & Chicken

All of these ingredients sounded yummy..

so worked them into a recipe all together!

Recipes like this, full of basic yummy ingredients..

make winging dinner easy ;)

(I always know when to post a recipe on my blog...

If the instagram photo gets people begging for the recipe..

you know it'll be a good one to post. ;)

Creamed Spinach Pasta with

Roasted Tomatoes & Chicken 

INGREDIENTS:

Angel Hair Pasta

2 Heirloom Tomatoes

Chicken Tenderloins

Pack of Green Giant Frozen Creamed Spinach

Heavy Whipping Cream

*Spices: Garlic Salt, Oregano, Basil, Pepper, Salt

Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS:

Set the pasta to Boil..

Preheat oven to 415 (I just stick my tomatoes in as soon as they are ready!)

Heat oil in sauté pan..add chicken and spices.

(I covered the chicken with oregano, garlic salt, basil & pepper..salted to taste)

When water starts to boil add pasta of choice. I used angel hair.

While Chicken and Pasta cook, slice up tomatoes very thin..

Cover cookie sheet with foil(clean up is easier)

Lay out tomatoes on cookie sheet.. drizzle with olive oil and Spices*

Roast tomatoes. (I suppose you could use broiler but I liked mine not so dried up.

Take out tomatoes when they look nice and toasty and how you like them!

Cook pack of frozen creamed spinach in microwave as the box directions say..

When Pasta is done add in creamed spinach..and a few splashed of heavy whipping cream

(add just enough to make it easy to stir)

I added in some more of the spices* to taste

Add in the roasted tomatoes (or plate, and serve on top)

Chicken should be done! Slice up and put in pasta..or or serve on the side!

Enjoy!

POPCORN Recipes & Gift Giving Ideas

I have been hunting down yummy homemade

popcorn recipes for the girls' Vintage Circus Party!

I have 5 or so large glass jars with lids (I put my flour..sugar..etc.. in them)

I'm going to fill them up with a variety of popcorn to choose from..

and use mini yellow popcorn boxes I bought from Oriental Trading.com

Here's a round-up of some yummy Popcorn Recipes for DIY gift giving!

1. Classic Homemade Popcorn via Simply Recipes

2. Pretty Pink Popcorn via erin cooks

3. White Chocolate Popcorn via scissors and spatulas

4. S'mores Popcorn via Nest of Posies

5. Snickers Popcorn via Six Sisters' Stuff

6. Herbed Garlic Parmesan Popcorn via Our Best Bites

7. Chocolate & Peanut Butter Popcorn via Brown Eyed Baker

8. Chocolate Caramel Popcorn via Not Your Mommas Cookie

Not throwing a circus party?? That's ok!

There are plenty of occasions to gift popcorn..

I worked up a few designs for inspiration!

I'm adding a new listing to my printables shop...POPCORN gift tags!

Choose your occasion..your colors..

add a personalized tag (love, _____) if you want..

and you have your own printable for your gift giving!

Lasagna Roll Ups- Favorite Pasta Dish

Lasagna Roll Ups

I was having a minor dilema over what to make for dinner..

I looked through the fridge and saw ricotta cheese..parmesan..

thought of stuffed shells..

but only had lasagna noodles.

so I looked up recipes with those ingredients and saw Lasagna Roll Ups!

I'm not very good at sticking to a recipe..

I looked at the general idea and then this is what we ended up with.

The original post I looked at was this one.

I made this tonight...and HAD to post it.

Might have been the pregnancy..but this tasted AMAZING.

the girls devoured it. and so did the husband.

We paired it with Caesar Salad.. and oranges for the girls. (a sienna request)

INGREDIENTS:

8 Lasagna Noodles

small onion

1 bag of Shredded Mozzarella

1/3 cup Parmesan

1 container (15 ounce) Ricotta Cheese (I ended up using 3/4th of it)

1 jar Tomato Sauce

1/2 cup diced tomatoes

1 tsp Diced Garlic Cloves

1 Tb olive oil

Spices: Salt, Pepper, (by eye)

 1 Tb Oregano, 1 tsp Basil, 1 tsp Parsley 1 tsp garlic powder

(this is an estimate..I eyeballed it. so go with the amount of seasoning you like.)

(I'm sorry I'm not more specific with how much of the spices I put in.

I usually eye ball it.. and as silly as it sounds..smell it. haha.

If it smells good it's good to go!)

DIRECTIONS:

-Put water on to boil.

-Cook 8 Lasagna noodles for 8-10 minutes. (al dente)

-While the pasta cooks make the Cheese Mixture

-Dice some onions for the sauce..(I did 1TB diced small)

-Mix in a bowl the Ricotta Cheese, Parmesan Cheese, Half the Shredded Mozzarella

-Now add in the spices: Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper, Oregano, Basil, Parsley

-Have very cute husband drain your pasta because you hate doing that.

-Lay out lasagna noodles on cutting board

(I had a small board..so just put out 4 at a time..left the rest in the colander)

-Preheat Oven to 375

-Pull out 9x13 pan..lightly grease and put a small amount of sauce in bottom

-Use the same pan that you used for the pasta for the Sauce...

-Drizzle a little olive oil..saute onions and 1tsp garlic cloves

-Add in 1/2 cup Diced Tomatoes (I had canned)

-Pour in jar of pasta sauce

-Sprinkle in oregano (I LOVE it..so I added in a good shake.)

(You could also add ground beef to the sauce..we did vegetarian style)

-Put sauce on low simmer

-Drop small amount of cheese mixture onto lasagna and spread. cover entire piece making sure to keep down the middle and away from the edges.

-Roll lasagna and place in pan seam side down.

-Once pan is filled..I salted the pan lightly.. then covered the pasta with sauce.

-I sprinkled pan with more oregano..for color..and because again, love it.

-Sprinkle some of the shredded cheese..leaving some to top off near the end.

-Spray tin foil with cooking spray and cover the pan.

-Cook in Oven for 30 minutes..

-Take out and sprinkle more cheese..

leaving off foil..cook for 5 more minutes or until melted and bubbly.

You need to make this..... so delicious.

Kid and Husband approved.

It came together fast and easy with only a couple pans used.

I'll be making this a lot...it might even be my new favorite

recipe to gift people with. It's so cheesy yummy.