Homemade McGriddles Recipe

My kids LOVE the McGriddles at McDonalds. My daughter recently spent the night at a friend’s house and her friend's parents made homemade McGriddles! So I was getting tired of hearing how good they were, (or just plain jealous) and decided to take tackle this myself. I googled a few recipes and some are just crazy. So as usual, I did things my way and made it as simple as I possibly could and created a winning dinner or breakfast recipe. It is probably a lot healthier and for sure, a LOT CHEAPER than McDonalds!

What you will need: Pancake mix. (I use Krusteaz Buttermilk) as pictured below.

Cooked sausage patties, sliced American cheese, & scrambled eggs (optional).

Step 1. make pancake mix according to package instructions.
Step 2. Use a 1/4 measuring cup and pour onto hot griddle.
Step 3. When pancake starts to bubble, drizzle your favorite maple syrup onto pancake & flip.

Step 4. Flip one more time to make it a tad less fluffy.
Step 5. Add your sausage, cheese and egg....Wallah...McGriddle's MY way!

Goulash Recipe (my way)

This recipe is great for BUSY MOMS!

Goulash is no doubt a Midwest comfort food. My Grandmother made it a lot, and then so did my mom. I now make goulash for my family. It is not only yummy, but it fits the bill too! The best part~ it is SIMPLE & QUICK!

What you need: 1lb ground beef, cooked pasta (we prefer elbow macaroni or shell pasta), your canned tomatoes, (or stewed tomatoes in a can), 1 or 2 cans of tomato soup, cheese of your choice. (I use cheddar or parmesan).

Step 1. Brown your ground beef, I always add chopped onion, salt & pepper, sometimes choppped green peppers too.

Step 2. Boil pasta according to package instructions.
Step 3. Add drained ground beef to your drained cooked pasta, & your stewed tomatoes,(or your canned tomatoes) tomato soup.

Step 4. Place your goulash in a casserole pan and top with about 1/2 cup of cheese. (I added fresh basil for more of an Italian taste).

Step. 5 Bake covered for 20-25 min.

Step 6. ENJOY

There are many ways of modifying this recipe. You can add crushed tomatoes instead of stewed tomatoes, or your homemade canned tomatoes (with juice). You can also add store bought tomato juice. You really cannot mess this easy HOTDISH up! Goulash freezes well and taste even better the next day. Tip: When re-heating goulash, if it seems dry, just add some tomato juice.


My Recipe for homemade vegetable tomato Juice is under Recipes tab. I recommend using it in this goulash recipe.

School Lunch idea

 Preparing school lunches can be mind-boggling at times. Preparing a cold sandwich is one idea, but I try and mix it up a bit. On cold winter days, my kids love to have something warm to eat.
I absolutely LOVE thermos meals. When purchasing a thermos, make sure you buy a good one. Not the plastic cheap ones. The food will not stay warm in the cheap ones. I like the brand Thermos.

Here is one idea that my kids really enjoy:

What you will need:

1 package of Bob Evans Mac & Cheese & 1 small ham steak (pre- cooked)

1st. Heat water in a tea pot until boiling. Pour boiling water into thermos and replace lid. Let stand.
 In the meantime, heat up ham & prepare Mac & cheese according to pkg instructions. allowing boiling water sit in thermos will assure you that your food will stay warm until lunch time. (about 4-5 hours)

2nd. Dice heated ham. Mix together. Wallah! You have created a lunch your kids are sure to love!
Another great point, is the cost of this lunch. Bob Evan's Mac & Cheese is 2.49. I only buy it when it is on sale for that price. It is even cheaper if you have a coupon!
Ham Steak 2.89
I am  able to make 3 lunches from this. I also send cold milk into a thermos and a piece of fruit. This is roughly under $2 per lunch. Want it even cheaper? Use Kraft Mac & Cheese prepared the night before.
I have also added cooked chicken breast or sliced all beef cooked hot dogs.

Tater Tot HOTDISH Recipe

Well, here is another famous Midwest recipe. In fact, I think about every Midwest mama probably has some idea how to make this. I have learned that everyone makes this a little bit different. So I am going to share my way, and who knows you might just like it!

Coming from Iowa to Minnesota, I have learned that in Minnesota, it is improper to call any casserole a casserole. Nope, it is a HOTDISH in Minnesota. So here is my Tater Tot HOTDISH recipe.

This is a great recipe to double up or even triple it and freeze it. It heats up nicely.

What you will need:
1 lb ground beef or lean ground turkey
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 12oz bag of frozen veggies of your choice (thawed)
I can of cream style corn (this is what makes it mine) ha ha
1-2 cans of cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery soup
3/4 cup shredded cheese (I use colby jack)
1 16oz bag of frozen tater tots
salt & pepper

1. Brown ground beef with salt & pepper and chopped onion. Drain.

2. Mix the soups and veggies with ground beef & add to cake pan and top with cheese.

3. Top with the frozen tater tots and bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 min. (I use the broil option for about the last 3 min, because we like it extra crispy)

This recipe is easy on the wallet too and everyone is sure to love it! Remember you can adjust the ingredients to your liking. I added a can of cream-style corn one time, only because I did not have enough soup, and it seemed too dry & Wallah....I created a family favorite!

Vegetable Tomato Juice Recipe

Well, Fall is here in the upper Midwest. But, we have had warmer than normal temps. So my tomatoes are still coming in and I have had more than I know what do with lately. I have resorted to canning a majority of them, but today I decided to share with my savvy readers, about how to make a quick tomato juice for some everyday recipes, such as chili, goulash, porcupine meatballs. I will add this to chili this week. It is a great way to get your kiddos to eat more veggies, and adds a hearty flavor too! This recipe was taught to me by my Grandmother. :)

You will need: Large sauce pan, about 12 tomatoes, salt & pepper, chopped vegetables of your choice.

1. Rinse your tomatoes under cool water and add to a pan of boiling water and let boil until skins split. (usually about 2 min)

2. Once the skins have split, place tomatoes onto a cake pan to cool.

 3. Once tomatoes have slightly cooled, peel off skins and add to a large sauce pan along with chopped vegetables and salt & pepper. As you can see, I used chopped green peppers and celery and salt & pepper. Other good ideas are: Fresh basil, red & yellow peppers, onions.

 4. Cook over medium heat and stir for about 5 minutes or until the tomatoes have cooked down to a liquid. I use my Pampered Chef stir and chop tool~ LOVE it!

5. Once tomatoes have cooked down to a liquid, turn heat to low and let simmer for 20-25 minutes.

6. Finally turn off heat and let sit for a few minutes to cool and either use right away in your fav recipe or you can easily store in a ziploc bag or container. You can also freeze this recipe or can it.

Savvy deal

Hello my savvy shoppers! Here is a deal that is awesome! Target right now has the mobile coupon for Transformers: Dark of the Moon action figure for  $5.00 off! To make it even better they have a few that are only $4.99!!! So what does that mean? FREE! (well you have to pay sales tax) So hurry before this expires. I have these mobile coupons sent to my husband's phone as well...so got 2 free!
I will have one happy 4 year old boy, at Christmas time!

If you do not have a smart phone, you are not able to get the mobile coupons.

No, really, it's October.

I cannot believe it's already October!  Making it even more unbelievable is this gorgeous weather we are having, which I'm unable to enjoy because I'm chained to a desk either working or doing homework... blech!

Halloween is fast approaching and coming even more quickly is my kids' family dance at their school on Thursday which is doubling as a costume contest.  I am unprepared.  Homemade, creative Halloween costumes are my thing.  I am not big on the pre-packaged plastic mask type of costume.  They're expensive and, in my opinion, not as fun.  My kids love brainstorming and helping create their costumes and it's something fun we can do together.  Last year, Miss Em was the Mad Hatter.  A trip to the second hand store, a call to grandma for supplies, a wig, a hat, and some cosmetics and we were good to go! The costume turned out great and the best part was the time I got to spend with her making it all come together.  When Mister was four, I made for him, with help from his Pappy, a Wall-E costume.  All it took was a cardboard box, some yellow vinyl, duct tape, and decals created in Word.  Four years later and he still plays with it; although, it could use some duct tape!

I don't think I will be topping these costumes this year.  We made a mad dash to Wal-Mart after piano lessons today to pick up supplies for their yet-to-be confirmed costumes.  Fingers crossed things come together easily and without tears... from them or me...  Even if this years costumes aren't as great as what we've done in the past, it doesn't matter.  We had fun tonight wandering around thinking of ideas, laughing and joking.  Sure, it would be easier (and quicker) to just buy a costume off the shelf but where is the memory making in that?

~ Jamie ~