Category: Dinner Recipes

Menu planning is one area that I’ve struggled with as a mom for a LONG time. I’m getting better about planning out my weekly dinner menu in advance (thanks to Pinterest!) The number one reason why I felt I could never get a decent dinner on the table for my family each day was all due to poor planning. If I don’t plan it, it’s not going to get done and then my family is stuck eating pre-packaged frozen foods or peanut butter sandwiches.

Now that I’m able to plan out our meals, we are able to get all of the ingredients we need at the grocery store on the weekends. Then, dinner time is easy when I know exactly what we are making. One of our goals for this year was to sit down as a family more for dinner time and we’ve been doing a great job with that now that I’m meal planning!

Read How to Create a Meal Plan.

I like to change up recipes to make them my own and experiment with new flavors. We use olive oil in a lot of recipes. This Bacon Macaroni and Cheese Muffins recipe is a new recipe that we tried this week. It turned out to be delicious! I think the bacon on top is what gave it the extra kick that these muffins needed to be flavorful!

Keep reading for the recipe!

Bacon Macaroni and Cheese Muffins

Ingredients:

1 package of bacon
1 (16 oz.) box of elbow macaroni
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup of milk
3 cups of shredded cheese
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp olive oil
bread crumbs

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1. Line a muffin pan with muffin liners. Brush the inside of the liners with olive oil. Set aside.
2. Cook the bacon in a large frying pan until crisp. Allow to cool. Transfer cooked, crisp bacon over to a cutting board and chop up into small pieces. Set aside.
3. In a large saucepan, cook the macaroni according to the directions on the box. Once cooked, drain using a large colander and set aside.
4. Combine butter, flour, milk, shredded cheese, salt and pepper, and remaining olive oil in the large saucepan on low heat until melted, stirring often.
5. Once melted, pour the elbow macaroni into the mixture and stir well.
6. Add 1/2 of the bacon and stir. Set aside the other half.
7. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups until full. (If you have any mixture left over, you can add that to a casserole dish and cook it as well - great for leftovers!)
8. Sprinkle remaining bacon and breadcrumbs on top.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Allow muffins to cool slightly in the muffin cups before serving.

The Bacon Macaroni and Cheese Muffins are a perfect meal time solution for busy moms! More great recipes:

• Pizza Muffins
• Mexican Casserole
• Baked Ziti
• Cream Cheese Sausage Pinwheels

Get access to all of my recipes here.

Are you looking for a cool spin on a pizza recipe? Try Easy Cheesy Biscuit Pizza! This is a family friendly recipe that may have the kids begging for more!

Pizza is one of my most favorite foods.

Honestly, I could eat it at least 3 times a week! At the end of a long week or on a night we get home late from a ball game, pizza is usually our go to meal. We sometimes pick up one from our favorite pizza place, pop a frozen one in the oven, or make these super easy and scrumptious mini biscuit pizzas.

These mini pizzas can be ready for the oven in all of 5 minutes and on your plate, ready to eat, in less than 20! These are a go-to pizza favorite in our house and you can make them in so many different ways!

An added bonus is that your kiddos can help make them!

They are also great for lunches and snacks. I hope they become a staple in your house too!

Easy Cheesy Biscuit Pizza

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 ct.) tube of large Pillsbury biscuits
• 1 jar of pizza sauce
• pizza toppings: sausage, pepperoni, ham, bacon, olives, mushrooms, spinach
• garlic salt
• shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Spray a pizza pan with cooking spray.
2. Spread the biscuits out on the pan.
3. Using a spoon, flatten the middles of the biscuits slightly.
4. Spoon 1 tbs. pizza sauce into the middle of the biscuits.
5. Sprinkle a little garlic powder on top of each biscuit.
6. Add 1 tbs. of pizza sauce on top of each biscuit.
7. Sprinkle the desired amount of cheese onto each biscuit.
8. Place your optional pizza toppings on top.
9. Bake on 350 degrees for 12-15 mins.
10. Remove from pan and serve immediately!

More great recipes:

• Veggie Pizza Bars
• Mexican Casserole
• Baked Ziti
• Cream Cheese Sausage Pinwheels

Get access to all of my recipes here.

Love Mexican food? This Easy Cheesy Mexican Casserole is the perfect recipe to serve for your family when you need to put dinner on the table in a hurry!

I love Mexican food. I could eat it every day if I had to!

I grew up in Texas where great tasting Mexican food was pretty easy to find. We eat Mexican food on a regular basis and cook simple recipes like tacos weekly.

The Easy Cheesy Mexican Casserole recipe is also a favorite of mine. I’ve been making this tasty casserole recipe for several years and I never get tired of it!

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My kids even love this Mexican casserole. Now I can enjoy my favorite type of food at my own home and save money by passing up local restaurants!

Plus, this recipe is enough to feed our family of five and still have plenty to have as left overs the next day.

If you are looking for a quick, easy, and delicious Mexican dinner that the entire family will enjoy, you need to make this Easy Cheesy Mexican Casserole!

Easy Cheesy Mexican Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of tortilla chips (For this recipe, I use these tortilla chips.)
• 1 lb. of ground beef
• 1 packet of taco seasoning (Stock up on seasoning here.)
• 1 (15 oz.) can of pinto beans (undrained)
• 1 (15 oz.) can of black beans (undrained)
• 1 (15 oz.) can of diced tomatoes (undrained)
• 1 (8 oz. bag) of shredded cheese
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 small onion (optional)
• sour cream (optional)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Brown the meat in a large skillet.

After the meat has browned, combine the pinto beans, black beans and diced tomatoes, taco seasoning, and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Layer the bottom of a 13X9 casserole dish with half of the bag of tortilla chips.

Spoon half of the beef and bean mixture on top of the tortilla chips.

Place the remaining tortilla chips in a layer on top of the mixture.

Repeat step 4 using the remaining beef and bean mixture.

Sprinkle an even layer of cheese onto the mixture.

Place casserole in the oven and bake for about 10 min or until the cheese has melted and has slightly browned.

Serve with sour cream. Enjoy!

Easy Cheesy Mexican Casserole

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Ingredients

• 1 bag of tortilla chips
• 1 lb. of ground beef
• 1 packet of taco seasoning
• 1 (15 oz.) can of pinto beans (undrained)
• 1 (15 oz.) can of black beans (undrained)
• 1 (15 oz.) can of diced tomatoes (undrained)
• 1 (8 oz. bag) of shredded cheese
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 small onion (optional)
• sour cream (optional)

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Brown the meat in a large skillet.

After the meat has browned, combine the pinto beans, black beans and diced tomatoes, taco seasoning, and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Layer the bottom of a 13X9 casserole dish with half of the bag of tortilla chips.

Spoon half of the beef and bean mixture on top of the tortilla chips.

Place the remaining tortilla chips in a layer on top of the mixture.

Repeat step 4 using the remaining beef and bean mixture.

Sprinkle an even layer of cheese onto the mixture.

Place casserole in the oven and bake for about 10 min or until the cheese has melted and has slightly browned.

Serve with sour cream. Enjoy!

More great recipes:

• Easy Guacamole
• Cheesy Beefy Quesadillas
• Seven Layer Dip Cups
• Spicy Beef Nachos

Get access to ALL recipes here!

Find more great recipes here!

If you are looking for a fun spin on a basic spaghetti recipe, this recipe is for you! Try our Easy Cheesy Meatless Baked Spaghetti Recipe today!

We usually make about three big meals each week and then eat what’s left as leftovers on the other days of the week. This works well for us and there’s always something for everyone to eat.

We’ve been “shopping from our pantry” lately. This means that we’ve been getting creative with what we have on hand before we go out and purchase more food. This helps us to save money and eat up what we already bought.

One afternoon, I went searching around our pantry for something to cook. We were running very low on groceries, but we did have a box of spaghetti noodles, marinara sauce, and shredded cheese!

While I normally add ground beef to my spaghetti or lasagna recipes, I didn’t have any and decided to create a meatless recipe. Going meatless every now and then is a great idea and saves you money, too.

I created a spaghetti bake with these few ingredients and actually fell in love with this meatless recipe. It’s so simple to make and delicious, too. The cheese on top, when browned, gives the spaghetti a tasty flavor for all.

Try my other pasta recipes:

• Baked Ziti
• Baked Rigatoni
• Casarecce Pasta Primavera
• Meat Lasagna

Easy Cheesy Meatless Baked Spaghetti

Ingredients:

• 1 24 oz. jar of spaghetti or marinara sauce
• 1 package of spaghetti noodles
• Mild shredded cheese
• optional: 1 lb. ground beef cooked

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Boil the spaghetti noodles in a pot of water for about 11 minutes. Drain.
3. Add in the spaghetti or marinara sauce and stir well.
4. Pour the noodles in a baking dish into an even layer.
5. Top with desired amount of shredded cheese.
6. Bake until the cheese is golden brown and slightly crispy around the edges.

Check out these step by step photos!

That’s it – only 3 ingredients to make this delicious recipe. Perfect for busy moms and hungry stomachs!

More great recipes:

• Pizza Muffins
• Veggie Pizza Bars
• Mexican Casserole
• Cream Cheese Sausage Pinwheels

Get access to all of my recipes here.

Try these super quick and easy Cheesy Pizza Rolls for dinner tonight! This is a family favorite and a great recipe to add to your meal plan.

If you are a busy mom and on the go, the last thing you want to do is come home and cook after a long day.

However, there are ways to make dinner that everyone will love and enjoy, and it doesn’t have to require a ton of ingredients or time.

Here’s one of my favorite recipes that we’ve been making for several months now.

The Easy Cheesy Pizza Rolls are so easy to make, so we’ve added it onto our meal calendar on a regular basis.

Easy Cheesy Pizza Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 can of pizza crust (you can choose the plain for wheat)
• 1 package of pepperoni
• 1 package of provolone sliced (or shredded mozzarella cheese)
• olive oil

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Flatten out the pizza dough on a large rectangular pizza pan.
3. Using a pizza cutter, cut the pizza dough into four even squares. You can see two of them pictured above.
4. Place two slices of provolone cheese on each square.
5. Place six slices of pepperoni on each square.
6. Roll up the pizza rolls at an angle from corner to corner and line up pizza rolls on a pan.
7. Using a basting brush, spread a thin layer of olive oil on each pizza roll.
8. Place in the oven at 400 degrees and bake until golden brown.

Serve and enjoy! (Makes 4 pizza rolls) 

More great recipes:

Veggie Pizza Bars
Mini Biscuit Pizza
Shaped Pizza Pockets

Get access to all of my recipes here.

If you love Mexican food, I think you’ll LOVE this Spicy Beef Nachos recipe!

Nachos are a comfort food for me. I love to make nachos just about any time of year. During the pregnancy of my third child, I realized that I had more cravings for spicy foods than ever before! I wasn’t a huge fan of spicy foods before his pregnancy, but if it was spicy, I craved it! I think that’s what told me the baby was definitely going to be a boy!

As a busy mom, I try to make quick and easy recipes that are delicious and that the whole family will love. We all love nachos and this is an easy recipe to serve any day of the week. Check out the recipe below.

Spicy Beef Nachos Recipe

Ingredients:

Seasoning:

• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. cumin

Nachos: 

• tortilla chips
• 1 lb. ground beef
• jalapenos
• shredded cheese
• sour cream
• diced avocado
• diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. Brown the ground beef in a large pan over medium heat. Drain.
2. Add seasoning mixture and 1/2 cup water and mix well. Remove from heat.
3. On a plate, add a layer of tortilla chips.
4. Top with ground beef, shredded cheese, tomatoes, avocado, sour cream and jalapenos.

Serve and enjoy! 

More Great Recipes:

• Easy Guacamole
• Mexican Casserole
• Cheesy Beefy Quesadillas
• Seven Layer Dip Cups