Baked Ziti

1 lb box ziti pasta, uncooked
1 onion, chopped
1 lb lean ground beef
2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup Kraft Grated Three Cheese Blend (you can substitute Parmesan)
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat.
3. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 F.Butter a 9 X 13 inch baking dish
5. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, ricotta cheese, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture.
6. Top with grated 3 cheese blend.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheeses are melted.
8. Served with salad and rolls

I am cutting this recipe in half so that we're not eating pasta for a month!!! With half of the recipe I fed 6 adults and 1 baby.  Everyone enjoyed it!!!

Mexican Chicken

This recipe also came from www.momswhothink.com

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 jar salsa
1 (16 ounce) package Monterey Jack Cheese

Directions:
In a 9 X 13 pan, cover the chicken breasts with the salsa. Cover with foil, bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for 25 minutes longer. Cover each chicken breast with Monterey Jack cheese. bake for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

This is what I did:
I ended up using sliced up chicken because it was on sale when I went to the store. The cheese I used in the Netherlands is cheddar (shredded by me) and jong belegen (shredded by me).  I preheat the oven to 400 F and bake the chicken 25 minutes.  Uncover chicken and add cheese, bake for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted. I don't have time to wait for an hour for the chicken to cook and I have made chicken in the oven so many times I know it doesn't have to take so long!!!

It says to serve this with white rice and tortilla chips.  I used tortilla chips and served it with a spinach salad. Delicious actually and I think next time if I use sliced chicken again we will put them in tortilla shells, it tasted a lot like an enchilada!!!

Chessy Scrambled Eggs in the Microwave

Jackson usually wakes up in the morning so hungry that I can't even put him down for a second without him throwing a fit, so I am always looking for things that are super easy that are not donuts!  These eggs are perfect!!!

All you need is a microwave safe bowl
1 egg
1/2 a cheese slice

Beat egg into the bowl for 10 seconds, then tear up your cheese slice and microwave for 30 seconds.  Stir and microwave an additional 30 seconds or until your egg is fully cooked. Taaadaaa done, and guess what you can make this recipe using only 1 hand!!! I do it all the time!

Another great way to make an egg for say a sausage egg and cheese mcmuffin is to use a round small microwavable bowl. Put the egg in the bowl and carefully break yoke. You do not need to beat the egg for this recipe.  Microwave 30 seconds or until the egg is cooked until your liking!  Place a slice of cheese on top let sit for maybe another 30 seconds and then place on your toasted english muffin!   EASY!!!

Delicious Fruit Dip

I had this dip at a baby shower here in the Netherlands and had to make it again.  It is super easy with only 2 ingredients. My measurements to Americans are going to be a little off but I am going to try to be helpful so this is just as easy for you.

1 package of regular Philadelphia Cream Cheese (in the US an 8 oz package- here there is only one size)

1 jar of Fluff (in the US a jar of Marshmallow fluff about the size of a regular jar of peanut butter, I'm not exactly sure how big that is but the jar here looks identical to a PB jar)

Mix the entire contents of each together. Serve cool with strawberry, pineapple or your favorite fruit!  Delicious and super easy! What kid doesn't love to dip things :)

Baked Pesto Chicken with pasta and Zucchini

This recipe comes from a website I discovered called www.momswhothink.com
It really is a great website with lots of food ideas and even a 6 week meal planner!  Love it.  I just wish I could follow a 6 week meal plan. Not all the recipes they have are toddler friendly and to be honest some of them we wouldn't like so I am going to try and make a few from each week for our new recipes of the week :)

Baked Pesto Chicken:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup basil pesto
2 plum tomatoes
shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Cover cookie sheet with foil.
2. Put pesto and chicken in bowl.  Toss until chicken is covered.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
4. Place slices of tomato on top of chicken and sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake another 3-5 minutes.
6. Serve with a box of angel hair pasta and herbs and French bread.

We used rotini noodles with garlic and butter.  Rotini is much easier for little hands to pick up!! No bread for us, we get enough of that during the day!

I'm serving this with zucchini.  Jackson has not has this as a solid food but really loved the puree so we will see...

This is how I make it:
1 zucchini
2-3 tbps olive oil
Italian seasoning

Cut the zucchini into thin slices, sprinkle with Italian seasoning and saute in the 2-3 tbsps of olive oil over medium heat about 7-8 minutes or until it has reached your desired tenderness.

Jackson chowed down on the zucchini, it was a huge hit.  The chicken was amazing! We loved it, another one to add to the books!!

Chicken Quesadillas

We always have half a package of tortillas left over from something so I decided to not let them go to waste this time!  We just made a really simple chicken quesadilla. All I used was:

Tortillas
Cooked Chicken
Diced Tomatoes
Cheese
Sour cream (for dipping)

Ideally we would be using a quesadillla maker so when you flip it over food doesn't come flying out. But we don't have one here. Place a small amount of butter on a large skillet. With your quesadilla already assembled place on the skillet until the first side is slightly brown and a little crisp.  Flip (carefully) and heat until slightly brown. 

Again these are a great finger food, I made Jackson's with cheese only and the chicken on the side.  He ate both right up!

Cookie Cutter Pizza

Jackson loves anything he can pick up with his hands right now so I thought why not make our pizza into bite size pieces that are fun shapes too.  If you have seen pictures Jackson is always in the cupboard with the cookie cutters, throwing them around so I'm sure he will like to help out with this as well.

I am just using a box mix for the pizza crust and the sauce is included.  We will put on Salami and mozeralla shredded cheese.  Just use your favorite homemade or even frozen pizza and cut into fun shapes for your little one to enjoy :)

It may be hard to tell but we have a moon and a star here!  I think this was the first time Jackson actually at the pizza I gave him!!!