Quesadilla Casserole

A few days ago I was in Shoprite in the spice aisle and I across these great little spice packages McCormick® makes. I immediatley bought the McCormick® Recipe Inspirations Quesadilla Casserole one.

I switched it up a bit...
The original recipe is at here...
But here is what i used:

1 package McCormick® Recipe Inspirations Quesadilla Casserole

1 pound ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

2 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce

1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (8 3/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, undrained

1 can (4 1/2 ounces) chopped green chiles, undrained

1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes

6 flour tortillas (8-inch)

3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Sour Cream (optional)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Brown beef and onion in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn and green chiles; mix well. Stir in all of the Spices except Red Pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes. Add Red Pepper to taste, if desired.

2) Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking dish sprayed with no stick cooking spray. Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed. Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef mixture and cheese. (I used smaller fajita tortillas) My final layer was a topping of cheddar cheese.

3). Bake 30 minutes or until heated through. The cheese on top should be nice and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

The next time I make this i will be using cheese raviolis in the place of the tortillas.

Dinner was made with love! :)

So last night I got myself into one too many projects at once. Let's start with dinner. I have a great group of friends; that I've never met in real life before but I have been talking to for the past 3 1/2 years. See the thing we have in common is we all have 3 year olds born in or around the month of March. So these ladies have a facebook group that's like our secret group. No one can see it but us and we share recipes and stuff on there. Trust me the name is wonderful! haha! Anyways so one of the lovely lady's; Kelly posted a great take on sausage and peppers. (Well with my cooking that's what it reminds me of!)
The recipe is as follows (cc: Kelly B's Post):

Kielbasa or Sausage
Onions (optional)
Peppers
Potatoes (she uses red ones)
Olive Oil
Italian Seasoning
Salt & Pepper (to taste)


Spray pan with Pam and cut up kielbasa or sausage and put in oven of 400 degrees at 15 minutes to start to roast.

Cut up potatoes, peppers, onions, and toss with 4 teaspoons of olive oil or eyeball it and some Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. After 15 minutes is up for kielbasa add in peppers, onions and potatoes and bake for 20 more minutes.

Well let me just mention I did use red potatoes,a big yellow onion, a green and a red pepper. I opted for the sweet Italian sausage and was so happy with the results. It was like sausage and peppers just with potatoes! It was so easy to make. I did cover my pan with aluminum foil and continue to bake for an additional 25 minutes to soften up the potatoes more.
Here is the end result!-

"40 Sucks" Bouquet

So there is a party coming up this weekend for a family members on Justin's dad's side. Anyways I have been waiting to make a lollipop bouquet. Alan is turning 40 and what better way to celebrate than a 40 sucks lollipop display to have out for the kids and adults.

I got this idea from my Aunt Linda. She made one for my Aunt Donna for her 50's birthday party. I never got a close look at it but i got the gist of it. I decided I wanted a tin pail for the base. Easier said than done. I wasn't willing to spend a lot on the pail; so i ventured to Christmas Tree Shop. There I had no luck and especially not with an overtired 3 year old having a meltdown.

I went to AC Moore's and found a clearance stars and stripes tin pail... too bad i never got a picture of it before i painted it.
I went with the flat black spray paint and silver. I tried the black on the bottom and then the silver on top...
but quickly went back to my original plan of black on the top.
So I applied another coat of black... oh the joys of being indecisive...

I purchased a round piece of foam and a small square piece to fit in the middle. It didn't sit right so I put a target bag under the middle to balance it out. And start filling in your lollipops. Tootsie pops were my choice but any kind will work.

I kept adding pops until i had all 40 in the tin.
I wasn't happy with how it looked. Maybe some skittles or M&M's. I wanted to complete this so i pulled out all the lollipops and started over. Only this time I covered the foam with silver tissue paper.

The sticks of the lollipops wouldn't go through the tissue so I used a skewer and poked a hole and then inserted the lollipop stick.
I did this for all the lollipops. End result was this:

I haven't quite finished this bouquet. I plan on adding something else to it and a small tag stating "40 SUCKS." I will post more pictures upon completion.

Share your ideas.
EDITED TO ADD FINISHED PICTURES:

Here is the completed '40 Sucks Bouquet':
I added in a larger lollipop that i found at Party City. And here is a close up of the ribbon I hot glued together. I wish I had more time to do something more creative with the ribbons.





Edited to add:

I have some YUMMY things to share with you!

I've been searching today to find fun things to make with my LITTLE. How cute are these Worms in dirt pudding pops? My son would love to not only make but eat them as well. Or for more of the healthier option how about the Squirmy, wormy apple snack.

Or how about Peanut butter & Jelly Ice Cream sandwiches. Be sure to check out her other recipes while your over there. I must say I was really impressed with all the great ideas she has to offer.

Its a cool(er) day.

There has been a heat wave here for the past week. This morning i stepped outside to a cooler heat with no humidity. Thank goodness.
Today has been a little hectic and its still early. Early this morning I noticed one of my favorite bloggers is back in the blogging world... Bakerella. She is the creator of cake pops. She has been sick so her blogging hasn't been as frequent. If you haven't tried cake balls or cake pops I highly suggest them. The possibilities are endless. Just do a simple Google search and see all the creative things you too can do. A Facebook page Cake Pop Junkie. "Like" her and show her some love.

A great Facebook page that i came across today is Hugs & Cookies xoxo. Give them a "like" on facebook and check out the frozen Oreo bar recipe. I bet that would have been great last week for those really hot summer days. If you make them please feel free to share it with us.
Talk to you soon!

Welcome!

I am starting this blog on my BRAND NEW wifi. Who else in the world just got WIFI in there home? Don't get me wrong I haven't had it in my new place (and we moved in here in February!) But cable and internet are just another bill that i didn't need to worry about.
Anyways this blog is going to be a go to for mom's looking for deals, advice, and baking... yes lots of baking. I love to bake, craft, and do things with my son. Summer is our favorite season. But this summer has included some very humid days and in those days we stick to our air conditioned apartment.
Earlier today I discovered a great site... called TABLESPOON.COM. What a great site... I love the idea of the rainbow cheesecake. I bet it tastes as great as it looks. Ohh my and how about the grilled peaches dessert?! Do you have a favorite site that you would like to share with me? I love blogging and learning what others have to say.
Talk to you soon! :0)