Barbeque Beef & Bow-Tie Dinner

I'm always looking for great tasting meals that will appeal to grown-ups, and the kids, too. That's not always easy, and who wants to give the kids chicken nuggets all the time because they don't like the dinner you made?

This dish is easy to make, tastes delicious, and my grandchildren loved it. I paired it with big, hot buttery biscuits to complete the meal.

I'm a big fan of making a double batch of a recipe, and freezing half of it for later. This dish would be a perfect fit for doing this.

Recipe for Barbeque Beef & Bow-Tie Dinner

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
1 1/2 cups uncooked mini bow-tie pasta (mini farfalle)
2 1/2 cups beef-flavored broth
1/4 cup barbeque sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

In 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook beef over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain.

 Add bell pepper and onion, cook and stir 3 minute. Stir in pasta, broth, barbecue sauce, salt and pepper. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover; cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender.

 Stir in corn and 1 cup of the cheese. Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Cover; cook 3 to 4 minutes longer, until corn is hot and cheese is melted.

 

Makes 6 servings.                                                                    

                                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Easy 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Bites







Peanut Butter cookies are one of my very favorite kinds of cookies. I've been making them for years, first for my own children, and now for my grandchildren.

I do have my regular recipe that is very yummy, with flour and all the usual ingredients. But when I came across this very simple, 3-ingredient one, I just had to give it a try.

These little cookies are really good, with a very intense peanut butter taste. I also like the small size,
perfect for little fingers to hold.

In fact, these cookies would be great to make with your kids. The batter is rolled into1-inch balls, just like playing with play dough.

Recipe for 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Bites

Ingredients:

1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly wipe a baking sheet with vegetable oil.

Place all the ingredients in a medium bowl, and stir until well blended. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls, and place them on the baking sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown.

Makes 24 cookies.



Enjoy!!

Birthday Party Shopping at Smart and Final Grand Opening in Carmichael CA

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

My family often shops at Smart and Final to buy warehouse size items like paper towels, snacks, household cleaning items and meat. We can get many club size items there without the membership fees of other places. The reason we like Smart and Final is we can shop for the bulk stuff but also smaller items like fresh produce and bakery goods. We are a family of 3, we do not need everything we buy to be in club store sizes so it is a nice mix of items. I am celebrating my birthday next week and needed to do some birthday party shopping. A new Smart and Final store opened near my mother in laws house so we decided to stop by the celebration and shop before heading to her home.

The first thing we see when we enter the store is the produce department filled with lively colors. The prices I saw next and gasped! Only $1 each for my 3 favorite berries, in that moment we changed dessert plans from ice cream to mixed berries with cream. I always find good deals at Smart and Final but for the Grand Opening celebration in Carmichael CA we found super savings to celebrate.

Each birthday party in my family I am always the one who buys and puts up the party decorations so naturally I pick out my own. I think I would be shocked if I ever woke up and the house was already decorated for my birthday (hint hint to my husband). I like that I can find all the many types of products I need in one store, bulk or single items. My son spotted a giant bag of balloons for making balloon animals, being the fun Mom I am I got them and we plan to google how to make the animals for my birthday party.

Among all the great deals we found there were little sample stations, coupon booklets being handed out and friendly staff restocking the shelves. It was crowded in the store but the lines were short and the deals were great. The location of the new Smart and Final we visited  is 7223 Fair Oaks Blvd., Carmichael, CA 95608. There will be Grand Opening celebrations all weekend at this location until Sunday July 20th.

I enjoy shopping the bakery section at Smart and Final when we need a quick treat for a party or family gathering. The store carries a delicious lemon pound cake that has been the base for many desserts that my family has enjoyed. This trip we decided to get mini cupcakes for my birthday. This year I am wanting to keep my birthday simple and inexpensive. I think I have a smart start by the money I saved at the Carmichael Smart and Final Grand Opening celebration. #ChooseSmart #CollectiveBias

My son and I had to "test" some of the cupcakes before we put away all the party decorations and food for later in the week. I liked that we were able to find the party decor, the meat for BBQ, the produce and drinks for the birthday party all in one place without the overwhelming size of a warehouse store.

If you would like some recipe ideas for making some great desserts for your next birthday party you can find them at the Smart and Final community. To connect with Smart and Final you can follow them on twitter and facebook.

Join Twitter Chats With Kristina Vanni and Pompeian Olive Oils

I received Pompeian products in exchange for writing this post. All opinions are my own.

I'm always a little surprised by how much olive oil my family and I use in our cooking. It's a lot, and I always enjoy it's flavor and how healthy it is for us.

Pompeian Olive Oil is one I have used in the kitchen for a long time, and use it frequently to cook with, and sauté foods. It's also perfect for salads and my favorite vinaigrette.

I wanted to share with you that award-winning cook Kristina Vanni will be hosting Twitter Chats to answer your questions about recipes, cooking tips, salad dressings, and more.

Just use the hashtag #AskPompeian and the @PompeianOils Twitter handle to ask Kristina any questions about Pompeian Olive Oil and it's other products. She will be hosting 3pm - 5pm on July 12, 19, and 26.

You can also check out Kristina's fabulous food blog, Better Recipes here. It's filled with delicious recipes and cooking tips, and she has wonderful summer cooking and entertaining ideas.

2-Bite Coconut Cupcakes

These coconut cupcakes are so moist and delicious. They are actually super easy to make too, because they start with a boxed mix.

With the addition of sweetened condensed milk and coconut in the batter, these little gems will go quickly.

My grandchildren loved the fact that they were the perfect size for them, and of course I was so pleased that they liked them so much.

And they make a great presentation if you want to take them to a potluck or barbeque this summer.

Recipe for 2-Bite Coconut Cupcakes

Makes 48 mini cupcakes

Ingredients:

For cupcakes:

2 cups flaked coconut, divided
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 box white cake mix
water, eggs, vegetable oil called for on cake box mix

For coconut cream frosting:

3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1-3 tablespoons milk
1 cup coconut, toasted

Directions:
 

• 1 Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place mini paper baking cups in mini cupcake pan.                        
• 2 In medium bowl, stir 2 cups coconut and the condensed milk; set aside.
• 3 Make cake batter as directed on box. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups (two-thirds full). Top each with about 1/2 heaping teaspoonful coconut mixture.
• 4 Bake as directed on box of mix. Cool in pans 5 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack.                           
• 5 In medium bowl, beat powdered sugar, butter and salt with spoon or with electric mixer on low speed until well blended. Beat in coconut extract and 1 tablespoon of the milk. Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. Immediately frost cupcakes. Sprinkle tops of cupcakes into toasted coconut. Store loosely covered.