#401: Easy Bacon and Egg Bake

The original recipe serves 8, but no one in my family would eat this, so I cut it down to make one serving (and had to enlist the help of my husband to figure out the measurements).  The recipe shown below is for 8 servings.  I really enjoyed this!  It was really easy and quick to make and although I doubled the amount of bacon (one slice just didn't seem like enough!), next time I'll try this with cooked, crumbled breakfast sausage or possibly even bacon AND sausage.  (Dare devil, I know!)    

9 bacon strips, chopped

9 eggs, beaten

3 cups 2% milk

3/4 cup biscuit/baking mix

1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded pepper Jack cheese

1 large onion, chopped

1 large sweet red pepper, chopped

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain.
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk and biscuit mix. Stir in the cooked bacon, cheese, onion, red pepper, salt and pepper. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.

Bake at 350° for 45-55 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

#400: Not-exactly "Heart Tarts"

The original recipe was supposed to be for Valentine's Day and you were supposed to use a large heart shaped cookie cutter.  Well, the largest cookie cutter I had was a bell, but when they baked, I think they look more like Christmas Trees.  When Allison saw these I asked her what they were and she quickly replied "Christmas trees."  She didn't seem to care, and hopefully her school friends won't care either.  Regardless, both girls liked these! 

TARTS

Prepared pie crust
Jar of strawberry jam
1 egg whisked with 1 teaspoon water

FROSTING AND DECORATIONS

2 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon softened butter

2 tablespoons light corn syrup
Red food coloring

Nonpareils or colored sugar

Heat the oven to 400° and cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

On a floured surface, roll out the pie crust to a 1/8-inch thickness. Use a large heart-shaped cookie cutter (ours measures 4 inches wide) to make pairs of hearts, gathering the scraps and rerolling the dough as necessary.

For each tart, spread 2 teaspoons of strawberry jam on a heart, leaving a ½-inch margin on all sides. Brush the egg mixture around the edge before placing a second heart on top. Use the tines of a fork to seal the edges, then brush the tops with the egg mixture.

Bake the hearts on the prepared cookie sheet until their edges are just beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. Let them rest on the sheet a few minutes, then move them to a rack and let them cool completely.

Whisk the first four frosting ingredients in a medium bowl, adding more water a teaspoon at a time if needed to make a smooth, creamy frosting. Add a few drops of food coloring and mix until well blended. Spoon the frosting into a Ziploc bag, snip off a corner, and squeeze it onto the tarts. Top them with nonpareils or colored sugar.

#399: Crockpot French Dip

EASY and oh, so YUMMY.  This was good!  VERY good.  Did I mention easy?  I recently came across a new blog and found this recipe among several others.  We will definitely be making this one again. 

4 pounds of some type of roast meat (rump roast, chuck roast, etc)

1 can (10.5 oz) beef broth

1 can (10.5 oz) french onion soup (I used dried onion soup mix)

1 bottle or can (12 oz) beer (I used beef broth)

french rolls or other crusty rolls

sliced cheese (I was too lazy to get this since I would have been the only one eating it)

Place your roast in the crockpot and pour the broth, french onion soup and beer on top.   Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours.  (Mine cooked for 10 hours)  About 30 minutes before eating, take out the meat and shred.  Place meat back into the juices and stir to flavor all the meat.  Split your rolls and top with sliced cheese.  Bake at 200 degrees for about 10 minutes or until rolls are nice and toasty.  Top rolls with shredded meat and add a cup of the au jus on the side to dip your sandwich in.

#398: Crockpot Minestrone Soup

This photo was taken before the noodles were added...obviously.

I need to learn one thing: If a soup recipe calls for celery I just need to omit it.  I sadly have very little desire to eat this soup because of the celery in it.  I'm going to have to start picking it out.  It's not that I'm a celery snob, but it's definitely not my favorite vegetable.  I am glad I came across this recipe though.  It was super, super easy to make and my kitchen smelled comforting and yummy as it cooked on the counter.  It was really good too, but this picky meat eater actually preferred the very similar Zucchini Beef Soup instead. 

My picture doesn't look nearly as good as the original photo from Skinny Taste though, so make sure you head over to her blog and check out this recipe as well as many of her others. 

1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can white beans, drained, rinsed (cannellini or navy)
3 cups fat free chicken broth (I used 4 cups)
1 oz chunk of good Parmesan cheese rind (I omitted)
1 fresh rosemary sprig (I used dried)
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
salt and fresh pepper
1 medium zucchini, chopped
2 cups chopped fresh or frozen (defrosted) spinach (I omitted)
2 cups cooked small pasta like ditalini or elbows (al dente)
extra Parmesan cheese to top

In a crockpot combine broth, tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, herbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  One hour before the soup is done cooking, add zucchini and spinach.  Add cooked pasta last 10 minutes. (I added it to individual bowls so the noodles wouldn't get soggy in the leftovers).  Remove bay leaves, rosemary spring and Parmesan rind.  Season with salt and pepper if needed. 

#397: Zucchini Beef Soup

Just looking at this photo makes me want to go get a bowl out of the freezer and start defrosting it!  I loved this soup.  I ate it all week for lunch and then froze the leftovers so I have some again for lunches in the future.  I made quite a few additions and changes to this original recipe though. 

1/2 pound lean ground beef (I used ground turkey)

2 celery ribs, thinly sliced (I omitted)

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper (I used a yellow pepper)

1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained (I used about 10 oz)

3 medium zucchini, cubed (I used 1 zucchini)

1/3 c chopped carrots

2 cups water (I used about 5 cups of water)

1-1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon salt, optional

1 teaspoon beef bouillon granules (I used 2 tsp)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Pepper to taste

Shredded Parmesan cheese, optional

In a large saucepan, cook the beef, celery, onion, carrots and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender; drain.  Stir in the tomatoes, zucchini, water, Italian seasoning, salt if desired, bouillon, sugar and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until zucchini is tender.  Garnish with Parmesan cheese if desired.  I also served this over small cooked pasta such as elbow macaroni or ditalini noodles.

#396: Parmesan Roasted Acorn Squash

I ripped this recipe out of one of my magazines, I THINK it was real simple, but I'm not 100% sure.  This was super easy to make.  Squash is usually hard to cut into but the acorn squash is so small, it's easy to cut.  The girls were not fans (I pretty much had to force them to eat a small bite), but I loved this.  This was a super yummy, fall dish!

1 two-pound acorn squash halved, seeded and sliced in 3/4 in thick slices
2 tbsp olive oil
8 springs fresh thyme (I used tried)
Salt and pepper
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the squash with the oil, thyme, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Sprinkle with Parmesan.  Roast the squash until golden brown and tender, approx. 25-30 min.

#395: Lasagna Pasta Pies

I'll admit, I was very nervous about serving this recipe to my family.  I didn't think Brian would eat this.  No that's not true, I thought he would eat it, but not enjoy it.  We'll he didn't think they were too bad.  In fact, we all thought these were pretty good.  Different, a little odd, but good.
1 cup uncooked rotini pasta

1 lb ground Italian sausage

1 1/2 cups tomato pasta sauce

3/4 cup ricotta cheese

1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)

Heat oven to 350°F. Cook and drain pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, in skillet, cook Italian sausage until no longer pink; drain. Stir in pasta sauce, ricotta cheese and pasta; cook 1 minute.                   

 

Separate dough into 8 biscuits; press each biscuit to 5 1/2-inch round. Firmly press 1 biscuit in bottom and up side of each of 8 ungreased jumbo muffin cups, forming 1/4-inch rim. Fill with sausage mixture; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.                   

 

Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from pan.

#394: Chocolate Banana Bread

I had just about all of the ingredients on hand for this recipe and of course, I had several bananas sitting on the counter completely over ripe.  So I knew this was the prefect recipe to use these bananas with.  Instead of making this in one large loaf pan, I decided to make it into three smaller pans so I could make two to take to my sister, and one to keep for us.  I don't think I have perfected the skill of banana bread yet because this was awfully chewy.  Allison really enjoyed it, Chloe didn't like it hardly at all (Allison was more than happy to eat her piece) and I thought it was just okay.  I'm still giving it to my sister and her family though.  :)  Hopefully they won't think it's too bad.  Unfortunately this made very thin loaves...as you can tell from the photo.

2 cups Banana Nut Cheerios® cereal

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 egg

1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 medium)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

1teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Topping

1/2 cup Banana Nut Cheerios® cereal

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom only of 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Place 2 cups cereal in resealable food-storage plastic bag or between sheets of waxed paper; crush with rolling pin to make 3/4 cup. Set aside.
In large bowl, beat sugar and oil with electric mixer on low speed until well mixed. Beat in buttermilk, vanilla and egg just until blended; beat in bananas. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt until well mixed. Stir in 3/4 cup crushed cereal and chocolate chips. Spoon and spread evenly in pan.
Place 1/2 cup cereal in resealable food-storage plastic bag or between sheets of waxed paper; coarsely crush with rolling pin. Sprinkle over batter in pan; press lightly.
Bake 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours.

#393: Brown Bag Burritos

I came across this recipe in a recent issue of Taste of Home and figured I'd give it a try.  I had to make some changes though because I knew I'd be pushing it if I tried to use two cans of refried beans with my family.  : )  This was SUPER easy to prepare and it literally took 2 minutes in the microwave to cook these.  I had dinner on the table SO fast!  I am definitely making these again to keep on hand for lunches or quick dinners. 

PS...My family enjoyed these!  The girls (especially Allison) loves burritos and Brian didn't seem to notice nor complain about the beans (he had no idea it was in there).

2 pounds ground beef

2 cans (16 ounces each) refried beans (I used 1 can)

3 cups (12 ounces) shredded Mexican cheese blend or cheddar cheese

1-1/3 cups enchilada sauce (I used 1 can)

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

16 flour tortillas (10 inches), warmed

Optional toppings: shredded Mexican cheese blend, sour cream, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and sliced ripe olives

In a Dutch oven, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Return to pan; add the beans, cheese, enchilada sauce, water, onion and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Spoon 1/2 cup filling off center on each tortilla. Fold sides and end over filling and roll up. Wrap individually in paper towels, then foil. Transfer to a resealable plastic bag. May be frozen for up to 2 months.

To use frozen burritos: Unwrap foil. Place paper towel-wrapped burritos on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave on high for 3-4 minutes or until heated through. Serve with toppings of your choice. Yield: 16 servings.


#392: Caramel Apple Biscuits

Oh.my.goodness!  Fantastic.  Delicious. Easy. Sweet.  Would you like me to keep coming up with adjectives to describe these little biscuit bites?  I think I just ate 7 of them.  Yes in one sitting.  Mmmmm...so yummy! 

These were supposed to be make in regular size muffin tins and with a popsicle stick sticking out of it.  It doesn't need the stick and these are super yummy as mini muffins.  EASY to make too!

Biscuit Cups

1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

1 medium apple, peeled, chopped (1 cup)

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 

Icing

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup whipping cream

3/4 cup powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350°F.  Place paper baking cup in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups.   Cut each biscuit into 6 pieces; place in large bowl.  Add butter, apple, granulated sugar and cinnamon; toss gently to mix.  Spoon mixture into muffin cups.                   

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Immediately remove from pan.  Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, heat brown sugar and cream to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.  Beat in powdered sugar until smooth.  Spoon warm icing over warm biscuit cups.

#391: Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yummy...chewy...slightly crispy....mmmmm!  I am definitely going to be making these again.  DEFINITELY.  They are yummy!!  Hopefully my relatives enjoy these as much as I do!

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup raisins (I omitted)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup margarine

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light-brown sugar

2 cups oatmeal, not quick cooking

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract and raisins. Cover and allow to stand for 1 hour.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  In another large bowl, beat the margarine and sugars together until completely combined.  On low speed, gradually beat in the flour mixture.  Add the egg mixture and mix until combined.  Stir in the oatmeal and the chocolate chips.

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes, until set but still slightly soft.  Cool 2 minutes on the sheets and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.  Cool cookie sheets before repeating with remaining dough.

#390: Ground Beef Minestrone Soup

The original recipe for this soup called for ground Italian sausage, but I'm not a huge fan of sausage in my soup, so I substituted ground turkey instead.  I love that this recipe can be frozen, so I can have lunches to take to school.  This recipe made a huge batch so I saved some for myself and put the rest together to send to my sister who is having a new baby.  Hopefully with some good crusty bread, this can be a quick, healthy meal for them for dinner.  This soup was supposed to have small ditilini pasta but I had gemilini instead...and obviously this picture has a lot of pasta in it!  I really did have a lot more veggies than this photo shows.  :)

1 pound bulk Italian sausage (I used 1 lb ground turkey)

2 large carrots, chopped

2 celery ribs, chopped (I used 1 zucchini instead)

1 medium onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons olive oil

7 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 cans (15 ounces each) cannellini or white kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained (I used petite diced tomatoes)

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon tomato paste (I used about 1/4 c tomato sauce)

1 cup ditalini or other small pasta

Shredded or shaved Parmesan cheese

In a Dutch oven, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.  In the same pan, saute the carrots, celery, onion and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the broth, beans, tomatoes, bay leaves, Italian seasoning, tomato paste and sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Cool soup; transfer to freezer containers. Freeze for up to 3 months
.
To use frozen soup: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Transfer to a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Stir in ditalini; return to a boil. Reduce heat and cook, uncovered, for 6-8 minutes or until pasta is tender. Serve with cheese. Yield: 13 servings (3-1/4 quarts).

#389: Grilled Balsamic Steak

I told Brian I was making this for dinner and he made a face at me.  I wasn't so sure he was going to like this...his reaction wasn't exactly promising.  :)  Funny thing though, I wouldn't eat it (the cut of meat was too thick) but Brian surely liked it.  The flavor of the marinade was good on the one piece I did attempt to eat.  I'll definitely try this again...with a different cut of meat. 

**The original recipe was from the Cooking Club of America...yes I am a member.  Don't make fun.  I only tell you this because if you try to see the original recipe you might not be able to. **
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
4 (4- to 6-oz.) beef flat-iron or shoulder top blade steaks (1 inch thick)
1 1/2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Combine vinegar, oil and garlic in large bowl. Brush steaks with 1 tablespoon of the balsamic mixture; sprinkle with pepper and salt. Cover and refrigerate.  (I just put all of the ingredients in a Ziploc bag and let it marinade together).  Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes or cover and refrigerate 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Heat grill.  Grill steaks covered, over medium heat or coals 8 to 12 minutes for medium-rare steak, turning and brushing occasionally with reserved marinade.  Remove steaks from grill. Cover loosely with foil; let stand 5 minutes.

#388: Ranch Flavored Baked Edamame

Oh my goodness, these are fantastic!  Make these.  In fact, make a double batch because one bag of shelled edamame won't last you long.  I'll be lucky if these last 2-3 days.  Unfortunately the girls were not fans.  Allison loves edamame too, but not this version.
 
12 oz. package of shelled edamame, thawed
2 tbsp dry ranch dressing seasoning mix
1 tbsp olive oil
Heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Place thawed edamame in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil.  Add the ranch dressing mix and stir well to combine and coat the edamame.  Spread the beans in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake until brown, about 50 minutes.  Let cool.  Leftovers can be refrigerated in a covered container up to a week. They taste best at room temperature.

#387: Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

I made this pizza puff recipe to bring to a family gathering this weekend...I wanted something my husband would actually eat.  :)   These were super easy to make and popped right out of the muffin tin (total added bonus!).  These are yummy at room temperature or warmed up in the microwave if not eating right away.  I do think these have a little too much Italian seasoning though, so next time I'll cut back a little.  I doubled the recipe and got about 35 mini muffins out of it. 

3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
pinch of salt
pinch of red pepper flakes
3/4 cup whole milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup cubed pepperoni
1/2 cup store-bought pizza sauce
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning, salt and red pepper flakes (if using) ; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.
Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.

#386: No Bake Energy Bites

Doesn't that little nugget of goodness look divine?  This cookie was super easy to make (except it did NOT roll into little balls--I had to squish it into balls) and the girls and I loved them!  I made them for my sister, who is having a baby any second...I hope they make it to her house without all getting eaten!

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup honey

1 cup coconut flakes (I substituted crushed cornflakes)

1/2 cup ground flax seed (I used wheat germ)

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I used regular chocolate chips)

1 tsp vanilla

 

Mix everything above in a medium bowl until thoroughly incorporated.   Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.   Once chilled, roll into balls and enjoy!   Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

#385: Savory Pumpkin Dip

This week we had a pumpkin themed recipe swap.  I figured most of the people would bring a sweet  pumpkin recipe so I was in search for something a little more savory.  When I came across this recipe I wasn't sure it was going to go over well, and when I told some co-workers about it, they didn't think it sounded good at all.   Well I am very happy to report that this is super yummy and was completely gone about half way through the evening.  I'm making it again to take to ravioli day tomorrow with my family since I still have all of the ingredients on hand (minus a bread bowl).  You could be healthy and eat it with veggies, but I enjoyed this with Frito's.  :) 

PS...Don't know where to find dried beef?  It's in the canned meat aisle next to the tuna.  It is SUPER salty though so you have to rinse and drain it in cold water.

12 ounces cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

2 tablespoons taco seasoning

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/3 cup chopped dried beef

1/3 cup chopped green pepper (I used yellow)

1/3 cup chopped sweet red pepper

1 can (2-1/4 ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained (I omitted)

1 round loaf (1 pound) Italian or pumpernickel bread

Fresh vegetables, crackers or corn chips

In a bowl, beat cream cheese, pumpkin, taco seasoning and garlic powder until smooth. Stir in beef, peppers and olives. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Just before serving, cut top off bread; scoop out bread from inside, leaving a 1/2-in. shell (save the bread from inside to make croutons or bread crumbs or save for another use). Fill shell with cream cheese mixture. Serve with vegetables, crackers or corn chips.

#384: Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

One day at school last week one, I got a spaghetti squash from one of the other teachers.  It's been sitting on my counter because I haven't had time to make anything with it yet.  Right after I got the squash though, I found this recipe and knew it would be the perfect recipe to use it in.  I wasn't sure I was going to love this but I really did enjoy this and will be sharing it with my sister-in-law at dinner tonight!

2 cups marinara sauce
3 cups cooked roasted spaghetti squash
1 cup part skim ricotta
8 tsp Parmesan cheese
6 oz part skim shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 375°.  In four individual 5 x 7-inch oven safe baking dishes (or an 8x8 pan), ladle 1/4 cup quick marinara sauce on the bottom of each dish.  Top each with 3/4 cup of cooked spaghetti squash and spread evenly.  Top each with 1/4 cup ricotta.  Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of grated Parmesan cheese and .75 oz mozzarella on each.   Add the remaining sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheese.

Cover with foil and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the edges begin to bubble; uncover and cook an additional 5 minutes.

#383: Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup

We went to the pumpkin farm yesterday with Barry, Angela and Amber (in laws and my niece).  Before we left I got 6 butternut squash for $1 each!  I totally couldn't pass up that deal and will be going back in a few weeks to get more and stock up for winter!  Anyhow, I wanted to make something with one of the squash besides just roasting it (which I love) and didn't want to go back to the store for ingredients so I tried to find a recipe for things I had on hand.  Happily, I had almost everything for this soup recipe. 

If you don't want to go out and buy garam masala (ingredient below), here is a link to make it yourself.  I however, was too lazy to do that so I just threw in as many of the ingredients that I could. 

I really, really enjoyed this!  It reminded me of my grandma's lentils but a little sweeter and without the noodles.  Although some ditalini noodles would be excellent in this as well (just a little less healthy and not as "soupy."  Looking forward to leftovers for lunches this week.

1 cup dried lentils
2 1/2 cups butternut squash cubes (3/4-inch)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery (I omitted)
2 garlic cloves — minced
1 teaspoon garam masala (I used a mix of cumin, cinnamon, pepper and cloves)
4 cups low sodium vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)

Rinse and drain lentils. In a 3 1/2 to 4-quart slow cooker place lentils, squash, onion, carrot and celery. Sprinkle garlic and garam masala over vegetables. Pour broth over all.  Cover and cook on low heat setting for 8 to 9 hours or on high heat setting for 4 to 4 1/2 hours.  Adjust seasoning to desired taste. 

#382: Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

Here's another recipe from Gina's Skinny Taste (I'm finding A LOT of recipes from her that I want to try!)  We ate these for lunch and Brian wished we had them again for dinner.  These are a snap to make and are a good addition to just about any meal!  DEFINITELY making this again.

2 tbsp butter, melted
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley (I omitted)
2 cups baking/biscuit mix
3.5 oz shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
2/3 cup fat free milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. 
In a large bowl, combine biscuit mix, cheddar cheese, and remaining garlic.  Stir in milk and mix (do not over mix).  Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls (1.5 oz each) onto prepared cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes.

Melt butter in a small frying pan, add half the garlic and saute on low heat about 1 minute.  Remove from heat and add parsley.  When biscuits are done, brush or drizzle biscuits with melted butter.  Bake for 5 more minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom.