I'm cheap and easy.

And I like it that way.

This is one of my favorite quick go-to meals and I try to keep all the ingredients on hand.

Rubber Burritos


You need -
salsa
rice
refried beans
chili beans
green chilis

Bring a cup of salsa to a boil and add a cup of instant rice, then cover it until the rice is cooked. Mix in the other ingredients and you're done.

That was hard, huh? (actually I usually toss in garlic, cumin, chili powder, taco seasoning, etc. too.)

What I actually love about this is how versatile it is.
If I have corn, I add it in.
Canned tomatoes? Sure, toss them in.
Cooked hamburger or pulled pork? MmmHmmm.
Roll it in tortillas with cheese, guacolome, and sour cream for burritos.
Serve it over shredded lettuce and crushed tortilla chips for a taco salad.
If you have just a small amount of this leftover, you can mix it with melted velveeta and have a dip for chips.

You can stretch this recipe to feed TONS of people if needed. Just keep adding ingredients! Add more beans. Add more rice. Add more veggies. Whatever.

Yes, I shop at WalMart and yes I buy store brands. Like I said, I'm cheap and easy.

Asian Noodle Stuff

Please tell me that I'm not the only mom who's home turns into complete chaos at dinner time.

Fortunately almost all of my recipes are quick and easy and don't require any real measuring...

Boil whole wheat spaghetti noodles.


Then I tell him to get out from under my feet and go play.


I set out these ingredients.


"Ma!" (He calls me Ma.)


I tell him again to go play, then in the last few minutes of the pasta boiling I throw in a bag of frozen broccoli.


"Ma! Ma! Ma!" (now he's broken hearted.)


Oh yeah, those sauces above? Mix them in a measuring cup to equal about 1 cup of liquid. I do 1/4 cup of Italian dressing and eyeball the rest until I have 1 cup. Put it in a small pot and bring it to a simmer. I also throw in some garlic and ginger.

Now he's made a mess of the floor and has moved on to the dog's food and is throwing handfuls at me.


The dog happily comes to clean it up, The Baby is screaming at me again.


I drain the pasta and broccoli (somewhere in there I cooked some chicken too), then toss it all with the sauce.


Finally! I pay attention to the ultra needy turd Baby, make a dish of noodles for the big kids and we can all eat.

It's quick and easy and healthful! You can, of course, adjust as you need. Add pork or sliced steak instead of chicken. Add chopped mushrooms. Add a bag of stir fry veggies instead of broccoli. Whatever.

Dinner time wears me out some days.

More food talk..

Are you ready for the best brownies ever? Are you?



I've been asked for my brownie 'recipe' many times and so I'm sharing the secret with you. Make your favorite boxed brownie mix. Oh Lawdy, no!! I know, I know - a crime, huh? But really, they're sooooo good! So you mix it up just like the box tells you to and pop it in the oven but WAIT! You want to set your timer for 10 minutes less than the box says!! Trust me here. Now when it finally beeps, take your brownies out and crumble your favorite candy bar on top. Now pop it back in for 5 minutes. Then pull it out, let it cool a bit (or not) and dive in!

For the sake of blogging (and only for blogging of course because I would never consume this many calories otherwise... ahem) I used a Butterfinger bar or two. And don't ask how that piece got taken out of the corner. It's a mystery.

Smack yo mama pork chili.

Pork makes me happy. Almost as happy as caffeine and dark chocolate. I do love me some pork. So obviously pork chili is a staple around here.

Here's the deal. Cook a pork roast. It can be a super cheap cut, just throw it in the crockpot and let it cook all day long. Now you're gonna have a LOT of pork so pull some of it aside for BBQ Pork sandwiches or freeze it for Pork Fried Rice or something. You're creative. Just get rid of some of it because you don't need all of it for the chili.

Now take these -


It's just a large can of tomatoes and a bottle of green salsa, and dump them into a large pot. If you haven't tried green salsa you must. It's insanely good to use in soups and such. (I never say "and such" in person but somehow typing it makes it okay.) Add in that pork you've been drooling over as well as some cumin, garlic, and onion. Heavy on the garlic and cumin. Let this simmer until the pork is falling apart, then put two forks into the pot and shred it some more to help it along. Meanwhile I like to make some rice.



When your pork is sufficiently shredded and everything in the pot looks happy, go ahead and dish up your rice. Then scoop this deliciousness over the rice and top it with a dallop of sour cream. (I'll never be a professional Daisy dalloper but that's okay with me. Really it is.)


Ohhh mama. Holy. Sweet. Goodness. This is so good it'll make you want to smack your mama! But don't really. She brought you into this world and was probably pretty good to you during your childhood. Just smack the table if you must smack something.

I have a tortilla ready to sop up the remainder. But you could serve this rolled inside the tortillas with cheese for a yummy messy burrito if you wanted. Or use a slotted spoon and serve it over salad and crushed tortilla chips for a shredded pork taco salad. Or just stand next to the stove and eat it all straight out of the pot. Whatever.

A perfectly good dinner...

Do you remember these from when you were a kid? The egg in a hole. I think some people call them popeyes.

The instructions are complicated so follow carefully.

Take a slice of bread and tear a hole in the center.
Butter both sides because you're going to be frying it like a grilled cheese sandwich.
Drop it into a hot skillet and crack an egg into that beautiful hole.
Flip it over when you're ready.
Salt, pepper and you're done. YUM-O! Serve with a fruit smoothie and you'll have perfectly happy kids and a surprisingly easy and nutritious meal. Well done mom.

There's not much better...

Than a big bowl of popcorn topped with Cavender's Greek Seasoning and Parmesan cheese. Trust me! Yum-O!