Picadillo

I made this for dinner earlier in the week and promised to put the recipe up. So, here it is. Better late than never!

I love this recipe because it is a quick and easy weeknight meal that my whole family will eat. I usually serve it with a salad or steamed green vegetable on the side.

I got this recipe from a cookbook sold by my high school. It was submitted by a classmate's mom. Thanks Mrs. Jennings!

Picadillo

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef or turkey

1 lg onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 lg tomato, chopped

1 med Apple, chopped

⅓ cup raisins

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

6 servings hot, cooked rice

Directions:

Brown the ground meat in a skillet with chopped onion and minced garlic, stirring to crumble meat; drain well. Add chopped tomato, apple, raisins, salt, pepper, cinnamon and cloves; mix well. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Serve over hot rice.

Oatmeal Bake Squares

Here is another make ahead breakfast idea. Make those school day mornings run smoothly by having a heat-and-go breakfast that everyone will love. Give this baked oatmeal a try...and don't skip the cardamom, you will not regret it!

Ingredients:

2 cups old fashioned oats

2 grannysmith apples, grated

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups milk of choice (I use almond)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

Additions: craisins, dried apricots (diced), coconut flakes, chia seeds, flax seeds, sliced almonds, cocoa powder, instant coffee powder

Directions:

1. Heat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease an 8x8 pan with coconut oil.
3. In a bowl, grate the two apples down to the core. Then in the same bowl add the oats, vanilla, spices, and all the additions you choose.
4. Mix together and pour into the 8x8 pan. Level out evenly.
5. Pour in the milk last, once it's ready in the pan. Watch the level of liquid, add more if needed to bring the liquid just even to the top of the oats mixture.
6. Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes.
7. Done is done! Enjoy hot and cold, day after day.

I orginally found this recipe on coconutsandcardamom.com, but that website no longer exists.

Grab-n-Go Egg Muffins →

I love grab-n-go breakfast foods. However, I despise sweets disguised as quick and easy on-the-go breakfasts that are highly marketed and highly coveted by our young children (and many adults). So, I am going to give you a few healthy, make-ahead, grab-n-go breakfast ideas over the next few weeks. I hope that they help you stay healthy and sane in the back to school madness that is sure to ensue! Today's recipe is so simple! I made these just last night with a few pieces of bacon that I had left over, some green bell pepper and onion. Both of my girls ate them right up this morning. It always puts a smile on my face when I can start their day with some veggies in their breakfast! I use silicone bakeware, so I don't even need to use oil to coat my pans. The only thing that I don't like about the recipe in this linked post is that she uses something that says "egg product". I used whole eggs. One large egg per muffin to be exact. If you want to go with eggs in a carton, that's fine, but be sure to get the kind labeled 100% eggs or 100% egg whites.