August 29, 2025
Steak x Fries
Ingredients:
- 3 mini steaks
- 1 bag Ore-Ida French fries
- Mediterranean sea salt (to taste)
- Italian herb seasoning (to taste)
- Black peppercorn, freshly cracked (to taste)
- Olive oil or butter (optional, for pan-searing)
Directions:
- Step 1: Preheat the oven
- Set oven to 425°F (220°C) for the Ore-Ida fries.
- Step 2: Prepare fries
- Spread fries evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 25–30 minutes, flipping halfway through for even crispiness.
- Step 3: Season the steaks
- Pat steaks dry with paper towels. Rub both sides with Mediterranean sea salt, Italian herb mix, and freshly cracked black peppercorn.
- Step 4: Heat the pan
- Place a skillet over medium-high heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil or a small knob of butter.
- Step 5: Cook the steaks
- Sear each side for about 2–3 minutes for a medium-rare finish, depending on thickness.
- Let them rest for 5 minutes before slicing to lock in the juices.
- Final Step : Pair the golden fries with the juicy steaks.
February 8, 2025
Homestyle Lasagna
Ingredients:
- 2 lb lean ground beef
- 2 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
- 32 ounces cottage cheese
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 eggs
- 12 lasagna noodles
Directions:
- Step 1: Preheat the oven
- Set your oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Step 2: Cook the noodles.
- Boil the lasagna noodles according to the package instructions until al dente, then drain and set aside.
- Step 3: Prepare the meat sauce in a large skillet.
- Brown the ground beef over medium heat until fully cooked. Drain any excess grease, then add the spaghetti sauce to the skillet.
- Step 4: Simmer for about 10 minutes to combine the flavors.
- Step 5: Mix the cheese filling in a bowl.
- Combine the cottage cheese, two eggs, and 2 cups of mozzarella cheese. Stir until well mixed.
- Step 6: Assemble the lasagna.
- Spread a thin layer of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Layer four cooked noodles over the sauce. Spread a third of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Top with more meat sauce. Repeat the layering process two more times, ending with a layer of meat sauce.
- Add cheese topping. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese evenly over the top.
- Step 7: Bake the lasagna.
- Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 25 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and browned.
- Final Step : Cool and serve.
- Allow the lasagna to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing. This helps the layers set and makes serving easier.
February 1, 2025
Cookie Crazy
Ingredients:
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 2 ¼ cups Great Value All-Purpose Enriched Flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups Great Value Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips
Directions:
Step 1: Preheat the Oven Set your oven to 325°F (163°C) to preheat.
Step 2: Combine Dry Ingredients In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda to ensure they are well mixed and free of clumps.
Step 3: Cream the Butter and Sugars In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the eggs one at a time until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Step 4: Combine Mixtures Gradually add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet mixture in increments, mixing until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips as you near the end of mixing.
Step 5: Prepare For a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop the cookie dough using a tablespoon and form it into balls. Place them on the prepared sheet, spacing them evenly.
Step 6: Bake For 12-15 minutes or until to your liking. I let the cookie cool a little and enjoyed myself.
I would like to thank the following sources for inspiring me with their recipes. Each of these recipes offered something special that contributed to the final product. The ingredients and techniques I used were adapted from these fantastic resources:
January 25, 2025
Smiley Brownies
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup Gluten-free Flour (King Arthur; you can substitute with all-purpose flour if preferred)
- ½ cup Great Value Organic
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup Land O Lakes Butter with Canola Oil (Recommend using unsalted butter or coconut oil instead)
- ¾ cup Granulated Sugar
- ½ cup Powdered Sugar
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 tbsp Water
- ⅓ cup Chocolate Chips
Directions:
- Step 1: Preheat the Oven
- Preheated my oven to 325° F (163° C) and prepped my baking pan.
- Step 2: Dry Ingredients
- Next, I grabbed a large mixing bowl and whisked together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, salt, and chocolate chips. I am limited with baking tools, so I was not able to sift it. I recommend sifting the dry ingredients for a more accurate measurement.
- Step 3: Wet Ingredients
- In a separate bowl, I whisked the eggs, butter, water, and vanilla extract.
- Step 4: Mix
- Combined the dry and wet ingredients.
- Step 5: Pour and Spread
- Poured the batter into the prepared pan and used a spatula to spread it as evenly as possible.
- Step 6: Bake
- Into the oven the pan goes and I put the timer on for 40 minutes. When the time was up, I started to keep an eye on it and used the “toothpick trick” to see if the brownies were evenly cooked. My batch took about 57-59 minutes to fully bake.
- Step 7: Decorate
- Once the brownies were done, I used a spatula to spread the chocolate frosting evenly over the brownies. To achieve a smoother finish, I placed the pan in the oven to flatten out the peaks.
I would like to thank the following sources for inspiring me with their recipes. Each of these recipes offered something special that contributed to the final product. The ingredients and techniques I used were adapted from these fantastic resources:
Serving Smiles! 