Eight Layer Casserole

This is a good freezer casserole. When I make this I just split into two pans and put one in the freezer to serve later. These ingredients are simple and cheap and most you will have on hand. I hope you will give this one a try! kreid

Ingredients
· 3 cups dried medium noodles (6 ounces)
· 1 pound ground beef
· 2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce
· 1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
· 1/2 teaspoon sugar
· 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
· 1 8-ounce carton dairy sour cream
· 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
· 1/2 cup milk
· 1/3 cup chopped onion (1 small)
· 1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, cooked and well drained
· 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
Directions
1. Grease a 2-quart casserole or a 2-quart square baking dish; set aside. Cook noodles according to package directions; drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook beef until brown. Drain off fat. Stir tomato sauce, basil, sugar, garlic powder, salt, and pepper into skillet. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
3. In a medium mixing bowl beat together the sour cream and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Stir in milk and onion. In prepared casserole or baking dish, layer half of the noodles (about 2 cups), half of the meat mixture (about 1 1/2 cups), half of the cream cheese mixture (about 1 cup), and all of the spinach. Top with the remaining meat mixture and noodles. Cover and chill remaining cream cheese mixture until needed.
4. Cover casserole or baking dish with lightly greased foil. Bake in 350 degree F oven about 45 minutes or until heated through. Uncover; spread with remaining cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese. Bake, uncovered, about 10 minutes more or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
5. Makes 8 servings
6. Make-ahead directions: Prepare as directed through Step 3. Cover with lightly greased foil and chill in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until heated through. Uncover; spread with remaining cream-cheese mixture. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese.Bake, uncovered, about 10 minutes more or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes before baking.

Brunch Casserole

If the only reason you are looking at this blog is to see if I will ever put the Brunch Casserole up here it is! This came from my friend Chris Crow. Ya’ll know Chris? What a lovely young lady. This is excellent and also freezes well. If you have leftovers stick it in the freezer. When you warm it up it tastes about the same. Now when I make this I just whip the whole thing up in the morning because it’s simple and quick enough that I can do that. However it has been my experience if you want to mix it up the night before it will need to cook a little longer because the ingredients are all cold. (Had to add that because I do have a few semi-retarded fiends) You know who you are girls. Don’t be ashamed just embrace it. If you go to a brunch take this dish. Everyone will think you’re the coolest girl at the party. kreid

Ingredients
1 T. butter melted
10 eggs
16 oz. shredded mild or sharp cheddar cheese (best if thicker shred)
16 oz. cottage cheese
8 oz diced green chili peppers
Optional: crumbled sausage, diced red peppers-whatever you like-but it’s also great plain!
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup butter melted
Directions: To prepare ahead of time- mix first 5 (6) ingredients, cover and leave in fridge overnight. The next morning, preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9X13 baking dish. Mix flour and baking powder and salt together. Stir into egg mixture. Add melted butter. Pour into baking dish and cook from 40-60 minutes (I cook for 45) until lightly brown.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

You saw yesterday where I bought all those biscuits and I know you were thinking what is she going to do will all those biscuits. What a hog, you said to yourself. There are lots of things you can do with a can of biscuits. Here’s a recipe that we enjoy at the Reid house. This is a Paula Dean recipe that I have modified just a bit. Cheap and yummy and I serve it as a dessert. Yes, you were right. I am a hog. Oh the shame! Blueberries go on sale at Homeland for a dollar so watch for that. I just stock up and keep them in the freezer because hubby really likes them. He tries very hard to be healthy and then I sneak in and sabotage his efforts with something such as this and he just can’t resist. I guess you could say this is a healthy recipe because it does have blueberries and oats in it. What do you think? No?? Give it a try, it will not disappoint. kreid


Ingredients
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (12-ounce) can buttermilk biscuits
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Generously grease a 9-inch square baking dish. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well with a fork. Separate biscuit dough into 10 biscuits. Cut each biscuit into quarters, and dip each piece in melted butter and coat with brown sugar mixture. Arrange in a single layer in baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the oats.
Combine blueberries and sugar in a bowl and toss to coat. Spoon over oats and biscuits and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup oats. Drizzle remaining melted butter on top. Bake for 35 minutes or until cake is golden brown and center is done. Cool for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Homemade Laundry Soap

12 cups Borax
8 cups Baking Soda
8 cups Washing Soda
8 cups Bar soap (grated)

Mix all ingredients well and store in a sealed tub.
Use 1/8 cup of powder per full load.

This is the recipe that we use at the Reid house. Now the tip to saving money with this is to use the 1/8 cup. It works and gets a load clean. Now your clothes will not smell! For example if you are used to using Tide do not expect that smell. You will have a slight scent of Ivory but your clothes will be clean and stains removed the same as any soap.

This is how we clean our clothes. Now a few weeks ago Tide was on sale at Homeland and I had some coupons so I was able to stock up on some Tide super cheap. So what I do is add a tiny bit of Tide to my wash just for the scent and still use my normal recipe that I made.

Questions or comments? Feel free to contact me. This recipe came from TipNut.com. I get lots of good ideas on saving money from this site. kreid

Okay so lots of people ask me all kinds of questions about our "way of life" so I decided I would start Reid All About It and let you all know how we roll here at the Reid house. Hopefully you will find my ideas helpful or at least find some humor in reading about them.

We live a very frugal lifestyle. Well at least sometimes.....To me being frugal isn't about going without and depriving yourself and your family of everything you want. It's about saving and cutting out things that aren't really important so that you may have more of the things that are.

On this blog I will share with you all kinds of ways that we save money. Now my life isn't all about saving money! I love to cook, take photos, laugh at my kids and a bunch of other stuff so you will hear all about that too. Just let me know what you want to hear about and that is what I will tell you! Hope you enjoy.....kreid