Bacon Cheeseburger Rotini

This simple and satisfying recipe can be made quickly and is a favorite among children and adults. Bacon is good. Cheeseburgers are good. Pasta is good. So how could all three of those things mixed together not be?!

The recipe is very affordable, of course, with the following ingredient prices:

1 Box of Rotini – $1.19
1 pkg of Turkey Bacon (my preference) – $3.39
1 lb. Ground Beef (95% fat free) – $5.19
1 Can of Condensed Tomato Soup – $0.89
Ketchup – $1.99
American Cheese – $1.99

Altogether this meal that feeds roughly four people only costs $14.64! Who knew?!

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups Rotini (½ package)
8 slices bacon
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 can condensed tomato soup
¼ cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. water
4 slices American cheese

Directions:

1) Cook pasta according to package directions and drain. 

2) Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook bacon until crispy. Avoid burning it like I did (oops, oh well… I still ate it… BACON! Baconbaconbacon!). Remove cooked bacon a paper towel-lined plate. Crumble the slices and set aside.

3) In same skillet, over medium heat, brown ground beef until thoroughly cooked and drain.

4) Add in the crumbled bacon, soup, ketchup and water; stir to combine. Heat thoroughly.

5) Once heated, stir in pasta. The original recipe called to place the cheese slices on top (like a burger) but I like well mixed cheesy past so I broke the cheese slices apart and mixed it in with the pasta and meat and stirred it thoroughly.

6) Remove from heat, and serve with condiments and a pickle!

7) Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Oreo Brownie Bars

If you’re having trouble with the pronunciation of this recipe, I’ve obtained the phonetics for you: [hev-uhn]. This creation will be in no way kind to waistlines but it will be perfect if you’re a self loathing chocolate-glutton like myself ;P.

At my local Wegmans Grocery Store the ingredients are priced as follows:

Unsalted butter (4 sticks) - $2.49 
Nabisco Oreo Double Stuf - $3.19 
Ghirardelli Brownie Mix – $1.99 
Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips (11.5 oz.) - $2.99 
Smucker’s Caramel Topping (12.25 oz.) - $2.29
Large Eggs (Dozen) - $1.29 
All Purpose Flour (5 lbs.) - $1.99
Granulated Sugar (5 lbs.) - $2.99
Brown Sugar (32 oz.) - $1.59 
Imitation Vanilla Extract (2 fl. oz.) - $2.29 
Baking Soda (1 lb.) - $0.79



You may already have some of the ingredients and many of them you’ll have leftovers of, but even if you had to purchase all of these things to make this delicious wonder, you’d only be spending $23.89… quite the bargain for such a priceless recipe!

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips, semi sweet

1 package of Oreo cookies
Caramel Topping to taste

1 package of brownie mix
¼ cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 pan.

2. Cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

4. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until well combined.

5. Fold in chocolate chips.

6. Press cookie dough evenly into the pan.

7. Place the Oreos on top of the cookie dough, pushing down lightly. I used 20 Oreos in a 4x5 formation, but feel free to use more or less.

8. Drizzle the caramel topping over the Oreos as desired.

9. Prepare the brownie mix as directed on the box.

10. Pour the mix over the top of the cookie dough, Oreos and caramel, smoothing it around with the spatula. It is okay if you can sort of see some of the tops of the Oreos because the brownie will bake over them more evenly.

11. Bake for about 45-50 minutes. It is done when a tooth pick insert in the center comes out fairly clean with just a little crumb attached.

12. Remove from oven when done and let cool completely for a couple hours. Cut into squares and eat your heart out.

As Always: Enjoy!

Yummy Yoda Sundaes!

This recipe is one that was inspired by one of my good friends and her love for Star Wars, as seen in this picture.... She may not want to be friends after she sees this :P!

I am glad she sent me the idea though because it’s simple, easy, fun, affordable, and if yours turns out anything like mine did you’ll be laughing at your “not-so-good-looking” dessert! 

The original recipe is at http://family.go.com/food/recipe-1012433-yoda-green-sherbet-sundae-t/ and it called for green taffy for the ears, nose, and mouth, but I could only find green Peeps marshmallows. It ended up turning out fine and it was still a tasty treat. I got the following ingredients at these prices at my  local Wegmans grocery store:

Green Sherbet - $2.49

Green Bird Peeps  - $1.19
Mini Marshmallows - $0.99
Food Coloring Pens - $8.49

This recipe costs a grand total of $13.16 and I have tons of leftovers after I made 4 Yoda treats! It’s such a save and good fun for all ages.

Some other supplies you’ll need are scissors, an ice cream scoop, and bowls or glasses to put the Yodas in.

Directions:

1. Step one is to use the Peeps to cut out ears, a nose, and a mouth for the Yodas. The bird tails can be cut off for the ears, the top of the head for the nose, and a sliver from anywhere for a flat mouth. I have a knife in the photo because that's what I originally tried to use, only to find out scissors were much more effective!

2. Next, cut a plain mini marshmallow in half to make the eyes. Use the black food coloring pen to make the pupil for Yoda, leaving a little white mark in the upper right of each “eye.” Circle the black pupil with the yellow food coloring pen. 

3. Now take the sherbet out of the freezer and use an ice cream scoop to get very round helpings of sherbet into your bowls or glasses. Assemble the Yoda face.

4. ENJOY your creation, hopefully it comes out a little better than mine did ;P.

Tips: A friend of mine’s favorite animal is a pig, so I could always make little pig faces with pink raspberry sherbet and pink Peeps! Be creative and send pictures of your creations to our facebook page HERE .

If you're active online, you may be familiar with picture memes that are growing in popularity. My favorite memes are the funny "FAIL" ones you may have seen. Since I am always ready to laugh at myself I made this meme for this recipe's turnout and I hope it gives you a chuckle like it did for my Star Wars loving bff: