Imitation McDonald's Cheeseburger Casserole

Last night, we made a casserole that tasted exactly like a McDonald's cheeseburger! You may ask why you don't just make a cheeseburger rather than turning it into a casserole but once you make it, you won't be disappointed. I am not sure it's all that much healthier than the real deal but everyone can splurge once in a while. The ingredients are pretty common and there's a good chance all of them are already in your fridge. The original recipe says it serves six but the blog I got it from says it serves four. In our family, it serves about 3.

This is the link I used. We did leave out the part where you brush milk on top and add sesame seeds. We were assuming that the milk was to help the seeds stick but maybe we missed out on something great. We also used American cheese because that was what we had on hand but you could really use any cheese. I could see varying this to make all sorts of their burgers, like a mushroom swiss for instance.

Like I said, it's not that healthy but it is pretty versatile and a great source of protein. I would definitely make it again but probably only has a treat for dinner. We also forgot to drain our meat so it was extra greasy, just like the real burgers!

I also wonder if using biscuits on top instead of crescent rolls would be better because the crescents get kind of soggy. I definitely wouldn't put a bottom crust with it or it would also be a soggy mess. Some reviewers on the other site did though and seemed to like it that way.

We served this with a side of sauerkraut, which was actually pretty good mixed in the casserole too!

Ruby's Pantry

Our town just had their first Ruby's Pantry last night. For those of you who don't know, it's an organization that gets close to expiration date and surplus food and distributes it to whoever shows up (you need to register the first time you go). The leftovers get donated. If nobody came to this, the food would get thrown away. It seems crazy but it's true. It only costs $20 but you get a LOT of stuff. Last night, I easily got over $100 worth of food. I was shocked!

The food you get is different every time. We got hard boiled eggs, soda, bread, chicken, baby red potatoes, prepackaged mashed potatoes, individual cereals, whole wheat pasta, hot cocoa mix, coffee creamer, toilet paper, pizza lunchables,....the list goes on.

They said to bring two laundry baskets and when I left, I had my two baskets full plus another box. I didn't even take as much food as I could've (because it wouldn't fit)! Isn't that crazy?

I did have to stand in line (in the cold) for about 45 minutes and the whole process took about 2 hours but I think once our town has had a couple of them (it's once a month), we'll get speedier. Plus, since everyone was new, we all had to register and that took some time.

I should also mention that you don't need to be poor or on food stamps or anything to receive this food. It's for anyone who eats. I suppose some people might feel funny taking it but I felt like I was trick or treating. It was actually kind of fun. I'm looking forward to going back!

Here is everything I got. I should've spread it out on the island but I don't think it would've even all fit. The plastic bags are filled with the baby red potatoes and the sodas.

Cheesecake Brownies

Everybody loves brownies. We have tried a couple of homemade recipes but we always think that the boxed ones taste better. Some day I hope to find a good homemade recipe. In the meantime, I have found the BEST brownies I have ever tasted. I might even go so far as to say it's the best thing I have ever tasted, dessert or not. These are definitely a 10/10 but make sure you keep the milk close by because you're going to need it!

Here's the link to the recipe. I cannot recommend these enough! They are actually quite simple to make and can be made with homemade or boxed brownie mix. The cream cheese doesn't have to be softened first (although it wouldn't hurt), making it a recipe you can whip up right away. Nothing frustrates me more than when I go to make a dessert recipe and I need a few ingredients at room temp.

We had to bake ours for 55 minutes and I don't think a couple more minutes would've hurt but we were anxious to eat them! We even put them outside (in winter) so they would cool faster (yes, I am impatient when it comes to desserts..).

I will also mention that I don't know if the two pieces of foil are necessary. One for sure but maybe only use two if it doesn't cover your pan?

If you only make one thing off my blog, let it be this one! You won't regret it.

Weather Problems

Hey everybody. Sorry it's taken me so long to get another blog post out. Things are just getting more hectic here since Baby is starting to take less naps and it's been quite an adjustment. I used to use that time to get stuff done but now, not so much. I hope to keep up to date on this so I apologize if I fall behind again. Hopefully those of you with kids (and even those of you without) understand.

On Monday, we got a snow storm that resulted in about 6 inches of snow. This was the first snow of the year. We hadn't even had flurries before that. Plus, the temps had been in the 50s-60s for a while before that too so this was kind of a shock to our systems.

Because of the sudden change in weather, we remembered how much weather proofing our house needs. We had started to plastic the windows but with our dinky, travel size blow dryer, it's slow going. Plus, Baby hates the noise of it and she wakes up to it too so it's hard to find a good time to get it done. We have noticed the windows we have done help significantly and we can feel the difference.

This weekend, we are hoping to continue the process of more weather proofing. We have to caulk our new glass block window, leading out of the basement. Then we need to get more weather stripping for our front door because it was installed at the wrong height (long story but we're working on getting it fixed). We also plan to do more windows and put in insulation for the last foot of space near the basement ceiling to help keep our floors warmer. If you stand next to the wall versus if you stand in the middle of the room, there is a huge difference in temperature and hopefully the insulation will help that.

There are probably plenty of other things we can do but sealing up our holes, adding insulation, and plasticing the windows seem to be the big ones. We also don't have all our vents set up yet either so that's a problem. And, our furnace is to small to heat a house of this size so really, it's a losing battle. But every little bit helps!

How to Cook a Steak Without a Grill

We were given a rib eye steak but we had no idea how to cook it. Our first choice would've been a grill but it was about 30 degrees outside. So I looked it up and it turns out you can easily cook it in a pan on the stove top.

First, bring the steak up to room temperature. People say this is the secret to a good steak. Simply leave it out on the counter about 30-45 minutes before you plan on cooking it.

Then, while you rub it with spices of your choosing (we just did a garlic and salt to keep it easy), heat your pan on high heat. To help the spices stick better, we rubbed it in melted butter first but I'm not sure that's necessary. On the other hand, some people only put butter on it. It's completely up to you.

For rare, cook it 3 minutes on each side. We wanted ours closer to medium so we did 4 minutes on the first side and 3 minutes on the other side. It did end up a little bit more well but it was still SO good! We split the steak and had made potatoes on the side, so it was filling enough.

With this method, it's quick and delicious without having one of us standing out in the cold to grill. We may cook all our steaks like this from now on!

Runza Casserole

We are always looking for ways to use up cabbage this time of year. It's super cheap at the grocery store and good for you so we buy it just about weekly. But we don't necessarily have a recipe in mind. This recipe used most of a huge head of cabbage so that was pretty exciting. We did make a few changes though.

We only used 1 pound of ground beef and we found it to be plenty. Typically, we do cut the meat in half for recipes to help stretch our meat budget further.

Due to laziness, we left out the onion. I think it would've added something to it but it definitely tasted great without them too.

Instead of crescent rolls, we used biscuits because it was what we had. They weren't the same size so we used as many as were needed to cover the bottom for the crust and then the top was a little more spaced out but that worked fine too.

Finally, we used Colby Jack cheese instead of mozzarella because we didn't have any but it still worked out.

We will definitely make this recipe again but we didn't agree with the comment that it tasted like philly steak. It was very simple to make and quite cheap!