{ Recipe modified from “BBQ Cupcakes” recipe on Rocks in My Dryer }

• 1 lb ground beef, browned
• 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
• 1 can of layered refrigerator biscuits (I used Grands Biscuits, as recommended at Rocks in My Dryer)
• Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded

1. Brown ground beef and add in spaghetti sauce.
2. Pull apart the Grands Biscuits (in the middle) so that you’ll have two biscuits. There will be a natural place for them to pull apart, so just look for it.
3. Roll out each biscuit (you should now have 16, if you started with a Grands Biscuit tube that says there are eight rolls) until they are about six inches in diameter.
4. Put each rolled out biscuit into a greased muffin tin. You’ll put it in so that it makes a cup, like a pastry shell (you will fill these in the next step).
5. Fill each cup with a few spoonfuls of the meat/sauce mixture. (You may have sauce/meat still leftover — I certainly did. Just put it in the fridge to use later, or as happened in our house, our meat lovers asked for more of the meat and sauce.)
6. Sprinkle cheese on top of each of the cups.
7. Bake for 8 - 12 minutes at 350 degrees.
8. Pop them out of the muffin tins when they are done and serve immediately.

Angie writes about everything from homeschooling to household management to addictive Christmas candy at Many Little Blessings.

Photo by Angie ~ Many Little Blessings

Once a month I am responsible for taking snacks to the kiddos in my son’s preschool class. Living in crunchy granola Santa Cruz means that goldfish crackers just don’t make the cut.

So for the last couple days I have been thinking about what I could make that would be cheap, healthy and appealing to kids.

There’s an apple tree 100 yards from my house that is loaded, so the decision to use apples was a no brainer.

The other thing that appealed to me about this snack, is that your toddler can help you make it.

Apple Peanut Butter Crunchies

Makes 16 apple slices

• 2 large apples
• peanut butter
• granola

1. Wash and cut each apple into 8 slices
2. Spread peanut butter on the sides of the apple slices
3. cover with granola and refrigerate until ready to serve

In addition to those darling Apple Peanut Butter Crunchies, I made Rice Balls and shaped them into hearts

My son loves rice, especially with beans.

But eating rice and beans requires sitting at the table with me supervising the ordeal meal to make sure that the rice goes inside the mouth and not all over my already disgusting carpet.

Cleaning rice off the floor is a form of torture, in case you didn’t know.

So when Enzo needs to have a snack and I want him to eat without my immediate superviseion, I like to use the rice molds that my sister in law sent me from Japan.

Despite my husband’s warning that I was complicating my life,  I  made the 20 shaped rice balls to take to my son’s class. It was easy since the rice was made in my CEM Global CE23201 Continental 6-Cup Rice Cooker and with my mold I can do 3 a a time.

The really hard part about this snack ordeal was making Cheddar cheese from scratch. Just kidding.

I found this on-line store that sells rice molds for $4.00. I might have to order some other shapes.

For a list on online stores where you can find Bento accessories you can go to Lunch in Box. It’s also a great website to get ideas on Bento related things.

Damaris Santos-Palmer writes about recipes, product reviews and hosts weekly giveaways on the food blog Within The Corners of My Kitchen

With the holidays rapidly approaching I am on the lookout for delicious, filling and most importantly!! Easy breakfast ideas.

Monkey Bread is one of our favorite quick and easy breakfast dishes, especially because the kids can be involved in making it.  So dig in and get your hands dirty!

Ingredients

* 2 cans of buttermilk biscuits (10 biscuits per can)
* 1/2 Stick of butter
* Sugar
* Cinnamon
* Vanilla
* Optional: Apples, Brown Sugar, Walnuts, Coconut, Raisins, Cranberries

How To:

• Pre-heat oven to 375.  Lightly spray a bundt pan. I use the Butter Spray with flour for baking.
• In a large ziploc bag combine roughly 2 C of white sugar with a couple of
  teaspoons of cinnamon and a dash of Brown Sugar (optional). The exact
  measurements on this are at your discretion, it’s a taste preference.
• Tear or Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Drop the biscuit pieces into the bag
  and shake vigorously until well coated. Drop the biscuits into your
  bundt pan, it’ll fill it about 1/2 way. If you want to add nuts,
  coconut, apples anything of this sort, add them in between layers of
• biscuits.
• In a small saucepan over medium heat bring 1/2 stick of butter, 1 C sugar and roughly 1 tsp of vanilla to a boil.
• Pour this evenly over the biscuits in the bundt pan.
• Cook for about 25-30 minutes.

Do you have any Monkey Bread Memories? Or a favorite easy and fun breakfast dish that you love to make or your kids constantly request? I’d love to hear about it.

Rachel is a southern fried Texas girl who can be found blogging about her kids, food, relationships and other assorted braingasms at A Southern Fairytale: From the Land of Monkeys and Princesses

A family favorite–American Chop Suey!

My mom used to make it for us about once a week, and we happily gobbled it up. She made it for my kids  when they were younger and it quickly became one of their favorites, too.

It’s a great comfort food, that’s for sure. It’s quick, easy, and kids love it!

It shows up on school lunch menus around here to this day, and even though I don’t make it often (What is wrong with me?  It’s super easy!) my girls are so happy when I do.

My 13 year old actually clapped and said “yay!” when I told her we were having this the last time I made it. It’s not easy to get happy reactions out of a 13 year old girl, by the way.

I made extra noodles for the boys to have the way they like it (with butter and parmesan).

This couldn’t be any easier, and you can make a lot to feed a crowd. It’s great for potlucks, too.

Oh! I try to use homemade sauce when possible, but since I didn’t have any made, and was short on time, I used…shhhhh…sauce in a jar. But it was organic and HFCS free!!! I’m sure you’ll let it slide, because the girls loved it, just the same, and that’s what counts, right?

There’s really no set recipe for this. Use what you’ve got. I don’t usually use green pepper, but my mom always did. She also used beef, I use ground turkey. Here are the amounts I used, and we have lots of delicious leftovers.

American Chop Suey

Ingredients

* 1-1 1/2 boxes of your favorite small type of pasta (cellentani, elbows, whatever)
* 1-1 1/2 pounds ground turkey or beef
* about 1/2 an onion, finely chopped
* 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
* oregano and basil to taste, or you could use an Italian blend
* a bit of salt and pepper
* your favorite sauce (I used about a box and a half of pasta, and almost 2 (26 oz) jars of sauce)

Directions

1.  Cook the pasta according to package directions.
2.  While that’s cooking, heat a large skillet.
3.  When the skillet’s hot, add a bit of oil to heat.

4.  Add the meat, onion and garlic, spices of your choice, and cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is   browned and no longer pink.

5.  Drain meat, if necessary, and return to pan. Add sauce to meat mixture and lower heat, just to heat the sauce all the way through.
6.  Drain noodles, and either add them back to the pan the pasta pot, or to a large bowl.

7.  Pour meat and sauce mixture over, stir to combine.

8.  Serve with grated parmesan and crusty bread.

Make a kid happy today, serve them this delicious and wholesome meal!

Do you have a favorite comfort food from your childhood that you share with your kids now? Share it with us here, or join the discussions at the Blissfully Domestic Social Network!

Find more delicious recipes like this at Elle’s New England Kitchen.

We keep birthdays simple at home, so love of all party favors caught me off guard.  I pull the frosting-covered 5-year-old away from Jump Zone, only to discover he has a bag full of candy.  And a whistle.

Excuse me, dear son, while I dispose of anything that is coated with lead paint or poses a choking hazard to little sister. Oops–that’s everything.

Moms, we’ve gotta stop the madness! Surely there are party favors which can do double-duty?

• Serve the food on personalized frisbees.
• Fill a big glass bowl with bouncy balls–instant centerpiece.
• Hang $1 plastic kites to brighten the picnic area.
• Decorate a paper crown to wear home.
• Bring a wrapped book to swap in lieu of gifts.

Do you have an eco-friendly or inexpensive alternative to the traditional bag ‘o junk?  Dish!