Mother Hubbard has nothing on this dinner-

Okay- there are nights that I just don't feel like cooking- there, I said it.  Trying to get our family away from fast food as much as possible means I have to be creative sometimes- so I look in the pantry to see what I have handy.  Here is what we had for dinner tonight:


Beans:
         1 small bag of pinto beans
         1 package of taco seasoning
         1 cup salsa
combine all of these ingredients in the crock-pot, stir, cover with water and cook on low for 6-8   hours.  I chose not to include bacon because I am attempting a semi-vegetarian diet right now but you could add chopped up bacon if you choose.

Corn bread muffins:
          1 box of Jiffy muffin mix
Bake this just as the box tells you to.  Brian really likes some heat in his so in 6 of the muffins
I  hide one sliver of jalapeno pepper from a jar.  One jar will last FOREVER!!  I also top each
muffin with 1/2 tsp of shredded cheddar cheese.

Un-Fried potatoes:
          1 cup of sliced red potatoes (use your favorite potatoes)
I call these un-fried potatoes because I simply spray a non-stick skillet with canola spray and it
makes them perfect.  Sprinkle them with your favorite seasoning (ours is salt-free Cavendars)
and cook them on medium heat until they are as crispy as you would like.  Here is my trick with
potatoes- I buy them when they are on sale- I recently ran across 5 lb bags on sale at target for
$1.99.  There is no way our family will eat them fast enough and if I leave them in the pantry
they will start growing "trees".  So, I slice some, dice some and shred some and they freeze
beautifully.  You will be set with potatoes for a very long time!!

Dessert:
         1 box yellow cake mix
         1 can of Apple pie filling
         1/4 cup of water
         1 tbsp brown sugar
         1 tbsp cinnamon
         1/4 can of vanilla frosting (I had this left over in the fridge from cupcakes we made a week ago)
Combine yellow cake mix, apple pie filling and water in bowl, mix well.  Dump into a 9 x 13
pan, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.  Heat the 
frosting in the microwave until you can easily pour it over the cake.  After you pour it- it is
READY!!!!

I love bread pudding and that is exactly what this cake mixture tastes like.  You could add some nuts and raisins to the baking mixture if you would like to but our kiddos wouldn't go for that so we choose to leave them out.

This is such a yummy way to end a busy saturday- and you have lot's of leftovers for that quick lunch after church on Sunday- right before you lay down to enjoy the game of choice:)