Delicious Dishes

Meal Plan Monday

2011-09-26T09:50:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday!

My brother came to live with us for a few months, so my menu plans are going to be full of meals that will feed a lot of people for not much cash. I'm also hoping to find meals that are easily doubled because with a 19 year old boy in the house, our leftovers are going to be a lot less! And since those are the meals I typically use for lunches throughout the week, that's going to make things a bit more tricky.

Last night I was browsing around Pinterest and came across a lot of new recipes. Almost my entire menu this week is stuff I have pinned. I actually dreamed about some of the recipes last night. Does that make me a total nerd?! Don't answer that. ;-)

So, here's what we've got going on:
tuna noodle casserole
fiesta chicken casserole
BLTs (I'll serve with fruit, veggies and dip)
world's best macaroni and cheese (we'll see if it actually is!)
pizza pancakes
taco pasta
cheeseburger soup

Do you care much about how much meals cost?
Or are you more the type that just makes whatever looks/sounds good?

Smoothies

2011-09-07T11:51:00.001-07:00

For your sakes, I hope it’s cooling off where you live. But we’re in the desert, and it’s still 115* here most days. Because of this, I’ve been making smoothies a lot lately! This week at my local grocery store they had strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries on sale, so I grabbed some of each. Yesterday’s smoothie was strawberry banana, and today’s was a little bit of everything.

These are SO super easy, VERY healthy, and refreshing. You can go spend a couple bucks to get a smoothie at Jamba Juice, or you can make one yourself for a fraction of the cost that tastes just as great. This is one of those “method more than recipe” type recipes. You can add anything you like to customize. This is just the way I’ve been doing it. You could even add yogurt to yours if you have it on hand to make it more creamy. Or use orange juice (or any other kind of juice) or even just water to thin yours out a bit if you don’t want to use milk. You could even add protein powder or Slim Fast type powder if you’re into that sort of thing.

I think smoothies are a great idea to serve at a breakfast or brunch function. It would be super easy, and you could even have your guests customize their own before you blend them up.

I just saw a breakfast smoothie today on Pinterest that I’m super excited to try out (it has oatmeal in it!), so I’ll post that as soon as I do!

Smoothies
Printable recipe

Ingredients:
fruit
ice
splash of milk

Just put everything except milk into the blender…

…and blend away!

Add a splash of milk, if desired, to thin the consistency. This is because we like straws at our house.

Look at those pretty colors!

Meal Plan Monday

2011-09-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! This week's recipes are almost all brand new, mostly ideas I found from Pinterest. Have you checked out Pinterest yet?? Do it if you haven't already! It's a really neat place to keep everything you find online organized in one easy-to-find spot. I use it mostly for recipes I want to try, but I have boards for gift ideas, projects, etc. Once I try a recipe and decide it's a keeper, then I'll write it down so I don't have to get on the computer every time I want to make it.

So here's what's cooking at my house this week:
Ham and cheese pretzel bites with nacho cheese dipping sauce
Cheese and potato enchiladas
Macaroni and cheese and rolls
Chicken Fricassee
Pork chops and sweet potato fries
General Tso's chicken and rice

What have you got on your menu this week?

Sticky Wings

2011-08-30T09:37:00.001-07:00

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot believe it’s been several months since I last posted! Things have been super busy around these parts, and then we left town for the summer. I’m back and promise this blog will become active again! I’ve missed it so much!

While we were on vacation, I got a new cookbook. I tried my first recipe from it on Sunday night, and it was really tasty. The cookbook is called Slow Cooker Revolution. I got it from Costco for about $17. It was really simple and was a big hit with the kids especially. I served it as a main course, but it would be a perfect side dish. It would even be great served at a party.

Don’t shy away from the cayenne. It really does need the balance of sweet and spicy. And I promise, it’s NOT too spicy.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark will work equally well)
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced or grated fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 pounds whole chicken wings (they can be frozen or thawed)
salt and pepper
vegetable oil spray
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup tomato paste

Stir 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne into slow cooker. Add chicken to slow cooker, then add some salt and pepper. Give it a quick stir to coat the chicken in the sauce. Cook on low for about 4 hours, or until chicken is tender.

Place the oven rack about 10 inches from the broiler. Place a wire rack in an aluminum foil lined rimmed baking sheet, and coat with vegetable oil spray. Transfer the chicken to the wire rack, and discard the cooking liquid.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar, water, tomato paste, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne in a bowl. Brush chicken with half of sauce mixture and broil until lightly charred and crisp, 10-15 minutes. Flip chicken over, brush with remaining sauce, and broil an additional 5-10 minutes, or until second side is lightly charred and crisp.

Grab yourself a whole package of napkins (or better yet, a whole roll of paper towels!), and dig in! Yummy, gooey, sticky goodness.

So how was your summer?!
Cook anything delicious?

Meal Plan Monday

2011-03-21T09:24:00.000-07:00

Greetings, loyal readers! I say this often, but I want to say again how grateful I am that you all stick around, despite how dead this blog has become lately! I’ve even noticed we’ve gotten a few more readers on board, which is amazing! I sure love doing this blog, so the more readers the better!

This week’s menu is full of our family favorites. I spent the last week cooking meals that are more fancy (to impress company!), so I feel like just having a really easy week this week. Here’s what we’ve got going on:

Easy cheesy meat and potatoes
Baked potatoes and green bean casserole
Lasagna, oatmeal rolls, and salad
Pizza night and salad
Café Rio pork salads
Baked teriyaki chicken and fried rice

Talk to me: what's on your menu this week?

Egg Salad Sandwiches

2011-02-23T07:45:00.001-08:00

Well, hello! I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted. I keep hoping I'll get used to being Mom/Student/Wife, but finding my groove hasn't been as easy as I thought. I think I was crazy when I decided to go back to school! Today I’m taking a much-needed break from school work to get caught up on things, and this was the first item on my list!

So, being in school means I’m short on time. That translates to needing to find quick meals. I’m still usually good about making nice dinners, but lunches need to be quick and easy. I haven’t made egg salad in a very long time but had a hankering for it the other day. I forgot how delish it is! And easy. And it made enough for me to eat for like 3 days in a row. Gotta love being able to cook once and have 3 meals worth!

Plus, it’s something you can make ahead of time and keep in the fridge. You can either make the recipe from start to finish and keep the prepared egg salad in the fridge, or you can hardboil your eggs and pop them back in the fridge for whenever you’re ready to make this recipe. I love make-ahead recipes!

This is one of those where it’s more a method than anything. You can change it up to your own likes/dislikes. I’m just going to type up the recipe how I made it, but again, it’s super easy to change adjust.

Ingredients:
8 hardboiled eggs, cooled
1/2 cup mayo
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
salt, pepper, and dill
sandwich bread (or make your own!)
lettuce and tomato

Peel the eggs, and just toss them into a bowl whole. Add remaining ingredients.

Then take your potato masher (that’s just to show you what it looks like – you can find them for WAY cheaper at Walmart, Target, etc.) and smush it all together.

At this point, you can chill it or just serve it up. I’m impatient (and in a hurry), so I just serve it up. Toast up your bread, dump on the egg salad, and top with lettuce and tomato, if desired.

I served mine with some celery and a bit of ranch (use your favorite dressing, or make your own ranch dip). It was a really quick and easy lunch.

Do you have an egg salad recipe you love?
Post it!

Meal Plan Monday

2011-01-03T15:46:00.000-08:00

Hello, foodies! So sorry for the prolonged absence, but things have been crazy around here with Christmas break, holidays, etc. I'm so excited to get back into blogging and share with you all the yummy things we had to eat this holiday season! I hope you all had as wonderful a holiday as we did. It's hard to believe Christmas is over already!

I've done the el cheapo menus before, but I'm doing it again this week. We really need some recovery in the pocketbook after Christmas! ;-) So here's what we're doing for food this week:

Easy cheesy meat and potatoes
Gnocchi and crescent rolls (homemade)
Shredded beef enchiladas and sweet corn tamalitos
Baked potatoes and salad
Ravioli (homemade)
Spaghetti and crescent rolls

The other days we're eating out for dinner (my oldest turns 9...where did the time go?!) and having leftovers.

Did you eat anything fabulous over the holidays?! Do share!!

Classic Apple Pie

2010-11-23T20:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday! Today I have a fabulous apple pie recipe to share with you all! I never had to worry about cooking Thanksgiving dinner until a couple of years ago when we moved away from home. And this year was the very first time I'd attempted my own apple pie. My mom ALWAYS made apple pie for Thanksgiving, but last year I decided not to do it (again, because of that tricky crust recipe of hers!). It just wasn't Thanksgiving without apple pie. So a few weeks back, when I found that awesomely easy pie crust recipe, I decided to also try out the apple pie recipe in my cookbook. It. was. delish!!! I was going to just make this pie instead of pumpkin this year, but my kids all begged me to make both. So both it is!

Ingredients:
2 pounds McIntosh apples (4-6), peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4" thick
1.5 pounds Granny Smith apples (3-4), peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4" thick
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 recipe double-crust pie dough, bottom crust fit into pie plate
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Adjust oven rack to the lowest position, place a rimmed baking sheet on the rack, and heat the oven to 500 degrees. Toss the apples with 3/4 cup of the sugar, flour, lemon juice, zest, salt, and spices, and set aside.

Roll out the top crust to a 12-inch circle. Spread the apples in the unbaked pie crust bottom, mounding them slightly in the middle. Lay the top crust over the apples, seal and crimp the edges, and cut four vent holes in the top. Brush the crust with the egg white and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.

Place the pie on the heated baking sheet and lower the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Bake until the top crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet, reduce the oven temperature again to 375 degrees, and continue to bake until the juices are bubbling and the crust is deep golden brown, 30-35 minutes longer (**at this point, I suggest covering the edges of the pie crust with foil, but the recipe doesn't say that**). Transfer the pie to a wire rack and cool to room temperature before serving.

What's your favorite kind of pie?

Double-Crust Pie Dough

2010-11-22T14:27:00.000-08:00

We're on the countdown to Thanksgiving now!! I've got 3 great posts lined up for you this week, and we'll be doing it a bit differently. Instead of the typical Monday, Wednesday, Friday line-up, I'm going to post Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday instead. :-)

For years, I've been trying to make pie crust. My mom has a fabulous pie crust, but whenever I try her recipe, it's been a total flop. Last Thanksgiving I was in tears (seriously...) because the pie crust was just horrendous. It was either too flaky and wouldn't roll out without crumbling or it was too tough. My sweet hubby suggested I look in our trusty America's Test Kitchen cookbook to see if they had a pie crust recipe instead. SCORE! This is SO easy, especially compared to my mom's recipe. Apparently my mom is the only one that can get her recipe to turn out perfectly. ;-)

Ingredients:
2.5 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
8 tablespoons Crisco, cut into 1/2" pieces and chilled
12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pieces and chilled
6-8 tablespoons ice water

Process the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until combined. Scatter the shortening over the top and process until the mixture has the texture of coarse sand, about 10 seconds. Scatter the butter pieces over the top and, using short pulses, process the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 pulses. Transfer to a bowl. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of the ice water over the mixture. Stir and press the dough together, using a stiff rubber spatula until the dough sticks together.

If the dough does not come together, stir in the remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does.

Divide the dough into two even pieces and flatten each into a 4 inch disk. Wrap the disks tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Let the chilled dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling it out and fitting it into a pie plate.

To make ahead: The dough can be refrigerated, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Let the frozen dough thaw on the countertop until malleable before rolling.

Stay tuned for a fantastic apple pie recipe tomorrow!

Hummus

2010-11-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago, I posted a recipe for wanna-be hummus. This is another version that is even easier. It's super yummy and has tons of flavor. You could use it as a dip for veggies or pita bread, or you could put it on a sandwich or wrap. I used it on Middle Eastern Pita Pizzas (recipe coming soon!).

Ingredients:
1 can great northern beans
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
parsley

Drain beans, but reserve 2 tablespoons of the liquid. Then, in a food processor, blend all ingredients (including reserved bean liquid) until smooth. Spoon dip into a serving dish, and enjoy!

What's your favorite dip?

Black Bean Burgers

2010-11-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I went out and started our Christmas shopping. We hit Barnes & Noble to get the kiddos some new books, and while we were there a couple of new cookbooks caught my eye. My husband made me save one for a Christmas present for myself, but I got to keep one out to use right away. ;-) They are both Betty Crocker cookbooks, and the one I kept out is called Betty Crocker Easy Vegetarian. I was super excited to see this because I'm always on the lookout for new meatless meal ideas to make my grocery budget stretch further.

This was the first recipe I tried from this new cookbook, and it was actually really tasty. My husband was very skeptical, but even he said that it was really good. My kids didn't even know the patties weren't ground beef until I told them. I expected my 8 year old to immediately stop eating at that point, but she kept on eating and said it was yummy!

I changed this recipe just a bit. I didn't think my kids would eat it unless I made it look exactly like a traditional burger. The recipe calls for topping the patties with, mayo, salsa, and lettuce. That's the way my husband ate it and said it was good. But for the kids and myself, I did mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese.

Another change I made was that I didn't use the green chiles. I was planning to but ended up using the last can I had for something else instead. So I just poured in a little green taco sauce instead.

One more thing. For the black beans, try and find a can with cumin and chili spices if you can. I couldn't, so I just added some cumin and chili powder when I opened the can.

Ingredients:
1 can black beans
1 can (4.5 ounces) green chiles
1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 burger buns, split and toasted
mayo
lettuce
salsa

In a food processor or blender, process beans until slightly mashed. Remove from food processor and place in a medium bowl. Stir in chiles, bread crumbs, and egg. Shape mixture into 5 patties, about 1/2 inch thick. Coat each patty with cornmeal. In a 10 inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add patties, and cook 10-15 minutes, turning once, until crisp and thoroughly cooked on both sides.

Then assemble burgers with remaining ingredients.

Have you ever had a veggie burger?
What did you think?

Meal Plan Monday

2010-11-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

The weather is finally starting to cool off here in the desert! We've been able to turn off the air conditioning, open the windows, and we've even busted out the pants and jackets! I'm so excited to start cooking all my favorite soups that it's too miserably hot to make the rest of the year!

This meal plan is a super easy one. My husband has been out of town for almost the last week on business, so I really felt little need to make anything more than the bare minimum while he's gone.

The plan for this week:
Baked potatoes and salad
Huevos Rancheros (I'm trying a new recipe this week, though)
Breakfast for dinner (buttermilk pancakes, homemade syrup, and scrambled eggs)
Southwestern corn chowder
Chili's chicken enchilada soup and oatmeal dinner rolls
Crockpot Mexican pork

Oatmeal Dinner Rolls

2010-10-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

Last Thanksgiving, we went to a friend's house for dinner and had oatmeal dinner rolls for the first time. They were SO good, and I just had to ask for the recipe. I didn't get the exact recipe from the girl who brought the rolls because she didn't have it with her at the time, but she did tell me the secret was the oatmeal. So I did some searching on the Internet and found a recipe on Taste of Home's website. They are so soft and fluffy and yummy! The oatmeal really does make a huge difference!

Take a look at my tips for working with yeast before you begin!

Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 cup quick-cooking oats
3 tablespoons butter
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
4-3/4 to 5-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

In a sauce pan, bring the 2 cups water to a boil. Add oats and butter, and cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, and cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, in the bowl of your mixer, dissolve the yeast in the 1/3 cup warm water. Add the oat mixture, sugars, salt, and 4 cups of flour. Beat with a dough hook until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured counter, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, and turn to grease top. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down dough and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Then form into 18 balls. Place in 2 greased 9-inch round baking pans. Cover and allow to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

What's your favorite dinner roll recipe?

Meal Plan Monday

2010-10-25T20:52:00.001-07:00

Even though I've been absent (again), I've still been doing lots of cooking. So there are some yummy recipes ready to be posted!

My mother-in-law just left today after spending the last week with us. We spent a couple of days in fabulous San Diego, California where we took the kiddos to Sea World. Tons of fun! It's fun eating out for a change, but it always makes me anxious to get back home and get back in my own kitchen. Once I developed a love of (and a talent for) cooking, no restaurant can really compare. I really love trying to re-create my favorite restaurant recipes! My first attempt was Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup, and I honestly love my version more than theirs. I also have a fabulous recipe for Applebee's Maple Butter Blondies, which I'll be posting soon!

Anyway, on to this week's menu! I recently got a new cookbook, so almost my entire menu this week is from that cookbook. The hubby and I went out to start on some Christmas shopping this last week while my mother-in-law was here to watch the kiddos, and while shopping for the kids, I just had to get something for myself, too! We were at Barnes and Noble getting them some books, and I saw a Betty Crocker vegetarian dishes cookbook. I am always having major trouble coming up with meatless meal ideas, so this was a MUST-BUY for me. It's a total success so far!

So, up this week we have:
Black bean burgers, veggies & dip
Middle Eastern pita pizzas (pitas will be homemade)
Easy cheesy meat and potatoes
Huevos rancheros
Baked potato soup
Vegetable manicotti

What recipes have you tried lately that were a big hit?

Meal Plan Monday

2010-10-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I've done a Meal Plan Monday post, so I figured it was time to start it up again! I love seeing other people's meal plans and getting fresh, new ideas!

This week I wanted to see how cheaply I could feed us. I ended up spending only $45 at the store for the entire week's worth of food! I was pretty stoked about that. I'm usually really good at planning my meals around as much of what I already have on hand as possible, but this week I did an even better job than usual. Typically we spend anywhere from $60-$75 per week on groceries, so this was quite drastic difference. It helped that we stocked up a couple weeks ago on all the meat, so I didn't have to buy any of that this week. But still!

So, on the meal plan are (in no particular order):

Lemon linguine
Chicken and dumplings
Feijoada
Fettuccine Alfredo & rolls
Chicken poulet
Tuna noodle casserole
Chili mac

What's on your meal plan this week??

Chicken Enchilada Pasta

2010-09-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this gem of a recipe several months ago (my picture file says June) on a website called My Kitchen Cafe. I was frantically searching through my files trying to find a recipe to post. I stumbled across this one and can't believe I've neglected it before now! It's so super good. I was skeptical when I first read it because I thought, "Enchiladas and pasta? Together? Really?" But the combination is a perfect marriage of texture and flavor. It's just perfection.

This dish has the potential to be super spicy, depending on what kind of enchilada sauce you use. I use mild because I'm a wimp.....er, I mean, because my kids don't love spicy food. I made it once using medium enchilada sauce, and even that was a bit much for us. So if you're not big into spicy, make sure you use mild.

Ingredients:
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed or shredded
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
4-ounce can diced green chilies
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 (10-oz) cans green chili enchilada sauce
2/3 cup red enchilada sauce
1 can large black olives, cut in half
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
16-20 oz. penne pasta

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook the pasta until tender. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet and cook the onion for 2-3 minutes, or until translucent. Add the garlic and red pepper and cook for another 2 minutes, until pepper is barely tender. Add the cooked chicken, green chilies, spices, enchilada sauces and olives. Let the sauce simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Add the sour cream and cheese and heat through, until the cheese is melted. Be careful not to boil the sauce, otherwise your dairy will curdle. Pour the sauce over the hot pasta. Garnish with extra sour cream, cheese, diced tomatoes, green onions, crushed tortilla chips, diced avocado, shredded lettuce, etc.

Have you ever tried something that originally sounded weird, but you ended up loving it?

Baked Spaghetti

2010-09-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

This is another recipe I found on Full Bellies, Happy Kids. And oh. my. goodness. It was GOOD! Super good. I might need to get the cookbook she keeps referencing!

This is definitely not healthy food. But man alive, it is delish! It's totally worth the 5 hour workout you'll need after consumption to burn all those calories! ;-)

Ingredients:
6 slices bacon
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped bell pepper
3 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes with liquid
1 2.25-ounce can sliced ripe black olives, drained
1–2 tablespoons dried oregano, according to taste
1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
12 ounces thin spaghetti, cooked and drained
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (5 ounces)
1 10-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a 9x13 baking dish.

In a large skillet, cook the bacon until slightly crisp, then chop into smaller pieces. Remove bacon from pan, then saute onion, garlic, and bell pepper in the bacon drippings until tender. Add the tomatoes, olives, oregano, bacon, and cooked ground beef. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

Place half of prepared spaghetti in the prepared baking dish. Top spaghetti with half of the meat mixture, then sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese. Repeat layers.

Mix the canned soup and water until smooth, then pour evenly over the top of the spaghetti. Sprinkle the top with Parmesan.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, or until heated through.

Try not to eat it all in one sitting!

What's your favorite pasta recipe?

Herbed Monkey Bread

2010-09-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

This recipe came from my Taste of Home magazine. I've had it for probably 7-8 months or so but haven't ever tried it until recently. It sounded too scary to attempt, but it's really very easy and was super good!

This is a good one to make for holidays or when you've got company. It looks very impressive!

Ingredients:
3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon each dried parsley flakes, thyme, and rosemary, crushed

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. In a small saucepan, heat the milk, oil, and 2 tablespoons butter to 120*-130*. Add to dry ingredients. Beat just until moistened. Add egg, and beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning once to coat the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

In a small bowl, combine the cheese, sesame seeds, garlic salt, paprika, and herbs. Punch down dough. Divide into 32 pieces, and roll each into a ball. Drizzle 2 teaspoons butter into a 10 inch tube pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with a third of the cheese mixture. Top with 16 balls. Repeat layers. Drizzle with remaining butter and sprinkle with remaining cheese mixture.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 350* for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Slather with some extra butter, and enjoy!

Have you made something that impressed your family/guests?
Tell us about it!

Turkey Chili

2010-09-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

Once again, my trusty America's Test Kitchen cookbook has come to the rescue! Oh. my. word. This was SO good. SoooooOOOOOoooo good. Yum!! There's just nothing else I can say, really. It's perfection.

Serve with cornbread for a really easy, filling, tasty meal! This chili can be cooked ahead of time and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Or you can freeze it for up to a month. Reheat over low heat, adding additional water or broth as needed for the right consistency.

Ingredients:
2 onions, minced (just use 1 if you have a larger onion)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons coriander
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
salt
2 pounds ground turkey (I used 85/15, but use whatever you have)
2 15.5 ounce cans kidney beans, rinsed
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, UNdrained
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

Toppings:
cilantro
lime juice
shredded cheddar cheese
avocado
fresh diced tomatoes
sliced green onion

Combine the onions, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, oregano, cayenne, oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large pot or Dutch oven. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the vegetables have softened, about 12 minutes.

Uncover and increase the heat to medium-high. Stir in the turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink and just beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Stir in the beans, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, broth, and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, until the chili has begun to thicken, about 1 hour.

Ladle into bowls, and top with your choice of toppings. ENJOY!

Are you salivating yet?! You should be!

Raspberry Cheesecake Salad

2010-08-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

I know... I'm just the devil of this recipe blog because I post all the evil and delicious things to eat... ha ha!!! This one is for all you cheesecake lovers out there! Yes, Hillary, that means you!! You can change up the fruit if you'd like or even mix some different ones. Enjoy it!

Raspberry Cheesecake Salad

3 small packages instant cheesecake flavored pudding
3 cups of milk
1 12-16 oz container of coolwhip

1 package graham crackers, crushed
1 cube butter; melted
1/2 cup sugar

1 or 2 bags frozen raspberries

Mix pudding and milk. Stir until pudding mix is dissolved. It will be very thick. Mix in coolwhip. Let chill for about an hour. Mix melted butter, sugar and cracker crumbs together. Mix with pudding mixture. Fold in raspberries. Serve chilled!

It's oh soooo delicious!!!

Crockpot Nachos

2010-08-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

Today I officially have a 3rd grader and a kindergartner! I'm not sure how I feel about that yet. For now, my house is far too quiet. I'm feeling even more thankful for my little 3 year old running around, otherwise I don't know how I'd deal! The plus side to school being back is that now I'll have lots more time to devote to the little bloggy!

This is another recipe I got from Sandra at Full Bellies, Happy Kids. My kids all love nachos, so when I saw this version adapted for the crock pot, I knew I had to give it a try. It got rave reviews from all the kids, and the adults liked it as well. I just love my crock pot!!

This would be something that would work awesome to serve at a party. I love using my crock pot to feed people at parties. It makes so much less work for me, and I can actually enjoy my guests and the party!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained
1 can refried beans
1 can red kidney beans, undrained
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder
tortilla chips
jar of Mexican salsa con queso
Topping of your choice (I used finely sour cream, tomatoes, olives, green onions, and lettuce)

Brown the ground beef, and drain the grease. Put into the crock pot, and add in the refried beans, kidney beans, tomato paste, taco seasoning, water, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-5 hours.

Warm up the queso. Then plate up your nachos! We put the meat/bean mixture on first, then the cheese, then the toppings.

It really can't get any easier than this meal!

Do you have kids back in school yet?

Bagel Pizzas

2010-07-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

Is summer going by crazy fast for anyone else? My hubby has summers off (he's a school psychologist), so we've been really busy almost every second. He goes back to work at the end of next week (BOO!), so things will start to settle down a bit after that. Come August, I'll have 2 of my 3 kids in school, so I'll have much more time for this little blog of mine!

So anyway, the other night we were late getting home from the pool and were starving. I had some bagels and pepperoni about ready to go bad and needed to use them up. Thus, this idea popped into my head. My kids scoffed at me ("Bagel pizzas? Are you sure, Mom?") at first, but then I reminded them that we always see those pre-made frozen ones at the store. They still were skeptical because we've never purchased the ones at the store before, but everyone loved these.

You could totally make them ahead of time and keep them in the freezer for quick meals. I plan on doing that and then popping them in the fridge to defrost to send with my kids to school that week. Pizza is so versatile (you can eat it hot or cold), so I think it'll be perfect for their lunches to change things up a bit.

Lastly, this is a perfect meal to let your kids prepare! My kids were fighting over who got to spread the sauce, and they loved spreading on the cheese and pepperoni. :)

Ingredients:
plain bagels
pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce
shredded mozzarella
pizza toppings

Break bagels in half, and lay them out on a foil-lined baking sheet. Top with a few spoonfuls of sauce, then cheese, then toppings. Sprinkle a little extra cheese on top before baking.

Bake at 375* for about 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and pepperoni starts to get crispy around the edges.

I served ours with some fresh, sliced cantaloupe and a salad. It was a really yummy summer supper!

What meals do you throw together in a pinch?

New York Style Cheesecake

2010-06-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

I really have been a slacker and poor Hillary probably thinks I've abandoned her here or something ;) But I'm around. Just don't do a lot of cooking due to my work schedule. I'm not sure where I got this recipe but I found it somewhere a few years ago. My mom actually made it this time for my brother's birthday yesterday.

New York Style Cheesecake

1 cup honey maid graham cracker crumbs (or you can make your own if you are too cheap to buy crumbs like I am)
3 T sugar
3 T butter or margarine, melted
5 pkg (8 oz each) Philadelphia Cream cheese (any brand will do), softened
1 C sugar
3 T flour
1 T vanilla
1 C sour cream
4 eggs
Topping of your choice

Mix crumbs, 3 T sugar and butter; press firmly onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 325 for 10 minutes.

Beat cream cheese, 1 C sugar, flour and vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake at 325 for 65 minutes or until center is almost set. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Spread topping over cheesecake and garnish as you please before serving.

Makes 16 servings.

And boy is it ever yummy! :)

Is your mouth watering yet?

Garlic and Ranch Turkey Burgers

2010-06-21T22:26:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the extended absence! I was able to take a spur-of-the-moment trip to Idaho to visit my family for 10 days and had the BEST time! My hubby stayed home with our older kiddos, and I took off with our 3 year old. It's taken me the last 3 days to settle into being back home. Grocery shopping may have to wait until Friday, so things may not be back to normal around here until next week.

But for now, I was able to find an old recipe that I tried a while ago but forgot to post. I found it from a cooking blog called Mommy Meals, and she found it from Allrecipes. I didn't change a thing in this recipe. My hubby was really skeptical about the ground turkey. We've only ever tried ground turkey once before in a chili recipe, and it was TERRIBLE. But now I know it was the recipe's fault and not the turkey! These were really tasty!

Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey
1 package ranch dressing mix
1 egg
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper

Preheat your grill on medium-high heat, and lightly oil the grate. Mix ingredients together and form into patties. Cook until well-done, about 5 minutes per side. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 165 degrees.

We topped ours with mayo, lettuce, tomato, bacon and avocado. Delish!

Are you a ground turkey fan?
What's your favorite ground turkey recipe?

Cream Cheese Carrot Muffins

2010-06-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

This is another recipe that I got from Full Bellies, Happy Kids. My kids LOVED these! I think her recipe is actually missing an ingredient, because when I mixed up the ingredients as written on her site, the batter wasn't batter-y at all. It was totally crumbly, and there was no way it would have worked. So I just added a bit of milk, and it was perfect.

Another change I made was that I used fresh carrots instead of canned. I don't use canned carrots at all, so I just sliced and steamed my own. I ended up using 4 carrots, and I just used my steamer basket and steamed them for around 10-15 minutes until they were soft.

After I mixed up the batter and went to pour it into my muffin tin, I couldn't find my muffin tin. I have NO idea where it got off to, and my kids were all conveniently clueless as well. So I just poured it into a baking dish, topped it with the filling, and cooked it for an extra 20 minutes or so.

This could easily be served for breakfast, brunch, or even as dessert. It's super yummy!

Ingredients:
1 15-ounce can sliced carrots, drained
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
2 eggs
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

In a food processor, blend the carrots until they are smooth. After carrots are smooth, add in 1 egg, the oil, and the milk. Then, in a large bowl combine the flour, 1 cup of the sugar, salt, and spices. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until combined.

Once batter is prepared, combine cream cheese, 1/4 cup of sugar, and 1 egg. Mix until smooth. Fill 12 greased muffin tins 1/3 of the way full with the batter. Then put a large spoonful of the cream cheese mixture into the center of each muffin. Top with remaining batter.

Like I said, I improvised. So here's what mine looked like this morning:

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes (or if you did it like I did, then around 45 minutes), or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Where is the strangest place you've found something you've lost?

Turkey, Bacon, and Avocado Wraps

2010-05-28T14:07:00.001-07:00

This is just to give you some inspiration and isn't a recipe. I often will see things on a website and think, "Duh! Why didn't I think of that?!" or "Oh, yeah! I love that meal!" My family gets really sick of sandwiches, so this is my way of tricking my kids. It always seems like it's more fun wrapped up in a tortilla as opposed to being in between 2 slices of bread.

I'm sure you are well aware of the pure bliss that comes from the combination of turkey, bacon, and avocado. Plus, you get to eat bacon, and that's never a bad thing. Everyone needs more excuses to eat bacon. ;-)

The ingredients list is just what I had on hand the day I made these. There are tons of ways to improvise. I was in a hurry on this day and just threw these together in a flash, so they don't contain anything that required a lot of chopping/rinsing/dishes.

Ingredients:
turkey breast (I just used thick sliced lunch meat)
cream cheese, softened
1 avocado, sliced
lettuce (I used romaine)
bacon (less mess by cooking it in the oven!)
1 tomato, sliced
flour tortillas

Spread the cream cheese onto each tortilla, then top with remaining ingredients. Roll up, and cut in half on an angle. I secured mine with toothpicks so they'd stay rolled up.

Baked Bacon

2010-05-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

I detest making bacon on the stove top, mainly because I can't ever make it without getting scalded by the grease. But also because of the greasy mess I have to clean up after it cooks. We have a Sunday tradition where we have BLTs for lunch. As I was making them a couple of weeks ago, I was annoyed about having to make 2 batches of bacon to accommodate all the sandwiches. Then I realized, DUH!, I can cook bacon in the oven! I really love cooking it this way because the bacon stays nice and flat, instead of getting all shriveled up. It's perfect for sandwiches this way.

You guys are probably a lot smarter than me and have been doing this for a while. But just in case there is somebody else out there like me who hasn't thought of it before now, here's the method!

Line a baking sheet with foil, then place an oven-safe baking rack on top. Lay bacon pieces on top, and bake at 400* for about 20 minutes, or until bacon is browned.

What was your most recent "aha!" moment? ;-)

Crunchy Onion Barbecue Chicken

2010-05-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

This is another recipe that I got from Full Bellies, Happy Kids. She said she got it from Taste of Home. I don't remember seeing it in any of the recent magazines, so I'm glad I saw it on her blog. It was really tasty! My kids devoured it, and it was super easy and quick. I always have all the ingredients on hand, so it's a perfect go-to meal. I served mine with buttermilk mashed potatoes. It would go great with anything you'd serve at a barbecue -- corn on the cob, potato salad, etc -- or serve it with green bean casserole to use up more of the French's french fried onions.

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1 1/3 cups French's french fried onions, crushed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Combine onions, cheese and pepper in a shallow dish or bowl. Put barbecue sauce into separate shallow dish or bowl. Coat both sides of chicken breast halves into barbecue sauce, then dip one side into onion mixture. Place chicken onion side up on a foil lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400* for about 25 minutes, or until cooked through.

Do you have any yummy recipes that use French's french fried onions (besides green bean casserole)?

Breakfast Sandwiches

2010-05-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

My semester is over! I finished all my finals last week and have 2 weeks of school-free bliss before summer semester starts. I know it's going to go by way too fast!

Today's post isn't a recipe, it's a method. Since going back to school, I've been so busy that I've had to come up with a larger repertoire of quick and easy meals. My kids aren't lovers of cereal for breakfast. I've spoiled them with hot breakfast too much, I guess. The other morning, my oldest asked if we could go to McDonald's for breakfast since I had a busy day ahead of me with finals. That's when I got the idea to just make McD's at home instead -- healthier, cheaper, and faster.

These would also be a great thing to have on hand in the freezer for even quicker breakfasts.

You can do these sandwiches tons of ways. Poach or scramble the eggs instead of frying them. Add sausage or bacon instead of ham. Serve on biscuits instead of English muffins.

Ingredients:
English muffins
eggs
cheese
ham or Canadian bacon

Cook eggs however you want. This particular morning, I fried them in a little butter. Meanwhile, toast English muffins in the toaster. When eggs are done, assemble sandwiches.

I popped mine in the oven for a couple of minutes just to melt the cheese.

How often do you make a hot breakfast?

Spaghetti a la Philly

2010-05-05T16:58:00.000-07:00

First off, I'm sorry about the lack of posting (again with the lack of posting!). It's finals for me right now, and it's just been a bit crazy. One week left! Woo!

A few weeks ago, I told you about the hot corn dip I found from Full Bellies, Happy Kids. Well, since then, I have tried many of her recipes and have really enjoyed them all! Today's is also from her site. She said she originally found it from Love My Philly. I have yet to check out that site, but I'm going to. We always have cream cheese on hand, and I'd love to come up with new ways to use it!

So this recipe was super simple and tasty. It's a perfect quick weeknight meal. It really intrigued my kids that their spaghetti had cream cheese in it. My kids love spaghetti anyway, but this made it even more kid-friendly. Admittedly, my husband was very skeptical ("Cream cheese in spaghetti? Are you sure about that?"), but he even said it was yummy after we were finished.

Ingredients:
3/4 pound spaghetti
1 pound ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Cook noodles according to package directions. While noodles cook, brown ground beef in a saute pan; drain. Add spaghetti sauce and cream cheese, and cook until cream cheese is melted.

Drain spaghetti, and toss with sauce. Serve topped with Parmesan.

And the winner of the giveaway is........

2010-04-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

There is something seriously wrong with my Internet. Or my laptop. Or both. I don't know. But it's taken me until just now to be able to get the comments box to load in order to get a winner! I finally got it to work, though! And the winner is...........

RACHEL!! Rachel's comment: "I really like the minestrone soup. Its really easy, kid friendly and delicious." We're so glad you enjoy the soup, Rachel, and congratulations on winning the giveaway! Email us so we can get your prize shipped out to you!!

Giveaway update!

2010-04-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

This giveaway is now closed.

I have extended the giveaway until 8pm tonight! I want more people to comment and have a chance to win! :)

Giveaway weekend!!

2010-04-23T17:33:00.000-07:00

This giveaway is now closed.

Thanks to everyone who became followers! It was so fun to see that we not only reached 100 followers but now have 102! Now you all just need to work on commenting a bit so we don't feel like we're just talking to ourselves. ;-)

I'm excited about this giveaway and hope you will be, too! Before I tell you what it is, here are the rules.

1. You must be a follower of this blog to enter.
2. Leave a comment on this post, telling us which recipe of ours you've tried and loved and/or which recipe you want to try next. Also, make sure you include your email address so that we can contact you if you win!
3. For an additional entry, add our button to your blog, then come back and post another comment on this thread telling us you added the button (make sure to include a link to your blog so we can check it out!).

Ready to see what you could win?

You can win one of these fabulous Mary Kay lipglosses, courtesy of yours truly! I became a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant a couple of years ago and thought it would be super fun to enter some of the items in giveaways now and then. Plus, my husband says I need to cut down on my stash anyway. ;-)

The giveaway will be open through Tuesday, April 26th at 8pm. Winners will be chosen through random.org and the winner will be announced on Wednesday, April 27th. Good luck!! :-)

Hot Corn Dip

2010-04-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

WE REACHED 100 FOLLOWERS!!! Woohoo! Be on the lookout for the giveaway on Friday!

I was bored the other night and started surfing cooking blogs. I came across a new one that I am so excited about. It's called Full Bellies, Happy Kids. There isn't a single recipe that I don't want to try! In fact, that very night I tried this recipe. It was so good!!! My husband and kids were literally fighting over the bowl, so we had to dish up separate bowls for everyone. Deeeeeeeeelish.

I didn't have Mexicorn on hand, so I just used regular frozen corn that I thawed in a bowl of water. It still tasted great. If I don't have Mexicorn next time, I'm going to saute a little red bell pepper to put in. Also, a word about the chilies. I came across a jar of chilies at the store a few weeks ago. It's by the salsa, and it's the same thing as those little cans of diced green chilies. Only it's MUCH cheaper.

The recipe says it serves 12. But it's so good that it might only serve 1. ;-)

Ingredients:
2 11 ounce cans Mexicorn
2 4.5 ounce cans chopped green chilies
2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
3/4 cup Parmesan, grated
1 cup mayonnaise
tortilla chips for dipping

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a casserole dish and set aside. Mix corn, mayonnaise, cheeses, and chilies until combined. Pour into the casserole dish and bake, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly.

I know what I'm having for lunch!! :-)

The Absolute BEST Sandwich Bread

2010-04-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and are expriencing some great weather this time of year! As for us, I finally caved and turned on the a/c for the first time this year. In April. We're doomed! ;-)

We only need 5 more followers until we can start the giveaway!!! I see that we have 97 Facebook followers and only 95 blog followers, so those of you following us on Facebook need to make sure you follow the blog, too! :)

A year ago, I found a recipe for white bread. And that's the recipe I used for the last year. Until I got my new cookbook, that is. I was extremely excited to see a recipe for sandwich bread in my cookbook! Don't get me wrong, the old white bread recipe is still good, but it's just not good for slicing thinly for sandwiches because it's pretty crumbly. This sandwich bread recipe is AMAZING. And it has a million variations. You can do buttermilk instead of the whole milk. You can make cinnamon raisin bread. You can use whole wheat flour instead of white. You could turn it into all kinds of snazzy types of bread by adding cheese, herbs, etc. I've got several variations I'm going to try, so I'll make sure to post recipes!

This recipe only makes 1 loaf, so I always double it. If you do double it, make sure the bowl you let it rise in has enough room to accommodate a double batch once it's risen. You may want to divide the dough in half and put each half into a separate bowl to rise.

And if you're new here and/or new to bread-making, here are my tips for working with yeast. Making bread can be tricky at first. But I promise you that it gets easier! You just have to keep at it. My loaves when I first started turned out pretty goofy sometimes, but now I have no problem making fantastic bread.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk, warm
1/3 cup water, warm
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 tablespoons honey
3 3/4 cups bread flour, plus extra for kneading
2 1/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
2 teaspoons salt

Whisk the milk, water, 3 tablespoons of the butter and honey together in a large measuring cup. Mix 3 1/2 cups of the flour, yeast and salt together in a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook. With the mixer on low speed, add the milk mixture and mix until the dough comes together, about 1 minute.

Increase the speed to medium-low and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If after 5 minutes more flour is needed, add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough clears the side of the bowl but sticks to the bottom.

Turn the dough onto a clean counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, about 1 minute.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and gently press it into a 9 inch square. Roll the dough into a tight cylinder and pinch the seam closed. Place the loaf seam-side down in a 9 inch loaf pan. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until it has nearly doubled in size and springs back slowly when indented with a finger, about 1 to 1/2 hours.

Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Brush the loaf with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Set the loaf pan on the oven rack and place an empty metal loaf pan next to it. Fill the empty loaf pan half full with boiling water. Bake until golden and the center of the bread registers 200 degrees, about 40 to 50 minutes. Flip the bread out onto a wire rack and let cool to room temperature before slicing, about 2 hours.

Perfect texture!!!

And just look at how thinly I was able to slice it!
It's not crumbly at all! Perfect, perfect sandwich bread!

How often do you make your own bread?

We're almost there!

2010-04-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! Just a reminder about the giveaway! We still need 7 more people to become fans before we can start it. If you've added our button to your blog to spread the word, let us know so we can check it out!

Want another giveaway?!

2010-04-08T11:24:00.001-07:00

It's been a while. Both since we've posted and since we've had a giveaway! ;-) My excuse is that I've been crazy busy with school, spring break, t-ball practices and games, basically just life. I thought the last giveaway was really fun and want to do it again! I'm gonna make you work for it first, though! In order to start the giveaway, we need to get to 100 followers! So recruit, recruit, recruit! Tell everyone you know to become a follower! We currently have 90, so we only need 10 more. Totally doable! The sooner you spread the word, the sooner you'll have a chance to win!

Rigatoni with Bacon and Asparagus

2010-03-26T09:25:00.000-07:00

My husband randomly bought a bunch of asparagus a few days ago when he saw it on sale. I didn't have it on the menu for the week and wasn't sure what to do with it. Until I got my newest Healthy Cooking magazine, that is! This was yummy and came together in a flash.

Ingredients:
1 package (16 ounces) rigatoni or large tube pasta
1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and coarsely chopped
8 bacon strips
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2/3 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, saute asparagus in butter. Remove from pan. In the same pan, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. When bacon is done, put on paper towels to drain, then crumble. Saute garlic in the oil until fragrant. Stir in cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 3-4 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Stir in mozzarella. Drain pasta and add it to the sauce. Then add salt, asparagus and bacon. Sprinkle with Parmesan and parsley before serving.

Do you like asparagus?
Do your kids like asparagus?

My Staples, Part 3

2010-03-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

Wow, almost a whole month since our last post! Sorry about that!! Things have been CRAZY for me with school. I just took my math midterm yesterday, so hopefully life will calm down a bit. For a few weeks anyway, then it'll be finals. ;-) That math test was stressing me out to a ridiculous degree. I'm not doing well in my math class at all, so I really needed a good grade on the exam. Now I just have to play the waiting game until the teacher gets the tests graded! But the stress of the upcoming test has dissolved, and I feel like I've lost 10 pounds.

Anyway, on to the last of the 3 part series. My spice cupboard. Our spice cupboard is always packed full of all kinds of spices. If you don't have many spices, you should definitely expand your collection. There are so many wonderful flavors out there! Don't be afraid to try new things. Your taste buds will thank you!

Spices I always have on hand:
allspice
basil
bay leaves
ground mustard
cayenne
celery salt
crushed red pepper flakes
chili powder
cinnamon
cloves
oregano
cumin
curry
dill
garlic powder
garlic salt
lemon pepper
ground ginger
marjoram
nutmeg
parsley
peppercorns
ground black pepper
sea salt
kosher salt
poppy seeds
rosemary
sesame seeds
thyme
white vanilla
dark vanilla
cajun seasoning
paprika
seasoning salt
bouillon cubes

What's your spice cupboard like?

Remember Twitter!

2010-02-24T16:08:00.001-08:00

Just a quick reminder for those of you who may have missed it. We're now on Twitter! We'd love to have you follow us over there, too! :)

My Staples, Part 2

2010-02-24T11:19:00.000-08:00

So I'm a few days late....sorry! I ended up getting food poisoning all weekend and then I busted up my left ring finger on Monday in the most ridiculously freak accident possible. It just never ends in this house! ;)

My pantry is always stocked with several basics. There are things I use all the time, and then there are things that I keep on hand for those busy nights when I need to put something together, pronto!

What's in my pantry:
oils (vegetable, canola, peanut, extra-virgin olive oil, etc)
vinegars (red wine, white wine, apple cider, distilled, etc)
rice (brown, white, basmati, jasmine)
noodles (spaghetti, lasagna, fettuccine, linguine, egg)
flour (all-purpose, bread flour, wheat flour)
sugar (powdered, granulated, brown)
a big tub of my homemade buttermilk pancake mix
molasses
Karo syrup
cocoa powder
cornstarch
baking powder
walnuts
cereals (Cheerios and the like, oatmeal, cream of wheat)
peanut butter
bread
canned goods (corn, black beans, kidney beans, green beans, stewed tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, cream of mushroom, cream of celery, cream of chicken, pineapple tidbits, crushed pineapple, mandarin oranges, tuna, baked beans, diced green chilies)

Do you have a pantry or just a cupboard?

My Staples, Part 1

2010-02-17T17:53:00.000-08:00

I've been asked what things I always have on hand, so I decided to do a 3 part series of those items. Today, I'll cover the refrigerator, Friday I'll cover the pantry, then next week I'll cover my spice cupboard.

I usually have a lot more than this at any given time. These are just the things I always make sure I have.

What I always have in my fridge:
eggs
mayonnaise
buttermilk
salsa
sharp cheddar cheese
real butter
sour cream
tortillas (corn and flour)
Dijon mustard
Parmesan
tons of veggies (tomatoes, lettuce, green onions, celery, carrots, broccoli, cucumber...)
lunch meat (always turkey, sometimes ham as well)
Asian items (soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, etc)
bacon
hot sauce (Sriracha, Tabasco, etc)
ketchup
yeast
salad dressing (usually homemade, very rarely store-bought)
milk (2% for drinking, whole for bread-making)
Worchestershire

What things do you keep in your fridge that I didn't have on my list?

Edited: because I can't believe I forgot the Worchestershire!

Twitter!

2010-02-15T13:54:00.001-08:00

I've gotten a couple of comments over the last few days from our followers telling us we should get on Twitter. So that's what I'm working on today! I posted the link to our Twitter page on the left hand side of our site. Please bear with us as we figure out exactly what we're doing over there. Hopefully we'll be up and running shortly!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

2010-02-03T09:49:00.000-08:00

Aaaaaaaaaaand we're back! :)

Wow, going back to school was a rude awakening for me! I thought, "Yeah, I can totally do it! No sweat! How hard can it be?" Um, hard. Really hard. Now I'm juggling 3 hats -- Mom, Wife and Student. But as hard as it is, it's still great to be doing something for me!

Anyway. This recipe we tried for the first time last night. I got it out of my Healthy Cooking magazine back in December of last year and finally remembered to try it. It was really tasty and SO easy. It's also a great meal to have on hand in the freezer. You can have it completely prepared and then just pop it in the oven on a busy day. Fabulous! You could also easily make this in the crock pot. And if you wanted, you could even turn this into a great appetizer for a party. Just omit the rice and serve the meatballs on toothpicks with extra sauce for dipping!

The only thing I changed was that I omitted the raisins. We didn't have any anyway, but I thought that sounded really gross to put in the meatballs. My husband says he thinks it would be really good, so we'll try it with raisins next time, I guess.

Ingredients:
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 cup water, divided
1/2 cup raisins
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 cup egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 cups hot cooked rice

In a saucepan, combine tomato sauce, 3/4 cup water, raisins, brown sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs, seasonings, egg and milk. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 1 1/2 inch meatballs. Put meatballs into sauce. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until meatballs are no longer pink. In a small bowl, combine flour and remaining water, then stir into meatball mixture, cooking for 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Serve with rice.

What's your favorite meal to have on hand in the freezer?

Our apologies!!

2010-02-01T22:58:00.000-08:00

So sorry for our absence! I recently went back to school, and it has been CRAZY getting back into the swing of classes and homework and tests. We'll be back up and running by next week, I promise!

Paula Deen's Ultimate Pull-Apart Coffee Cake

2010-01-09T21:34:00.000-08:00

This is sooooooooooooooo yummy! I can't say it enough. I have to give my mom credit for the preparing on this one but they are just so delicious I had to post it anyway. Breakfast, snack... you name it... YUM!

Here's the recipe... ha ha. I thought I was pretty clever there.

16-18 unbaked frozen dinner rolls
1 pkg (3 oz) regular butterscotch pudding mix, not instant
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped (we omitted these)
1/2 cup melted butter

The night before, place frozen rolls in well-greased Bundt pan. Sprinkle dry pudding mix over rolls. Sprinkle brown sugar over pudding mix. Sprinkle pecans over sugar. Pour melted butter over all. Cover with a damp towel or tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise overnight at room temperature, 8-10 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. Uncover; bake 30 minutes. Remove; cool 5 minutes. Invert pan onto serving platter; remove pan. Serve by pulling aparty with forks. Makes 6-8 servings.

Can you say YUM!

Pork Chops with Blue Cheese Sauce

2010-01-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

This came from my Healthy Cooking magazine. It is so simple, super fast and really tasty. Even if you're not much of a blue cheese fan, I think you'd still like this because the sauce is very mild. We love blue cheese, so I added a bit more than the recipe called for. My kids gobbled this up, and my husband said he wished I'd made more because he wanted a second helping.

My other favorite part of this meal was that it only used a small pot! The chops are cooked in the oven. I lined my baking sheet with foil, so all I had to wash was the pot I cooked the sauce in. Gotta love that!

Ingredients
4 bone-in pork loin chops
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 green onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
2/3 cup milk
3 tablespoons blue cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon white wine or chicken broth

Sprinkle the pork chops on both sides with pepper. Broil 3-4 inches from the heat for 4-6 minutes each side, or until meat thermometer registers 160*. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, saute onion and garlic in butter until tender. Sprinkle with flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add cheese and wine (or broth). Stir until heated through. Pour sauce over chops and enjoy!

Are you ready to have your kids back in school yet? ;)

Not sure what to do with the extra blue cheese?
Blue Cheese Dressing
Walnut Blue Cheese Salad
Buffalo Chicken Salad

New Year's Eve Snack Ideas

2009-12-30T11:57:00.000-08:00

It's been crazy around these parts! Take today, for example. The day started off with an earthquake and ended with a trip to the ER with my 3 year old (she sliced her lip, and luckily she's fine and didn't need stitches). It'll stay crazy for me until the 14th of January, but then I hope to return to normal. Whew.

Are you wondering what to serve for New Year's Eve? Oh, and can you believe 2009 is over?!

Here are some quick and easy snack ideas!
Cream Cheese Tuna Spread
Roasted Red Bell Pepper Dip
7 Layer Bean Dip
Guacamole
Veggies (and/or chips) with Ranch Dip
Veggies (and/or pita chips) with Wanna-be Hummus
Deviled Eggs

Want a main course instead?
Baked Potato Bar
Tacos/Nachos/Tostadas/Fajitas
Chili and Cornbread
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Cafe Rio Sweet Pork
Gnocchi
Taco Soup

Want to really impress your guests?
Lasagna
Chicken in a Basil Cream Sauce

Don't forget the Martenelli's! It wouldn't be New Year's (for us, anyway) without it!

Here's to a truly wonderful 2010! Thank you all for making this blog such fun for us!

Egg Drop Soup

2009-12-23T14:13:00.000-08:00

This is a super easy and cheap dish to make for a crowd. I love it because it's so easy and comes together in a flash! We served it with potstickers from the frozen section of the grocery store for a really fast meal.

I'm not a huge Chinese food fan, but I do really like egg drop soup. The problem with soup from every restaurant I've been to is that it's usually really greasy. This soup doesn't have that problem, and I think it tastes just as good as any soup I've ordered at a restaurant. Next time I make it, I think I'm going to add mushrooms.

If you want, you can make it totally vegetarian by using vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock! It's an awesome meatless meal.

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 eggs
green onions, sliced

Pour 3 cups chicken broth into a large pot. Add ginger, green onions and salt. Bring to a boil.

In another bowl, combine remaining chicken broth with cornstarch, mixing until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Set aside. Whisk eggs together, then pour slowly into the boiling broth mixture, stirring constantly.

After the eggs are poured in, then add the cornstarch. Serve immediately.

Are you ready for CHRISTMAS?!
I can't believe we're down to 2 days now!

Cream Biscuits

2009-12-21T12:29:00.000-08:00

Christmas is coming! I can't believe it's this Friday. Crazy how fast this year has gone! In honor of Christmas being this week, I thought I'd post recipes that will make your holiday entertaining easier. There's almost nothing worse than having a house full of guests and not knowing what to feed them that is quick, easy and cheap!

These cream biscuits are quick, easy AND cheap. They come together in a flash and are really tasty. I love biscuits but never thought I could make them. My mom always told me it's tricky to make biscuits, so now I'm wondering what recipe she uses because this is seriously easy!

There are only 2 things to remember when making biscuits. First, don't over-knead the dough. Knead it as little as possible, otherwise the biscuits will be tough. And secondly, if you use a biscuit cutter, DO NOT (I repeat DO NOT!) twist the cutter. Just push it straight down, then pull it straight up. If you twist it, your biscuits will rise all wonky and will look really lopsided.

If you want to make these ahead, you can. But they'll only be good in the fridge for up to 2 hours. Just prepare the dough, cut out the biscuits, put them on the parchment-lined baking sheet and then cover with plastic wrap before refrigerating.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

**This recipe will make about 10 biscuits.**

Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the cream with a wooden spoon until the dough forms, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gather into a ball. Knead until the dough becomes smooth, about 30 seconds.

Roll the dough into a 3/4 inch circle. Cut the biscuits into rounds using a biscuit cutter or into wedges using a knife.

Place the biscuits on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Then bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Serve with butter, jam, honey butter or sausage gravy!

Do you have company coming for Christmas?
Any special holiday meals you like to make?

Homemade Blue Cheese

2009-12-14T08:20:00.000-08:00

I know we usually do Meal Plan Monday today, but I don't have my menu put together this week. Plus, it's just going to be super cheap stuff to save some moolah. Today is my birthday, and my hubby made me a fantastic steak dinner, complete with twice baked potatoes (recipe coming!) and a salad. He also bought a large tub of blue cheese crumbles so we could make our own blue cheese dressing. We've never done this before, and it was so good! And so, so easy!

I know blue cheese is a funny thing that not everyone likes. I used to hate it actually. But I've come to love it over the last year or so, and I'm stoked to have a great dressing recipe now! Oh, and the recipe came from our trusty America's Test Kitchen Cookbook. Of course. ;)

Ingredients:
6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sour cream
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Using a fork, mash the blue cheese, buttermilk and garlic together in a bowl until the mixture resembles cottage cheese.

Stir in sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir until well combined.

Are you a blue cheese lover or hater?

Not sure what to do with the rest of the buttermilk?
Buttermilk pancakes
Ranch dressing
Avocado salad dressing
Ranch dip

Meal Plan Monday

2009-12-07T11:44:00.000-08:00

Hey, hey! I know things have been s-l-o-w around here lately. Sorry about that! It's been kinda crazy at our house. I applied for college classes (haven't started yet, but I've had some issues with the college that have taken up some time), homeschooling with my 2nd grader, babysitting a 1 year old a few days a week, we all had this flu/stomach bug that I'm finally getting over today, etc. It's just been lovely!

This week's meal plan comes from my America's Test Kitchen cookbook. I think there are a couple of meals that don't, but pretty much all of them do. Yes, I'm putting in yet another plug for this cookbook. Hey, it's almost Christmas, so you could totally ask your hubby/family/friends to get it for you as your gift! Everything I've tried, I've loved. The ranch dressing I posted a few weeks ago seriously is THE best ever, and I just made another batch over the weekend. It's always in my fridge now. I only rant and rave about this cookbook because it's so rare to find a cookbook where you really and truly like every recipe you try out of it. And this is one of them!

So, on the menu this week, we have:
Shepherd's pie
Lemon and thyme pork with roasted red potatoes
Chicken enchilada soup
Spaghetti and oatmeal dinner rolls
Pizza
Black bean soup and quesadillas

The rolls I'm especially excited about! We went to Thanksgiving dinner at our neighbor's house, and another family that was there brought these rolls. They were the BEST rolls I have ever had, so I asked her for the recipe. She told me they're made with oatmeal! So I Googled it and found a really yummy recipe. I'll share soon!

Talk to me! How was your Thanksgiving?
Any fun holiday plans?
Any holiday recipes you'd like to see us feature?

Meatless Chili Bake

2009-12-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

I must apologize to Hillary for my lack of participation in this blog. It's tough when I don't cook often anymore due to my work schedule. But I found a recipe that was really good. We had it a while back when I did have more time to cook. :)

Meatless Chili Bake

2 ½ cups uncooked spiral pasta

1 can (15 oz) vegetarian chili with beans

1 jar (12 oz) chunky salsa

1 can (11 oz) whole kernel corn, drained

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400.

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. In a large bowl, combine the chili, salsa and corn. Add pasta; toss to coat.

Transfer to a greased shallow 2-qt baking dish; sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.

This Recipe comes from The Busy Family Cookbook.

Meal Plan Monday

2009-11-16T08:19:00.001-08:00

It's just another manic Monday. (Do you have that song running through your head now?) Ready for yet another week? Are you busy with Thanksgiving preparations?

I guess one good thing about living far from family is that we get to have a nice, quiet holiday with just our little family. That makes it nice and low-key, and I'm not running around like a mad woman trying to make everything perfect.

This week will be a little crazy for me, though, because my baby turns 3 on Friday! I can't believe she's turning 3. How can time seem to go by so quickly and so slowly at the same time? So since I'll be busy with party planning, my menu theme this week is quick and easy meals.

Mexican-style pork stew
Homemade pizza (either BBQ or garlic chicken, not sure yet)
Smothered pork chops
Egg drop soup and pot stickers
Fajitas

Any exciting plans for Thanksgiving?

Zuppa Toscana

2009-11-11T10:31:00.001-08:00

This post will hopefully convince Arizona's weather to turn fall-y so I can enjoy incredible soups like this WITHOUT running the air conditioning!

Whenever I go to Olive Garden, I always have to get this soup. It's so insanely fantastically delicious. Several years ago, I had a wicked craving for this soup but couldn't go get my Olive Garden fix. I decided to look it up online. I wasn't expecting to find a recipe nearly as good, but I found one! I love it even more, because it costs way less to make and I get several meals of this soup instead of just a single bowl.

The only problem I had with this recipe was that the original said you can use spinach or kale. The very first time I made it, I used spinach. It. was. disgusting. The spinach got completely slimy in the soup and didn't hold up well at all for leftovers. So do NOT use spinach as a substitution. It's gotta be kale.

Now that I'm on blood thinner medication, I have to be super careful about eating foods high in Vitamin K. When the pharmacist tole me that kale has the highest Vitamin K out of any of the dark greens, my mind instantly started mourning the fact that I won't be able to eat this soup as much as I normally do in the winter. Well, as much as I used to eat it in the winter, before I moved to the gosh dang desert.

Ingredients:
1 pound hot style bulk sausage
1 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
5 cans chicken broth
6 potatoes, cubed
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 bunch kale

Cook sausage and red pepper flakes. Drain excess fat and remove sausage from pan. Using the same pan, cook bacon. Remove bacon, leaving a few tablespoons of drippings in the pan. Cook onion and garlic in bacon drippings until tender. Add chicken broth and potatoes. Cook for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, then add cream and sausage. Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in kale just before serving. Serve with rolls or breadsticks!

What's your favorite soup?

Meal Plan Monday

2009-11-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday to you!

I've decided I really hate living in the desert. It's almost the middle of November, and it's still 90 degrees here! I seriously turned on the air conditioning the other night! I love fall and I love fall food. This weather doesn't make me want to curl up on the couch under a blanket with a nice bowl of comforting soup! And that's what I want to do. Blah.

Enough whining. Here's the menu for this week!

Baked potatoes
Mexican-style pork stew
Tuna melts
Lasagna and rolls
Homemade pizza
Chicken in a basil cream sauce
Smothered pork chops

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

2009-11-02T18:50:00.000-08:00

K, the more recipes I try from my new cookbook, the more I love it. It is so awesome! Seriously, go get a copy! Are you sick of me raving about it yet? Go get a copy and I'll stop! ;-)

A couple of days ago, I was so busy that my day flew by, and it was dinner time before I knew what was happening or had anything planned. I had the bare minimum in the fridge and pantry, so I scoured my cookbook to see what I could possibly make. I found this recipe and decided to give it a try. I saw a cooking show years ago (Rachael Ray, I think?) where the chef made this dish, but I've never tried it. It was so easy and really yummy! Perfect quick, weeknight supper!

A word about the cheese. Just buy a bag of the pre-shredded Parmesan blend, which has the Pecorino and Parmesan already. It'll save you a lot of time and money, rather than buying a block of each.

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 slices bacon, chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken stock
salt and pepper
1 pound spaghetti

Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, cheeses and garlic together. Set aside. Then cook the bacon and olive oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium heat until the bacon is crisp, about 8 minutes. Add the wine (or chicken stock).

Simmer until it is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and cover.

Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water before draining the pasta. Toss the pasta with the bacon mixture and the cheese mixture. If needed, add additional pasta water to loosen the sauce before serving.

My kids inhaled this. My 4 year old literally had 4 helpings. Not kidding. Spaghetti and bacon? Yes, please!

What do you think of our new blinkie? Have you added one to your blog?
Let us know if you have!

Our first blinkie!

2009-10-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

My totally awesome friend Rebecca designed a blinkie for us! Isn't she talented?! Thanks, Rebecca!!

If you'd like to put a blinkie on your blog that links to our site, here's what you do: go to your blog, select layout, then page elements, then add a gadget. Then go to HTML/Java script. Then input the following code:

<a href="http://dinner-inspiration.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2463/4053559627_aedc9ae971_o.gif"/ ></a>

And the WINNER is.........................

2009-10-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

the cool family!

Congratulations!! Email us at dinner_inspiration@hotmail.com with your mailing address! This give-away was so much fun, we'll have to do another one soon!

Cream Cheese Tuna Spread

2009-10-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

**First of all, don't forget to enter our GIVE-AWAY! It ends tomorrow, so you've still got time to earn that extra entry!**

This giveaway is now closed.

My mom recently moved, and she got rid of a lot of things to prepare for that. She gave me several of her cookbooks, one of which is called California's Lite 'n Easy Recipes. That is where I got this recipe from. It's in the appetizers section, but I doubled the recipe so we could eat it as a light lunch. My kids loved it. It would also be a great thing to serve at a party.

The only things I did differently from the recipe was I added finely diced red bell pepper and used green onion instead. You could add in any combination of veggies, sweet relish, parsley, etc. And if you really want it to be low-fat, use fat-free cream cheese.

Ingredients:
1 can water-packed tuna, drained
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons celery, finely chopped
1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine tuna and cream cheese, stirring until thoroughly mixed. Then add in the other ingredients. Chill for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Serve with crackers, in pita bread, in crescent rolls, etc.

Do you like tuna? When you buy canned tuna, do you prefer it packed in oil or water?

Completely Homemade Ranch Dressing

2009-10-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

Ever since my first ranch dressing post, I've been on the hunt for a truly homemade version that tastes just as good as using the ranch seasoning packets. I love the ease of just using a Hidden Valley packet, but I wanted to be able to really control all the ingredients. Plus, those packets cost about $1 a piece, which is just astronomical.

When I got my newest cookbook a couple of days ago, I eagerly flipped through the pages to see if they had a ranch dressing recipe. And they did! I tried it yesterday, and it is vastly better than anything else I've tried. I loved it! The only thing I changed was that I didn't have the lemon juice the recipe calls for, so I decided to see if vinegar would be a good substitute. It worked great! I'm anxious to try it with lemon juice next time and see which way works better.

Another word about the recipe. It calls for shallot, and I highly recommend that's what you use. Shallots have a much more subtle flavor than regular onion or red onion have. You don't want the onion to scream, "HELLO!!! THERE'S ONION IN THIS DRESSING!!!" If you do need to substitute, use red onion, and make sure you dice it very finely. This recipe also calls for 1 tablespoon cilantro or dill. I love both of those flavors, so I decided to use both. I used about 1/2 a tablespoon of each.

Oh, and fresh herbs are a must for this one!

If you want to make it thicker to use as a dip instead of a dressing, just use less buttermilk.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
6 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro and/or dill
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
pinch of sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be refrigerated up to 4 days.

Also, don't forget to check out our first give-away for your chance to win a year's subscription to Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking Magazine!!

Our First Give-Away!!!

2009-10-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

This giveaway is now closed.

Are you excited?! I am! In order to thank all you awesome fans for sticking with us through our dry spells, I want to present you with a chance to win a very awesome prize! One lucky winner will receive a year's subscription to the Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine! I use this magazine all the time. I literally get giddy when I see it in the mail, and I instantly go inside and read it from cover to cover. My kids all know not to bother me when I'm reading my cooking magazine. It's true. Is that sad?

Here are the rules! You must leave a comment on this post and be a follower of our blog in order to be entered into the contest. If you tell a friend about our website and your friend also becomes a follower, you'll receive an extra entry! Just post again on this post to let us know you brought a friend and what their name is. And don't forget to leave us your email address so we can contact you if you win! The contest will close on Saturday, October 24th, and the winner will be chosen randomly via this website and will be announced on Monday, October 26th! Once the contest ends and our email is sent out to you, you will only have 2 days to respond, otherwise we will randomly choose another winner.

Best of luck, everyone! And thanks for being our fans. You make this so fun for us!

My favorite cookbooks

2009-10-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

Today I want to share with you my favorite cookbooks. I have a few smaller ones that I occasionally use for a thing or two, and then I have two that I use these almost every single time I cook. This first one we got for our wedding from my mother-in-law. It has a lot of fancier (not harder, just fancier) recipes. There are still your basic recipes, like pancakes, waffles, meatloaf, spaghetti sauce, etc, but a lot of it is stuff that you just don't cook everyday. Still, I love this cookbook and highly recommend it.

This next one I just got a couple of days ago (from Barnes and Noble for around $30), and I already love it. It's so inclusive and awesome! Each recipe is tried many, many times, and they even make/test the recipes on the lowest grade of cookware and appliances out there to make sure the recipe will work for everyone every single time. It also lists substitutions, best brands to use for each recipe, etc. And it has a lot of useful sections, such as what kitchen tools you should have, what items to stock in your pantry, etc.

If you add these two to your collection, you will be good to go! I have wasted a lot of money over the years buying cookbooks that I never use. These you will use, all the time. Well worth the money!

What's your favorite cookbook?

Meal Plan Monday

2009-10-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to get really excited to make my meal plans now! Because here in blistering Arizona, it's finally starting to cool off a little bit! We've been in the 60's at night and stay in the 80's or lower during the day. I've had the air conditioning completely off and all the windows open for the last 2 weeks straight. There's such a delicious breeze blowing through, and it's fabulous! So instead of shying away from cooking for fear of heating up the house, now my head is spinning with all kinds of recipes I want to try. Aren't you excited?! ;-)

This week has already been really messed up, and none of my meals have worked out the way I'd planned. We've had errands to run and lots of things come up, so we've eaten out way more than we normally do. So instead of giving you a day-by-day breakdown like I usually do, I'll just make a list of all the meals I'm supposed to make this week. :-)

Chicken enchiladas with cheesy rice and corn casserole
Grilled cheese and tomato soup
Big Mac meatloaf and mashed potatoes
Lemon Linguine
Baked potatoes and salad
Spaghetti
Easy cheesy meat and potatoes

What are your favorite fall recipes that you long for all year?
Inspire us! :-)

Eggs Benedict

2009-10-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

The other morning, I decided to treat myself to a yummy breakfast. Eggs Benedict is something I very rarely get the pleasure of eating. I mean, it's almost the furthest thing from figure-friendly that you can possibly eat. All that butter. That yummy, yummy butter. Anywho, I deserved a treat, if I did say so myself, so I made up a batch. Just for me. And I ate almost the entire batch of hollandaise. By myself. Haven't stepped on a scale since. ;)

This meal really is pretty easy, if you follow the steps correctly. It comes together in minutes and is a really fun breakfast to change things up a bit from the everyday bowl of cereal. Yes, I just confessed that I rarely actually make breakfast. See, by serving such a gourmet breakfast (cereal) most mornings, it doesn't take much to actually impress the fam when I do want to make breakfast. Totally works in my favor! And when I do want to impress with a nice breakfast, I love meals like this that come together so fast but are still showing off more than a bowl of Corn Flakes would.

The sauce is going to be the tricky part. But it's really not that tricky. You have to use a double boiler to make this sauce. You'll need 2 pots (or one pot and a metal bowl). Fill the bottom pot with a couple inches of water, making sure that the water level DOES NOT TOUCH the upper pot. That is EXTREMELY important. If the water does touch the upper pot, your eggs will scramble, which will ruin your sauce. So just do 2-3 inches of water at the very most.

Then place your other pot (or metal bowl) on top to make sure the water level will not end up touching the bottom of the upper pot (or metal bowl). Then take it off the top BEFORE you turn your burner on to bring the water to a boil. That is the second VERY important part. You need to add the sauce ingredients to a COLD pot (or bowl), otherwise, again, the eggs will scramble.

Ready?? ;) On we go!

Hollandaise ingredients:
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup butter, brought to room temperature and cut into thirds
1 teaspoon salt**

Bring water to a boil. Meanwhile, crack eggs, discarding the whites (or save them for a more waistline-friendly breakfast later in the week, since you'll need it after this dish!). Place yolks into your COLD upper pot (or metal bowl). Then add lemon juice, water and salt.

**NOTE: If your butter is salted, OMIT the salt**

Now place on top of the other pot. Whisk CONSTANTLY. When eggs start to slightly thicken, add first 1/3 of the butter. Once that is melted, add the next 1/3. Repeat with the remaining 1/3. Whisk another minute or two, until sauce is very smooth and thickens slightly. Remove from heat IMMEDIATELY.

To assemble Eggs Benedict: Toast English muffins. Top each half with a slice of Canadian bacon (or thinly sliced deli ham works fine, too, if you have that on hand!), then a poached egg (I like my yolks to be runny still for this dish, so I only poach the eggs for about 3 minutes), then smother with sauce. Face it, you're gonna gain like 2 pounds just by looking at it, so be generous with the sauce!! Enjoy. Then go for a run. 10 miles should do it.

What's your favorite I-don't-care-if-I-gain-10-pounds breakfast?

Sorry!

2009-10-05T22:24:00.000-07:00

I want to apologize to all our loyal followers for the extreme lack of posting going on around here lately!! I have still been feeling pretty poor and haven't been doing much cooking at all. As in, the most cooking I've done is to cook a pre-made box of Kraft macaroni and cheese. I've been trying to get back to my normal routine as much as I can, so I do have a few recipes to share later in the week.

Thanks for staying with us, despite the major lull! Hopefully we'll be back up and running on a regular basis very soon!

Cheesy Pinwheel Rolls

2009-09-23T16:37:00.000-07:00

This recipe was inspired by a friend of mine. Her blog is private, but she posted about how she'd taken her dinner roll recipe and made a loaf of garlic bread out of it. I always have tons of garlic on hand, and at that time I also had some leftover cheese I needed to use up, so that's how this recipe was born. I just used my regular dinner roll recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book (which I thought I'd already posted, but I guess not!), then added a couple extras to make it more spiffy.

If you're reading this, thanks for the inspiration, Jenn!

Ingredients:
4 1/2 - 4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, plus extra for spreading on rolls
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
garlic, minced
mozzarella, shredded

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together 2 cups of the flour and the yeast. In a medium saucepan, heat and stir milk, sugar, butter and salt just until warm and butter almost melts (120-130 degrees). Add milk mixture to dry mixture along with eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Stir in as much remaining flour as you can. Then knead dough on counter, adding remaining flour until you get a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 hour).

Roll out the dough into a large rectangle (or as close to one as you can get -- you're going to roll it up and then slice it, so it doesn't need to be perfect by any means), getting it as thin as you can. Spread a generous layer of butter all over the rolled out dough. Then sprinkle the minced garlic as evenly as you can. Then top with cheese. The more, the merrier! Face it, this is not diet friendly, and you will gain a few pounds. So you might as well go all out. ;) This picture I took the first time I made it, and I didn't put nearly enough cheese. So if yours looks like mine, add more cheese! Keep going. Little more. Titch more. There! That should do it.

Roll it up.

Slice it up. I just used my pizza cutter, but you could use a really sharp knife or even dental floss (I've never tried that, but I've heard it works great). I cut mine into 1.5-2 inch pieces. Place on a baking sheet a couple inches apart.

Cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes. Then bake at 375 for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

Uhhh, YUM?!

Meal Plan Monday

2009-09-21T13:35:00.001-07:00

Normally, I'd be fighting the urge to be annoyed about yet another Monday. I just love weekends and having my hubby home. But after my health scare last week, I'm just grateful for another day to be with my family and to be alive!

It's a long story, so I'll paraphrase. My doctor prescribed some birth control pills for me last year, even though I have a history of blood clots (I get them during pregnancy, in my lungs, and nobody knows why). I asked him if they were safe for me, and he said yes. So I've been taking them for a year without any troubles. Until Labor Day weekend. I started getting very short of breath, so I went into my doctor's office that Tuesday. My heart rate was at 111 (norm is 50-100), but even so, he told me to rest and come back in a week. By Friday, it was a lot worse, so my hubby took me to the ER. My heart rate was at 130 by that point. When they did a CT scan, they said both my lungs were almost completely closed off with clots and that I'm very lucky to be here today. A 5 day hospital stay and 1 new doctor later, I'm home and on the road to recovery! Thanks for all the well wishes!

I have a meal plan for this week, but I'm not sure I'll actually end up using it. I've got some nice ladies from church that have signed up to bring us meals for a week. But just in case, here's my menu.

Monday-- Spaghetti and crescent rolls
Tuesday-- Chili and cornbread
Wednesday-- Cheese enchiladas
Thursday-- Thai peanut noodles
Friday-- Chips and salsa chicken
Saturday-- BLT's
Sunday-- leftovers

Hopefully you all had a much better weekend than I did!
If you did something fun or made something yummy, tell us about it!!

Stacked Enchilada Bake

2009-09-14T20:57:00.000-07:00

Again I need to apologize for taking so long to post. Hillary has been having some medical problems and is currently spending some time in the hospital. But she is getting much better. If you'd like to send her any wishes, feel free to comment. It's truly a miracle she is alive right now and I just need to tell her again what a great friend she is and how much I love her. :)

Alright.... sappy stuff done.... on to the recipe!

Stacked Enchilada Bake

12 corn tortillas, torn into bite-size pieces

2 cans (15-16 oz each) chili beans in sauce, undrained

1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce

1 ½ cups shredded Monterey jack cheese (6 oz)

3 medium green onions, sliced (3 T)*

Heat oven to 400. Spray 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray.

Place half of the tortilla pieces in casserole; top with one can of beans. Repeat layers. Pour enchilada sauce over beans and tortilla pieces. Sprinkle with cheese and onions.

Bake uncovered about 20 minutes or until bubbly around edge.

* I didn’t have any green onion so I didn’t use any.

Enjoy!

Hash Brown Chicken

2009-09-03T07:39:00.000-07:00

I must sincerely apologize to Hillary and everyone else for not being consistent on this blog. I hope it will get better soon. Things in my life have been and still are hectic and busy, but here is a yummy chicken recipe to make up for my lack of posts (sorry Hill)! :)

Hash Brown Chicken

Ingredients:

¼ cup all-purpose flour

4 skinless, bone-in* chicken breast halves (about 6 oz each)

2 cups refrigerated shredded potatoes (from a 20-oz package)

1 large egg

3 T Dijon-style mustard

¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a backing sheet with cooking spray. Place flour in a shallow dish; coat top of each chicken-breast half with flour.

Combine shredded potatoes, egg, and mustard in a large bowl; mix well. Divide potato mixture evenly onto floured sides of chicken-breast halves; press to adhere and cover tops. Arrange chicken on prepared baking sheet. Drizzle melted butter on top of each.

Bake chicken until an instant-read thermometer inserted in center of meat registers 180 degrees and potatoes are golden. About 45 minutes.

Serves 4

* Well… I just noticed right now as I’m typing this recipe that it said bone-in chicken so obviously that’s not what I used. I used boneless. Cooking time may not be as long with boneless chicken breasts.

Meal Plan Monday

2009-08-31T15:28:00.001-07:00

Hello, all! Welcome to yet another week! Did last week go by quickly for anyone else?

This week, my family needed to eat as cheap as humanly possible. I ended up making a week long menu with stuff I already had on hand for the most part and only spent $34 at the store! I'll likely have to make a trip for milk, but that'll be all we'll need more of. I'm pretty impressed!

Before you think too highly of me, do realize that I had quite a nice stock pile of meats already in my freezer. So I didn't have to buy any meat at all this week and probably won't next week either. If it hadn't been for that, my bill would have been higher. Which is why I love Sam's Club! I don't shop there very often at all, but they are the cheapest place around for most kinds of meat, chicken breasts and thighs in particular.

Sunday-- teriyaki chicken and rice
Monday-- stuffed crust pizza
Tuesday-- spaghetti and homemade rolls
Wednesday-- country fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy
Thursday-- creamed tuna on toast
Friday-- easy cheesy meat and potatoes
Saturday-- shepherd's pie

So what yummy-ness do you have planned this week?

Sweetheart Cookies

2009-08-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

This is my mom's recipe. She makes a huge batch of these every single year around Christmas. It's one of the things that makes me feel closer to home when I make them because they were such an integral part of our holiday season.

It's such an easy recipe. And it's fabulous to let your kids help you make. My kids just love sticking their little thumbs into the dough balls to make the hole for the jam. I let them have at it this time, so our cookies turned out really flat, but we all had fun, which is all that matters.

You can use any flavor jam you'd like to fill these with. I always use strawberry or raspberry, but that's only because my oldest daughter will scoff at any jam that isn't one of those flavors. :)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
jam

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolk and mix well. Then add flour. Mix gently until combined. Pick up some dough and try to roll it into a ball. If it doesn't come together and breaks apart, add a tablespoon or 2 of milk and mix until combined.

Chill for 2-3 hours. Remove from fridge and let sit on counter for a few minutes to soften. Then roll into 1 inch balls (ours were a lot bigger than that because my kids insisted on doing that part themselves. Don't worry if yours are larger -- that'll just mean they'll end up being flatter after they bake) and place 2 inches apart (more than 2 inches if you make larger balls). Using the end of a wooden spoon (or the thumbs of your kids), press a hole into each dough ball.

Then fill each hole with jam.

Bake at 350 for about 13 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. They're supposed to hold their shape and be dainty and cute. But I love these imperfect cookies my 3 sweethearts and I made! :)

Anyone have any fun weekend plans?
I'm baking tomorrow -- bread, rolls, etc.
Fun, fun!

Huevos Rancheros

2009-08-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

I've been on a mission to find meatless meals and came across this one in my trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I'd never even had Huevos Rancheros before, even at a restaurant, so I thought it would be perfect to try. It was super easy and really good.

You can make these for breakfast, lunch or dinner. We had them for dinner tonight, so I served them up with a side of refried beans and cheese.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
16 ounce can stewed tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons diced green chilies
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
5-7 corn tortillas
7 eggs
3/4 cup Monterey Jack or cheddar, shredded

In a large skillet, cook onion in olive oil. Stir in undrained tomatoes, diced green chilies, garlic powder and chili powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, brush tortillas with some olive oil and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until crisp. Once tomato mixture has thickened, crack one egg at a time into a measuring cup. Gently pour egg into tomato mixture, then repeat with remaining eggs.

Simmer gently, covered, for 3-5 minutes, or until the whites are completely set and yolks begin to thicken (but are not hard). To serve, place a tortilla on a plate, top with 1-2 eggs, some of the tomato mixture and then cheese.

We don't have a very comment-happy group lately!
Show us some love -- leave a comment!

Meal Plan Monday

2009-08-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry about not having any posts from last week! April said she'd post, so it's all her fault. ;)

Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to make your meal plan when you're hungry? I made that mistake this week, and I was so mad at myself! It took me well over an hour to finally decide on what I wanted to make each day, because every single thing I saw in every cookbook I looked through sounded fantastic! And THEN, I was so hungry that I decided to browse some of my favorite recipe sites/blogs, which only made it worse, because I'd see more delicious looking recipes and be tempted to change the menu I'd already finished.

So, make it easy on yourself and don't do it until after you've successfully stuffed your face! ;)

On with the show!

Monday-- Cheese and basil polenta
Tuesday-- Spaghetti and homemade rolls
Wednesday-- Huevos Rancheros and refried beans
Thursday-- Stir fry
Friday-- Shepherd's pie
Saturday-- Chicken noodle soup
Sunday-- BLT's

I've got a couple new items on my menu this week.
Are you trying anything new?

2009-08-17T13:07:00.000-07:00

It's Monday again. How did that happen?! Sometimes the week goes by soooOOOooOOOoo slowly, and then other times, like last week, it seemed to just fly by.

Well, yesterday my adorable 4 year old son busted my laptop. He picked it up and tried handing it to me so I could turn it on and put a game on for him, but it slipped from his fingers and fell onto the floor in our room. It landed on carpet and didn't even fall that far at all, but it won't turn on. I've tried everything and looked up the service manual online, but nothing helps. My husband says it's likely the motherboard is shot, which costs more to replace than buying a new computer. So I guess I'm ordering myself a new laptop this week......ugh!

Enough venting, on with the menu.

Monday-- crock pot Mexican pork
Tuesday-- shrimp stir fry
Wednesday-- spaghetti and rolls
Thursday-- BLT's
Friday-- teriyaki chicken and mashed potatoes
Saturday-- tortilla black bean casserole
Sunday-- leftovers

BBQ Chicken Pizza

2009-08-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to post all day long, but blogger has been acting up -- it kept shutting down Firefox every time I uploaded a picture?!

This pizza is delish. I've been meaning to make it for a long time but kept forgetting to put it on the menu. Then when I was browsing one of my favorite recipe blogs about a week ago, I saw they'd put up a recipe for it, which reminded me I wanted to make it. We'd never had it before, and it was so yummy. Even if you're not a cilantro lover, try it with some cilantro sprinkled on -- it's not even close to as good without it!

Ingredients:
pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce
your favorite BBQ sauce
2-3 chicken breasts, diced
red onion, sliced
canned pineapple, chunks or crushed
mozzarella, shredded
fresh cilantro, finely chopped
pizza dough, store-bought or **homemade

Cook your chicken breasts in a large skillet with a little bit of BBQ sauce until done. Meanwhile, combine equal parts pizza/spaghetti sauce and BBQ sauce in a bowl; set aside. When chicken is done, assemble pizza -- sauce, cheese, chicken, onion, pineapple, more cheese. I used crushed pineapple because I'm not a huge fan of big chunks of pineapple.

When pizza is done, sprinkle with fresh cilantro. Then devour.

**If using homemade dough: I use this breadstick recipe for my pizza dough. Prepare it the same way up through the first rise. After the first rise, divide the dough in half, roll it out to whatever size pizza you want, then let it rise again for another 30 minutes. Then bake at 425 for about 10 minutes BEFORE topping with pizza ingredients. Then top with ingredients and bake another 10 minutes.

Pasta Salad

2009-08-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

This is similar to the Italian Pasta Salad recipe I posted a while ago. It's just more Americanized, and I think it's more kid-friendly. And it uses fewer, cheaper ingredients. It's great to take to a BBQ or a potluck because it doesn't have any mayo in it. I make a big batch and eat it all week for lunch. It makes a great side dish for burgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, sandwiches, even steak. You could even throw in some leftover diced up chicken to make it a meal-in-one.

You can throw lots of things into this to change it up -- peas, bell pepper, green onions, red onion. It's a great way to use up lots of leftover things in your fridge.

Ingredients:
16 ounces tri-colored rotini
3/4 cup olives, chopped
1 cup sharp cheddar, cubed
2 tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1/2 bottle Italian dressing
Grated Parmesan

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain. Put into a large bowl and cool completely (or you can do an ice bath if you're in a hurry). You really need the noodles thoroughly cooled, otherwise your cheese will melt.

When noodles are cool, add cheese cubes, olives, parsley and tomatoes. Stir until well combined. Then add Italian dressing, to taste. You might not need the full half bottle -- you don't want it runny, but you do want enough to make the noodles wet and give flavor. **Side Note: If you make this ahead and store in the fridge, the noodles will absorb most, if not all, of the dressing. So make sure you have extra on hand to re-wet the pasta.**

Before serving, sprinkle with Parmesan.

Is there anybody out there?
Leave us some comments!
It's no fun talking to ourselves all the time! ;)

Meal Plan Monday

2009-08-10T22:44:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I love hearing what other people are making for dinner every week. It really inspires me and gives me tons of new ideas. So I asked myself, "Self, why do we not have a weekly meal plan post here?" Then I responded, "I don't know, but that sounds like a great idea!" So it was unanimous! I hope you enjoy the idea as much as we do! ;)

Planning this week's menu was tough for me. A lot of the time, I never remember to plan my menu for the upcoming week until I'm in the kitchen, starving, standing in front of the fridge, thinking how we have simply "nothing" to eat. At that point, anything and everything, other than what I actually have on hand, sounds delish. As a result, my menu is put together quite quickly.

This time, though, I'd just finished eating, so nothing was sounding good. I hopped online, hoping for some inspiration, and I was hit with a ton of it! I have a couple of favorite food websites (all of which are listed on the side) that I browsed through, and coincidentally, all the recipes I keep forgetting to remember to try were shoved in my face. So this week is mostly all new recipes, and we're loving them so far!

(As the recipes are posted from our Meal Plan Monday posts, we'll come back and edit these posts with links for each meal.)

Sunday -- Primanti Sandwiches
Monday -- BBQ Chicken Pizza
Tuesday -- Tuna Melts
Wednesday -- Spaghetti and rolls
Thursday -- Stir Fry
Friday -- Cafe Rio
Saturday -- Cheese and Bacon Potato Rounds

What's on your menu this week?

Barbecue Crispy Chicken Melts

2009-08-05T08:21:00.000-07:00

Barbecue Crispy Chicken Melts

3 T butter or margarine

½ c Original Bisquick mix

¼ tsp pepper

¼ cup milk

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

¼ cup barbecue sauce

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Heat oven to 425. In 13x9 pan, heat butter in oven 2 to 3 minutes or until melted.

2. In shallow dish, stir Bisquick mix and pepper. Pour milk into small bowl. Coat chicken with Bisquick mixture, then dip in milk; coat again with Bisquick mixture. Place in pan.

3. Bake about 30 minutes or until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut.

4. In small bowl, microwave barbecue sauce uncovered on high about 30 seconds or until warm. Spoon sauce evenly over chicken; top with cheese.**

** Instead of dirtying another bowl I just spooned sauce over the chicken and put the cheese on it and put it back in the oven for about 5 minutes until it was warm.

Enjoy!

Symphony Bar Brownies

2009-08-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

This is the easiest recipe ever! It is very rich and delicious and I know you will love it.... if you love chocolate, that is. :)

Symphony Bar Brownies

2 boxes brownie mix
3 giant symphony bars

Prepare one brownie mix and pour into 13x9 pan. Lay symphony bars over batter. Prepare second brownie mix and pour over symphony bars. Bake according to package directions, but bake 5-10 minutes longer.

Enjoy the richness....

Apricot Pork

2009-07-31T17:26:00.000-07:00

This meal is something I threw together as a way to condense the amount of things in my fridge and freezer (some pork chops and an almost-empty jar of jam). I've seen this combination of flavors all over the place, in magazines and restaurants, but I've never tried it before. I'm kind of paranoid about cooking pork, so I usually just cook it in the crock pot so I can shred it and be sure it's done. But I decided to give these a go in the oven instead. It seriously took me like no time at all to prep. I kept wondering if a meal that easy to prepare would really end up being tasty, but it was! No measurements. Just sprinkle, spread, bake and voila! Yummy-ness. The jam on top might seem too thick and weird at first. But as the chops cook, they release a lot of juices, which thin out the jam and form a really tasty sauce.

Ingredients:
4 bone-in pork chops, thawed
oregano, dried
garlic powder
salt
apricot jam

Let meat come to room temperature for a few minutes. Preheat oven to 325. Place chops in a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with oregano, garlic powder and salt. Flip over and season other side. Spread jam over the top (I think I used about 1/4 cup) and bake for 15 minutes. Flip chops over, baste with sauce, return to oven and bake another 15 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Drizzle sauce over the top before serving.

Anyone doing anything fun this weekend?

Blueberry Muffins

2009-07-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

I got a pretty good deal for blueberries at the store last week, so we've been eating lots of them the past few days. After a few days of blueberry buttermilk pancakes, the fam was getting a bit tired of them, so I decided to make some into muffins. You know, to change things up a bit. I'm daring like that.

Making muffins is super easy! Okay, not quite as easy as opening a box of Jiffy, but it's definitely easy. And it tastes way better. And you can actually tell there are blueberries in these muffins, and not just some weird, tiny blue dots that are supposedly blueberries.

STEP AWAY FROM THE JIFFY BOXES!!!!!

I got this recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. There are all kinds of variations to this basic recipe listed in here. You can do banana muffins, cheese muffins, cranberry muffins, oatmeal muffins, poppy seed muffins......just to give you a few ideas. ;)

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Grease your muffin tins with butter or cooking spray, or line with baking cups. Set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center of the mixture. In another mixing bowl, combine egg, milk and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy and very thick).

Gently fold in blueberries.

Pour batter into muffin tins, filling each one about 2/3 of the way full (makes 10-12 muffins).

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool in muffin tin on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and serve. With honey butter is best.

Do you tend to use pre-measured box mixes, like Jiffy? Or are you a cook-it-from-scratch kind of person?

Gnocchi

2009-07-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

Every time I make this, it always makes me miss having cable. I got this recipe from the Food Network channel years ago. Good ol' Giada. I used to love Everyday Italian. I'd never tried gnocchi before and always assumed it took a painstakingly long time to make. Boy, was I wrong.

Normally, when I'm in the mood for Italian food, my brain automatically wants fettuccine Alfredo. I loooove me some Alfredo sauce. Considering my hips/waist/thighs/rear don't love Alfredo sauce as much as I do, it's great that I found a yummy alternative. Speaking of Alfredo, I'm going to try topping my gnocchi with it next time I eat it!

This is super kid-friendly, too. My kids gobbled this up. And had second helpings. Second helpings!! We ate it plain the first night (with just butter and shredded Parmesan), but then my husband and I ate more for a late dinner last night, and we topped it with tomato sauce (spaghetti sauce works, or you can use tomato sauce that you season with oregano, thyme, etc). Either way, it's delish.

It would be a big hit at a party! Perfect finger food (well, skewered with toothpicks). It's great as a main dish (which is how we ate it this time) or as a side dish.

ALSO (did you know there was so much to say about gnocchi?!), since it's made from potatoes (starch), it's super filling. And it's a meatless meal. I'm always on the lookout for meatless meals, so that's another reason why I love this dish. Cheap, meatless, yummy, easy, perfect.

Ingredients:
3 pounds potatoes (mine were on the smaller side, so I used about 8 potatoes)
3-4 cups flour
1 egg
salt

Put whole potatoes in a large pot of water (you won't be eating the skins, so you don't *have* to wash them, but I do anyway). Boil for 45 minutes.

While still warm, peel the skins off (they're so soft that you can just use your fingers -- after letting them cool a bit first!).

Place in your mixer and whip with your whisk attachment. If you don't have a mixer, you can just use a large bowl (or the pot) and a potato masher. But when I first did it that way, it was too chunky, so I used my mixer instead. Perfect consistency that way. After it's blended, make a well in the center. Crack the egg into the well and then sprinkle with flour (start with 3 cups and add more if you need it).

Then you knead. Knead until it all comes together. Add more flour if you need to. Now, this next part you can do one of two ways (i.e. the traditional way or my made up way). The traditional way is to take softball size balls of the dough and roll them out into long strips (like as snake). Then you cut them into 3/4" size pieces. I didn't really like doing that, so what I do is just take a portion of dough and roll them into balls in my hands (probably 1-1.5" balls). Much bigger than the traditional size, but I like them better that way. Plus, I have young kids, so it's easier for them to stab their forks into that way.

Next, you drop them into a few inches of simmering water. Do it in batches so you don't overload your pan (which will lower the cooking temperature of your water and make the process take longer). Swish them around a bit while they cook so they don't stick together. When they float, they're done.

Drain, and then brown them in a couple tablespoons of butter until lightly browned.

Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan (or tomato/spaghetti sauce) and serve!

What's your favorite starch?

Crouton Stuffing

2009-07-20T18:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posting around here lately! Things have been crazy for us, what with our move, home improvements and then we took a 2 week vacation. Then it takes you like a week to recover from your vacation (why is that?!), so I'm finally back!

This is a "recipe" (i.e. more of a method) that my hubby gets credit for. We had some croutons we needed to use up in the pantry, so he used them to make Thanksgiving stuffing one year. It was fan-tas-tic! So much better than boxed stuffing.

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
croutons (we really don't measure, just eyeball it)
chicken stock
butter

Melt butter over medium heat. Saute onion and celery until tender (we like to chop up the leafy green parts of the celery to throw in our stuffing, too).

When tender, add croutons. Stir them around to get some buttery goodness all over every crouton.

Then add your chicken stock. You'll probably only need a cup or so, just enough to moisten the croutons.

And there you have it! Super easy, super quick and super yummy! It's a perfect side dish, or you can use it in Chicken Stuffing Skillet, which is how we used it tonight.

Have you done anything fun so far this summer?
Any exciting plans?