Carrie's Cooking and Recipes

Mmm Donuts!

2011-02-13T17:30:00.005-06:00

I loooooove donuts! Krispy Kreme, Supermarket, Duncan, glazed, sprinkled, long john's, filled, I love them all! Well... not all, I don't like cake donuts or those weird fritter/bear claw things. My favorite donut is just a plain glazed donut... followed up by a glass of milk, then a filled long john. That's my Saturday morning order when Justin goes to buy breakfast. I am such a lucky gal :-)
Every now and then I treat my family to "homemade donuts". It's really just fried biscuits with glaze but there's something about these donuts. They are very light and I smother them in a Krispy Kreme copycat glaze. They are the best donuts!! I made a double batch this morning (that's 20 donuts and 20 donut holes), we only have 6 donuts remaining and those will be gone by the end of the night... you see why I don't make them very often! We can't help ourselves, they are so good!

Ingredients
4-8 cups of oil for frying (the oil needs to be at least 2 inches deep)
1 refrigerated tube of 10 biscuits (the smaller tubes, not Grands. I use Pillsbury Country Style biscuits, they come in a 4-pack)
1/4 stick butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk

Directions
Start warming the oil in a pot on the stove. I set my stove on 5 (medium heat) and my oil takes around 20 minutes to warm up. I test the oil by dripping a drop or two of water in the oil. If the water crackles and pops then the oil is ready! Don't turn your heat higher than medium or your donuts will burn in .2 seconds.

For the glaze. Melt the butter in the microwave and add the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Stir until combined.

For the donuts. Use a small circular cutter (the cap of a 2-liter works well) to cut circles in each biscuit.
Place a few donuts in the oil and cook until browned (1-2 minutes). Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes until browned.
Just look at them! Crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside... excuse me while I go eat another donut!

Pull the donuts out of the oil and set them on a cooling rack (or paper towels) to drain the excess oil. While the donuts are warm, dip them in the glaze.
Flip the donut to get some glaze on the other side... you wouldn't want that side to feel left out!

Use a fork or tongs to lift the donut out of the glaze and to shake off excess glaze.
Place on a cooling rack (or plate) to cool and store. They don't really have to cool off, we eat a couple while they are warm!

For the donut holes I fry them and then shake them in sugar instead of using glaze. Growing up, my mom and dad would make these sugar donut holes, I was the official sugar shaker back then!
Here they are all lined up and looking gorgeous. I love this picture because it only looks like this for .2 seconds. Once the smell reaches the boys' room they all come running out and start scarfing donuts like it's a contest.
Justin and the boys like glazed donuts.
I prefer these little sugary spheres though. I could eat all 20 myself!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Parfait

2011-02-03T17:19:00.003-06:00

I know what you're thinking... yes, I did just post Banana Pudding that looked just like this! But my husband Justin doesn't eat fruit (what kind of a person doesn't eat fruit?!!) so I had to make a "Justin" dessert which means peanut butter and chocolate. I'm in my 5th year of blogging now and I have made Justin many chocolate and peanut butter desserts...
Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake
Ganache Covered Peanut Butter Frosting (this is Justin's favorite peanut butter frosting)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Pie
Peanut Butter Cups (this is Justin's favorite chocolate peanut butter dessert)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
... and I still don't like peanut butter and chocolate, it's just so rich and heavy. I had to force myself to try a bite of each of these desserts, and my husband had to force himself to stop eating them, lol! So, I wanted to make Justin a Chocolate Peanut Butter Parfait dessert to go with my Banana Pudding. It's like a layered peanut butter pie and Justin's only complaint was that there was too much cool whip... lol (imagine that)!

Ingredients
Graham crackers, crumbled
1 cup peanut butter
1 (8 ounce) block cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 (8 ounce) tub of whipped topping
1 (12 ounce) bag milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk

Directions
Combine the peanut butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar in a large bowl.
Mix together until combined into a thick muddy mess (this is how Justin described it... and he would know because he kept sneaking spoonfuls).
Stir in the whipped topping. You can save a little to use on top (I saved around a cup of whipped topping to use as garnish) but Justin says it's better all mixed in.

In a separate bowl add the milk and chocolate chips. Microwave in 30 second intervals stirring after each cycle until it's melted. Mine is usually melted and ready to go after 3 cycles (1 minute 30 seconds).

It's time to assemble! You can use a pie plate, large bowl, glass pan, small bowls, etc. I used 4 stemless glasses to match my banana pudding. Start with a layer of crumbled graham crackers.

Then add some of the peanut butter mixture

Then chocolate ganache
Then some whipped topping (if you want)
Then keep going with the crumbled graham crackers, peanut butter mixture and chocolate ganache until you run out of the peanut butter filling.

Top with whipped topping and a graham cracker (I think crumbled peanut butter cups would look yummy on top) and you're done! Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Banana Pudding

2011-02-01T14:30:00.001-06:00

I turned 30 a few days ago and celebrated with one of my favorite desserts, banana pudding! My mom used to make banana pudding all the time growing up! It's easy to make, impossible to mess up, and so yummy! I wasn't depressed turning 30... I've felt 30 for a long time (my kids make me feel old). I think 40 will be the hard birthday! I'll have two boys in college, my house will be empty and quiet, and I'll be OLD! ... just kidding ,-)

Ingredients
1 box of vanilla wafers
4 to 5 bananas, sliced
2 cups milk
1 (3.9 ounce) box instant french vanilla pudding
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 ounce) tub of whipped topping

Directions
First, don’t forget to set out your ingredients, especially the cream cheese, as it needs to be softened and the whipped topping if it needs to thaw.
In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using an electric mixer.
Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk.
With the same electric mixer, blend together until smooth. When mixed, the cream cheese/condensed milk mixture should look something like this...
Add the pudding to the cream cheese mixture.
Stir until combined

Peel and slice the bananas and set aside.

Now it's time to assemble! You can use a large bowl, 9x13 pan, or small bowls for the banana pudding. I decided to use 4 stemless glasses. Start with a layer of vanilla wafers, then the pudding mixture, then bananas.
Then more of the pudding mixture and vanilla wafers.
I add a layer of whipped cream in the middle... just for fun!
Then continue with the pudding and bananas and pudding and wafers until you reach the top!

Top with whipped cream and garnish with a vanilla wafer or wafer crumbles.
Cover the banana pudding with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours (this way the vanilla wafers get nice and soft).

Snow Ice Cream

2011-01-20T20:25:00.002-06:00

We had another big snow last night and got around 8 inches! The boys were excited because they got another snow day! I have to admit that I'm loving all these days off! As a teacher January is a really slow month but it's flying by this year with all of these snow days! I tried to go into this snow day with a better attitude than my last snow day... I knew the boys were going to play in the snow and bring buckets of it into my house so I decided when God ~~gives me lemons I should make lemonade~~ gives me snow I should make snow ice cream!

Ingredients
8 - 10 cups freshly fallen snow
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Gather your snow in a big bowl. I prefer to set my bowl outside before the snow falls. Then I pluck my ice cold bowl from the snow and bring it inside. I put my bowl out on my back porch, can you spot it?
Pour in the sweetened condensed milk.
Spoon in the vanilla extract. Look at the concentration on Abbott's face, that kid is going to be a great cook one day! Stir it together for a few minutes, until it is all the same color and starts to resemble homemade ice cream... it helps if you have a little brother cheering you on!
Andrew likes his snow ice cream plain.
Justin, Abbott, and I like ours with chocolate syrup!

Mary's Spinach Dip

2011-01-18T20:06:00.000-06:00

I work with a gal named Mary, she's the best! She knows my looks... my sighs... my pain, and she's always there to step in when our students get to be a handful (which happens around a gazillion times a day). Just today she saw me doing the potty dance and told me to go to the bathroom... that's when you know you have a good friend who cares :-)
Mary is a vegetarian, so she's basically an expert on yummy foods that don't contain meat. She always brings the best cake, chips, nuts, etc. to work! I like to tease Mary though because she can't weigh more than 100 pounds and I swear she eats 3 almonds for lunch and says "I'm stuffed", it's disturbing. When talking about food Mary likes to use descriptive words like "huge" and "enormous"... she'll say "Hey Carrie, I brought in a gargantuan bag of pretzels if you want some" only to pull out a ziploc with 10 pretzel sticks in it. It cracks me up!! Mary once described a 1/2 cup of guacamole as a "humongous vat of guacamole". I have to give her kuddos for her positive outlook, she's always a "the glass is half full" kind of gal, I love that about her!
Mary brought in this spinach dip a couple years ago and I knew it would be delicious (because it had Mary's endorsement) but I was hesitant to try it because I didn't think cold spinach dip would be very good. Boy was I wrong! I like this cold spinach dip better than warm spinach dip now! I make this for every potluck and party I go to! It's SUPER EASY and everyone raves about it, even I can't stop munching on it... I feel rude because I stand by my own dish and scarf it down, it's embarrassing!

Ingredients
Fritos Scoops Chips (don't try to use any other chip, these go the best with this dip)
1 box of Frozen Chopped Spinach, thawed and drained
1 packet of Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix (it's next to the dry soups at the grocery store)
1 cup of Hellmann's mayonnaise (it has to be real mayonnaise, NOT Miracle Whip)
1 (16 ounce) tub of Sour Cream
Directions
Stir together the spinach, Knorr vegetable packet, mayonnaise and sour cream. Make sure to drain the liquid from the spinach and if your spinach is still frozen just pop it into the microwave for a few seconds to thaw. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve with the Fritos Scoops and keep refrigerated! Oh, and try not to eat all the dip yourself ,-)

Bean Soup

2011-01-10T19:39:00.000-06:00

We had a snow day today, so no work or school! It's the perfect day for some bean soup (yeah!) and playing in the snow (oh crap!)... I consider myself a pretty good mom. I accept that boys will be loud and rowdy at times, I don't freak out when something is accidentally broken/spilt, and I try to be patient as they learn and make mistakes. My downfall is when the boys want to play in the snow!
Nothing gets me more frustrated than spending an hour hunting through the house for gloves, scarfs, long underwear, etc. Then, the boys go out and play for maybe 20 minutes (ringing the door bell every two minutes to give me a play by play of everything they're doing). It never fails that at least one of them needs to use the restroom while they're playing (today it was Abbott and that's a disaster in and of itself). Then once they're done playing they pile back inside (usually bringing a couple neighborhood kids with them) to unload buckets of snow and wet clothing onto the floor. Their 20 minutes of fun costs me hours of gathering, cleaning, and washing. Not to mention that after they come in (and I'm huffing and puffing trying to mop up the floor and clean up the humongous pile of clothes) they always ask me to make hot chocolate! So as I'm mumbling under my breath and sloshing around hot chocolate, I happen to look outside to see practically the entire contents of our garage strewn about the driveway. They didn't even clean up the snow toys they got out! Blink. Blink. Sighhhhhh...

Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) bag dried navy beans
8 cups water
2 cups of cooked diced ham
1 chicken bullion cube
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
Ketchup- optional

Directions
Place rinsed beans into a large stock pot. Add water and bring to a boil. Boil gently for 2 minutes; remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour.
Add cubed ham, bullion cube, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until beans are soft. Add carrots and celery and cook until tender (around 45 minutes). Once the beans, carrots, and celery are tender, remove the bay leaf and it's ready to serve! You may want to get a potato masher and mash some of the beans to thicken the broth... this is just my preference though! I also prefer to add ketchup sometimes, it's just a habit from when I was a kid ,-)

Homemade Hostess Cupcakes

2011-01-01T22:15:00.000-06:00

Well, our Christmas break is almost over... boohoo :-(
It's been a fun couple weeks! It seems like every Christmas break we go through an entertainment trend. This year's trend was board games, especially the game Clue (we played it probably 10 times). This is the first year Abbott has understood Clue and was able to really play, so it was "game on" as we strategized and asked our questions... Mr. Plum, with the candlestick, in the library?
It's so much fun playing with the boys! Abbott especially has come into his own recently, he is a witty lil punk! My stomach muscles have been sore from laughing so much!
We also celebrated Andrew! Last year he scored in the top 2% on state assessments so he was invited to a scholarship program. Initially I wasn't very excited because it required that Andrew take the ACT... a 7th grader take the ACT?! Eventually though, my school's college counselor convinced me to let Andrew take it. We got Andrew's ACT score a few days ago and he scored a 20! We are so proud of him! 20 is an amazing score for a 7th grader!

Here are some pictures of our holiday break...

Now, on to the cupcakes! No joke, this is THE BEST cupcake recipe I have! Justin was shocked when I told him I've never blogged this recipe because I've made it a few times (and they've gotten rave reviews every time), but these cupcakes are gobbled down so quickly I usually can't get any pictures! I decorate the top of the cupcakes with the hostess signature loops, but you could draw words or pictures as well. I tried writing "love" once but my handwriting is so sloppy... I have to stick to the loops ,-)

Cupcake Ingredients
1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix (and the oil, water, eggs to prepare it)
1 large jar Marshmallow Fluff

Ganache Ingredients
1 (12 ounce) bag chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk

Icing Ingredients
1 stick butter
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Cupcake Directions
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350. Place paper liners in muffin tin for about 20 cupcakes. Spray liners with non-stick cooking spray.
Prepare the Devil's Food cake according to the directions, divide the batter evenly amongst the cupcake liners (about 1/4 cup batter per cupcake) and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool for at least 1 hour.

Spoon the marshmallow fluff into a pastry bag... this is the hardest part because the fluff is so sticky (get a helper to hold your bag while you try to fill it). With a medium star tip (I used a Wilton #199 tip). Insert the tip into the center of each cupcake top; fill until the cupcake is heavier or the top starts to split. It's OK if some of the filling peeks out, it will be covered by the ganache ,-)

Ganache Directions
In a tall cup or bowl (I use a 2-cup measuring cup) add the milk and chocolate chips. Microwave in 30 second intervals stirring after each cycle until it's melted. Mine is usually melted and ready to go after 3 cycles (1 minute 30 seconds).
Icing Directions
Meanwhile, prepare the icing: Using a mixer, beat the remaining 1 stick butter, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, the milk and confectioners’ sugar until smooth, adding more milk if needed. Spoon into a pastry bag with a small tip (I used a Wilton #4 plain tip); pipe onto the cupcakes to decorate.
Store in the refrigerator, they are yummy cold!

Caramel Pretzel Sticks

2010-12-24T19:30:00.003-06:00

Merry, Merry Christmas to each of you! I'm so thankful that you stuck around during the "lean months" and continue to visit CookingwithCarrie. As for what's been going on in the Hubbard household, its been a fun filled week with family visiting, Christmas baking, present wrapping (and unwrapping), and visiting with friends. But from tomorrow on (the Lord willing) the next week will be calm and slow. We have big plans for family time, non-stop pajama wearing, game marathons, movies, and cooking! Most importantly though, we will take time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, this video is a wonderful reminder for all of us as we strive to make this week special for our families.

The Real Meaning of Christmas ~ Linus style

Another reminder for me is this song. O Holy Night by Seven Day Jesus is my all-time favorite Christmas song! It gives me chills and fills my eyes with tears every time I hear it.

Blessings to you and your family on this day
~Carrie

Andrew made these Caramel Pretzel Sticks! Everyone really liked these but I still prefer chocolate dipped pretzels. These tasted like a candy bar, which explains why I wasn't a huge fan... I don't like candy bars (remember my favorite dessert is Angel Strawberry Bavarian), but every other candy bar loving person went crazy for these pretzel sticks ,-)

Ingredients
1 package caramels
1 tablespoon evaporated milk
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips
2/3 cup toffee bits
Directions
Melt caramel w/milk. I melted my caramel in the microwave. It is easier to handle if the caramel is not real runny and when it started to get too firm I just put it back in the microwave for a few seconds.
Combine chips and toffee in small shallow bowl (I used a pie pan). Dip pretzels in caramel then roll in chip mixture. Place on waxed paper until set. Store in airtight container.

Snack Printables and Giveaway Winner

2010-12-22T17:41:00.007-06:00

I'm always looking for snack ideas for the boy's classes (well, Andrew doesn't need snacks now that he's in middle school but Abbott still needs snacks). A fellow blogger (Gourmet Mom On-The-Go) has the best snack ideas and she makes these cute printables to go along with them! So last month I sent Donut Seeds (aka Honey Nut Cheerios) for Abbott's class...
And yesterday I sent Ernie Elf's Tinker Toys (aka pretzel sticks and cheese cubes) for Abbott's class... They were a hit! It is such a fun way to send a snack!

Donut Seeds Ingredients
Circular Cereal (Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Fruit Loops, etc.)
Sandwich sized Ziploc Baggies
Printed Labels (click the link to open and print)

Ernie Efl's Tinker Toys Ingredients
Pretzel Sticks
Cheese Cubes
Sandwich sized Ziploc Baggies
Printed Labels (click the link to open and print)

Now for the giveaway winner!
There were 28 entries

So we had lots of writing, cutting, and folding

In to Andrew's hat they go

Andrew goes in to pick the winner

You don't have to close your eyes Andrew, lol

And the winner is
JC! I have emailed JC with the details!

Chicken Mexi-Ranch Tacos and a Giveaway

2010-12-19T18:07:00.006-06:00

Recently, I was contacted by MyBlogSpark to review the Old El Paso "Family Taco Night" kit and give one away! I was thrilled because we LOVE Mexican food and I LOVE hosting giveaways for my readers!

Old El Paso suggested two recipes, Double Layer Tacos and Chicken Ranch Tacos. I was immediately intrigued by the Chicken Ranch Tacos, but they use plain ole rotisserie chicken and ranch... I had to spice it up! I added some Old El Paso taco seasoning to my chicken and to my ranch and it turned out delicious! We ate the chicken mexi-ranch tacos for lunch and then ate the leftovers as a chicken mexi-ranch salad for dinner!
So, what's the giveaway? An Old El Paso “Family Taco Night” prize pack, which includes a packet of original Old El Paso Taco Seasoning, a Cactus Chip & Dip Serving dish, a set of 3 Fiesta Chili Pepper serving dishes and a $10 gift card to purchase everything for your own family taco night! To qualify for the giveaway just leave a comment with your name, telling me what recipe you would make with your Old El Paso taco seasoning! Do you have a family favorite or would you try something new? The giveaway will close at midnight on December 21st. I will draw names and announce the winner on my blog on December 22nd.

Want to start cooking now? Download this printable coupon for $0.60 off any two Old El Paso products!

Chicken Taco Ingredients
Flour tortillas
1 packet of Old El Paso Taco Seasoning
Chicken breasts
Lettuce
Cheese
Tomatoes (I omitted)
Optional- Avocado

Mexi-Ranch Ingredients
1 packet of Old El Paso Taco Seasoning (only use 2 tablespoons of seasoning)
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 cup mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip!)
1 cup milk

Directions
Sprinkle raw chicken breasts with taco seasoning (sprinkle both sides of the chicken). Cover with foil and bake at 425 degrees for 45 minutes.
Whisk together the mexi-ranch ingredients, cover, and store in fridge (it will thicken after being in the fridge for 30 minutes).
When the chicken's done, slice it up and assemble your tacos!

Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

2010-12-16T08:13:00.022-06:00

I love sugar cookies! I have the most DELICIOUS Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe, but they are only good when they are circle shaped and I really wanted to put my Christmas cookie cutters to good use! So, I thought about making a sugar cookie with royal icing, "how hard could it be?" I thought... hahaha, oh, how naive I was! I'd seen those cookie decorating tutorials in magazines and on television that make it look like a toddler could decorate cookies like a pro in 5 minutes. You know which ones I’m talking about..the pictures that show all the pastry bags and squeeze bottles neatly filled with the perfect consistency of icing and the spatulas are color coordinated to the bowls and mixer. The naked cookies are all baked and lined up waiting to be frosted by smiling mothers and angelic children. You can just feel the joy that’s about to be born from this experience.

Well, I started exploring online and found the most amazing website, University of Cookie! I spent probably 4 hours reading, watching videos, and learning everything about sugar cookies and royal icing. It scared me to death! I had no idea what kind of work went into making these type of cookies! By the time the icing was made I was exhausted and my kitchen was covered in flour and royal icing! Thankfully I only had one meltdown... I started with the cookie dough recipe from the University of Cookie website and it was a failure! The recipe said "it will be crumbly so knead together" but it was like sand! I couldn't even get the dough to stick together to roll out! So I cried, threw away the dough, called my amazing cousin (who is a professional baker), and started with a new cookie dough recipe. I continued to cry and think "what did I get myself into" but thankfully that was the only bump in the road! Once the cookies were made it was all downhill. I'm actually excited to make these cookies again with new shapes and designs!

I credit my success to two tips I picked up from the University of Cookie website...purchase a few plastic squirt bottles (ketchup and mustard squirt bottles would even work) and give yourself at least 4 hours to make and decorate the cookies. I went out and bought a couple of plastic squirt bottles from Hobby Lobby (I heard Walmart had them too but I couldn't find them) and they made the process SO easy! It was time consuming... it took about 3 1/2 hours not including rest time for the cookies to cool and icing to harden but in the end it was worth it, they're beautiful cookies!

Sugar Cookie Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into chunks
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour

Royal Icing Ingredients
8 tablespoons meringue powder
1 cup cool water
2 pounds powdered sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
Optional- a few drops of clear extract (I used almond extract but you could use peppermint, vanilla, cherry, orange, etc.)

Sugar Cookie Directions
Cream butter, powdered sugar, egg, almond extract, vanilla, and salt together using a mixer (I used the paddle attachment on my KitchenAid mixer and it worked GREAT). Add in the flour and mix until combined. Roll to 1/4 inch thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters and place on parchment paper covered cookie sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 min. Cookies should not brown. This recipe yielded me 26 3-inch Christmas tree cookies.

Royal Icing Directions
Combine the meringue powder and water. With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat until combined and foamy.
Sift in the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. Add in the corn syrup and extract if desired (the corn syrup helps keep the icing shiny). Increase speed to med-high/high and beat for about 5 minutes, until the icing is glossy and stiff peaks form. You should be able to remove the beater from the mixer and hold it up and jiggle without the peak falling, however it will be very light and fluffy like meringue!

Divide the icing into bowls and stir in food coloring. Cover the tops of the bowls with plastic wrap and press the plastic wrap down onto the icing so there is no air (air is the enemy of this icing)! You can store the icing like this for a few days! I divided my icing into 4 bowls, so I had green, red, white, and brown icing.
First you want to outline the cookies. This will dam in the runny "flood icing" you'll add later. I used a Wilton #2 decorating tip to outline my cookies.
Now you'll need to thin the icing to make "flood icing". This is the runny icing that goes inside the cookie and hardens. I made red, green, and white flood icing (this is the icing you'll put into your squirt bottles). To make the "flood icing" you'll take some of your colored royal icing (I used the green leftover icing from outlining the cookies) and add water a teaspoon at a time. Add a teaspoon of water, stir, evaluate, add another teaspoon of water, stir, evaluate. I ended up adding 8 teaspoons of water to my green icing. You don't want the icing to be too runny so be careful! You'll know it's ready when you pick your spoon up, drizzle icing back into the bowl, and after 5-10 seconds the drizzled icing melts back into the rest of the icing (so you can't see where you drizzled it). It should be the consistency of glue (or corn syrup).

Working 1-6 cookies at a time, use the squirt bottles to apply the flood icing and use a tooth pick to move the icing to all the corners. You can add dots or stripes to your icing with other flood icing colors, the dot/stripe will melt into the icing, it's really neat! Here's a slideshow of the process...
Let the flood icing dry uncovered overnight before you try to add any more detail on top of it. I used red royal icing (NOT FLOOD ICING) and my #2 Wilton tip to draw some garland on the next day. I then sprinkled on some red sugar crystals onto the icing! The sprinkles might stick to your cookies (the first time I tried shaking off the sprinkles they were stuck all over my Christmas tree)! So make sure you wipe the flood icing with a paper towel (eliminating any condensation) before piping on the garland and then use a Q-tip to wipe off any stubborn sprinkles. I am sorry I don't have any pictures of the garland process. I was quickly finishing up so I could send some cookies to work with my husband.

BBQ Baked Beans

2010-12-10T18:45:00.008-06:00

My favorite Kansas City Barbeque is "Bates City BBQ", and these beans are my own copy cat version of their baked beans! The sauce is sweet with a spicy kick, and the green pepper flavor is infused throughout. These baked beans are STUPENDOUS! I eat these beans as a meal they are so good! But that's just me... some people consider beans the "poor man's meat" but I like to think of it as the "healthy man's meat"! So, I made these beans with some delicious macaroni salad for dinner, yummm-o!

Ingredients
1 green pepper, chopped
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup barbecue sauce (I use Caribbean Cowboy Barbeque Sauce)
1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 (16 ounce) can pork and beans, undrained
1 (16 ounce) can red kidney beans, undrained
1 (16 ounce) can Great Northern beans, undrained

Directions
In a large bowl, stir all the ingredients together (stir the beans in last). Pour into a 2-3 quart casserole dish and bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. After an hour I stirred the beans and put them back in for another 1/2 hour (the beans will be hot and bubbly after an hour but you'll want to cook them for another 1/2 hour so the liquid reduces).

Aunt Kelly's Bread Stuffing

2010-11-29T19:20:00.003-06:00

Next to my Grandma's Noodle Gravy, this is my favorite part of Thanksgiving! Growing up I would go to my mom's side of the family Thanksgiving (famous for the Noodle Gravy) and then my dad's side of the family Thanksgiving (famous for my Aunt Kelly's Bread Stuffing). So now when I go to Thanksgiving with Justin's family I bring my grandma's gravy and aunt's stuffing. It's like the best of both worlds! Now if I could only get my Aunt Mina's mom's pie recipes... then I may just have the best Thanksgiving dinner possible!

On Thanksgiving we went to Justin's parents' house for dinner. Before I tell you what Abbott said you should know that we've never been hunting and we've never eaten game meat. Not that we have anything against hunting, we're just too lazy to get up that early in the morning... that and no one in my family could stomach the thought of killing something ,-)
So, while we were getting ready to leave for Thanksgiving, Abbott asked "who’s bringing the turkey"
I said "Grandma"
Abbott asked "Did she hunt it?"
"No" I said
"Oh Crap! It tastes terrible when someone didn’t hunt it!" exclaims Abbott
"Well grandma bought it from someone who hunted it (meaning the store)" I say
"Oh phew! I am glad she bought it from someone. The hunted kind tastes so much better than the kind you buy at the store!" Abbott said

So... weird fact about Abbott #1,836- Abbott thinks hunted turkey tastes better than store bought turkey.
Weird fact about Abbott #1,837- Abbott's under the false impression that he's eaten a hunted turkey before.

Ingredients
2 loaves of sandwich bread, aired out for a few hours to get stale and crusty
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 cans chicken broth
2 eggs
1/2 cup white onion, minced
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions
In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the butter, onion, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper.

Slice up the celery stalks and add them to the pan (I stir in each celery stalk after I cut it).

Once all the celery is cut, add 1 can of chicken broth and turn the heat to medium low. Cook for 8-10 minutes until celery is just soft. Then remove from heat so it can cool.

While the celery is cooking cut the 2 loaves of bread into cubes (or if you prefer you can cut the bread earlier in the day, I'm lucky because while I'm cutting and cooking celery Justin cuts up the bread).

Whisk 1 can of broth and 2 eggs together. Slowly pour the egg broth over the bread, stopping to toss the bread (with your hands) in-between drizzles. You don't want to soak the bread, just spread the egg broth around evenly.

Now, hopefully your seasoned celery broth is cooled to just being warm (you don't want to scramble your egg with boiling broth). Using a spoon (or in my case a measuring cup), ladle on the celery and broth.

Toss the bread after every couple ladles, (so the bread doesn't get too runny) you want to evenly distribute the celery and seasoned broth.

Spoon on more celery and broth and toss. Repeat until you're out of seasoned celery broth.

Put the stuffing in a baking dish and smash it down. I prefer a deeper dish to keep the stuffing really moist (I used a 2.5 quart cast iron pot), but a 9x13 works fine... it's just a little more dry.

Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Uncover for 15 minutes or so until nice and browned on top.

Grandma's Noodle Gravy

2010-11-26T19:45:00.000-06:00

This is my grandma's recipe for her famous noodle gravy! We have it for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Everyone lathers it on their turkey and mashed potatoes and it's the best part of the holiday dinner! After Thanksgiving 2003 I called my grandma (while the Thanksgiving preparation of noodle gravy was fresh in her head) to get detailed directions for her noodle gravy. I've made it a few times since then and it's spot on every time! Since we have multiple families to visit I don't always get to go to my grandma's, so I bring this gravy to whatever dinner we're going to! The best part is that this gravy can be prepared without a turkey! Just cook up a couple chicken legs or thighs to get a little drippings, then use a couple cans of chicken broth!

Ingredients
De-greased turkey or chicken pan drippings, supplement canned chicken broth if you don’t have enough drippings (you need around 6 cups total. I used 1 cup of drippings and 4 cans of chicken broth)
1/2 cup diced turkey or chicken meat
1 can cream of chicken soup
3-4 tablespoons of flour
2 diced hard boiled eggs, minced
Homemade egg noodles
2 cups flour
3 egg yokes
1 egg (yoke and white)
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
The day before, bake some chicken legs and/or thighs for dinner. Save the chicken drippings and the meat of one leg/thigh. Keep the drippings and meat in your fridge over night so you can scrape the fat off in the morning (throw away the fat that gathers at the top).
The day of, warm the drippings, meat and canned chicken broth in a large pot over medium low heat. You'll want around 6 cups of liquid total.
While the liquid warms on the stove, prepare the noodles. Put flour and salt in a mixing bowl, make a well in your flour and add the 3 egg yokes and 1 egg.
Drizzle in the 1/2 cup of cool water. Start stirring with a spoon but once the dry ingredients are sufficiently moistened I press it by hand.
Keep pressing the dough until you can get it to hold in a ball (you may need to drizzle in an additional 1/4 cup water).
Once you have the dough formed into a ball you will cut it into quarters. Sprinkle flour on your counter (or a cutting board) and roll a quarter of the dough out with a rolling pin. As you flip and roll the dough sprinkle more flour on it. You don’t ever want sticky dough; it needs to be dry and dusted with flour. When it is thin, use a pizza cutter to cut small noodles.
When all the noodles are cut and ready, add them to the chicken broth and chicken bits. Turn the heat up to medium and let the noodles cook for 15 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes. After 15 minutes spoon out around 1 cup of broth and whisk in 3-4 tablespoons of flour, then pour the broth/flour mixture back into the pot (this will help thicken the gravy). Add the cream of chicken soup and minced hard boiled eggs to the gravy. Let the gravy cook another 5-10 minutes and it's done! You can serve immediately OR you can hold the gravy for a couple hours by pouring the gravy into a crock-pot and keeping the crock-pot on the warm setting (this is what I do since I take the gravy to our family dinners.

Cream Cheese Chicken

2010-11-22T21:22:00.002-06:00

We've made this recipe a few times in the last couple weeks, it's cheap and easy but most importantly, it hits the spot! It's very similar to Creamy Italian Chicken and Pasta but I like this version with rice better. We spoon the sauce onto the rice and it's so yummy!

We're putting our Christmas tree up on Wednesday and I can't wait! Christmas is our favorite time of year! The boys made a Christmas movie advent calendar, so this year we'll split up our 30 Christmas movies and watch 1 every day! We'll snuggle up, watch Christmas movies, with our fireplace blazing, and twinkle lights shining! There isn't anything better in the whole world! What's your favorite Christmas movie? Justin's favorite is Christmas Vacation, my favorite is Love Actually, Andrew's favorite is Elf, and Abbott's favorite is Home Alone! I can't wait!

Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed (it's ok if they're still a little frozen)
1/4 cup butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 packet, Italian dressing mix (I use Good Seasons Brand)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Serve with white rice

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
In a 9x13 glass casserole dish, warm the butter and cream cheese in a microwave. I put it in for 30 seconds, stir, and then 30 more seconds. When the butter and cream cheese are soft you'll stir in the package of Italian dressing mix and cream of chicken soup. Stir in the cubed chicken breasts, coating the chicken with the sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 60 minutes in the preheated oven. Serve chicken and sauce over white rice.

First Girlfriend Pie

2010-11-03T21:11:00.014-05:00

We try to celebrate the small things, and I especially like to celebrate the boys "firsts" with pies! Last year I posted Andrew's First Concert Pie and Abbott's First Kiss Pie... both were delicious! Well, today Andrew got his first girlfriend! Her name's Kerri (pronounced Carrie, same as my name)! So we had to celebrate with a "First Girlfriend Pie"! Andrew and Kerri have been flirty with each other for awhile now. Last year Andrew told us a story about an indoor recess where Kerri leaned on him while talking to their friends. Andrew said the whole time Kerri was leaning on him he was thinking "...ok, this isn't awkward"! It was too cute because as Andrew told the story his body language perfectly described how awkward he must have felt.

So, Andrew says Kerri wrote him a note yesterday asking him if he liked her. Andrew wrote back admitting that he liked her and asked if she liked him, then Kerri wrote back saying that she liked him too! Andrew said Kerri's friends begged and pushed for him to ask her out, so today at lunch Andrew asked Kerri to be his girlfriend! She said yes! I knew I'd like this girl when Andrew said that Kerri asked if she could pick him up for Wednesday night youth group... she goes to youth group too?!! SCORE!

First girlfriends are special and it's something to celebrate! Justin's first girlfriend was Cheryl Hudson when he was in 5th grade. I can't remember who my first boyfriend was, I was more like Abbott... I think I had my first kiss before I had my first boyfriend. My first kiss was in 5th grade, we were on a God's Kids tour, playing truth or dare, and my cousin Brett Rains dared me to put a Spree candy in my mouth and for Nathan Evans to kiss me and get the candy. First's are so special because they can't ever be repeated! We don't ever remember who our second girlfriends or kisses were, just our first. There's a GREAT movie all about that first middle school girlfriend, it's called "Little Manhattan" and it's one of our favorites! If you haven't ever seen it you must rent it immediately... and make this pie to eat while you're watching it :-)

So, congratulations Andrew on having your first girlfriend! You are one step closer to becoming a man, and what an amazing young man you are. We are so proud! Your "First Girlfriend Pie" was outstanding! It was fluffy, smooth, and so rich! I can't wait to make this pie for you, your wife, and your family some day! It will always make me smile remembering the grin on your face as you beamed with the pleasure of having your first girlfriend!

Ingredients
9-inch deep dish pie crust, baked
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup water
1 (4 serving) package chocolate pudding mix (not instant)
1 (1 ounce) square unsweetened chocolate
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large (16 ounce) tub of Cool Whip
Optional- Hot fudge topping

Directions
In large saucepan, combine condensed milk, water and pudding mix; mix well. Add chocolate and salt. Over medium heat, cook and stir rapidly until chocolate melts and mixture thickens (it won't thicken until it starts to boil). Remove from heat, whisk until smooth, and cool in the fridge. When it is thoroughly chilled, fold in Cool Whip and pour into prepared pie crust. Chill 4 hours until set. Use a pastry bag and tip to pipe on the hot fudge topping into a heart shape. Don't warm the hot fudge topping, it needs to be cool or room temperature to hold the shape of a heart.

Mashed Faux-Tatoes

2010-10-30T20:14:00.000-05:00

These mashed faux-tatoes look like mashed potatoes, taste like creamy rice, but it is really cauliflower!
... This was my opening line to my family but their response was "it smells terrible"! I admit that boiling cauliflower doesn't smell like roses but I thought it really did taste good! I quite liked these faux-tatoes! They couldn't ever substitute real mashed potatoes but they are great as a vegetable side dish!
I've been a reading fool this weekend! I read the Wake Trilogy Books by Lisa McMann in two days! Once I start a book (or book series) I just can't stop though! I've got a whole week full of boy's activities ahead of me though so I need a new book to read! Do you have any book suggestions?

Ingredients
2 pounds cauliflower, trimmed
1/4 cup low fat sour cream
1/4 cup low fat cream cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions
Boil cauliflower until soft. Mix cauliflower with rest of ingredients in blender or using a mixer. Cook on stove-top for 15-20 minutes.

Margarita Chicken

2010-10-25T18:18:00.009-05:00

This is going to be one of those years with my boys. We've already had way too many conversations with their teachers and Abbott's testing my laundry abilities by wearing the same outfit everyday for a month! Abbott wants to be a doctor so my parents bought him a set of scrubs for his birthday. He wants to wear them everyday so I have to sneak into his room to launder the outfit while he sleeps! This is my doctor... ...or as a girl in his class calls him, "nurse boy"! Being a mom is so stressful but thankfully my wonderful sister-in-law understands, she shared this hilarious video last week...

This video does a pretty good job of summing up my life! It's crazy!
However, the upside of Abbott's determination to wear his doctor outfit everyday is that I don't have to buy him a Halloween costume! Have you ever noticed that something weird happens on Halloween? I'm not talking ghosts and goblins... I'm talking about the weather! It feels like summer right up until Halloween blows in and it's frigid every day after! I won't be fooled this year though! It may have been 80 degrees today but I am on to you Halloween... I know this is the last week of warm weather so I wanted to slip one more summery recipe in before it's all soups and spiced breads!

Ingredients
5 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 can (10 ounces) frozen non-alcoholic margarita mix, thawed (I used Bacardi)
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions
In a small bowl, combine the margarita mix, lime juice and garlic. Pour 1 1/4 cup marinade into a large resealable plastic bag. Add the chicken; seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 4 hours. Rotate half way through marinading. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade.
Drain and discard marinade, sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, and grill or saute the chicken to cook. As the chicken cooks baste it with the the remaining marinade (that you covered and saved in your fridge).

Spanish Rice

2010-10-20T20:00:00.009-05:00

Due to some outrageous medical bills we've been eating at home every night (which I love) but we have to eat the cheapest meals we can (which I hate). Our cheap meals are usually hot dogs, noodle soup, hamburger helper, burritos, grilled cheese, etc. All junk type foods with no fresh fruits or vegetables :-( Why are cheap meals also the most unhealthy meals? I gotta tell you, it really tweaks my melon!

Anytime someone says "tweaks my melon" I always hear in my head "I gotta tell you Travis, it really tweaks my melon to see a buff bro like Crawl here get weeeeezed on by a greasy scumbag like you! Now let's chow down here and munch on some grindage!" I'll give anyone a hug that can name that movie! Also, anytime someone says "Yippee Ki-Yay" I finish it with something in my head too... but that's not really blog appropriate ,-)

So, anyways! To save money I thought I would make my own Spanish Rice! We were bummed though, this recipe wasn't very flavorful. Don't stop reading yet though, this rice has potential! Justin added some salsa to his and it was much better so I'm going to give this rice another try but substitute salsa for the tomato sauce! I'll let you know how my 2nd try turns out ,-)

Ingredients
1-2 tablespoons oil
2 cups white rice
1/2 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce (next time I am using 1 cup of salsa instead)
1/2 onion, minced
3 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
5 cups water

Directions
Heat oil in skillet and fry rice until light brown. Add tomato sauce and stir. Add onion, bouillon and water to the rice, stir well and cover. Bring rice mixture to a boil, over medium-high heat. Once liquid level has dropped below the rice, turn heat down to low and simmer 30-35 minutes. Move rice to see if liquid remains. If so, keep simmering. Once rice is done, you may crack the lid to let steam out and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving (this helps the rice dry out a little and not be so sticky).

Taco Cups

2010-10-15T23:09:00.008-05:00

After 30 years as a police officer and detective, my wonderful dad retired from the Blue Springs Police Department a few weeks ago! His career was so spectacular that September 17th is now "Troy Pharr Day" in the city of Blue Springs! He had a huge retirement bash at city hall, which was covered by a couple local papers...
Kansas City Star Article
Blue Springs Examiner Article
My mom asked my cousin and me to cater the party... yikes! So we made a few appetizers (stuffed strawberries, bruschetta, chocolate covered pretzel sticks, etc.) but the most popular appetizer were these Taco Cups! The boys enjoyed them so much that we had to make them again, they are so yummy!

Ingredients
Tostitos Scoops Chips
Seasoned Taco Meat
Shredded cheddar cheese
Salsa
Sour cream (put the sour cream in a pastry bag with an icing tip)
Sliced black olives, drained

Directions
Get a Tostitos Scoop, spoon on some taco meat (I used a melon baller spring scoop), spoon on some salsa, sprinkle on some cheese, use an icing tip and bag to pipe on the sour cream, and top with an olive slice!

These are so easy to make and the boys have a blast assembling them!

This is Andrew making our Taco Cups (for my email readers, I think this animated picture will only work on my website).

Croque Monsieur

2010-08-27T20:19:00.007-05:00

When watching movies I am always distracted by the food they eat in the movie! In the movie "It’s Complicated" Meryl Streep’s character makes these incredible looking cheesy, toasty bits of goodness. I actually pulled out my laptop to find out what they were eating. Turns out, it was Croque Monsieur... I had never heard of these French sandwiches before, but I couldn’t get them out of my mind!

It's ironic that we watched the movie "It's Complicated" because my life is so much more simple now that I have my cast off! Woohoo!! Exactly 1 month ago I blogged about my broken arm, but I am happy to report that my 6 weeks are up and I am cast free!
I can cook again!
I can style my hair!
I can fold laundry!
I can latch my bra!
... maybe that's a little too much information!

So, back to the Croque Monsieur! Traditionally they are "sandwiches" with two pieces of bread but I didn't think my boys could bite through two pieces of french bread and besides... in the movie Meryl Streep only used one piece of bread! Basically, it's crusty french bread, Dijon mustard, black forest ham, a cheese sauce (it's called a Béchamel sauce), and shredded cheese to top it off. They were good, and a nice change from the flavors we are used to!

Ingredients
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk
Salt and Pepper
1 1/2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated and packed
Crusty French bread loaf, cut into 1 inch thick slices (sandwich size, not skinny baguettes)
8 ounces Black forest ham, thinly sliced
Dijon mustard

Directions
Using a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat until melted. Slowly add flour while whisking constantly. Continue cooking and whisking until mixture turns a light blonde color, a couple minutes. Keep color light, do not let brown. Slowly pour in warmed milk, while whisking. Keep a light simmer and continue to whisk until sauce starts to thicken. Add Parmesan and 1/4 cup Swiss cheese a little at a time while stirring. Do not add all at once, or sauce will clump. Once you’ve combined cheese into sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat to low under sauce.

Lightly toast your bread slices on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven, turn once. Do not let brown.

Spread a thin layer of Dijon mustard over each toasted slice. Add about 2 slices of ham to each piece. Sprinkle each slice with the Swiss cheese reserving about 1/4 cup. Spoon Béchamel cheese sauce over each slice, then top with remaining Swiss cheese.

Bake for 5 minutes in the 400 degree oven. Rotate pan front to back, then turn broiler on High for 3 minutes. Cheese will be bubbling and lightly browned when ready. Be sure to keep a close watch while broiler is on, they can burn quickly.

Remove from pan, plate up and enjoy! Have an outstanding weekend, indulge a little, and be thankful for your two healthy arms!

Enchirito

2010-07-27T17:25:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted, I haven't been able to type because of this... *sings* Dun Dun Dun
I broke my arm! I wish I could say that I was doing something cool like water skiing but in reality I was putting sunscreen on my legs, fell backwards, tried to catch myself with my right hand, and snap! I broke my RIGHT arm... I'm right handed! So it's been darn near impossible to cook, do my hair, fold laundry, etc. It's been terrible :-(
On a positive note, I found the cutest purple purse and wallet at Target last week, I really think it compliments my cast... and for only $30 ($20 for the purse and $10 wallet), I feel just a little bit better about the purple clunky cast on my arm, lol. We've broken our July challenge and eaten out a few times but we're trying to eat homemade as much as possible. Our wonderful son Andrew has stepped in and made a few easy dinners for the family.... mostly all Mexican food because that's what he likes, lol. These Enchiritos were fairly easy for Andrew to make and they hit the spot!

Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 can Enchilada Sauce
1 can (28 Ounce) Refried Beans
1/4 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
12 Burrito-sized Flour Tortillas
Extra Grated Cheese, For Sprinkling
Extra Enchilada Sauce, For Drizzling

Spicy Beef Directions
Brown the ground beef and diced onions in a large skillet. Drain off excess fat and add the taco seasoning. Stir in 3/4 of the can of enchilada sauce (around a cup of sauce) and set the pan aside.
Cheesy Beans Directions
Stir the shredded cheese and beans together and warm the in the microwave... Andrew is a pro microwave nuke'er ,-)
Enchirito Directions
Nuke some burrito-size flour tortillas for about a minute or so. You want them to be soft and pliable. Spread on some warm cheesy beans And some of the spicy meat Roll it over Fold over the ends And roll it over again
Put a couple of the burritos on a plate Drizzle on the leftover enchilada sauce
Sprinkle on some shredded cheese And nuke it for about a minute (or until the cheese is melted)! Did I mention that Andrew is an excellent nuke'er? Thanks for dinner Andrew, I love you buddy!

Pot Roast

2010-07-12T19:01:00.022-05:00

We ate a lot of pot roast growing up and I remember it being dry and chewy... I would sip water with it just so I could swallow it down! It was one of my least favorite dinners so I usually gorged myself on the braised celery and carrots... I LOVE braised celery and carrots!
Well, this isn't a dry chewy pot roast! This pot roast is AMAZING! The meat was falling apart it was so tender and juicy! The boys got seconds and couldn't quit talking about it... I chose seconds of meat instead of getting more celery and carrots... and even Justin (the non-beef eater) loved it! We are all stuffed but we're super excited to eat the leftovers tomorrow!!!

Pot Roast Ingredients
3 1/2 pound pot roast (I get arm chuck pot roast)
1/2 cup flour
Sprinkling of Pepper
1/4 cup butter
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup white cooking wine (it's next to the vinegar at the grocery store)
Carrots and Celery- Optional

Gravy Ingredients
Pot Roast Drippings
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk

Directions
In a large bowl or plate, combine the flour and black pepper to taste. Dredge the rump roast in the flour and cover evenly. Shake off excess. Heat a large pot/dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the butter and then set the floured roast into the hot pan and sear it on one side, about 3 minutes. When that side is nice and brown (the browner the better), flip it over to the other side. When you’ve browned it all over the place, remove the roast to a plate. Oh, and see that brown stuff in the pan? That’s good. That’s real, real good.
Now, with the burner on medium-high, we’re going to deglaze the pan...we’re gonna scrape the heck out of the pan and git all that gooooood stuuuuuuff off the bottom. Pour 1/2 cup of white cooking wine in the pan.
Use your whisk to stir and scrape the bottom of the pan. Now add the onion soup mix and mushroom soup. Stir together Now add the browned meat to the pan and spoon some of the sauce on top of the roast. Cover and bake in the oven at 300 degrees for 3 hours. After 2 hours I add the chopped celery and carrots (so the veggies slow cook themselves in the sauce... it's heaven)! If your roast is bigger than 3 pounds you'll probably need to cook it for another hour. When it's done you move the meat to a cutting board and test it with a fork. See how easily it splits apart? You can literally see the melted connective tissue between the meat. When it easily “falls apart,” it’s definitely ready.
But don’t stop there! Because you’d never want to miss out on all that flavor, we need to take make some gravy from the drippings in the pan! Set the roasting pan over medium-low heat, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour in the pan. Whisk the flour into the drippings until the flour is incorporated. Now, whisk in 1 cup of milk while whisking and scraping off the encrusted bits on the bottom of the pan. Now’s a good time to have Abbott's favorite creamy mashed potatoes handy. Which reminds me, I never addressed The Potato Issue at the beginning of this post. I do NOT like to put potatoes into the pot with the meat. While it’s a handy, convenient way to cook the spuds, I think the potatoes turn out kind of dry and grainy. Instead, I think mashed potatoes really make a pot roast special. Spoon some vegetables onto the plate, with the pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy... Mmm! You won't want to stop eating!

Broccoli Salad

2010-07-05T17:40:00.008-05:00

This broccoli salad is great for potlucks! I wanted to make it yesterday for the 4th of July but decided that watermelon and cantaloupe was good enough... I love my cooking logic when I get too tired to cook anymore ,-)
Justin hasn't ever had this salad and blew me away by eating a couple helpings! He usually hates broccoli! He said that he didn't hate this salad, but he didn't like it either... the sweet, salty, and earthy vegetable tastes confused his taste buds. So he ate bite after bite staring it down like he was trying to figure it out. It was funny!

During the summer there's not too much on TV so we've been watching Oprah's debt diet... mostly because it's entertaining to gawk at the people in debt, but it also got us thinking about our spending habits. We do pretty good, we hate shopping so we don't have the debt that Oprah talks about. We spend too much money on eating out though. So, for July we're challenging ourselves, we made 3 rules...
1. No eating out- no fast food, no desserts, nothing!
2. We must have a fruit or vegetable with every meal!
3. Corn and potatoes don't count as vegetables!
We're on day 5 of our July challenge and we're doing great! We haven't wanted to eat out once... I get tired cooking every meal though, it would be nice to have a break :-(

Ingredients
1 head fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
2 tablespoons bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup red grapes, cut into fourths
3 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 cup mayonnaise

Directions
In a medium bowl, combine the broccoli and grapes. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar and mayonnaise. Little by little, pour the dressing over broccoli mixture... you won't need all of the dressing, it depends on the size of your broccoli head and how much dressing you like on salads. So just pour a little, toss, and then pour some more if you like. Refrigerate for at least two hours. Before serving, toss salad with crumbled bacon.

Parmesan Potatoes

2010-07-02T14:57:00.001-05:00

These potatoes were tasty and easy to make (a GREAT substitution to use instead of the frozen tator-tots I have been guilty of buying lately)! My boys also love helping me shake foods up in a Ziploc, so that’s an extra bonus for this recipe :-)

So, I’m a teacher but I also manage the school’s student information systems… so I don’t get my summers completely off. I work from home almost every day and am on call as issues arise throughout the summer. That’s the back-story you need to know for the following conversation…

We’re in the car, we had just finished up a doctor’s appointment and were on our way to another appointment and I said “Hey boys, I’m going to run by home real fast to check something and send an email. I’ll just be five minutes.”

Andrew says “you are addicted to working mom, we don’t need to go home so you can send an email”.

I say “Well, my boss says that I do… you see I get paid to help answer questions during the summer so if someone asks a question I have to quickly answer it”.

Andrew and Abbott break out into uncontrollable laughter.

I say “What! You don’t believe me? I actually have the answers when no one else does.”

Abbott’s still uncontrollably laughing and between Andrew’s giggles he laughs out a mocking “O.K. mom…. “

I say, “It’s true, your mom is actually smart when it comes to this stuff”

Andrew says “Mom you don’t even know directions like north, east, south, west”… then both boys bust out into another round of laughter.

I sigh and don’t say anything else… I’ve lost them… to them I’ll always be their idiot mom who can’t figure out if I’m going north or south, who can’t fry on the stove because she starts grease fires, who can’t carry in the water jugs because she isn’t strong enough, and who can’t figure out their complicated math homework.

Ingredients
6 medium potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (grated or shredded)

Directions
Clean the potatoes- a trick I learned working at the hospital cafeteria was to run the potatoes through the dishwasher without any soap, the heat and water spray gets them very clean!
Cut potatoes into 1 inch cubes, leaving skins on. In a large ziploc baggie, mix together oil, Italian seasoning, salt, garlic powder, and cheese. Add the potatoes to the bag, seal, and shake the potatoes to coat them with the seasoning. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and cook at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until potatoes are fork tender.

Sweet Corn on the Cob

2010-06-30T21:45:00.001-05:00

I know what you're thinking... Corn on the Cob... seriously Carrie, corn on the cob isn't a recipe. But this recipe will give you that "sweet taste" every time you make it, just by adding a few ingredients to the water! Corn on the cob seems to be hit or miss for me, this makes every cob taste like a winner... I'll never make corn in plain ol' water again!

So, summer is officially here, the boys are having a blast and getting their days and nights confused! I haven't felt like my summer has started though. I'm not sure why, I just feel like I'm in a funk! Maybe it's the week we spent in the hospital with Andrew... or not being able to go to the pool (Andrew can't swim with his incision)... or not going on a summer vacation (we can't afford it this summer)... or the fact that even when I'm home for the summer I work 24/7 on getting everything ready for the next school year. I just haven't felt like doing my usual summer stuff. I usually love summer and relish the extra day-time to prepare meals, but I've found myself making hot dogs twice a week lately. I've tried reading a couple books but I'm not interested in anything but re-runs of The King of Queens! I need some help getting out of this funk, I need to enjoy my summer before it's over! Any ideas?

Ingredients
4 ears of corn
water (enough to cover the corn)
3/4 cup Heavy cream (I substitute with milk)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Directions
Fill a large stock pot with enough water to cover the corn. Add milk, sugar and butter. Stir to mix. Bring to a boil, then add corn cobs. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 8 minutes, or until just tender. Do not over cook or the corn will become tough. Also, never salt the water, as it also toughens the corn.

Hashbrown Egg Breakfast Casserole

2010-06-24T18:49:00.010-05:00

I made this breakfast casserole for Father's Day breakfast and it was a hit! Abbott LOVED it... he had seconds at breakfast and then asked for more casserole again at dinner! Justin and Andrew drizzled Cholula hot sauce on theirs (surprise surprise)! I have to admit it's the best breakfast casserole I've ever had, and I like it better than my Hashbrown Quiche!

We had a great Father's Day! We got Justin some clothes (we always go for practical gifts), and Abbott gave Justin a paperweight (a classic Father's Day present... way to go Abbott)! My dad got the best present of all though... retirement! My dad has finally decided to retire (I've been telling him to retire for years), he deserves some much needed rest and relaxation! My dad's decision to retire was even covered by the local newspaper, something very out of the ordinary! He's a special guy though, I don't know how the police department will function without him! I'm sure there are criminals rejoicing everywhere, lol!

Ingredients
1 package (26 ounce) frozen shredded hashbrowns, thawed
1 pound sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 cups (16 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt and pepper
8 eggs
2 cups milk

Directions
In a large bowl, combine the hash browns, bacon, 1 and 1/2 cups of cheese, salt, and pepper. Spoon into a greased 13x9 baking dish. In the same large bowl, whisk eggs and milk until smooth; pour over hash brown mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 45-50 minutes until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.

Pizza Hut Pan Style Crust

2010-06-20T11:25:00.001-05:00

June was an eventful month at our house! We all had minor medical problems but Andrew took the prize when he had to have an emergency appendectomy (his appendix removed)! He had a classic case of appendicitis... nausea and vomiting the first day and woke up with a fever and right side pain the second day! We got him to the hospital immediately but the poor guy had to wait all day for his surgery :-(
Andrew's had a painful recovery and it just makes my heart ache, it's really hard to see my little guy in pain! I got some good quality time in with him though. I stayed at the hospital with him all week... getting up multiple times in the night to help him use the restroom (bringing back memories of getting up in the night with babies- further reinforcing that we are done having kids)! But, Andrew's home recovering now and doing great... although he's bummed he can't go to science camp!

Andrew worked up an appetite this week at the hospital! He wanted Chinese, ribs, Taco Bell, and pizza... in that order! So we've worked our way down his list and had pizza last night for dinner! I am usually the first to pass over any recipe involving yeast, but this recipe sounded so good! Pizza Hut Pan Crust is our favorite, and this recipe didn't disappoint!! It makes three 9-inch (cake pan ) pizzas so we had cheese, pepperoni, and Canadian bacon and pineapple pizzas!

Ingredients
1 cup warm water (105F)
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon Salt
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 package dry yeast
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (for dough)
9 ounces vegetable oil (3 ounces per pan) - (I just use enough to coat the pan)

Directions
Put yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add water and stir to mix well. Allow to sit for two minutes. Add oil, evaporated milk, and stir again. Add flour and stir until dough forms and flour is absorbed. Turn out on to a flat surface and knead for about 10 minutes.
Divide dough into three balls. In three 9" cake pans ( or can use 1 - 9 inch pie plate and 1 - 9 x 13 dish) , put 3 ounces of oil in each making sure it is spread evenly.
Using a rolling pin, roll out each dough ball to about a 9" circle. Place in cake pans. Cover with a plate or towel
Place in warm area and allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
After the dough has risen you can add your sauce and toppings. Cook at 475 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

(Jack) Shepherd's Pie

2010-05-25T17:03:00.001-05:00

The LOST finale aired on Sunday and we celebrated by having a LOST party, complete with LOST themed foods! Jack Shepherd is the star of LOST so I had to serve Shepherd's Pie! Justin was really hesitant, he'd never had Shepherd's Pie and the idea of hamburger and potatoes disgusted him.... however, I am happy to report that Justin (and the boys) LOVED the Shepherd's Pie! I am so excited because this wasn't very difficult (only took around an hour) and it was so hearty. I am adding this to our go-to list of dinners... you know, the 5 dinners that you seem to cook endlessly until you realize you're in a rut and you finally go looking for a new recipe! ... maybe that's just me ,-)

Ingredients
4 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon butter
1-2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (I used 2 cups because we like cheesy potatoes)
Salt and pepper to taste

5 carrots, finely chopped
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons ketchup
3/4 cup beef broth

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain and mash. Mix in butter and shredded cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste; set aside.
In a large frying pan add the ground beef, onion, and carrots. You really want your onion and carrots to be finely chopped so they will cook all the way through, I used my slap chop to dice the carrots and onion. Cook meat and veggies over medium-high heat until meat has browned. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and beef broth. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Spread the ground beef in an even layer on the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper then top with the mashed potato mixture and sprinkle with more salt and pepper. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

So our LOST party was so much fun! This won't make sense to anyone but LOST fans but we served...

Walted Milk Balls (Jack) Shepherd’s Pie We Have To Go Mac (& Cheese) DHARMA-L Apples Daniel Frito-Lays (and salsa) The LOST finale didn't disappoint! I don't think there will ever again be a show like LOST! We would spend the whole week speculating, theorizing, and looking forward to the next LOST episode. We will miss it greatly!

Cookie Dough Frosting

2010-04-27T17:07:00.004-05:00

It's been FOREVER since I've posted! We've been super busy with friends, baseball, illness (everyone's taken their turn being sick), tonsillectomies (sweet Andrew had to get his tonsils taken out) and Andrew had a birthday!! I had a shocking wake up call as to exactly how old Andrew is getting when he had his birthday sleepover; there's something about 8 crazy hormonal boys that makes me want to lock my son up and home school him for the rest of his life! Here are some quotes from the night...
Boy 1- I want to spit all the jalapeno taste out into my hand
Boy 2- Dude, did you spit in your hand before you touched my face?
Boy 1- No
Boy 2- Good, I’d have to rip my cheek off!

Boy 1- We should find Andrew a girlfriend for his birthday!
Boy 2- First rule to getting a girlfriend... find a girl whose name you know and make sure she knows your name!

Boy 1- if Angelina Jolie was a Greek God she would be Aphrodite
Boy 2- I have a bone and arrow for her!

Boy 1- Has your girlfriend texted back?
Boy 2- No, my phone is on vibrate. Once when it was on vibrate I put it next to my crotch while I was playing Medal of Honor and when my girlfriend texted it was like OHHH HEEEE!

Asian Boy 1- Let’s prank call someone, I can do a really good Chinese accent!

It was a crazy night! So anyways, it's been almost a month since I've made anything new... that's pretty sad! This frosting is the perfect recipe though, it's worth waiting a month for! It's basically cookie dough without the eggs. You can pipe it onto cake (it makes a great double layer cake filling) or spread it onto brownies! Or you can eat it plain like my boys ,-)

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions
Mix the butter, sugars, salt, and milk together. Mix in the flour until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spread on top of cooled brownies. Keep any left overs in the refrigerator.

Winner Winner Sweet and Sour Chicken Dinner

2010-03-31T20:29:00.009-05:00

We have a winner for Yoplait Greek's "Nourish Your Inner Goddess" gift pack! Check out the drawing below to see who won!
I saw this Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe on Three On Food's website, it's a great website shared by three women who post their favorite recipes! I was really excited to try this recipe because Andrew LOVES sweet and sour chicken from our local Chinese restaurant. We really liked this dinner, I don't think it tasted exactly like the restaurant version but it was very good! The only negatives are that it's a little time consuming (frying the chicken and then baking it for an hour) and that it's fried. We're all trying to lose weight and we're not going to get there by frying up dinner... literally.
EVERYONE NEEDS TO WATCH JAMIE OLIVER'S FOOD REVOLUTION!! It's on Friday nights, ABC, at 8:00pm (central time)! If you missed the first two episodes they are available online for free! It will make you think twice about the food you feed your family!

Chicken Ingredients
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Sauce Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Directions
Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients together and pour over chicken.
Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced - about 6-8 minutes.

Now for the winner of the Yoplait Greek's "Nourish Your Inner Goddess" gift pack! Thanks to everyone for entering! You gave Abbott good scissor practice! And folding practice And orneryness practice.... oh no! And shaking practice Is that enough shaking mom? It's cute how he closed his eyes! And the winner is... ANTHY!!! Congratulations!

Chicken Gyros and a Giveaway

2010-03-28T13:33:00.008-05:00

We've never had Gyros before today. Sure I've seen Mr. Gyro's restaurant and the mall food court sells gyros but we've never stopped to try them. I am SO glad we finally tried them! They were refreshing and delicious, and it gave me an opportunity to use the new Yoplait Greek yogurt! Yoplait and MyBlogSpark chose me (well, chose you really) to participate in their "Nourish Your Inner Goddess" giveaway!! All readers can print out this coupon to save $0.30 on one cup of Yoplait Greek yogurt but one special reader gets a Yoplait Greek "Nourish Your Inner Goddess" gift pack, which includes these great items to help you relax and two VIP coupons for free Yoplait Greek yogurt!! To enter the giveaway just leave a comment telling me which of the four delicious flavors (Strawberry, Blueberry, Honey Vanilla and/or Plain) you want to try... I had a hard time deciding which flavor to get! On Wednesday (3/31/10) a random winner will be chosen from my comments and contacted to receive the Yoplait Greek "Nourish Your Inner Goddess" gift pack, seriously... how cool is that?!
I decided to try the plain Yoplait Greek and make gyros and I'm so glad I used Greek yogurt, it saved me SO much time! You see, if you use regular yogurt you have to strain all the moisture out with a cheesecloth. That's what Greek yogurt is, strained yogurt... I'm hoping I sound smart for knowing this, because really I didn't know the difference until yesterday ,-) To make the gyros you'll need Chicken Souvlaki and Tzatziki (Greek Cucumber Salad), let's get started! Here's the cast of characters... Chicken Souvlaki Ingredients
1 pound chicken breast (cut into chunks)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 lemon (juice and zest)
1 tablespoon Greek yogurt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Tzatziki (Greek Cucumber Salad) Ingredients
1 1/3 (6 ounce) containers Greek yogurt
1 cucumber (peeled, seeded, and shredded, squeezed and drained)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 lemon (juiced)
1/2 tablespoon chopped dill
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
salt and pepper to taste

Gyros Ingredients
4 large pita bread rounds
1 head of lettuce (cut into 1/4 inch slices)
1 red onion (thinly sliced), I grilled my onion
1 tomato (halved and sliced)

Chicken Souvlaki Directions
Combine all ingredients, skewer the meat, and let meat marinate for 30 minutes to overnight. Cook on the grill or under a broiler for about 4-5 minutes per side. Tzatziki (Greek Cucumber Salad) Directions
Stir together yogurt, cucumber, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, dill and garlic until well-combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour for best flavor. Gyros Directions
To assemble gyros just warm the pitas. Top with Chicken Souvlaki, Tzatziki, diced tomatoes, lettuce, and sliced onions!

Failed Blueberry Muffins and Failed as a Mom

2010-03-26T18:10:00.004-05:00

As a young mom, I have failed in documenting my children’s milestones. To my defense, there was only so much time in a day and I chose to work on school work rather than baby books. But now that I’ve been out of college for a few years I need to get off my booty and start scrapbooking about my boys, and lets face it… this blog is my online scrapbook.

So, the first matter of order, boogers. Yes, boogers! About a year ago my mom sat in Abbott’s seat in my van, she said “Uh…. Carrie? Do you have any wet wipes up there I can use to clean the seat? Abbott’s wiped about 20 boogers on the seat back here!” Eww! So, we had a talk with Abbott about using Kleenex and not wiping boogers, case closed… yeah right!
I sat down in our computer room desk chair (where Abbott plays computer) and *cue Jaws theme music* I glanced at the wall and saw this (click on the picture for the full gross out effect)… 15 boogers smeared on the wall! Holy Stromboli! I immediately closed my eyes… took deep breaths… and prayed for Jesus to protect my no good rascal of a son, because he’s going to spend the rest of his life in time out… facing this wall. These boogers won’t even wipe off, I am going to have to sand the wall down and repaint it…. Or I could leave them on the wall and show every future girlfriend he brings over…

Enough about boogers. Let's get to the food!

These blueberry muffins were yummy but like me with baby books, they failed. The middles are all caved in! I think it’s probably due to me overfilling the muffin cups and weighing them down with too much crumb topping (I used all the crumb topping). Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Crumb Topping:
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Mix oil, egg, and milk with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 2/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 2 tablespoons butter, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 325 degrees, or until done.

Makes 12 muffins

Tropical Salad

2010-03-22T21:18:00.011-05:00

I saw this recipe on Katy's Food for a Hungry Soul website a couple weeks back, it looked so good! I like kiwis, oranges, and well... I've been in love with avocados for quite some time. Justin and the boys didn't care for the salad but I thought it was a nice change, it would be a great salad to eat with my girlfriends on a hot summer day!

Abbott told us his first joke! Wanna hear it?!
......How do you make Lady GaGa mad? ......Poke her face!
Get it? Poker Face is the title of Lady GaGa's popular song! I'm sure he heard the joke from someone else, but this is the first joke he's ever told us. It's such a corny joke but we laughed so hard, he's such a funny guy! Did I mention he got eyeglasses last week? What a stud! Salad Ingredients
4 large oranges
4 kiwi
2 large avocados
Lettuce (I used Spinach leaves)
Dressing Ingredients
Lime juice **
Orange juice **
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup salad oil

Directions
Peel the oranges and separate into sections. Use a sharp knife to remove the membrane and the pith, capturing any juices in a bowl. **

Next, cut the avocado lengthwise around the pit. With your hands, twist the avocado halves in opposite directions to separate them. Tap the tip of the knife into the pit so that the knife tip catches the pit and carefully twist the knife to loosen and remove the pit. Peel and then slice the avocado halves.

Peel and slice the kiwi fruit.... word to the wise, use a spoon to remove the skin or you'll have kiwi splinters in your fingers for weeks! Arrange the fruits on a bed of lettuce on a salad plate.

For the dressing, measure the reserved orange juice and add enough lime juice to make 1/2 cup. Add the salt, honey and oil. Whisk thoroughly until well combined. Lightly cover the salad with the dressing, serving any remainder on the side.

Bagel Dogs (or Pretzel Dogs)

2010-03-19T16:18:00.010-05:00

I got the recipe for these Bagel Dogs from Real Mom Kitchen so out of respect for her (and her awesome recipe) I called them "Bagel Dogs" but I thought "Pretzel Dogs" was more appropriate because to me it tasted like a soft pretzel wrapped around a hot dog... either way they were a hit! Seriously, I've never had anything like this; it was so good! I set out ketchup and mustard but no one used it, the bagel dogs were delicious on their own (however, Justin wants me to sprinkle chopped jalapenos in the dough next time)! The only negative about this recipe is the time it took me... about 3 hours total but most of that time was letting the dough rise, it's not the kind of recipe you can whip together on a weeknight.

Ingredients
2 cups hot water (110° F)
2 packages, active dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons salt
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
12 quality all-beef hot dogs (Ballpark, Nathan's, Kasper's, etc.)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 egg yolk plus 1 tablespoon water, lightly beaten
Sesame seeds, poppy seeds and/or coarse salt for garnish (I didn't use any garnish)

Directions
Pour the water into the bowl of an electric stand mixer and sprinkle with the yeast. Let the mixture stand about five minutes or until foamy, then stir in 3 tablespoons of sugar and the salt. Using the paddle attachment and with the mixer on medium speed, gradually add flour, beating until well-blended and smooth, until you have a stiff dough. Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook and knead thoroughly until smooth and elastic in texture. Form the dough into a lump and place it into a lightly greased bowl. Turn the dough over to grease the top. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, punch it down and knead briefly to eliminate any air bubbles and turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 12×9 inch rectangle or until it’s about a 1/4-inch thick, adding flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin or the board. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut 12 1-inch pieces of dough.

Dry the hot dogs thoroughly. Starting at one end of a hot dog, wrap the dough around overlapping slightly as you make your way to the other end. Place seam side down on a parchment lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining hot dogs and strips of dough. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let stand in a warm place for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat the over to 400°. Fill a deep, heavy pot with water and add the baking soda. Bring to a gentle boil. Working 2 to 3 bagels at a time, carefully drop the bagel dogs into the boiling water, turning frequently with a slotted spoon or spatula, for about a minute. Lift out of the water and gently dry each bagel well on a kitchen towel and arrange about 2-inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet, seam side down. Repeat with remaining bagel dogs.

Brush the bagels with the egg glaze and sprinkle on your garnish of choice. Bake for about 35 minutes or until nicely browned and crusty, turning the pan about halfway through (I didn’t turn my pan and I had to bake 3 dogs on another pan. they all wouldn’t fit on one sheet). Serve warm or let cool on a wire rack.

Makes 12 Bagel Dogs

Mango Madness

2010-03-16T21:30:00.007-05:00

While shopping at Sam's Wholesale Club I came across (what I thought) was a great deal for a pack of 12 mangos! When I got home my math wiz of a son pointed out that the mangos were actually the same price as the individual ones at our local groccery store! That's what I get for not doing the math in the store! So, I had 12 mangos, paid full price for them, and not a single mango recipe in my repertoire. Thankfully we LOVE mangos (Justin even said mangos are his favorite fruit)! So I found two new mango recipes and we had ourselves some mango madness!

Mango Lassi Some old high school friends of ours Shane and Sara posted a blog about their son's bad dream. In the dream his cup was all out of Lassi and he wanted more..... a boy that dreams about food is a kid after my own heart! I'd never heard of Lassi before but turns out it's an Indian drink, similar to a mango smoothie!

Ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped mango (peeled and stone removed)
4 teaspoons sugar, to taste
A dash of ground cardamom (optional)

Directions
Put mango, yogurt, milk, sugar and cardamom into a blender and blend for 2 minutes, then pour into individual glasses, and serve. Can sprinkle with a little cardamom. The lassi can be kept refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Makes about 2 cups.

Mango Ice Cream I found this recipe on Gourmet Mom On-The-Go's website, she made Creamy Mango Pops, but I don't have the popsicle holders, so I followed her suggestion and froze our ice cream in a large ziploc. It worked great!

Ingredients
2 very ripe mangoes, with the skin and the pits removed
3/4 cup coconut milk (I used light coconut milk to reduce the fat content)
1/2 cup pineapple juice concentrate
1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions
Blend together until creamy and smooth. Pour into a large zip-type plastic freezer bag, seal completely, and lay flat in your freezer for at least 2 hours. When frozen, simply scoop with a metal spoon to serve!

Angel Strawberry Bavarian

2010-03-14T17:12:00.012-05:00

**December 2010 tip- I've made this dessert a few times now (it's still my favorite) and have found that it's easier to layer the dessert in a 9x13 pan instead of an angel food cake pan. It's easier to serve. This really is a crowd pleasing dessert!
This cake is so good! I've had it twice in the last couple weeks and I am addicted... seriously, I think I could eat the whole cake all by myself! I like light cakes; I am not a chocoholic, ice cream lover, or peanut butter and chocolate fanatic (like Justin). I actually prefer a bowl of cereal to most desserts, but this cake is right down my ally. We had my parents over last night for dinner and a movie and I served this cake! With the exception of a rogue hair incident (I need to start wearing a hairnet), this cake was a HUGE hit! The fluffy strawberry mousse with sprinkles of Angel Food Cake squares is cool and refreshing! I found the recipe on Duncan Hines website.

Ingredients
1 Angel Food Cake (can be bought or homemade... I bought mine)
1 (24 ounce) tub frozen sweetened sliced strawberries, thawed
1 (3 ounce) package strawberry gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 (8 ounce) container non-dairy whipped topping

Directions
Cut the angel food cake into 1-inch cubes. Drain thawed strawberries, reserving juice. Combine gelatin and boiling water in small bowl. Stir until gelatin is dissolved. Hopefully you'll have 1 cup of strawberry juice (if not add a little water to make 1 cup); stir 1 cup strawberry juice into gelatin. Refrigerate until gelatin is slightly thickened (around 30 minutes). Beat gelatin until foamy.
Fold together 1 container whipped topping, gelatin and 1/4-1/2 cup strawberries. Alternate layers of cake cubes and strawberry mixture into 10-inch tube pan (Angel Food Cake pan). Press lightly. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours. You can unmold cake onto serving platter but it will need to be covered and stored in fridge (we ate and stored ours in the Angel Food Cake pan).

Manicotti

2010-03-08T18:52:00.000-06:00

There will be no more complaining from me, I got a couple hours of much needed rest this weekend! We still had a busy weekend... Justin rearranged our bedroom and Andrew had a friend spend the night, but at least we got to stay home! I cracked open the windows (for the first time this year) and got some spring cleaning done! The house is clean and I'm caught up on laundry and dishes... did I mention this was a wonderful weekend?! :-)
I've been making this manicotti for over 10 years. I got the recipe from Justin's mom Trish, she even made it for Justin's brother Chad's wedding rehearsal dinner!

Ingredients
1 package manicotti noodles (14 pieces)
1 3/4 cups (15 oz container) ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (or dried Italian seasoning)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cups (28 oz jar) spaghetti sauce
Extra mozzarella and Parmesan cheese for topping (optional)

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Cool in single layer on foil. In large bowl, stir together cheeses, parsley, salt and pepper; pipe into cooled pasta tubes (I put the cheese mixture in a ziploc, cut the corner off the ziploc and pipe the cheese into the noodles). Spread thin layer of sauce on bottom of 13x9 inch baking dish; arrange filled pasta in single layer over sauce. Pour remaining sauce over pasta; cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove foil; top with extra cheese if desired and bake 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

2010-03-04T09:15:00.013-06:00

I watched a movie yesterday called Motherhood (starring Uma Thurman), while waiting in the car for an hour and a half....as a mom I bet I spend half my life in my car taking kids, picking up kids, and waiting on kids (in this case I was actually waiting on my husband to get out of physical therapy). The movie was about a frazzled mom trying to juggle personal ambition and familial needs. Just when the mom loses it and decides she can't take anything else her husband miraculously shows up with a $25,000 check he got for trading in a book he found on the street. Sorry to spoil the ending but the movie really wasn't that good. ~~The ending was frustratingly unrealistic because in life we never get bailed out when it gets too overwhelming and stressful.~~ Ok, I won't complain because Justin and I have overcome humongous hurdles and through the grace of God have come out on top. However, I will say this, motherhood is hard and if it weren't for my AMAZING husband I wouldn't be able to survive it.
I had a breakdown on Tuesday because we were out of food for the boys lunches (our weekend was too busy to go to the groccery store), the boys were completely out of clean clothes, my van had a seriously flat tire, and when I got home the boys were both crying and yelling that this has been the "worst day ever" for them (because of things that happened at school). I would have given up right then, threw my hands into the air and cried "uncle" if it weren't for Justin. He sprang into action helping fix everything (he even went to the groccery store alone). So in my happy ending I never get a surprise $25,000 check but I do get a loving husband who helps with everything. He is amazing!
Wow, I practically wrote a book... I didn't realize I had so much to say! I really should have been writing about this salad because it is a very good salad! The chicken isn't too spicy when mixed with the ranch, it was perfect for me (the gal who can't handle any spicy). Justin and Andrew drizzled more hot sauce on their salads. I think this would be a great salad to make for someone who doesn't like salads! It's tasty, hearty, and wonderful! I'm totally making it again next week!

Ingredients
2 heads of romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 cup ranch dressing (I prefer to make my own using the Hidden Vally mix packet, Hellman's mayonnaise, and milk)
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
2 chicken breasts, cut into small bite sized pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and Pepper
1/2 cup hot sauce (I use Frank's Buffalo Sauce)

Directions
In a small bowl make your ranch dressing, stir in the blue cheese crumbles, and set aside in the fridge. Season cubed chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over high heat, and pour in the oil. Just before the oil starts to smoke, add the chicken. Cook to brown evenly, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add hot sauce. Simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Toss together the lettuce and ranch dressing mixture in a large bowl. Top salad with chicken, and serve.

200th Blog Post!!

2010-02-28T11:43:00.033-06:00

I can't believe this is my 200th blog post! I had so much fun recapping our favorites in my 100th Blog Post I had to do it again! This last year has been busy, I can't believe I've even had time to cook! The older my boys get the busier they become with friends, activities, and sports. This is also my 5th year teaching with my school district and Justin's 8th year working with his company (4th year as a manager) and it seems we gain more responsibilities with every year that goes by. We work more but sleep less, cook less, exercise less, see each other less... it's exhausting (and depressing). I can honestly say the one time we get to see each other and talk is when we eat breakfast and dinner. We have a strict "eat at the kitchen table together" policy when it comes to breakfast and dinner time. Even if we grab food on the go while driving we turn the radio off in the car and eat and talk. It's our time together as a family and it's very important to me.
The look of my blog changed again this year from the purple tiled background... to the new green background... I am so lucky to have a techo-savvy husband with mad Photoshop skills, he creates the best blog layouts for me!

Justin's pick-
Chad's Sesame Ginger Grilled Chicken Salad
Justin had a really hard time picking a favorite, he really wanted to pick his Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder that he picked as his favorite 100th blog post recipe. After much deliberation he picked his brother's salad. This really is an exceptional salad! This salad helped Justin broaden his horizons. He now eats salads with things like eggs, avacados, and tomatoes... things he NEVER would have eaten on a salad a year ago. This salad sparked Justin's new found love for salads, I am eternally grateful Chad!

Carrie's pick-
Mom's Chicken Tetrazzini
For my 100th blog post I listed my favorite as my Grandma's Chicken and Noodles and then here I am at 200th blog post and my favorite is my Mom's Chicken Tetrazzini! I love those comfort food recipes I grew up on! Chicken Tetrazzini is my absolute favorite, this was an easy choice! I LOVE making it on a Sunday and eating the leftovers all week long!

Andrew's pick-
Szechuan Shrimp
Hot sauce flows through Andrew's blood. We always get on to him for eating condiments as snacks, he likes to drinks packets of Taco Bell hot sauce and Cholula hot sauce. He's crazy! This SPICY Szechuan Shrimp wasn't a hit with the family but Andrew loved it!

Abbott's pick-
Easy Noodle Soup
Abbott loves comfort food! If we need to pick up a quick dinner Abbott always asks for Kentucky Fried Chicken. If I ask him what he wants me to make for dinner he will ask for mashed potatoes and gravy or this noodle soup... he actually calls it "fat noodle soup" because the noodles are plump and delicious! This soup is good but I LOVE that it only takes 20 minutes to cook!

Family Favorite Dinner
Beefy Bean Burritos
These burritos are quick, easy, and filling! It's hard to find a dinner everyone will happily eat but this is a winner at our house! The best part is that they're just as good reheated! We store all the extra burritos in a ziploc and fight over them the next day!

Family Favorite Breakfast
Cheese Omelets
Like I said before it's important to me that we eat breakfast together each morning, I make these for weekday breakfasts all the time. It only takes me 10 minutes to whip out 4 cheese omelets and they're great! I never knew how to roll an omelet before I made these, our world is forever changed for the better!

Family Favorite Dessert
Soft Sugar Cookies
These cookies are melt in your mouth delicious! They are exactly like the Lofthouse cookies you can buy at the supermarket, but those cookies are $3 a dozen and these are around $5 for 4 dozen! They're fairly easy to make and a HUGE success with our family and friends!

Family Favorite Quick and Easy
Cherry Dump Cake
I know this is a dessert as well, but we've been known to eat this for breakfast and snacks too ,-) This recipe is ridiculously easy and SO GOOD!

So, as of today my blog has had 49,115 visitors. That's incredible! I've learned so much these last 4 years, I can't wait to see what recipes I find in the next 100 posts... maybe I'll even conquer yeast!

Frozen Hot Chocolate

2010-02-23T15:20:00.001-06:00

I've never been to New York City, but if I ever go the #1 thing on my to-do list is visit Serendipity 3 and get their famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate! I've seen Serendipity 3's Frozen Hot Chocolate in countless movies like One Fine Day, Serendipity, Trust the Man, etc. Well, awhile back Oprah had the owner of Serendipity 3's on her show and he gave out the recipe......woohoo! I couldn't wait to make it!

Ingredients
6 pieces (1/2-ounce) chocolate , a variety of your favorites
2 teaspoons store-bought hot chocolate mix
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups ice
Whipped cream
Chocolate shavings

Directions
Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Place it in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted. Add the hot chocolate mix and sugar. Stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and slowly add 1/2 cup of milk until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

In a blender, place the remaining cup of milk, the room-temperature chocolate mixture and the ice. Blend on high speed until smooth and the consistency of a frozen daiquiri. Pour into a giant goblet and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Abbott what do you think? Andrew what do you think? Andrew... Andrew?! Come up for air son! Andrew bared down and didn't come up until he was finished, he loved it!

Blueberry Pancakes

2010-02-21T12:46:00.006-06:00

My recipe losing streak is over! These pancakes are a home run! I've had blueberry pancakes before but they've used dried blueberries or blueberry pie filling, never fresh blueberries! Holy cow these were fantastic!! I'm sure you could use frozen blueberries but if possible you should really try fresh, as I cut my fork into the pancakes the blueberries popped and oozed sweet blueberry juice onto the pancake (and my shirt). They were so delicious, we'll never be able to enjoy plain old pancakes ever again! This recipe only made 4-6 pancakes, so you may want to double it ,-)

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 cup blueberries

Directions
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Whisk in the egg, milk, and butter, then fold in the blueberries. If the batter is too thick you can add more milk to get the consistency you like.
Heat a lightly buttered griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

2010-02-19T19:27:00.007-06:00

I've had a lot of recipe duds lately... don't worry this is the first one I've posted! One recipe I thought up myself was DISASTROUS ... I had to put the cake into a bowl because it kept slipping off the cake stand, a total catastrophe! My game is cooking and I'm on a losing streak, it's disappointing :-(
I got this frosting recipe from Allrecipes and I was really hoping it would be an amazing frosting but it was just so-so, not bad, just mediocre. I actually prefer Duncan-Hines's milk chocolate frosting to this recipe. This frosting had a cooked flavor and the outside quickly got a crunchy film. It just wasn't my favorite, I am going to keep looking for the perfect chocolate frosting. Do you have a good recipe you would suggest?

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
3 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate (I used Bakers)
1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk

Directions
Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave, or in the top of a double boiler. In a large bowl, combine confectioners' sugar, vanilla and 1/2 cup of the milk. Blend in the melted chocolate mixture. Add remaining milk, a little at a time, until desired consistency is achieved.

Mary's Roasted Vegetable Medley

2010-02-17T16:05:00.004-06:00

My good friend Mary (the vegetarian) told me about these roasted vegetables last week, she made them sound so delicious, I couldn't wait to give them a try! I've never met a vegetable I didn't like.... with the exception of the vegetables served in my school cafeteria (I swear there's more pepper than vegetables). My lovely husband however rarely meets a vegetable he likes. To his defense he's WORLDS better then when we first started dating, he only ate corn and potatoes back then. Now he eats any kind of salad, spinach, green beans, and avocado (ok, you caught me avocado's really a fruit), but he's come a long way in the last 14 years! This vegetable medley really pushed his tolerance though, he almost threw up twice at the dinner table, it was hilarious actually. He was really trying to eat all his vegetables but he said the mushrooms did him in, I broke out into giggles two when he dry heaved.

Ingredients
2 pounds red potatoes, quartered
1 zucchini, cut into chunks
1 yellow squash, cut into chunks
1 onion, halved then cut into chunks
1/2 pound button mushrooms
1 cup of sliced carrots (this was my addition, not in Mary's recipe)
4 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
You cook these vegetables in two parts because the potatoes need to cook twice as long as the other veggies. So we'll split the oil and seasonings between the two groups of vegetables. So first put the quartered red potatoes in a large ziploc, add two tablespoons oil, shake the ziploc to cover the potatoes with oil. Then, add 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper to the bag and shake the ziploc until the potatoes are coated and pour them out onto a baking sheet. Cook for 20 minutes at 425 degrees.
Next combine zucchini, yellow squash, onions, carrots, and mushrooms in a large ziploc (I use the same Ziploc as the potatoes). Add two tablespoons oil, shake the ziploc to cover the vegetables with oil. Then, add 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper to the bag and toss them again to combine and spread them out onto a baking sheet with the potatoes. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes at 425 until tender.

Chocolate Fondue

2010-02-14T19:23:00.008-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Justin and I haven't ever celebrated Valentine's Day, in the beginning we were too poor to do anything, then once we were able to afford a date we were too busy (or tired) to go on one. So I wanted to shake things up this year and celebrate Valentine's Day! The boys are getting old enough I thought it would be fun to surprise them with a four-course-dinner, complete with fondue dessert! They haven't ever had fondue before so this was a real treat for them! I poured the chocolate sauce into individual ramekins (so we didn't have to share the same pot) and put a tray of strawberries, angel food cake squares, bananas, and marshmallows in the middle of the table. It worked great, there was enough sauce for 5 ramekin bowls! Everyone got a wooden skewer and went to town! ...Abbott eventually gave up on the skewer, got a spoon, and just ate the chocolate sauce... that's my son ,-)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 pound of chopped milk chocolate (I used 1 1/2 bags (11.5 ounce bag) of Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips... it was HEAVENLY)

Directions
Pour the cream into a medium, thick-bottomed saucepan (or double boiler if you have one) over low heat. Bring the cream to a simmer and add the chocolate. Stir or whisk until the chocolate is melted. Transfer the chocolate to dipping bowls and serve.

Here's a picture of our table before I called the boys to supper. It was an awesome night! ... I dirtied every pan and bowl I own :-)

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2010-02-05T22:21:00.006-06:00

The picture is horrible, I'm sorry! This is another picture we quickly snapped before anyone noticed what we were up to... you don't know how awkward it is to bring food to a party and get caught taking pictures of it while you're there. People look at you like you've gone crazy, it's embarrassing!
If you don't know what to serve for Super Bowl this is it! It's a spicy dip that you serve with celery sticks (my favorite) and tortilla chips (Justin's favorite)! So... we fast forward through the Super Bowl (only stopping to watch commercials and the half time show), but we enjoy the Super Bowl snack food! I couldn't imagine a better dip to serve on Sunday. I got this recipe from my cousin Jim and it is fantastic! The key to this dip is to serve it immediately after you cook it (or the cheese on top gets hard) so if you're taking it to a party have it assembled and in the pan, but bake it at the party!

Ingredients
1 (10 ounce) can chunk chicken, drained
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup Ranch dressing (make your own, it's so much better! To make ranch-1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise, 1 cup milk, and a pack of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning mix)
1/2 cup cup hot sauce (I use Frank's Red Hot Sauce)
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
Tortilla Chips (for dipping)
Celery Sticks (for dipping)

Directions
Break chicken apart with your fingers or a fork. Stir in the cream cheese, ranch dressing, and hot sauce. Mix in half of the shredded cheese and transfer to a small/medium-sized baking dish (I use a 9x9 casserole pan). Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and cook for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with celery sticks and tortilla chips.

Anniversary Chicken

2010-02-03T20:26:00.007-06:00

This is another Allrecipes recipe. It's been on my "to try" list for a LONG time but I never had the motivation to make it. I was worried that teriyaki and ranch wouldn't go together. However, teriyaki and ranch go together quite well, have no fear! My only complaint is that the chicken didn't have much flavor... crazy because the chicken is smothered in high calorie sauces and toppings, but it's pretty bland! There are tons of great reviews for this chicken on Allrecipes though, so maybe I'm being a complainer. I just had high hopes that it would be delicious and worthy of serving for an anniversary dinner, so I was disappointed. On a side note we are SUPER DUPER excited about the return of our favorite TV show Lost! This is the last season and unlike most shows out there the writers of Lost knew what the ending of the show would be before they even filmed the pilot episode. Lost is more like a movie than a TV show.... a 125 hour long AMAZING movie! I can't wait to see how it ends but I will savor every last second of the show!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup teriyaki basting sauce
1/2 cup Ranch-style salad dressing
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 (3 ounce) can bacon bits

Directions
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts, and saute 4 to 5 minutes each side, until lightly browned.
Place browned chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Brush with teriyaki sauce. Spoon on salad dressing. Sprinkle with cheese, green onions and bacon bits. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Chocolate Cheesecake

2010-01-30T21:34:00.003-06:00

It's my birthday today! I wasn't going to post on my birthday because I'm not cooking on my birthday (not even for my crying son who is begging for funnel cakes) but my mom made me this chocolate cheesecake so I couldn't resist posting it! This is the first thing I've ever posted that I didn't make myself (I must admit it feels a little weird to post something I didn't cook)! This chocolate cheesecake was perfect, and so delicious with the fresh berries! Mmmm!
So, guess what I got for my birthday?! I'll give you a clue... the first thing I opened was butter! Then I got a pearl necklace... then two Enameled Cast Iron Pots... and three Julia Child books! My presents were Julia Child themed, how cute is that?! I have such a wonderful family! Ingredients
1 1/2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped from inside of pod and reserved
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
8 ounces melted semisweet chocolate, cooled slightly
Fresh berries, for garnish (and to eat with the cheesecake)
Whipped cream, for garnish
Chocolate shavings, for garnish

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (if using a silver springform pan, or 325 degrees F if using a dark nonstick springform pan).

Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch spring-form pan. In a mixing bowl, combine the chocolate wafer crumbs, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and the butter and mix well. Press onto the bottom of springform pan and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, remaining cup of sugar, vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds and beat until light and creamy. Add the flour to the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and sour cream and mix well. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition until just blended. Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, until the center is almost set. Run a sharp knife around the rim of the pan and allow cake to cool on a wire rack before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before serving. Cheesecake may be made up to 2 days in advance before serving and will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.

Top the cheesecake with chocolate shavings and serve garnished with fresh berries and whipped cream.

Savory Chicken Breasts

2010-01-27T22:27:00.007-06:00

I found this recipe on Allrecipes, I've always liked that website and how guests rate recipes... this recipe was 4 1/2 stars (out of 5 stars) with 379 ratings, so I thought I would give it a try! It was super easy and turned out really good! I will definitely make it again! It's a great weeknight dinner!!
So, why am I posting so late at night? Because I took a nap, grr! Don't get my wrong, I LOVE naps... but taking just a quick nap when I get home from work will keep me up for hours past my bedtime. Thus, I try to avoid taking naps so I don't throw my sleep schedule off. Today I just couldn't resist napping! My wonderful friends took me out to lunch for my birthday (we went to Ingredient) and they brought chocolate cheesecake and strawberry shortcake for dessert! So, I came home, sprawled out on the couch (like a beached whale), and napped. Sigh...

Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
4 slices Swiss cheese
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup milk
1 cup dry bread crumbs
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Pepper to taste

Directions
Place chicken breasts in a baking dish. Season with pepper and top each breast with a slice of cheese. Mix together the soup and milk and pour mixture over chicken. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top and drizzle with melted butter. It doesn't look like much right now but just you wait, it's magic in the making! Bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 20 minutes or until golden brown. When you serve, spoon a little of the sauce from the pan onto the chicken!

Cobb Salad

2010-01-24T13:47:00.010-06:00

I love Cobb Salad! But it has to be a GOOD Cobb salad, they’re hard to find you know! Justin and I have had many disappointing salads from our local grills and steakhouses. Homemade is usually the best because the ingredients are fresh and cold! For my upcoming birthday I am going to the restaurant Ingredient, they have THE BEST salads! There are a couple rules to a good salad:

Rule #1- Lettuce needs to be chopped into small bite sized pieces! There’s nothing worse than digging into your salad only to get a head of lettuce on your fork!

Rule #2- Serve the salad already tossed/mixed together! First put the dressing on the lettuce and stir. Next are all the toppings and then stir it again! I know in restaurants they serve you a salad with all the ingredients neatly laid out on top but it never mixes together the same once you pour the dressing on.

Rule #3- Eat everything that comes on the salad! This is a salad, not a salad bar! If Andrew made his own salad it would only have bacon and cheese (my boys hate eggs and avocados, but too bad)! You can’t taste individual ingredients in a salad and each ingredient has a special purpose! Once I’ve mixed everything together the boys happily dug into the tossed salad not even knowing what’s in it… and you know what? THEY LOVED IT!

Ingredients
2 heads of Romaine Lettuce
8 slices bacon, crumbled
1 hard boiled egg, diced (I would prefer 2 eggs but my boys draw the line at 1)
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken meat (I sprinkle lemon pepper seasoning on my chicken as it's cooking)
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3/4 cup shredded cheese (I used Cheddar but any cheese works great)
1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced
1 cup Ranch salad dressing (make your own, it's so much better! 1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise, 1 cup milk, and a pack of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning mix)

Directions
Place egg in a saucepan and cover completely with cold water. Bring water to a boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, peel and dice.
Lay bacon in a 9x13 pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool and crumble into pieces.
Put your chicken breasts in a baking pan, sprinkle it with lemon pepper seasoning and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

While everything is cooking you can chop your lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado. Before/after chopping keep everything in the fridge to keep it cool. I even put my chicken, bacon, and eggs in the fridge! When you're ready to serve the salad get a large bowl and toss in the lettuce. Drizzle the ranch over the lettuce and toss it together with two large spoons. Now add the rest of the toppings (bacon, eggs, chicken, tomatoes, avocado, and cheese). Use the large spoons to toss everything together. Plate the salad on a serving platter or on individual plates.

Country Bob's Marinade

2010-01-20T18:51:00.007-06:00

I got a new grill from Walmart and I LOVE IT! The pan sets over two stove burners so I can easily make 8 pancakes (on the griddle side) or lots of meat (on the grill side). The best part is that it was only $20 and washes up easily in the dishwasher!! You see, anything I grill tastes like lighter fluid (my family prefers I never grill) so to be able to cook on my stove and have those beautiful grill lines... it's a miracle! I wanted to cook some chicken and steaks so I went to go look at the marinades and saw Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce, I looked on the back and sure enough there was a marinade recipe! We've never tried Country Bob's before and honestly it isn't something I would use often but it was nice for a change, it's like a mix of A1 and BBQ sauce. So yeah, the grill pan ended up being a better find than this marinade, but that's ok... not every recipe is a winner.

Ingredients
13 ounce bottle of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt and Pepper

Directions
Place your meat (we used chicken breasts and thinly sliced sirloin), garlic, salt, pepper, and Country Bob's sauce in an airtight container or bag and marinade for 6 hours or overnight. Grill and enjoy.

Here's my grill pan in action, I really do love it!!

Spaghetti a la Philly

2010-01-16T14:03:00.008-06:00

I was glancing through Kraft's website because I had some extra Philadelphia Cream Cheese and saw this recipe! The concept is simple... adding cream cheese to your favorite spaghetti and meat sauce. However, the result is surprisingly good! It gives this creamy lasagna-like quality to the spaghetti. I am not a huge spaghetti lover but we eat lots of spaghetti at my house; it's cheap and easy so we end up eating it once a week. I LOVE this twist!

Ingredients
1 large jar spaghetti sauce
8 ounces spaghetti noodles
1 pound ground beef (I sprinkle some Italian seasonings and garlic in my beef)
8 ounces cream cheese
Sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions
Cook the beef in a skillet over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring often to separate meat. I like to season my meat with a teaspoon of Italian seasonings and garlic but you don't have to. Pour off any fat. Add the spaghetti sauce to the meat. Cut the cream cheese into chucks and add it to the red sauce. Stir the cream cheese into the red sauce over medium-low heat until it's completely incorporated. Add the spaghetti to the sauce and toss to coat.

Cherry Dump Cake

2010-01-13T17:22:00.007-06:00

I forgot all about this "cobbler" until I saw it on Three on Food's Favorite Dessert of 2009! Reason number #128 to have a food blog... you'll never forget and lose your recipes again! I can't tell you how many recipe treasures I have lost along the years that I wish I could get back from previous co-workers and deceased relatives. I wish I would have kept better track of recipes... and of my boys' achievements (I hope Abbott never asks "how old was I when"... because my poor 2nd child's baby book is practically blank)!
This is one recipe I am SO glad to have back! Abbott's kindergarten teacher used to make this dessert for us. Justin said "Wow, this is extremely easy and extraordinarily good", my thoughts exactly! I want to make this again with apple pie filling, OR peach pie filling, OR blueberry pie filling... so many possibilities, I can't decide!

Ingredients
2 cans cherry pie filling
1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup butter, melted Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. In the prepared dish, layer the cherry pie filling. Then sprinkle the dry cake mix over the top, covering evenly. Slice the butter up and lay it onto the cake mix. Bake 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until browned and bubbly. Store in the fridge. We love to eat this cold the next day - the crust stays good and crunchy! If you eat it warm it must be served with vanilla ice cream, yummmmmmm!

Mom's Chicken Tetrazzini

2010-01-09T17:22:00.017-06:00

Chicken Tetrazzini is my ultimate comfort food. It is creamy, cheesy, chicken spaghetti... it really is a fabulous casserole! I grew up eating it, for my Birthday I always asked for Grandma's Chicken and Noodles or Mom's Chicken Tetrazzini. It’s my favorite! When the chicken is boiling your house fills with the smell of bay and celery, it’s amazing... I wish they sold bay leaf and celery candles! This is also the perfect dinner if you need to make a casserole for someone because a whole chicken usually yields 4 cups of shredded meat, so you can easily make two casseroles (one for you and one for a friend in need)!

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
1 pound spaghetti noodles, broken into pieces
6 celery stalks, cut in half
1 bay leaf
3 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup crushed Saltine crackers

Directions
Put the celery, chicken, bay leaf, and chicken in a large pot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fill the pot with water until the chicken is completely submerged. Boil on medium-high heat for a 1 hour (or until the chicken is cooked through). After cooking remove the chicken and celery from the pot. LEAVE THE BROTH AND BAY LEAF (your going to cook your spaghetti noodles in this broth)! Break the spaghetti into 2-inch pieces you'll have around 2-3 cups. Turn the heat to high and cook the spaghetti in your chicken broth for around 10 minutes or until the noodles are soft. I know this picture just looks like broth but the spaghetti noodles are in there, promise! While the noodles are cooking shred your chicken and discard the bones and celery. You only need two cups of chicken for this casserole so you can save the extra chicken for another recipe or make a 2nd Chicken Tetrazzini casserole (this is what I suggest... but in all honesty myself and the boys have immediately gobbled up the extra chicken- true story)! When the spaghetti is done dip a measuring cup into the pot and retrieve 2 cups of broth. (Don’t burn yourself!) and strain the rest of the broth out and discard it along with the bay leaf. In a bowl (or your pot) dump the spaghetti noodles, 3 cans cream of mushroom soup, 2 cups of cheese, and chicken. Stir it all together. Now start adding the chicken broth, beginning with 1 cup. Stir it up, then add a little more. You want the mixture to be stirrable, but definitely not soupy. I usually stop just short of using the full two cups. Place mixture into a 9x13 casserole pan and top with crushed saltines. Yum, yum! At this point, you can cover it well and freeze it, unbaked. Or you can cover it and refrigerate it, unbaked, for up to two days before baking. Or, go ahead and bake it at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes until hot & bubbly. And here’s what you’ll have:

Meatball Sub

2010-01-07T21:16:00.007-06:00

We got 3 snow days this week, woohoo!! It's been great, I just made brownie batter and called it "dessert"! I served it in little bowls with miniature spatulas.... because batter ALWAYS tastes better on a spatula than it does from a spoon! You can't scoop it into your mouth either, you have to lick the spatula! Can you tell I'm still thinking about our yummy dessert? Dinner was good too, promise! Justin LOVES meatball subs, and I love how easy this dinner is! It's really not a recipe, but it's an easy meal idea for a weeknight dinner! Ingredients
A bag of your favorite crusty rolls
A bottle of your favorite Marinara sauce or make your own
Mozzarella Cheese
Frozen Italian Meatballs (sometimes I cut them in half-- less likely to "pop out" of the sandwich for the boys)

Directions
Pour the sauce over as many meatballs as you like. Heat the meatballs in the oven or stove according to the directions on the package.
Split the rolls, sprinkle on the Mozzarella cheese, and toast under the broiler.
Assemble and serve with some fresh fruit and carrot sticks... at least that's what I do!

Coconut Cake

2010-01-05T20:11:00.008-06:00

This recipe is from my wonderful Aunt Mina, she's full of great recipes (like her Cheese Blitz)! Aunt Mina is a retired teacher and this coconut cake is one of those recipes she picked up from another teacher. Teacher potluck lunches are the best... every teacher brings something spectacular to share with the other teachers, it's heavenly! This cake is heavenly too! I am sorry for the terrible picture but I forgot to take a picture at home so this is a quick picture I snapped before serving it at my mother-in-laws. I took this cake for our family Christmas dinner and my Aunt brought it to our Thanksgiving dinner. It's SO good!

On a side note my cousin Holly (Aunt Mina's daughter) wrote a book called Faith Postures. You should check it out! I am hoping it will teach me to be still and listen, boy does this book have it's work cut out for it! Ingredients
1 box white cake mix (and the eggs, oil, etc. to make it)
1 bag of angel flake coconut
1 can cream of coconut
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tub of whipped cream

Directions
Make the cake as directed on package. Mix 1/2 the bag of coconut in with the cake batter and cook in 9 x 13 pan. When finished baking, take a wooden spoon handle (or straw) and poke holes in cake as soon as you take it out of the oven.
Whip together the cream of coconut and sweetened condensed milk and pour over the cake and holes. Put in refrigerator and cool. Top with whipped cream and the rest of the bag of coconut!

Sweetie Pie's Mac and Cheese

2010-01-01T14:00:00.002-06:00

I haven't had much luck with homemade macaroni and cheese...
Attempt 1, 3 Ingredient Macaroni and Cheese was the first recipe I ever posted on my blog (the picture makes me laugh, you can see my shadow... we've learned a lot about taking pictures these last 3 years). This is a great stove-top macaroni and cheese but it's not that wholesome macaroni and cheese casserole old ladies bring to pot-lucks.
Attempt 2, The Lady's Cheesy Mac was dry and tasteless.
Attempt 3, Betty Crocker's Macaroni and Cheese was the best so far but it tastes EXACTLY like Stouffer's macaroni and cheese which you can buy in the freezer section of the supermarket for $2.

Sweetie Pie's was my 4th attempt and hallelujah, I've met perfection! It was featured on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives... It was terrific! It was creamy with the right amount of gooeyness but the flavor is what sets this macaroni and cheese apart. It's got a hint of sour cream and sweetness but full of stringy cheese! My only complaint is that my 9x13 pan overflowed in the oven, so next time I am going to try using only 1 can of evaporated milk, I will adjust my blog recipe if it goes well! Ingredients
1 pound elbow macaroni pasta
1 cup whole milk (I didn't have whole milk so I used heavy cream... don't judge me)
2 (12-ounce) cans evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 sticks butter, cut into small pieces
1 pound Colby-Jack cheese, shred it yourself (the pre-shredded cheese in bags is covered with flour and can make your macaroni oily)
1/2 pound Cheddar cheese, shred it yourself
1 pound Velveeta cheese, cut into small chunks
Salt, to taste
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Now, Sweetie Pie's mixes everything in the casserole pan but our 9x13 pans aren't big enough, so I used a LARGE bowl. In a large bowl combine the whole milk, evaporated milk, sour cream, and eggs. Mix with a whisk until thoroughly combined. Add the butter, Colby-Jack, Cheddar, and Velveeta cheeses to the pasta. RESERVE A CUP OF CHEESE to sprinkle on the top. Pour the cooked pasta noodles into the cheese mixture and season with salt, pepper and sugar and toss. Now transfer the noodle cheese mixture to a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the top of the pasta with the remaining cup of cheese.Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned.

Roasted Chicken and Gravy

2009-12-30T18:15:00.015-06:00

This dinner is absolutely amazing! The chicken is literally fall off the bone tender (Abbott laughed when his chicken leg fell off the meat and onto the table) and the gravy is so flavorful! It does require marinating overnight and 4 hours of cooking, but it is worth the wait! I suggest serving this with Creamy Mashed Potatoes, we call them Abbott's potatoes but they're everyone's favorite! The chicken/gravy only serves 4 people so if you have a bigger family you will need a 2nd chicken ,-)

Chicken Ingredients
1 (4 pound) whole chicken
4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 onion, cut into 4 pieces
5 cloves garlic

Gravy Ingredients
Chicken drippings
2 tablespoons flour
1 can chicken broth (or 1 cup water and a chicken bouillon cube)

Chicken Directions
The night before... In a small bowl, mix together salt, paprika, onion powder, thyme, pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder. Remove and discard giblets from chicken. Rinse chicken cavity, and pat dry with paper towel. Rub chicken inside and out with spice mixture (use all of the spice mixture). Stuff the pieces of onion and garlic cloves into the cavity of the chicken. Place the chickens in a resealable bag or double wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 to 6 hours. After marinading... Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place chicken in a roasting pan (I just used my 9x13 pan). Bake uncovered for 4 hours, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees (I don't have a meat thermometer, but 4 hours was the perfect time for my 4 pound chicken). Let the chicken stand for 10 minutes before carving. While carving the chicken discard onion and garlic. Gravy Directions
Take the chicken out of the pan when it's done cooking. Now pour all the drippings into a glass measuring cup. Leave any browned bits on the bottom of the roasting pan (these are actually quite tasty and help give the gravy its flavor.) Let the drippings stand for a minute or two until the fat rises to the top of the measuring cup. Set the roasting pan over medium-low heat (you may need to use two burners at once.) Spoon out 4 tablespoons fat from the top of the measuring cup and put it back in the roasting pan.
Sprinkle the flour over the fat and whisk. Whisk flour and fat for 1 to 2 minutes until the flour turns a nice golden-brown color.
Pour the measuring cup drippings and can of chicken broth into the roasting pan. Whisking and scraping off the encrusted bits on the bottom of the pan. Simmer mixture for 2 to 3 minutes while whisking. Adjust the thickness of the gravy. If it is too thin, simmer, whisking often until the gravy is as thick as you want it. If it is too thick, whisk in a little more chicken broth. Taste the gravy and season it with salt and pepper if needed but with the rub of the chicken mine didn't need any salt/pepper. Serve the gravy over mashed potatoes with the roasted chicken. Enjoy!

Buttercream Frosting

2009-12-28T19:52:00.006-06:00

I've been searching for the perfect frosting for awhile now. Easy Buttercream is great but it's rich, you can't pile loads of it onto cakes. It also gets hard when you put it in the fridge just like my favorite Swiss Buttercream frosting. I love Swiss Meringue on cakes (Andre's Chocolate Torte is the kind of cake people die over) but it's not that fluffy subtly sweet frosting I've had a hankering for. So one day I was blog surfing and came across this Why Pudding post where a professional baker goes on and on about how using instant pudding in her frosting has rocked her world, so I gave it a try... WOW. It's fluffy but not whipped cream fluffy, more silky and rich. It needs to be refrigerated (due to the cream) but the frosting stays soft even when refrigerated! This is my new favorite frosting! I've never tasted anything like it before but it is fabulous!! You have to give it a try!

My mom gave me a new frosting tip for Christmas it's an Ateco 849, and it's humongous! It's actually called a "pastry tube". I used it to frost these cupcakes using my favorite periwinkle color... thanks mom! Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 stick salted butter, room temperature
1 package white chocolate instant pudding mix (you could sub a different flavor if you want)
1/2-3/4 cup heavy cream (depending on how thick you want your frosting)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (or more to suit your tastes) powdered sugar

Directions
In mixer set on medium speed, beat the butter until smooth and silky. Turn the speed to low and add the pudding mix, when it is all incorporated, slowly add the cream, a little at a time. When fully incorporated bring speed up to high and beat for 5-7 minutes (the long mixing time is to beat the grit from the pudding out). Turn speed back down to low and add powdered sugar tasting along the way. When it is sweet to your taste, beat again at high speed for a good 5 minutes to really break down any graininess that you might get from the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla and bring back down to low speed and beat for a while that way to get rid of air bubbles.

Skillet Chili Mac with Corn and Green Chiles

2009-12-26T17:38:00.008-06:00

We are officially snowed in! Well, in all honesty we could shovel ourselves out but we are having too much fun being stranded at home! I've cleaned the house, played with all the Christmas gifts (with my boys), found homes for all the Christmas gifts, and have snuggled on the couch with my husband for hours.... yeah, we're enjoying being together to much to shovel our driveway! I think we got around 7 inches of snow but the wind blew it all up against our house, we have a two foot snow drift right outside our front door!
This was the perfect time for My Kitchen Cafe's Skillet Chili Mac! If you're wanting a traditional hamburger helper type meal omit the corn, chiles and cilantro.

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, minced
3/4 tablespoon chili powder (add more if you want more heat)
1/2 tablespoon ground coriander (substitute ground cumin for a smokier flavor)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 cups water
8 ounces (2 cups) noodles (elbow macaroni or whatever you prefer)
1 cup corn
1 (4.5 ounce) can chopped green chiles
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 cups shredded cheese (I used a combination of cheddar and monterey jack but you can use pepper jack or a mexican shredded cheese blend)

Directions
Heat a 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef, onion, chili powder, coriander, cumin and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook the ground beef until it is no longer pink. Drain off any excess fat or grease (the amount will depend on how lean your beef is). Stir in garlic and brown sugar and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomato sauce, water, and macaroni. Cover and cook, stirring often and keeping the heat at a steady simmer, until the macaroni is tender, about 12-12 minutes.
Stir in 1 cup of the cheese, frozen corn, green chiles and cilantro and sprinkle remaining 1 cup of cheese over the top. Cover and let sit off the heat until the cheese melts, about 2 minutes.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T19:47:00.004-06:00

Banana Bread

2009-12-19T22:23:00.004-06:00

I don't even know where to start with this recipe! I LOVE THIS BREAD! I cut everyone a slice, lathered them with butter, and animal sounds came from my family! I think the secret is in the sour cream, it makes the bread so moist. This was the perfect way to start our winter break!
This recipe makes four 7x3 loafs, if you use two bigger loaf pans you will need to let the bread cook longer than the directed 60 minutes (my two big loaves cooked for 90 minutes). Just check them with a toothpick and if there's batter on the toothpick put them in for another 10 minutes and check again.

Ingredients
1/4 cup white sugar (for dusting the pan)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (for dusting the pan)
3/4 cup butter
3 cups white sugar
3 eggs
6 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional...I never add them)

Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
In a large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts. Divide into prepared pans.
Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

2009-12-17T17:56:00.003-06:00

Today was the last day of school and the boys each had their winter parties! I had this grand idea of making snow cupcakes with royal icing snowflakes, sparkling sugar, and white nonpareils... well the royal icing snowflakes were a disaster! I couldn't draw pretty snowflakes and when the snowflakes dried I couldn't pick them up off the waxed paper like I imagined (perhaps melted white chocolate would have worked better). So in the end I just had my sparkling sugar and nonpareils, they look a little more like wedding cupcakes than snowy winter cupcakes but the kids liked them all the same! Ingredients
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4-5 cups powdered sugar

Directions
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined. Then add the vanilla extract and 3 cups of powdered sugar and beat at low speed, occasionally stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, until light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar to arrive at the consistency and sweetness you like. I put my frosting into a pastry bag and used a Wilton 1M tip to frost my cupcakes.

**Sprinkles Tip- Sprinkle cupcakes (or cookies) over a paper plate, make sure you use a different paper plate for each type of sprinkle. Then when you're done you can fold the paper plate and pour the leftover sprinkles back into the sprinkles jar to use again!

Bowtie Chicken Pasta with Fontina Cream Sauce

2009-12-13T18:43:00.011-06:00

There's a restaurant here in Kansas City called Paulo and Bill's that has an outstanding Bowtie Chicken Pasta! The Paulo and Bill's menu said they used Fontina cheese so I wanted to create a copycat recipe for my family (plus it gave me an opportunity to try a new kind of cheese)! I got surprisingly close for my first copycat attempt! I will only change one thing the next time I make it... I made the mistake of adding the chicken to the cheese sauce before the noodles and the cheese fused all the chicken together into a giant chicken-cheese lump that wouldn't incorporate into the noodles. I thought the pasta was fantastic but Justin, Andrew, and my father all sprinkled seasonings (Cajun and red pepper) on their pasta... I don't think they like Alfredo type pasta as much as I do! We had our favorite Chocolate Torte for dessert, it was a wonderful evening!

Ingredients
Bowtie Noodles, cooked and drained
2 cups shredded chicken
1 cup sauteed mushrooms
1/2 pound Fontina cheese, grated
1/2 cup heavy cream
5 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 clove garlic, minced

Directions
Place the Fontina cheese, cream, butter, garlic, and Parmesan a sauce pan. Heat on medium, stirring occasionally, until the cheeses have melted and the sauce is smooth and hot. Stir in the cooked Bowtie noodles, when they're covered with the cheese sauce stir in the shredded chicken and mushrooms.

I found the Fontina cheese at my local groccery store but it was $6 for a 1/2 pound. I will definitely but it at Sam's Wholesale Club in the future! Justin described the cheese as a buttery mozzarella.This is my dad's pasta that he spiced up... just like Emeril, BAM!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Pie

2009-12-05T14:20:00.004-06:00

We made some pies for Thanksgiving, and this is the pie Justin made! We got the recipe from Coleen's Recipes, Justin's had a lot of peanut butter and chocolate pies but never one with a ganache layer! I wished we would have taken a picture on the inside of the pie, you'll just have to check out Coleen's Recipes to see how yummy that layer looked! However, we didn't use all the chocolate ganache, as Justin poured it in he realized it was going to fill half the pie so he stopped. I wish we would have saved the leftover to drizzle on the top, instead we used chocolate shavings.

Ingredients
1 Graham cracker pie crust
1½ cups whipping cream (divided)
(1) 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
(2) 3 ounce cream cheese (room temperature)
¾ cup creamy peanut butter

Directions
Microwave one half cup of whipping cream for 2 minutes (on high). Stir in one half cup of sweetened condensed milk and the chocolate chips. Stir until very smooth. Pour evenly over graham cracker crust bottom and chill for an hour (I put mine in the freezer for 20 minutes).

In a medium size bowl, beat the cream cheese until it is smooth. Beat in the remaining sweetened condensed milk and the peanut butter. Whip until this mixture is very smooth (it will be thick). In a large bowl, whip the remaining one cup of whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in the cream cheese-peanut butter mixture (by hand). Keep folding gently until everything is well blended together. Spoon over the chilled chocolate layer. Chill for about 4 hours or overnight.

Crock-Pot Chicken

2009-11-22T19:27:00.010-06:00

We went and saw New Moon as a family on Friday night, it was fabulous! Everyone's read the book but Abbott, so I think he felt a little left out but he said he really liked the movie! It makes me want to read Eclipse again! Unlike the Cullens, my crazy family doesn't eat red meat (with the exception of hamburger), so I can't make a roast or brisket for dinner... I'm always trying to figure out new ways to make chicken. This is by far one of the easiest dinners ever! It takes 10 minutes in the morning to throw everything in and by dinner time it's all ready to go!

Ingredients
2-3 pounds chicken, a whole chicken or whatever cuts you prefer (I use frozen chicken breasts)
1 large bag of peeled carrots
5-7 peeled potatoes
Salt and pepper

Directions
Put the carrots in the crock-pot and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Now, put the potatoes in the crock-pot and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Last, put the chicken in the crock-pot and sprinkle on... you guessed it, salt and pepper ,-)
Cook on low for 6-8 hours. When it's done you can pull out the chicken, potatoes, carrots, and use the leftover broth to make a gravy!

S’mores Bars

2009-11-15T00:14:00.006-06:00

Justin grew up living on a couple acres so he could go out any weekend, strike up a bonfire, and have s'mores! It was amazing! I'm always eating the toasted marshmallow before I can sandwich it between chocolate and graham crackers. We live in the city and we can't have a bonfire... and grilled marshmallows always seem to taste like lighter fluid (ok, everything I grill always tastes like lighter fluid)! These s'mores bars are a yummy fun alternative, and they're easy to make!!
Ingredients
8 cups (10 oz) Golden Grahams cereal
2/3 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups (12 oz) milk chocolate morsels
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups mini marshmallows
Extra cereal and marshmallows for sprinkling on top

Directions
Spray a 13×9 inch pan with cooking spray or line with non-stick foil. Pour cereal in a large mixing bowl so that it’s ready to go.
Heat corn syrup and butter together in a saucepan set over medium. When mixture begins to boil, add chocolate chips, reduce heat to low or turn off completely, stir until melted. Stir in vanilla.
Pour chocolate mixture over cereal, coating it thoroughly, than fold in the marshmallows, 1 cup at a time. Press mixture evenly into a pan, sprinkling extra cereal and marshmallows on top for contrast, and then let stand until firm – about 1 hour or stick them in refrigerator so they’ll firm up quickly. I did that because I was impatient, and it worked out well. In fact, I liked the bars better cold!

Andrew made a video of him and our cat (Abby) playing, they are so cute together!

Hot Dog Mummies

2009-10-28T18:11:00.004-05:00

Abbott has been excited for Halloween for months! Abbott really is a strange kid, he was obsessed with James Bond and would play the theme song for himself every day as I drove him to preschool. When he was 3 he beat all the James Bond video games... no exaggeration! Now he's moved on to scary movies, he even had a spooky themed birthday party in September. So I made this creep-tacular lunch for him, the hot dog mummies were really good (and SUPER easy)! ...I get so tired of normal hot dogs, I am going to make these more often!

Ingredients
1 can (11 ounce) Pillsbury refrigerated breadsticks (12 breadsticks)
12 beef hot dogs
Cooking Spray
Mustard or ketchup, if desired

Directions
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll dough; separate at perforations into 12 breadsticks. With knife or kitchen scissors, cut each breadstick lengthwise and crosswise into 4 pieces, making a total of 48 pieces of dough.
Wrap 4 pieces of dough around each hot dog to look like "bandages", stretch dough to completely cover hot dog. About 1/2 inch from one end of each hot dog, separate "bandages" so hot dog shows through for "face". Place wrapped hot dogs on greased cookie sheet; spray dough lightly with cooking spray.
Bake at 375 degrees for 13-17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. With mustard, draw "eyes".

I also made Monster Apple Mouths as a fun side to the hot dog mummies.... the boys thought they were really creepy! Ingredients
1 large Apple of choice
Peanut Butter
Marshmallows cut in 1/2

Directions
Cut out a small wedge on the skin side of the apple. Blot inside with a paper towel then spread lightly with creamy peanut butter. Cut marshmallows in half and place over peanut butter to make the teeth.

Sausage Oven Pancake

2009-10-25T10:00:00.002-05:00

I love McDonald's McGriddles, the combination of sweet and savory is delicious! However, the McGriddle has 560 calories and 32 grams of fat, holy cow! I saw this recipe on Real Mom Kitchen's Blog and thought it looked like the perfect alternative to the McDonald's McGriddle! To cut calories/fat even more I didn't use real sausage, I used MorningStar Farms Veggie Sausage Patties... it was fantastic!! Seriously, we loved this breakfast and it really did satisfy that McGriddle craving!

These are the ingredients/directions for my modified version of Real Mom Kitchen's Sausage Oven Pancake, you should check out her original recipe though. I am sure real sausage would taste better but I don't want the extra calories/fat so I will stick to my veggie patties ,-)

Ingredients
1 package of MorningStar Farms Veggie Sausage Patties
3/4 cup Velveeta cheese shreds
3/4 cup pancake mix
1/4 cup water
1 egg
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Directions
Spray a round 8-inch pan (or pie plate) with non-stick spray. Lay the frozen veggie sausage patties in the pan. Sprinkle cheese over the sausage. In a bowl stir together the pancake mix, water, egg, and maple syrup and pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown. Cut and serve, I drizzled a little more maple syrup on top of mine!

Reuben Sandwich

2009-10-20T20:36:00.004-05:00

My father and uncle both suffer from Polycystic Kidney Disease, eventually their kidney function gets so low that they need a transplant. My uncle had a successful kidney transplant last week (woohoo), he got a kidney from my aunt. My mom also gave a kidney to my dad and later my cousin did too! Well, this spurred an interesting conversion between Justin and I. We seem to have identical brains, no kidding it's like we're the same person! I just know our organs wouldn't be compatible though, our bodies are so different! If I get a cold in my throat he will get it in his stomach. I think something tastes spicy and he thinks it tastes sweet. I just have this feeling that our organs would be exact opposite!
Another way our bodies are different is that Justin can eat the same thing day after day. He's had a waffle for breakfast and a lunch meat sandwich for lunch every day for 4 years! If I eat the same thing 2 days in a row I am bored, especially with lunch meat sandwiches! That's why I like Reubens! I can eat a cold corned beef sandwich for lunch and come home and eat a Reuben for dinner, it doesn't feel like I'm eating the same thing... not to mention they're delicious!

Ingredients
Butter
Sliced rye bread
Deli sliced corned beef (around 4 slices per sandwich)
Sliced Swiss cheese
Sauerkraut, drained (around a tablespoon per sandwich)
Thousand Island dressing (around a teaspoon per sandwich)

Directions
Preheat a large skillet or griddle on medium heat. Lightly butter one side of rye bread. Spread the non-buttered side with Thousand Island dressing. Now add on the sauerkraut, corned beef, and Swiss cheese. Top with a bread slice, buttered sides out. Grill the sandwich until the bread is golden brown, and then flip and grill the other side until golden brown. It will take around 15 minutes, make sure you serve hot (put it in the microwave for 20 seconds if you need to warm it up again).

Easy Noodle Soup

2009-10-17T15:00:00.007-05:00

This is my go-to recipe in the fall! We are so busy with sports, academics, work, and *cough* fall TV shows that I don't have the energy to spend more than 20 minutes in the kitchen. Sure, you can add shredded chicken, celery, and carrots but we think it's perfect just like this! Ingredients
24 ounces Reames Egg Noodles (I get these in the freezer section of my groccery store)
5 Knorr chicken flavor bouillon cubes (I get these in the his Hispanic section of my groccery store, the box says 9.3 OZ)
10 cups of water

Directions
Put the water and Knorr bouillon cubes in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the frozen Reames egg noodles and cook over medium-high heat for 20 minutes.

That's it, after 20 minutes of cooking it's ready to serve and delicious! It's as easy as a frozen pizza, but better.... it's hearty and warm, perfect for my little football player! He even has cheerleaders! Here's a video of Abbott getting the flags off of the receiver (it's like tackling for little guys)!

No Bake Cookies

2009-10-04T18:04:00.016-05:00

Justin LOVES chocolate and peanut butter, his favorite desserts are... Peanut Butter Cups, Puppy Chow, and these No Bake Cookies!

Ingredients
2 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup milk
1 pinch salt
3 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
In a saucepan bring sugar, cocoa, margarine, milk, and salt to a rapid boil for 1 minute. Add quick cooking oats, peanut butter, and vanilla; mix well. Working quickly, drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper, and let cool.

Last week was Abbott's birthday! Last year he had a yummy Dirt Cake but this year I just bought treats at the store, they always seem to like the store bought treats better anyways. Abbott's kid party was spooky themed this year, complete with cobweb cupcake cake! For Abbott's family party he got a foam mattress pad (it's what he really wanted) wrapped like a birthday candle and a dug up a treasure box filled with change. How creative are his grandparents?!
Abby had fun hiding in the wrapping paper! Abbott finished the night with a small SpongeBob cake, which was adorable!

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

2009-09-28T20:34:00.011-05:00

Long time, no post, right?! Well... I have been so busy at work I can't even find time to go to the groccery store! Now, with all the quick fast food dinners my rear no longer fits in my pants, Ay Yi Yi!
It was time for gluten-free, sugar-free, low calorie cooking intervention! This recipe came from Paula Deen and I decided to use Splenda instead of sugar in hopes of fitting into my pants again this week... big mistake. The Splenda aftertaste was overwhelming (which is a nice way of saying "gross")!
Peanut Butter cookies are Justin's favorite, and these are soft and chewy and very peanut buttery...is that even a word?! You could probably get away with a low fat peanut butter, but I have to admit, Justin is a peanut butter snob. Only Peter Pan Creamy for him! I can't wait to try them again using sugar instead of Splenda!

Ingredients
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar (I used Splenda, but will use sugar in the future)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
Mix the above ingredients in a mixing box until fully incorporated. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet. Press crisscross pattern on cookie dough ball with tongs of a fork. Place in oven at 325 degrees for 7-9 minutes.

Ham and Bean Soup

2009-09-12T23:03:00.004-05:00

I work with a wonderful man named Terry who turned 63 last week! Terry is one of those teachers I just watch in awe, the effect he has on kids is like magic! Terry reminds me of my grandpa, who I miss so much! Since I met Terry he's called me "Care Bear", I love that! I told Terry I would bring soup in for his birthday and asked what soup was his favorite. He said "Ham and Beans"... ham and beans?! I'd never made it before but it was actually really easy and cheap! The soup was ok on it's own but it was awesome with crumbled cornbread!

Ingredients
2 ham hocks
2 cups great northern beans, washed, sorted, and soaked overnight
8 cups water
1 clove garlic, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
1 bay leaf
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions
Wash beans with water and soak them overnight. Drain the soaked beans and combine beans, ham bone, water, garlic, bay leaf, and onion in slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour. Turn to LOW and cook 8 to 10 hours longer, until beans are tender. Season with lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper, to taste. Remove ham bone; chop meat and return to crockpot. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

2009-09-07T14:45:00.008-05:00

I am down to one post a week, yikes! These first couple weeks of school are so time consuming and draining! For the sake of my starving family I hope to be back to regularly cooking/posting very soon! The highlight of my week was Shalee's birthday! Shalee is our wonderful school registrar who mentioned last year that her favorite dessert is cheesecake! I saw these cheesecake cupcakes in Martha Stewart's Cupcakes over the summer and thought it would be the perfect birthday dessert for Shalee... the cheesecake loving gal who "cowbell dives" into our box of chocolates throughout the day :-)

Martha Stewart's Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes Recipe
Makes 30 Cupcakes

Ingredients
42 cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped
2 pounds cream cheese (32 ounces), room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.
With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.
Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.
Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

Egg Salad Sandwich

2009-09-03T20:00:00.005-05:00

I love egg salad sandwiches! There is just something about an egg salad sandwich for lunch on a sunny day, it makes me want to start a new book! That's right... most women want the beach and a margarita but I'll take a book and an egg salad sandwich any day (Justin says I am a 60-year-old woman trapped in a 28-year-old's body)!
There is a wonderful documentary I saw a couple years ago called "The Teachings of Jon". I've never seen it on TV since so I finally broke down and bought a copy. It's about Jon, a man with down syndrome who LOVES egg sandwiches. Ok... the documentary isn't just about egg sandwiches, here's the trailer. It's a wonderful documentary, I can learn a lot from Jon... not to mention he has great taste in sandwiches ;-)

Ingredients
6 eggs
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon relish
pepper (to taste, optional)
lettuce (optional)
6 slices whole wheat bread

Directions
To hard boil eggs – Gently place eggs into a single layer in a sauce pan. Add just enough water to cover the eggs completely. Put on the stove and bring the water to a boil. Just as the water reaches a rapid boil remove from heat and tightly cover with a lid. Let the pan site for 17 minutes. Transfer eggs into a bowl with cold water. Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes and peel.
Finely chop hard boiled eggs. Place chopped eggs in a medium bowl. Mix in mayo, 1 tablespoon at a time. Mix in mustard, relish and pepper. Put egg salad onto bread slices, top with lettuce. (Makes 3 Sandwiches)

BBQ Ribs

2009-08-30T17:08:00.009-05:00

I've never made ribs before today. We live in a city known for it's BBQ so if we want to eat ribs we just drive down the road, there are tons of BBQ joints to pick from! Andrew is a rib eating fool and Abbott has recently started liking ribs too so I thought I would give it a try. It wasn't very difficult and they turned out really good!! The meat pulled right off the bone and the sauce made the ribs sticky and delicious! I marinated them overnight and put them in the oven during breakfast, by lunch time we had more ribs than we could eat! Then we had a Pirates of the Caribbean marathon (they said I needed a break from 17 Again), it was a fantastic Sunday!

Ingredients
4 pounds pork ribs (I used pork back ribs)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon Lawry's seasoning salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 cups favorite BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays)

Directions
You are supposed to peel off the tough membrane that covers the bony side of the ribs, but I couldn't figure it out... so I left it on and all was a-ok (if you're like me and can't figure it out, no worries). Mix together sugar and spices to make the dry rub. Apply the rub and lay the ribs on 2 layers of foil, bony side down. Now squirt a little of the BBQ sauce on top of the ribs (maybe a cup of sauce total). Lay 2 layers of foil on top of ribs and roll and crimp edges tightly, edges facing up and seal. Now put them in the fridge and let them marinade in the rub and sauce for at least 4-6 hours (I marinated them overnight). When their done marinating place the foiled ribs on a baking sheet or baking dish, in case the foil leaks you may want to put a 2nd pan in the rack below your ribs to catch drips (I had a couple drips). Bake at 300 degrees for 3 hours. Take them out of the oven and uncover the top of the ribs. They don't look very appetizing right now. You need to baste on some more BBQ sauce (around a cup of sauce), leave the foil off, and put them back in the oven and set to broil. Broil the sauced ribs for for 5 minutes, the sauce will sizzle and caramelize under the broiler, so it sticks to the ribs!

Chad's Sesame Ginger Grilled Chicken Salad

2009-08-27T20:57:00.010-05:00

** Remember to click on the pictures for full screen view ;-)
My brother-in-law Chad is a really good chef (for further proof check out Chad's Steak). I am a good cook, I can follow a recipe like it's nobodies business. Chad creates his own recipes though, it's craziness! Justin has similar skills he just isn't allowed to use them... he tries to taste and add ingredients (I discourage this because he makes everything spicy)! So, last week Justin got a text picture from Chad, it was this beautiful salad! Justin actually thought they went out to eat without us and were rubbing it in! I should have known... Chad made the salad, it was just a recipe he thought up! We made it tonight and it was amazing!! It was fairly healthy too, with only a few tablespoons of dressing and cheese! It fed the four of us without any side dishes, I can't wait to make it again!

Ingredients
Corn Pico de Gallo
3/4 can of whole kernel sweet corn
1 1/2 medium size Jalapeño peppers
2 romano tomatoes chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped parsley (I didn't have any so I omitted it)
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar (I only had white-wine vinegar)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder

Sesame Ginger Grilled Chicken
1 pound boneless chicken breast
Lawry’s Sesame Ginger Marinade (I couldn't find this particular marinade so I used Lawry's Baja Chipotle)

Salad Mix
Do Not Use Iceberg Lettuce in bags!!!!
1 head of fresh green lettuce, chopped
1 head of fresh romaine lettuce, chopped
4 tablespoons Kraft Parmesan Romano Dressing (I couldn't find this either so I got Kraft Caesar dressing)
Shredded Colby cheese and Parmesan Cheese

Directions
Prepare Pico in a medium bowl; combine the corn, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, parsley, orange juice, vinegar, cumin, and chili powder. Stir well then chill for 30 min.

Marinade the chicken for 45 min., meanwhile start charcoal in grill. Make sure when you grill you position charcoal to one side of grill so that you have a hot side and a cool side. When top part of coals get white hot put chicken on cool side of grill; cook and flip chicken every 5 min. for about 20 min. (depending on how hot you have your grill.) Make sure chicken is white in the middle, but be careful you don’t overcook!

Mix Salad and dressing together, add about 1/2 a cup of Colby cheese, then top with chopped grilled chicken, add 1/2 cup of pico mixture, then top the salad off with shredded Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Abbott's Spaghetti Tacos

2009-08-25T21:41:00.005-05:00

Abbott loves the Nickelodeon TV show iCarly and on the TV show Carly's favorite dinner is spaghetti tacos. So Abbott's been asking for them for awhile now, I finally gave in. Justin and I had a lot of trepidation but they were actually pretty good! In fact... Justin's sitting beside me and when he saw the spaghetti taco pictures he went "Mmm... those were good"!
If your serving dinner to an elementary school child who watches Nickelodeon then surprise him/her with spaghetti tacos, you won't be sorry!

Ingredients (is this really necessary?)
Spaghetti Noodles, cooked
Spaghetti Sauce
Taco Shells (I got the white corn shells)

Directions
Mix the spaghetti noodles and sauce in a big bowl. With a fork twirl the noodles and put them into the taco shells. We cooked our taco shells but I don't know if it really made a difference. I know photo directions aren't needed for this recipe but watching Abbott eat his spaghetti taco just made me smile. I love him so much it hurts! This is my first animated GIF of Abbott eating his taco (for email readers, I think this will only work on my website).
Create avatar

Andrew's First Concert Pie

2009-08-23T20:01:00.011-05:00

This pie is a little overdue. We took Andrew to see Green Day at the Sprint Center on August 12th (the day before school started... we are officially the most irresponsible parents ever). Justin and I have been listening to Green Day since we were Andrew's age and Andrew has grown up listening to their new cd's as well as our old cd's. The concert was amazing! I mean really jaw dropping, dancing like a crazy person, singing at the top of your lungs amazing! No one can captivate an audience like Billie Joe Armstrong! I am so glad we got to experience this with Andrew!

I knew we had to make a pie for Andrew. I mean your first concert is almost as eventful as your first kiss! I needed something green, for Green Day... but more importantly I needed something that tastes like a first concert! Something with a little bite, something new and unusual, yet exciting! Key Lime Pie, perfect!

Ingredients
A pre-made (or bought) graham cracker crust
4 large egg yolks
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup Fresh Key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes or 10 key limes)
1 teaspoon Lime Zest
Whipped Cream (I dyed my whipped cream green and piped spikes)

Directions
Beat the egg yolks and lime zest at high speed until thick and pale. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the condensed milk. Still on low, add half of the lime juice. When it is incorporated, add the remaining juice, again mixing until it is blended. Bake the pie for 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes, then freeze the pie for at least 1 hour. Serve with whipped cream and garnish with lime zest or lime wedges.