Dinner success!

Last night for dinner I made 3 new dishes. I made melt in your mouth Chicken, Creamy Cheesy Potatoes, and Gooey Chocolate Skillet Cake.

They were all so yummy!

I also made Banana Bread because the bananas needed to be used.
I haven't tried it yet but it smelled delicious.

If you want the recipes just click on the name of the dish.

WOW, it's been a while since I have taken the time to sit down and blog. I have made some very yummy dishes since. I am going to list them and you can click on the name of the dish to get to the recipe. Hope you enjoy some of the things we have enjoyed.


Mac and Cheese

Enfrijoladas

Flour Tortillas

Taco Bake

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Ravioli Bake

Baked Spaghetti

Santa Fe Enchiladas

The Santa Fe Enchiladas, the Enfrijoladas, the Taco Bake, and the Mexican Stuffed Shells are among our favorites.

With a couple of the recipes I am going to do some different things next time I make them or have done the second time around. Here they are:

Mexican Stuffed Shells
I add corn to the meat mixture

Bake Ravioli
I make it a little more simple. I use spaghetti sauce, frozen cheese ravioli, and Italian blend cheeses, 1/2 sausage, 1/2 burger.

Enfrijoladas
You could use beef, chicken or beans. But I used shredded chicken with taco seasoning as a filler with the cheese.

Baked Spaghetti
This is a little dry, it needs more sauce than I used the first time around.


Hope you try one my favs soon and enjoy it as much as we have.

Update of the past week of cooking.

Okay so I am starting to feel a little better so I figured I should catch up on my blogging. I have made several new things in the past week. I have made Mexican Stuffed Shells, Pasta Pie, and Kentucky Pie.

Eli made Cheddar and Ale Soup with Bacon and Potato, Bacon and Cheddar Scones and Irish Beef Stew.

If you click on the name of each dish it will take you to the recipe.

We really did not care for the Cheddar and Ale soup.

All the rest of the recipes are so good. The Mexican stuffed shells were so good. The filling for them was outstanding, I added some corn to it. Actually tomorrow night I am making the filling and I am going to bake it on Nacho Chips.

It's been a while since I have posted things that I have made. I got sick last week and am still trying to recover. Hopefully I feel better soon and can get back on track with everything. Last night I made Pasta Pie. It was good but the next time I make it I will be changing it a bit. Here is the recipe:

Pasta Pie
Adapted from Martha Stewart

1 pound rigatoni
2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound ground beef (I used ground sirloin)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 can (28 ounces) good quality crushed tomatoes
Butter, for pan
Salt
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
8 ounces coarsely grated mozzarella

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until slightly underdone (I cooked mine for 12 minutes when the box indicated 14 minutes). One pound of pasta should be cooked in 6 quarts of water, make sure you are using a big enough pot so the pasta doesn't stick together. When done, rinse in cold water and drain again. Toss pasta with 1 Tablespoon olive oil to coat. Set aside.

Heat remaining 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef. Cook, stirring occasionally until browned. Add garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes more.

Add crushed tomatoes; simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes.

Toss pasta with Parmesan cheese. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Tightly pack pasta into pan, standing each piece on end. Spread meat sauce on top of pasta.

Push the meat sauce into the pasta holes filling each one up. Stuffing the meat into the holes is a weirdly satisfying task. Enough said.

Place in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and bake another 10-15 minutes until cheese is golden. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge to loosen and then unmold.

Cut into wedges and serve with any remaining meat sauce you might have.


The next time I make it I am going to use spaghetti sauce instead of the crushed tomatoes. We also thought it would be good with 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 sausage instead of all ground beef.

Italian Love Cake

This cake is a must try. It is another Pinterest find. It is so yummy and was really easy to make. I should have taken a picture but I didn't.

Italian Love Cake
Cook Time: 1 Hr

Ingredients
1 bx marble cake mix
2 pt ricotta cheese
3/4 c sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 3/4 oz instant chocolate pudding
1 c milk
8 oz whipped topping

Directions

1 Mix Cake mix as directed on box. Pour this into a 9x13 cake pan that is greased and floured.

2 In a bowl combine the ricotta, sugar, eggs,and vanilla. Mix well. Spooon over top of unbaked cake. Bake for 1 hour in a 350 degree oven. Cool completely.

3 Mix pudding with the milk and fold in whipped topping. Spread over cake and then refrigerate until topping is set or ready to sever.

4 NOTE: For marble cake you can use a yellow cake mix and hold out one cup of yellow mix already made and mix 1/4 cup of coco into the one cup of yellow mix. spoon the coco mix over yellow cake mix and run a knife thru it to make a marble cake.

another night, another new recipe

So tonight was yet another new recipe with yet another new Pampered Chef dish. This dish was actually a replacement for my stone that broke in the oven while baking in it.
So tonight I used my new rectangle stoneware baker and I made a Mexican casserole. It was very yummy. After baking we ate it with lettuce and tomato's. Also I did modify this a bit, I added corn. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 lb ground skinless chicken breast
1/2 c onions, chopped
1/2 c bell peppers, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
8 ozs taco sauce
1 c fat-free sour cream
1 c fat-free cottage cheese
1 c low-fat tortilla chips, whole or broken up
1 c low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 c salsa

Directions:

Heat oven to 400. Spray cooking spray on bottom of a 2-quart casserole dish; set aside. In a skillet,
cook chicken, onion, peppers, and garlic clove until tender. Add seasoning mix and taco sauce;
set aside. In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese; set aside. Place half the
broken chips in the bottom of casserole dish. Add meat mixture to cover the chips, then cover the
meat with sour cream mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and remaining crushed chips. Bake,
uncovered, for 30 minutes or until cheese has melted. Top with 3/4 cup salsa if desired.

Life has gotten a little crazy.

So it's been a while.

With the chaos that has been our lives I haven't found a lot of time to cook. With life as we know it, with knee deep IKEA boxes thrown in, the disaster we created and are still trying to clean up cooking has taken a back seat.

But with the arrival of my new Pampered Chef stuff I have the want to create and use the new stuff I got. So last night I used my new Deep Dish Baker to make a Lasagna Casserole. I saw this recipe on my friend Laura's blog. I modified it a tad though, I added a roll of Sausage to it.
It was so very yummy! You have to try this:

Lasagna Casserole
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground sausage
pasta sauce
noodles (you decide what kind, I use Campanelle)
Cottage Cheese
Mozzerella Cheese
Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Brown the beef and sausage then add the pasta sauce and simmer. Cook the noodles. While cooking the noodles mix together 1 cup Cottage Cheese and 1 cup mozzarella cheese. When noodles are done drain and mix with the meat and sauce mixture. Then mix in the cheese mixture. Put in a casserole dish and top with Mozzerella cheese and the shredded parmesan cheese. Bake till cheese is browning.

No Ranch seasoning packet in the house, no fear

So I was making crack potatoes when I realized I didn't have any ranch mix. No fear, Eli to the rescue with his mad googling skills. Here's what he found:

Simple Ranch Dressing Mix

Ingredients:

17 Saltines, finely crushed
2 cups (470 ml) parsley flakes
1/2 cup (120 ml) Onion Flakes
2 Tbs (30 ml) Dried Basil
6 Tbs (3/8 cup)(90 ml) Kosher or sea salt
5 Tbs (75 ml) Garlic Powder
5 Tbs (75 ml) Onion Powder
See the ingredients above? Mix and store in an air tight container. A 1 quart canning jar is perfect.

1 Tablespoon Ranch Dressing Mix
1 cup mayonnaise (Preferably Dukes or Hellman’s if you’re a West Coaster it’s Best Foods, and yes, I just got brand snobby)
1 cup buttermilk (If at all possible, full fat)

At least one hour before serving, mix the three ingredients. Cover and refrigerate. The flavors must mingle. If you taste the dressing before it has had time to chill, it’s going to taste like mayonnaisey, tangy, spices and I hate mayonnaise. Be patient. Once in a while the magic ingredient is time. So chill out and make your salad.

I'll update once I've tried it and let you know how it turns out.

UPDATE: This was pretty good. The garlic was a bit overpowering but I didn't have any parsley. The parsley may have made the difference. I think I will buy some parsley to add to what I have left and then try it again.

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

The recipe below was today's soup. It was super yummy! I will be making this again.

In making this soup I have decided that I need a bigger crock pot. My crock pot was so close to overflow! There are a couple things I did differently that the recipe says.
1. I used diced precooked chicken.
2. I didn't put any tomato sauce in it.
3. I didn't put the soup over rice like the picture shows.

I have got to start taking some pics of the foods I make. With everything going on in the evenings that's the last thing I think about until we are sitting down to eat it. So the picture below I got off the website.



Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 10 • Size: 1 1/4 cups • Old Points: 3 pts • Points+: 5 pts
Calories: 203.7 • Fat: 1.4 g • Carb: 33.3 g • Fiber: 10.0 g • Protein: 16.9 g

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 16-oz can black beans
1 16-oz can kidney beans
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
10 oz package frozen corn kernels
2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies
1 packet taco seasoning
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
24 oz (3-4) boneless skinless chicken breasts
chili peppers, chopped (optional)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Directions:
Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Top with fresh cilantro. Also try it with low fat cheese and sour cream (extra points).

2 new recipes in one night.

Last night I made Garlic Parmesan Pull apart bread and Chicken Parmesan casserole. The bread was amazing. It's a must try, it was so easy.

Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread

Yields 1 loaf

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/3 cups barely warm water
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups all purpose (or bread) flour
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the yeast and water. Let sit 5 minutes until yeast is foamy. Mix in the olive oil, salt, and flour. If you have a stand mixer, attach the dough hook and knead the dough for 5-6 minutes, or until elastic. If you are doing this by hand, knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until dough is elastic, 7-10 minutes. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until dough is doubled in size.

In a small bowl, combine melted butter, parsley flakes, and minced garlic. Set aside.

Punch down the dough. Tear off small pieces of dough (roughly the size of the bowl of a medium spoon), coat in the butter mixture, and place in the bottom of a bundt pan. Repeat this process until you have one layer of dough balls. Sprinkle on 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese. Continue layering the dough balls and cheese until you have 3 layers. Cover the pan with a clean towel and allow to sit until dough has doubled in size, 20-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bread is golden brown. Serve hot with a side of marinara or tomato sauce.

Here is the link to the Chicken Parmesan Casserole: Click here
I was good but not something that everyone said "This is amazing." So if I make it again there is one change I would make. I would probably get precooked diced Chicken to put in it instead of Chicken breasts. It took 3 times the preferred cooking time. Maybe that's due to me not having a 9X13 and just using whatever i had to put it in. I dunno. It was good tasting but I dunno.

Crack Potatoes

This were AMAZING!!!!!!! You must try this. I made a 1/2 batch.

Crack Potatoes or Loaded Potato Casserole

2 (16oz) containers sour cream
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 (3oz) bags real bacon bits
2 packages Ranch Dip mix
1 large (28 - 30oz) bag frozen hash brown potatoes - shredded kind

Combine first 4 ingredients, mix in hash browns. Spread into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes.

*I divided the potatoes into 3 small 7x7 disposable foil pans and froze them. I wrapped them with plastic wrap and then foil.*

a new recipe: Cheesy Enchilada Casserole

I am having a lot of luck trying recipes. There is only one that we haven't liked. The recipe below was so yummy and it was even better the next day.



Cheesy Enchilada Casserole
(Recipe from Just Get Off Your Butt and Bake)


Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
1 large onion, chopped or season with Onion powder or minced onion
2 1/2 cups salsa
1 can (15 ounces) black beans or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup reduced-fat Italian salad dressing
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium taco seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
6 flour tortillas (8 inches)
1 small can of drained corn, or about 1 1/4 cups of frozen corn (optional)
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream *Note: I used 1/2 cup
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Directions
In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
Stir in the salsa, beans, dressing, sour cream, corn (optional), taco seasoning and cumin.
Spoon a generous layer of meat mixture on bottom of 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
Place a flour or corn tortilla on top of meat mixture. Layer with half of the meat mixture, and cheese. Repeat as many layers as you like.
The last & final layer should be a healthy dose of grated cheese.
Cover with foil that has been sprayed with pam or other and bake at 400° for 25 minutes, or until hot & bubbly.
Let stand for 5 minutes before topping with lettuce, tomato and cilantro. Yield: 8 servings.

Firsts

I feel like lately my cooking has started to evolve. I am becoming more adventurous. For the first time last night I used an onion. I diced it up all by myself, lol. I usually just used dried onion flakes or skipped the onion all together. I just never really cared for them. But I did it, and all worked out well.
Last night I also used Tomatillos for the first time. Before Monday I didn't even know what they were but now I do. They were interesting. Eli ask if I tasted one before I put it in the soup and to be honest it didn't even cross my mind.
Last night as we were eating the yummy soup Eli said "now if we can just get you to play with raw chicken." I think I threw up in my mouth when he said that. Just the thought of raw meat makes me, ugh! That is going to be my biggest obstacle to overcome. I have gotten to the point where I can tough the meat when it's frozen and I am not as freaked out when I take the plastic off the roll of sausage. I think it's just going to take some time.
Someday...

2 new recipes in one week, WOW.

I made 2 new recipes this week. The one below and a White Bean Chicken Chili. Both recipes were great and probably both will go in the cookbook I have set aside to put our fav. recipes in.

As for the below recipe, the next time I will probably add some corn to it. Also I used ground beef instead of Turkey.

Bubble Up Enchilada

Nutrition Info: Calories 390 | Fat 11.5g | Carbohydrate 36g | Fiber 2g | Protein 33g
Serves 6

1 pound ground turkey
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 can reduced fat refrigerator biscuits
1 ¼ cups shredded low fat Mexican Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown turkey and drain if needed. Mix in a can of enchilada sauce. Cut the refrigerated biscuits into fourths and stir them in the meat mixture. Then you just dump it all in a greased casserole and bake for 25 minutes. Take out of oven and sprinkle cheese on top. Bake an additional 10 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
You can make this into 6 or 8 servings

White Bean Chicken Chili

Below is tonight's recipe, I will post later how it is.

White Bean Chicken Chili

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 25 Minutes
Ready In: 35 Minutes
Servings: 9

INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 (18.75 ounce) can tomatillos, drained
and chopped
1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (7 ounce) can diced green chiles
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 ears fresh corn
1 pound diced, cooked chicken meat
1 (15 ounce) can white beans
1 pinch salt and black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat oil, and cook onion and garlic until soft.
2. Stir in broth, tomatillos, tomatoes, chilies, and spices. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add corn, chicken, and beans; simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


This soup was really good. It's a must try and we will definitely be having it again.