Throw together meals

Eric and I specialize in this. We're pretty good at sticking to our grocery budget, but we're not very good at planning a menu for the week. So we have become near experts at just using what we have.

Last night was a major success--we both loved the meal I threw together at 9 p.m. after Eric got home from taking a midterm. I thought I'd share, even though it's really simple. Also, we don't do well with leftovers, so we make just enough for two people, so you'll definitely need to increase the amount on the ingredients. No worries, though, because it's nothing scientific!

1 thick chicken breast
1 zucchini, sliced into small rounds
Olive oil
Dried basil, oregano, thyme, and/or any Italian-themed spices you enjoy
1 packet alfredo sauce mix (and any ingredients needed to make said mix--usually butter and milk)
Some onion

We thawed the chicken and I made Eric trim it in half for me so it was thinner--it was a large breast. Otherwise we would have used two. Preheat oven to 350. Put the chicken breast in a baking dish, and lay the zucchini on top of the chicken and throughout the pan. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the chicken and zucchini, then sprinkle your spices. Prepare alfredo sauce according to package directions (or if you're being fancy, make your own--just make enough to be able to have a good 3/4 inch or so of sauce in the bottom of your pan). Pour sauce over zucchini and chicken. Slice some onion and arrange over top of the sauce. We had a good amount of onion because Eric loves them. Pop the pan in the oven and let cook until chicken is cooked (for our small dish it took about 30-35 minutes).

We toasted some English muffins for the side and all-in-all it was a nice way to end a long day for my poor grad student--he'd had a midterm in accounting and it was rough.

Try it, you'll like it!

Baked Pasta

I love pasta. I think I would die if I couldn't eat it. So don't even ask me to give it up. I know you're all conspiring to do it, but don't. Just stop here.

Here is a recipe that I came across in Parenting magazine. It's delicious and colorful. But you MUST use fresh mozzarella. MUST. Not the stuff you get over by the Kraft cheeses. If you use Kraft, you're in trouble. Big trouble. Go over to the cool, exotic cheese section and find fresh mozzarella. It's the stuff that melts under your knife. It's awesome.

Here's the recipe.

Baked Pasta With Summer Veggies
Cooking spray
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced (or substitute summer squash, carrots, or eggplant)
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb ziti or penne pasta
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese (fat free is fine also)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, plus 1/2 cup (I buy the fresh stuff)
pinch of nutmeg
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped (I've used fresh and dried, just use less if you substitute the dry)
1/2 lb FRESH mozzarella
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 425. Lightly coat a large, shallow baking dish with cooking spray. Place a large pot of water over medium-high heat.Toss onion, garlic, red pepper, and zucchini in a large bowl with olive oil; season with salt and pepper to taste. Place vegetables on a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes.

While vegetables are roasting, add pasta to the water and boil about 2 minutes short of package directions (it should still be slightly firm). Drain.

In a large bowl, mix the ricotta, 1/4 cup parmesan, and the nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper. Gently toss pasta with the ricotta mixture, vegetables, tomatoes, oregano, and mozzarella. Pour mixture into the baking dish.Sprinkle top with the remaining parmesan and break crumbs. Bake, uncovered, until lightly browned and bubbling, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

P.S. This is also very good unbaked. It makes a delicious cold salad that you can take to work and enjoy when you take a break from the craziness that is our world. :)

Cake Balls!:)

Not sure if this recipe is already on here (i didn't have enough time to to search through all of the posts). I made it last night for the first time, i have eaten it a few times, but made it last night. Those who had some said they were delicious, i can't have sugar right now, so....i couldn't tell you what my personal thoughts are.

here is the link: http://www.bakerella.com/red-velvet-cake-balls/

im not sure how to make it so you can just click on it, but im sure you all know how to copy and paste.

one problem i had with it, is that it actually made 90 balls, (mostly because of the size of melon baller/cookie scooper) so i used 2 1/2 bags of chocolate. Also by the end of the whole thing my last few didn't look so hot because there were little crumbly cake pieces in the chocolate, so i tried to drizzle some of the chocolate over the cake balls because it just wasn't sticking to it when i rolled them because of all the little bits. THAT or i just dont know what im doing:)

this was the first time ive dipped anything in chocolate so....any tips?
I also used milk choc. chips because i couldn't find any choc. bark

ENJOY!!!:)

Favorite spices

So I want everyone to share in the comments what their favorite spices are. You can share some for sweet dishes, some for savory. I'll start.

Savory:

• I am addicted to basil. I've said it. There.
• I've recently rediscovered paprika. I forgot that it is good for more than a garnish on deviled eggs. Tried it on some sweet potato fries today and it was delish (yes, I said delish--I'm bringing that one back from the 90s).
  
• Basic Mrs. Dash. So it's not just one spice...but I think it's amazing that there's so much goodness and no salt, and I never add salt when I've used Mrs. Dash, so that's got to be a good sign for someone like me who adds exorbitant amounts of salt to some of my food.

Sweet:

• Nutmeg.
• Vanilla bean.
• Butter.

Ok, so I know butter isn't a spice. But it's yummy. And I don't even blink when I make butter balls, one of my favorite cookies, that have two sticks of butter in them.

2 things

1. We need to get a title for this blog already.
2. I forgot the 2nd thing.

If you're on a diet...

Stop reading.

For all the rest of us liberated women (who know we're going to die because of the things we eat but we say we don't care as we smear butter on everything we make), here's a recipe I tried today from The Pioneer Woman's Web site. It was really, really yummy. I love strawberry shortcake, and this is like strawberry shortcake on steroids. So enjoy, and I'll see you when we're getting stints in our major arteries the same weekend.

Strawberry Shortcake Cake

Yummy, easy honey nut chicken

To be honest, I didn't have any nuts, so I did mustard in the egg/honey mixture instead, but this was super moist and soooo easy. Eric and I liked it, and it was really short prep time and dinner was ready in less than an hour. I'll just post the link so you can change the serving size if you need to.

Baked Honey Nut Chicken.

Stuffed Mushrooms

My friend made these for a girls night we had a couple of weeks ago and they were so good, plus sooo easy.

1 pound sage sausage
1 package cream cheese
mushrooms

Brown sausage, mix with cream cheese and stuff in mushrooms. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Kitchen Gadget

Hey everyone, I'm looking to purchase a wok sometime in the near future. I've been looking around on the net and wanted to know if any of you have recommendations. In a way I'd like an electric one, though many people complain they don't get hot enough to truly sear the food. I have come across one that many reviews claim that gets hotter than other electric woks. Or do I just go with the traditional stainless steel stovetop wok? Remember, I'm not working on a gas fire stove here, so on an electric stovetop it still might be hard to get it up to the higher heat...maybe?

I have no idea.

What do you think?

Apple Cinnamon Bran Muffins

(I got this from my friend Melynie)

Mix and set aside to cool:

4 c All bran cereal

2 c boiling water

Cream together in large bowl:

1 c vegetable oil (or substitute applesauce)

2 1/2 c honey

4 eggs

Add and mix well:

2 T baking soda

2 t salt

4 c buttermilk

cooled bran mixture

7 c whole wheat flour

4 T cinnamon

4 1/2 c finely chopped, peeled apples

2 1/2 t nutmeg2 1/2 t cloves

Yield: 13 cups batter

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 min.

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

A small splash of vanilla extract

1 large coffee mug (microwave safe)

Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Stir in the milk and oil. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Cook for 3 minutes in the microwave at 1000 watts (the cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed). Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate. Can serve 2.

Hawaiian Chicken

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups pineapple juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:

Spray slow cooker with non-stick spray. Mix the ingredients & pour over chicken in slow cooker. Cook 4-6 hours on low or until chicken falls apart easily. Shred & serve over rice with your choice of steamed vegetables (I love it with zucchini & squash). (If you prefer, you can use pineapple in addition to the juice. My family hates pineapple, though, so I just use the juice for flavor).

Pretend Like It's the Weekend

Here's a recipe our family loves and that I can tell you right off the top of my head. I've never been a bananas or a pancakes lover, but I really do love these banana pancakes. We always make a double batch and then stick some in the freezer for quick heating later in the week.

Brainless Banana Pancakes

1 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 c milk
1 banana
1 tbsp sugar

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside. Mash banana in medium bowl, mix in milk and sugar. Whisk banana mixture into dry mixture. We've found these cook best on our griddle rather than right on the stove. They are great with butter and real maple syrup, or garnish with fresh fruit.

A few good ones...

Thanks for the invite Katy! I love finding good recipes:). Here are a couple to get things started:

Crispy Orange Beef--Okay so this is not one you'll want to make every day for obvious health reasons, but it is very, very good and much fresher and cheaper than buying take-out. I found it in a daily email from Allrecipes on this past Conference Sunday and we just happened to have everything we needed to make it. A couple of adjustments:
1. If you want to have enough sauce so you can serve it over rice and have the rice adequately sauced, then double that part. Make sure you cook it long enough so it becomes a glaze-like consistency; you may want to add a smidge of corstarch.
2. We like to eat a lot of veggies in this house, so after cooking up the meat and draining the wok of oil, I added back a little oil (I always add in sesame oil in asian cooking) and stir-fried a whole bunch of thinly sliced veggies--carrots, celery, onion, green onion, pea pods, broccoli, etc., until tender-crisp and then set them aside. I added them back into the sauce with the meat and cooked until heated through just before serving.
3. Make sure the beef is completely coated in the corn starch, that you cook it in small batches, that it gets well-browned and crispy before removing from the oil (I use a slotted spoon), and that you lay it to drain on paper towels. A deep-fryer would probably work even better if you have one. All of these things will ensure that you get crispy orange beef and not slimy orange beef;).
Serve it with egg rolls, steamed rice and a salad.

Chocolate-Crusted Chocolate Tarts--I have made these for a few baby showers and when we've had people over. There are a couple of different steps, but they are really quite easy to make. I make them in my silicon muffin pans, and that really aids in the removal of the tarts after baking. I usually use honey flavored with seedless raspberry jam ( about 2-3 tsp of jam in the honey) and Ghiradelli 60% cacao chocolate chips (b/c I am a bit too cheap to spend $10 on truly DARK chocolate for this dessert), and they are always a hit.

If anyone tries these, let us know what you think--did you like it, did it turn out, did you make any adjustments to the recipe?

Happy eating!

Back to blogging...but not in the conventional sense

Okay, yes, I created a new blog even though I've sworn off blogging. I know, I know. In my defense, though, this blog will mostly likely not include any pictures of my family or cute stories about my kids (probably). So, you might wonder, what in the sam hill is this thing even going to be about? (I heard someone use that expression the other day and I've been dying to use it ever since!) Let me explain...

I recently figured out that I LOVE to cook. I also really enjoy baking. I'm not claiming any expert status or special talent here. I just really enjoy it. Nowadays, when babies are in bed or when I have a few free minutes at home (HA!) I'm poring over recipe books. I don't have any special cooking/baking equipment--although my Amazon Wish List has several items that are for that far-off day when I get my gourmet kitchen; if anyone feels like spending money on me let me know and I'll link you to my list--but I thought it would be fun to use a blog as a place to document menus, recipes and pictures of what I'm cooking...or thinking about cooking. I also thought if anyone else was interested, I could add team members to the blog and we could ALL share the yumminess in our lives! So...any takers?

Anyway, if you want, check back in anytime you'd like to see what's happening in my kitchen!