Relax, Pull Up A Chair

Cadbury Creme Egg Stuffed Cupcakes

2011-04-23T09:48:00.005-04:00

I LOVE Cadbury Creme Eggs. They are my favorite Easter (and really all year round) candy. I decided to try and make some cupcakes with the eggs inside and they came out better then I could have anticipated.

Ingredients:
Your Favorite Cupcake Recipe (Mine came from a box - Devil's Food)
Cadbury Creme Eggs (I used 16 original and 8 caramel)
Cool Whip

1. Put Cadbury Eggs in the freezer for a few hours before you begin to make the cupcakes.

2. Prepare cupcake batter and put Cadbury Eggs standing in the batter. I stood mine up, and all but 2 of them stayed that way. The 2 fell over, but still turned out okay.

3. Bake as directed by Cupcake Recipe.

4. Frost with Cool Whip as they are going to be eaten. I thought frosting would have been too much sweetness on top of it all. The Cool Whip was the perfect touch.

Sausage and Peppers

2011-03-02T14:39:00.002-05:00

Ingredients:

Italian Sausage (Pork or Turkey)

1 Red Pepper

1 Yellow Pepper

1 Orange Pepper

1 clove garlic

Red Onion

I made this for myself for dinner today, so I only used one link of Italian Turkey Sausage, so ingredients will have to be multiplied when making this dish for a family.

1. Slice the peppers into long strips.

2. Dice a portion of the red onion, and slice another portion of the onion into long strips. Amounts of the peppers and onions is based on your preference.

3. Dice clove of garlic

4. Chop the sausage into small pieces and cook thoroughly.

5. Once the sausage is cooked, add the peppers, onions, and garlic.

6. Cook everything together until the peppers and onions are tender.

I made mashed sweet potatoes to go with this dish.

Hamburger Soup

2011-01-05T16:40:00.002-05:00

This recipe is so versatile and so ridiculously easy. You really can put anything in it, but it was pretty good - and was a huge hit with Grace.

Need:

- 1lb ground beef

- 1 small onion

- 1 clove garlic

- tomato soup (I used 1 32oz carton of Trader Joe's Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper)

- mixed veggies (I used frozen, fresh would be good too)

Do:

1. Sautee onions and garlic in a little bit of olive oil and add in ground beef. Cook until brown (it's better to just do all this in a large pot)

2. Add in veggies and then the tomato soup

3. Simmer until veggies are tender (or to your liking)

4. Serve with crusty bread or rolls

Chad put a little mozzarella cheese in his, you could add goldfish or oyster crackers on top.

Stuffed Shells

2010-12-07T09:09:00.003-05:00

Ingredients:

16 jumbo stuffing shells
1 bunch chopped green onion
2 chopped roma tomatoes
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1 package ground Jennie-O-Turkey
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce. (Iused Prego Heart Smart Tomato Sauce with Mushrooms)

1. Boil water for the shells.
2. Chop green onion and tomatoes.
3. Place chopped green onions and tomatoes in a bowl. Add the ricotta cheese and mix together.
4. Cook the ground turkey, and season to your preference.
5. Cook the shells. Keep a close eye on them when boiling because they cook fast, and will split apart if they get too soft.
6. Spray a 9x13 in. pan with Pam. When shells are ready to be stuffed, place them in the pan. Add the cooked ground turkey to the bowl with the onions, tomatoes and ricotta cheese. Mix well.
7. Stuff shells with about 2 tablespoons of the mixture.
8. If any mixture remains after shells are stuffed, pour on top of the shells. Pour jar of pasta sauce over all of the shells.
9. Bake at 325 for 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Sauerkraut and Sausage

2010-11-14T18:57:00.003-05:00

Ingredients:

1 package Eckrich Smoked Turkey Sausage
1 package or can of sauerkraut

1. Turn crockpot on low
2. Slice sausage into thin slices
3. Drain juice from sauerkraut. Place sauerkraut into crockpot.
4. Add the sliced sausage pieces. Mix together.
5. Add enough water to add moisture, but not too much as to completely cover the food.
6. Cook 5-6 hours. Stir occasionally.

I have been experimenting with different turkey products lately, and I tried this one for dinner the other night and everyone loved it. I also have bad acid reflux, so anything that contains a lot of salt usually gives me really bad heartburn. When I was preparing the sauerkraut, I was trying to remove as much of the salt as I could. After I opened the package of sauerkraut, I dumped it into a strainer to drain out all of the excess salty juices. Then I rinsed the sauerkraut under cold water, and let it sit while the water stopped draining. Then I placed the sauerkraut in the crockpot, added the sausage and some water, and let it slow cook. I stirred it every so often just to make sure it was cooking evenly. I noticed a huge difference in the saltiness when I made it this way. It tasted very good, and I didn't get heartburn at all.

Cream Cheese Chili Dip

2010-11-05T10:04:00.003-04:00

Ingredients:

10.5 oz. can Hormel Chili No Beans
2 blocks Philidelphia Cream Cheese
7 oz. or 8 oz. package of Shredded Cheese (I use shredded Colby Jack Cheese, but you can use whatever type of Shredded Cheese you prefer)
1-2 bags of Tostito Scoops (Depending on the size of your group)

1. In an 8.5x8.5 dish or one of similar size (I use a glass pyrex casserole dish), spread the two blocks of cream cheese over the bottom of the dish.
2. Pour and spread can of Chili over cream cheese evenly.
3. Put shredded cheese on top of Chili.
4. Cook in microwave until cheese is melted.

I make this dip a lot for family parties, and just made it again last weekend, and it's always a big hit! You can use any type of chip you want, but I have found that Tostito Scoops work the best.

Enjoy!

Basic Homemade Tomato Sauce

2010-11-03T21:13:00.003-04:00

I totally winged this the other night, and it turned out great!

Need:

3 large tomatoes

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/4 large onion, diced

1tsp(ish) basil

1tsp(ish) oregano

1tsp(ish) marjoram

pinch of kosher salt

Do:

Dice and puree tomatoes. In a pot, combine ingredients, and simmer for about an hour on low-med heat. This boiled down to about a cup of sauce - which was perfect since we were making pizza - but if you were making spaghetti - you might want to double or triple the recipe.

Cool slightly and puree if you'd like (again, since we were doing pizza, I did) - voila!

Another great idea would be to add veggies - green or red peppers, mushrooms, etc. - while simmering.

Turkey Meatballs

2010-11-02T20:06:00.003-04:00

Ingredients:

1 package ground turkey (I used a 1.25lb package of Jennie-O-Turkey extra lean ground turkey)
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup egg substitute (I used eggbeaters)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and mix together.
2. Spray 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray.
3. Roll mixture into meatballs. They can be any size you prefer.
4. Place meatballs in casserole dish so that they are lined up, but not touching each other.
5. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes.

I made my meatballs about an inch in diameter, and it made 24 meatballs. I actually needed the 9x13 in. casserole dish, plus another casserole dish about half that size. I didn't season the meat, but next time I think I will to add a little more flavor. I got the basic idea of the recipe from the Jennie-O-Turkey website, and I just added the onion, and subtracted a few other ingredients. For the actual recipe, you can visit their website here: http://www.jennieo.com/recipes/default.aspx

These are delicious and healthy meatballs!

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-10-31T17:08:00.003-04:00

I made these a week or two ago and they were a BIG hit. I did get most of the recipe from Jenny over at Picky Palate. But I've been asked again and again for the recipe, so here it is:

Ingredients:
2 sticks softened butter
1 Cup granulated sugar
3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
Cup pumpkin, from can (not Pumpkin Pie Filling)
3 1/4 Cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
12 oz bag chocolate chips
35 Pumpkin Spice Kisses, quartered

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla until well combined then add pumpkin.

2. Combine dry ingredients, then add to wet ingredients. Mix in chocolate chips & kisses

3. Scoop onto cookie sheet - I made nice big cookies. These fluff up and don't flatten out much. Bake 10-15 Minutes, let cool briefly and transfer to wire cooling rack.

Makes 2 Dozen.

Happy Halloween!

Fondue Dinner

2010-09-27T23:59:00.002-04:00

So Chad has been begging for quite awhile to have fondue for dinner. Tonight we did!

Need:

1lb velveeta cheese

1/2 c chicken broth

1T taco seasoning

1/2 c salsa

Fixings

Do:

Melt cheese w/chicken broth in a pot and then add in taco seasoning and salsa. Pour in a fondue pot and serve with fixings cut up bite-sized. We used soft pretzels, chicken (I sauteed with McCormick chicken seasoning in a pan), steak from Chad's work, green peppers, broccoli, and carrots. It was delicious.

Spinach Alfredo Sauce

2010-09-21T00:24:00.005-04:00

I made something new tonight!! Here ya go:

Need:

1 clove garlic

1/2 small onion

Olive oil

1 package frozen spinach, thawed, drained - or fresh equivalent.

1 cup milk

3/4 ish cup Parmesan cheese (or to taste)

salt and pepper

Do:

Sautee garlic and onion in olive oil for a few minutes. Add spinach and cook for 7 minutes or so. Put ingredients in a blender with milk and cheese and blend until smooth.

At this point, I threw shrimp in the pan that I had sauteed the veggies in, heated them up and then poured the sauce back in to heat evenly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Pour over pasta and voila! It was good - and even my husband ate it!

It should be noted that most alfredo sauces are made with heavy cream and not milk. Heavy cream is about 50 calories per tablespoon, so I opt to use milk to lower the calories and in this particular recipe, pureeing the spinach makes it thick enough. But I'm sure using cream would make it richer.

Tuna Sandwich

2010-06-23T23:10:00.002-04:00

Here is a different way to make a tuna fish sandwich:

Ingredients:
1 can tuna
Grey Poupon Honey Dijon
Shredded Cheese

Make tuna with the honey dijon instead of mayonnaise to give it a little zippy taste! I added a little shredded cheese and then put the sandwich in my sandwich maker to warm it up, and it tasted very good! I have also started using Pepperidge Farm Deli Flats and they make really nice sandwiches.

Stuffed Manicotti

2010-04-28T11:06:00.002-04:00

Ingredients:

1lb Ground Beef or Ground Turkey (whichever is your preference)
1lb Italian Sausage (I used a package of Johnsonville Mild Italian Sausage)
1 small onion chopped
1 8oz. can mushrooms
1 box Manicotti Noodles
1 medium sized jar of your favorite tomato sauce
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (Amount depends on how much cheese you like to use)

1. Cook the meat
2. Cook the noodles according to package instructions
3. Once the meat is cooked, add the mushrooms and onions and cook on low heat to mix it in. Leave in pan.
4. Once the noodles are cooked, take them out of the boiling water, and place on a plate.
5. Spray a 9x13 inch casserole dish or something similar with Pam
6. Pick up a noodle, hold the noodle on an angle against the bottom of the dish, and stuff with mixture of meat, onions and mushrooms. Line up stuffed manicotti side by side.
7. Once all the shells are stuffed, pour the jar of tomato sauce over the remaining mixture of meat, onions and mushrooms that is still in the pan.
8. Pour this remaining mixture over the stuffed manicotti, and sprinkle the top with as much cheese as you like.
9. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes

Enjoy!

Macaroni & Cheese

2010-04-07T23:43:00.001-04:00

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter plus 2 Tbsp. butter
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk
1/2 cup sour cream
4 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp. salt
1.5 tsp. dry mustard
1/4-1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. black pepper
4 cups sharp cheddar shredded cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 lb. elbow macaroni
1.5 cups fresh breadcrumbs ( I only used 3/4 cup on ours)

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Start cooking elbow macaroni
3. In separate large saucepan, combine flour and butter, and stir until smooth
4. Slowly add milk, and continue to stir until thick and smooth
5. Add sour cream and cream cheese. Keep stirring.
6. Add salt, dry mustard, cayenne and black pepper and mix well
7. Stir in cheddar and parmesan cheese.
8. On low heat, continue to stir sauce until thick and well mixed
9. Drain macaroni, and return to pan.
10. Add sauce to noodles and mix well
11. Pour into baking dish
12. In small bowl combine 2 Tbsp. melted butter and bread crumbs, and mix together. Sprinkle on top of macaroni & cheese
13. Bake 40-45 minutes

Enjoy!

Lemon Butter Noodles

2010-04-06T23:27:00.002-04:00

Okay, so this is definitely not a homemade recipe, but wow, it was wonderful and EASY. I'd stuff this in a semi-homemade category if we had one.

Little Background: Chad brought home chicken piccata from the Easter brunch at Lellis on Sunday. I needed something to go with it:

Need:

1 box Pasta Roni angel hair with herbs

Ingredients to make that per directions on the box - water, milk, butter

1/2 Lemon

Prepare pasta according to the directions on the box. Once you pull it off the heat - but before it thickens, squeeze in the juice from 1/2 a lemon. Do it over a mesh strainer to catch the seeds/pulp. Mix and let sit so the sauce thickens.

Done! See, I told you it was almost too easy to even post. And it goes EXCELLENT with chicken :)

Ribs

2010-03-31T09:44:00.002-04:00

Ingredients:

2-3 full slabs of ribs
A bottle of your favorite bbq sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray's)

Set oven to 250 degrees. Spray the inside of a roasting pan with Pam. ( It helps to keep the ribs nice and juicy if you have a wire rack placed in the bottom of your roasting pan). Rinse the ribs in cold water, and place in the roasting pan. If you're making two slabs, place them side by side for even cooking. Brush bbq sauce on the tops and bottoms of the ribs. Cover the pan with the lid, and place in oven. Brush the tops and bottoms of the ribs with bbq sauce every half hour. This helps to keep lots of moisture in the ribs. Cook the ribs at 250 degrees for five hours, and the meat will fall off the bones! They are so good!

Pizza Pasta

2010-03-11T11:27:00.002-05:00

Ingredients:

1lb. pasta (Any type you prefer)
2-12 oz. jars of Ragu Pizza Sauce
16oz. pkg. Low-Fat Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1lb. Extra Lean Ground Beef
1 pkg. Pepperoni
3- 4oz. cans of mushrooms (optional)
1 can diced tomatoes (optional)

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain, and return to pot. Cook ground beef, drain, and add to pot with pasta. Add pizza sauce, shredded cheese, pepperoni, and anything else that sounds good to you to the pot. I added the diced tomatoes because I didn't want the pasta to be too dry. Mix together until shredded cheese melts. I made this for dinner the other night, and it turned out pretty good, and was a big hit. I used elbow macaroni which seemed to work out well, but I think next time I might season the ground beef with some taco seasoning to add a little more flavor. I found a package of mini pepperoni that I used for this recipe, and it worked out really well too.

Chicken Fettucine Alfredo

2010-03-10T09:30:00.002-05:00

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter
2 cups whipping cream
2 cups grated parmesan cheese
1lb. fettucine
chicken

Cook the fettucine according to package instructions. Melt the butter, and in a medium bowl, combine melted butter, whipping cream, and parmesan cheese. Stir until well blended. Once the noodles are cooked, drain, and return to pot. Pour the mixture of butter, whipping cream and parmesan cheese over the noodles. Add chicken, and/or anything else you desire. I also add mushrooms to mine, and it tastes very good. I also use the bags of Tyson cooked oven diced chicken breasts to make this meal a little quicker to make. You just have to heat them up in the microwave, and they're ready to be added to the pasta. The longer you let the fettucine alfredo sit, the thicker the alfredo becomes. It tastes very good as leftovers the next day too! Enjoy!

BBQ Pork Chops and Mushrooms

2010-02-09T12:30:00.003-05:00

Ok...Haven't posted on here in a while so I will try to explain what I made for dinner the other night.

PORK CHOPS:

This is simple. Take several center cut chops and rub in light brown sugar until coated. Sprinkle a little tiny bit of cinnamon and nutmeg as well. Then use your favorite BBQ sauce (I like Baby Ray's Chipolte Raspberry...not too hot yet nummy) to coat the tops of the chops. Allow chops to sit like this for about 1/2 hour. Then bake at 325 or 350 for around 45 minutes (check as you go to make sure!) That's it. Simple.

MUSHROOMS:

Slice small package of fresh mushrooms and set aside. In bowl whip one stick of margarine, parsley and garlic powder with wire whisk. Do this until the margarine is light and smooth. Spray skillet and let heat over stove for about 30 seconds. Put in mushrooms and begin to brown. Make sure mushrooms have enough room between them so that they brown nicely. After a minute or two spoon in margarine mix until mushrooms are coated. Continue to brown until they are done (to taste). There you have wonderful garlic mushrooms to go with your pork chops!! Also, if you have any of the mix left it goes great on a baked potato!

Chicken Alfredo

2010-01-19T00:02:00.008-05:00

So I got this recipe from Crystal. She made it for us when we stayed with her in Phoenix and it was soooooo good. My attempt didn't turn out half bad and I even have pictures! I'm going to do my best on measurements, but know that I didn't measure anything (so taste taste taste!,) so I'm sorry if I'm a little off.

Need:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
1 bunch fresh cilantro
2t basil
2t oregano
2t parsley
1.5 T garlic salt
Olive Oil

1 box pasta of your choice (I used bowtie, Crystal used Fettucini)
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 cup milk
3T milk
1 t flour
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (I used the powdery stuff in the green canister from kraft - nothing fancy)
garlic salt

Do:
Marinate your chicken - Mix the basil, parsley, oregano, garlic salt, and chopped cliantro leaves (I cut the stems off and just rough chopped a few times- enough to get some flavor out) in a gallon ziploc bag add a little oil to dry ingredients and then toss in your chicken. Add enough oil so that your chicken is coated with the herbs, and then get as much air out as you can and seal the bag. Marinate for as long as you see fit. I did it for an hour or so, I imagine you could do it the night before and leave it in the fridge, I don't know.

This was taken AFTER I took out the chicken - you're going to need more oil than you see here.

When chicken is ready, heat to proper temperature in a pan. The oil that is already on the chicken should be plenty enough to cook with.

Boil your noodles, drain, and return to the pot while they're still hot. Add in your cream, 1 cup milk, and p. cheese - mix well. Mix your 3T milk and the flour in a small cup until smooth and then slowly pour a little bit into your sauce, and bring to a low boil. This should thicken your sauce - the more of the mix you add, the thicker it will get, the less, the thinner.

Serve the chicken on top of the noodles. Garnish with a side of garlic bread - yum yum yum! And what was great about this dish was that all I really had to buy (that I don't usually) was the cilantro, the cream, and the cheese (no one likes it on spaghetti here, so we don't buy it.)

Now...when Crystal made this, she used all heavy cream. I bought enough cream to do that, and then realized that heavy cream is 50 calories per TABLESPOON (and we'd be using at least a cup in the sauce.) So I THINK you could do this using all milk (I used Grace's whole - which is 150 cal/cup) and no cream if you use the flour thickener (I'm sure there's a name for that technique, but I don't know what it is.) That's my intention the next time I make this, and I'll edit and let you know how it turns out.

*EDIT* - YES, you can use just milk to make this. Just use the flour thickener until it's thick enough for your taste. It's wonderful, with a slightly lighter taste, and MUCH more friendly on the waistline!

Cheese Sauce

2010-01-14T22:43:00.005-05:00

So I was going to title this recipe - Complete Junk Food...but I didn't :) I had a severe craving for cheap stadium style nacho cheese tonight, and since I'm not in a position to buy that right now, I made this instead.

Need:

7 slices American cheese

2 T butter

2 T flour

1c milk

salt

salsa

Do:

Melt butter over low heat and add flour. Mix. Add milk and cheese slices. Salt to your preference.

Now, I was craving the spicyish nacho cheese, and this definitely does not make that (apparently good over broccoli) - so I tossed in about 3/4 cup of medium salsa and it is working out quite well.

HC Smashed Bean Burritos

2009-12-08T17:04:00.003-05:00

Need:
1-2 cans of black/pinto beans
dash of olive or canola oil
whole wheat tortillas
taco seasoning
toppings: cheese, sour cream, salsa, diced tomatoes, olives...you get the idea

Do:
Drain and rinse beans well
Put into a large bowl and fork mash your beans so that enough of them are squished to make a paste. I mash them more for Grace than I do for me. Add in a tbsp of oil per can. This makes them more moist as well as adds essential calories.
Sprinkle some taco seasoning to taste and mix that in as well.
Spread into a tortilla and heat (oven, micro, your choice)
Top with your favorite toppings.

Lower Calorie - Add a bit of water to the beans instead of oil. Use plain yogurt instead of sour cream (it actually doesn't taste TOO different.) Omit the cheese, and load with veggies (tomatoes, green/red peppers, onions, lettuce - whatever you like.)

I'm well aware that they sell refried beans that would make this a lot easier. But buying reduced sodium whole beans (and honestly, I usually make dried Pintos by the crock pot full because G likes them so much - which is even better) allows me to control the fat/sodium content a little better for both of us, since I usually make both options at the same time.

Crockpot Beef

2009-12-08T16:55:00.002-05:00

I like to blog-hop - going to a blog I know and clicking on one of their blog links on the side and then clicking on one of their blog links....etc. That's how I got this:

Need:
1 package of stew meat
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup apple juice
1 packet onion soup mix
sprinkle of celery seed (the original called for 1 tsp - and let me tell you, you DO NOT need that much, I wouldn't use more than 1/2 that)

Do:
Mix all ingredients except beef in the crock pot. Add beef and cook on high for 2 hours then low for 1 hour. Serve over mashed potatoes with a side of veggies! Easy peasy!

Sweet Potato Bake

2009-11-20T00:29:00.005-05:00

I feel like we're in a recipe slump people! Where are my co-horts?! How about some holiday recipes? Anyone...

Need:
6-10 Sweet potatoes, peeled, chunked, and boiled
3/4 c apple juice
2T brown sugar
2T honey
1 stick butter (1/2c)
dash of cinnamon (optional)
1 bag mini marshmallows

Do:
Mash your sweet potatoes with the juice, b. sugar, honey, butter and cinnamon. The number of sweet potatoes you need depends on how big they are. If you have little ones, you're going to need around 10 if you have big gigantor fat ones, stick closer to the 6. I use electric beaters to mash my potatoes (sweet or otherwise) and they turn out just fine.

Spread the mashed potatoes evenly in a 9x13in glass baking dish.

Top with bag of mini marshmallows (evenly, as well)

THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT - Move your oven rack as far away from the broiler as possible (so, for me, that would be at the very bottom of the oven) and then turn it on.

Stick them under the broiler for 5 min or so until the top is golden brown (you're going for an excellent campfire look - unless you LIKE them burnt, that's up to you).

DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT walk away from them. They will CATCH FIRE if you don't pay attention. Believe me, I know.

Vegetable Beef Bake

2009-10-10T01:20:00.005-04:00

Need
1 lb ground beef
1 bag mixed vegetables thawed, or 2 cans drained
1 cup beef broth
1/2 an onion diced or 1-2T onion powder/dried onions
flour

5 potatoes
3/4 cup milk
3 T butter
1T sour cream (optional)
OR Instant/frozen/ready-made mashed potatoes (A good big bowl full)

Do:
(This is where your alternate mashed potato choice comes in, if you have those, skip this part..I don't care for instant potatoes, so I make my own - hence, we don't often have mashed potatoes)
Peel, chop, and boil your 5 potatoes
Mash with milk, butter, and sour cream
Set Aside

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Brown your ground beef, I seasoned mine with a bit of Lawry's. Do not drain the fat (or don't drain ALL of the fat) you need it for the gravy.
Once the beef is nice and browned, add your cup of beef broth and onion. If you're using fresh onion, add it before the broth and let it cook for a few minutes. I usually keep beef bouillon granules on hand, so I just added a cup of water and a little over a teaspoon of those in place of my beef broth.
Heat til boiling. While that is heating, mix your 2 T flour with a little bit of water (make it runny - not a paste). Add slowly to your broth/beef mixture while stirring. This should thicken up your mixture into a gravy. If it doesn't - do it again.
Pour your vegetables into the bottom of a 13x9in glass baking dish.
Pour your beef/gravy mixture on top and mix up a bit.
Spread mashed potatoes over the top to cover, and bake for about 20-25 min.
The last five minutes can be done under the broiler for a crispy brown crust if you'd like (we do.)

This is very similar to shepherd's pie - I've only made it once, ever - but Grace LOVED it. It got two thumbs up here :).

HC Smoothie

2009-10-09T00:17:00.002-04:00

Need:
1 container of whole milk yogurt (We buy Yo Baby in Apple and Blueberry)
Splash or two of whole milk
Handful of frozen berries
1/4 Banana
Couple of ice cubes
Drizzle of honey

Do:
Dump all ingredients in a blender (Can I recommend a Magic Bullet?? It's fantastic.)
Blend
Drink! Yum!

Make sure you put it in a cup with a wide straw - I use the Take 'n Toss cups with straws...those seem to work ok, I've read that cups from restaurants with the wide bendy plastic straws work better

Change out the whole milk and whole milk yogurt for low-fat versions and have a healthy smoothie for yourself!

HC Popsicles

2009-10-06T18:22:00.002-04:00

Need:
1 package instant Jell-o pudding
Required milk (2 cups, I think - I used whole because it has the most fat)
1 cup fresh or frozen fruit
Popsicle molds

Do:
Prepare pudding according to the directions using whole milk
While pudding is setting (takes about 5 min) thaw your frozen fruit (I microwaved it for about 30ish seconds)
After pudding is set, gently fold in your fruit
Spoon into popsicle molds and freeze for about 4 hours or until frozen

Enjoy!

Pudding pops have many more calories than regular juice or like-juice popsicles. And the customization options are endless. I used cheesecake pudding mix and added frozen raspberries. But as another option you could use chocolate pudding and add cherries, or even chocolate chips or M&M's. Really your imagination is your limit.

Tip: When I folded the berries into the pudding, I made sure just to mix a few times so the colors were swirled rather than turning the whole mixture pink.

HC Tuna Melt

2009-10-01T14:50:00.013-04:00

When we got the orders that Grace was to be put on a high-calorie diet, and I read the lists of things that I was supposed to be feeding her, I realized that I had a problem. Making food for her that had lots and lots of fat and calories while making something for us that DIDN'T without having to make two entirely separate meals 3x/day was going to be hard. So begins our journey of the high-calorie kid and her low-calorie parents.

Today's Lunch:

Need:
2 slices of bread - the heavier the better (I used potato)
1/2 can of tuna - packed in oil if possible (we just buy the packed in water kind, that's fine)
1-2 tsp of regular mayonnaise
1 cooked egg yolk
1 slice of American cheese
butter
dash of onion powder
dash of garlic powder
squirt of yellow mustard
bit of dill pickle relish

Do:
Heat a small pan.
Mix tuna, mayo, yolk, onion/garlic powders, mustard and relish together.
Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread.
Put a pad of butter in the pan, and melt.
Place the buttered bread in the pan, top with a slice of cheese, the tuna mixture, another slice of cheese, and the other slice of buttered bread (butter side up)
Cook until golden brown, and flip, cooking until the other side is also golden brown.
Serve with ranch for dipping.

For the lower calorie (and slightly healthier option) make the (packed in water) tuna with (just ONE teaspoon) reduced fat mayo, omit the egg yolk, put two slices of whole wheat bread (UNBUTTERED) in the toaster, and when they come out nice and hot, add a low-fat cheese slice, your tuna mixture, lettuce and tomato. Yummy.

Purple Pancakes with Syrup

2009-09-07T00:15:00.004-04:00

While Chad sleeps in, I usually make breakfast every Sunday morning. This is what we had today:

Need:
1 bag frozen Berry Medley (or Mixed Berries - raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries) or about 12 oz of the fresh equivalent (a good handful of each)
Your usual pancake batter
Water
1-2T powdered sugar (optional)
1 T granulated sugar

Do:
Thaw your berries

Mix up your pancake batter as usual - if you use the "Add Water" kind, or make your own, whatever. I use Bisquick baking mix and add oil and eggs as well as a little over a tablespoon of powdered sugar just to sweeten up my cakes a tad bit.

Blend/mash half the THAWED berries and mix with your batter (you may have to add a little more flour/baking mix so the batter is the right consistency.) This will make your pancakes purple, and extra yummy.

Cook as you would regular pancakes. While that is going on...

Blend/mash the remaining THAWED berries and push through a fine strainer to remove the seeds. This is where I added the water. I would mix water with my mashed berry mix in the strainer to help the juice go through. Pour your strained berry juice into a small saucepan, and add about a tablespoon of sugar. Bring to a boil, and then simmer uncovered until the juice thickens (Mine took about as long as making the entire batch of pancakes - 20-25 min) and voila! You have homemade berry syrup!

I served with butter and honey, and a side of sausage links. When the syrup was done, it didn't look like a lot, but we realized quickly that a little bit went a long way!

Bac'n Eggs

2009-08-31T22:14:00.002-04:00

I make this all the time at home, and it worked out to be a perfect camping recipe this weekend. I know Jen's family makes something called Garbage Eggs that is similar - maybe she can put that up too :).

Need:
1 small (12oz) package of bacon
1 dozen eggs
milk
shredded cheese (optional)

Do:
Chop your raw bacon into small pieces. Put into a pan or pot - I use a REALLY deep skillet (remember must hold all doz eggs) when we're at home. We used a pot while we were camping. Cook until brown and crispy. While that is going on, whisk your dozen eggs with a 1/4-1/2 cup of milk, whatever you usually do. You can season the eggs at this point if you'd like, but I'd recommend not using salt (which I don't think you're supposed to to pre-cooking anyway, makes them stiff or rubbery or something) because of the bacon. After the bacon is cooked, drain off the grease and dump in your egg mixture. Keep an eye on it, stirring frequently until the eggs are nice and fluffy. Top with cheese if desired.

I serve with toast or toasted english muffins. This makes enough for a good sized family breakfast and is a fairly quick one-pot meal :).

Tuna Salad

2009-08-08T23:37:00.004-04:00

For some reason I cannot get enough of this. I've always liked tuna fish, and adding the tomatoes...wow. Yum.

Need:
1 can of tuna (your choice, I like chunk light in water - the white stuff is too dry for me)
1 T mayonnaise (I use a "big spoon" from the silverware drawer, not an actual tablespoon)
1 t dill pickle relish
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t celery salt
squirt of mustard
1/4 of a slicing tomato, diced

Do:
Combine all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Serve on crackers, bread, a pita - or eat plain. Grace is a huge fan :)

Breakfast Sandwich Bagel

2009-08-05T21:53:00.003-04:00

So I don't know if this would count as a recipe - but I tried it this morning on a whim and I think it has become a favorite of mine for breakfast. I came across it because I didn't have enough cream cheese to put on an entire bagel, yet didn't have ham/turkey/sausage/ect. to add to the egg sandwich and needed to improvise.

Breakfast Sandwich Bagel
(Makes 1)

1 Bagel (your choice - I went with Egg)
1 Egg
1 Slice of Cheese (I went with American)
Cream Cheese

1. Toast Bagel. I do this while cooking the egg so they're done about the same time.

2. Fry egg in pan, breaking the yolk and cooking through. Top with cheese and let melt.

3. Smear one half of bagel with cream cheese. I love LOTS of cream cheese and on a typical day will put almost half an inch high of cream cheese on my bagel. For this I put just enough to fully cover the bottom without going overboard.

4. Top with fried egg/cheese combo and top of bagel.

I couldn't get over how absolutely yummy this is. It doesn't taste like cream cheese at all (IMHO) but the cream cheese adds an almost saltiness to it that is just fantastic. When I was done eating I discovered a whole tub of cream cheese in the fridge. Oh well - this was way better.

100 Grand Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-07-08T17:19:00.004-04:00

I love, love, love the blog Picky Palate I think she has some great ideas and overall I just adore the blog. I think I check it at least 2x a day to see if she's updated.

I saw her recipe for Double Chipped Cookies Stuffed with 100 Grand. 100 Grand?! What? Being my favorite candy bar I had to take a stab at it. Unfortunately, I wasn't excited by the addition of White Chocolate Chips. I don't like them, so I tweaked the recipe a bit. Check out her blog for her version, and here's mine:

100 Grand Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks butter (I used margarine)
3/4 c. light brown sugar
3/4 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 bag of chocolate chips (I used Hershey's Milk Chocolate Chips)
mini 100 Grand bars cut into 3rds, enough for each cookie. I used about 9 bars

Preheat oven to 350.
Using mixer, beat butter and sugar together.
Add eggs and vanilla. Combine well.
In a 2nd bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt.
Add to wet ingredients.
Add chocolate chips.
Scoop onto cookie sheet.
Press 1 piece of cut 100 Grand into each cookie.
Cook for 9-11 minutes.

Her recipe says that it would make 32 cookies. I ended up with 25. Mom said I made the cookies too big, but I like them bigger. I enjoy the chewy inside instead of the crispy outer edge, and to get a better ratio I like big cookies. My cookies were a tablespoon of dough and ended up about 3-4 inches in diameter.

Lemonade

2009-07-04T23:25:00.005-04:00

So, I have this problem. When I read about someone eating something - in a book, or a magazine, or even on facebook - I crave it until I get it. That's how I got this. I had a severe craving for lemonade, and I remembered being at Sam's Club on a Saturday (sample day!) and one of the things they had out was lemonade made with Realemon - you know the lemon juice that's ALWAYS in your fridge? So I looked up the recipe and am passing it along:

Makes 2 quarts:
1 cup (Realemon) Lemon Juice
1 cup Sugar
6 1/2 cups water

Mix the lemon juice and the sugar. Add cold water. Serve over ice.

You could also substitute Realime (lime juice) if you'd like limeade, or use 1/2 lime, 1/2 lemon and sparkling soda instead of water for a refreshing citrus beverage :).

Hula Joes

2009-06-28T22:47:00.004-04:00

Okay, I promised Jen that I'd put this up. So here it is. I got this recipe from Rachael Ray (her daytime talk show, not the food network show) and you can find the original version Here. She got the idea from a Hawaiian pizza. Now I'm sure following the directions on Rachael's site would've yielded even more deliciousness, but I needed quick and easy, and it was still super good. Both Chad and I agreed the cheese was not necessary, but if you like cheese, the original recipe suggests you top them with cheese.

Need:
1 lb ground meat of your choice (turkey, beef, pork) we used turkey
1 can sloppy joe sauce (or 1 packet + required amt of water)
4 slices bacon, cooked, chopped (I used leftover from Father's Day breakfast)
1/2-1 cup diced pineapple (depending on how much you like pineapple, I guess)
Buns

Do:
Brown the meat. I added onion powder, steak seasoning, and a little bit of liquid smoke to compensate for the fact that I had already cooked the bacon. If you look at the recipe it says to cook the bacon first and then brown the meat in the bacon drippings.

Add remaining ingredients and heat through. Serve on buns. Yum Yum.

Even Simpler Chicken Parmesan

2009-06-22T00:13:00.004-04:00

I posted a recipe a couple months ago for simple chicken parmesan. I made this tonight and it was even easier:

Need:
1/3 box (1lb) of elbow macaroni
1 jar spaghetti sauce - your favorite flavor
1/2 block or 1/2 bag mozzerella cheese
12 prepackaged chicken nuggets

Do:
Boil the macaroni. Drain.
While the macaroni is cooking, heat your chicken nuggets. I used the microwave. Bake if that's your preference. Slice - I got about 3-4 slices out of each nugget. Cut your cheese into small cubes if it's in a block.
Mix up all the ingredients in a pot (the pot you used to boil the noodles...hint hint) over low heat.
When sauce is heated and cheese is melted...Enjoy!

Basic Hummus

2009-05-30T13:43:00.003-04:00

Between my kid and my husband, we generally can't keep this in the house. I buy it when it's on sale...but boy is it expensive. I made this quickish recipe today and it passed the test:

Need:
1 can garbanzo beans
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1T olive oil
4T lemon juice
3T tahini
salt

Do:
Now, I used our magic bullet - but I'm sure a food processor or blender would work just the same.
1. I tossed the garlic in there and gave it a few spins to chop it up.
2. Put in the can of beans with about half of the liquid, blend quickly.
3. Add lemon juice, tahini, and olive oil and blend til smooth.
4. Season with salt as needed - or to your preference.

The end. Make sure you seal it in an airtight container and refrigerate. Grace dips her pacifier in it to eat it - but pita triangles or veggies work well too :).

You can add various things to this (we like roasted red peppers) - this is just the basic recipe that we use.

What the heck do I eat for lunch?!

2009-05-21T14:52:00.003-04:00

One of my biggest issues I've found is the lunch hour when it comes to meals. Reason being is I am one of those people that goes for the fast food instead of making a lunch and bringing. Really, it's a habit that I'm learning to break. My reasoning for it is quite warped. I get bored with the same food more than two or three days in a row. I cannot have the same thing more than twice because if I have it for a third time I will gag at the thought of already having it twice in the last two days. I'm aware, I'm pretty neurotic. This fact is nothing new to me. Because of this dilemma, and my love of veggies and fruits, I needed to fix this. Even though I'm a lazy bum with a Wendy's french fry addiction, I have had to try and figure out alternatives. I pretty much make less than $15,000 a year and I live completely on my own with no parental help. This is even more of a reason to stop buying cheap take out. Therefore, I have had to be creative and come up with my own healthy lunch ideas with the relatively same ingredients but different ways to do it up so I don't get sick of anything.

I decided the next couple of days I'm going to put up sandwich/wrap ideas for lunches. Here is one that I made for today and it was pretty spectacular if I can toot my horn for a second.

Ingredients
1) 1 whole wheat tortilla (or other kinds)
2) 1 tbsp lite mayo
3) 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (you can also leave this out)
4) sliced deli turkey
5) chopped red onion
6) 1/4 cup baby spinach leaves (lettuce or alfalfa sprouts work too)
7) sliced provolone, swiss, or cheddar
8) thin tomato slices
9) salt and pepper
10) *optional* toothpicks

Steps
1) In a bowl mix the mayo and Parmesan. Spread on tortilla but leave at least 1/2 inch or it will ooze off when you roll it. Always a bummer.
2) Top it with the turkey, red onion, spinach, sliced cheese, tomato. I usually put all of these in the center in a row. Makes life easier.
3) Roll it and I usually cut it in half cross wise. If you're not eating it immediately I would definitely toothpick both halves before leaving it in your fridge to take with you for lunch the next day.

For kicks I'll sometimes add Italian dressing (reduced fat) either to it or in a container to take with. I also find any excuse to put dill pickles in anything too. :-) I also shove them in there.

Southwest Crockpot Chicken

2009-04-30T21:15:00.002-04:00

On the heels of our Logan's Southwest Chicken...I bring you Crockpot southwest chicken (apparently we need less salsa and peppers in our diet.) Oh well, here goes.

I got this from a website called recipezaar.com which I found through someone else's blog:

3-4 FROZEN chicken breasts
1 can of corn, drained
1 can of black beans, drained
1 jar of salsa
1 8 oz package of cream cheese
2-4 cups cooked rice

Place the FROZEN chicken breasts, corn, black beans, and salsa in a crock pot. Cook on high for 3-5 hours (until the chicken is done.) Add the cream cheese to the pot and cook for about another 1/2 hour until the cream cheese melts. Serve over the cooked rice.

It was pretty good. It would have totally been better had I not used mango salsa - which had been sitting in our fridge for awhile and I wanted to get rid of it. But all the same, I'd make it again.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

2009-04-27T20:23:00.005-04:00

Okay...I got this mostly from an online recipe...but I'm going to write down exactly what I did, because it was GOOD.

Need:
1 cup cooked diced chicken
2 cans mixed vegetables
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp savory
1 cup bisquick mix
1/2 cup milk
1 egg

Do:
Cook your chicken. I: cut up 2 large chicken breasts into about 6 pieces. I boiled them in a pot with water, chicken bouillon granules, onion powder, poultry seasoning, and a bay leaf. Allow to cool and then dice. (Hint: If you make double the chicken, you can set some aside for chicken and fettuccine with Alfredo sauce for another easy meal!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix chicken, vegetables, soup, onion powder, and savory and pour into an ungreased pie pan.

Then mix Bisquick, milk, and egg until smooth. Pour on top of the mixture in the pie pan.

Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

I served with bread and salad and got 4 thumbs up from the husband and the chicklet.

Southwest Style BBQ Chicken

2009-04-16T08:00:00.004-04:00

So, Jen and I went to Logan's for dinner last weekend, and I had this and decided that it would be fairly easy to make at home:

Need:
4 Chicken Breasts
4 slices of Pepper Jack cheese (enough for each piece of chicken to be covered)
BBQ Sauce
1/2 - 3/4 tomato, diced

Do:
Thaw and rinse your chicken breasts and place them on a pan, and baste with BBQ sauce. Flip and baste the other side as well. Bake at 350 for 20ish minutes or so, basting with the sauce (you could also grill these, we have yet to get our grill going for the season, so we baked them). Chop your tomato. Cover with the cheese the last few minutes of cooking, just long enough to melt. Place on a plate and top with tomatoes.

I served with sweet potato fries (which were a dismal failure, AGAIN - but that's another post) and broccoli.

Yes, my piece of chicken is tiny - they were the bottom of the bag pieces. Chad's was bigger.

Chocolate Cupcakes

2009-03-31T20:33:00.003-04:00

I am always on the look out for baking new things and making them taste better and better. One of my favorites? Cupcakes! I have recipes upon recipes that I want to try for cupcakes, but I don't always have the time, ingredients or drive to do it. Yesterday, however, I tried my hand at making Chocolate Cupcakes from scratch. No yucky preservatives in these guys.

Ingredients:
3 cups Cake Flour
1.5 teaspoons Baking Powder
1.5 teaspoons Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1.5 cups Unsweetened Cocoa
2.5 cups Strong Coffee
1/2 cup and 2 teaspoons Unsalted Butter
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
1.5 cups Granulated Sugar
1.5 cups Dark Brown Sugar
5 (yes 5) Large Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Set oven to 350 degrees. (Although I did this later on because it took me so long to make the batter) Also prep cupcake tines with the little papers

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Whisk the cocoa and coffee together until smooth (no lumps). I also sifted the the cocoa because mine was chunky. Set aside.

In a LARGE (and I mean LARGE) bowl, cream butter, add the oil and beat until combined well, about a minute.

Add both sugars and beat for 10 minutes. This seems extreme, although there is a significant difference in the way the batter is at the start and middle and end of the beating.

Add eggs and beat for another 5 minutes.

Add vanilla extract and beat until well blended.

Alternately add parts of the two mixtures set aside to the butter mixture. It will be very runny, and it is a lot. I almost overflowed my mixing bowl and it's the biggest one we have.

Pour into the cupcake pan, a chore because it's so runny.

Bake for about 20 min, or until toothpick is clean.

Cool and Frost.

They don't taste coffeey. My Dad and Brothers won't drink coffee, but both liked the cupcakes. I think they are good, but they're not chocolaty enough for me. It's unsweetened cocoa that kills it for me I think, it's just not that sweet chocolate taste. Cupcakes do leave the after coffee taste in your mouth, however, even though you don't taste it before then. Overall an okay recipe, but I'll keep looking for that perfect cupcake recipe.

The 3 dozen cupcakes this recipe made, in my nifty 3 dozen cupcake holder.

Pizzilla

2009-03-25T17:10:00.006-04:00

That was my attempt at giving this a name. I needed something quick, easy and with ingredients readily accessible in my kitchen.

You Need:
Tortillas (I ate about one and a half, and you need enough for everyone)
Mozzarella Cheese
Sauce (I used Chunky Mushroom Ragu because it's what we had)
Toppings of your choice (I used pepperoni)

Preheat to 350
Lay tortilla on cookie sheet. Top as you want it.
Cook for about 10 minutes.
Cut and Enjoy!

Simple Chicken Parmesan

2009-03-20T14:32:00.004-04:00

Fairly quick and easy...

Need:
3-4 Chicken breasts, thawed - account for everyone in your family...if you're only going to eat 2, then only make 2 :)
1-2 Eggs
Bread crumbs - I used Progresso Italian Breadcrumbs, I suppose you could make your own if you were feeling ambitious
Mozzarella cheese
Spaghetti, rotini, or preferred pasta
Spaghetti sauce...again, I used canned - but that's up to you

Do:
Line a baking sheet with foil and put a large pot of salted water on to boil
Beat eggs in a shallow bowl.
Sprinkle bread crumbs in a second shallow bowl
Dip chicken into the egg and then roll in bread crumbs making sure they're thoroughly coated.
Place them on the baking sheet.
Cover the tops with cheese - I buy all of my cheese in a brick so I cut thin slices and lay them on top - if you buy shredded just sprinkle very generously.
Bake at 375 for 15-25 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken - make sure it's cooked through
By now your water should be boiling. Dump in your pasta and stir. Begin to heat your sauce (stove top, microwave...whatever you want.) Drain your pasta when it has reached your preferred doneness (not sure that's a word.) Serve your cooked chicken over your pasta and ladle sauce on top. Enjoy!

Cherry Coconut Crumb Pie

2009-03-14T16:00:00.002-04:00

Today is pi day! That's right pi as in the mathematical constant 3.141592. Celebrated on 3.14. So what better way to celebrate then to add a pie recipe I made for the "holiday"

1 (9 inch) pie crust (I used premade)
2 cans cherry pie filling
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted/soft butter
1 cup coconut

Preheat oven to 425. Prep crust and fill with both cans of pie filling.

In a small bowl combine flour and sugar using a fork. Stir in butter. Add coconut and stir until mixture is crumbly and well combined. Sprinkle to cover the top of the pie.

Cover pie lightly with tin foil and bake for 15 minutes at 425.

Remove tin foil, lower temperature to 325 and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until crumbles are golden brown.

Remove pie, let it cool and enjoy. If you try to enjoy while still warm the filling will be hard to keep in pie slice form and it will be more of a soup.

Sausage and Noodle Skillet

2009-03-11T13:54:00.005-04:00

Short Story: Awhile ago, Chad asked me to make sausage with egg noodles for dinner. Apparently his grandmother used to make this, and never having had it myself...I had no idea what I was doing. But he was no help other than "sausage, noodles, butter" and I thought - interesting. So I made it and it was kinda bland, but eh, ok. So I searched for a heartier meal that was similar and came up with This Recipe. Well I didn't have all the ingredients so I improvised and came up with:

Ingredients:
1 lb smoked sausage
4oz (1/3 bag) of No Yolk noodles
1 1/2 Tbsp onion powder
1/2 bag frozen mixed veggies
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup of chicken broth
3/4 cup of water
1/2 tsp marjoram leaves
black pepper
cooking oil spray

Directions:
Cut the sausage into 1/4 in. slices and toss into a generously sprayed skillet with the onion powder. If you like onions, use a half to whole onion instead. Cook for 2-3 minutes on med-high. Throw in the remaining ingredients, stir, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the noodles are cooked through.

Though the veggies could be altered to family's liking - I think that using cream of celery soup would have made a big difference - this definitely had a "chicken soup" taste, but it was still pretty good :).

Mango Pork Chops

2009-03-10T00:39:00.006-04:00

Boy was I excited today when I went to Meijer and saw Pork Chops on sale for 1.99/lb. This was totally out of left field...combined some recipes and added my own stuff. It was an experiment and it turned out pretty good.

We used:
1 lb boneless pork chops
1 bag frozen mango chunks
Some: sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon
Oil
Salt & Pepper

First I thawed all of the mango pieces (in the microwave if it matters) and tossed HALF of them in the magic bullet with about a tbsp of brown sugar, a tsp of cinnamon, about 2 tbsp of white sugar, and a squirt of lemon juice. I then put this in the fridge. Next time, I think I will put it in a sauce pan and cook it to allow the sugars to meld together a bit better.

I S&P'ed the pork chops on both sides and then browned them quickly on both sides in a skillet in a little bit of oil. While those were browning I chopped the remaining mango into smaller pieces and then mixed with the sauce that was in the fridge. Drain the oil off the chops - they really only need 2 min or so on each side. I poured the sauce that I made over the chops, covered and cooked on medium heat for about 20 minutes or until done in the middle.

It was pretty good. Chad likes mango much more than I do, so he enjoyed the sauce. I'm sure there are other things that could be added to it though. In our house, chipotle pepper would probably be a huge it, but everyone is different.

Served with cheese potatoes and broccoli as sides. Even the baby liked it!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

2009-02-16T19:59:00.005-05:00

My family LOVES barbecued chicken pizza, so we decided to try and make it ourselves, came out pretty good, despite a couple of unnecessary extra moments in the oven :). Oops.

Ingredients:
Chicken breast (about 1-2 for a 14in pizza) cooked and chopped
BBQ Sauce
Pizza crust
Cheese

Directions:
Prepare and pre-bake the dough according to the package directions, top with bbq sauce, chicken, and cheese, then bake until crust is golden and cheese is melted. Simple!

Notes:
You could add a variety of other things to the pizza as well: chopped (cooked) bacon, red onion (if you like that sort of thing), or even pineapple would be good.

I used Jiffy pizza dough mix which was a little tough to work with, but fairly simple enough.

We used pizza blend shredded cheese - which was a mix of mozzarella and mild cheddar, very very good choice.

We also used a pizza pan to bake the dough and the pizza. This made the crust super crispy. Might use a regular pan next time.

I have circle-shaping issues apparently. And those bottom edges aren't burned, that's the BBQ sauce - it was really dark.

Fish w/ Crab Stuffing

2009-02-05T14:12:00.003-05:00

I stole this idea from Southern Cooking...It can be so yummy! Make sure that everything is chopped well and completely mixed up.

NEED:

5-6 fish fillets (flounder or talapia, etc.)
1 Celery stalk
2-3 green onions
1/4 C. olive oil
1/2 C. crab meat
1/2 C. Parmesan cheese
1 tomato(Sliced)
1 egg
1 squirt lemon juice
1/2 C. melted margarine
2 garlic cloves
1 C. soft breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
dash parsley
large baking pan
foil
toothpicks

DO:

1) Slice celery, onions and garlic
2) In skillet heat olive oil
3) Cook celery, onions and garlic until tender
4) Add crab meat, breadcrumbs, cheese, tomato, egg, lemon juice, parsley, salt, pepper
5) Stir well and set aside
6) In large baking dish lay out fish fillets
7) Coat each fillet with melted butter
8) Put 1 tbsp. of stuffing mix onto each fillet
9) Roll fillet over mixture and secure with toothpick
10) Put remaining mixture on top of rolled fillets
11) Drizzle remaining butter on top
12)Cover with foil

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Uncover. Bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Fish will be "flaky."

Stuffed Mushrooms

2009-02-05T13:55:00.004-05:00

This is Kev's specialty!

NEED:

1 8oz. package of mushrooms
1/2 package of cream cheese
sliced green olives (6-10)
about 4 tbsp. of grated cheese
dash of the following: pepper, basil or parsley, garlic powder

DO:

Mix sliced olives, cream cheese, 2 tbsp. of the grated cheese, and spices in a bowl. Set aside.

Pluck stems off of mushrooms. This should hollow them out. This will be where you put your filling in.

Spoon mixture from bowl into the hollows of mushrooms.

Sprinkle remaining 2 tbsp. of cheese over top of the mushrooms

Bake for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

SO GOOD!!

Brown Sugar Apple Pork Chops

2009-02-04T14:07:00.005-05:00

I love this, and so do the girls!

What You'll Need:

Brown Sugar
Cinnamon
1 pork chop per person
Minimum of 4 apples...It really depends on how many chops you are making
Cooking Spray

OK,

1)first fry your pork chops on sprayed skillet for about 5-10 minutes, just so they are brown in color on both sides.
2)Cut your apples into thin slices, you can peel if you want
3)Once the apples are cut place them in a single layer on the bottom of a large cake pan or casserole dish. I add extras because they are yummy to eat when you're done
4) Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top of the apples
5) Once the chops are browned place them over the apples
6)Sprinkle more brown sugar and cinnamon on top
7) You can also add a touch of nutmeg if you want to...I do this, but not much!
8) Bake for about 45-60 minutes at about 350 or so...Again, depends on how many you are making...2 cook well for about 45 at 350, so use that as your reference point
9) Let stand about 5 minutes when done so sauce can thicken.

I got this originally from Betty Crocker...but I really like to add more apples and more brown sugar than they say. I coat the suckers! I also put a little nutmeg in. Enjoy!

New Ideas

2009-02-04T10:48:00.001-05:00

Yay! Laura has some great recipes to share with us! You can read about her and her beautiful girls right here:

The Crazy Life

Thank you, Laura!

Calzone

2009-01-19T22:13:00.005-05:00

Tonight for dinner we had calzone...homemade :).

Ingredients:
Pizza dough (more on this in a minute)
Tomato/pizza sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Toppings galore

So...pizza dough comes in many many forms. I used frozen pre-made dough, but you can make it yourself it's not hard...Jiffy makes a boxed dough mix that you just add water to, and it's seriously like $0.57.

1. Anywho...push and toss and coax a ball of dough into a circle-ish shape. Or I guess you can really make it whatever shape you want so long as it's fairly even on both sides. The size of the shape depends on how big you'd like your calzone to be - we had 3 sizes tonight, a Daddy bear size, a Mommy bear size, and a Baby bear size.

2. Cover one half of your dough shape with mozzarella cheese, and whatever toppings you desire. We used ham and green peppers. Fold the empty half over to cover the toppings and press the edges together with a fork. If you don't seal it well enough, the cheese and possibly the toppings will leak out.

3. Spray a pizza pan (we used one with holes in it...like for a regular pizza) with cooking spray. Lay the calzone on the pan and spray the top of the calzone as well. I know that sounds weird, just trust me. Cook according to the crust directions. Ours said 475 degrees for 10-15 minutes - it took about 12.

4. As soon as you pop the calzone into the oven, heat up your sauce. I just used a regular plain old can of store-brand tomato sauce, put it in a little pot on the stove and tossed in a little pizza seasoning (according to the label, it's oregano, basil, marjoram, and granulated garlic.) I brought to a simmer and then served it on the side of my hot Hot HOT calzones, fresh from the oven.

The great part about this meal is that you can tweak it for each person eating. It's a great thing to make with kids; they can help with the toppings, and they get one for their very own. I served with a salad and mandarin oranges.

Cheesy Chicken & Pasta

2009-01-14T22:23:00.003-05:00

We get the Kraft Food & Family magazine. There was a recipe in it that I thought looked yummy, but since we didn't have some of the ingredients, and other ingredients I wouldn't eat, I altered it to suit my needs. These alterations made it pretty much a completely different meal. Only thing in common? Chicken and a few ingredients in the sauce.

1 can condensed Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 cup Sour Cream
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (We baked it)
1 package (16 oz.)frozen veggies (they suggest mixed, we used corn)
1 cup shredded cheese (they suggest mild cheddar, we used part sharp cheddar, part mozzarella)
Pasta

1. Heat oven to 375. Mix soup and sour cream together. Add chicken, veggies and cheese. Mix well and put in a baking dish. Cook Pasta.

2. Bake 35 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

3. Pour over your favorite kind of pasta. We used Rotini.

It was a fast favorite and we didn't have any left overs, which is amazing.

*Edit - We made this for dinner, and I took a picture...I don't know what Jen's looked like, but this is how ours came out. The only differences between ours and hers - we used egg noodles and mixed vegetables instead of rotini and corn.*

Crock Pot Chicken

2009-01-06T23:34:00.003-05:00

So I totally stole this recipe from Laura - sort of. I mean, she told me how to do it long ago and I asked and asked again every time I made it until I stopped asking and tried doing it myself. This is how I made it tonight:

Ingredients
1 roaster chicken - 3 or 4 lbs is good for a family of 4 (we had a lot left over)
4-5 stalks of celery chopped
1/2 bag of mini carrots or 2-3 clean, peeled, chopped large carrots
1/2 -1 whole onion (or in my case onion powder equivalent)
Chicken bouillon granules
Lawry's seasoning salt
pepper
2 bay leaves
water

Rinse your chicken and tuck it nicely into your crock pot (I usually do breast side up.) Sprinkle the bouillon granules over the top of the chicken and press them in. Sprinkle the seasoning salt and pepper over the top of that (I don't know how much I just give it a fine dusting.) Fill the crock pot with water until it covers the bottom half of the chicken. Add carrots, celery, and onion. Put the two bay leaves in the water. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 4-5 hours. Carefully remove the chicken. I don't know how to give you a tip on how to do this, because it will literally fall apart as you pull it out. The bones will slip right out. We usually use two giant straining spoons, or if we can locate them (we couldn't tonight) our turkey lifters.

I served with a side of roasted rosemary red potatoe s (which I dropped the first batch of all over the kitchen- so if you'd like to come skate on the olive oil that's impossible to get off my floor, be my guest) and broccoli. Sorry no pictures, the camera was dead.

Rosemary potatoes

2009-01-04T19:42:00.006-05:00

Oh it certainly has been awhile since I've been on here to update. I figured I'd jump right on into what has been a life saving and easy dish. I made this one time and then tweaked it myself. The original also called for cheese on it. I nixed it because I do love cheese but I figure you can cut that to cut some of the calories out.

Ingredients:
4 russets or 1 big sweet potato
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Rosemary leaves
1/4 tsp salt and pepper
Garlic Salt (your discretion of how much)
small baking sheet or glass casserole baking dish
tin foil

1) Preheat oven to 425 F

2) Wash potato/es to make sure all dirt and residue is off the skin. Peeling them if your choice. Cut into 1-1 1/2 inch pieces.

3) Once cut up into pieces put the EVOO, Rosemary leaves, salt, and pepper into the casserole dish. Using one of those flimsy spatulas (I wish I knew the actual name for those things) make sure you spread everything around pretty evenly.

4) Once you stir it to the best of your ability put in the potato pieces. Once again, mix them enough so they are lightly coated in the evoo. It's also to make sure the salt and pepper don't overwhelm on a few of the pieces and that the Rosemary is pretty evenly distributed.

5) If you feel you need more oil or want more of a certain ingredient feel free to add more. (I usually add 2-3 TBS of rosemary because I really like it's flavor) At this time is when you would add the garlic salt. That is up to you on how much to add depending on how much you like the flavor. Mix it around some more in case you sprinkle too much on one piece and miss a few others.

6) Make sure the tin foil is snugly fitting around the casserole dish once you are done mixing the ingredients. Go ahead and put it in the oven to start to bake.

7) Regular potatoes take about 20-25 minutes to bake and be ready. Sweet potatoes take about 30 due to them having a thicker/tougher consistency than regular potatoes.

That's all there is to it! :-)

Cranberry Pork Chops

2008-12-19T19:59:00.006-05:00

I've been gone awhile...hence the lack of posting here. Made these for dinner tonight - and they were wonderful.

6 porkchops (I had 8 really thin ones)
3/4 c. white sugar
2 c. whole cranberries
oil
water

Brown chops in a skillet with a dash of oil - I salted and peppered them first.

Drain oil. Add cranberries, sugar, and about 1/2 cup of water to the pork chops. Mix so the sugar dissolves and then bring to a boil.

Turn down and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Add water as necessary to keep from drying out. Done!

It should be said that I didn't come up with this on my own. I LOVE LOVE allrecipes.com - they have amazing recipes with reviews that are so helpful. Many times I take a recipe from there and twist it for my own liking. This one however is straight from there.

If you don't have whole cranberries (because any other time of year, they are NOT easy to find) you can use frozen ones or use canned whole cranberry sauce or a bag of craisins. However if you use the sauce or the craisins make sure you OMIT the sugar. Both already have sugar in them and if you put more in it will be way sweet (learned that from experience.) If you use the craisins you might need to add a little more water as it's cooking because they will grab the water and plump up.

I served them with cheesy scalloped potatoes and peas. It was good. Chick even loved it.

Kielbasa and Potato Soup

2008-12-03T17:27:00.006-05:00

This is simmering on my stove as we speak.

Ingredients:
1 lb kielbasa or smoked sausage
A bunch of potatoes cut into bite sized pieces (I use red-skinned) and cut about 4-8 of those depending on how much you like potatoes
3 stalks of celery chopped
1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables
1 onion chopped
1 can of cream of celery soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
garlic
oregano
bay leaf
little oil - vegetable, canola, olive - doesn't really matter

In a large pot sautee the onion in a splash of oil, and then add the kielbasa. Add potatoes and celery. Stir. Add in the soups (suggestion - use low sodium soup if you can find them) the broth and the milk. Stir until well mixed. Add garlic (about 1 teaspoon) oregano (about 1 teaspoon) and the bay leaf to the pot...stir and bring to a boil. Add frozen veggies. Once the soup comes to a boil again, cover and simmer until potatoes are fork tender (about 30-45 min)

This is a surprisingly sweet soup. Which is funny because really - there's nothing sweet in it. It's very hearty and if you'd like you can throw and handful or two of shredded cheddar in there and it becomes cheesy sausage and potato soup. Mix up the veggies to your liking. You can also use all fresh vegetables if you'd like - it's delicious, but involves a LOT more chopping.

Un-stuffed Peppers

2008-12-02T10:09:00.006-05:00

This is what my family calls "goulash." I've figured out since I was little that almost every family has their own version of goulash, and since they're all different, I'm calling this unstuffed peppers. Because if you were to make stuffed peppers and then chop it all up - that's pretty much what this is.

Ingredients:
rice
1 green pepper sliced into large chunks
1 whole tomato sliced into large chunks
1 can diced tomatoes, partially drained
1 lb ground beef
(or 1 lb grd. turkey with some Lawry's and beef granules added)
1 onion sliced into edible pieces
(or in our house we use about 2 tsp of onion powder since we're not huge onion fans)
salt, pepper to taste

Brown the ground meat in a pot - or a super-deep skillet. Drain off excess fat. Place back on heat. Toss in the green pepper, tomato, and onion. And stir well - cook for a couple of min. Add in the can of tomatoes. If you're using onion powder instead of onion, add that after you add the canned tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and allow to simmer for 25-30 min or until the green peppers are no longer crunchy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

While that's happening cook your rice - you're going to need between 3-4 cups of cooked rice for the dish, but some people like less or more, so adjust to your preferences.

Place rice on a plate and ladle the meat/tomato mixture on top. Serve with crusty bread. Yum.

My family will also serve this over mashed potatoes if that's your style. I for one can't stand it with mashed potatoes, but hey - to each their own.

Stuffed French Toast

2008-11-23T19:45:00.005-05:00

Now this isn't dinner, but I had some leftover Italian bread from dinner the other night and I decided to try something new for breakfast! This recipe is for 4 pieces as that's all I made.

Ingredients:
4 THICK slices of Italian bread (1 to 1 1/2 inches) - use French or whatever bread you have
1 apple, cored, peeled and sliced thin
5 slices bacon
2 Tbsp Butter, Melted
2 Tbsp Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Milk
4 Eggs

1. Dice and cook your bacon, as usual.
2. Place your diced apples in a bowl, and pour melted butter, brown sugar, a few dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg (to your liking) and mix until all apples are coated
3. Add cooked bacon
4. Slice pockets in your bread (almost like you were going to cut the slice into two except don't go all the way to either side or the bottom)
5. Stuff your apple bacon mixture into the pockets
6. Beat together the eggs, add a splash of milk (maybe 1/2 cup) and more cinnamon/nutmeg if you'd like
7. Dip the stuffed bread into the egg mixture coating both sides
8. Place on a heated skillet or griddle that has been coated with no-stick spray.
9. Cook through on both sides. (about 4-6 min/side depending on the thickness of the bread - make sure all the egg is cooked)

Serve with warm syrup or dust with powdered sugar. Next time we are going to try this with Sage Sausage and diced apples. I'd also use unseeded bread next time - but I used what we had.

*EDIT* We made this with the sage sausage instead of the bacon last week and Oh My Lord was it GOOD. I also cut the apples into very very small chunks instead of slices...wow...it was amazing.

Tater Tot Casserole

2008-11-18T20:26:00.005-05:00

I don't know if you've ever seen any of the shows about the Duggar Family that live in Arkansas, but I swiped this recipe from their first TV special (and their website.) They talked about this being a family favorite, and I've always wanted to try it. So here's my version. It was pretty good, surprisingly - and Chick loved it.

Ingredients:
1 bag of tater tots
1 lb of ground turkey (the recipe calls for beef, but we don't usually eat ground beef, so I used turkey instead)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can evaporated milk
Various spices (I used onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and beef boullion granules)

Directions:
1. Brown the ground turkey. While browning I stirred in the spices to give it a little more flavor (about 1tsp of both garlic and onion powder 1/4 tsp pepper and 1Tbsp boullion granules - I really just eyeballed it.)
2. While the turkey is browning mix together the soups and evaporated milk in a separate bowl
3. In a 9 x 13 in baking dish evenly spread out the ground turkey. Pour entire bag of tater tots on top and spread those out evenly too. Pour the milk/soup mixture over the whole shebang.
4. Bake at 350 for about an hour. Serve with your favorite side of veggies and voila - dinner!

Suggestion: Spray the baking pan with Pam before putting everything in it - this is one sticky dish.

7 Layer Bean Dip

2008-11-15T17:55:00.004-05:00

I had a party this weekend - I highly enjoy 7 layer bean dip, but am never really sure what is in it. I searched online, got lots of thoughts and then called Jill. So I must say that this recipe stems from her. This recipe made a 9 x 13 pan of dip.

Ingredients:
1 can refried beans
1 packet (or 2.5 Tbsp) taco seasoning
2 avocados
1 packet Guacamole mix
1 tub sour cream
chopped lettuce
shredded cheese
olives
tomatoes

Directions:
1. Make the Guacamole. This should sit for a bit before being eaten, so make this first. Pit and mash 2 avocados in a bowl. Add the guac mix and mix well. Let it sit while you do the next step (or make in advance)

2. Mix taco seasoning and refried beans.

3. Layer the ingredients into a shallow dish as follows:
(Top)
Olives
Tomatoes
Cheese
Lettuce
Sour Cream
Guacamole
Refried Beans Mixture
(Bottom)

4. Enjoy with tortilla chips!

You can add additional ingredients such as onions if you'd like, but I dislike onions so that's a no for me. I also found another recipe that said to mix the taco seasoning into the sour cream instead of the bean dip. Reminds me of Mexicali dip - so that could be good too.

Chocolate Muffins

2008-11-12T17:56:00.003-05:00

One thing you will for sure learn about me - I Love Chocolate! However, not all chocolate is created equal, and there is such thing as too much chocolate. So that be said, here's a recipe I highly enjoy as well. They are beautifully moist, and the perfect chocolate muffin. Yes, Muffins even though there is cake mix in the batch.

Ingredients:
Veggie Oil Spray (or little cupcake papers)
1 package plain devil's food cake mix.
1 package (3.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding mix
3/4 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400. Prep your tins with the spray oil/liners.

2. Start with the cake mix and pudding mix in a large bowl. Create a well in the center. In a small bowl mix yogurt, water, oil and eggs. Pour this mixture into the well and stir with a wooden spoon.

3. Mix in chocolate chips. The batter should be smooth (minus chocolate chips:)) Try to mix as little as needed while making sure it's fully mixed)

4. Put in the muffin tins - little muffins less batter, big muffins, more batter.

5. Bake muffins about 20-24 minutes until they spring back if you poke them.

6. Remove, cool for about 5 min, then release from pan and cool on wire rack for another 15 minutes.

7. Enjoy this Tasty treat!

Our Fall Back Dinner - Twisted Mac & Cheese

2008-11-12T00:12:00.003-05:00

I love macaroni and cheese. It is probably hands down my favorite food. I will probably put more than one twisted mac and cheese dinner recipe on here, but this particular one is our fall back dinner. If there's nothing else to eat or I don't really feel like cooking, I make macaroni and cheese, with a twist.

Ingredients:
1 box of macaroni and cheese
Milk
Margarine
1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen or canned peas
Half a package (2 or 3 depending on your preferences) Johnsonville Smoked Turkey Sausage

I use Kraft Three Cheese Premium Shells & Cheese. Use the creamy cheese kind (and you won't need the margarine or milk) or whatever your favorite. I do have a great recipe for homemade mac and cheese, but like I said I usually only make this when I don't feel like cooking, so boxed it is.

Instructions:
1. Slice the turkey sausages into thin medallions, it's easier to do this cold than after they're cooked. Set aside.
2. Cook macaroni and cheese according to package directions. (This is where the milk and margarine come in.)
3. While you're doing this, you have a few options, but here's what I do - again because I'm trying to save time. I place my cup of peas and my medallions o' sausage in a microwave safe container add about 1/2 inch of water to the bottom and microwave usually on high for two to three minutes or until hot, and then drain.
4. Once your mac and cheese is finished, add your peas and sausage and mix well.
5. Voila - dinner. If I'm feeling fancy, I serve it into bowls (this makes about 2 adult servings) and top with a bit of shredded medium cheddar.

Now I'm sure there are a ton of ways you can make this right for your family. Your imagination is your limit. Use chicken instead of sausage, use green beans instead of peas. Add carrots. Sometimes, I throw this all in a casserole dish (I precook the macaroni because I don't know how to make a casserole with uncooked pasta unless it comes out of a box with directions) top it with shredded cheese and breadcrumbs and bake until heated through. Also makes a great lunch.

Chad loves this. I love this. I generally serve it with fruit - just to give us a rounded meal (I used to work in a day care people, leave me alone.) It's comfort food to me, and it's a little better than mac and cheese with hot dogs.

Great quickie snacks or party platter

2008-11-10T09:23:00.008-05:00

So my problem is that eggs are a great source of protein, a little over 6 grams on average. On the downside the taste of eggs make me gag. The idea of eating a hardboiled egg and chompin on the yolk. I think I just threw up a little bit in my mouth right now. There has been ONE egg exception that I found where I get eat them and infact will accidentally over do it.

Another problem I have cooking is that I'm 1) impatient as hell 2) don't have a lot of time nor effort after I've been in the lab from 8-5/6 everyday 3) Idiot proof, it doesn't take a lot for me to mess something up 4) East to clean up 5) I'm broke, no really, I make about $900 a month that over $400 goes towards rent, $100 car insurance, cell phone bills, credit card bills, etc. Therefore ... everything I make needs to be cheap and quick ... kinda like me ... AHAHAHA I'm so funny. Okay, no really though.

Therefore I have found Deviled Eggs to be the quickest and most efficent snack, morning breakfast, or to bring for a party. Here is how I do it from scratch.

Deviled Eggs (the cheap, easy, and sorta kinda lower in fat way) (recipe for six eggs)

Things you'll need:
1) 6 eggs - to have the main ingredient helps
2) 1/4 cup (light) mayo - NOT MIRACLE WHIP! Big no no ... trust me ... bad life choice
3) 1/8-1/4 tbsp of ground mustard
4) table salt

Materials:
1) pot with a lid - for the boilin'
2) small easy to clean bowl (cereal or soup bowl)
3) fork and spoon
4) ziplock baggie (needs to be able to seal on the top
5) bendable spatula thingy made out of flimsy rubber, I don't know the name of it, sorry!
6) resealable tupperware
7) sharp knife, no butter knives!

First step: Boilin' them eggs

1) I usually make sure I have an average sized pot but relatively deep. I'll carefully put the eggs in and slowly fill the pot up with as cold of water as you can get to come out of your tap.

2) I will usually fire up my heat in high. I will also put enough salt in the water that if I were to drink the water it would taste salty. The salt has a tendency to toughen the interior egg membranes which makes it sooooooo much easier to peel. Nothing like egg craters from gouging to make you look super classy. You don't want to put in too much or then the eggs will taste salty.

3) I will then start the heat after I've put the eggs on the stove so as the water temperature rises so does the egg and it has less of a chance to explode and break in the water.

4) Wait until the water is actually boiling, not just slight bubbling, but boiling. Once water boils, let it boil for 1-2 minutes. If you let it boil too long the yolk turns that green/grey color and starts to smell of sulfur ... double yuck. I use the X-lrg or jumbo eggs so I go two minutes usually

5) Once two minutes pass, cap the pot and cut the heat completely off. Do NOT remove the lid and let it sit for 10-15 minutes depending on egg size.

6) After the 15 minutes is complete what I will usually do is make sure one side of my kitchen sink is empty and run the water super cold. I'll usually let the cold water constantly gush into the pot to cool it down. It's quicker then setting the eggs in the fridge if you're in a hurry. I usually let the constant stream of cold water run into the pot for at least 10-15 minutes.

Makin' the deviled part

1) Use the sharp knife to gently cut the eggs in half length wise ... NOT TOP BOTTOM! And just separate out the yolks. Lay eggs in your tupperwear.

2) Collect all the yokes in your bowl. Use fork and mash yokes so there are no huge chunks. The best consistency is super crumbly.

3) Once all the yokes are mashed into crumblies add 1/4 cup of lite mayo and use a spoon to mix until texture is smooth. If 1/4 of a cup isn't enough I'll add about a tablespoon or two until I get the right consistency.

4) I will then add the ground mustard and mix really well to blend it in.

5) Get out your Ziplock baggy. Using your flimsy spatula thingy collect the yolk mixture and carefully put it into the baggy. That spatula helps to get the yolky stuff off the spoon and to elimate the most amount of waste of yolk blend from sticking to the inside of the bowl.

6) Carefully seal bag and take a pair of sissors and cut a small part of the corner of the bag off. You're going to use this like a baker applies frosting using the cut tip.

7) While gently squeezing the bag starting from the top down to the cut corner, put as much filling into each white of the eggs halves that you would like.

8) As a final topping, some people sprinkle with paparika. I don't think it has that strong of a flavor so I usually load it on. Some people hate it and don't add it at all.

9) Finally, any that you can't finish put the top on the tupperware and keep cool in the fridge.

So that's my quick and easy deviled egg recipe.

Introducing...

2008-11-09T19:01:00.000-05:00

Yay! I have people who love me! Or at least like the idea of the blog. Anywho - Jen and Abby have graciously decided to lend their cooking talents to the blog. You can find out more about their lives if you click on their blog links on the side of the page. You'll be getting baking ideas from Jen and Abby apparently cooks a lot with tofu and thai rice noodles, so we should have some diverse ideas. You will be getting other ideas from both of them too I'm sure (in fact I know since I've looked at their first entries.) I'm going to post both of their first entries...I'm not sure if they were waiting for me or what :), but I don't move for another couple of days, so why not.

Thanks girls.

Pie and Pudding "en flambe"

2008-11-08T19:45:00.003-05:00

So really, I have no intentions of of creating Pudding of any sort, but hey. So Jill mentioned that she's not much of a baker. Since we're two halves of the same whole - it would only make sense that I am the baking half. So as she's working on healthy recipes (which I'm sure I'll get to test out) I'll make sure to keep your sweet tooth satisfied.

Be Our Guest

2008-11-04T12:04:00.001-05:00

If you've found your way over here from my regular blog, welcome! In just 10 short days, my family and I will be on our own - which means that I get to make dinner again! You have no idea how excited I am. Really. So stay tuned and be my guest as I attempt to make (mostly) healthy, fresh, delicious dinners - and then write about it!

I'm looking for other contributors because I'm only one person, and because I really only cook dinner - I don't bake, or have a whole lot of ideas for lunch or entertaining. So let me know if you'd like to be added as an author or if you know a blogger that would like to join in on this project!

See you soon!