I tried a foodnetwork recipe tonight for honey lime chicken...it was terrible. I like citrus and chicken, but this was just not good.
I made alton browns brownies though, and they are freaking tasty. I halved the recipe. So good! It would be really easy go just quarter the recipe, too and have just enough brownies for dessert. I made extra so I can have some with lunch tomorrow :) intentioal leftovers are a-okay!
Going to try stuffed baked tomatoes later this week.
And fried pork chops with mashed potatoes. I had a friend tell me he only ate pork chops 'of the shake and bake variety'. What rhe heck is that about?!?!
Happy cooking!
Amy
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Enchiladas!
When I was in high school, I had a friend's mother teach me how her family made enchiladas. They were so good and so easy! I don't know if that's how every enchilada loving family makes them, but I've been making them the same way since then. One thing I've changed is the ingredients. Tonight I thought I'd class it up a little and throw some fresh cilantro and some finely diced onions into the middle of my enchiladas and try it. Here's how to make them!
3 corn tortillas
1 cup shredded mexican blend cheese (might need a little more if you LOVE cheese!)
1 can enchilada sauce
1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro
1 table spoon finely diced onions
Preheat oven to 350
**You need to have the cheese, cilantro and onions ready before you start step one. And, have them close and ready to go...don't just leave the cheese in the bag.
1. Pour your enchilada sauce into a small frying pan and heat at a medium heat.
2. Place one corn tortilla in the enchilada sauce and let it warm for 10 seconds or so on each side.
3. Take the tortilla out and place it in your baking dish. Put a couple table spoons of cheese, a pinch of cilantro and a pinch of onions into the middle of the tortilla. Roll the tortilla up and place the open sides down so it doesn't unroll.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the other two tortillas. When your pan is full, stick it in the oven for about 15 minutes or until all the cheese has melted.
Like I said, this is how I learned to make them, but I'm sure every family does it a little different! Hope y'all enjoy!
Happy Cooking!
Amy
2.
3 corn tortillas
1 cup shredded mexican blend cheese (might need a little more if you LOVE cheese!)
1 can enchilada sauce
1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro
1 table spoon finely diced onions
Preheat oven to 350
**You need to have the cheese, cilantro and onions ready before you start step one. And, have them close and ready to go...don't just leave the cheese in the bag.
1. Pour your enchilada sauce into a small frying pan and heat at a medium heat.
2. Place one corn tortilla in the enchilada sauce and let it warm for 10 seconds or so on each side.
3. Take the tortilla out and place it in your baking dish. Put a couple table spoons of cheese, a pinch of cilantro and a pinch of onions into the middle of the tortilla. Roll the tortilla up and place the open sides down so it doesn't unroll.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the other two tortillas. When your pan is full, stick it in the oven for about 15 minutes or until all the cheese has melted.
Like I said, this is how I learned to make them, but I'm sure every family does it a little different! Hope y'all enjoy!
Happy Cooking!
Amy
2.
Thats a spicy meatball!
No, it's actually not, but it could be!
The other day, I made spaghetti and meatballs following a recipe from the food network. It was decent, but there was SO MUCH GARLIC! and I'd used less than what they had called for!
I thought I'd modify it a bit and share with you, so here goes nothing!
1/2 lb ground beef
1 tablespoon finely diced onions
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh italian parsley--i used 'regular' parsley because I couldn't get Italian. It worked fine and the flavor was still good!
1/4 cup shredded romano cheese (if you don't want to get this cheese, just use Parmesan!)
Preheat oven to 350!
1. Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix them with your clean hands. don't be a baby! get your hands in there! If the mixture doesn't seem to stick together well, add a little bit of extra bread crumbs and work it so that it all sticks together.
2. Put a little bit of olive oil on a baking sheet and spread it around with a paper towel. If you have the spray on olive oil, use that...but I don't have any so I didn't!
3. Form little golf-ball sized meatballs and place them on your baking sheet. I think you'll have about 12-15 meatballs.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until the juices of the meatball run clear.
This would be good with some red pepper flakes or something to make it a little spicy...if that's your bag.
Hope you guys enjoy!
Happy Cooking!
Amy
The other day, I made spaghetti and meatballs following a recipe from the food network. It was decent, but there was SO MUCH GARLIC! and I'd used less than what they had called for!
I thought I'd modify it a bit and share with you, so here goes nothing!
1/2 lb ground beef
1 tablespoon finely diced onions
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh italian parsley--i used 'regular' parsley because I couldn't get Italian. It worked fine and the flavor was still good!
1/4 cup shredded romano cheese (if you don't want to get this cheese, just use Parmesan!)
Preheat oven to 350!
1. Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix them with your clean hands. don't be a baby! get your hands in there! If the mixture doesn't seem to stick together well, add a little bit of extra bread crumbs and work it so that it all sticks together.
2. Put a little bit of olive oil on a baking sheet and spread it around with a paper towel. If you have the spray on olive oil, use that...but I don't have any so I didn't!
3. Form little golf-ball sized meatballs and place them on your baking sheet. I think you'll have about 12-15 meatballs.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until the juices of the meatball run clear.
This would be good with some red pepper flakes or something to make it a little spicy...if that's your bag.
Hope you guys enjoy!
Happy Cooking!
Amy
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Easy Mac...without the microwave
So did you ever wonder if people ate macaroni and cheese before the invention of the blue box of wonder? I'm pretty sure they did. I don't know if it was quite as good as the macaroni that I made tonight, but if it was, they were lucky.
So it's 9:30 and I went to the pantry and realize that if I cook an actual meal, it'll be at least 10:30 before it was done. So, upon further examination, I see a box of elbow macaroni, rice, spaghetti and cereal. The fridge had cheese, milk, butter, bread and jelly. and beer. don't judge me. So Macaroni and Cheese it is!! (I don't know about y'all, but I'm the kind of person that can eat macaroni and cheese no matter what. Like, I show up at your place and your grandma is cooking and says, "hey, ya hungry, hon?" Of course, I'd politely say no...but then grandma whips out the mac and cheese. Next thing I know, I've got a bowl of the mac and a spoon.)
Anyways, here's how to make the absolute best (and easiest) macaroni and cheese you'll ever eat. I apologize in advance to your mother, just in case you slap her.
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup dry elbows
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup cheddar cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon butter
fresh ground pepper
1. Boil the water and most of the salt and add the macaroni elbows. When the elbows are cooked, drain them well. Put them back in the original sauce pan while you're waiting for the cheese sauce to cook.
2. In a separate sauce pan, heat the milk on a low temperature setting. You HAVE to be cautious with the milk because if it gets too hot too quickly, it'll burn or be gross.
3. Add the butter, remaining salt and a few good shakes of pepper to the milk. Let the butter melt and keep stirring the mixture.
4. Add all but 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese and the mozzarella cheese to the milk. Stir almost CONSTANTLY! If not it'll be kinda clumpy and it'll take longer for the cheese to melt.
5. After the first bit of cheese has melted and is no longer visible in the milk, add the last little bit of cheddar. Let everything melt together and keep stirring.
**If it looks a little thin, add a bit of corn starch. If you don't have any, add the tiniest bit of flour-half a teaspoon tops- and stir constantly. Adding flour will make it kinda grainy...no me gusta.**
OK! Once the macaroni and the cheese sauce are both cooked, just dump the drained macaroni noodles into the cheese sauce and mix it all up. You're done! You'll have the best damn macaroni since the blue box came along!
Happy cooking!
amy
So it's 9:30 and I went to the pantry and realize that if I cook an actual meal, it'll be at least 10:30 before it was done. So, upon further examination, I see a box of elbow macaroni, rice, spaghetti and cereal. The fridge had cheese, milk, butter, bread and jelly. and beer. don't judge me. So Macaroni and Cheese it is!! (I don't know about y'all, but I'm the kind of person that can eat macaroni and cheese no matter what. Like, I show up at your place and your grandma is cooking and says, "hey, ya hungry, hon?" Of course, I'd politely say no...but then grandma whips out the mac and cheese. Next thing I know, I've got a bowl of the mac and a spoon.)
Anyways, here's how to make the absolute best (and easiest) macaroni and cheese you'll ever eat. I apologize in advance to your mother, just in case you slap her.
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup dry elbows
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup cheddar cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon butter
fresh ground pepper
1. Boil the water and most of the salt and add the macaroni elbows. When the elbows are cooked, drain them well. Put them back in the original sauce pan while you're waiting for the cheese sauce to cook.
2. In a separate sauce pan, heat the milk on a low temperature setting. You HAVE to be cautious with the milk because if it gets too hot too quickly, it'll burn or be gross.
3. Add the butter, remaining salt and a few good shakes of pepper to the milk. Let the butter melt and keep stirring the mixture.
4. Add all but 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese and the mozzarella cheese to the milk. Stir almost CONSTANTLY! If not it'll be kinda clumpy and it'll take longer for the cheese to melt.
5. After the first bit of cheese has melted and is no longer visible in the milk, add the last little bit of cheddar. Let everything melt together and keep stirring.
**If it looks a little thin, add a bit of corn starch. If you don't have any, add the tiniest bit of flour-half a teaspoon tops- and stir constantly. Adding flour will make it kinda grainy...no me gusta.**
OK! Once the macaroni and the cheese sauce are both cooked, just dump the drained macaroni noodles into the cheese sauce and mix it all up. You're done! You'll have the best damn macaroni since the blue box came along!
Happy cooking!
amy
Monday, March 21, 2011
King Ranch Chicken for 2
When my friends and I were in college, one of the best things Belvin (the cafeteria) made was King Ranch Chicken. My best friend, Ashley, makes it even better. I borrowed her recipe tonight and made King Ranch Chicken. Remember the roast chicken from the last post? Well...turns out a whole chicken is way too much for two people to eat, too...my bad. The left overs were just enough for the king ranch chicken, though! Woot!!
Now, I'll confess...I have leftovers from how I made this. But, good news: I'll cut it down for you so that you can just share it with one person.
And away we go!
1 cup cooked chicken -- if you're feeling extra low maintenance (aka lazy) you might try using canned chicken. It could be decent.
1 cup shredded "Mexican" Blend cheese
1/2 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small can rotel tomatoes and green chilies (I used original...turn up the heat, use the hot!)
3-4 corn tortillas
1. Tear or cut your chicken into bite sized pieces and set it aside in a bowl.
2. In your baking dish, mix 2-3 table spoons of each soup and the tomatoes. Add a layer of chicken on top of the soup.
3. Tear up the tortillas and add a layer of tortillas to the soup and chicken. Top that later with cheese.
4. Repeat the layers until you're either out of ingredients or out of room in the dish :) OOOH! Make your last layer a layer of cheese! It'll be so melty and awesome! Trust me!
5. Cook at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the casserole is hot all the way through.
Now, like I said, when I did this, I made twice as much as I needed, so I cut this down for you and a friend...or just you and the noid's. Avoid the noid. Eat food.
A side note: If you want to aggravate a cat or two, buy the pull top cans of soup an then refuse to share anything with the cats. While we both know it's soup, the cat doesn't and just meows at you. A lot.
Happy cooking!
Amy
Now, I'll confess...I have leftovers from how I made this. But, good news: I'll cut it down for you so that you can just share it with one person.
And away we go!
1 cup cooked chicken -- if you're feeling extra low maintenance (aka lazy) you might try using canned chicken. It could be decent.
1 cup shredded "Mexican" Blend cheese
1/2 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small can rotel tomatoes and green chilies (I used original...turn up the heat, use the hot!)
3-4 corn tortillas
1. Tear or cut your chicken into bite sized pieces and set it aside in a bowl.
2. In your baking dish, mix 2-3 table spoons of each soup and the tomatoes. Add a layer of chicken on top of the soup.
3. Tear up the tortillas and add a layer of tortillas to the soup and chicken. Top that later with cheese.
4. Repeat the layers until you're either out of ingredients or out of room in the dish :) OOOH! Make your last layer a layer of cheese! It'll be so melty and awesome! Trust me!
5. Cook at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the casserole is hot all the way through.
Now, like I said, when I did this, I made twice as much as I needed, so I cut this down for you and a friend...or just you and the noid's. Avoid the noid. Eat food.
A side note: If you want to aggravate a cat or two, buy the pull top cans of soup an then refuse to share anything with the cats. While we both know it's soup, the cat doesn't and just meows at you. A lot.
Happy cooking!
Amy
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The Chicken and The Egg
I've been a slacker this week. I cooked last night and didn't blog right away and this morning, I made breakfast and didn't share right away like I usually do. But, don't worry. I'm done procrastinating!
Let's start with dinner last night. I've been wanting to try to roast a chicken like Mrs. Ina Garten did on her show, The Barefoot Contessa, since it looked delicious AND beautiful. Knowing that I can't eat an entire chicken, I invited my neighbor, Caiti, over to partake in the bounty...and what a bounty it was! OOH boy! We had Baked chicken, carrots, roasted rosemary red potatoes, cheddar bay biscuits and an apple bake.
Mrs. Ina's recipe is but, I changed it up just a tad bit.
The only major thing I changed was that I used fresh rosemary instead of the thyme. I also just spread the butter all over the chicken without melting it. You know I like to do things different! It was such a beautiful chicken. See for yourself...
The carrots and apple bake, I've posted on here before, but I'll share the roasted red potatoes with you today.
You'll need:
6 red potatoes/new potatoes
1-2 sprigs of rosemary
2-3 table spoons olive oil
salt and pepper--just a couple turns of the grinders will do
Preheat oven to 450
1. Wash the potatoes and cut them into 1/2 inch chunks. Then put them into a medium baking dish.
2. Pour olive oil on the potato pieces. Add salt and pepper. Toss together.
3. Chop the rosemary into small pieces and add to the potatoes. Toss potatoes again.
4. Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring or tossing them every 10 minutes or so. You don't want them to stick to the bottom of the pan...that leaves all the good parts in the pan!
You want to bake them until they're tender. The red potatoes are a little more sweet and delicate than if you roasted a russet potato. They were so good!!
Forgive the blurriness of the picture, but here's what it all looked like...phone camera...sorry...
With a good glass of wine, we were set for a great dinner! The chicken was perfectly moist and the carrots and potatoes were just right. And the apple bake was the best I've made, so far!
Now...the egg. I guess in this case, the chicken did come before the egg...ugh. horrible joke. my bad.
Alright so I watched the movie, Morning Glory, the other day and Indiana Jones (yes I know his name is Harrison Ford!) was a lead character in it. He ends up showing this young, ambitious girl that he is fond of her by cooking on television, which is not news and something he swears he will never do. Anyways, I wanted to look into the Frittata since he makes one on the movie...GOOD CHOICE AMY!!!
Wikipedia says frittata is a derivative of "to fry" which makes complete sense, seeing as you how it's cooked. See, its kinda like an omelette, but the ingredients are all mixed in, not just wrapped up in the middle. And, you are supposed to stick your whole frying pan in the oven to cook it all the way through. Here's what I did...
You need:
2 eggs
salt and pepper
1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 table spoon butter
1/4 cup of meat-I used to strips of bacon and chopped them up. I think next time I'll try ham, just for fun.
2-3 tablespoons diced tomato
3-4 sprigs of parsley, roughly chopped
Preheat oven to BROIL
1. Beat the eggs together with the salt, pepper and cheese.
2. In a frying pan or omelette pan, melt your butter. Then add your tomato and bacon. Cook them together for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the eggs to the pan and stir with a rubber spatula. Let the eggs cook in the pan for 3 minutes or until the egg starts to set up some.
4. Before eggs are completely cooked, top with parsley and place in the oven (set to broil) for about 5 minutes. You want the eggs to finish cooking and get a little bit crispy on the edges.
5. Take it out of the oven (dufus-pot holders!)and top with a little more cheese, just for fun.
(yes, my parsley may be a little crispy...my bad. DON'T JUDGE ME, MONKEY!)
Now, here's the problem I had. You're supposed to do this in a frying pan....but I didn't want to find out the hard way that my frying pan wasn't oven safe. When I looked it up later, it was only oven safe to 450....but my oven doesn't tell me what temperature I get to pick to broil at. It just does its preset temp and makes the heat come from the top, not the bottom like usual (which is what broiling is...cooking from the top heating element instead of the bottom.)
SO what I did instead, was used my handy-dandy pyrex dishes on my burner instead of the frying pan, and then just put the whole thing in the oven. Yes, my frittat came out rectangle instead of the ideal round. No, the frittata police have not contacted me about this. If you don't hear from me for a while, though, I'll be needing bail money to get out of frittata jail...
The frittata was so fluffy inside! It was amazing! It was so light, and airy in comparison to scrambled eggs or an omelette. I am now a major fan and I might be looking into getting a new pan for making frittatas!
Go out and get some of these ingredients so you can make something yummy for yourself. And, if you want to help me keep cooking, click on a link to an advertiser when you're done reading. It's like giving away someone else's money so that you can read about my crazy cooking hijinks!
Love one another and Happy Cooking!
amy
ps...my little dog, Buddy, is using the sad puppy eyes on you....click the ads so he can get a table scrap or two. Please, sir? May I have some more? haha
Let's start with dinner last night. I've been wanting to try to roast a chicken like Mrs. Ina Garten did on her show, The Barefoot Contessa, since it looked delicious AND beautiful. Knowing that I can't eat an entire chicken, I invited my neighbor, Caiti, over to partake in the bounty...and what a bounty it was! OOH boy! We had Baked chicken, carrots, roasted rosemary red potatoes, cheddar bay biscuits and an apple bake.
Mrs. Ina's recipe is but, I changed it up just a tad bit.
The only major thing I changed was that I used fresh rosemary instead of the thyme. I also just spread the butter all over the chicken without melting it. You know I like to do things different! It was such a beautiful chicken. See for yourself...
The carrots and apple bake, I've posted on here before, but I'll share the roasted red potatoes with you today.
You'll need:
6 red potatoes/new potatoes
1-2 sprigs of rosemary
2-3 table spoons olive oil
salt and pepper--just a couple turns of the grinders will do
Preheat oven to 450
1. Wash the potatoes and cut them into 1/2 inch chunks. Then put them into a medium baking dish.
2. Pour olive oil on the potato pieces. Add salt and pepper. Toss together.
3. Chop the rosemary into small pieces and add to the potatoes. Toss potatoes again.
4. Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring or tossing them every 10 minutes or so. You don't want them to stick to the bottom of the pan...that leaves all the good parts in the pan!
You want to bake them until they're tender. The red potatoes are a little more sweet and delicate than if you roasted a russet potato. They were so good!!
Forgive the blurriness of the picture, but here's what it all looked like...phone camera...sorry...
With a good glass of wine, we were set for a great dinner! The chicken was perfectly moist and the carrots and potatoes were just right. And the apple bake was the best I've made, so far!
Now...the egg. I guess in this case, the chicken did come before the egg...ugh. horrible joke. my bad.
Alright so I watched the movie, Morning Glory, the other day and Indiana Jones (yes I know his name is Harrison Ford!) was a lead character in it. He ends up showing this young, ambitious girl that he is fond of her by cooking on television, which is not news and something he swears he will never do. Anyways, I wanted to look into the Frittata since he makes one on the movie...GOOD CHOICE AMY!!!
Wikipedia says frittata is a derivative of "to fry" which makes complete sense, seeing as you how it's cooked. See, its kinda like an omelette, but the ingredients are all mixed in, not just wrapped up in the middle. And, you are supposed to stick your whole frying pan in the oven to cook it all the way through. Here's what I did...
You need:
2 eggs
salt and pepper
1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 table spoon butter
1/4 cup of meat-I used to strips of bacon and chopped them up. I think next time I'll try ham, just for fun.
2-3 tablespoons diced tomato
3-4 sprigs of parsley, roughly chopped
Preheat oven to BROIL
1. Beat the eggs together with the salt, pepper and cheese.
2. In a frying pan or omelette pan, melt your butter. Then add your tomato and bacon. Cook them together for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the eggs to the pan and stir with a rubber spatula. Let the eggs cook in the pan for 3 minutes or until the egg starts to set up some.
4. Before eggs are completely cooked, top with parsley and place in the oven (set to broil) for about 5 minutes. You want the eggs to finish cooking and get a little bit crispy on the edges.
5. Take it out of the oven (dufus-pot holders!)and top with a little more cheese, just for fun.
(yes, my parsley may be a little crispy...my bad. DON'T JUDGE ME, MONKEY!)
Now, here's the problem I had. You're supposed to do this in a frying pan....but I didn't want to find out the hard way that my frying pan wasn't oven safe. When I looked it up later, it was only oven safe to 450....but my oven doesn't tell me what temperature I get to pick to broil at. It just does its preset temp and makes the heat come from the top, not the bottom like usual (which is what broiling is...cooking from the top heating element instead of the bottom.)
SO what I did instead, was used my handy-dandy pyrex dishes on my burner instead of the frying pan, and then just put the whole thing in the oven. Yes, my frittat came out rectangle instead of the ideal round. No, the frittata police have not contacted me about this. If you don't hear from me for a while, though, I'll be needing bail money to get out of frittata jail...
The frittata was so fluffy inside! It was amazing! It was so light, and airy in comparison to scrambled eggs or an omelette. I am now a major fan and I might be looking into getting a new pan for making frittatas!
Go out and get some of these ingredients so you can make something yummy for yourself. And, if you want to help me keep cooking, click on a link to an advertiser when you're done reading. It's like giving away someone else's money so that you can read about my crazy cooking hijinks!
Love one another and Happy Cooking!
amy
ps...my little dog, Buddy, is using the sad puppy eyes on you....click the ads so he can get a table scrap or two. Please, sir? May I have some more? haha
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Groceries and other things I feel the need to share with you
Monday, I crossed the 170,000 mile mark on my car. This is kind of a big deal to me, since I was the one that put most of those miles on it. Most people my age are not racking the miles up like I am! Here's the catch though. My radiator has gone out! There is a crack in the radiator and the fan doesn't work. So, while I wait for my car to get fixed, I'm driving my Meanie. I love my motorcycle. Since I've got no car and I needed groceries in a bad way, I decided to take a big bag and some bungee cords and make the best of it on my motorcycle.
Here's what that looked like...
And here's everything INSIDE the bag.
How awesome am I? Very awesome. That's 30 items. The bread didn't get squished and I got everything on my list except a few veggies because the veggies at the store today were DEPLORABLE!! I mean, the red potatoes were mealy and they literally had 6 regular potatoes. What the heck is that about?
Ok, I'll stop ranting now.
Here's dinner. You don't get a picture, because it wasn't cute...but it was delicious.
Chicken and Rice Casarole
1 chicken breast
1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup water
1/2 can plus 2 table spoons of cream of chicken soup
Seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 small can of peas and carrots
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400
1. In a small glass baking dish (remember those pyrex dishes I love so much? Yeah, use them...) put your rice, water and 2 tablespoons of the cream of chicken soup and mix them together in the glass baking dish.
2. Add the peas and carrots and mix them in with the rice. Set your chicken on top of the rice and veggies, and salt and pepper it if you want.
3. Top the chicken with the remaining cream of chicken soup and sprinkle with bread crumbs...I think I used 2-3 table spoons. It makes it nice and crunchy :)
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked when you cut into it.
This is CRAZY easy to make. It literally took 2 minutes to whip together. Maybe less...if you can't make this, you might not have thumbs or you might not have a can opener. Those are really the only 2 viable reasons you should have trouble with this.
Two things before I leave you: Cans.
1. The small half cup cans of veggies are perfect for cooking for yourself. Tonight I did only use about half a can of the peas and carrots, but throw some foil on them and cook them tomorrow or just chunk the rest. It's like twenty cents worth of veggies in the trash...you decide.
2. They don't make soup in the small cans. It's annoying. It would be really handy to have the cream of whatever soups in the smaller sizes, but I don't think they would make them for just me...
Oh well. Happy Cooking!
Amy
Here's what that looked like...
And here's everything INSIDE the bag.
How awesome am I? Very awesome. That's 30 items. The bread didn't get squished and I got everything on my list except a few veggies because the veggies at the store today were DEPLORABLE!! I mean, the red potatoes were mealy and they literally had 6 regular potatoes. What the heck is that about?
Ok, I'll stop ranting now.
Here's dinner. You don't get a picture, because it wasn't cute...but it was delicious.
Chicken and Rice Casarole
1 chicken breast
1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup water
1/2 can plus 2 table spoons of cream of chicken soup
Seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 small can of peas and carrots
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400
1. In a small glass baking dish (remember those pyrex dishes I love so much? Yeah, use them...) put your rice, water and 2 tablespoons of the cream of chicken soup and mix them together in the glass baking dish.
2. Add the peas and carrots and mix them in with the rice. Set your chicken on top of the rice and veggies, and salt and pepper it if you want.
3. Top the chicken with the remaining cream of chicken soup and sprinkle with bread crumbs...I think I used 2-3 table spoons. It makes it nice and crunchy :)
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked when you cut into it.
This is CRAZY easy to make. It literally took 2 minutes to whip together. Maybe less...if you can't make this, you might not have thumbs or you might not have a can opener. Those are really the only 2 viable reasons you should have trouble with this.
Two things before I leave you: Cans.
1. The small half cup cans of veggies are perfect for cooking for yourself. Tonight I did only use about half a can of the peas and carrots, but throw some foil on them and cook them tomorrow or just chunk the rest. It's like twenty cents worth of veggies in the trash...you decide.
2. They don't make soup in the small cans. It's annoying. It would be really handy to have the cream of whatever soups in the smaller sizes, but I don't think they would make them for just me...
Oh well. Happy Cooking!
Amy
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Hey!
Sorry I've neglected the blog this week. I've been on working on papers and spent time with my folks. They're shaking things up in our world! I'll post more on that later, you betcha!
Happy things that I'm living with--
-I got a 35mm camera and 5! lenses off of craigslist. super excited to learn about using them all!
-I got an A on the Illustrator paper I wrote sunday...even with it being late. I think I'm border line genius.
-I'll be seeing Rascal Flatts tomorrow night! It's going to be strange to see a 'main stream' country concert after all of the Texas country I've seen the past few years!
-I've worked a bunch for my dad and by Friday, he'll be able to see his desk again.
-I'll be seeing my good friend Barbara on Saturday afternoon!!
-I'll get back to cooking in the next few days :)
Hope you are all having a good week and you're cooking a lot of tasty foods!
Happy Cooking!
amy
Happy things that I'm living with--
-I got a 35mm camera and 5! lenses off of craigslist. super excited to learn about using them all!
-I got an A on the Illustrator paper I wrote sunday...even with it being late. I think I'm border line genius.
-I'll be seeing Rascal Flatts tomorrow night! It's going to be strange to see a 'main stream' country concert after all of the Texas country I've seen the past few years!
-I've worked a bunch for my dad and by Friday, he'll be able to see his desk again.
-I'll be seeing my good friend Barbara on Saturday afternoon!!
-I'll get back to cooking in the next few days :)
Hope you are all having a good week and you're cooking a lot of tasty foods!
Happy Cooking!
amy
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Who you callin GUMBO?
Thats the best almost clever title I can come up with...sorry. If it's not clear by the oh-so-clever title, I made gumbo for dinner. My best friend has been talking about her mardi gras themed birthday for a few days and this has had me craving good ol' cajun food. Since I don't think we have any cajun restaurants around Odessa, I thought I'd try my hand at it.
I've never made gumbo before and honestly it confuses me. I've had gumbo that has been roux based and gumbo that is more soup like. I know I have friends who could tell me the difference, so I'll be finding out soon. Yes I could google it, but why do that when I could talk food with a friend?
OK, back to my gumbo...
Since I've never made it before, I decided to trust my wannabe fairy godmother. I went to foodnetwork.com and looked at what Paula Deen had available and decided to make her gumbo. I cut the recipe down by half and it turned out pretty well! I was really unsure about the roux. In case you are, too, a roux the thickening base for the soup. What Paula had me do (like how I sound like she came over?!) was cook my chicken and sausage separately in my pot. When they have both cooked, you add flour to the oil and mix it up, then add butter to the pan, too. It makes kind of a paste and you cook that until it turns brown. I know that this sounds simple, but mine never really turned brown...I don't know what the deal was. I actually almost gave up on it and turned dinner into Chili's, but I stuck with it!
I'm really glad I stuck with it, because it turned out quite delicious! I threw some rice on top and made some amazing cornbread and this was an all around good meal. I recommend that you look her recipe up and try it.
Look how pretty it was!
Happy Cooking and Happy Mardi Gras y'all!
amy
p.s. my dad would appreciate it if you clicked on a link or two to check out the sponsors. the more money I make here, the less he has to pay me to do his bills. :) thanks!
I've never made gumbo before and honestly it confuses me. I've had gumbo that has been roux based and gumbo that is more soup like. I know I have friends who could tell me the difference, so I'll be finding out soon. Yes I could google it, but why do that when I could talk food with a friend?
OK, back to my gumbo...
Since I've never made it before, I decided to trust my wannabe fairy godmother. I went to foodnetwork.com and looked at what Paula Deen had available and decided to make her gumbo. I cut the recipe down by half and it turned out pretty well! I was really unsure about the roux. In case you are, too, a roux the thickening base for the soup. What Paula had me do (like how I sound like she came over?!) was cook my chicken and sausage separately in my pot. When they have both cooked, you add flour to the oil and mix it up, then add butter to the pan, too. It makes kind of a paste and you cook that until it turns brown. I know that this sounds simple, but mine never really turned brown...I don't know what the deal was. I actually almost gave up on it and turned dinner into Chili's, but I stuck with it!
I'm really glad I stuck with it, because it turned out quite delicious! I threw some rice on top and made some amazing cornbread and this was an all around good meal. I recommend that you look her recipe up and try it.
Look how pretty it was!
Happy Cooking and Happy Mardi Gras y'all!
amy
p.s. my dad would appreciate it if you clicked on a link or two to check out the sponsors. the more money I make here, the less he has to pay me to do his bills. :) thanks!
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