Time goes too quickly! Some Cake, Burgers, Fries, and Pancakes!

It's been a while since I have had a chance to post anything!  I have been busy with work, Lukas, extra doctor appointments, and my husband had been doing the cooking so I didn't do really any cooking.

My hours at work changed again so I am now getting to cook dinner again.  I missed it so much.  I didn't even get a chance to try new things on the weekend with all the events and sickness going on.

Our house the last month and a half has seen lots of sickness.  I am now done with morning sickness, but Lukas had caught the stomach flu, after that he had constipation problems, during that I took him to the chiropractor for ear infections, and during that there was a cold that he and my husband had shared with each other and now gave to me!  So...needless to say we are definitely ready for spring and good health!

I did try a few recipes over the course of the last month or two.  Here are some links.

Lukas loves pancakes, and one morning he asked for some pancakes.  I usually buy the box version and make them this way.  Well I was out of the box version and found this recipe on Allrecipes.com.  They are wonderful pancakes.  I will never make the box version again!
Fluffy and Delicious Pancakes

One Friday we had a burger and fries night.  I made these cute little slider burgers from Big Red Kitchen and I cut some potatoes up and made baked fries from Allrecipes.com.  We all loved them!  Definitely a fun Friday meal!

Lastly my friend Leslie had her birthday back in January and I made this chocolate dream cake!  It was a big hit and she loved it!  We liked it so much I made it again a couple weeks later!

Sorry for no pictures...maybe now that I get to relax and do some cooking again I will get time to take some!

Pot Roast

This picture makes no sense.  It has nothing to do with pot roast or food, but they are our eternal beggars!  I think they sit under my feet while I am cooking in hopes of tripping me to have me drop some food.  They look cute...but I don't think their motives are genuine!
This weekend I was craving some really yummy and good pot roast.  I had found this recipe last year, but never got a chance to try it.  The meat was heavenly!  It fell apart, the flavor was beautiful, and I must say I ate some of the leftovers today which were just as good!
This blog Carrie's Cooking and Recipes has so many ideas.  Most of her recipes aren't healthy, but they do impress with lots of flavor.  I have made her Chicken Gyros, Buffalo Chicken Salad, and Potato Skins.  Here is the recipe for the Pot Roast.  It's a great onion and mushroom flavor and I just loved it! 

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

Gravy Ingredients
Pot Roast Drippings
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk

Directions
In a large bowl or plate, combine the flour and black pepper to taste. Dredge the rump roast in the flour and cover evenly. Shake off excess.  Heat a large pot/dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the butter and then set the floured roast into the hot pan and sear it on one side, about 3 minutes. When that side is nice and brown (the browner the better), flip it over to the other side. When you’ve browned it all over the place, remove the roast to a plate.  Now, with the burner on medium-high, we’re going to deglaze the pan...we’re gonna scrape the heck out of the pan and git all off the bottom. Pour 1/2 cup of white cooking wine in the pan.  Use your whisk to stir and scrape the bottom of the pan. Now add the onion soup mix and mushroom soup.  Stir together.  Now add the browned meat to the pan and spoon some of the sauce on top of the roast.  Cover and bake in the oven at 300 degrees for 3 hours.  After 2 hours I add the chopped celery and carrots.

Set the roasting pan over medium-low heat, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour in the pan.  Whisk the flour into the drippings until the flour is incorporated. Now, whisk in 1 cup of milk while whisking and scraping off the encrusted bits on the bottom of the pan.

Enjoy!

Taco Pie

Sweet glorious lovely taco pie!  I love you, I love you, and I love you!  This was such a good supper.  It stuffed me and the whole little family loved it!  I like lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and sour cream on my taco pie.  My husband eats it with only hot sauce and jalapenos on it.  Lukas eats it without all the good veggies on it.  In fact he asked me to take a picture of his plate too...(yeah it was Sunday we didn't do matching plates.)

Taco Pie:

Ingredients:
1 lb hamburger
1 cup sour cream
1 pkg of crescent rolls
1 cup taco or cheddar cheese

Optional:  lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos, sour cream, cheese, and other veggies for toppings.

Brown hamburger, while hamburger cooks spray a pie dish with cooking spray and put crescent rolls into pie dish to for "pie crust".  Add taco seasoning and finish cooking meat.  Take 1 cup sour cream and place on bottom of pie, put hamburger over sour cream, and then spread 1 cup of cheese over meat(or more if you desire...we did more.)  Bake on 350 for 20 minutes.  Top with your toppings and eat!  I also crushed some chips on the top before baking. 

Chicken Bruschetta Bake

This Chicken Bruschetta Bake is one of my go to meals for girls night out.  I have made it a few times for our little girl's night out parties we get together for.  They always love it, but I had never made it for my family.  It's so easy and simple I decided with the lack of energy I am experiencing it would be the perfect meal to make.  You don't even have to cook the chicken first (you can if you want...but it does turn out without cooking it too)!  I got this recipe from Kraft.com.
 
Chicken Bruschetta Bake
Ingredients:
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pkg.  (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken

1/2 cup water

2 cloves  garlic, minced

1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tsp.  dried basil leaves

1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Chicken Garden Casserole

Chinese food is one of my favorites!  This casserole is easy and yummy!  I found it in a Casseroles cookbook from Books Are Fun.  Lukas even ate this casserole happily!  

Ingredients:

1 (6oz) package Rice-A-Roni fried rice

2 TBLS margarine

1 chopped onion

2 cups celery

1 (150z) can Chinese vegetables, drained

1 (80z) can sliced bamboo shoots

3 1/2 cups cooked, chopped chicken

1 (10oz) can cream of chicken soup

1 cup mayonnaise

2 TBLS soy sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup chow mien noodles

Cook rice according to package directions and set aside.  Heat margarine in large skillet and saute onion and celery. Add Chinese vegetables, bamboo shoots and chicken and mix well.  In saucepan, heat chicken soup, mayonnaise, soy sauce, garlic powder, and pepper just enough to mix well.  In large bowl, combine rice, vegetable-chicken mixture and soup mixture and mix well.  Transfer to greased 13x9 casserole dish.  Sprinkle chow mien noodles over casserole.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Mexican Dish

I have a confession.  I haven't been cooking lately.  I have been feeling awful lately.  The "morning sickness" is getting the best of me and I have been too exhausted to cook.  I have been making the old stand by recipes that are easy and my husband knows how to make them too.  However, I finally did cook supper last night!

This dish has been one of my family's favorites for years.  My Aunt first made it when I was little.  Her version had hot taco sauce and jalepenos in it, but this is my Mom's version.  It's made with green chilies and mild taco sauce.  You eat it like a dip with chips.  It's such a great yummy comfort food!

Mexican Dish:
2 lbs hamburger (I used turkey)
2 bottles of taco sauce (which ever spiciness you prefer)
2 cans of chopped green chilies
1 can of chopped black olives
2 cups of mozzarella cheese
2 cups of mild cheddar cheese
2 cans of refried beans
2 cups of sour cream
Tortilla chips

Preheat oven to 350 and in a frying pan brown hamburger.  Once hamburger is browned layer ingredients as follows:  1 can of refried beans, half of hamburger, 1 can of green chilies, 1 bottle of taco sauce, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, 1 cup cheddar cheese, sprinkle with black olives, and repeat last layer.  Bake for 35 minutes, bring out of oven and put your dollops of sour cream all over the top and sprinkle with black olives.  Bake for 5-10 more minutes.  Eat with chips!  So very very yummy!

Chicken Enchiladas

One of our favorite dinners is enchiladas.  We do love our regular recipe with the red sauce and turkey and pork, but this has also become a easy favorite.  Please forgive the picture I let the broiler get the best of me.  They still tasted delicious regardless!  This recipe was simple and yummy!  I found this recipe over the summer from Budget Bytes blog.  Not only does she have some really yummy recipes, but she tells you how much they can cost per serving and for the whole dish.  I thought that was a nice bonus!

 Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1 lb. Chicken breast
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne powder 
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
8 oz. sour cream
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 can (8 oz.) green chilies
10 small tortillas
1 can (15 oz.) green enchilada sauce 
1 medium tomato (optional)
3 sliced green onions (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.  Cook chicken meat sprinkle with garlic, cayenne, cumin, salt, and pepper.  While cooking the chicken mix together in a separate bowl the sour cream, mozzarella, and green chilies.  Dice the chicken meat and combine with sour cream mixture.  Grease a 13x9 casserole pan and start filling the tortillas and with one spoonful of chicken mixture each and roll.  Place in the casserole dish seam side down.  Repeat until filling is all used up.  Pour the enchilada sauce over the top of the tortillas and bake for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes of baking take 1 cup cheese and sprinkle the top and set to broil for 5 minutes or until turns a light brown.  (Keep an eye on that broiling!)  Sprinkle with green onions and tomatoes to finish off the dish.

Dig in...I add more sour cream when eating! 

Chicken Marsala

First off let me say Happy Friday!  Amen for the weekend coming!  Second I have some news!  I found out Monday I am pregnant!  This will be my second child and we are all very excited!  I don't care if it's a he or a she...I just want a healthy baby.  My little guy will be a fantastic big brother and we are really looking forward to this summer!  I guess we will see how my blog direction goes in terms of cravings, sickness, and musings.

So anyway, let me admire this Chicken Marsala. This is one of my husband's favorites. He orders this when we are out and they have it on the menu.  I have never made it until the other day or even had it.  When we are usually out and he orders this and I am a pasta lady so I order me some pasta.  I found this recipe on Olive Garden's website.

Chicken Marsala

Ingredients:
4 ea Chicken half-breast, boneless & skinless
1/4 cup(s) Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 tsp Oregano, dried
4 Tbsp Oil
4 Tbsp Butter (or margarine)
1 cup(s) Fresh Mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup(s) Marsala wine

Pound chicken breasts between sheets of "Saran Wrap" until about 1/4" even-thickness.  Combine flour, salt, pepper and oregano, blend.  Dredge chicken pieces in the flour, shake off excess.  Heat oil and butter in frying pan over medium heat.  Cook the breasts on medium heat for about two minutes on the first side, until lightly brown.  Turn breasts over to second side to cook, add the mushrooms around the chicken breasts.  Cook breasts about two more minutes, until lightly browned on the second side, stir the mushrooms.  When lightly browned, add Marsala around the chicken pieces, cover and simmer for about ten minutes.  Transfer to serving plate.

I must add...my favorite part of this recipe was pounding the chicken!  

Baked Tomato Sauce

My Mom gave me my Step Dad's cast iron skillet.  It was his favorite thing to cook with.  He passed away a year ago October 28th, and we do miss him very much!  He helped spark my interest in cooking by always trying new things and making yummy stuff for us to try.  This is the first thing I made in his cast iron skillet.  I actually really enjoyed it.  You can cook with it on the stove and bake...no extra dishes!

This recipe I found on Evil Chef Mom's blog.  She is a funny blogger.  Her stories and sarcasm crack me up.  Well when I saw this recipe I knew I wanted to try it!  So easy and tasty.  Her recipe has no meat in it, but my husband for some reason doesn't think that it's supper without some meat at dinner.  So hear it is.

Baked Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
 1/3 cup melted butter

2-3 pounds very ripe tomatoes, halved...I used 5 large tomatoes
1/3 cup panko break crumbs
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound dried penne
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, torn


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking dish or a cast iron pan with one-third of the oil. Place the tomatoes cut side up in the dish. Pour melted butter over tomatoes.

In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, and garlic and toss with a fork to mix well. Sprinkle the bread-crumb mixture over the tomatoes, making sure that each cut side is covered with the crumb mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake until the tomatoes are cooked through and the tops are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make noodles and drain. 
Time the pasta so it finishes cooking about the time the tomatoes are ready to come out of the oven.
When the tomatoes are done, add the basil and stir to mix everything into a sauce. Drain the pasta and immediately place it to the baking dish. Mix well.

(I cooked some turkey breasts and added them into the mixture too.)

EAT!  :)

Easy Lasagna

We had my husband's side of the family over for dinner and I wanted to make something up ahead of time that would be satisfying to all.  So I used this easy lasagna recipe I got from the 2004 Wal-Mart Family Recipes cookbook.  I make this lasagna every few months since my whole family loves this stuff!

Ingredients:
10 No-boil lasagna noodles
1 1/2 lb. Ground beef (I used a combo of Itailan sausage and turkey)
1 cup chopped onion
1 jar of Ragu Pasta sauce(what ever flavor you like!)
1 1/2 tsp Itialan seasoning
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
3 cups Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesean cheese

Soak lasanga noodles in water for 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350.  Cook hamberger and onions in a large skillet; then drain.  Stir in pasta sauce, Itlian seasoning, and garlic.  Heat through.  Spray a 13x9 with cooking spray then place half of the lasagna noodles in the bottom of the pan, half of the sauce, and half cheese.  Repeat layers and spinkle with parmesean cheese.  Bake uncovered for 45 minutes then let sit for 10 minutes.

Turkey "Beefy" Nachos

Happy Friday!  Thank goodness the weekend is coming!  This week has been packed full of doctor visits, cooking, and cleaning up the yard for winter.  I thought since it's Friday I am going to post a fun and yummy snacky type of dinner.  I found this recipe from a blog called KevinandAmanda.com.  She has some great crafting ideas as well as some really good recipes too!  She made homemade tortilla chips and all to go with the nachos...call me a bum, but I didn't go to that much trouble!  I bought the good old Tostitos Tortilla Chips.  We made these yummy nachos on a Sunday night when our Vikings were playing the Green Bay packers.  We lost, but the food was great!

Turkey "Beefy" Nachos
(32 oz) Velveeta cheese (I used 2% Velveeta)
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies
1 lb sausage, browned and drained (I used turkey sausage)
1 lb hamburger, browned and drained (I used ground turkey)
1 small jar of salsa
1 can cream of mushroom soup


Melt Velveeta for 1 1/2 to 2 hours in a crockpot on high.  Brown meat in a frying pan and drain.  Turn crock pot to medium or low and add meat, rotel tomatoes, salsa, and soup.  Let it cook on low for 1/2 hour.


Serve with chips and devour!  We didn't eat all of ours so I put it in a freezer safe container and then wrapped it in foil.  I will bring it back out in the next few weeks and try reheating it for a football game or I might try to make some kind of other nachos with more veggies and use this.

Ok...too much junk!

Happy Friday!  I do realize I have been posting a lot of junk food lately.  Probably too much.  What you should know is that I don't necessarily keep everything I make.  I like to give away the brownies, cookies, or pie as treats to family and friends.  If I don't get rid of it that way I bring whatever it is into work.  When you work in a big company there is always someone who wants to gobble up what you bring!  No matter what it is!

Well the other night we decided to have a nice dinner of chicken, rice, and green beans.  I decided I wanted to try something like shake n bake and found this recipe from TastyKitchen.com.

Homemade Shake N Bake.
Ingredients:

• 2 cups Flour
• 2 Tablespoons Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Celery Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Dry Mustard
• 4 Tablespoons Paprika
• 2 Tablespoons Garlic Powder
• 1 teaspoon Ginger
• ½ teaspoons Thyme
• ½ teaspoons Sweet Basil
• ½ teaspoons Oregano

I did half of everything since this makes so much.  Blend or mix well then place in zip lock bag.  Line 13x9 baking dish with foil.  Cut fat off chicken, rinse, and shake and place in baking dish.  I baked the chicken at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

There will be lots of "shake n bake" left over.  The recipe said you can freeze it and use it whenever.  So...that is what we are doing.

Oriental Stir Fry

One of my favorite cook books is 5 Ingredients or Less Cookbook.  I found the Easy Oriental Stir Fry recipe I tried it right away.  This has become a favorite of my husband's and my son! 

Ingredients:
1 1/4 lb Hamburger (I used ground pork or turkey usually)
1 16 oz package of stir fry vegetables
2 packages of oriental ramen noodle
3 TBLS green onion
1/2 tsp ginger

Brown the meat in a frying pan (I added minced onion, little bit of salt, and pepper).  Once the meat is browned put aside in a bowl.  In same frying pan add 2 cups of water, stir fry vegetables, broken up ramen noodles, and the ramen seasoning.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat and cover for 3 minutes.  Add meat, green onion, and ginger into the pan and serve. 

Very simple and easy...I love this recipe and it makes for a easy night afterward with not many dishes!

Kid Sized Pizzas

Last week Lukas was sick and didn't feel well at all.  He had a double ear infection along with some teething.  My husband and I decided to keep him home a couple of days.  We usually take turns when it comes to taking time off with him.  Well the day I was home with him we had mini kid sized pizzas!

Pizza is one of Lukas's favorites so before I remembered to take a picture he had already gobbled up half the mini pizza!  He ate two of these and I am amazed at how much he can eat sometimes.  The recipe called for sausage, but I didn't put any meat in them.  Lukas eats cheese pizza the best...super easy and satisfying for my toddler!!!  That white stuff on the plate is ranch dressing.  He dips his pizza in ranch dressing like his mommy.

Recipe orignally from Taste of Home
Ingredients:
6 English Muffins (I used whole wheat hamburger buns.)
2 cups or more of pizza sauce (I used left over spaghetti sauce from the fridge.)
1 or more cups of mozzarella cheese
sprinkle with garlic salt and itailian seasoning
(add any of your favorite toppings)  ♥

Spread sauce on muffins and top with cheese.  Sprinkle with seasoning.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until cheese melts.  I usually bake until cheese starts to melt and then broil on high for 1 or 2 minutes.

It was actually pretty tasty and Lukas approved!

Stuffed Chicken with Crash Hot Potatoes

I apologize...I have no pictures again for this!  We ate it far too fast!  However, that usually means it's delicious when that happens.  Right?!  Go with me on this...no pictures means we gobbled it up in record time.  I wish I would have taken some pictures though the chicken and potatoes turned out wonderfully!

When I was looking at the Budget Bites blog I found a yummy looking chicken I wanted to try.  I had made something like this before, but it was chicken cordon blue.  Beth from Budget Bites made this with pepperoni, but I used ham instead of pepperoni.  Here is the recipe for the Stuffed Chicken Breasts.  My Mother in Law and Father in Law both loved them too!  They came over for dinner. ♥

The Crash Hot Potatoes also turned out to be really great.  The recipe is from Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman Cooks website.  I also just bought her cook book The Pioneer Woman Cooks Recipes from an accidental country girl!  I totally love it!  I must admit though, I do transform her recipes into some healthier versions.  She does use a lot of butter! 

Anyway, we also had green beans for good measure.  Lukas won't eat them, but he at least put them in his mouth to taste them.  I used about a tablespoon of Tastefully Simple's Garlic Garlic on the green beans and they are always a hit!

White Cheese Chicken Lasanga

A few weeks ago I made this for supper.  Also I think this blog has turned into...'What ate for supper'.  That seems to be the only thing I cook lately.  I haven't had time to bake any goodies or treats, but I have to make supper so it's the only time I get to try something different.  Breakfast and lunch my husband and I eat while at work (nothing really to note) and Lukas eats breakfast and lunch at daycare.

So yeah...this is what we had for supper the other night.  It was really good and didn't take long to put it together at all.  I got the recipe from AllRecipes.com.  White Cheese Chicken Lasagna.

Fast Italian Sandwiches

Tonight I needed to make something fast and we are on a tight budget this week.  So this is what I came up with.  Fast Italian Sandwiches...not toddler approved, well not by my toddler anyway.

Ingredients:
4 Breaded Chicken Patties
1 cup Spaghetti Sauce
1 can mushrooms
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese
4 sandwich buns

Prep:
Spray frying pan with Pam and cook chicken patties on medium.  Sprinkle patties with Italian seasoning and garlic salt.  Flip and sprinkle with seasonings again.  On the last flip take the 1 cup sauce and distribute over chicken patties.  Sprinkle both cheeses over the sauce and then top with mushrooms and cover.  Let cheese melt and then put on buns. 

They are yummy.  I didn't get to take pictures we were way too hungry!!!  They were great though!

Poor Man's Stir Fry

We got lazy last week and didn't get to the store.  I didn't have any meat in our freezer besides chicken nuggets, and I had an abundance of ramen noodle.  So I used Chinese Noodles recipe from Cheeky Kitchen and also made some Chicken nuggets and diced them up to throw them into the noodles. 

When I cooked the chicken nuggets I slowly heated them in a skillet with some sesame oil, garlic, and ginger.  My whole family enjoyed the cheap and easy recipe!

Crock Pot Pizza Casserole

This is a very simple and fast recipe for either a weekend or a weeknight with some adjustments.

The recipe is for a crock pot, but you can make it in the oven too.  I made mine in the oven, but the recipe calls for the crock pot.  The crock pot version would be great for a pot luck or a football gathering!

In our case I needed to make supper and make in less than 3-4 hours.

I got this recipe from Hy-Vee's emailed recipes.

Here are the ingredients:
1 lb hamburger (I used turkey)
16 oz cooked linguine pasta
2 cans pizza sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Cook hamburger, and then layer either in a baking dish or crock pot.  Layer half noodles, half hamburger, 1 can sauce, and 1 cup mozzarella.  Then layer again with remaining ingredients.  Bake covered at 350 for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake another 7-10 minutes until it starts to brown on edges.  If using a crock pot layer the ingredients like above and cook on low for 3-4 hours mixing occasionally.

It was good and my little guy had 4 helping which was probably 1 serving for me!  Very friendly toddler food!

To make it even healthier use whole grain linguine noodles and make your own pizza sauce.

Asian Shrimp Soup

My very most favorite meat is shrimp!  I love the flavor and the texture of it...plus it tastes good in so many things!

When we first tried this recipe my husband made it for me a couple years ago for my birthday.  He wanted to spoil me and cook me dinner.  Not to mention use my favorite meat too.

I was craving this soup and decided to drag the recipe out and make it again.  It was so easy and yummy!

Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
1 lb shrimp (I bought the precooked which are already peeled and deveined)
1 can condensed chicken and rice soup
1 pkg. broccoli stir fry veggies
2 cups chicken broth

Bring chicken broth and soup to a boil.  Then add shrimp and stir fry veggies.  Cook for 20 minutes on low-medium.  Then eat!  See how easy it is!  This is definitely a fast work night dinner. 

Oh by the way...my son who is 2 years old even liked it!  He also loved the shrimp which called chicken, but I wasn't going to correct him since he was eating it so easily!