South of the border night....

Once upon a time my husband was a meat and potatoes kinda guy and getting him to eat anything else was hard! He was really an easy going guy but man don't mess with his dinner! He would eat anything twice.....and if it was something he really didn't care for he would just say "you don't have to make that again".
I love trying new recipes and experimenting with old ones to make them better! The girls don't really care, unless I talk about 2 things.....Lasagna and Cinnamon Rolls, those are sacred and I don't mess with them!
Tonight's recipe is a family favorite.....fiddled with for years before settling on this "perfect" version!
It's pretty yummy...mildly spicy so little kids won't have too much to complain about ;)

Mexican Lasagna
1 bag of ground beef, thawed
1 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp each, oregano, basil and cumin
2 small cans tomato sauce
1 small can sliced olives, drained
1 can sweet corn, drained
salt and pepper
Combine in a large skillet and cover. Simmer over low heat while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Spray a baking dish with non stick spray.
Combine in a large bowl:
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cottage cheese
1 lb shredded jack cheese
Crush a large bag of plain corn chips and layer in your baking dish as follows
Corn chips
1/2 the meat sauce
Corn chips
1/2 the cheese
Corn chips
Remaining meat sauce
Corn chips
Remaining cheese
Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes.

Chicken me some pie!

Arielle will eat chicken every day...no, EVERY day! She's not terribly picky about her chicken either....baked, roasted, grilled, bbq, casserole she loves her some chicken! This very tasty "pot pie" has been her favorite meal from a very young age. It goes together quickly but does not freeze well. Leftovers are divine for lunch the next day!

Chicken Pot Pie
1 cup cubed Yukon Gold potatoes (seriously, are you still buying white potatoes?)
Put potatoes in a small sauce pan and cover with about 3/4 cup water. Salt and put the lid on. Cook over medium heat 8-10 minutes until potatoes are tender. Set aside.
In a large skillet melt 3 Tbsp butter and add 1/2 cup chopped carrot, 1/2 cup chopped celery and 1/2 cup chopped onion. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook over medium/high heat until veggies are tender.
Sprinkle in 4 heaping Tbsp flour and cook 3 minutes until nice and brown.
Add 2 cups chicken stock and 2/3 cup milk. Cook and stir until nice and thick.
Add 1 bag of thawed chicken, the cooked potatoes (and their liquid) and 1 cup frozen baby peas.
Stir until heated through. Pour into lightly greased 9X13 pan.
Preheat oven to 375.
Biscuit Topper
1/2 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
3/4 cup milk
Mix just enough to pull together into a sticky dough. Drop onto filling (I use a big scoop).
Bake for 35-40 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Chickilladas!

I LOVE chicken enchiladas......spicy red sauce or mild white sauce I love them equally! I've been searching for a killer recipe for homemade white sauce that doesn't use "cream of" anything soup. I have nothing against cream soups they are a staple in my pantry but I love the satisfaction of making it from scratch!
With my chicken out of the freezer I had these in the oven in 15 minutes! Seriously folks these are SO good I can't say enough good things about them!!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
2 cups shredded Mexican chicken, thawed
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
10 soft flour taco shells
Mix chicken, seasonings and cheese. Use a slight heaping 1/4 cup for each enchilada. Put into a greased 9X13 pan.

Mild Green Chile Sour Cream Sauce
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp diced green chiles
salt and pepper
Melt butter in a large skillet. Add flour and cook until it's dark and lovely. Add garlic, cumin, chili powder and chicken stock. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Cover and let simmer on low 5 minutes to develop deep flavor. Remove from heat and add sour cream, chiles and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over rolled enchiladas in pan. Use ALL of the sauce!! Cover with 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Uncover and bake 3-5 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

A meatball journey!

Today I cooked chicken (the usual way, nothing special I do it every month) and made 3 kinds of meatballs!
I like a little variety every now and then so I try to make things that have lots of options! Meatballs are easy to vary and my basic recipe can be adapted at least these 3 ways, maybe more but let's start with 3 today!

Basic Meatballs
4 slices nice soft white bread crusts removed
2/3 cup milk
2 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
2 eggs slightly beaten
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Break the bread into pieces and put into a large bowl (larger than you think you need cause this is messy work)! Pour the milk over the bread and toss it around so all the pieces are moist. Let sit about 5 minutes.
Break up ground beef and add along with other ingredients to bread mixture. Dig in with your hands and mix lightly just until it's all worked together.
Get out a cookie sheet, foil and a wire rack (you know, the kind you cool things on). Cover the cookie sheet with foil and put the wire rack on top of it. Spray the rack with non stick cooking spray. Scoop meat mixture onto the wire rack with a regular size scoop. Keep them close together on the rack. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes. The wire rack will allow any fat to drip off and you will thank me later! Let them cool then bag them up and freeze!

Italian Meatballs
To basic meatball recipe add:
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp garlic
1 Tbsp parsley flakes
Follow directions above.
Most of the time I make the basic meatballs and do HALF the meat into balls then add the Italian ingredients (using 1/2 the above amounts) mix and finish......you can bake them all together it's easy to tell which ones are the Italian ones because of the cheese!

Swedish Meatballs
Ok, this on is slightly trickier but they are SO tasty!
Make one small variance in the meat....use 1 lb ground pork and 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
Follow the basic recipe adding:
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice

Sauce for Swedish Meatballs:
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
4 cups beef broth
3/4 cup sour cream
2-4 Tbsp Blackberry jam (Lingonberry is traditional but good luck finding it)
salt and pepper
Melt butter in large saucepan. Add flour and cook 1 minute. Add beef broth and stir until thick. Turn heat off and add sour cream, jam and season to taste. Add your meatballs and put the lid on. Let them just sit there in the sauce but don't turn the heat back on. Serve over egg noodles.
The sauce doesn't freeze well but it goes together fast....you can just thaw the meatballs and then add them to the finished sauce!

Ready....set....SHOP!

Payday around here means a few things....none of them are extravagant! Payday means, pay the bills (duh) and go grocery shopping.....Now I LOVE to cook, but grocery shopping is on my list of "do I really have to" along with folding laundry and cleaning toilets (just where is that fairy godmother anyway)!
Luckily I have a pretty steady shopping buddy! Arielle goes even if it's late (like it was last night) and her hip is hurting (like it was last night) and...yeah, you get the point huh! ;)
So, where do you start when you go shopping? I'll tell you what I do....it's working for me and keeps me ON budget and gets me in and out pretty quick!
*Make your menu (I shop once a month except for the odd trip for milk and maybe some nice fresh produce)
*Plan your shopping list (don't forget staples and things you will always need like milk, bread and Nutella)!
*Rewrite your shopping list into departments taking into account the layout of your preferred store make it two columns so it isn't nine miles long!
*EAT BEFORE YOU GO!!! Nothing makes an expensive shopping trip more than a hungry tummy!
*Grab your coupons (I'm not much of a couponer......I would like to be but I just don't have the energy)!
*Stick to your list! Unless it's on a super sale if it's not on your list you don't need it!
*Take it home put it away and feel good about your stocked kitchen!
*Last bit of advice on shopping.....if you tend to eat out too much and want to stop it. SPEND  your money at the grocery store that gives you 1: a well stocked kitchen and a menu to stick to and 2: No money to go out to eat on! :-D
I try not to shop and cook on the same day, it's exhausting! I would rather shop at night when the store is being stocked. Figure out what works for you!
Now it's time to get your monthly recipes together. If I have new things I am going to try I print them out and put them in my black recipe binder. That way everything is all together and if Arielle is making dinner that night (which she does once a week...man I love that kid)! she doesn't have to wonder where said recipe is!

That's it! Now you are ready for a month of eating dinner with your family (make them help you cook too, it's so much fun to cook with your kids! Even little kids can help out. Avery is a better egg cracker at 8 than most adults are)!

Leeloo Dallas multipass!

Whenever we watch the move "The Fifth Element" we laugh for days....it's so quotable! Our favorite quote is "Cheekan"! Love it when Leeloo pulls the chicken out of the food replicator (or whatever that contraption is). The look on her face is priceless! lol
Anywho! Tonight I really didn't feel like cooking, so I didn't! I did boil some macaroni but I don't think that qualifies as cooking.......if it does to you they HEY, I cooked! ;)
We had our favorite sandwich tonight and a yummy fast macaroni salad. This is usually the meal I pack in the cooler if we are going to Lagoon. This was ready and on the table in less than 20 minutes!

Macaroni Salad
2 cups elbow macaroni
1 cup cheddar cheese cubes
1/2 cup chopped dill pickles
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2-1 cup mayo
salt and pepper
Boil the macaroni until tender and then add the frozen peas. Stir around then drain the water off. Run cool water over the macaroni and set aside.
In a large bowl mix all together adding salt and pepper to taste. This tastes best if you let it hang out in the fridge overnight.

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
1 bag of shredded BBQ chicken thawed (warmed if desired, I just put the bag in the microwave and heat it  right in the bag 15-20 seconds.
Cut some nice crusty rolls in half. Spread mayo over the roll and pile on some chicken. Top the chicken with a slice of Provolone cheese and a smear of BBQ sauce. Top with the roll crown and devour!
These are delicious cold as well and transport to picnics beautifully to assemble at eating time!

Chow down some chowder!

Ok......3 posts in a day is pretty ambitious! Here's the last of the trio for today!

Country Ham Chowder
2-3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, pared and cubed
Put these in a small saucepan, cover with about 3/4 cup water and sprinkle on a little salt. Cover and simmer about 8 minutes until they are tender. Set aside (liquid and all).
In a large saucepan melt 3 Tbsp butter, add 1/4 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup chopped carrot and 1/2 cup chopped celery. Cook over medium heat stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Dump in 3 Tbsp flour. Cook and stir for 1 minute to cook off the raw flour taste.
Add 2 1/2 cups milk (you can use skim milk in this and it's plenty rich)
Bring to a gentle boil until it's thick and bubbly.
Add:
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
the potatoes with the liquid you cooked them in
1 can sweet corn (drained please)
1 cup chopped ham
Bring to a simmer.
Add:
1 1/2 cups shredded medium cheddar cheese
Do NOT let chowder boil once you have added the cheese, just let it sit over the turned off burner and stir it around until it's melted.
Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
This freezes great. Let it cool then put it in freezer bags. Freeze it flat. Thaw and heat!

Let them eat......well, bread!

It's a soup kinda day here in Utah and what goes best with homemade soup?? Homemade bread!!
I used to bake bread every week back in my "housewife" days.....sometimes I miss those days. The OCD house cleaning, I do NOT miss (glad that chick is gone) but I do miss the routine of making bread.....starting early in the day and baking 6 or 8 loaves. Then we were poor married teenagers but today I bake for the love of it. The smell of bread is just heavenly, don't you think? It makes a rainy day so much more enjoyable.....and a thick slice of homemade bread slathered with melty butter is pretty much my idea of awesome!
This recipe is practically idiot proof (as evidenced by the fact that I mastered it while I was a teenage bride)!

Best Bread
3/4 cup warm water
2 Tbsp dry active yeast
Pour warm water over yeast in the bowl of your KitchenAid mixer....you don't HAVE a KitchenAid?? Oh, you poor poor soul. You should ask Santa to bring you one! If you don't have a KitchenAid just pour it into the biggest mixing bowl you have and cry about your lack of non appliance status over your hot bread later! Let this sit and bloom.
Combine in a small saucepan: 
2 cups whole milk (milk with less fat makes vastly incompetent bread)!
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp Kosher salt
3 Tbsp solid shortening
Heat until sugar and salt are dissolved and shortening is melted
Add to yeast mixture along with 4 cups of flour. Beat until very smooth and satiny. Continue beating adding flour 1 cup at a time until dough begins to pull from sides. If you are mixing this by hand, this is the point where you abandon the mixing spoon and dig in with your hands!! FUN STUFF!
Switch to your dough hook and continue adding flour in small amounts (you'll use about 7 1/2 to 8 cups total) until dough is tacky but not sticky. Continue the kneading process about 5 minutes with machine or until your arms fall off manually. :)
If you have a Tupperware "Thatsa Bowl" now is the time to use it! Spray that sucker good with non stick spray and plop in your beautiful dough. Lightly spray the dough and the lid and put the lid on! Let dough rise until nearly triple.
This makes 2 loaves of bread. Form them into loaves and place them in greased loaf pans, cover and place in a warm draft free place. Let rise until dough is about 1 inch above the top of the pan.  Bake in a preheated 425 oven about 25 minutes or until deeply golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped lightly. Remove from pan immediately and brush tops/sides and ends with butter. Let cool 1/2 hour before trying to slice or it's like trying to slice glue!
If you want to freeze your bounty let the loaves cool completely then wrap them in heavy foil and put into a gallon size freezer bag. Thaw before slicing if you didn't slice it before!

This easily converts to whole wheat just substitute honey for the sugar and use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose!

Life is short....eat dessert first!

Today, I will make 3 posts....one for each of the yummies I am making!
Last night I got together with some of my favorite girls! Both of my daughters, my niece Rora and besties Johanna and Tami. Tami has just moved into a beautiful new home in Washington Terrace after 20 some years of apartment dwelling. To celebrate we had a little party........I was instructed to "bring chocolate". I whipped up some devastatingly delicious brownies! They are slightly more involved than my normal "better than a box" brownies but OMG are they worth it!
The buttercream makes twice as much as you need for your brownies but I am sure you can find a good use for it.....and it does freeze beautifully (just bring it to room temp and give it a good whipping before using it)!

Go Big Brownies
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
Mix together and set aside.
In a large glass bowl combine:
1/2 cup butter
3 (1oz each) squares unsweetened baking chocolate
Melt in microwave on medium heat, stirring occasionally until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
Add:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
Mix until combined then add flour mixture all at once along with 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips. Pour into greased and floured 8X8 (or 9X9 whatever you have) pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Do NOT open the oven during the baking!
Cool completely before frosting.

OMG Chocolate Buttercream
3/4 cup butter at room temperature
1/2 cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
scant 1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup Ovaltine powder
1 tsp vanilla
Beat cocoa and butter together 3 minutes until very creamy. In a 1 cup measuring cup combine cream, Ovaltine and vanilla. Add powdered sugar to butter mixture pouring in cream slowly. Increase mixer speed and beat until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
Spread 1/2 over cooled brownie. Do what you will with the rest, I won't tell! ;)

There is some debate over salted vs unsalted butter.......you didn't ask for my opinion but here it is anyway!
Salted butter!! The salt will keep the butter fresher, it won't absorb odors from the other foods it comes in contact with so it will taste like BUTTER......not garlic! You can reduce the amount of salt called for in the recipe to compensate for the little bit of salt in the butter.

Another debate? Sure, why not! Should I sift that flour and or powdered sugar? Eh, pour it into a bowl and give it a good stir with a wire whisk before measuring! If my powdered sugar is a little older it can be a little lumpy maybe then I may sift it.......maybe, maybe not!

30 minutes to dinner!

Another super quick ground beef recipe! I've made this dozens of times, dozens of different ways but tonight I upped the ante with the addition of Philadelphia Cooking Cream (the Italian Herb variety)!
You can use whatever brand jarred/canned sauce you and your family like, we like Hunts Traditional it's pretty cheap when it's on sale you can pick it up for about 90 cents! That's a bargain any day folks!
You can also vary the meat and use meatballs. I've also done this with Alfredo sauce and chicken for another easy version!
Tonight we have the Creamy Pasta Bake!
1 lb pasta cooked about 1 minute less than directions call for
1/2 cup pasta water (save it out before you drain your pasta)
1 jar/can Spaghetti sauce
1 bag of cooked beef, thawed
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
3/4 of the container cooking cream
After draining the pasta pour it back into the pot adding all the rest of the ingredients. Stir it around until cooking cream is incorporated. Pour into a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Spoon out the rest of the cooking cream over the top in little plops and cover with 1/2 lb shredded mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil, bake 30 minutes at 350.

Serve with a salad with zesty Italian dressing and some crusty bread!

I'm too chicken to eat out!

Last night, after our adventures in the ER Momma and Father John were hungry so we stopped at "Village Inn" (really it was Denny's but Mom can't see so she thought it was a VI)......yeah, this is the reason I don't eat out! Ewww......when we were leaving my Mom said "Jamie, you didn't order breakfast:"! Wish I would have, it's hard to mess up pancakes! In no way do I think Denny's constitutes fine dining but wow it was BAD! But the service was good, the girl always had a smile on her face and was really sweet even though my Mom can be kinda testy! :)
Today was my day off and normally that means laundry, cleaning and cooking......check! check! and check!
Normally I do a roast on Sunday but I couldn't find a small enough one when I went shopping (cooking for 2 is a challenge sometimes) so I decided on a lovely chicken divan! I love broccoli!! How many foods look like trees and are so tasty? I can't think of many! With a bag of cooked chicken out of the freezer you can have this in the oven in minutes and on the table in less than 45! In 45 minutes you could clean your bathroom (or fold laundry.....or just sit in your favorite chair and do nada.....no judgement)!

Chicken Divan
2-3 cups broccoli florets (steam until bright green and slightly tender please don't boil it, that is a terrible thing to do to a beautiful veggie)
Lightly grease a 9X13 pan. Put the broccoli in. Put a bag of chopped chicken over the top of the broccoli (thaw the chicken first).
Make a sauce of
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 cup Mayo
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp lemon juice
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Heat this up gently just until cheese melts. Salt and pepper to taste and pour over the broccoli/chicken mixture!
Mix 1/2 cup bread crumbs with 2 Tbsp melted butter. Sprinkle over the top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Serve over hot rice.
Super yummy leftovers and this freezes beautifully! Thaw completely before baking.

Bad day? Chocolate fixes that!

Spent today in the ER with Father John......turns out he's fine just getting old. Thanks Doc, we coulda figured that out on our own. The good news is, no heart trouble, no new stroke just dizziness and unexplained arrhythmia. So bring on the BROWNIES!!!

Who Needs a Box Brownies?
1/2 cup melted butter
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Blend together with wooden spoon and pour into a greased 9x9 square pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Let cool and frost if desired.
Creamy Frosting
3 Tbsp soft butter
3 Tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
1-2 Tbsp milk
Blend until creamy and spread over cooled brownie.
These freeze really well, unfrosted! A square of brownie topped with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and smothered in hot fudge could be chocolate nirvana!