Beef Skillet

While living with a friend from college, I first had this meal.  As she told me what was in it and how to eat it, I thought she was crazy. 

"Wait, you dip what in it?"

However, to my surprise, the meal was delicious, and a couple of years later I found myself wanting to have it again.  So, I called her up and got the recipe.  If you want something different to try, yet delicious, try making this beef skillet meal.

First brown and drain a pound of ground beef.  Put the cooked beef back into the skillet and add a package of beef flavored noodles (I used regular egg noodles and then added a package of beef broth mix), and a can of corn.  Add 4 tbs of chili powder.  After the noodles have cooked, add a cup of shredded cheddar cheese.  Mix everything together as the cheese melts.  When the meal is ready, use Doritos to dip into the mixture and eat.

You Know You are a Foodie When...

food·ie

 /ˈfudi/ Show Spelled[foo-dee]

–noun Slang . 

a person keenly interested in food, esp. in eating or cooking.

You know you are a foodie when...

you are looking at a magazine in the Doctor's office and find a recipe that you just HAVE to have.  So, you take pictures with your camera phone in order to get a copy of the recipe. 

Freezer Pleasers

 

With an the arrival of a baby coming, I spent a few days last October cooking soups and casseroles to freeze, so that we could have easy meals for a couple of weeks.  In doing so, I learned a helpful tip that I wanted to share. When fixing soup to freeze, pour the cooked soup (after it has cooled down) into ziploc bags.  Place them flat in a cake pan and sit them in the freezer.  (I put them in the cake pan in case the bag leaks.)  When the soup has frozen flat, stand them up in the freezer, allowing for extra space to store other things.  It takes up so much less room this way than freezing the soup in a bowl!


 To thaw the soup, I put it back into a cake pan (again in case of leakage) and place it into the fridge until it thaws.  Then pour the soup into a pot and warm it up!

Chicken Pasta

A few days ago, my aunt shared a recipe with me, and I wanted to try it.  It turned out great, so here is my version of the chicken pasta.  It's incredibly easy, and you can even cook it in the slow cooker! 


First, bake and cube two large boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Also, cook a box of pasta (I used bow-tie) to al dente.  In a bowl, mix the chicken, pasta, half a block of velveeta (chopped up), a can of rotell, half a bag of shredded taco flavored cheese, and a can of cream of mushroom (or cream of chicken).  Mix it all together.  Cook it in a casserole dish at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the top begins to brown and then add some shredded cheddar cheese on top, continue cooking until the cheese  melts.  You can also cook it in the slow cooker on low for several hours.  The end result looks something like this, and tastes delicious! Enjoy!

 

Back to the Kitchen

After a bit of a break of serious cooking in the kitchen, I'm back!  Well, I guess I should say that I'm coming back.  Adjusting to life with a little one around makes cooking meals even more adventurous than normal.  However, I did have time to make plenty of Christmas goodies this last Christmas.  One of my favorites were my mint chocolate Christmas trees.  They were delish!  Yes, I know Christmas is over, but let me share this easy recipe with you and adapt it for whatever event you want to. 

First I crushed candy canes and put them in the bottom of Christmas tree shaped silicon ice trays.  Next, I poured melted white chocolate into the molds, and tapped the molds on the counter.  The chocolate went into the fridge to allow the white chocolate to harden some.  After about 5 minutes I pulled them out and then poured the milk chocolate on top next.  Again I tapped the mold on the counter to release the air bubbles.  The mold went back into the fridge for fifteen minutes.  When the chocolate was hardened, I popped them out of the molds and they were ready to eat.  This delicious treat would work in any shape, or with any chocolates, so be creative and enjoy some homemade candies.

Veggie Casserole

With several fresh vegetables in the fridge one week, I had to figure out some creative ways to eat them up before they went bad.  What resulted was a vegetable casserole that my husband loved!

First I boiled chopped broccoli, carrots and cauliflower until it was cooked.  After draining the water out of them, I mixed in 2 cups of crushed crackers, half to one can of cream of chicken and half to 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.  You can add salt and pepper to taste as well.  After mixing everything together, I poured the mix into a casserole dish and cooked at 350 until the cheese was melted and the top started to look a little crunchy. 

This dish is a delicious side to baked chicken or pork chops!

Herbed Chicken Bites

I stumbled across this recipe for Herbed Chicken Bites from www.cooks.com.  First, I cut the three pieces of boneless, skinless chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces.   I then mixed together a 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, 2 tbs of Italian seasoning (the recipe called for thyme and basil, but I didn't have thyme by itself, so I just used the Italian seasoning) and 1 cup of crushed stuffing.  (Instead of stuffing, the recipe called for crushed bread crumbs or crackers, which I didn't have either.)

I melted 1/2 cup of butter, and then dipped the pieces of chicken into the butter before coating them in the dressing mixture.  After laying the chicken on a cookie sheet (with foil in the bottom), I placed them in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 25 minutes.  It's important to watch that the chicken is cooked through, but it's also easy for them to get too dry. 

My end result was some rich tasting chicken bites, which I served with garlic potatoes.