3/19/2012 - Turkey Tetrazzini

HELLO WERE BACK!!! it was nice to be able to use what we had. we ate of lot basic simple foods not any that were good for the blog! I forgot to take a picture of dinner but heres rachel rays picture It was a very good meal, very filling, and overall tastey! we did change a few things noted below!

Turkey tetrazzini
Source: Rachel ray
Ingredients
8 ounces linguine pasta, broken in half (we used spaghetti noodles, fetichinni, and egg noodles)
3/4 pound skinless, boneless turkey breast, cut into 1/2-inch chunks (we used a whole pound)
Salt and pepper
6 tablespoons butter
8 ounces small white mushrooms, quartered
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup frozen peas and carrots (1 cup of each)

directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees . Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Cook the pasta according to package directions until just barely al dente; drain.

Meanwhile, season the turkey with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp. butter over medium-high heat. Add the turkey and cook until browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Add 2 tbsp. butter to the skillet. Add the mushrooms and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms start to soften, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the turkey.

Melt the remaining 3 tbsp. butter in the skillet. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and broth and bring to a boil, then simmer for 2 to 3 minutes to thicken. Stir in 1/2 cup parmesan and the peas and carrots. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the pasta and turkey-mushroom mixture to the sauce and toss well to combine. Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup parmesan. Bake until the top is golden-brown and the sauce is bubbling, 12 to 15 minutes (shorten the baking time by at least 5 minutes if youre planning on freezing this for later).

3/1/2012 - 3/15/2012 using whats left

we had a ton of left overs in our fridge so we are not trying new things instead just using whats left...so for the next 15 days there will not be many posts if any sorry!

2/22/12 -Italian chicken wraps!

Yummy in my tummy!!! I'm eating as I type this. It was easy fast and yummy!!! It made a lot so were gonna add rice to it tommrrow and enjoy left overs!

Italian chicken wrap
1 package 16 oz frozen stir fry veggies
2 packages already ready grilled chicken (I used 9 oz packages)
1/3 cup Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup cheese maybe more
6 flour tortias or wraps we used soft taco shells

Cook veggies according to package fully then drain

Add in chicken dressing and cheese

Wrap up in tortias!

2/21/2012 - Italian Panko pork chops

***No picture ***
Justin wasn't feeling good, and I was getting my nails removed so taking a picture slipped my mind! This was a plain recipe...not much flavor shaken bake would have been way better

Italian Panko crusted pork chops
4 boneless chops
1 cup Panko
3 tablespoon parm
Salt and pepper

Bake 350 20-30 mins

2/15/2012 -dinner out - the sushi place

Justin had a 24 hour duty shift on valentines day so we celebrate on the 15th. Justin's favorite food that I don't like is sushi. Knowing we were gonna be on post I agreed to try this new place called the sushi place. I looked at their menu online they had several options for non sushi eaters. We went at lunch time so service was a little slow but they also just opened the Sunday prior. We got the lunch combination. 1 appetizer 2 rolls (from a shorten list of rolls) and a desert
For appetizer we got gyozas (6) these were fried dumplings with your choice of meat (beef pork shrimp chicken or veggie) we got chicken. They were amazing to me! Justin got the 2 rolls one a California and the other was no name. The no name was a lot bigger than we thought. As for desert we got an ice cream dish similar to deep fried ice cream it was really good. Our total was $25 we got lots of sushi for that! Next time we are going to order separate and maybe only one roll because it was a lot even for my bottom less pit of a hubby.

2/17/2012 -slow cooker lemon pepper chicken & potatoes

This is my first post Via iPhone. Tonight was chicken because I had a large family size chicken breast pack that I needed to split.

I found the recipe for lemon pepper chicken via pinterest however I adjusted it! I also wanted potatoes with it so I thought I could cook it all at once I used our speedy cooker! I cooked it on low at first them bumped it up! it really looks like a soup or stew! We served it as chicken and potatoes just draining broth as we served it. I stored extra by draining broth and placing in freezer bag.

Lemon pepper chicken and potato mix
3 medium red potatoes (sliced and cubed small pieces)
Carrots (5 baby carriers sliced)
1 medium onion
1/8 cup lemon pepper seasoning
Dash of salt, parsley, and paprika
2 cans of chicken broth low sodium
3 garlic cloves

1. Rinse and pat dry chicken
2. Mix lemon pepper, paprika, salt, and parsley in a small bowl
3. Cover chicken with seasoning mix
4. Place potatoes carrot one can of broth and little bit of onion in bottom of slow cooker
5. add chicken to top of veggie mix poor other can of broth rest of onions and garlic to top of chicken
6. Let cook for 3-4 hours until potatoes ate soft and chicken is fully cooked

2/16/2012 - Stuffed manicotti

Pasta night :-) Last night was a fend for your self after the big lunch we had at the sushi place! tonight I kinda took the kitchen in my control! I like to cook but and usually nervous and never do it alone tonight i did only time i needed help was to tell if the meat was done! we pretty much doubled everything because we had a whole pound of hamburger! this was fairly easily. the meat mixture was a little too soupy which made it super hard to stuff those silly shells! when pooring the meat over top it looks like a ton of extra. I put way too much cheese on top of the shells also this was a tad too greesy and up set my stomach really easily. However it was good seasoned perfectly not soupy once baked.

Stuffed manicotti
source (magazine I cant remember which one)
Ingredients
4 manicotti shells
½ lb ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
½ medium green pepper finely chopped
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 to 1 ½ tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 cup mozzarella cheese

Directions
1. Cook shells according to package directions meanwhile in a large skillet cook the beef, onion, and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pin; drain. Stir in tomato sauce. Oregano and thyme; bring to a boil reduce heat simmer uncovered for 10 mins. Add ½ cu cheese stir until melted
2. Stuff half of meat mixture into manicotti shells; arrange in a greased 8-in square baking dish spoon remaining meat over shells
3. Bake uncovered for 20 mins at 325 sprinkle with remaining cheese bake 5 - 10 mins longer or until heated through and cheese is melted

2/13/2012 - heaty chicken pot pie!

This was really good compared to what we had the other night! This was AMAZING! there was a few things I would change about it and i will next time. Again we used the precooked ready to eat chicken that's typically in salads. we used about 3 cups of chicken little less onion and mushrooms than it called for but everything else we followed to a T. I made this in a 9" pie pan and took what was left of the mix and froze it so that in a few weeks we can just take it out and maybe make mini pot pies :-) we didn't feel there was enough salt so i would say more salt next time! this could also be because i used a low sodium fat free broth.

Hearty chicken pot pie
Source: Taste of homes
Ingredients
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed chicken broth
1 1/3 cups water, divided
4 medium carrots, thinly sliced (about 1 ½ cups)
3 medium red potatoes, scrubbed and diced (1 ½ cups)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups quarter medium mushrooms
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 (15 oz) package refrigerated pie crusts
2 ½ cups chopped cooked chicken

Directions
1. Combine broth, 1 cup water, carrots and potatoes in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until tender about 10 min.
2. Preheat oven to 425 heats the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened. Stir in the broth mixture and peas. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Whisk remaining water with flour until smooth. Whisk flour mixture into vegetable mixture boil, until thickened remove from heat
3. Un roll 1 pie crust onto a floured surface measure and roll if necessary to fit 1 inch larger than a shallow 2 quart baking dish line the baking dish with crust
4. Stir the chicken into the vegetable mixture and pore into the baking dish place the reaming crust over the filling trim and flute edge cut a scalloped round center back until filling is bubbly and crust is browned. (20 mins)

2/11/2012 - herb stuffed burgers with fries

Again I can't remember where i got this one from. I wanted something different than traditional burgers and fries. This was pretty simple. However we didn't feel that the mixture for the beef was enough by eye balling it so we added more we doubled that part. The cheese seemed to go pretty far we were able to make 2 tiny burgers (my size) and 3 rather large burgers. The cheese lasted through all of them. we cooked them on the George foreman and they seemed to fall apart pretty fast and also were rather hard to tell if they were fully cooked. However, out on the grill it would cook a lot faster and would be easier to tell

at the first few bites i thought it was good. but then i got to the cheese I DID NOT LIKE IT!! matter a fact i couldnt eat it with out gagging! so with that said this is a never again

Herb & cheese-stuffed burgers

Ingredients
¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 TBSP cream cheese softened
2 TBSP minced fresh parsley
3tsp Dijon mustard
2 green onions thinly sliced
3TBSP bread crumbs
2 TBSP ketchup
½ tsp salt
½ tsp rosemary
¼ tsp sage
1lb lean ground beef
4 rolls
Lettuce and tomato
Direction
1. In a small bowl, combine cheddar cheese, cream cheese, parsley and 1tsp mustard; set aside
2. In another bowl, combine the onions, bread crumbs, ketchup, salt, rosemary, sage, and remaining mustard. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 8 thin patties. Spoon cheese mixture onto center of four patties top with remaining patties and press edges firmly to seal
3. Grill burgers, cover, over medium heat or broil 4 inc from hat for 5-7 mins on each side until a meat thermometer reads 160 and juices run clear. Serve burgers on roll with lettuce and tomato

2/10/2012 - chicken enchiladas

justin was sick and now i'm sick there for i'm a little behind on the food blog opps! we have really been in the mood for enchiladas lately. This recipie is from one of my cook books / magazines however i dont remember what one and i'm too sick to get up and look. this made 6 enchiladas for us, and my only negative was the shells were just breaking into pieces trying to wrap them, also the sauce was a little blan for us. we thought it was also too thin, we knew next time 1/2 broth same amount of water, and a cup in a half enchilada sauce. I precooked my chicken in the crock pot for 3 hours, we used a package of boneless thighs, with 2 cups of water and then shredded the amount that it called for.

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

1/3 cup peanut oil
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup flour
13 1/4 ounces chicken broth
1 2/3 cups water
1/2 cup enchilada sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, diced
1/4 cup black olives, pitted and sliced
8 7" corn tortillas

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat; add onion and garlic and cook until tender. Stir in flour, mixing until smooth.
Gradually add chicken broth, water and enchilada sauce, mixing until smooth. Stir in chili powder and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Reserving 1/2 cup cheese, mix remaining cheese with chicken and olives.
Dip corn tortillas in prepared sauce for about 5 seconds. Spoon 3 tablespoons chicken filling across center of each; roll up and place seam side down, in a shallow 2 1/2-quart baking dish.
Pour remaining sauce over tortillas. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with reserved cheese and continue baking 10 minutes. Garnish with sliced ripe olives if desired and serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings.

2/3/2012 - classic Lasagna roll ups

so for the next pay period I deiced to break out the cook books! we have a lot of cook books so i spent 2 days flipping through the books and magazines! Justin has wanted lasagna for a while but its a lot of dairy and I've been putting it on the back burner. well then when I saw this recipe when looking I was like well that doesn't sound too bad! to us it wasn't enough sauce and too much cheese we are gonna try again with more sauce and the same amount of cheese! This was really easy to make and good!!! different from traditional lasagna.

Classic Lasagna Roll up
source: taste of homes - card (we got it through a magazine)

Classic Lasagna Rolls
Ingredients:
12 lasagna noodles
1lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
1 (26 oz) jar pasta sauce with herbs
1 (15 oz)ricotta cheese
1 ¼ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 coat a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with non stick cooking spray
2. Cook the noodles according to the package directions drain lay the noodles flat on waxed paper
3. Cook the beef, onion and garlic in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until meat is browned and crumbly. Drain add pasta sauce bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Spread 2 cups of sauce mixture into baking dish
4. Mix the ricotta and 1 cup mozzarella in a bowl spread about 3 tablespoon mixture evenly over each lasagna noodle
5. Roll up the noodles tightly place seam side down over the sauce in the baking dish. Spoon the remaining sauce over the rolls. Sprinkle with the parmesan bake the rolls until heated through and bubbly about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella. Let stand for 5 mins

2/1/2012 - fast easy creamy chicken

I lost the source of where I got this recipe from. I saved it to my pintreset and now its delete so I have the recipe but no source. This was good, fast, and easy. I started dinner at 5, again we used chicken that was precooked the kind that goes in salads. I just cut the strips into smaller pieces. this helped save time. I cooked about 3 cups of the egg noodles and closer to 3 cups of the chicken. I did add a little extra milk because it was really thick and wasn't mixing very well its really easy and tasty! I forgot to take a picture but ill do that at lunch

Fast easy creamy chicken

Ingredients:
3 cups egg noodles
2 cups cooked chicken (i used almost 3 cups and I used pre-cooked salad kind)
1/2 grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of milk (i used about a cup of milk)

Direction
1. Cook noodles as directed
2. combine everything into pan warm till soup mixture is bubbling
3. sprinkle with parsley if desired.

1/30/2012 - Mexican stuffed shells

we have a few meals and this one sounded good! so we are having mexican stuffed shells! I only burn my self a few times which was durning the stuffing of the shells it says to let the meat mixture cool LISTEN!!! LET IT COOL!!! my thumb is still a lovely shade of red. this was an amazing dinner! it was so different so good. we used a little more salsa then it called for and I put light cheese on mind and also a lot of onion it was really good! 4 1/2 stars!!!

Mexican stuffed shells
Source:the way to his heart

Ingredients
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 package low-sodium taco seasoning ( or better yet use this Taco Seasoning!)
4 oz. cream cheese
14-16 jumbo pasta shells
1.5 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup monterey jack cheese
3 green onions
Sour cream

Directions:
In a frying pan cook ground beef; add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely. While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.

Pour salsa on bottom of 9×13 baking dish. Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes, with the foil removed. Top with any condiments you’d like (green onions, black olives, etc.) Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa.

1/26/2012 - Monterey chicken

were coming to the end of the pay period and we still have 10 meals about left! so next groceries will be cheaper **i hope** ok to last night was beef so tonight is chicken! Monterey chicken I originally found this on Pinterest. it looked yummy
Dinner was AMAZING! it was tangy and spicey but really good!

Monterey chicken
Source: All the simple

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 c. bar-b-que sauce ( I use kc honey bbw
1/4 c. real bacon bits
1 c. colby and jack cheese, shredded
1 14 oz. can Rotel tomatoes, drained (I used in lime juice with cilantro)
sliced green onions
pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pound out chicken breasts to flatten. Season with pepper. Grill chicken until no long pink (we used our George Foreman grill) and place on baking sheet covered with foil. Top each chicken breast with one tablespoon bar-b-que sauce, 1/4 c. cheese, 1/4 c. tomatoes, green onions and one tablespoon of bacon bits. Place in oven and bake until cheese is melted (about 5 minutes).

1/25/2012 - walking tacos!

When I was in school there was only a few days I would buy lunch from the lunch line and one of those was WALKING TACOS! now if you have never heard of walking tacos you are gonna think I'm crazy! I don't know if it was the way the school made them or what but they were great! first thing you would get was the bag of Fritos with taco meat inside the bag then you could get you tomatoes, lettuces, cheese and your drink. so there isn't really a recipe for these its just from memory!

Walking taco's
Source: Lake orion schools / memory

Ingredients:
small bag of Fritos one bag for each person eating or each serving
1 lb ish of ground beef
1 package of taco seasoning (this time i did not follow direction on the package i just added the seasoning to the meat no water)
and of course anything else you want in your walking taco

Directions:
cook ground beef till browned add taco seasoning
a good size scoop of meat into each bag of fritos
and shake it up or stir with your fork then add what ever else you would like!

mmm memories!

1/18/2012 - sausage mini pizza

we've been trying to spread out what we have each night so that its not chicken chicken beef beef lol so last night we had chicken so tonight is sausage! I'm loving this trying new things its really help me plan future menus and to find what my stomach can and can't handle after gastric sleeve. Also because i've been eating smaller portions I haven't gained any weight i'm also not really losing much more but i'm also not working out much right now! this weekend there wont be as many meals because were moving the stuff from storage which means a pizza night and also making simple meals which dont need a blog for lol

any way back to tonight food!
we were going to have sausage calzones however something changed while cooking them that turned into sausage mini pizzas!

Sausage mini pizza :
Source: Justin and I :-)
INGREDIENTS
1 lb bulk Italian pork sausage
2/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 can (10.2 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (5 biscuits)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (2 oz)
pizza sauce


DIRECTIONS
1 Heat oven to 375°F. In 8-inch skillet, cook sausage, onion and bell pepper over medium heat until sausage is no longer pink; drain.
2 Separate dough into 5 biscuits. On ungreased large cookie sheet, press each biscuit into 6-inch round.
3 top each one with a little bit of pizza sauce and what toppings you want (justin put canadian bacon and peporions)then add about 1/3 cup of the sausage mixthen top with a little cheese
4 Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

1/17/2012 - Chicken Quesadillas

Justin's favorite fast food chain would be taco bell, he always orders a Chicken Quesadilla So I thought ok ill make them they can't be that hard! After looking through pintrest I found one that looked pretty good and was pretty simple too! so with that said that's dinner tonight! we bought grilled pre-cooked chicken the kind you put in salads and used that (we were lazy)I wrote in Italics what we did that was different. it was very good different very good with sauce.

Chicken Quesadilla
Source: Like the rain

Ingredients: we quadrupedal everything we had four large tortillas with about 1/4 cup of chicken in each tortillas
1/4 c. real mayo
1/2 tsp. cumin
3/4 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
dash of salt. (not too much!)
2 chicken breasts or more depending how much chicken you want
tortillas

Directions
Mix all your ingredients besides the tortillas and then add the chicken to that.
heat your nonstick pan on med-high heat.
once heated, set your tortilla inside, scoop your sauce mixture and add some shredded cheese to one side of your tortilla.
fold it and put the lid on your pan for a few minutes. flip and cook the other side to your liking!

1/15/2012-Breakfast burritos

Well i got the idea from pinterest, however not following any recipe kinda winging it....we had these this morning and they were pretty good I was not a fan of the sausage we used but it worked. 4 red skin potatoes were not enough for the burritos I didn't have any it made about 7 burritos with potatoes but justin said mine that i made for him for the freezer did not have enough potatoes opps lol I still had some egg left so I got out the precooked dieced ham and added it to some so all together I made 5 sausage egg potato and cheese, 2 sausage egg and cheese, 2 ham egg and light cheese, and one extra ham extra cheese and egg. Justin ate 2 that morning and I had one so a total of 12 burritos so an egg each burrito! they froze pretty nicely justin had one for dinner the other night and said it was better than it was fresh However I forgot to take a picture of them ill try to remember and add it in when I warm mine up!

Tara's Breakfast burrito creation
source: SELF

Ingredients:
dozen eggs
4 red skin potatoes
1lb breakfast sausage
diced ham
1 package craft cheese
burrito tortillas
olive oil
salt
pepper
milk

directions
1. preheat oven 450
2. cube up the potatoes and place on a cooking sheet or baking dish.
3. coat with a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper
4. bake for 20 - 30 mins until golden brown
5. brown sausage
6. mix eggs with 1/2 cup milk add salt pepper to taste
7. combine into burrito with cheese on top!

freezing instructions like a baking dish with parchment paper place burritos on it not touching freeze for about 30 mins to an hour non covered then place burritos in a zip lock baggy

1/12/2012 - crock pot chicken parm

Today's been a very annoying day!!! we were post to be moving into on post housing in the next month or so, however they said today its gonna be a while so justin and I made a choice to just stay where we are! Hard thing to do since I strongly dislike this place but its cheaper and maybe its for the better! so today was family day so justin got home a little early. we wanted chicken parm one of our favorite meals so since I have now one week to make room for the big stuff in storage to be moved into this house I thought crockpot that way I dont have to watch it! again we are using the big crock pot that cooks way to fast. so I got everything in the crock pot at 3:00 and then went back to unpacking boxes that I just packed (pain in the but) at 3:30 justin called to say hes on the way home and a light bulb went off in my head hello dummy you gotta turn on the crock pot! I had everything in it and thought it was cooking but forgot to turn it on! blonde moment! at 5:45 justin checked the chicken and it was fully cooked! so I started some noodles to have it over noodles.

Crock pot Chicken Parm
Source: Get crocked

Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan
INGREDIENTS
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (i had 5 thinly sliced ones)
• 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs (i used regular bread crumbs)
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (i used kraft 5 cheese)
• 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning ( i didn't have any so I used garlic and herb with oregano)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper (forgot)
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt (forgot)
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 egg
• sliced mozzarella cheese (didn't have any just used extra kraft
• Spaghetti sauce (26 oz or more)
• canned or fresh mushrooms, sliced
Directions
1. Pour olive oil into the bottom of a crock pot and coat the bottom well using a paper towel.
2. Beat the egg in a medium bowl.
3. Combine breadcrumbs, seasonings and the parmesan cheese and place in a shallow dish.
4. Dip the chicken into the egg and then lightly dredge into the bread crumb mix to coat both sides.
5. Place the chicken in the bottom of the crock pot.
6. Place one slice of cheese on each chicken breast.
7. Combine pasta sauce and mushrooms the pour over top of the chicken breast pieces.
8. Cook on low for 7 hours (8 hours if you are using frozen chicken)
9. Serve with angel hair pasta and crusty french bread.

1/10/12 - ziti

I have been lazy the last few days its been follow the directions on a box or eating out but thats because we've been busy and doing things or extremely grouchy!! so tonight its back to cooking! ziti! this is my first time ever cooking ziti I noticed how simple the recipe was and had to try it. the other day we had pizza and bread sticks we had some bread sticks left so we had those with the ziti. It wasn't bad, it was pretty good I personally found it a little plain...it was like a spaghetti with different noodles. It was different which is what were going for!

Ziti
Source : Better homes and Garden

Ingredients

* 1
pound 95%-lean ground beef
* 2
cups shredded carrot
* 2
10 3/4 ounce cans reduced-fat and reduced-sodium condensed tomato soup
* 2 1/2
cups water
* 8
ounces dried cut ziti pasta (about 2 1/2 cups)
* 2
tablespoons snipped fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed
* 1
teaspoon onion powder
* 1
teaspoon garlic powder
* 1
cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (4 ounces)
* 1/4
cup shredded Parmesan cheese (1 ounce)

Directions

1. In a 4-quart Dutch oven, cook ground beef and shredded carrot over medium heat until meat is brown. Drain off fat. Stir tomato soup, the water, uncooked ziti, dried basil (if using), onion powder, and garlic powder into meat mixture in Dutch oven.

2. Bring mixture to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and cook about 25 minutes or until ziti is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in fresh basil (if using) and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle individual servings with Parmesan cheese.

1/6/2012 - Dynasty Chinese

I don't have a picture of the meal or the place right now but I wanted to put my review out there! So, Dynasty is located at 54 and kenworthy by the Walgreens. We ordered our food to go, its easier for me to measure it out. it was a buffet and they also have a menu. The buffet was $8.50 a person for nights and weekends. I ordered the almond chicken with fried rice, Justin ordered Beef and mushrooms with white rice. our total was about $15, it was AMAZING! I haven't had a good almond chicken since I left Michigan. There was a lot of big chucks of vegetables and that's not my thang.

1/5/2012 -familyish day

Tonight's menu was a familyish day! we had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables. These are kinda wing it recipes. There is not a set recipe its a familyish recipes so its all hear say and remembering.

Meatloaf
source: mommy
1lb hamburger meat (or turkey)
some onion
sprinkle of garlic salt
one egg
handfull bread crumbs
a heaping amount of ketchup

I mix egg first, then add the meat, some onion (I like a lot but Justin doesn't so depends on whos around when I make it) half a handful of bread crumbs and then mix with my hand. next I add a good amount of ketchup and use a fork to mix I add more bread crumbs and then more ketchup (if I feel like it needs it) then place in a pan (i've made it in 8x13 and a actually loaf pan what ever is around really. I sprinkle bread crumbs on the top and then bake!



MASHED POTATOES!
Source: dont remember!

(this is for 2-3 people but I think the rule is one potato per person)
4 potatoes
half a can of small pet milk (pictured below!)
spoon of butter

peal and cut potatoes in small cubes and boil. drain water add a spoon of butter and mash away! then I add the milk and mix more, I like mine creamy so I add more milk until its the way I like it!




This is the key!!!! I've used regular milk and its just not the same!! this makes it!

1/4/2012 - easy banana bread

I was in a great mood yesterday(today's date is 1/5/2012)! so I thought I would be nice and make Justin's favorite breakfast on the go. BANANA BREAD! we usually buy it precooked at walmart however I thought I would try to make it my self!

Easy banana bread
source: squidoo

Banana Bread Recipe Ingredients

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (I used 3/4th of a cup and I should have used a full cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
With a spoon, mix butter with the smashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.
add in the sugar, egg, and vanilla.
next add in the baking soda and salt and mix in.
Add the flour last, mix.
Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan.
Bake for 1 hour.
Cool on a rack.
Remove from pan and slice to serve.

1/4/2012 - Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

This is a slow cooker kind of day! I was packing, and cleaning so it was nice to have the chicken in the slowcooker and not have to really worry about it. (that is if my slow cooker worked right) I put on dinner at noon because we wanted to eat around 5:00 well our slow cooker is a hunk of junk! I set it on the 10 hour setting and the chicken was fully cooked with in an hour maybe 2. Stupid thing so I shut off the slow cooker and waited till closer to 5 to turn it back on. we had slider buns that we used for the sandwiches (I try not to eat a lot of bread so these were perfect)I used regular classic ceasar next time i will use lite I think. It is something different that's for sure. But Justin likes it I liked it a lot better with a little bit of melted cheese on top.

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches
Source: The girl who ate everything

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/2 to 1 cup of your favorite Caesar dressing
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley (I used 2 teaspoons of dried parsley)
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 cups shredded romaine lettuce (we didn't used lettuce)
12 slider buns or 4-6 regular sized hamburger buns

1. Place chicken in a 3-4 quart slow cooker with 1-2 cups of water, cover and cook on low heat for 4-6 hours.

2. Remove chicken from cooker using a slotted spoon and drain the water from the slow cooker. Place chicken on a cutting board and pull chicken into shreds, discarding any fat.

3. Place chicken back in the cooker and pour dressing, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and pepper over the top. I really make sure that I discard any fat pieces so by the time I was done I only used about 1/2 cup of dressing but you make need more if you have more chicken. Stir until mixed evenly. Cover and cook on high heat for 30 minutes or until mixture is hot.

4. Spoon 1/4 cup mixture onto each slider bun if you are making sliders or more for regular sized buns. Top with extra shredded Parmesan cheese and lettuce to serve.

1/2/2012 - Homemade meatballs

Justin has been craving pasta! I haven't been cooking pasta to avoid the carbs. I know I can afford some carbs its just about the portion. I know I can't do what I use to which was a giant plate of pasta I now have small amounts of pasta and I'm ok as long as I have meat! So I didn't want plain hamburger, so I decided to look usome meatball recipes and I stumbled on this one. It was really good. They took 20 mins in the oven and they were done however, so I fliped them to brown both sides and then cooked them for another 10 mins just to brown them. Justin really liked them and so did I. I have been eating the meatballs more than the pasta. I made thin Spaghetti, with 2 bottles of prego (I didn't feel like making my own sauce). I then added the meat balls and also cooked some garlic bread.

This made a good amount of meatballs so we have lot left over so we are having this for dinner tomorrow too!

Grandma Maronis Meatballs (title of recipe I call it homemade meatballs)
Source: Group Recipes

Ingredients:
1 pound ground chuck
4 ounces dried bread crumbs
4 large eggs
4 ounces whole milk (i used 2%)
6 ounces grated Romano
3 ounces grated spanish onion
2 ounces finely diced fresh garlic
2 ounces finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves (I used the spice)
2 ounces finely chopped fresh basil leaves (I used the spice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.
Mix all ingredients thoroughly in large bowl. If mixture seems a little loose add more bread crumbs.
roll meatballs loosely about the size of a golf ball and place on baking sheet. Place into preheated oven for approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Enjoy!

1/1/2012-tender grilled pork chops

Today is Sunday, January 1st 2012! wow its 2012! It's around low to mid 60's today so I thought it would be great to BBQ outside with Crock pot bake potatoes. we had a late lunch so we were going to start cooking around 6 or 7pm in order to also watch the new guy vs Rachel show on food network. I started cooking the bake potatoes on low around 1:pm (the directions said 7-8 hours) at the same time Justin start making the marinade. we doubled the marinade because one batch didn't look like enough. well at about 5pm I turned the potato's to warm because they were pretty soft already. At 6:15 Justin came down stairs and said "do you really want these grill" I knew that was his way of saying I don't feel like cooking out on the grill. So out came the electric skillet. The pork turned out really tender, cooked for about 20 mins top. They were good. Now the potatoes on the other hand I burnt them apparently. They were NOT GOOD so we tossed them and made a pasta side instead.


tender grilled pork chops
Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe
INGREDIENTS:
4 boneless pork loin chops
1/4 cup olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon steak seasoning (such as Montreal Steak Seasoning or make your own*)

DIRECTIONS:
Mix olive oil, soy sauce and steak seasoning ingredients in a small bowl and pour into a one-gallon resealable plastic bag. Add the pork chops and set the bag in a baking dish in a way that the pork chops get a healthy dose of the marinade (it may be advantageous to flip the bag over halfway through the marinating time). Marinate in the refrigerator for 3-8 hours (no more than 8). Heat the grill to medium and grill the chops 6-8 minutes per side (depending on how thick they are) until they are no longer pink in the center. Remove the chops from the grill and tent them with foil and allow them to rest for 5-7 minutes. Slice the chops in 1/4 to 3/8 inch slices across the grain and serve.