Friday, December 31, 2010




Chicken with cilantro peanut sauce, rice, and corn.

I found this recipe on kraftrecipes.com and it was DELISH! I'm already craving more.

Chicken in cilantro peanut sauce

1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing, divided
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1/2 cup PLANTERS Dry Roasted Peanuts
1 whole serrano chile, stem removed
1 onion, chopped
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
2 cups hot cooked long-grain white rice
1/4 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream

Blend broth, 1/4 cup dressing, cilantro, nuts and chile in blender until smooth.
Heat remaining dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Stir in onions; cook 5 min., stirring occasionally. Add chicken; cook 2 min. on each side or until browned on both sides. Stir in mushrooms; cook 5 min. or until liquid is evaporated, stirring occasionally.
Stir in broth mixture; cover. Cook 10 min. or until chicken is done (165°F). Serve over rice; top with sour cream.

Saturday, December 18, 2010




Chinese food

Chinese take out is my favorite! It's my comfort food.

Monday, December 13, 2010




Empanadas and salad

This was my first attempt at making empanadas. I think I need to keep working on it.

Saturday, December 11, 2010


Pozole soup

I spent the day at my patents house yesterday and she sent me home with this for dinner. Very good.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Wednesday, December 8, 2010




Nachos

I only had to make dinner for my daughter and I. So, we had nachos topped with leftover fajita filling.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010


Fajitas

I love to make fajitas. They are so easy and so yummy!

Saturday, December 4, 2010




Mcdonalds

We were planning to escape the drudgery and go on a date. But a sick child changed the plans to this.

Thursday, December 2, 2010




Chicken noodle soup and beer bread

I've tried making beer bread from
scratch but it doesn't turn out very good for me so I stick with Tastefully Simple's.




Isn't that so beautiful? It's so good! I use sprite but sometimes when I'm in a pinch I use diet coke.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Sorry I disappeared again! For some reason I can't seem to remember to take pictures of our dinners!



I thought it would be fun to start doing a weekly post about my favorite kitchen tools. What do you think?
I LOVE my Pampered Chef Food Chopper. I use it every day. And as you can tell from the cracks it's been well loved in the 5 years I've had it.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Monday, November 15, 2010

Saturday, November 13, 2010




Hawaiian Chicken, Coconut Rice, and Smashed Peas

This is the first time I've made this. It was ok. The hubby loved it though.

Hawaiian Chicken

4 chicken breasts
Flour, salt, and pepper.
Coat the chicken in the flour mixture and brown. Place in baking dish.

Sauce
1 cup crushed pineapple with juice (small can)
1 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 tsp ginger
1 T corn starch
Mix together until corn starch is dissolved and pour over chicken. Cover with tin foil. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.



Friday, November 12, 2010







Hand made pasta with sausage and creamy tomato sauce

I've decided that hand made pasta is like having a baby. When you set out to do it you think you can handle it. Mid way through you wonder what the heck you were thinking. And when it's all done and you are left with your prize to enjoy, you think that you might actually do it again someday.

Thursday, November 11, 2010







Thai turkey burgers and steak fries


I will be making these again soon. SO good!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010


Hot Chicken Salad Casserole and Green Salad

I saw this recipe in my sisters ward cookbook and was instantly intrigued. It was good but I'm not sure that I'll add it to the dinner rotation.

Monday, November 8, 2010


Hawaiian Haystacks or as my grandma called it, Javanese

This is one of my favorite dinners. I always request it for my birthday dinner.

Friday, November 5, 2010


Pulled Pork Salad

Left over night. We had the choice of alphabet soup, chili, or this.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

I'm back! Halloween kicked my butt this year!




Curried Chicken with rice and broccoli

I got the recipe from a neighborhood cookbook about 7 years ago. It was the first recipe I tried in the cookbook and I still make it often. Even if you don't love curry, you'll like this.

Curried Chicken
1 can cream if mushroom soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. curry powder (or to taste)
1 c. Parmesan cheese
4 chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise
1 cup croutons

Arrange chicken in a greased 9x13 pan. Mix soup, mayo, curry and cheese. Pour over the chicken. Sprinkle croutons over the top (I crumble them in my hand as I'm sprinkling) and bake at 350 for one hour (or 300 for 2-3 hours) serve with rice


Saturday, October 23, 2010




Linguini with meat sauce, green salad, and yummy cheese bread.

For dessert we made monster cupcakes







Tuesday, October 19, 2010







Roasted vegetable soup and rolls

I didn't get the vegetables roasted as much as I would have liked. It was a little blah so I'm giving this a thumbs down.


Saturday, October 16, 2010


Chicken Noodle Soup and Cream of Broccolli soup

We spent the evening hourseback riding with my family. My mom brought dinner desert for after.

Thursday, October 14, 2010




Green Chili soup

Another clean out the fridge meal. Leftover green chili sauce from the enchiladas, leftover tomato soup, chicken broth, leftover chicken, beans, and corn. Topped with tortilla strips.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010







Sticky Finger Pizza at Wingers

I was planning on making chicken fingers and macaroni and cheese. But when the hubby texts and says he wants to go out I'm not going to argue.

Sunday, October 10, 2010




Dinner at Kirk's parents house. Turkey, broccoli, pasta salad and smashed potatoes.

I brought the potatoes. I'll have to work on this one. They were pretty blah. Has anyone else ever tried to make these? What do you put in them?

Saturday, October 9, 2010




Make ahead muffin melts

I know this isn't a dinner but this is the cooking I've done today. I was in charge of food at our wards Super Saturday and I made these. I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman. All I can say is yum! I will be making these again and again and again.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010







Enchiladas, beans and rice

My sister in law was talking about enchiladas last week and I have been craving them ever since! They are filled with:
Chicken
onions
a can of cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
Cheddar cheese
Corn
Mexican seasoning
I usually add green chilies but I was out.
I warm the tortillas, wrapped in a dish towel, in the microwave for 30 seconds. Just till they're soft.
After filling them and placing them in a 9x13 pan, cover with green chili enchilada sauce and cheddar cheese and bake for 1/2 an hour.

Pretty simple. I guess most people already know how to make enchiladas but I have to admit that I didn't try making them till about a year ago. Now it's one of my favorites!

What do you put in your enchiladas?

Monday, October 4, 2010


Steak, funeral potatoes ( a standard Mormon dish), green beans

You may have noticed that green beans are my go to vegetable. I don't mean to toot my own horn but I make a mean green bean. And I'll let you in on my little secret...They are so easy. I usually use frozen beans from Costco

I fill a pot 3/4 full of water and bring it to a boil then add a couple hand fulls of beans and a little salt.

Bring back to a boil over medium high heat and continue to boil for about 5-10 more minutes. I usually know they are done when they turn bright green. If you're not sure then just pull one out and taste it. They should still have a little bite to them.
Drain the beans and add 1 T butter, margarine, or olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and I add a couple tsp of this seasoning
You can use a couple cloves of minced garlic or a little garlic powder and fresh or dried dill. Cover with a lid and let sit for about 5 minutes, then stir.

Isn't that a pretty sight?

Sunday, October 3, 2010




Dinner at mom and dad's
Roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots and broccoli, waldorf salad, and rolls
.

Saturday, October 2, 2010


Taco soup and corn bread muffins

I make this meal quite often in the fall/winter. It's so easy and so yummy. I like to top it with cheese and sour cream.

1 lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
Cook as directed on taco seasoning package
Add
1 can corn, do not drain
1 can beans, do not drain
1 chopped onion
1 small can green chilies

Simmer for 15 minutes

Friday, October 1, 2010

True colors swap

My friend is hosting this swap. You should all do it with me! Does everyone else love getting mail (not bills or junk mail) as much as I do?


Wednesday, September 29, 2010




Spaghetti for the family and I had a large fry from Mcdonalds after a night of crafting.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Tikka Masala Curry with rice

I thought I would go all fancy and take pictures of some of the steps while cooking today. I like to pretend that I'm special and people actually care what we're having for dinner.
This was an experiment dinner that turned out super yummy. I usually make my curry from scratch which takes a long time so we only have it like once a year. I will be doing this more often!


I started with this sauce. There's no particular reason why I picked this one, it was probably on sale.

I cut up about 4 chicken breasts and covered them with about half of the sauce. I let is sit in the fridge for about 4 hours. I wanted the chicken to really soak up the flavors.


While my rice was cooking I sliced up half an onion, two potatoes, and a zucchini. You could use any vegetables you had on hand. I usually add carrots but I was lazy today and I didn't want to cut anything else.



I cooked them until they were just about done and then removed them from the pan.



I added a little but more oil to the pan and cooked the chicken till it was cooked through. then I added the vegetable mix back to the pan along with a little bit more of the curry sauce. Since I was just playing around with it I added a little at a time till it looked right.



Then I added about half a can of this heavenly liquid. Does anyone else love this stuff as much as I do?


I think I used about 2/3 of the curry sauce. I would just taste it and adjust till it was right. Sorry for the lack of a recipe here. This is what it looked like once I got the perfect ratio. Doesn't it look good enough to eat? Since everything is cooked you can eat right away or let it simmer for a little while. I was waiting for the family to return from football practice so I think mine was cooking away for about 20 minutes.



About 5 minutes before we were ready to eat I added about a cup of frozen peas. I've got to sneak as many vegetables in the kids meals as I can right?

What do you think? Would you try it?