$0.39 tacos at Del Taco

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

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?

Pizza...again.
I have post party exhaustion.

Crab salad and chicken salad sandwiches, pasta salad, green salad, chips and salsa,and spinach dip and chips for Ewan's first birthday party.

Chicken corn chowder topped with bacon and sour cream (because everything is better with bacon)

I got this soup from Costco.



I will be heading back for more. YUM! I was pleasantly surprised by the spiciness. I'll admit that I had seconds. If I didn't have to feed the kids, I probably would have gone back for thirds!

Hmmm...what should we call this one? Pork and zucchini casserole? Doesn't sound very good huh? It was a clean out the fridge day. It was good though. A great way to get the kids (and the hubby) to eat zucchini!

Linguini ala carbonara with peas

I love carbonara but have been too afraid to try it until now. Hello! What was I waiting for? This was one of the easiest dinners I have ever made! And so yummy! I got the recipe on foodnetwork.com but I added peas so I wouldn't feel the guilt of not having a vegetable on the side.

Ingredients
1 pound dry spaghetti
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces pancetta or slab bacon, cubed or sliced into small strips
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 large eggs
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
Freshly ground black pepper
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Directions
Prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking to ensure that the spaghetti will be hot and ready when the sauce is finished; it is very important that the pasta is hot when adding the egg mixture, so that the heat of the pasta cooks the raw eggs in the sauce.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender yet firm (as they say in Italian "al dente.") Drain the pasta well, reserving 1/2 cup of the starchy cooking water to use in the sauce if you wish.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium flame. Add the pancetta and saute for about 3 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the fat is rendered. Toss the garlic into the fat and saute for less than 1 minute to soften.

Add the hot, drained spaghetti to the pan and toss for 2 minutes to coat the strands in the bacon fat. Beat the eggs and Parmesan together in a mixing bowl, stirring well to prevent lumps. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the egg/cheese mixture into the pasta, whisking quickly until the eggs thicken, but do not scramble (this is done off the heat to ensure this does not happen.) Thin out the sauce with a bit of the reserved pasta water, until it reaches desired consistency. Season the carbonara with several turns of freshly ground black pepper and taste for salt. Mound the spaghetti carbonara into warm serving bowls and garnish with chopped parsley. Pass more cheese around the table.

Costa Vida's pork salad
We headed up to Salt Lake for a night out. Costa Vida at the gateway (I know, we went to Gateway and ate at Costa Vida!? We only had 20 minutes to eat so it had to be good and quick) and then the circus.

Dinner at mom and dad's
Pork chop(or chicken) baked potatoes, marinated tomatoes, corn on the cob, cucumbers, and rolls. YUM!

Pizza Factory

Chicken green chili quesadilla at Bajio topped with sour cream, guacamole and cilantro.

Girls night out dinner followed by a movie (Charlie St Cloud)

"Chinese take out" lemon chicken and rice

This is another Kraft Food and Family recipe. It is so easy and SO yummy!

Chicken noodle soup and beer bread

My secret ingredient:



I won't make chicken noodle soup with out these noodles!

Shrimp tacos and green salad

If you know me well, you'll know how surprising this meal is. I don't like seafood but I do not want my kids to know that. I want them to try all foods and make their own choices.
I saw this recipe on a blog awhile ago and have wanted to try it. It was good, but next time i might use chicken :)

Homemade pasta with roasted red pepper sauce, spinach salad, and garlic bread.

I have had a Pasta Queen pasta machine for about 11 years now and the other day I decided it needed to be used. It was such a fun project to do with the kids. They loved to crank it for me. And it turned out so yummy. I used this recipe for the pasta. I used half semolina flour and half all purpose. I stole the sauce recipe from The Pioneer Woman (along with a hundred other recipes) I didn't add pinenuts, I wish I had becausae I LOVE pinenuts. But overall it was really good.

Red's Mario Kart birthday cake

I know this isn't really a dinner, but I just had to share. You know how when you picture something in your mind it rarely turns out that way. Well this one came pretty dang close. I love it!

Pressed sandwiches, green salad, and tortilla chips

The sandwiches are so easy! All you have to do is cut a loaf of bread in half, I used focaccia , and add you toppings. My toppings were a little bit of garlic mayo, pastrami, ham, onions, mushrooms, roasted peppers, spinach, Swiss cheese, and smoked gouda. Brush with olive oil and place between 2 cookie sheets. Place something heavy (I used a cast iron skilled) on top and bake for about 15 minutes.
I love how crispy the bread gets!

Chuck e cheese for Red's birthday party.

Crockpot chicken tacos, chili beans, and corn
I rarely follow recipes. Tonight was another cook on the fly meal. It was very good. I wish had written down what I put in!

Chicken with pan gravy, rice pilaf and carrots.
It's funny how the perspective works in the picture. I think the pile of carrots is about the same size and the pile of rice. It sure looks like a lot of rice!

Potato corn chowder and cheddar bay biscuits.
This is one of my favorite soups to make.
I hadn't ever made these biscuits before, but I'll definitely make them again!

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Biscuits:
2 1/2 cups Bisquick
4 Tbsp cold butter
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Butter Glaze:
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp dried parsley flakes

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease or line one cookie sheet with parchment; set aside.

Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter. Don't worry about mixing too thoroughly; there will be small chunks of butter in the mix about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and garlic powder. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.

Drop 1/4 cup portions of the dough onto the lightly greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes in preheated oven until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

While the biscuits are baking, melt butter is a small bowl in the microwave. Stir in garlic powder and dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread the garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Sprinkle a little kosher salt on the freshly coated biscuits. Makes one dozen.

Purple Turtle after a day of wedding dress shopping with Bethany

Dinner at the Crabb's.
Ralph's pork chops, Stef's potatoes and squash, Bethany's famous salad, Kathryn's baked beans and my caramel apple cupcakes.

Creamy rice pilaf and grilled chicken cordon bleu for one. The kids had mac and cheese and Kirk is at the game. My typical fall Saturday nights have begun.

Easy tomato chicken bake and green beans
I got this recipe from the kraft food and family magazine ages ago. It's so easy!

Another crazy day

Chicken pot pie and salad