Yummy recipes

Prior to Greta coming, I made lots of frozen meals.  So far we've eaten 3 of them - 2 were new recipes and I love them.   Here's the recipe for one of them.  The other one we loved was a chicken pot pie but now I can't seem to find that recipe.  Will post when I do.

Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

 2 chicken breasts, still frozen
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can corn kernels, do not drain
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
1 T cumin
1 t chili powder
1 t onion powder
1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese_________
Put the chicken in the crock pot.
Top with the tomatoes, corn,
the drained and rinsed beans,
ranch dressing, cumin, onion and chili powders,
stir to combine then top with the cream cheese.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours, stirring one or twice
 to blend in the cheese.
Shred the chicken into large pieces
and serve over rice.
Can also serve in tortillas or taco shells.
Serves 4

Nesting?

Mary calls it nesting, but I'm just calling it being prepared and I'm not sure why I didn't do this sooner (ie - not pregnant).  I've been starting to stock pile a good collection of frozer dinners (not the frozen dinners you buy, but actually make).  I think to date I have about 20 meals in the freezer, plus some ground beef all fried up and and ground turkey fried up and ready to use.  Dinner range from chicken potpie and quiche to beef barley soup and noodle casseroles. 

This is what my kitchen looked like before I started today. 

And about 3 hours later and several meals prepared later and put in the freezer, my back and feet hurt and I want someone to make me dinner now.

I made spaghetti sauce - by myself

My first attempt at making spaghetti sauce was 95% successful.  With a great recipe from Mom, who got it from Mrs. Worshkey (okay I spelled that horribly) - the best cook ever.  I say 95% because it's a little salty, but that's okay.  It's still tasty and next time I will not add all the salt but add in little bits and taste along the way.

I picked lots of tomatoes from our garden (and there is still lots more to go) and some teeny tiny onions.

Put them in the blender... and chopped them up.  Occasionally I added one of those tiny onions or chunks of the big on.

Then added it all to the big pot and let is boil and cook down for about 2 hours.  Then added the seasonings and unfortunately too much salt and let it cook a little longer.

The into the jars it went.  8 quarts and 1 pint.  Not bad for the my first batch.

Valentine's Day

So our first Valentine's Day!  And it was perfect.  We decided to not get each other gifts and instead bought an awesome new chandelier for our kitchen.  Yes, we finally replaced the hideous light that had been there.  I laugh because I swore that was the first thing I was going to replace and here - 6 months later it was still there.  But now it's gone and our kitchen is complete!

After work, I headed home to make our Valentine's Day dinner.  I was greeted with beautiful red roses and a card and a fire.  Great thing to come home too. Then I made a yummy dinner of filets (thanks to Dad's gift of Omaha steaks) with a rich balsamic glaze  and lemon risotto with asparagus.  We were so full that I totally forgot about the cheesecake in the freezer.  Oh well - we'll save that for another day.

Baking with yeast

So after stopping at Mary's on my way home from Indy this week, she treated me to a butterhorn that she had made.  And it was soooo good I decided it was time to try my hand at baking with yeast and make the famous Mrs. Zender's butterhorns. 

As I prepped for my baking day, I called Better Crocker (more commonly know as Mary Welden) to make sure I was buying the right yeast - fast or active.  Really why do they need two kinds?!  I'm still not sure. But I got fast because that is what Betty used.

Then home to start making the dough and activating the yeast.   As I started to mix the wet and dry ingredients together, I noticed that it looked very dry.  So I called the Better Crocker line again and this time sent a picture. 

Well I think in my old age of 31, I also might need glasses.  As the recipe clearly called for 1 and 1/4 cup of milk mixed with the yeast, and I decided that only 1/4 cup would be good enough.  And the result wasn't so good.  Through the laughter, Betty said to add the 1 cup of lukewarm milk that I forgot from before and it should be okay.  I wasn't convinced and decided to send another picture to Betty.

She said the dough looked good.  So in the frig it went.  The recipe said to leave it overnight, but I didn't want to wait that long.  So I gave it a few hours and then started to roll them out. And up until this point... everything was great!  Then you are supposed to let them raise in a warm room.  Okay, really?  It was 3 degrees outside yesterday with the wind chill... so no warm room.  So I turn the oven on and open the doors a little and let them raise.  Well - maybe it was too warm.  But I successfully made the biggest butterhorns ever!

They taste wonderful but I have some work to be done at baking with yeast and raising the dough.

New obsession... baking

So for those of you who know me... baking is definitely not my strong suit... but I have rediscovered my skills and am getting better.  This weekend I made Overnight Bubble Bread. - and they were really good!  They were my fake out version of Jean Roller's sticky buns!  Although not quite as good... they took hardly anytime to make everyone loved them at tailgating.

I am already planning on how to improve them and make them even yummier!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup pecan halves
• 18 frozen dinner rolls
• 1 (3.5 ounce) package cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions

1. Generously butter a 9x13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle pecans in bottom of pan. Place frozen dinner rolls in a single layer on top of pecans. Sprinkle dry pudding mix over the top.
2. Combine butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Heat until boiling then pour over rolls. Cover with plastic wrap or wax paper and allow to stand overnight.
3. In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown.
5. Invert the pan on onto a foil lined cookie sheet after baking.  And let all the yummy, gooey goodness drip out.



All prepped



After 3 hours



The next morning... ready to bake!

And Ryan just asked if I took any pictures of the finished product... yah, totally forgot!  But next time for sure!

Sick & Tired of being Sick & Tired

So this year, I suck it up and get a flu shot... one week later, I'm sick.  Sore throat, running nose, achy.  Not a happy girl!

On a side note, made a great crock pot dinner last night!!  Ryan actually said it's one of his favorites. 
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-chicken-and-dumplings/detail.aspx  And it was so easy!!  Very yummy!

Mondays

Happy Monday!!  And a great one it was!  Mondays are also my really long day as I get up at 4:55 am to get to the gym and teach Kick & Sculpt at 6:00 am and then work all day and then off to the gym again to teach Kickboxing at 5:45 and usually end up at home about 7:30 - almost 15 hours later.  On a side note, I thought I lost my keys this morning, only to find them under my purse  (after I woke Ryan up to help).. think it's time to hang up that key hook thing!

So today I asked Ryan to get some ground turkey out when he got home from work (since I forgot in a panic this morning) so we could make spaghetti and he said that was his specialty!  Yippee for me!  No cooking as he offered to make it.  So when I got home from the gym about 7:45, a wonderful fragrance greeted me at the door and dinner was ready!  I told him he could make spaghetti every Monday for us.  A man in the kitchen, now that's a great thing!

Lunch Packing and Meal Prep

Last night at 8:30 I found myself again trying to piece together lunches for today.  No leftovers, very little lunch meat - and a hungry man to pack for.  Luckily I pieced together a sandwich, chips, string cheese and an apple for him and some soup that I had frozen a while back for myself.  But then today I found myself thinking about what to make for lunch and dinner next week.  And I realized that I spend hours a week trying to plan this out.  Knowing what to have on hand is a huge part of it and having meat unthawed also is a big deal.  I have discovered that I love cooking in the crockpot - well it does the cooking but that's a huge time saver, but one can only make so many crockpot meals a week before it gets old.

Someone said - just to guy those frozen meals, but I just can't bring myself to buy them.  And then also trying to help Ryan with not eating gluten adds another HUGE factor.

I just remembering the days growing up, when I'd have a great hot lunch at school and then came home to a good home cooked meal.  And it was all done for me, no thinking involved.  Now wouldn't that be great to have in your adult life.