Things I've learned.....

As the year draws to an end, I can't help but think about how much I've changed over this past year! Its mostly because of losing weight, (40lbs so far... and 40 more to go) Lighting my load, so to speak, has made my mind clearer to think about other, more important, things... than... what I used to think about, which was Food, and what outfit I could fit into. I still have those outfit thoughts, and then I remember, i have LOTS of things to fit into! and I smile, and worry about other things.... here are some things that I've learned this year....

Things I’ve learned this year…

That I’m stronger than I thought I was
That I’m more beautiful than I used to be...
That I’m getting better with age
That I have a wonderful husband who isn’t always the best, but tries his best to make us happy
That money isn’t everything (but having some would be nice!)
To not to sweat the small stuff
That a little hard work goes a long way
That there’s no point in complaining about things… if you don’t like things the way they are, then do something to change them, STOP complaining! (this is not directed @ me... no... someone else, who shall remain nameless... but this is what I want to tell them on the Daily!)
That People are willing to help you, and work with you, if you’re friendly and nice to them!

That it doesn’t matter how much cinnamon you put in to ANYTHING, it will ALWAYS taste good!

That if you pay your bills on time, your credit score WILL go up!

That no matter how good it sounds, its never a good idea to buy a time share! NEVER!

That if you practice taking pictures, then soon, you'll be really good, and you won't have to go to the mall and pay a fortune for standard crap!

That patients IS a virtue, that I still don't have!

Here are some things I want to learn in the next year...

Generosity

To save

To be debt free

Selflessness

To always put others ahead of me

To remember those who are less fortunate than me

To remember that even tho I do not have much, I have much more than others, and should be grateful for those things

To be able to get my butt up in the morning on Sundays and take my family to church and build my relationship with God!

To manage my finances better so that I can get haircuts and pedicures on a regular basis!

To spend more time with the Friends and Family that I love...

To be more open, and give myself, my whole self, with out being scared, with out being closed off............ just give my heart, my full, whole, heart....

To learn to be a baby whisperer, and learn what this 2 year old baby drama is all about! yowza... sometimes I think there is such a thing as "baby PMS" haha! gotta love it though...

I know its not the end of the year yet, but these were things weighing on my mind, and I thought it would be a great way to start having a blogging subject... maybe I'll take each item that I've learned, and give my personal story behind it all.... that could be interesting... Stay Tuned... 2010 will be a better year folks! It will....

How much is too much?

My Little Helper!

I've recently become fascinated, delighted, entranced, prisoner to cinnamon... I can't help it! I love it! I'm a cinnamon junky! It all started when I started having oatmeal for breakfast, EVERY MORNING. I would add a little bit of Cinnamon to my apple Cinnamon oatmeal to make it more tasty. Every morning, I found myself adding more and more and more, like a meth addict! I was becoming immune to the taste, and I had to have my morning fix. Its so bad that I have 3 Jars in my pantry, and 1 jar in the spice rack, and 1 industrial Costco Sized bottle at work! I fear I'll run out, so I keep buying it! and today, I bought another bottle. How could I not! My local Fresh and Easy was having a 1/2 off sale on their spices, so DUH, I had to stock up on my drug of choice!





So now, everything, and I mean EVERY thing I bake, I add, or OVER add, CINNAMON! When it says to add 1 tea spoon, I'll add the tea spoon, plus, a few table spoons!!! When I made cookies a few nights ago, I added 3 tablespoons of Cinnamon to them, to the basic Toll House Recipe (i also substituted 1/4 cup of flour, and added in cocoa powder! delish!)





Today, I had to make cupcakes for my co-workers birthday. She requested chocolate, which happens to be my favorite, and I happened to have a box mix in my pantry, so PERFECT!!! I just hope she likes the CINNAMON I added! lmao! I added about 2 Tablespoons, and I happened to LOVE, no, FREAKIN LOVE, them! My husband loved them too! And the baby said "mmmm nummie!" so, i'm pretty sure the office will adore them as well!!!





I just feel like it adds such a depth of flavor, sweetness, and spiciness all at the same time... PLUS, you could look at all the Health Benefits! Its so good for you! so why not add in extra, and extra... it tastes great! and its good for you! Whats not not love!

Whats all the HYPE!?

What the heck is all the hype about RED VELVET Cupcakes??? I mean… really??? Why do you like them? Because they are RED? Because they aren’t VELVET!!! I mean, they are good, but I would prefer chocolate any day… and… I bet you didn’t know, but Red Velvet… is really chocolate, with food coloring, and vinegar… See ingredients below….

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Okay, so… REALLY??? Do you really feel that much more excited about it??? I don’t get it… I prefere chocolate, with chocolate frosting… oooo soo good!!! with a big tall glass of milk, or maybe a cup of coffee… either way, chocolate is the way to go!

Fancy Dance.... Fancy Pants...

It’s funny how a fancy place can make you feel… FANCY…. Recently my best friends took me to the fabulous Hotel and Spa in Newport Beach Ca for my birthday. The treated me to massage, and lunch, and the cutest birthday cake I’ve ever seen! When I got to the hotel, I instantly felt elegant, and refined. Walking through the tall, long, stone hallways listening to the quiet, calm music playing in the background just makes me feel like a fancy lady. I have to give a big thank you to Tatiana and Jody for a great birthday celebration!!! I Love those gals!

The Fancy Hotel Lobby

The Pure Blue Spa

My Fancy Cake!

How could a girl NOT feel fancy going to such a beautiful place, and eating such a beautiful cake!!!

COMMENTS..................

Where have my comments gone? they just disappeared today... Whats up with that???

I have been working like a crazy lady the past couple of weeks... I'll be positing pics of the bestest b-day party EVER in a few days... I just need to get back up on my feet... and off my butt... lol!!!

hope you all have a great thanksgiving!!! yum yum turkey!!

Resurfacing....

SOOO, I’ve been on my death bed for the past few weeks!!!! It all started with this horrible throat “thing” I had… ugh, I don’t even want to talk about it…. then I THINK I had the swine flu…. Not sure because I didn’t get tested, but I did have all the symptoms, but who knows! I was so sick, I didn’t even get to celebrate my birthday (Nov 4th) but that’s okay, because I have the greatest friends and family that have been celebrating with me for the past 2 weeks…. I still have 3 more birthday events to attend, and its already 9 days AFTER my birthday!!!! But, hey, do I really mind? Uh, no! I say, let’s celebrate away!
I’m also busy planning my baby’s 2nd birthday (next Saturday!) which has taken up most of my time! I think I’m going to make these cookies at her party!!! Last night I wanted to make cookies so badly!!! I wanted them to be chocolate chocolate chip cookies, and I also wanted them to be “holidayish” you kno, all cinnimony and stuff…. So I made the best cookies I’ve ever tasted! Seriously! Sooooo good!!!! here’s what I did:

Mexican Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups of flour
¼ cup of cocoa powder
1 ½ tea spoons of salt
1 tea spoon of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of nutmeg (optional)
½ teaspoon of all spice (optional)
1 tea spoon baking soda
2 sticks of butter
1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla – the really really good kind!!!
2 eggs
¾ cup of sugar
¾ cup of brown sugar
1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips

In a bowl, whisk together: flour, cocoa, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and baking soda. Set aside. In your stand mixer (or other bowl with hand held mixer), cream together the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Once combined, add in the eggs one at a time. Once everything is combined, add in the flour mixture (a little at a time). Once it’s all combined add in the chocolate chips (I like to chop the chocolate chips so that they just kinda melt into the cookie, but there are still some chunks for that burst of chocolaty goodness!
Bake in a 375 degree oven for 11 mins.

These cookies are really really easy! And really really tasty! The best part is that you can store them in for fridge for a really long time, and just scoop out a few every night!!!

Random Fences.....

Yesterday I took my my little Leopard to the Orange Circle for Treats in the streets. All the shops at the circle give away candy to the kids, and they have a costume parade, and games and other randomness.... I have to say, that my leopard had to be the cutest little cat there.... don't you just want to eat her up?! and I'm not just saying that because she happens to belong to me!

She loves the furry tummy part... and she loves holding the tutu by the edge, tilting her head, and saying "cheese" lol.... Not at all like her Drama Queen Mother... no, not one bit!

So... because I wasn't so smart, and because I wanted one of my neighborhood friends to see my adorable little child (she always says hi to us on our daily walks) I parked near her house, (I also have to remind you that ALL of the city of Orange was at the Circle, so parking was pretty limited) SO we parked near our neighborhood friendly lady, but she didn't come out to see us... SOOOO that was pointless, but still okay, because I wanted Baby Mac to get all of her energy out.... She did great on the way there, she was so excited to have on her costume, and she was excited to see all of the other kids there. We had a blast! We got a WHOPPING 10 pieces of candy! (there were so many people there that we didn't get to many shops....) but she and we didn't need the candy anyway! She kept running out of line and taking off, so I figured she was "over it" and we started to just wander the Circle to see what kinds of things we could see....

I still had to go grocery shopping, and make cupcakes for the work pot luck, so we had to leave, and I have to say I was dreading the walk back to the car! (prob about 1 mile). But I was determined, and had no other choices... oh, did I mention, I didn't bring the stroller... because who needs a stroller with a wild almost 2 year old. who needs a stroller where there are 500+ people, who needs a stroller when you've parked about a mile away... I guess, ME! the brave one! The one who purposely adds in unnecessary drama....

The walk back wasn't so bad. It was fine, I was letting her run ahead of me, but then I had to grab her because there were so many cars, and I didn't want her running into the street. Well she turned to JELLO as soon as I got a hold of her, or as I call it "no bones baby". AND of course she had to do that while there was a family behind us with a baby, who was following McKenzie's example. I had to swoop her up and hold her the rest of the way... All of her 29lbs.... and her 10 pieces of candy, and my purse.... well apparently my blackberry (smart phone... lol) was in my pocket, and decided to take some pictures.... of this random fence.... I have to say though, its quite beautiful, it almost looks like it was taken on purpose. The Shadow looks pretty cool, and its in perfect focus. Its a picture you would see on someones computer wallpaper.... I'm thinking of having it printed, and frame it... just to remember this one moment, the moment where its just Me and My baby, Walking through town, a good day, a day that's so worth remembering. (uh, why are my eyes starting to get misty....lol)

Well, I enjoyed taking a min looking at that picture, then...... I snapped back into reality.... I remembered how I had to make Pumpkin Cupcakes, from scratch, because i love the added drama of it all. I thought they were so cute... so I posted a few pictures of them... and the link to the recipe...

This is where I got the recipe and inspiration for the cakes. Here is the recipe. I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and added 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon of allspice (in addition to the recipe), and instead of the Dulce de Letche, I used a Carmel Hershey kiss (upside down).

I just used glitter decorating gel to make the webs and spiders.

by the way.... this is what my boss said:

"I just want to say that your pumpkin cupcakes are wonderful……they are so wonderful that I don’t trust myself coming into customer service to tell you personally so I am sending you this email :)"

What a great e-mail!!!! I love it!!!!

No More Wedding Rings..... JOY!

So today I had to take my wedding rings off….. with JOY!!! Let me explain… See I’ve been on this weight loss journey for, well, most my life… but seriously in to it since June 2009. So far I’ve lost 30lbs, and I’m down 2 sizes, and today, I decided my fingers are just TOO THIN to keep my wedding rings on. Yesterday they kept falling off every time I washed my hands, and it worries me too much that I might lose them! Which is a good worry to have these days!!!

Think about it like this… I got engaged Nov 13, 2003, and have been wearing those rings (the same size) since then… and now… almost exactly 7 years later, they are tooooooo big!!! How exciting!!! I was hoping that I could take my rings, and “revamp” them. Make a new design, but I’m still not ready to do that yet…. I need to wait for 30 more lbs!!!

Here is My husband and I in May 2009

and here we are in Oct 2009.... together, 80lbs lighter...

We still have a long way to go... But I'm feeling great! and so Motivated!!!!

The Happenings.....

Well…… I’ve decided it’s time to change the name of my blog…. When I first started, I wanted to mostly blog about my cooking ideas, and my other handy crafty ideas that I do to make life fun around our home. But…. That KINDA fell by the wayside, and now I’ve decided it’s much more interesting to blog about the daily quirks, happenings, findings, and escapades that we incur on a daily basis.
I’ve been thinking of new, fancy, shiny blog names for days now….. Why is it so hard… it’s just a title, I mean… the title that defines your blog… your inner most thoughts that you’re sharing with the whole world… no biggie, right? I wanted something catchy, something Avant-garde, And Something much better than “cookin n craftn” although it’s cute…. It’s just not “ME” anymore, not what I’m “all about” (which is a story for another day!)
So, after much consideration, I’ve decided that the new name of my blog should be…………………….
The Happenings of a Self Proclaimed Drama Queen
I think it’s very fitting, and so do most of my family and friends… Thanks guys!

A day at the pumpkin patch

On Saturday, we spent the day at the Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch here in Irvine. We had a blast, here are some of our pics!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

My Grandmother

Here is a picture of my Grandma Ada, I thought it would be nice to share with all 4 of my followers. :) I never met my Grandma, although I would have loved to! She passed away when my dad was very young! This picture was taken in 1947. I don't even know how old she is here. She has 1 sister who is still alive and lives in Arkansas. I've been contemplating writing her a letter, I just don't know where to start. I want to know all about my Grandmother, but I don't want to bring up sad/happy memories for my Great Aunt. The last time I saw my Great Aunt, I was probably 14 or 15 years old (that was 12 years ago!) and she was telling me and my Mom how much I looked like my Grandma Ada, that we have the same eye color, hair color, hair texture, and even the same expressions. She started to get watery eyes, and had to get up and leave because I reminded her so much of her sister. It made me sad too because I thought, there was a person alive, who I looked exactly alike, and I never got to meet her, never got to ask her about the things she liked to do, never got to find out anything about her, never got to find out if I act like her. It seems like no one wants to talk about her, and I don't want to be that pest that won't shut up about her... I guess I'll start with a letter to my Great Aunt Sue. I'll just tell her about all the things that I've been doing, and see where it goes from there. I'm going to work on the letter today. Hopefully she will respond quickly, and I'll share the letter with you all! (all 4 of you!)

MOMS.... The smartest people!!!!

Now that I’m older, I realize how smart my mother was… IS….
I’m working on planning McKenzie’s 2nd birthday party, My original plan was this:

Taco Guy – carne asada tacos, chips and salsa
Bounce House
Animal Balloon Artist/face painter
Cute Decorated Cupcakes
Piñata
Decorations to the max!!!

Well after pricing everything and realize that I’ll be spending over 500 bucks for a 2 year old birthday I party… I changed the plan:

Hamburgers/hotdogs (made by her Daddy!)
Chips
Costco Cupcakes
Bounce house
Arts and crafts table
Some decorations

And that will still be in the $200.00 range…. And as I was thinking about all the money I’m spending to have a great party for her… I remembered my Mothers yearly gift to my brother and me “do you want a party or $100” Now to us, THEN, $100 was a fortune!!!!! And to my mom…. not having to plan a party, and not having to spend probably $300 or more was a gift in its self!!!!

And now I realize how smart my mom was! She saved a fortune by giving us our fortune!!!

Changing things up....

Well, this blog originally was to blog about my daily recipes, well... as you've probably noticed, I don't do that much anymore... Mostly because its hard for me to take pictures, upload them, and get them into this blog.... and I really want the pictures to show in the blogs that I write. (I'm just crazy that way!!!) ... That being said, I really want to blog!!!!! so I'm still going to blog about my recipes, but I've decided to start blogging about......................................... whatever comes to mind...... whenever it comes to mind.... of course I'm still going to be sharing my recipes.... but I'll also be sharing more of my thoughts and daily "things" that happen, and my new crushes on certain fruits and veggies.... soooo starting today, look forward to more blogs about whats going on with us and the food we are eating.......

Something I've been wanting to share for a while now, is tips for sneakin in veggies, in every meal!!! Lately I've been trying to eat more and more vegetables, so I've been trying to get them into everything! One thing that I've been doing is using a lot is Frozen Spinach! I get a bag of frozen spinach at Fresh and Easy. Today I made a chicken quesadilla and when I sauteed the chicken, I added in about 1/4 cup of frozen spinach, I sauteed it up with the chicken, along with a little taco seasoning, and water to help it all combine, and then added into the tortilla with cheese (of course!).

Another thing that I've been doing is making a lot of Ground Turkey meals. I have been LOVING turkey tacos and turkey lettuce wraps lately!!!! they are sooo easy, and sooooo healthy, its hard not to get addicted to them! I add in LOTS of different veggies that get sauteed with the meat. I start by grating and onion, chopping in a bell pepper (I actually use a pair of kitchen scissors and cut the bell pepper into tiny strips, and then into a tiny dice rite over the pan!), and I'll also add in green onions, carrot and zucchini if I have it. I saute everything together with a little bit of salt and taco seasoning, and water to help bring it all together. Once its browned and softened, I add in the turkey (I only add in 1/2 lb of meat for me and kel, so I can use the other 1/2 pound for dinner another night) and then... and then...... I add in 1/2 cup of frozen spinach! it adds in extra moisture, and a nice green color, and its not overpowering!!!! I think you'll find this is very addicting, and you will love it!!!! You can also add in different meats, such as chicken, pork, or beef! This technique is very versatile!!!

Other things you can add spinach in:
Spaghetti sauce
hamburger helper box mixes
meat loafs
meat balls
eggs
stuff spinach inside chicken breasts or turkey breasts

I hope these ideas inspire you to add spinach to anything that you're cooking!!!

Chicken Fajita Lettece Wraps

This was a super easy, fresh dinner to make! I wanted to make something light, yet filling, that wouldn't require a lot of cooking since its so hot, so I decided to make Fajita Lettuce Wraps, with Avocado Lime Sour Cream! Now you can use steak or chicken, but i prefer chicken. Here's what you'll need:

1 Chicken Breast
1 Bell pepper
1 red onion
1/2 tea spoon of cumin
1 lime
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
1-2 stalks of Romain lettuce
sour cream
1 avocado

Lets start with the chicken:

1) Cube up the chicken in to small small pieces, this way the chicken will go farther when you're eating it. also slice and dice up the onion and bell pepper into small pieces. You'll want to make sure that everything is about the same size!

2) Add all chicken, bell pepper and onions into a bowl, add in 1/2 of the lime juice, olive oil, and cumin. Mix all ingredients up and set aside to let them marinate for 5-10 mins.

***Time to make the Avocado Lime Sour Cream! this MAKES the dish! It adds soooo much flavor, and isn't going to make you feel guilty. Here's what you'll do:
Take 1/2 of the avocado and put it into a small dish (you can use the whole avocado too depending on how many people you are feeding, i was just feeding me and kelvin, so no need for a whole avocado!)

you'll want to get out a whisk, and whisk up the avocado to make it nice and creamy, and at that point, you'll also want to add in some lime juice. Add in only a bit of the other half of the lime, and taste it to see how its coming along, you won't want it to be TOO Limey... once the lime is in, mix that up with the whisk, and then add in a few spoon fulls of LITE sour cream! its a little looser, and not as fattening, so use it! whisk it all up, and let it sit in the fridge until you're ready for dinner.

***back to the chicken

3) in a grill or saute pan, add in all the meat and veggies and get them cooking. you'll want to saute them up until the chicken is golden, and the vegetables are soft. once all the lime evaporates you'll want to add in some water to help de-glaze the pan and add all those flavors back into the food. Doing this will also help add more flavor with not adding any calories!

4) get the lettuce ready, you'll want to just tear off the leaves from the Romain head, wash them, and pat them dry. get them back into the fridge if you're not going to use them right away so they will stay nice and crisp.

once the chicken is ready, put it into a bowl and serve it up. Use the lettuce like a tortilla, use the natural "bowl" shape as an opening for the filling, and then add a spoon full of the avocado lime sour cream! and ENJOY!!!!!

(for all you WW people out there, this is about a 5 point dinner!!!!)

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwhiches...

Okay I know I say this every time, but this recipe is a winner! the best so far! I wanna eat it every day!!!! this is a cross between a french dip, and a Philly cheese steak sandwich... its so good, you won't care what its called! lol.

Here's what you'll need:

some sort of beef or steak, i used sirloin tip steak that i got on sale and had been in the freezer and wanted to use it before it went bad.
onions
onion soup mix
cheese (mozzarella or provolone)
and french rolls

slice up the mean into strips, slice up the onions into strips, add them into a crock pot with the onion soup mix and about 2 cups of water. You'll want to make sure the ingredients are floating, but just a little. Let the crock pot do all the work for you while you enjoy your day!!!!

when you are ready to eat them there is a little bit of work to be done....

take the meat out of the crock pot (make sure u get the onions too!) and put everything into a fying pan, you won't want much of the broth, just leave it behind for now (you can dip your sandwich in it if you want)

Start to fry up the meat, and add in the cheese, do half at first, and then half at the end. mix up the meat until its all covered in cheese, and the broth has all evaporated, it also tastes great if you add in a little cream or milk, it makes the meat very tender, and a little sweet, its very good.

once the meat is almost done, open up the french rolls, and put them on top of the meat so the bread can steam, absorb the juice from the meat, and get all nice and good!!!!

once the bread is ready, just put the meat on top, add a little extra cheese, and grub it up!!!!

here are some options that you could do:

add mushrooms
add more (extra) grilled onions (I like to grill them up, and then add a touch of cream to them at the end... it makes them TO DIE FOR!)
bell peppers
any other item you like!

trust me, this one is easy, good, affordable, reliable and did i say GOOD!!!! try it! you'll love it!

G-ma's chicken and rice bake

We used to buy a frozen dinner called "Grandma's Chicken and Rice Bake" it was sooo good!!! but sooooo much sodium, and was usually $14 or more dollars... Making this at home with left overs and staples you already have will save you lots of money, and calories!!! This is a good one!!! especially if your in a time crunch!!! you can make this ahead of time, or right before, it always turns out good... here's what you'll need:

1 b0x of rice-a-roni
vegetables
chicken (i use 1 breast, and 1 leg/thigh from leftovers)
milk (1 can measure by pouring into the soup can)
cheese (about 1/2 cup, or more if you like
1 can of cream of chicken soup
***use low sodium rice and soup if you can, it doesn't make much of a taste difference, but really does lower the sodium intake!

I use left over chicken, and that makes it even easier!!!


make the rice-a-roni according to package directions
cut up the chicken
get a loaf pan!!! it works really well in a loaf, or casserole dish...

put the veggies, chicken, rice, cheese, cream of chicken soup, and milk in the dish, mix it up, bake it @ 350, for about 30-40 mins, or longer if you have raw veggies, just cook until the top is golden brown, and the veggies are tender. make sure the chicken is cooked before you add it to the casserole!

this is a really good, dish for people who are busy and don't have time to stand at the stove for more than 10 mins! :) and remember, you can make this anyway you like!!!! Use your favorite flavors, and meats to make it your home made dish!

Chicken Pot Pie... or TURKEY!!!!

I like chicken pot pie, but not a fan of the boxed/frozen type! I don't enjoy eating peas! so its a pain for me to eat the boxed version. I created my own version, and its soooo easy!!!

What you'll need:


Can of cream of chicken soup, or any other kind you enjoy
2 cans of milk (just measure from the soup can)
can of croissants
Cooked chicken or turkey, you could use left overs from thanksgiving dinner, or just dinner from the night before. You could just cook up a few chicken breasts, or thighs, and shred them up, and add them in.

The veggies you like, here's what I use:
Potatoes
Carrots
Green Beans
Onions
Celery
*** you could use others too, broccoli, spinach, peas, cauliflower... ANYTHING!!!!
******* a side tip!!! use frozen veggies, and canned veggies to help the process along! Canned potatoes an carrots work great in this dish because you won't have to wait for them to be cooked, and this will make cooking time much shorter!!!!!

Add everything but the croissants into a bowl, mix up, add in some seasonings you like, parsley, Italian seasonings, or what ever you like!!!! make sure its all mixed up really really good.

Put it into a casserole pan and bake at 375 for about 30 mins, or until bubbling, or until veggies are tender if you are using fresh veggies. Take the dish out of the oven, and lay the croissants on top, make sure you cover the top completely and then bake until they are golden brown.

This makes a great "make ahead meal" you can mix it all up together, have it in the fridge, and when you get home from work, just pop it in the oven while you do other things you need to do!

I hope you like this one!!!

Potato side dish

This is sort of Like a gratin, but better!!!! Its nice and crispy on the top and sides, but very soft and creamy on the inside! here's what you need:

3-4 Potatoes, Sliced thin
Butter, (about 1 stick)
Salt, Pepper
The spices you like! Oregano, parsley, chives, basil... WHATEVER!!! it doesn't matter! just mix and match!

In a double boiler (a pan of boiling water, with a glass heat proof bowl on top) Place butter, Salt, Pepper, spices and sliced potatoes, Steam for 30 mins to an hour, place a sheet of foil on top to help keep the steam in. Stir every few mins to make sure all potatoes are covered in butter and spices.

Pour out potatoes in a pan or tray (use the foil that you used to keep the steam in to help with clean up) You'll want to do this so they can be spread out and cool a little so you can touch them. You'll want to place the potatoes in single layers in a gratin dish, or loaf pan. bake @ 400 degrees for about 30-45 mins. make sure the top is nice and golden brown.


Here are few things you can do, but not needed... to make a little more rich, you can pour about 1/4 cup of cream over the top and let it ooze down into the potatoes. You can also add cheese and/or french fried onions to the top to make a cheesy dish.... You could even add cheese to the inside of the potatoes if you REALLY Wanted!!! Enjoy!

Sweet potato frys!

I am NOT a fan of sweet potato! I like... correction HAVE A CRAZY LOVE for potato, but not the sweet kind! Recently i tried a sweet potato fry, and kinda sorta loved it!!! i wanted to make my own, a little healthier... SOOOOO I DID!!!! Here's what you'll need:

Sweet Potato (i used 2)
Salt (1/4 teaspoon)
Pepper (to taste)
Paprika (1/2 teaspoon)
Cinnamon (1/4 teaspoon)
Rosemary (i used a pinch because I'm not a huge fan, make sure you crush them up in your fingers before adding to the potato
Olive Oil (1/4 cup... or less if you wish!)
Zip Lock bag

Preheat Oven to 425
Cut up potato's into fry like shapes
Add them and everything else into a Ziploc bag
Close, and SHAKE!!!!

Place them on a baking sheet in a single layer

Bake for 30 mins, turning every 10 mins

You'll want to eat these up all by yourself before your family finds out you've made them!!! they are THAT GOOD!!!!!!

cute idea for tomato soup

I'm making tomato soup tonight for dinner, and thought i would "jazz" it up a little... I am mostly going to use soup from the can... but I'm adding a few things...

I'm roasting tomato's, onion's, and garlic @ 400 degrees, for 35 mins. I'll put them into a blender, (you could use a food processor or hand blender too!) blend up the veggies and then add to the soup that is already in the pan. Use milk instead of water, and I'm gonna add a little cream cheese. You could use Sour Cream also.

Here is the best part!!! we like to make grilled cheese sandwich's and dip them into the soup... well I'm gonna make grilled cheese croutons. Just make grilled cheese sandwich's and cut them up into little squares, and put them on top of the soup! I'm so excited for this dinner... I hope you try it out for a little special dinner :)

Left Over Pork casarole

I had a bunch of left over carnitas pork from a few nights ago, so this is what i did.

I took the pork... Cooked as carnitas: pork + garlic + onions in the crock pot, cook all day, and shred up before eating.

for the left overs:

take the pork, and chop it up so its in smaller pieces. Add BBQ sauce and mix it all up. Put the pork in the bottom of a casserole dish. Then add mashed potatoes to the top, and shredded cheese to the top of that. For a little extra add french fried onions and bake at 350 for about 30 mins.

For the potatoes, you could use boxed, or fresh.
I boiled 4 red potatoes with the skins on with garlic and salt.
drained
added 1 tbsp of butter, and about 3 tbsp of sour cream. Add dry parsley, and green onions, salt and pepper. Mix well and add to the top. You could make the potatoes how ever you want! you could also do scalloped potatoes!!!

I was almost going to make a box of mac and cheese and mix that up and bake with a little cheese.

Another yummy pizza recipe

This is a nice refreshing BLT pizza, with out a lot of heavy greasy toppings. here's what you'll need:

Pizza dough - Use whole wheat if you can find it! and you could use pre-cooked or un-cooked, its up to you!
Cheese - any kind!
bacon - about 4 slices
Lettuce
Tomato
Avocado
Mayo, or ranch dressing

Start by chopping up the bacon into small pieces, and cooking it up in a pan, you could also use pre-made bacon, turkey bacon, or REAL bacon bits

Roll out the dough to form the pizza
add the cheese to the dough, and then add the bacon on top, and a little more cheese to to top of the bacon, cook as directed by the dough.

Chop up the lettuce into thin ribbons, wash and dry. Add about 2 tablespoons of mayo or ranch (use fat free ranch if desired) coat the lettuce thoroughly.

Slice the tomatoes and avocados and set aside until the pizza is done.

once the pizza is finished, add the lettuce to the top, add the tomatoes and avocados to the top of the lettuce. Slice, and Eat!..

You could also add chicken to the pizza if you want to go for a "BLT club" pizza. But i like to keep it simple.

home made chicken noodle soup... so worth it!!!!

This takes about an hour or so, but its soooo worth it!!! and you can make it in larger or smaller quantities! Here's what you'll need:

2 chicken breasts
1 sm/med onion
1 cup of carrots
1 cup of... (i used green beans, you could use WHAT EVER YOU LIKE!!!!)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp flour
1/2 cup of pasta, I used orzo, rice shaped pasta, (because it doesn't get too mushy if you need to save left overs)
1 box of chicken broth
powdered or cubed chicken broth

Start off by browning the chicken in a large pot, you won't need to cook it through, just brown it and set aside. To make it healthier I didn't use any olive oil or butter at this step, but you could if you wanted to.

Remove chicken from pot
Add onions along with 1 tbsp of olive oil
Brown onions slightly, don't over do it because they will disappear once the soup has to boil.
once the onions are browned add the flour, and mix, if the flour is too dry, add in the 2nd tbsp of oil, mix up for a min or so to cook the flour.
Add in the liquid slowly to make sure the flour is not lumpy. Add 1/4 cup of liquid or so, mix up to create a creamy mixture, and then add more liquid, and so on and so on until you've added in about 2/3rds of the liquid.
Add in the carrots and chicken and let boil for about 30 mins making sure the carrots are tender.
After the 30 mins, you can add in any of the quick cooking vegetables you would like.
remove the chicken and shred it with a fork, add it back in.
let boil for a little while longer.
At this point you'll want to taste the liquid. If you find it flavorless, add in a tbsp of powdered chicken broth until you reach the desired taste. You can also add in parsley flakes, and any other dried herbs you like.
Add in the pasta, and once its cooked, serve and eat! its sooo good! you won't be able to stop eating it!!!!

**For all you weight watchers our there, I made the above, calculated it for 2 servings b/c i was very hungry! and it is 13 points per serving, you could cut the serving size down to 4 servings and it would be 7 points. you could also cut the flour and oil and it would be less. I use the flour to make it a little heartier but its not needed.