easiest.main dish.EVER!

our normal Easter dinner main dish is Ham...
I love ham...
it's my favorite pig product...
my brother-in-law coined our new favorite term for ham
...dinner bacon....

so anyways...
I make ham about once a year...
which is weird because I do love it so...

anyways...
I pinned a Pomegranate Glaze Ham...
looked good and easy...
but I changed it up a bit and added pineapple....

ready for the easiest recipe ever...

this is NOT my ham
I borrowed the image from google
because I failed to take any pictures on Easter!

Red Beans and Rice

about 2 months ago I was the host for my book club (we take turns hosting)...
and...
depending on the book and the host sometimes there is food served per the genre of the book...
we meet at 7, so usually there is a dessert but it can be a little late for dinner
     (well, that's a late dinner for me...)
anyways, we had read the book Five Smooth Stones a book set in the south during the 60's (great book, I highly recommend)...
and the main character in the book was know for his great cooking ability, his specialty being Red Beans and Rice...so I decided to make some for book club, along with corn bread (my recipe is NOT southern but I like it and it's what I made) and a gooey butter cake (recipe to follow soon...)

anyways, the Red Beans and Rice were a hit with the family and the book club...and it will be a staple on our winter menu...the girl child loves it but doesn't like 'sausage' aka kielbasa & the boy child loves it and he doesn't like beans...so she eats his beans and he eats her kielbasa and I figure they are both getting a protein....

Red Beans and Rice
1 (16 ounce) package turkey kielbasa, cut diagonally into 1/4 inch slices
1 onion, chopped
3-4 stalks of celery, chopped including leaves
1 cup sweet peppers* chopped
1 clove garlic chopped or grated
2 (15 ounce) cans canned kidney beans, drained
1+ cups broth (chicken or veggie...or water and bullion)
1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper
rice (I used jasmine rice both times I've made it...we are in love with jasmine rice!)
Start/cook rice (per your rice cooking directions)...
In a large skillet over low heat, cook sausage for 5 minutes. Stir in onion, celery, sweet pepper and garlic; saute until tender. Pour in beans, broth and tomatoes with juice. Season with oregano, salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Serve over rice.


This is a very easy recipe and all ingredients that I usually have on hand, I've added it to my throw down recipe list!

*I get a big bag of peppers and use them in everything...I like these better than the plain ol' green peppers, sweeter...and bonus the kids like to eat them as a snack after school with ranch...

cozy soup day

who doesn't love soup on a rainy day...

and even better, putting soup in the crock pot in the morning and letting the smells drift thru the house all day long....

I'm putting a batch of Crock-Pot Minestrone soup on, and cutting up extra stuff, going to run over to my friend Kim's house later this morning and put a batch into her crock pot also...

blog note...when taking a meal to a friend think outside the box...are they okay with you coming into their home and prep-ing the meal there?...would they be okay with you coming over in the morning and putting the meal in their own crock pot?

...this is a good easy soup that is full of flavor and tons of veggies...but mild that kids love it...
it's also easy to make on the stove top...and actual this was a stove top recipe that I changed into a crock pot one...
it's also a very versatile recipe to make vegetarian or to use what you have on hand...clean out the fridge and pantry on this one...

Throw Down-Clean out the Pantry Minestrone Soup
1 lb ground beef (optional, leave out for vegetarian or change to ground turkey or pork or sausage)
1 medium onion, chopped about 1/2 cup
1 clove garlic, grated or chopped
2 cups spinach, chopped (cabbage or kale can be substituted)
1 can broth (beef, chicken, veggie) or
     1 1/4 cup water and 2 tsp beef or chicken bouillon
1/4 cup fresh basil-chopped (or 1 tsp dried basil or Italian seasoning)
3-4 cups veggies
     chopped celery, sliced carrots, zucchini, squash, green beans (fresh, canned, or frozen), corn (fresh, canned or frozen) etc...don't count the spinach from above in the 3-4 cups or the tomatoes below
1 can chopped tomatoes, undrained
1 can beans, undrained-kidney (red or white), black, your choice
1 cup shell pasta (or whatever you have on hand, small tortellinis or raviolis also work)
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan Cheese to top

1.  Brown ground beef in skillet with onion and garlic, drain and put into crock pot.
2.  Add all other ingredients except pasta and cheese...cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours.  about one hour before serving add pasta to the crock pot and stir.  Soup is done with pasta is tender.
3.  Serve warm with cheese on top....and with fresh bread if you can!

all the stuff just thrown into the crock...pre-pasta of course!

this is so great on a rainy day like today...can't wait for dinner...I also threw a batch of French bread into my bread maker...

I highly recommend people use their bread machines...so many have them and leave them in the dark corner of their pantry or out in the garage, pull it out, dust it off and throw in a nice batch of bread....if you don't have one you can always find them at thrift stores or yard sales or on clearance sales this time of year.

Put the Lime in the...Chicken!

side note...
this information may be incriminating for my mother-in-law...I have a wonderful image of my daughter and her Grandma Kathy singing, "put the lime in the coconut," while dancing around with panties on their head...and I chuckle every time I hear that song or a version of the song...

image from google images

anyways, back on track...
Pepper Lime Chicken with Pesto Pasta (recipe follows)
Chicken Breast (I make only 2 for my family, but you can do this for however many you want)
2-3 limes
1 Tbs oil
2 cloves garlic (mined or grated)
1 tsp dried thyme or basil
1/2-1 tsp ground black pepper (more or less depending on your taste*)
1/4 tsp salt

1. Rinse and pat dry chicken and set aside. Slice one lime into circles, juice & zest other lime...you will need about 1/4 cup lime juice & 1 tsp zest.
2.  To make glaze mix together lime juice, zest, oil, garlic, thyme/basil, pepper, & salt.
3.  Place chicken pieces on unheated rack (or pan) of a broiler**, brush with glaze.  Broil for about 10 minutes, turn chicken and re-glaze, place under broiler for another 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (I use a meat thermometer to tell when it's done, 170 degrees for breasts).
4.  Serve warm with sliced limes on top.
*I make my glaze with less pepper, and then while I'm glazing the chicken add more pepper to the chicken piece my husband will eat since he likes more pepper than everyone else.
**I have also used this glaze for chicken on the grill or for a whole chicken in the crock pot.

serve with Pesto Pasta or over rice with broccoli.

Fresh Pesto
1 -2 cups fresh basil-rinsed
1/2 cup pine nuts or walnuts (I've only ever used pine nuts)
1/4 cup olive oil (or walnut oil)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1-2 cloves garlic

1.  Place basil and nuts into food processor and blend until finely chopped.  Add garlic and oil, pulse until garlic in chopped and oil is incorporated into basil/nut mixture.  Slowly add the cheese until you have a consistency that you want.
Serve over cooked pasta or as a dip or spread.
this recipe makes enough to chill or freeze 1/2 for another time.  Refrigerate up to 2 days, freeze for up to 3 months.

We made the pesto recipe at church with groups of kids when we were learning about Italy.  All the kids helped in the process,  it's a great recipe for them to make all by themselves (with you in the kitchen) since all the cutting is done by the food processor and is nicely contained inside the processor bowl...then they ate it with slices of bread...

What's for Dinner?

so this was on my menu for this past week...
but with a house full of sickies we've been eating jello, applesauce, saltines and chicken noodle soup...

but I wanted to post because it's a fast easy dinner for a winter night.

Easy Ground Beef Stroganoff
1 lb ground beef (or 1/2 lb ground turkey & 1/2 ground beef)
1 onion chopped
2 stalks of celery chopped
1 can cream soup (cream of mushroom would be traditional stroganoff but my family doesn't eat the fungus so we do cream of celery)
1 cup sour cream
can of fungus drained or fresh chopped fungus (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
rice or egg noodles (cooked to package directions)

1.  Brown meat with onion and celery.  Drain off fat and stir in cream soup.  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
2.  Stir in sour cream and mushrooms (optional).  Heat until warmed thru, about 5 minutes.
3.  Serve over warm rice or egg noodles.

this is a great throw down meal with things I usually have on hand, I have substituted half & half for sour cream before, just used less....
I've also made it with cream of chicken when I've been out of cream of celery...
and I usually serve with green beans on the side, but any green veggie will do.

you can also make this in the crock pot (not that you need to, it cooks up so fast...) but just put the beef, onions, celery and cream soup in the pot in the morning and then add the sour cream about an hour before eating....

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

love an easy chicken dinner with less than 5 ingredients?

and that makes your house smell delish....

BBQ Chicken sandwiches
1 whole chicken (you can use breast or any other chicken pieces that you want)
favorite BBQ sauce (or the one that's in your fridge)
sweet peppers (optional)
rolls
cheese

Rinse off the chicken and get rid of all the gross nasty stuff they put inside...why do they do that...does anyone actual use the neck anymore???
cut off tops of peppers if using them and clean...

place chicken and peppers in crock pot
pour BBQ sauce over the top

high for 5 hrs, low for 8

carve and shred chicken and toss with more BBQ sauce
place on warmed rolls and top with slice of cheese (we used swiss)
....
devour!

sorry I didn't get a better picture, I was hungry and had been smelling the chicken all day...so I snapped a quick pic and gobbled it up...I had plans to take a picture of the chicken all shredded before it went on the rolls...but that also didn't happen...

I've said it before...I think...
but a whole chicken in the crock pot is amazing...real moist chicken and so very tender...I think this bird was in the crock for almost 10 hours and I was worried it was going to be dry, it was fall off the bones tender and melted in our mouths...so good...
I went to make a sandwich the next day with the leftovers and the husband had almost finished it off!

Better Than Taco Bell

and that IS a complement from my children....

Yeah, I know pretty sad...
and seriously they might get a trip to the Bell twice a year...at the MOST!

but hey, if they think that's a complement and they devour the food...and it's a lot healthier than the Bell...then I'll make it over and over again...

Here is my recipe for any meat that you need for a mexican'ish type dinner...
ground beef, shredded beef, chicken, pork...works for them all...
and the meat is great for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, nachos, taco salad, you get the idea...

it's a wonderful throw down meal, three ingredients...
and you don't have to make this in the crock, you can do it on the good ol' stove if you forgot to put it in the pot before you walked out the door in the morning!

so for the sake of the recipe I will use ground beef

Taco/Mexican'ish Meat
1 lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 package onion soup mix
1/2 cup water

put all into your crock pot, stir and set on low for up to 8 hours or high for 4 hours...stir whenever you think of it, if you're home...if not, no big deal...

if you want more meat just double the taco seasoning add a little more water, I wouldn't add more onion soup mix until you get to 3 lbs meat...

I have done with with a beef and a pork roast and shredded (or pulled) the meat with a fork when it's done, so good...or a few chicken breast and shred or cube up when it's all done...all ended with the same 'complement' from the kids....

and I usually double the meat and put the leftovers in the fridge for another meal later in the week...but we do eat Mexican a lot around here!

love the pig

just wanted to share a really fast, easy and delishious meal that I got from my friend Rayna...

not even sure what she calls it...

it's pork
it's roast
it's in the crock pot
it's mexican in flavor-mild but mexican....

maybe Pulled Pork Tacos???

and it's so beautiful in it's simplicity!

4 ingredients...5 if you count water as an ingredient?!

Pulled Pork Taco Meat
1 (or 1/2 of one) Pork Shoulder Roast
2 cups water
2 tsp cumin (the secret 'mexican' flavor...this should be a MUST in your spice rack if you like mexican food!)
1 small onion chopped
2-4 cloves garlic chopped

place all into your crock pot, cook on low for 4-8 hours, the meat will just fall of the bone and almost shred itself!

serve as taco meat...or any other meat you need for any other mexican dish, burritos, nachos, enchiladas, taquitos, quesadillas,  taco soup (I actually saved the 'broth' from the crock pot and plan on making taco soup later this week with the broth and left over meat!)...

now that's a bowl of meat!  YUMMY!

Pork...it's what's for dinner

Here is the easiest recipe that you'll ever make...my entire family LOVES it and it's also really easy to take to a potluck or to a family with a new baby...it has 3 ingredients...yes you read that correctly ONLY 3!

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
pork roast
bbq sauce
sandwich rolls

place your pork roast and bbq sauce into the crock pot, how much sauce...until it covers the roast, you can't have too much...and you can also add more at any time...cook on low for 6-8 hrs or high for 4 hrs...

pull the pork with 2 forks until it resembles shredded pork (aka pulled pork)

serve on sandwich rolls...

couldn't be easier!

Chicken Tortellini Salad

We've all been there...

you know you need to make dinner but it's just too HOT...

and we all know we're going to be there a few more times this summer... 

especially since it's not even summer yet!

This is a wonderfully easy recipe that I stole from my friend Rayna...

the beauty of this recipe is that you can make it in the cool of the morning or the night before, or whenever and then toss it together when it's time to eat...

it's also an easy meal to throw together for someone if you have anyone that might need a meal this summer 

(well except for the family that I took this meal to last night...

I slaved away in a hot kitchen for you most of the day yesterday!)

...and it's also easy to make a vegetarian version (leave out the chicken) 

or beef it up (with steak strips instead of chicken)...

Chicken Tortellini Salad

Grilled Chicken Breast (as many as you need to feed the people you are making the salad for...

     I used 3 breast and made 2 salads yesterday, 

     one for our family and one for another family...

     for a total of 4 adults and 4 children...)

Italian Dressing or marinade of your choice

1 package of Cheese Tortellinis (fresh or frozen)

Romain Lettuce (or a bag of Romain Salad)

Fresh Parmesan Cheese

Caesar Dressing

Croutons -optional

Marinade the Chicken for whatever length of time you have (Mine sat in some Italian Dressing for about an hour), and then grill (if this is on your menu for later in the week and you fire of the grill earlier, throw the chicken breast on the grill and then just keep them in the fridge until you need them for the recipe...no need to grill them the night/day of!)..slice up chicken into decent strips.

Cook Tortellinis according to package directions, drain and cool. You can also cook these earlier in the day and have them cooling in the fridge.

Chop up the Romain Lettuce, toss in the cooled tortellinis, the sliced up grilled chicken, the Parmesan cheese and either dress with the Caesar or leave that for everyone to dress on their own, add croutons in desired.

pic with maybe a little too much dressing and sans croutons...

and yes on paper plates...

who wants to do dishes on a hot summer night?!

My kids ate all of their dinner last night...both of them love this salad...

and I left out the croutons...

1st because then my kids would have only ate the croutons and forgot there was a salad to eat...

and 2nd I forgot to buy the croutons when I was shopping....

I didn't serve it with anything, but a nice fresh loaf of French Bread would have been nice and maybe a fruit salad on the side...but the salad was enough for my family...

No-Name Chicken...

This recipe stared out a few weeks ago. 

I had a Mothers Day Craft Fair that I was doing with a few friends...

Jody from TheSmithHotel and Rayna from Gotcha' Covered

and I knew after a day making bank (um...yeah...I made $3...) and sitting in the sun I was not going to want to think about dinner when I walked through the door...

...and my husbands good for a lot of things but thinking of dinner before he plans on eating it is not one of his specialties!  ...

So I looked in my fridge and saw a whole chicken and a jar of salsa sitting right next to it...

hmmm.

and thus the Chicken with No Name was born...

names I'm thinking about...

Salsa Chicken, Tex-Mex Chicken, Mexi-Chicken, No Name Chicken

1 whole Chicken (or 2-4 chicken breasts)

1/2 jar of salsa

1 tsp cumin powder

1 can of black beans, drained (optional)

1 can of corn, drained (optional)

place all in crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours...

I pulled all the chicken off the bones and we had chicken tacos...

you could make some rice and just serve this over rice, I made another version yesterday with just chicken breast since that's what I had...and we used the chicken for taco salad bar....

Beans Beans the Musical Fruit...

it was a day that NEEDED a throw down meal...and I didn't realize it until, oh, about 4:45...

it's actually been a throw down meal week!!!

*husband's out of town...

*took the boy and his friend on a field trip 

     (yeah...preschool field trips=parents driving to and staying for the whole time)

*grocery shopping...with no list...but it had to be done...

    going on about week 3 of no real grocery shopping trip....

          just little things here and there...

*girls piano lessons rescheduled for today

     normally they're on Tuesday and they're dad's duty...

          but he's out of town...so now it's me

*helping the girl with the end of the week's homework packet=the pages the girl didn't want to do all week

so while I'm helping the girl with homework I'm "reading" my favorite new cookbook

...the Dinner Doctor....

and came across the recipe Black Bean Soup...

and guess what was on sale, on an end cap today, while I was grocery shopping???

...Yep...you guessed it...

Black Beans...and since I didn't have a list I was just grabbing random things...

so without a proper list or any menu in my head I for some reason bought 6 cans of black beans...

YES...6 cans...

I was thinking,

   "Oh, I'll make taco salad this week"...

and for that simple reason my brain decided on 6 cans...

     reason #37 why I need a grocery list!

So now I have 6 cans of black beans in my pantry and a beautifully simple black bean soup recipe right in front of me...and it's a blustery soup sort of day...sometimes life is just swell like that...

oh, and of course this isn't the recipe that was in the book...this is my modified recipe...because even though I had just gone grocery shopping hours earlier, I had done so without a list (remember 6 cans of black beans...not to mention the OTHER beans I bought!!!)...and without a menu...so a few things that the recipe called for were NOT in our house...

so I just made due...and it turned out YUMMY

ChambersMade Black Bean Soup

2 cans Black Beans, NOT drained

1 cup chicken broth (or 1 cube of chicken bullion and 1 cup HOT water)

1/4 cup onion, chopped up

1 bay leaf (I wasn't sure I had one...but I found them at the back of the black hole I call my spice cupboard...thinking they might have been there for a few years so I'm not sure how much bay was left in the leaf...so I threw 2 in just to be sure!)

salt and pepper to taste

sour cream and grated cheddar cheese to top

1.  Place beans, their liquid, chicken broth, onion, and bay leaf into saucepan and heat over medium-high heat, stirring just to combine.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cover the pan, bring to boil, reduce heat to med-low and let soup simmer for 5-7 minutes...YEP 5-7 minutes!!!

2.  Remove from heat.  Discard bay leaf (or leaves).  And smash soup with potato masher...the recipe said to pour into a food processor and puree...like I'm going to get another appliance dirty...this is a one dish meal and it's staying that way...and it worked out beautifully!

3.  Serve with sour cream and cheese to top it with...

we ate this with steamed artichokes...it was a wonderfully yummy...wonderfully fast dinner...and the kids LOVED it...there was 1/2 cup of soup left over...we would have been scraping the pan had the husband been home...I will probably double next time because leftover soup is good!...and then I'd be using 4 of the 6 cans I randomly bought!

The Family Motto

"Everything's Beddar with Cheddar"

...("Better", for those of you who don't read "Wilson")...

And really, most everything could use some more cheddar, when a recipe calls for 1 cup, 2 cups will be better...

With a motto like this you can assume that we eat a lot of cheese over here at the ChambersMade household, and you would be correct...
We love cheese on eggs, cheese on English muffins (thanks to my college roommate, Susan), cheese with nuts, cheese with fruit, cheese on veggies, cheese and crackers, grilled cheese, and of course Mac and Cheese.  With all the cheese in our life/menu you'd think I would have discovered the best mac and cheese recipe. But, you'd be wrong, the kids still prefer the kind in the blue box (oh, don't judge, you know you have a box in your pantry!)

So how come I can never find a homemade Mac & Cheese that we all like...

Well, the search for the ChambersMade Shells & Cheese is over...
I found the recipe and I'm sticking to it.  I took a different recipe that called for 1 jar of store bought Alfredo Sauce and modified it, changing a few ingredients, making my own Alfredo and I found it...
the best Shells and Cheese that we as a family have EVER had...
and sadly, no leftovers!  It was THAT good...I really wanted some the next day for lunch and we had scraped the pan clean the night before...possibly a ChambersMade first!

ChambersMade Home-Style Shells &Cheese

10 oz Shells (or macaroni, whatever you have on hand or your kids like better)

1 chicken bouillon cube (optional)

1 recipe Alfredo sauce (recipe follows)

3 cups Cheddar Cheese (I've already doubled the amount, so although our motto is "Everything's Beddar with Cheddar," doubling this amount might put your family into major intestinal cramp-age!)

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup bread crumbs

1.  Preheat oven to 375 & grease a 2 quart casserole dish.

2.  Bring water to boil add chicken bouillon and shells, cook following package directions.  Prepare Alfredo sauce (recipe follows) while shells are cooking.  Reserve 1 cup pasta water before draining shells.

3.  Transfer the shells to the casserole dish, add the Alfredo sauce, 2 cups of the cheese, the reserved pasta water and salt & pepper, and stir until the ingredients are will combined.  Cover the shells with the remaining cup of cheese, scatter the top with bread crumbs.

4.  Bake until the shells and cheese are bubbly and the bread crumbs are lightly browned, 25-30 minutes, serve at once.

Alfredo Sauce
2 Tbl Butter

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the cheap stuff)

1 cup cup half and half (or milk will do in a pinch)

1.  Melt butter in a saucepan add cheese and half and half, stir until all is melted...3 minutes.

(don't you just love the casserole dish...thanks Julie, it looks great holding out Shells & Cheese.)

Serving Suggestions

I steamed some brussels sprouts (and yes, I googled it and brussels has an "s" on the end...I've been saying it brussel sprouts all these years!) seasoned with butter and salt, yummy with the cheese sauce from the shells.  other veggies that would be good; Broccoli or Cauliflower

Taking a Little Artistic Liberties...or Cooking Liberties

Made a recipe last night for the first time...
The name of the recipe, right out of my favorite new cook book (thanks again Julie), The Dinner Doctor, is Meaty Ziti...I'm sure this recipe is great just the way it was written in the book...but I decided to use half the amount of meat in this "meaty" dish and then couldn't find any Ziti so I used Penne (whole wheat too), and I also couldn't find the called for "frozen creamed spinach" (think it a southern thing) so I had to make my own and it was double what the recipe called for...so rather than Meaty Ziti...I think I ended up with Creamy Spinach Penne...I will list both recipes for you...

The Dinner Doctor's Meaty Ziti
1 lb ground beef round (or my sister-in-law suggested adding Italian sausage)
1 can crushed tomatoes, or 1 jar of marinara sauce
1 clove garlic- crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
8 ounces ziti
1 package (9 oz) frozen creamed spinach, thawed
1 package (2 cups) pre-shredded mozzarella cheese

1.  Preheat oven to 375
2.  Brown ground beef in large skillet, 4-5 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes, garlic, oregano, and basil.
3.  Spoon 1 cup meat sauce on bottom of 3-quart casserole dish.  Arrange the ziti in an even layer on top of the sauce (no need to pre-boil the pasta, but check the done-ness before toping with cheese in step 4),  Pour the remaining meat sauce over the ziti.  Spread the creamed spinach evenly over the top.  Cover the baking dish with foil.
4.  Bake the ziti until bubbling, 30 minutes.  Remove the baking dish from the oven and carefully remove the aluminum foil and set aside.  Scatter the mozzarella evenly over the top and re-cover the dish with the foil.  Let the ziti rest until the cheese melts, 10 minutes.  Serve warm.

Creamy Spinach Penne

1/2 lb ground beef 

1/2-3/4 jar of marinara sauce (depends on how much sauce you like)

1 clove garlic- crushed

8 ounces Whole Wheat Penne

1 recipe Creamed Spinach (recipe follows)*

1 package (2 cups) pre-shredded mozzarella cheese

1.  Preheat oven to 375

2.  Brown ground beef in large skillet, 4-5 minutes.  Stir in Marinara sauce and garlic 

* I made the creamed Spinach at the same time that the ground beef was browning, so not really more time, just a few more steps.

3.  Spoon 1/2 meat sauce on bottom of 3-quart casserole dish.  Arrange the Penne in an even layer on top of the sauce (no need to pre-boil the pasta, it will cook in the oven with the marinara sauce, but check the done-ness before toping with cheese in step 4),  Pour the remaining meat sauce over the Penne.  Spread the creamed spinach evenly over the top.  Cover the baking dish with foil.

4.  Bake the Penne until bubbling, 30 minutes.  Remove the baking dish from the oven and carefully remove the aluminum foil and set aside.  Scatter the mozzarella evenly over the top and re-cover the dish with the foil.  Let rest until the cheese melts, 10 minutes.  Serve warm.

Creamed Spinach

3 TBS butter

4 TBS flour

1 tsp salt

1 cup whole milk, cream or half and half

1/2 cup fat free sour cream

2 TBS butter

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup water

1 package chopped frozen spinach, thawed

1.  Melt  3 TBS butter in small saucepan, stir in flour and salt until creamed together, slowly add milk, increase the heat, stirring constantly with whisk until mixture is thick and smooth.  Remove from heat and set aside.

2.  Melt 2 TBS butter in med saucepan, add onions and cook until transparent.   Add spinach and water to pan, lower the heat, stir until all warmed through, add white sauce and sour cream.  Heat through

....

Okay so when I made this I used about 16 oz of Penne (didn't look at the box, oops) so there wasn't enough liquid to completely cook all the pasta in the oven, but I will read the directions and boxes better next time and I'm sure it will turn out better...but the family loved it anyways even with a few not-so-done Penne's here and there...

And don't worry about the "S" word...the spinach was a nice mild flavor.  I think spinach has gotten a bad rap over the years, but it's such a great vegetable that you can sneak into so many different dishes.

I also think I'm going to add this recipe (or both, the Meaty Ziti and Creamy Spinach Penne) to my make and take meals that take to families with new babies, or that have someone in the hospital, or whatever.  You can make it all ahead of time and refrigerate it for 3-4 days before baking it...what a perfect thing to hand over to someone needing a meal...just don't forget to give them a bag of shredded cheese to top it at the end.

Also, first time I've ever made a creamed spinach, it was so yummy, I'm going to make it again with fresh spinach and serve as a side dish, I was licking the pan after I put it into the Penne dish!...might use some pearl onions rather than chopping up an onion...maybe topped with some crispy bacon crumbles?!?!

Serving options for this meal...French Bread...the meat, dairy, pasta, and vegetables are all in the dish, so no need to make anything else.  Maybe a nice big salad.

Could it Get Any Easier?

Okay, I've already shared my crazy Wednesday's with you and that I the only way that Wednesday's are manageable are with wonderful throw-down meals....I also love a great crock pot meal and when the two become one and you have an throw-down crock pot meal, well, I just love those days...

here is a recipe that my friend Jennifer Lorenzen shared with me via facebook...

Cheese Tortellini with Meatballs

24 oz frozen meatballs ( I used turkey meatballs)

26 oz tomato basil pasta sauce

1 1/2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend

9 oz refrigerated cheese tortellini

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves chopped

Put meatballs, cheese, pasta sauce in crockpot. Cook on low 8-10 ho urs. Put pasta in 1 hour before done. Top with basil and serve.

This was SO good...and Beau finished up the leftovers today for lunch, not even heating it up..

Serve with Garlic Cheese French Bread (just discovered wheat French bread...just as good and better for us!) and steamed asparagus.

Thanks Jennifer, my family LOVES this recipe!

Can you do that?

I tried something last night that could have been disastrous!

it could have knocked the earth off of it's rotation!

it could have re-aligned the stars...

I made Sunday Night Potato Chowder on Wednesday night...

and guess what...the family ate dinner and went off to church and the world just kept right on turning!

Sunday Night Potato Chowder (or Wed night or any night)
4 pieces of bacon (optional, I didn't have any bacon so I used some bacon fat I had in the fridge...yes, I have bacon fat in the fridge...and some bacon salt...yes, I have bacon salt!)
4 cups of onion tater tots*
2 cups milk
1 can chicken broth
1 cup frozen corn, thawed (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
grated cheese to top (optional)
1.  cook up bacon in saucepan until nice and crispy, drain and chop into pieces.  Leave about 1 tsp bacon drippings in pan, add tater tots and cook for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly until they thaw some.
2.  Add milk and broth to tots, bring to boil, boil for 2-3 minutes and then reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes, salt and pepper to taste.
3.  Serve with bacon on top and grated cheese.


This was an amazingly FAST recipe to make, very good throw down meal, from start to finish this dish was on the table in under 20 minutes!   I wouldn't say it's my family's favorite, but it will go on the list of fast yummy soups.  The only way my son ate it was covered in cheese, but nothing wrong with that!  I also left out the bacon (didn't have any) and the corn (the daughter requested NO corn!)...
*Personal note: I have NEVER EVER purchased tater tots before until I needed them for this recipe...my daughter was ecstatic because she LOVES when they have them at school...(she eats them off her friends trays!)
Serving Suggestions:  I served the chowder with the rest of the tater tots and then some sliced cheese, and next time will probably also throw some fruit on the table.  

What's Poppin' for Dinner?

Okay so I might be weird but I like to read...

...read cook books that is 

(well, really almost all books I like to read)...

so anyways, I was reading my "Dinner Doctor" cook book that I got for Christmas (Thanks Julie) a few weeks ago and came across a Popcorn Soup recipe...

okay, must have read that wrong, can't make soup out of popcorn...

rewind...

yep, it said Popcorn Soup...

after reading the recipe I realized that the name was a little tricky because it's actually a corn soup/chowder that you top with popcorn right before serving...but had to give it a try...

AND...the meal ONLY took 10 minutes, that's right 10 minutes!

...the hardest part was opening cans and listening for the microwave popcorn so it didn't burn!

Popcorn Soup

2 cans cream-style corm

1 can corn kernels, drained

2 cups half & half

1 chicken-flavored bouillon cube

1 tea sugar

2 Tbl butter

Black pepper

2 cups popped popcorn

Hot Pepper Sauce (Optional)

1. Place the cream-style corn, corn kernels, half & half, and bouillon cube into 4 quart saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly for the first few minutes.  Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the soup thickens and is hot, but not boiling, 10-12 minutes total.

2.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar and butter.  Season with pepper to taste.  Ladle the soup into serving bowls.  Top with popcorn* right before eating. Pass the hot pepper sauce for the adults that want to spice up their soup...

*You may want to give it some time to cool down for the kiddos.  

The popcorn shrinks up pretty fast and then just gets soggy...

we ended up giving the kids a bowl of popcorn and having them add a few pieces, eat that, and then add a few more...it was a fun dinner..

oh...minus the fact that we learned that the girl child doesn't like corn (not so fun when the entire meal revolves around corn)

but she did good, she ate the popcorn and the broth and didn't make too many weird faces...

oh, and what do you serve with Popcorn Soup?  We had a plate of cheese and Beau was craving chips and salsa...the recipe book also suggests some sliced fruit and bread...maybe cornbread? (or is that overkill?)

Next time we may try a few things...
*one, I realized once I sat down to type up this recipe that it also called for 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth that I completely left out (didn't see it when I read over the recipe 3 times!), but not having the chicken broth gave it more of a chowder than a soup feel and it didn't seem like any liquid was missing.  If you want to add the broth you add it at the beginning with the corn and half & half.
*some crisp bacon would be nice tossed on top and maybe even some shredded cheese.
*pieces of left-over deli chicken mixed into the soup for some added protein
*steamed broccoli
*I thought some crab or shrimp would add to the chowder feel of it, but my family all said NO...bummer!

Throw it Down

as moms we need a few of these "throw down meals" to make life doable.

Yesterday some friends came over to "do" hair...I have one good friend that loves to cut and color hair and another good friend and I needed our hair done...

so we made a day of it and spent it at my place getting our hair done...
in my kitchen...

and then I got a text from another friend reminding me that I had signed up to take a meal to a new mom 
(3 kids under 2!!!)...
so now I'm having a hair party...
(color chemicals and pieces of cut hair) 
...in my kitchen 
and... I need to not only at some point today make a meal for my family
...but I need to take one to another family...

...

Time for....Throw Down Meal....

Lemon Chicken with Pesto Tortellini’s 

2 chicken breasts

1 package of dried pesto tortellini’s

1 package of Knorr Creamy Pesto mix (and ingredients to make...olive oil and milk)

Lemon Basil rub

 1.  Grill chicken breast seasoned with lemon basil rub (we have a indoor grill...LOVE IT...but you can do it on an outdoor grill or broil it in the oven) for 10-15 minutes until done. 

2.  Boil Tortillini's, follow package directions, boil and drain...

3.  prepare Creamy Pesto sauce per package directions...

slice up chicken breast, toss into cooked tortellini’s and pour pesto sauce over the top...

Serve with steamed broccoli!

I didn't have enough tortellini’s for the other family so I boiled bow-tie pasta and threw together an Alfredo sauce

Alfredo Sauce

1 Tbl Butter

1 cup grated parmesan cheese (the cheap stuff)

1/2 cup half and half (or milk will do in a pinch)

boil noodles, drain and return to pan and heat, melt butter in the noodles, add cheese and half and half, stir until all is melted...

I try to always keep a package of Knorr Creamy Pesto mix in my pantry and other good items for when a mom's just got to throw it down!

Two dinners for two families done in 20 minutes!!!

and I now have pink hair (Thanks Becca!)...gotta love that throw down!!!

"No Plan" Wednesdays

Wednesday is always one of those crazy days that I plan to, not plan anything ...
and then before I know it, I've planned way too much to do, on my day of no plans!

My "no plan" Wednesday is a very hazy "rule" that I have tried to follow for a few years...probably ever since my daughter started going to school, so I guess that'd be 4 years now...

Why, this "rule", well, being in the church business...
...and kid church business at that...
...(probably not supposed to call it "business")...
Wednesday night means some sort of church activity for the kids at church...
...I'm still wondering how this started...
circa 1952
we're having a Adult Bible Study at church this next Wednesday...but wait, what do we do with everyone's kids?  Well, we can get brother Joe to entertain them, but make sure they're learning God Stuff in there, and make sure it involves them earning badges and how to tie nautical knots...
decades pass and now churches offer a mid week Bible Study for the parents so they can have something to do when they drop their kids off....

okay, minor tangent...
anyways...
Being married to a children's pastor means
Wednesdays = Church night...
side note...we are a one car family....

so my "normal" Wednesdays look like this starting mid day...

12:30-boy child gets out of preschool across town
1:00-pick up the husband because neither him nor I have had lunch yet
1:45-pick up girl child on our side of town
2:00-take husband back to church to finish preparing for "God Stuff" to teach the children
5:30-take a prepared dinner to church so we can eat as a family
6:30-teach "God Stuff" to children
8:00 parents are supposed to be picking up their children
8:30 all kids have now been picked up and we can try to put rooms back together
8:45-leave church campus
9:00-get kids in bed...(another side note, my kids normal bed time is 7...)

so I try to add as little to my Wednesday, morning's included, so I can be prepared for the non stop going from 12:30-9...
okay...this is what my brains says when I need to schedule an appointment, "Hey, you have a free morning on Wednesday, schedule your appointment then!"
so this was my "no plan Wednesday" today

7:30-take girl child to school
8:00-back home still trying to get boy child and husband up and out the door
8:30-drop off husband and boy child at church/meet friend at church to pick up boy child to take to preschool because I scheduled an appointment at the same time as preschool drop off!
9:00-1st appointment of the day...Dr. appointment...

enter weird random dilemma...I have a friend that is a Dr....I met this friend outside of the world of doctors and we became friends outside of the world of doctors, before she was a 100% dr...said friend then becomes 100% doctor and works at the same office as my doctor...so, than once a year when I go to my doctor I always run into my friend...and then without thinking I say, "Hey friend," and we have a conversation and the whole time I am thinking should I call her Dr. Friend...or is that weird, but she's at work and these people all work for her and here I am calling her just Friend...not Dr....does that mean I don't respect her...AGRH...and the whole time she's thinking, "Gosh, Kiera always acts weird when we talk at the office"

...

anyways...

Dr. appointment takes WAY longer than expected...and bonus, I have asthma!

10:30-grocery shopping...in the BIGGEST rain storm of the century!

10:35-realize I left my grocery list in the car but there is NO way I'm going back out in the storm for the list...so goody, I get to wing it!  And I MUST grocery shop, can't go one more day without it!

11:15-husband has a lunch appointment, and I have our one car, so I shove the groceries into the car, drive across town, pick him up and drive him in the other direction to his lunch appointment...

11:45 rush home, take the 2 bags of groceries that need refrigeration into the house and shove them in the fridge...

12:00-2nd appointment of the day...Dentist... got two fillings filled...oh, happy day...but at least I got to sit down for an hour...

1:15-rush across town to pick up boy child from friend who picked him up from school

1:30-pick husband up from lunch appointment

1:45-pick up girl child...across town...from school
2:00-get home and unpack rest of groceries
2:15-run down to blood lab to give blood per request from 1st appointment of the day
2:45-get home and start to think about maybe blogging today
3:00-oh, husband's still home and needs to be at church to finish preparing for tonight's "God Stuff"
3:15-tell kids to get on their shoes
3:20-yelling at kids to get ready so we can take daddy back to work
3:30-I get of facebook and put my shoes on
3:45-take husband back to church
4:15-get home and start dinner...
5:00-take dinner out of oven, wrap in foil and towel to keep warm, pack up kids and ....
5:30-arrive at church in a happy mood to eat dinner as a family!
5:45-girl child is asking if she can eat something else, because she doesn't like the tomatoes in dinner..."Yes, honny, let mommy run right home and make you another dinner!!!"
6:00-happy careless adults stroll into classrooms and begin dropping their kids off so they can go to Bible study, or on a date night...
6:45-kids are watching a movie tonight because it's too stormy to teach them too much "God Stuff"
...just joking the lesson is about God adopting us into his family no matter what
...so..."Ice Age" was the perfect movie to show them...
7:00...I ditch my husband with the kids (he has plenty of other adults to help him) and go to my "office" at the church and blog!!!

okay, so what dinner did I throw together that the girl child didn't want to eat...but ended up eating two servings of???

Chicken Laredo
3 cups shredded chicken
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cans turkey chili (or use any leftover chili you have)
2 cans pinto beans-drained
2 cans tomatoes with green chilies, drained (made it a little spicy for the kids, next time might just go reg diced tomatoes)
8 oz Velvetta cheese (recipe called for Mexi Velvetta, but I used reg)

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Place shredded chicken in 9x13 pan.
2.  Saute onions and bell pepper in sauce pan in a small amount of oil.  Layer over chicken.  Layer, chili, beans and tomatoes onto of onions and peppers, top with sliced Velvetta.
3.  Bake for 25-35 minutes or until cheese is all nice an melted.
Serve warm with tortilla or corn chips and a nice green salad

This was a perfect dinner for my "no plan" Wednesday....I just had to throw stuff together in the pan...and everyone really liked it...well, minus the tomatoes, but the girl child has never liked tomatoes, and then she ended up having seconds...
I would like to try this recipe with a different "cheese"...
...is or should I say with actual cheese...but not sure it will melt as well, nothing melts like a "cheese product"...
but this will go onto my list of throw down meals...oh, and I actually cut the recipe in half and made it in a 9x9sq pan...and had leftovers...this would be good as a potluck dish or for a night of munching like New Years Eve....

The Other White Meat

Do you guys remember that ad campaign?
We always laughed because even in the commercials the pork looked grey not white.

Anyways, I've always enjoyed pork, didn't know why it had such a bad rap...
well, unless you're Jewish, and Kosher, and then well, sure I get that...
but other than following some laws from the OT, how could you not LOVE the pork?!

Oh, and our daughter, who's a self proclaimed vegetarian...
...not because she has some ethical problem with the way the animals are treated....
    ....and PLEASE, lets not share that information with her just yet...
...no she doesn't eat meat because...
*Beef has squishy parts
*Chicken has stringy parts
...and the most obvious...
*Pork taste like poison!

She does make exceptions to her strict vegetarian menu when it comes to some foods...
...she likes hamburgers, just not one's made at home
...she likes Chicken McNuggets...possibly because they're NOT REAL!
...she likes pork chops and applesauce, I guess the applesauce hides the poison I've laced the chops in!

...sorry, I guess I went on a major tangent there...
I made for the first time ever...drum roll please...
...a Roast Pork Tenderloin last night...
and it was delicious...and everyone ate it up (we had company and they all really enjoyed it)...
all except for the daughter who stood her ground on the "taste like poison" box that she likes...

Oh, and this is a recipe that was taken from my new favorite cook book,
a gift from my new favorite sister-in-law, The Dinner Doctor,
...another tangent please...my wonderful sister-in-law not only gave me a GREAT cookbook as a gift, she herself has the book, so she went thru and tagged the recipes that they liked...
AND...she wrote notes in the margins of what worked and didn't work and why they liked a certain recipes...isn't that the GREATEST idea...she's good like that!
from my favorite recipe book author The Cake Mix Doctor...

and how can you not love a recipe that has 4 ingredients; 5th ingredient optional...and only 3 steps?!?
Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Balsamic Sauce
1/2 cup Apricot preserves or jam
2 Tbl Balsamic vinegar (I was out and used apple cider vinegar, and it was still good)
1 pound pork tenderloin
salt and pepper to taste
Lime or Lemon wedges (optional)

1.  Preheat over to 450* (THIS is a MUST...do not wait to turn your oven on at the last minute!)  Mix the apricot preserves with the vinegar (the recipe says to "pulse the mixture in a food processor or blender until smooth"...I didn't want to wash out my food processor after this, so I just put the two in a bowl and whisked it with my small whisk!...worked beautifully!)...so mix the two however you feel you want!
2.  Place the port tenderloin in a 13x9 pan (I lined mine with foil to make clean up easier...only last time I bought foil it was for some sort of project and it was at the dollar store and it was apparently just a product calling itself foil, and was HORRIBLE...so of course it ripped during the baking process and then the apricot preserves, foil, and pan became joined as one and took WAY more work to clean than had I just left the foil out of the pan...but if you have REAL foil, (as in Reynold's Wrap Foil) I would recommend this to help your clean up!).  Season the pork with salt and pepper (or you can purchased a pork tenderloin already coated in black pepper).  Spoon 1/2 the jam mixture evenly over the top.
3.  Roast the pork until browned and the juices run clear when pierced with a knife (I recommend a meat thermometer when cooking with pork), and the meat is still barely pink, about 30-35 minutes.  About half way through, (about 15-20 minutes) the roasting remove pork and spoon remaining jam mixture over the pork and return to the oven.  When the roast is done, remove from oven and cover the roast with foil and let it rest for 10 minutes.  Serve with lime or lemon wedges.

*most of us might be aware that our oven "cooks hot" or "cooks cool"...it's really good to know how much especially when baking something at this temp...my oven is 75 hotter than it should be, had I set it for 450 it would have actually been cooking at 525, can you say burned pork-ka-bobs?!?

Served this is Lime Infused Rice, Salad, and Sourdough bread.