Sunday, September 26, 2010

Feast!

I made a Mexican feast tonight.  :-) 

Jimmy was sure to tell me that it is one of the four different kinds of Mexican feasts that we now are able to enjoy...

1.  The regular taco feast
2.  Fish taco feast
3.  Taco soup feast
4.  Guacamole burger feast

I enjoy the word "feast" because it means that there's lots of food and most likely will include leftovers to be enjoyed at a later date.  Here's what I made tonight:

Chili Cheese Corn

Tex-Mex Bean Salad with Creamy Salsa Dressing

Guacamole Burgers
I cannot claim all of the recipes as my own, but those guacamole burgers sure were.  :-) 

Guacamole Burgers
-1 lb. ground beef (you could use turkey or chicken if desired)
-some chopped cilantro (you decide how much)
-1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles
-chili powder
-adobo seasoning
-minced garlic
-pepper
-slices of Am. cheese
-lettuce
-cooking spray

Put your meat, cilantro, green chiles, chili powder, garlic, and pepper into a bowl and mix.  Form into four patties.  Spray your cooking spray into the pan and let it get a little warm.  Put the patties into the pan and let them cook on medium heat for a few minutes.  Flip them over and sprinkle them with adobo seasoning.  You can add cheese once they are flipped or just add it afterward.  I like the cheese melty. 

Serve them on a bun (I used whole wheat) and top with lettuce and guacamole.  Enjoy! 

Now, I have to quote Jimmy because he said, "This may be the best burger I've ever eaten."  That might say it all.

Crockpot-ing Adventures

It's a gloomy Sunday and to be perfectly honest, I should still be in bed sleeping.  Granted, it's almost 10:00 a.m., but I woke up in the middle of the night with a sore throat and can't seem to shake it.  I guess the changes in weather are finally affecting me. 

I'm kind of excited for cooler weather because that means I'm going to use my crockpot more.  I decided this yesterday.  Every week I'm going to try to make some kind of new-to-me soup.  It's been fun to go on the hunt for recipes and find ones that look amazing and actually cook them and have them turn out delicious.  One of the most fun websites I found is: A Year of Slow Cooking.  Check it out!

I experimented with some of the fabulous recipes over the summer.  I have two favorites so far...


Sweet and Sour Chicken with Mango Lettuce Wraps

I made the Sweet and Sour Chicken with Mango Lettuce Wraps one night for my dad, his girlfriend, my brother, my husband and I.  Everyone raved about how yummy they were (thank you Stephanie O'Dea!) and with that said, it was quite possibly the trickiest recipe I've ever followed because of the sheer amount of ingredients:
I think my most favorite part about my crockpot is that it makes all kinds of ingredients that you wouldn't normally even think about putting together smell awesome.  My house always smells good when I use the crock. 

I looked at this jumble and wondered how it was going to make anything that would possibly resemble chicken... I left it alone and the crock worked its magic.  During the process of chopping everything, I learned how to "seed" a cucumber.  Who knew?



After a few hours...
Oooo, all ready!
 

Total hit.  


Here's the second of my favorite recipes... this was the first ever in my crockpot and the first recipe I made to begin my cooking challenge.  :-)  That makes it special.  Plus, it has "taco" in the name.  You know how we love tacos.  No?  You don't?  Our favorite go to meal before I started cooking all the time was tacos.  Or quesadillas.  Or burritos.  We called it our "All Guacamole Diet".  Hehe.


Taco Soup

So easy.  Just dump everything into the crock and there you have it!  Well, there you have it 6-8 hours later...  I think every time I've made this recipe it ends up being a different consistency based on how long you cook it and how much water is in the cans of corn you use.  It's kind of a chili consistency... mmm.  Chili.



That's me, back in July, super excited to be using my brand new crockpot for the first time. 
Do you have a happy crockpot picture?  Maybe you should. 

Happy crockpot-ing!  :-) 





Saturday, September 25, 2010

Cheddar Chili Tomato Pots

Happy Saturday!

It has been an extremely long week.  Complete with mandatory faculty meeting, Back-to-School Night, a dentist appointment, my grad class, a writing committee meeting, line dancing (fun!), and a doctor appointment... not to mention fun-filled days in kindergarten!  I'm in need of a rest. 

For those of you who don't know, I've been trying to change my life by eating healthier, cooking more often, and exercising when time permits it.  It was very easy over the summer to focus on all of these things because of all my free time.  Now that school has been back in session for about a month, I'm learning how to keep myself in mind during the school year.  On that note, I lost 3.2 pounds this week and I feel the need to celebrate!  That's 29.4 pounds total since last September.  Go me.  :-)

Anyway, I know you're here because you're hoping I'll drop a recipe.  Hehe.  How about these?

Cheddar Chili Tomato Pots
I got this recipe out of a book that I bought for a dollar at the library.  Here's a link to a site that has the recipe though... it looks like it's the same!  I don't want to infringe on any copyrights.  I will say that I used diced chiles so I wouldn't have to slice them up, RF (reduced fat) cheddar cheese, and light sour cream. 

Overall, they were a total hit. 

Enjoy!  :-)

Monday, September 20, 2010

Meatball Mountain

It has been a busy week already... which does not bode well for the remainder because it's only Monday.  Unfortunately, I don't know how much time I'll have to cook this week!  Sad!  :-(

Tonight I made actual spaghetti and meatballs for the first time ever.  Yeah, I know.  Can you believe it?  It was also a combination of recipes because I seriously could not put apple in the meatballs.  I just couldn't.  Does that mean I created my own recipe?


















Turkey Cheese Surprise Spaghetti
For the meatballs...
-1 lb. ground turkey
-1/2 cup stuffing mix
-2 T. parmesan cheese
-garlic salt
-pepper
-any other seasonings you like
-mozzarella
-EVOO :-)  Yep, EVOO.  Say it.

For the noodles...
-1 pkg. whole wheat spaghetti
-garlic salt
-2 cans diced tomatoes
-basil leaves

Okay, so I started the noodles in a giant pot first.  I garlic salt the noodles so they don't stick in the pot.  When the noodles are cooked, drain and add the diced tomatoes.  Stir!  Chop up the basil leaves and add a little shredded mozzarella if you like. 

While the noodles are cooking (just follow pkg directions), I put the EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) in a pan and let it get hot.  I combined everything but the mozzarella in another bowl and then formed meatballs.  Add a little chunk of mozzarella to the center of each meatball.  Yum!  Cook them up a few at a time and then add to the spaghetti mess.  I cut one open to make sure they were cooking alright.  They were.

Mmm...


That's a little thing I like to call Meatball Mountain.  Looks pretty good, huh?  :-) 

Happy cooking!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Happy Bacon Day!

Just kidding... it's really not Bacon Day.  Actually, I just tried to google "Bacon Day" to see if there was one and came up with no definitive results.  Apparently, everyday is Bacon Day!  Anybody know if there's an official "Bacon Day"? 

Here's what I made tonight...

Bacon Noodley Goodness
1 pkg. whole wheat noodles
1 jar light alfredo sauce
1 pkg. turkey bacon
garlic salt
shredded mozzarella cheese

I chopped up the bacon first and put it all in a frying pan.  It took a while because there was lots of meat and bacon should be cooked on lower heat, but worked well.  You could also cook it first and then chop it.  Whatever you like!  In the meantime, I cooked and drained the noodles and then stirred in the alfredo sauce.  When the bacon was ready, it got dumped into the giant mess.  Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella and serve! 

Hubby is very excited to be taking the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  I'm a little jealous.  ;-)

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Horseradish

Just thought I would share the fact that horseradish is amazing. Horseradish cheese is also amazing! I used it on whole wheat English muffins to make these yummy "sammies", as Rachael Ray would call them. 


If you've never made a "sammie", you make them just like regular grilled cheese except you butter the nooks and crannies of the English muffin and basically cook it inside-out. They're a little hard to flip if you don't let the cheese get a little melty first, so be warned!

If you don't like horseradish, shame on you. 

Seriously, if you really don't, they are also yummy with other cheeses. Be creative!

Side note... I started wondering why horseradish is called horseradish.  Yep, learned a lot about it.  :-)

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Due to popular demand...

...I'm creating a blog!  Yep.  This is happening. 

Okay, so you may not have been one of the people who cared all that much about me making a blog.  That's okay.  I'll forgive you. 

Anyway, here I am...
That way you know who's rambling at you.  Get that picture in your mind.  I like the word "rambling" only because then I don't have to be very specific about what I'll be writing about.  My ultimate plan is to write what I want... about anything... anytime. 

Maybe that doesn't sound much like a plan, but it's really a good thing.  I've found that writing/blogging helps me get out my thoughts.  Whatever they may be.  Maybe I'll write about my cooking adventures.  Maybe I'll write about my day.  Maybe I'll write about YOU.  Who knows? 

...and so, I am joining the blogosphere.  It's good to be here!  :-)
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