beef and barley skillet

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Barley-Beef-Skillet?pmcode=INADA02T&_mid=2397122&_rid=2397122.988145.509941

this is what was for dinner tonight and is definitely a keeper, tho hubby went to Subway once he saw what I was making, haha...

I had no zucchini or tomatoes, so instead of those, I added some corn and peas and at the end of cooking, I added a little butter and it made it so creamy...

please try this, you will not be disappointed...

oscar menu food...(Sunday post)

you know how much Tim loves the Oscar's and he likes to have a dinner that night that is easy and sort of appetizer-ish type...
so, all day we thought of what to make...
hubby wanted pigs in a blanket but, he and I do this dish much differently...
his way is that he wraps bacon around hot dogs and then bakes them...too greasy for me...
my version is to wrap hot dogs  with a biscuit and bake them...

but, I do not feel real well and decided to make his version and we named it "Frank-n-Weenie..."
ok one down...for "Life of Pi" decided to make a pizza but I wanted it different, this fit the bill...

http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/03/bubble-up-pizza.html

and it was very good, we definitely will be making this again...

one more dish...in the movie Amour, the guy smothers his wife and Tim came up with smothered
fries...only I made it smothered tator tots, with cheese and bacon on top...

I am sure that if I felt better, we could have come up with much better Oscar themed foods...

family dinner beef stew, yum

homemade beef stew with white rice and an artisan 7 grain wheat bread is my choice for a great down home comfort food...

stew beef cooking all day in the crock pot, ready after our busy day...

add our favorite veggies, potatoes, celery, pearl onions, carrots and peas and corn...hope there are plenty of leftovers as I love this more the 2nd day...

homemade macaroni and cheese family dinner

this is my mom's recipe for "grown up" mac and cheese...as kids we did not like this recipe as we were used to the "blue box variety..."  but, as an adult I have made this many times and my kids like this version...it is down home comfort food at it's best...

and so very simple...

I layer (almost always shell roni as I like the way the cheese clings to all of the folds) macaroni and then cheese...(tonight I used a blend of cheddar and jack) and end up with the top being cheese...sprinkle a little seasonings on top and then pour 2 cans of evaporated milk on top...
bake at 350 for about 30 minutes...

delish...

chicken fried rice

yes I have made this before...it is my go to recipe when I have some leftover chicken...and for days now, knew I would have leftover chicken and have been craving this since then...

yummy...

for my rice this is what I added tonight:
rice (of course)
soy sauce
shredded carrots
diced green onions
frozen peas
cashews
and chicken

and I am so not Asian, that to go with this tonight, I bought an Italian cheese bread...LOL...

country club chicken

this is a must try and you will love it kind of dish...a little labor intensive with the bacon and apples (yes you read right there are apples in this) and onions and the chicken but is well worth the trouble you go through...

I found this recipe (& some more on her blog) while searching for some Dutch recipes...those of you that know me, know how much I love anything Dutch...I love windmills, delft, dutch dolls, you name it I love it and I thought it would be fun to make some Dutch recipes...I think this is the 2nd or 3rd recipe I have made from her blog,,,

http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/country-club-chicken

check out her blog, you might find some things you will like too...

this is a first for me as I usually never make spaghetti without marinara and this was a nice change of pace from other sides and goes very well with the dish...

do you like my token green beans just for the picture?  but, I absolutely refused to put any mushrooms on my plate...yuck  I hate them...hubby paid me $100 to take a bite of a mushroom and I thought I was going to die...

I am telling myself that it is yummy and will definitely make it again...

enchilada casserole, refried beans & corn cakes

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Enchilada-Casserole...

this is a new recipe to us...I love Taste of Home recipes...

everyone loved dinner tonight...the only change I might make to it, is I might brown the tortillas just a tad before assembling the casserole otherwise, it has a great taste and consistency to it...

also made El Torito's corn cakes and refried beans...

yummy

roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy Happy Heart's Day

I wanted a special dinner for Valentine's Day and remembered I had a roast in the freezer...I had a very hectic day with almost no time for anything extra...
but we had been out to eat 2 nights in a row...
we went to Pepito's and had mexican and then Tim paid for us to go to Chili's last night...I had a terrific cheeseburger...
so, I put the roast in the crock pot in the morning and then only had to do the potatoes and gravy...

everyone appreciated a nice homey dinner tonight

chicken bacon corn chowder (really was Sunday)

I had leftover chicken and decided to make corn chowder and add diced chicken to it also...
everyone in the family loves this soup and tonight Tim brought home some delicious cranberry walmut bread to go with it...

yummy

chicken and wild rice casserole, family favorite...

this, since I found the recipe, is my all time favorite, the best ever down home comfort dinner...I now make this at least once a month and everyone in the family loves it...it is especially great as leftovers...

as I have said previously, you must try this dinner, you will love me for suggesting it...

http://www.southernplate.com/2012/01/chicken-and-wild-rice-casserole-and-becoming-the-crazy-daffodil-lady.html

bacon cheeseburger soup & corn fritters

http://www.therecipecritic.com/2012/12/cheeseburger-soup.html

http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/corn-fritters-recipe

these are the 2 links I used for dinner tonight...and it was pretty good...let me give you a hint...someone in my family did not care for it and asked that I not make it again...but, everyone else in the family did like it...I give up on the one person, I most definitely cannot please him much of the time...

what I would do a little differently...I made way too much of the soup...I would not double it again and I would add more meat and more vegetables but, otherwise I would leave it alone...
the fritters were good also, but I would add chives and a little more flour...

yummy...

beef stroganoff

tonight I made Beef Stroganoff for dinner and wouldn't you know, my camera is still not working...
Beef stroganoff is a little labor intensive, in cutting the meat as I like it very very thinly cut so, that took me a little while...

but other than that, dinner was very good and of course everyone loved it...it is Tim's absolute favorite and I made this on purpose...I did not know that the little princess also loves it...

hubby did not eat as he had a meeting to go to tonight so (yay) we have some leftovers...

I do not have a big secret to Beef Stroganoff...I use the McCormick's season packet...

yummy

PTA, Olive Garden and spaghetti...

our PTA has been planning on doing a free spaghetti dinner for our students and parents for awhile now and is in the planning stages for this Friday night...OK...

(keep reading this all ties in together, believe me)

I get all of my ingredients for dinner out in the morning so I know what I have and don't have and this am I got everything out for (you guessed it) spaghetti...not a problem, we have not had it for awhile now and we love it for dinner...

so, hubby and I had to go somewhere this am and he surprised me by then taking me out to lunch to
Olive Garden and I always get spaghetti there...

so do you think I will be tired of spaghetti by the end of the week???

Sunday family dinner: chicken taco casserole & cornbread

this is the 2nd time in 2 weeks that I have made this dish...and this time it was very very good...I re-vamped it just a tad to suit my picky family's taste (we don't do spicy too well) so instead of Rotel, I increased the taco seasonings and added about 10 ounces of tomato sauce...

Zoe made the cornbread...

yummy, you must try it...

recie link:

http://bevcooks.com/2012/08/chicken-dorito/

January's favorite dinners

I thought I would post every month which dinners we really liked a lot and will most definitely be adding to our monthly rotation of menus...

we really liked this chicken taco casserole very much and in fact, I am making again for Sunday night, a little re-vamped (it was a little too spicey for everyone...)

http://bevcooks.com/2012/08/chicken-dorito/

this was hands down our favorite for the month and my mouth is watering just thinking of making it again for tomorrow...

now, this one certainly placed a close second, the chicken with walnut sauce:

http://stephaniecooks.blogspot.com/2010/10/chicken-in-walnut-sauce.html

was so very good with just a teeny bit of cinnamon and the walnuts, oh my...delicious

almost forgot...this one, buttercream chicken was so good that I have to add this:

http://jamiecooksitup.net/2012/02/butter-cream-chicken/

and the 2 sides that we all fell in love with are:
http://cassiecraves.blogspot.com/2009/03/mexican-sour-cream-rice.html  &
http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/barley-pilaf-caramelized-onions-4431?click=recipe_sr


and have to add these biscuits were to die for...

http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2012/08/7-up-biscuits.html

there you go, our favorite new recipes for January...thanks for reading...

sloppy joes family dinner

we went grocery shopping at the commissary today and man it was packed and everyone was grouchy...I should have realized that 1. it was the day after payday for military, and 2. it was the day before superbowl and everyone was out getting snacks, etc. for the big day...

we did not even get 1/2 of the stuff I wanted to, just way too many people...

and so because of this, I wanted a nice easy dinner tonight...

Zoe made most of the dinner, that is how easy it is...