weekly menu posts from 12/6 through 12/13

been slacking a little but lots going on with my life, with hubby in hospital and all...very overwhelmed with the holidays coming up and him gone...trying to get back to normal...

Sunday 12/6..........chicken pot pie stew
                              biscuits

Monday 12/7........salisbury steak meatballs
                              mashed potatoes
                              corn

Tuesday 12/8........sloppy joes
                              tator tots
                              honey glazed carrots

Wednesday 12/9...chicken/bacon carbonara
                              green beans
                              garlic bread

Thursday 12/10.....bacon/corn griddle cakes
                              turkey sausage

Friday 12/11.........creamy chicken and brown rice casserole
                             peas
                             artisan bread

Saturday 12/12....italian sausage, corn wild rice chowder
                            cranberry muffins

Sunday 12/13......mock lasagna
                            green salad
                            garlic cheese biscuits

yummy cannot wait, they all sound so good with 5 of them being brand new recipes...
                           

cheese fondue previously posted 12/19/12

most definitely a cat's away dinner as hubby is in hospital and he hates this dish...all of the rest of us love it, so I make this when he is not around...

this is most definitely a "cat's away," type dinner...hubby hates this but, everyone else absolutely loves it...hubby is in the hospital and tonight is the perfect night to have this...it is cold here and we also needed down home comfort...

we love to have little weinies, asst veggies, cut up bread and the must have is Wheat Thins...

my recipe (been making this for a good number of years...)

I make a roux with 8tbs butter, 8tbs flour and about 5 cups of milk...cook till thickened...add seasonings of choice (I add garlic salt and pepper) and stir in enough shredded cheese to taste...we like a lot of cheese, so I usually add one of the big bags and tonight I did a colby/jack blend...stir till melted...

tonight, I only had a limited source of milk and so I added 1/2 of the liquid as chicken broth...

this is one of Tim's absolute favorites...

yummy enjoy...

tuna melts, spam pie, meatball soup, tacos

hubby is in the hospital (again) and these are all previously posted meals that I use as our "cat's away" dinner as those are the ones that he does not care for...

of the four listed my meatball soup is so easy and everyone loves it...

porcupines originally posted previously

we were too poor for after school snacks and I would be starving by the time dinner came around but these meatballs, I could snack on them while I was cooking (my mom could never figure out why the amount of meatballs was way down when I cooked...)

and can I say here that there is no way possible that Zoe would wait after school till dinner to eat...OMGosh that kid, we have to meet her at school with a drink and a snack, or take her out...this year has not been such a problem as 6th graders eat lunch at 12:30 and they get out at 2...

another funny story, my kids love these and I had Christopher's friends convinced that this was really porcupine meat I was using...

so for porcupines, I add seasonings and uncooked rice to ground beef and brown them as meatballs, when browned, cover them with 2 cans of tomato soup (mixed with 1 can of water) and Tim likes to add shredded cheese to the top...

made parmesan noodles, broccoli and garlic cheese biscuits to the menu for tonight...

btw...hubby does not especially care for this dinner but I think it stems from his distaste of rice...

pumpkin cornbread

http://www.onceuponachef.com/2014/11/pumpkin-cornbread-muffins.html

so yummy with honey butter

day after Thanksgiving, ham and pasta casserole

http://chindeep.com/2010/04/25/rainy-day-rituals/

this was so yummy and was great as leftovers, everyone loved it...

will definitely make this again...

Thanksgiving day dinner

I am so far behind with blogging, trying to play catch up and thought I would start with Thanksgiving...
I had a migraine, but my daughter, son and grand daughter came to the rescue and helped out in a big way...

here was our menu:

turkey
ham
mashed potatoes (I love my homemade, do not know how we ever ate boxed potatoes)
cornbread, sausage, apple stuffing
homemade cranberry sauce (Zoie found a recipe on foodtv.com and made it herself)
brussel sprouts
green bean casserole
pumpkin pie

since I did not feel 100% and trying to keep costs down, I tried to simplify the menu this year...someone gave us the turkey, so that really helped...

cranberry bliss bars, definitely a must try...love these things

http://www.recipegirl.com/2011/11/14/cranberry-bliss-bars/

chicken lazone (my version)

http://momsdutchoven.blogspot.com/2015/09/chicken-lazone-my-version.html

link to my previous post with this recipe...

this has quickly become a family favorite with everyone loving it...Tim even said tonight that this is his new favorite dinner...

so glad that I found this recipe and tried it when I did...

weekly menu posts from 11/21 through 11/28

I am a day early posting menus, although I did not get them posted last week at all...super busy, super stressed, a lot going on...

here goes:

Saturday 11/21.............chicken lazone, my version
                                     green peas
                                     cranberry bread

Sunday 11/22...............breakfast:  sausage, cheese hashbrown casserole
                                     dinner:  sausage, chicken corn soup

Monday 11/23.............hand held beef pies
                                     green salad

Tuesday 11/24............cube steak (country style steak
                                    mashed potatoes
                                    carrots

Wednesday 11/25.......tuna melts
                                    tator tots
                                    raw veggies

Thursday 11/26          turkey
                                   ham
                                   mashed potatoes
                                   corn casserole
                                   sweet potatoes
                                   applesauce bread
                                   sausage cornbread dressing
                                   pumpkin pie

Friday 11/27..............ham casserole (Chin Deep, rainy days)
                                  cole slaw

Saturday 11/28..........slow cooker turkey pot pie stew (recipe on facebook)

Disney night out...Mimi's cafe for dinner

when in Anaheim, the cat and I always eat at Mimi's cafe...love it there and it is usually within walking distance of our hotel...so I am not sure why we never go to the one in Mo Val? dinner last night was so good...I had not eaten all day (felt quesy) and so I decided that maybe I just needed to eat...I ordered the turkey dinner, cat got the NY steak and it was just what the doctor ordered...and the warm little loaves of sourdough bread? to die for...so good...I almost thought of just eating there on Thanksgiving...they are only charging 18.99 a person for turkey dinner including pie...they are also selling whole turkey dinners to feed 10 people for 89.00 (which is not bad) or 42.99 just for the sides and dessert...
just for info sake, they are building a Panera right next to the Mimi's, which Tim and I love...

the last time we went to Mimi's, I had the meat loaf which was just as good as the turkey dinner...
their desserts looked so yummy too...

Wednesday spam pie and sausage pie

this was the day before Zoie's birthday and we also did not properly celebrate Sian's birthday, so we invited her to spend the night with Zoe and I asked both girls what they wanted to eat and they rushed to say "spam pie"...

I have written about this pie before how I found the recipe in a magazine add for Hormel Spam soon after we were married...I was brought up on Spam but hubby hates it...
so for dinner after I made the Spam version, I also made hubby a sausage pie and it turned out wonderfully...he said he definitely wants to have this again...

for both, I line a pan with crescent rolls
(the sausage one, I used a round cake pan and it took one roll of biscuits) and mixed together 2 eggs, some cooked breakfast sausage and about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of diced cheddar and jack cheese...
mix ingredients together and spread into prepared pan, baked at 350 for about 30 minutes...it was so
yummy...

same prepardness for the spam pie (for this one, I used a large casserole pan and also one round cake pan) and mixed 2 cans of spam, 6 eggs and about 3 cups of assorted cheeses...bake the same...I always have to make more than what my family will eat as when friends hear what I am making, they all ask for some...my next door neighbor especially loves it...

all together?  a great birthday dinner...Zoie made a purple leopard cake with lemon frosting...no offense but I skipped dessert...

Tuesday night hamburger soup

this was so good for dinner as it was cold here for California standards...and I said that we need to have soup one night every week...

Zoie, my 14 year old actually made the whole dinner tonight, it is that easy...

I browned 2 pounds of hamburger (well Zoie did) and then she started the broth...
she added one large can of tomato sauce (30 ounces) to 9 cups of water, and 2 packets of onion soup mix...she also added garlic salt and pepper to taste...

it is a good thing I bought a new soup pot, this was perfect for this...(can you believe that after 42 years of being married, I never had a proper soup pot?)

so she added the browned hamburger to the soup base, and one bag of frozen corn and one bag of frozen carrots..and once it started to boil she added a few handfuls of ditalini...she cooked it until the pasta was al-dente...

yummy so so good...everyone, including little boy had seconds and it made wonderful leftovers for the next day...

slow cooker mac and cheese

Been craving this for weeks....love a good mac and cheese...made this one previously and we all loved it...    

To al-dente cooked elbow macaroni I added, (2 cups of macaroni):

2 cans of cheddar cheese soup
16 oz sour cream
1 stick of melted butter
2 eggs
Cheese
2 cans of evaporated milk

Mixed all together and added to crock pot on low for about 2 hours...I do need to check next time cause a full 2 hours was a little long...the original recipe calls for stirring midway through, and then sprinkling some cheese on top to melt...

Happy eating

Friday night dinner tator tot casserole with chicken

this is what I made...

http://www.plainchicken.com/2015/07/cracked-out-tater-tot-casserole.html

but I added diced cooked chicken to make it a main dish...

now, I am going to be honest here...and maybe this was my fault...I was doubling the recipe and it might have gotten mixed up somehow...to me, this dish was very sour creamy (is that a word?)...the little kids liked it, but the adults not so much...

however, I really like this idea and would definitely try this again with some changes...

I think one way I went wrong was that I did not add enough tator tots and the original recipe calls for a bag of tator tots and in doubling, I neglected to add 2 bags?  but it seemed to me at the time that it would be just way too much...
I also think layering some tator tots on top would have helped...

so I would try again, but really watching the recipe and doubling, etc.

the chicken needed to be cut in larger pieces too, as they seemed to be lost with the other ingredients...

Veteran's Day post with Olive Garden

So there were so many possibilities for Veteran's day this year...many of our favorites were offering great deals for military...we had our pick of some fantastic food...and if he had had not had dialysis we would have gone out for lunch too...but we picked Olive Garden...they gave the veteran a free entree and then 10 percent off the rest of the table...it was absolutely packed but once we got seated the food was delicious...I got lasagna with Italian sausage and hubby got spaghetti with sausage...so so good...thank you very much Olive Garden...

new barley soup recipe I want to try

http://thefoodcharlatan.com/2014/10/02/beef-barley-soup-recipe/

Monday night family dinner beef, bacon and barley soup

have used this recipe previously and we all loved it...very good tonight...love barley...

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/slow-cooker-beef-bacon-and-barley-soup/170e9b81-8754-47ec-b280-ba2516678882/

Sunday night family dinner bacon cheese mini meat loaf

http://www.auntbeesrecipes.com/2015/06/bacon-cheeeseburger-mini-meatloaf-patties.html

these were so very yummy...so yummy...will definitely make these again, everyone loved them...I made them with homemade mashed potatoes...little boy spent the night and was in mashed potato heaven...said he has never had real "smashed potatoes" with the lumps and skins before...he is not known as a big eater, and he ate everything on his plate...LOL
also made maple carrots and garlic cheese biscuits...

oh, by the way, I added italian sausage to the meat loaves...

weekly menus from 11/8 through 11/14

didn' do this as my hand was broken (well still is)...

trying again...here we go...

Sunday 11/8...........mini bacon cheese meatloaf
                               home made mashed potatoes
                               carrots
                               garlic cheese biscuits

Monday 11/9.........beef, bacon and barley soup
                              artisan bread

Tuesday 11/10,,,,,,bacon, corn and cheese pancakes
                              chciekn apple sausage

Wednesday 11/11.Veterans Day
                              eating out

Thurday 11/12......cracked out tator tot casserole
                              green beans

Friday 11/13.........cheddar beef pot pies

Saturday 11/14.....parmesan chicken casserole
                             green salad
                             garlic bread

Saturday night broken hand cheesy chicken taco rice skillet

very good...

http://hostthetoast.com/one-pot-cheesy-chicken-taco-rice/

sweet potato quick bread

this recipe resembles my pumkin bread, tho not as moist, was very good however...

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/sweet-potato-cinnamon-bread?trkid=FBPAGE_TOH_20151107_Breakfast_Dessert

million dollar casserole

which is basically a baked spaghetti with a creamy mixture in the middle of two layers of cooked spaghetti...

made enough for us, my neighbors and to send home with the grandkids...

so good and plenty of leftovers too...

http://ashleykaitlin.blogspot.com/2011/01/million-dollar-spaghetti.html

broken hand dinners, twice baked potatoes with ham

super easy with one hand,

baked a ton of potatoes (everyone loves them and I made enough for 9 people)
hollowed them out and mixed into, some cheese a little butter and 3 mixed eggs...then stirred in cubed ham...
baked at 375 for about 20-25 minutes...

yum

one broken hand dinner, macaroni and cheese

craving this one night, I made it super simple that way my mom used to do it...

I layer cooked elbow macaroni, with chesse with a couple of layers, add 2 cans of evaorated milk over the top and add some seasonings and bake
375 for about 30, till milk is absorbed...

broken hand and cat's away dinners...

let me explain...it has been about 3 weeks now since I fell and actually broke a bone in my hand...it has been in a temporary spling until I can see an ortho specialist and that is proving hard to fnd an ortho to see you...they did not have an opening until 11/12...so, I wait, I am taking that to mean that the fracture is not that bad...at first it hurt, now it is just achy...at least with a temporary splint I can unwrap it to take a shower and do dishes and a few dinners...the first week or so, we ate out, now that I am getting used to it, am using it more and more tho I do require a lot of help stirring...

the hubby was in the hospital twice within those 3 weeks, hence my saying of when the cat is away, the mice will play, only we were not playing...hahaha

we went throught the easy dinners I could cook with some small amount of help...'
egg salad
tuna salad
tuna melts
breakfast for dinner (we had that a couple of times)
spam pie

etc.
if it was easy, I tried it...and it seemed to work...

weekly menu post for 10/18 through 10/23

Fall is finally here to Southern California and altho it is still a little warm, I feel like it is finally getting there, the heat is finally abating, at least I hope...
it was very overcast this morning, when I plan my meals, etc. and so I turned the oven on and then it got sort of warm and I had to turn on the a/c anyway...so we shall see...

here goes:

Sunday 10/18...........layered chicken casserole that tastes like Thanksgiving
                                 homemade pumpkin bread
                                 hubby was very happy tonight and went back for seconds, as well did Zoie...

Monday 10/19.........mock lasagna
                                green beans
                                garlic bread

Tuesday 10/20.........country club chicken
                                mashed potatoes
                                maple glazed carrots

Wednesday 10/21....chicken tacos (pioneer woman)
                                spanish rice
                                refried beans

Thursday 10/22.......mac and cheese
                               little smokies
                               peas and carrots
                               biscuits

Friday 10/23..........million dollar spaghetti (my grand daughter's 11th birthday) we might go out to eat
                              artisan bread
                              individual antipasto salads
                             birthday cake

Saturday 10/24.....buttercream chicken (did not make last week)
                             mashed potatoes
                            vegetable
                            applesauce bread (hubby's favorite)


yum  happy eating

layered chicken casserole, like Thanksgiving in every bite...

I first got this recipe on the website of Kraft foods...everyone in the family loves it...but, when I looked for it today, it is no longer on line...I hope I have a good memory of how it went together...

here is what I remember:

4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
frozen peas
layer the 2 on the bottom of a 9 x 12 pan (I also made a cake pan size for my neighbors tonight) then I sprinkle some cranberries (dried) and some almonds on top..

mix together 1 large can and I small can of cream of chicken soup, 1/2 container of sour cream, a little milk (just to make it more like a gravy?) some seasonings and pour on top of the chicken and peas...

I used 3 boxes of the cornbread Stove Top stuffing, mixed with 3 cups of very hot water on layered on top of soup mixture and top that with a small amount of mozzarella cheese (next time I might leave this off...)

bake at 350 for about 45 minutes...

my family loves this as it tastes so much like Thanksgiving...

yum happy eating

Sunday morning breakfast...

this is special...I used to (especially when my kids were younger) make Sunday morning breakfast every single week but as they got older I got out of the habit...easier to go out maybe?  I am not really a big breakfast person anyway...I love hasbrowns and eggs, but can I please have them maybe about 11 or so?
but, lately I guess to show my family how much I love them, for a couple of times now, have made them a good breakfast...

today is one such of those days...

and everyone that reads here or knows how much I love Bisquick...do I have to tell you the story of how they had a Bisquick club when I was first married and would mail recipe cards out once a month...loved getting that mail and I still have those cards, 42 years later...LOL...
I act sort of like it is my company, haha...my heart kind of gets warm-ish when I see the word Bisquick...I know the recipe will be good and will be easy...I have been known to buy a Bisquick cookbook, and then next time, I think it is new and I buy it again...(old age creeping up on me...)

so today I knew I wanted to make these little mini sausage impossible pies but when I woke up this morning, I felt lazy and didn't really want to do muffin pans and thought why couldn't I do it as a pie in a pie pan?   So I used the cheeseburge recipe made with sausage instead...

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/impossibly-easy-cheeseburger-pie/8c78aa78-c368-40fa-8a88-1654640c7525

yum, in oven now and everyone got up to something smelling wonderful and they keep asking when it will be done...

Hamburger, rice and gravy

This was not on the menu rotation but, I needed easy and I had all of the ingredients...e everyone loves it too..

Got the idea before I was even married...when I was in nursing, on my days off I would babysit another nurse's kids and she would leave this certain hamburger helper for me to make and I fell in love with it, then they quit making it so, I decided to make my own version...

Browned hamburger with canned beef gravy served with white rice with seasonings...we add almonds and chow me in noodles..we had green peas to go with dinner tonight...

Yum happy eating

a post about Impossible Pies with Bisquick...

it is finally Fall...yay...I never imagined when it was like 108 degrees outside that Fall would ever get here...even now, it is still bordering on hot, in fact the kid's school still had inclement weather this week due to the heat but today was decent and it has me really hoping that it is very close...

I have been on self imposed oven time out for all of summer and cannot wait to turn my oven on for some great baking, have tons of great ideas...and while planning, I remembered how much I like to use Bisquick and everyone in the family loves the Impossible Pies and the mini ones too...we especially love the sausage mini pies...

so I decided to go look on the site and come up with some ideas and was surprised at the great selection of recipes they do have and I cannot wait to use them...

http://www.bettycrocker.com/search/searchresults?term=impossible%20pies&src=SH

go check it out for yourself...

yum, happy eating

Bisquick chicken with onions, peppers and pineapple...yummy

this is an old old recipe that I have had around for ever and everyone loves it...it is a little time consuming and therefore I do not make it as much as everyone would like me to...
when I was first married, Bisquick mailed out a monthly newletter with terific recipes (on recipe cards) and I looked forward to getting it each month...
this was one of those recipe cards...

once I got so computer friendly, I searched the Bisquick site and failed to find it...now, it has been so many years since I first made it, am not sure how much was original and how much was changed by me...so you get my version now...

basically what you do, is cut boneless, skinless chicken breasts into chunks and dip them into beaten egg mixture and then into a Bisquick with seasonings mixture...and fry in a little bit of vegetable oil...
in seperate pan, I add cut up onions, green peppers and carrots in a little butter till onions are translucent...I then add some snow peas and cook a few minutes longer...then I add one large can of drained pineapple chunks...

served over rice this is delicious...

yum, so delicious...happy eating

corn and pasta chowder, with bacon

well it is halfway through October and the high temps are still with us, unfortuntely still with us...so hot...and rain is predicted for the rest of the week which will only raise the humidity...yuck...

also I am not feeling well, felt so horrible yesterday that I went to Urgent Care, hoping they would give me an answer...I did not get what I wanted...they were not too sure of what is wrong with me...pain level most of the day is like an 8 or 9 out of 10...had much better luck with my primary, I always know I can go to him and he will set me straight....

still I try to forge on...we cannot eat out every single night, right?

so tonight?  corn chowder...

Zoie helped a lot, she loves this dish...she made a fantastic roux, better than I usually do...

8 tbs butter, with 8 tbs flour, heated through till flour taste was gone and she added about 28 ounces of hicken broth and 2-3 cups of milk...

once starting to thicken, we added 2 pkgs frozen corn, some browned bacon, a can of carrots and for starch this time, I added 1/2 box of ditalini...

it was very good, every incl Zozo and little boy scarfed it down...

served with garlic bread...

happy eating...

weekly menu posts for 10/11 through 10/17

looking forward to this week coming up, temps are supposed to be a little cooler and even some rain is predicted...yay, I can turn my oven on, hopefully...

here goes...

Sunday 10/11..........american chop suey
                                french bread
                                green beans

Monday 10/12........twice baked potatoes, with ham
                               green salad

Tuesday 10/13........chimichangas with chicken
                               spanish rice
                               beans

Wednesday 10/14...cheeseburger impossible pie
                               corn

Thursday 10/15......bisquick chicken with pineapple
                         

Friday 10/16..........buttercream chicken
                              mashed potatoes
                              maple carrots

Saturday 10/17.....corn chowder
                             artisan bread

happy eating
             

american chop suey

so I made this today:

http://www.afamilyfeast.com/american-chop-suey/

it was good...really good...but to me, it is just a goulash...
not sure why it is called American chop suey...
the original recipe said this is a big east coast thing, called chop suey...all righty then

I added Italian sausage and a little sour cream also...

happy eating

brown sugar kielbasa with apples and onions

this recipe has been sitting in my favorites for awhile and I decided to go for it and make it tonight...was something I thought my family might enjoy and have something different...

http://chindeep.com/2012/08/07/brown-sugar-kielbasa-with-apples-onions/

I changed this just a little...
I used smoked sausage, with the apples and onions but when I tasted it before adding the brown sugar and cinnamon and other spices, it tasted sweet enough so I left it as is...

with it, I served some delicious roasted potatoes (little boy loved these and ate everything on his plate) and some maple glazed carrots...

so, I guess what we really had for dinner tonight was a sort of de-constructed sausage hash...and unfortunately I did not eat, though everyone else said it was fantastic...even hubby freshly home from the hospital loved it...

yummy happy eating...

chicken salad (one version)

I love chicken salad and made many ways...I myself make it 4 or 5 ways and this way makes everyone in my family happy except Tim...

found this recipe online several years ago and once I made it it has been one of my favorites...

http://chindeep.com/2011/07/19/chickadee-cottage-chicken-salad/

now there is a secret ingredient that at first you will say, "what?"  but please do not leave it out...it
really makes the dish...

I made this last night as a surprise for our 2 teachers for their lunches for today...

and I do not quite follow the directions...I add apple, celery, walnuts and cranberries...

happy eating...

cannot wait to go home from school for a sandwich...kicking myself that I did not bring myself some for lunch today...

yummy

homemade chicken pot pie, our family favorite...

been making this dish for many many years, since the kids were little at least...that makes it at least 30 + years...cause everyone in this family absolutely loves it...even my hating caserole hubby loves it...and everyone outside the family that I have ever made it for also loves it and says it is the best chicken pie they have ever had...

and this is always one of the very first dishes I will turn my oven for, once the cooler temps come...it was 71 today, but I see where we will back in the 90's for the weekend...yuck...

so I made this as a surprise for everyone and it made everyone's day...even hubby who is in the hospital right now asked me to bring some to him as he hates hospital food...

as a RAOK at least once a week, I will make a little more of what I am making for dinner and offer it to the first of my friends that pm's me...thsi week I have already given away 4 packages of maple bacon that hubby bought and we do not like...so tonight I put a post out for a free pie and my friend that has to be at the hospital tomorrow all morning with her sick mom, is very glad to have dinner done for her for dinner tomorrow night...that made my heart happy...

this original recipe for this I have rewritten many times for my family interests and here we go:

I take 4 boneless, skinless breats and boil them, if I hve time, I like to roast them (more flavor) ans qhwn cooled enough, i cut into small bite side pieces nd mix with 2 bags od frozen peas and carrots.

for my sauce make  a roux with 8 tbsp butter, till melted, add 12 tablespoons flouur (I used /Wondra flour and cook till flour taste is cooked down, add 3 cans of evaporated milk and three cups of chicken broth, with plenty of seasonings...//Iuse Pillsbury all ready pie crust, line the pan and the start lining the chicken, veggies and sauce...I cover with a crust, crimp the corners , cut lines to steam...bake at 375 for approx 30-45 minutes///

happy eating

easy pork chops

so today it was very overcast and rainy and I could finally turn on my oven...this is my kind of day...

but in my personal life everything is going wrong...hubby is in the hospital, my microwave quit working, my printer is not working, my vacuum gave up the ghost, the kitchen sink was backing up and some pipes in the basement rusted out...I am sure there is more but you get the jist of the story...LOL...
little boy is also spending the night...

so I came home from school late today, we are busy in class and then I had to come home to the plumber and handyman and I HATE dealing with people working in my house...

wanted to do something more with pork chops tonight, like smothered or something but with no time, I put them them in a roasting pan and poured prepared BBQ sauce on top and baked them for about 2 hours at 375...

made white rice and peas to go with them...

Zoie and little boy were ecstatic with dinner...it was pretty good...

happy eating...

weekly menu posts for the week of 10/4 through 10/10

after a horrible summer here, today was rainy and the thermometer at the bank said 67 degrees at about 2 pm...I am in heaven, I am in my element...this is me...can I really hope that Fall is actually here?
that would mean I could come off of self imposed oven time out...in fact, I made an okven meal last night and it was so nice...

here we go for the week:

Sunday 10/4...........sorry we were at the mall and ate at Red Robin

Monday 10/5.........smothered pork chops
                               rice
                               brussel sprouts

Tuesday 10/6........ american chop suey
                               green beans
                               garlic bread

Wednesday 10/7....chicken pie (if the high temps return, chicken stew in crock pot)


Thursday 10/8..... twice baked potatoes with ham
                             green salad

Friday 10/9.........chicken in tomato cream
                            peas
                            artisan bread

Saturday 10/10.....kielbasa and potato bake with apples and onions
                             maple glazed carrots
                             biscuits

happy eating
                           
                           

pumpkin french toast

so I made this last night:

http://www.thestayathomechef.com/2014/09/slow-cooker-overnight-pumpkin-french.html

and since I always follow a new recipe exactly as printed, I did so last night...was looking forward to getting up to breakfast done first thing in the morning...the recipe calls for 8 hours on low in the crock pot...I made it, put it in the slow cooker and went to bed...got up about 5 hours into cooking and it was badly burned and my house smells...I was very disappointed...and I realize that different slow cookers heat differently...but 3 hours???

I am not a big breakfast person, never have been...but the family is and I had wanted to surprise them this morning...

so even though everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) is going wrong today (already at 9 am) I still wanted to treat them so...

I made sausage and then decided to make a version of the overnight french toast...

I whisked 6 eggs, 2 cups of half and half, and 2 cups of pumpkin (from a can) cinnamon, and a little brown sugar together...
I just happened to have a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread and so I used that for the french toast...

everyone said it was delicious...

and now back to my extremely overwhelming life...

yum happy eating

sausage, hashbrown and cheese casserole

I have made this recipe many times since I first found it on another recipe blog...and everyone in my family loves it...
I have said before that when I first try a new recipe, I make it exactly as the recipe says, and then from that experience, I change it, if need be to my own specifications...

so it was with this one too...

here is how I do it...

2 bags of frozen hash browns, the shredded ones and I brown them in a little oil...(it helps take some of the frozen-ness off...
I add to the potatoes:
  2 pkgs of Jimmy Dean sausage, cooked
  16 oz of sour cream
  shredded cheese
  seasonings
  8 lightly scrambled eggs

I add more cheese to the top and bake at 375 for about 25 minutes...

it is great for leftovers and little boy will love this in his thermos Monday for school lunch...

happy eating

Hearty hamburger soup

For this recipe I sort of followed one that I have made before but ended up making some changes...for the broth I mixed one 16oz can tomato sauce, 2 pkg of onion soup mix and one can blended diced tomatoes...to that I added browned hamburger, some cooked salad al dente salad roni and then some:

corn
peas
carrots
pearl onions

it came out really good...I do need to add more water in the beginning, though my family likes it with less...

yum happy eating

Slow cooker mac and cheese

Been craving this for weeks....love a good mac and cheese...made this one previously and we all loved it...      

To al-dente cooked elbow macaroni I added, (2 cups of macaroni):

2 cans of cheddar cheese soup
16 oz sour cream
1 stick of melted butter
2 eggs
Cheese
2 cans of evaporated milk

Mixed all together and added to crock pot on low for about 2 hours...I do need to check next time cause a full 2 hours was a little long...the original recipe calls for stirring midway through, and then sprinkling some cheese on top to melt...

Happy eating

Sunday night family dinner, after a Disney packed day...cheeseburgers

it is still horribly hot here, and yet this morning we woke up early to go to Disney...we have season passes and yet we do not use them as much as we should...we like to go first thing in the morning before it is so packed and before the heat really hits and then we grab lunch or snacks or whatever and leave anywhere from 12 to 1 or so...

there was 5 of us that went this morning and when we woke up, nobody was really feeling that great...I am still getting over pleurisy and Tim had a migraine, etc. but I said that we should at least try it and we can leave if it gets to be too much...
and once there, it really was a magical time...we had a great day...Sam (whom we bought a pass for her BD) and Zoie walked right onto a bunch of the normally packed rides...Tim ran into a co worker who was by himself and so they hung together and went on some rides also...hubby and I took it easy...me?  I craved a Starbucks this morning (the only place they sell at Disney is in California land) and I limit my drinks to only Saturday and Sunday...what is funny is that I love the smell of coffee, my mom and dad drank Folgers like there was no tomorrow and so I love that smell that transports me straight to my childhood, but drinking the stuff upsets my stomach horribly...but Tim introduced me to White Chocolate Mocha Frapuccinos and for some reason my stomach is safe with them...but the calorie count is horrendous, so I limit myself...
ok...back to Disney, so I had my drink but hubby was "starving" and there is a restaurant that serves the absolute best breakfast, an all you can eat, but the ham and bacon and omelettes are to die for...problem is that they charge 27.00 a person...we have been there several times but mostly to take the grandkids, since they have most of the good characters come table to table and pose for pictures...but we wanted something different so we went to the California side to Cars Land and hubby had breakfast at Flo's Diner, it was a decent breakfast for 8.49...he got scrambled eggs, bacon, o'brien potatoes and a biscuit...
once we met up with the rest of the family, I was a little hungry but in the Princess Land, they sell these fantastic cheese, garlic sticks that are so good so Zoie and I shared one...of course Sam and Zoie had to have the prerequisite (?) Dole Whip and Tim got a new blueberry frosted drink...

we mainly went today to find the new popcorn buckets they had and we found them...a really cute Mickey Vampire one, a Halloween one and the new poison apple cup that is so popular right now...we have quite the collection of buckets since Tim and Zoie went to Disney Tokyo and they are really big over their...

so it was hot and we were tired, so I just prepared hamburgers and green salad and let everyone make their own dinners tonight...of course there was more for me to clean up...haha

weekly menu posts for the week of 9/27 through10/3

OMGoodness I cannot believe that October is almost here, only a few more days...yay...I love October and the Fall days...most of the menu posts have to do with the oven but actually we do not really cool down here until about the 15th of the month...I so have something to look forward to, though...

here goes:

Sunday 9/27.........cheeseburgers (we were at Disney all day and it was hot and tiring)
                             green salad

Monday 9/28........slow cooker mac and cheese
                             green beans
                             artisan bread

Tuesday 9/29.......salisbury steak meatballs (Pioneer Woman recipe)
                             mashed potatoes
                             peas

Wednesday 9/30..hamburger soup (I know we just had this last month, but been craving it)
                            7 up biscuits

Thursday 10/1.....breakfast for dinner

Friday 10/2........ grilled chicken with tomato creamed pasta
                            green salad
                            garlic bread

Saturday 10/3.....grilled chicken, bacon sliders
                           pasta salad
                           raw veggies

hopefully next week, weather permitting I will be able to post more oven dishes...

yum happy eating

stacked chicken enchiladas

a friend of mine made this for dinner for us one night when my kids were small and I have taken the recipe as my own since then...everyone loves them, so I am not sure why I do not make them more often...

I fry the cron tortillas a little and then dip them in a canned red enchilada sauce, and then just stack them with shredded chicken and cheese and end up with another tortilla and more cheese...
hubby staks his like 3 or 4 high...

served with spanish rice and refried beans...

still trying to cook hot weather food, we are having a heat blast for the last week of September and it is horrible...still was kind of hot, frying the tortillas but hubby was looking forward to dinner...

yum  happy eating

sweet potato cake that I would like to try

http://www.grouprecipes.com/63708/sweet-potato-dump-cake.html

when I am off of oven time out, I really want to try this

sweet potato cake for a birthday surprise

I had this fantastic recipe for sweet potato cake that I simply loved and so did anyone that tasted it...it is very moist and well just really good...
bad thing is I lost the recipe...not sure how I lost it, but had it on my laptop that crashed...
so disappointed...

I have tried my absolute hardest to find the recipe and have googled to no avail...but I had found a recipe that sort of sounded enough like mine that I promised a friend to make it for her birthday and I made it Sunday night (WITH TEMPS AT 107)...but I really like this friend and decided to suffer with the heat and made it anyway...

this is he recipe I used:

http://www.cooks.com/recipe/240o1kl/sweet-potato-cake-with-cream-cheese-icing.html

and while it was good, it was not my recipe and I am so sad that I cannot replicate it...

please try this I think you will like it

Thursday night family dinner...sloppy joes

wanted to make a huge pot of sloppy joes as everyone in the family loves them and I had thought it would be nice to have leftovers in this heat...little did I know that so many people ate this dinner that there was nothing left for lunches and I made a ton of it too...

I browned 3 pounds of hamburger, along with 1 pound of Italian sausage (thought this would give a different and good texture...)
and I use the McCormicks seasoning mixture...

served with baked beans and french style green beans...I bought a pkg of 16 buns and they were all gone that night...

yum happy eating

Wednesday family dinner, loaded baked potato soup

continuing my hot weather dinners...Fall, please hurry up with your cooler weather...

I baked 3 large russet potatoes in the toaster oven (I did mine the night before)

made a roux with 8 tablespoons of butter, 8 tablespoons of flour (I love the shaker can of Wondra flour for this), and one large container of chicken stock...after it thickened I added 3 cups of milk...

I scooped out the baked potatoes and sort of mashed them with some (about 1 1/2 cups prepared mashed potatoes...) and then added to the roux mixture with garlic salt, pepper and onion powder...you have to kind of keep mashing the potato mixture as you add it...

added some bacon and some diced ham with a good amount of shredded cheese...

I sometimes will add carrots or corn or something, but wanted this one to be a simple chowder...

it was very good served with an artisan bread and was fantastic as leftovers in lunches

yum happy eating

kraftrecipes.com  has a good recipe too

Tuesday night family dinner...taco salad

still pretty hot here in Souyhern California, cannot wait for the Fall days to come...Fall is already here but we desperately need for the hot days to leave...
all of this week, predicted to be in 100s so still trying to find cooler recipes, but dreaming of oven baking...

I am kind of strange and for my own personal taco salad, I do not add lettuce...I love this version of taco salad and will crave it when I have not made if for awhile...

I put out all of these ingredients and everyone makes what they like for themselves...hubby likes everything...Tim makes nachos and Zoie is particular in what she adds...

ingredients:

browned hamburger, with taco seasoning added
sliced olives
lettuce
chopped tomatoes
salsa
sour cream
avocado
crushed tortilla chips
green onions
cheese of course

and I love ranch dressing

yum happy eating my lettuce-less taco salad

weekly menu posts for the week of 9/20 through 9/26

man it is still hot here, but I can at least hope the cooler weather is coming soon...it is hopeful that since I see pumpkins and gourds etc...my favorite season of the whole year...please hurry and then slow down so I can enjoy fall a little bit...

Sunday 9/20..........taco salad

Monday 9/21........chicken enchiladas
                           refried beans
                           mexican rice

Tuesday 9/22........brown butter ravioli
                           green salad
                           garlic bread

Wednesday 9/23...slow cooker meat loaf
                           mashed potatoes
                           maple glazed carrots

Thursday 9/24......loaded baked potato soup      
                          artisan bread

Friday 9/25..........slow cooker orange chicken  (Zoie's request)
                           rice
                           oriental veggies

Saturday 9/26.......sloppy joes
                           macaroni salad
                           raw veggies

happy eating

Saturday night chicken fried rice

we had leftover chicken from the night I made chicen lazone...one of the first things I think of when there is eftover chicken is fried rice...
I absolutely love a good fried rice and Pick Up Stix by our house makes a good beef fried rice that I love and can I say that I crave their chicken egg rolls too?   last time I was in the hospital our Pick Up Stix had just reopened after a fire and Sam every day would go get me some egg rolls, which I am sure are not on a cardiac diet...

over the many years I have been married, I have perfected my friend rice to a science that my family loves...

here is what we add to ours:

fried rice (of course) and I like all of the rice covered in soy sauce
scrambled egg
shredded carrots
frozen peas
green onion
cashews
chow mein noodles
diced cooked chicken
seasonings (I add garlic salt, pepper, and onion powder)

yum happy eating

even little boy add his fair share, when in fact he says he does not like chinese food

beef stew

today is a Friday and usually that is our night to go out to dinner...you know, the end of a stressful week, etc.  but I had slow cooked stew beef all day yesterday and really wanted to use it...

so I came home from school at 12:30 and dinner was so easy to make with the meat already cooked for me...

I decided to try a new seasoning pouch from Campbells for beef stew...

was very easy to do, but the sauce seemed very thick to me and I added water to it also...I added 4 cups of water to accomodate the meat and the veggies I was adding...to be honest the instructions do say that the pouch was intended for a slow cooker and maybe if cooked all day, it would not have been as thick as it was...

so the seasoning packet and 4 cups of water, I added the already cooked stew beef, and cut up; potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and then I also added orn and peas...

it was very good with an artisan bread...

happy eating

Chicken Lazone (my version)

I absolutely love this recipe...I crave it when not on my weekly rotations...I have now made it for 3 times and wonder what I did without it...
I had it saved on my favorites for like forever and one night just decided to make it and now could kick myself that I have not been making it all along...

the first 2 times, I followed the recipe I had exactly...and we loved it...
but tonight I decided to change it up just a tad...what I was really trying to accomplish was that I do not feel 100% and did not want to stand at the stove till big fat chicken breasts were browned and it dawned on me that if I added diced chicken it would cook a lot faster and I was so lucky tonight as I had the best sous chef ever who wanted to help...Tim is a great help when he knows I do not feel good...

here is my version:

for my family and tonight I fed 6 people and had leftovers for 2 lunches too...

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (& this is where I differed) I cut into bite size pieces, and browned them in some butter...added seasonings (garlic salt, pepper, and onion powder)

once browned and it only took 5-6 minutes,

I added a good portion of 1/2 gallon of half and half (I made more than enough sauce as that is what my family likes)

brought to a slow boil, added a cornstarch mixture to thicken (the last 2 times we felt it was too runny for our tastes...)

then added some peas and put over some spaghetti noodles...

the best ever, I will be making it this way from now on...eveyone loved it and there is plenty left for 2 lucky recipients for lunch tomorrow...

yum yum yum happy eating...

Wednesday night dinner...grilled cheese sandwiches and soup

today I went to doctor and found out I have pleurisy and I had to go to Target and pick my new meds up and the kids were not feeling real well, so I took them from the after school program early and so I had kids from 12:50 and just could not get myself to make a huge dinner...

we had canned soup and grilled cheese...Tim, Zoie and I love canned pea soup...hubby had chicken noodle...

and it really was the perfect dinner for whomever does not feel good in this family...hubby says he is getting the bug now too...

Tuesday night family dinner...swedish meatballs

I am trying hard to cook every night...it is not quite so hot here right now, in the higher 90's rather than 100+ and I can take this heat much better than the alternative...
but I have also been sick, I first caught this crazy bug going around from my 7 year old...with a cough and sore throat, but mine, wouldn't you know it went to something else and I was not sure what it was, but really achy (sometime stabby pain) ribs and it hurts to cough or laugh or sneeze or whatever...even hurt to raise my arms above my head...went to doctor and I have pleurisy...but a woman's work is never done and I am still trying...now if hubby had this, I have no doubt he would be in the hospital...but not me I just keep on ticking...

Tuesday night I made swedish meatballs, with noodles, maple glazed carrots and artisan bread...

no secret to my meatballs, I use the McCormicks seasoning mix...tried making them from scratch and my family prefers this brand better...who am I to mess with them?

weekly menu posts for the week of 9/15 through 9/19

once again I am late getting my weekly posts up...we were gone out of town all weekend and then once we got home, it was still pretty hot here, and I just did not feel like cooking at all...
so we will start with Tuesday of this week and end with Saturday and try to get back in the groove next week...

Tuesday 9/15..........swedish meatballs
                             noodles
                             green beans

Wednesday 9/16....slow cooker mac and cheese (carried over from last week)
                             maple glazed carrots
                             BBQ sausage
                             biscuits

Thursday 9/17........chicken lazone
                             spaghetti noodles
                             green salad
                             garlic bread

Friday 9/18............slow cooker meat loaf (carried over from last week)
                            mashed potatoes
                            corn pudding

Saturday 9/19........grilled chicken bacon sliders
                            tator tots
                            raw veggies

happy eating

weekly menus for the week of 9/6 through 9/13

sorry a day late again, and to think we had an extra day off with Labor Day too...

Sunday 9/6..........chicken and wild rice casserole slow cooker style

Monday 9/7........Labor day BBQ
                         short ribs, rib eye steaks, sausage foil packets
                         deviled eggs
                         baked beans

Tuesday.............chicken salad  (because it is supposed to be 105 here)
                         watermelon
                         veggies

Wednesday........slow cooker mac and cheese  (because I have been craving it)
                        green beans
                        mini sausage in BBQ sauce

Thursday..........slow cooker meatloaf
                       mashed potatoes
                       broccoli

Friday..............will be gone

Saturday.........will be gone


happy eating
                       

Labor Day BBQ

when grocery shopping, hubby buys the meat...he usually goes by a list I give him based on the menus for the month...in reality, he could spend hours looking over meat, thinking he will find a great bargain on something (never on the menus...LOL)...so what we end up with is bits and pieces of meat
packages that are really never enough for our whole family....but, they end up being a good thing when we do something like today and just throw on several different types of meat on the BBQ and let people choose what they want....

today's feast?

  rib eye steaks (it was a pkg of 3)
  short ribs
  sausage foil packets, which included diced potatoes, carrots, pea pods, kielbasa and onion...Sam made these and she tossed them all in a teriyaki based sauce...
  artisan bread
  deviled eggs

of course everyone was happy;;;

yum happy eating

Sunday night dinner, chicken and wild rice casserole

http://www.southernplate.com/?s=chicken+and+wild+rice+casserole

this is my all time favorite recipe ever and I cannot go very long at all without making it...still is pretty hot here. supposedly 96 today and that is definitely a do not turn my oven on kind of day...I still craved this dish and my little grandson loves this as much as I do...(he will be so happy that I made this...)

so this is the second time this summer that I have made it in the crock pot...and it turns out great in the slow cooker but not quite the same as in the oven...(the crackers on top do not get as crunchy) but still came out very good...

it is wonderful as leftovers...

yum happy eating

hamburger and vegetable soup, delicious

I have never made hamburger soup before, but a few years back had tasted it when someone had made it at the Elks Lodge and it was pretty good...for some reason this week I had been craving it and so I scoured the internet for a good recipe and I think I have found it...

http://www.food.com/recipe/hearty-hamburger-soup-211580

I did tweak things a bit for my family's tastes...though when I try a new recipe, I almost always follow the recipe exactly and think of ways I could make it better afterwards...tonight however I did not have one ingredient and did not want to go to the store just for that...it was a can of diced tomatoes and my family does not like tomatoes so I decided to do without it...I also added shredded carrots instead of diced, I added pearl onions and and I added peas...I happen to love peas in a soup...

this was absolutely delicious and I most definitely will make this again, everyone loved it...and it was fairly easy too...

yummy, so so good, you must try it...happy eating

meatball parmesan

so when I first saw this recipe floating around Facebook, I was intrigued...it sounded by the title to be easy and I love meatball recipes, where I can buy the frozen ones and some of the work is cut in half...LOL

so I did not read the whole recipe until today when I realized that was what I wanted to make...and once I read it, I realized that it is just a glorified spaghetti and meatballs dish...

but I went ahead and made it and it was really pretty good, different than the spaghetti I am used to making and my family loves...

so for this recipe, I used:

2 cans of spaghetti sauce
1 can of tomato soup
and I added one bag of premade frozen meatballs to the pan...

I brought to a boil and then simmered till meatballs were done (about 12 minutes)
then on top I added parmesan and mozzarella cheeses...put the lid on the pan and simmered till cheeses were melted...

menu:

spaghetti noodles
meatball parmesan
garlic bread
green beans

yes I would make this again

yum, happy eating...

menus for the week of 8/30 through 9/5

ok so I get into bed last night after a rather busy weekend of babysitting and grocery shopping and realize that I did not post weekly menus...sorry...

so here goes although, I already started...

Sunday 8/30...........BBQ (slow cooked) spiral ham
                               macaroni salad
                               fried corn
                             
Monday 8/31.........creamy noodles, peas and ham (leftover ham from yesterday)

Tuesday 9/1...........meatball parmesan
                              spaghetti noodles
                              green salad

Wednesday 9/2.....pioneer woman chciken tacos
                             spanish rice
                             refried beans

Thursday 9/3........brown butter ravioli
                             green beans
                             garlic bread

Friday 9/4............hamburger soup
                            artisan bread

Saturday 9/5........orange chicken (slow cooker)
                            fried rice
                            homemade egg rolls

sounds good to me, yum, happy eating

creamy noodles, ham and peas....yummy

this recipe has been in my favorite box for several years, in fact I did make it way back when and I remembewr that we liked it, I just never made it again...
but, we had leftover ham that I needed to use and this recipe came to mind...

it was so delicious and everyone loved it...several in the family added cheese to the top...

I like the fact that it was very easy to make, 15 minutes from start to finish and you do not cook the noodles first...it says that you could substitute chicken instead of the ham....and if you don't have leftover ham, you could stop at the deli on the way home from a very busy day and have them cut you a couple of thick slices...

http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dinner/peas-ham-and-creamy-noodles.html....

so so yummy, you must try this...

Sunday night family dinner...BBQ spiral ham

I cooked tonight...LOL...
it has been like 106 for days here and just so very hot...lots of sandwiches and wraps, etc for us in this heat...

when shopping at the commissary, hubby and I have our own agendas...he goes straight to the meat department with a list from me, according to the menus I have listed for the month, but I always tell
him, if there is something interesting to get it and I can work it into the monthly rotation...so imagine my surprise when we met up yesterday and there was a spiral ham in his basket...I was in heaven...if I was to be stranded on a desert island, with only one thing it would have to be either ham or bacon...love it...
and I knew right away what the sides would be and how soon I would cook it...

still so hot here but when there is a ham in my frig, nothing else realy matters...haha

menu:

BBQ spiral ham (slow cooked)
homemade macaroni salad
fried corn
this artisan semolina bread that Tim loves that Ralphs sells...

dinner was so good tonight and everyone was really happy...

yum happy eating..

chicken, sausage, wild rice corn chowder...

my own recipe...yay, tons of leftovers decided to use some of them up in this chowder...

we all love corn chowder here, but I usually do not do too much to mine...ya know the corn, the carrots, and potatoes just a simple chowder...
but I had seen a corn chowder that had italian sausage in it and I wanted to try that...I also happen to love wild rice and wanted some of that in it too...

so here goes,

browned italian sausage
diced cooked chicken (leftover from the big BBQ for hubby's BD)
chopped carrots
chopped onions
diced celery

these 5 indredients were cooked until sausage was browned and onions and other veggies were translucent...
made a roux with 8 tablespoons of butter, 8 tablespoons of flour and 4 cups of chicken stock...once the roux was nice and thick, I added 2 cups of milk and heated through...
to that I added...

wild rice
lots of frozen corn...
and oh some of whatever seasonings you care for...

this actually was very good, almost to die for...sometimes in this heat (still really hot here) after I cook, I cannot eat...but I wanted to try this and I fell in love with it...
will not make a simple corn chowder ever again...

yummy  happy eating...

so good with an artisan bread

menus for the week of 8/23 thru 8/30

I am sad for school to start tomorrow, back to the grind...I guess...
but I guess we do need to get back on a schedule...I just wish it would cool down some here...now that school is back, I wish Fall would just hurry up...

here goes;

Sunday 8/23.............Hubby's birthday
                                 rib eye steaks
                                 BBQ chicken
                                 BBQ kielbasa
                                 homemade potato salad
                                 corn on the cob
                                apple crisp in the slow cooker

Monday 8/24..........first day back to school
                                american chop suey
                                broccoli
                                artisan bread

Tuesday 8/25..........chicken lazone
                                spaghetti (plain)
                                green salad
                                garlic bread

Wednesday 8/26.....sausage and corn chowder
                                bread
                                fruit

Thursday 8/27........cheesy chicken taco rice
                               green beans

Friday 8/28............hamburger steaks
                              mashed potatoes
                              maple glazed carrots

Saturday 8/29........slow cooker lasagna
                            breaksticks
                            mini antipasto salads

yum happy eating...
                           

taco casserole, slow cooker style

I have made this recipe many times, starting with before we were even married...and everyone loves it including my casserole hating hubby...

we do not really eat a lot of it since it is an oven dish...

being inspired from last night when I made one of my favorite casseroles, chicken and wild rice in the slow cooker instead of the oven and it was a success, I decided to try this one also...after all I had extra hamburger and some tortilla chips that needed using...and I had all of the other ingredients on hand...

my taco casserole

browned hamburger

tomato sauce, 28 oz. (and since it is the slow cooker, I also added a 16 oz can)

taco seasoning'

frozen corn

sliced olives

black beans

tortilla chips (crushed)

cheese

I mixed all ingredients except chips and cheese...I will add chips and cheese about half an hour before end time...

crossing my fingers that all comes out ok...

yum and happy eating...

Zoie is making corn bread to go with this...

chicken and wild rice casserole, the best dinner ever

this is our all time favorite dinner, hands down, ever...and I could not wait till Fall to make it so I got up early this morning and got it all together, added a little milk to it (for added moisture) and I put it
in the slow cooker on low for 4 hours...

YUMMY

I have missed this dish so much...and so glad I made it for today....perfection...

http://www.southernplate.com/?s=chicken+and+wild+rice+casserole

I definitely add the sour cream and instead of green beans, I add peas...

yum, happy eating

Monday night dinner...meatball soup

yes I know it is horribly hot here and what am I doing making soup?  tonight I made it thicker, more like a pasta dish and hey, we still have to eat right?

when we got down to it, it was very good for tonight and everyone liked it...

I have made this many times before, as it is so easy...

frozen meatballs
beef stew seasoning mix (McCormick)
6 cups of water
your favorite pasta (we like egg noodles)
your favorite frozen veggies

mix the water and seasoning mix together, add the meatballs, bring to a boil and add the pasta and veggies...cook till pasta is al dente...

and there are leftovers too...

yum happy eating

Sunday night dinner, Applebees copycat chicken salad

it is still super hot here in California...106 today...oh my...

heat and I do not get along at all...I get up early in the morning to get my chores done, otherwise I am a mess trying to work while I am melting...the heat also gives me migraines and I feel that I have had one every day this summer, some days worse than others...

so, saying that...I try to make dishes in the summer that do not take a lot of work and definitely do not heat up my kitchen...

tonight?

http://mandysrecipeboxblog.com/2011/05/applebees-oriental-chicken-salad.html


I have made this before and it has never disappointed...tonight, I already had chicken cooked and so added the cut up chicken instead of the already made chicken and it worked out fine...tasted just the same...
the first time I ran across this recipe I was so happy as this is the dish I would always order when dining at Applebees and now I can make it at home...

yum, happy eating

menus for the week of 8/16 through 8/23

so so hot here, we went to a hotel yesterday just to escape for a night and it was so nice, I felt spoiled...

here goes...

Sunday 8/16............chicken and wild rice casserole (going to try in slow cooker)
                              green salad
                           
Monday 8/17...........applebees copycat chicken salad wrap
                              tator tots (toaster oven)
                              veggies and dip

Tuesday 8/18..........meatball soup (premade frozen meatballs)
                             rice
                             cornbread

Wednesday 8/`9......BBQ pizza
                             salad
                             corn on the cob

Thursday 8/20........huli huli chicken (did not make last week...)
                            cole slaw
                            baked beans

Friday 8/21...........slow cooker lasagna
                            green beans
                            garlic bread

Saturday 8/22........chefs salad
                            artisan bread


yum happy eating...hopefully the weather will cooperate with me cooking this week...100+ temps make me melt (well after giving me a migraine...)

Thursday night, hot, hot hot here...egg salad

did not have egg salad on this week's rotation of dinners...but when it is 106 here and I feel horrible, so decided to make dinner easy on me...

egg salad
raw veggies and dip
chips

Wednesday night spaghetti

It is hot here in Calif. and supposed to be getting even hotter for the next 4 days...yikes...
heat and I do not get along at all...it actually makes me physically ill...can barely tolerate the 90 + degree temps, but when it gets over 100, I am done...rumored to be like 106...

not a happy camper...

thought I had better cook tonight, before it gets too hot to cook...

so it is spaghetti tonight, it is also Sian's favorite and I had her today...

Spaghetti
garlic bread
green beans

good thing is there are always lots of leftovers...

bacon hash and cranberry orange muffins

so I was bad last night...was supposed to make hash last night and I really felt like fried rice from Pick Up Stix instead...

so tonight, hash it is...

bacon, diced potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and just cause I can I added peas and carrots...and I must say I like the addition of the veggies...I had fried the potatoes ahead of time cause I wanted them crisp on the outside and soft inside and they were perfect...

oh and add the seasonings you like...I added garlic salt, onion powder and black pepper...

cranberry orange muffins from a box mix, cause it is so hot in Calif. the less time I spend in the kitchen the better...

yummy

menus for the week 8/9 through 8/15

each Saturday (sorry a day late this week) I am going to post menus for the week...I am doing it on Saturday so my friends that work can plan ahead, if they plan on following my dishes...
I had decided to catalog my recipes, as I was having problems remembering what I had previously cooked and liked...
and I was so surprised when I counted more than 185 dishes...that is counting only main dishes and not side dishes and desserts...and I am still cataloging more too...but we will start here...

we do not do fish at our house, sorry...so will not post those except for tuna...

Sunday 8/9..........beer can BBQ chicken
                            rice a roni
                            brussel sprouts
                            banana bread

Monday 8/10......bacon hash
                            blueberry muffins

Tuesday 8/11......spaghetti
                            green beans
                            garlic bread

Wed. 8/12..........huli huli chicken
                           cole slaw
                           BBQ beans
                           artisan bread

Thursday 8/13...pumpkin pancakes
                          homemade chicken apple sausage
                          fruit salad

Friday 8/14.......chicken salad sandwiches (from leftover chicken)
                          asst raw veggies and dip

Saturday 8/15...BBQ cheeseburger hoagies
                         potato salad
                         deviled eggs
                         corn on the cob


happy eating...
if you are following my menus, and need any recipes please feel free  to email me for them...such as huli huli chicken...

new day, new post, yay...BBQ beer can chicken

I have not posted anything in awhile...I have been sick, and those that know me know my other problems...mainly hubby and dialysis (not a pretty picture...)

I am so happy to be back blogging...

this morning, I had a lot going on...babysitting my 3 year old for the day, being the main one...but, I had chicken out of the freezer and so knew that I had to do something with it even if I didn't really
have the time...
so at 10:30 I started the BBQ as slow cooking...rubbed spices into the chickens, stuck them on an opened can of beer and let them cook for about 3 hours...they came out so moist and juicy...very good...
my favorite thing to have with chicken is rice a roni...I know I should try some homemade side but I happen to love rice a roni and so does everyone in my family...

menu:
roasted BBQ chicken
rice a roni
brussell sprouts
homemade banana bread (now it is super hot here in California but I wanted to surprise hubby)...

new recipe for banana bread, which was really more like a cake than a bread but it was very good...
https://www.hamiltonbeach.com/easy-banana-bread.html

decided to make extra bread then offer 2 loaves to the first of my friends that pm'd me...it was fun to see who got to me first and was happy to have participated...want to do this again...it was so much fun...