copycat outback...alice springs chicken quesadilla

https://wearychef.com/alice-springs-chicken-quesadilla/

although I am still not able to eat...this apparently was very good...

Tim loved it and said he definitely wants to have it again...

paired with tator tots and raw veggies...

a great summery meal with not too much work...

it was so hot here today, reported at 109 and I most definitely did not want to grill chicken on the BBQ...
so after I had cooked the bacon, I cut the chicken into tiny bite sized pieces and browned them in  a little bit of butter and then the quesadillas were so easy to put together...

will be on our regular summer rotatin

million dollar spaghetti, slow cooker version

today we celebrated Sam's birthday and this is her absolute favorite...but it is 105 here today and there is not way I was turning my oven on...

http://ashleyspinterest.blogspot.com/search?q=million+dollar+spaghetti

so I used this recipe which is basically mine but in the crock pot and it came out tasting very good...everyone was happy with dinner...

cheese fondue

this is definitely not a cat approved dinner, he hated this stuff...

been making this for many years and is one of Tim's favorites...

6 tablespoons of melted margarine, make a roux with 6 tablespoons of flour and about 3 1/2 cups of milk...I sometimes add some chicken stock to it also to thin it out...
once thickened I add about 3 cups shredded cheese (I used colby jack tonight)...

we always pair with
...giant wheat thins
...cut up veggies
...french bread
...little smokies

was perfect for our hot summery day...

honey sunflower french toast

I bought an artisan honey sunflower bread to go with chef's salad and that dinner keeps getting put on back burner...

it is so very hot here...and for sure I do not want to be making huge meals, but we tend to eat out a lot if I don't cook especially with Door Dach willing to bring you whatever you want from your favorite restaurants...

I didn't want to wast this expensive bread so it was Tim's idea to make french toast and it came out so very good...was done perfectly...

Tim mixed up the egg mixture with 6 beaten eggs, a little vanilla, some cinnamon and just a tad milk...

the french toast came out a little crispy on the top and bottom and was so yummy...

paired with sausage and scrambled eggs...

orange dreamsicle pie, so yummy, you must try

http://www.spendwithpennies.com/dreamy-creamsicle-pie/

this was so easy that Zoie made it with no help from us...and it was amazing...so good...

the cat would have approved...

slow cooker BBQ pork ribs, homemade potato salad, & maple glazed carrots

I layered pork ribs onto a slow cooker liner, and with each layer, I poured BBQ sauce over each one...with 4 people to eat here tonight, I only had 10 ribs, so 2 layers...

I let cook on high for about 5 hours...so so tender, everyone said they came out very delicious...

potato salad, here is what I do...

about 15 red potatoes, I boiled until almost tender, then diced them up and put them into a bowl then I added...
diced celery
chopped green onions
diced dill pickles
about 6-7 hard boiled eggs (I love a lot of eggs in my salad) diced
black olives, sliced

seasonings, garlic salt, black pepper, celery salt, and onion powder

I liberally add some yellow mustard, enough mayo just to cover and I add a little pickle juice to the salad also, I feel it gives a little something more...refrigerate for about 4 hours if possible...

for the carrots I use frozen carrots and when done cooking, I add a littl butter and some maple syrup...everyone declared dinner a huge success as the cat would have done also if he were alive

getting ready for upcoming summer week, weekly menus too updated...

today is Saturday, the second day of summer for me...YAY...but I decided to stay with my current way of doing things and trying to do as much as I can at the beginning of the week to help me out all week...

since it was supposed to be very hot today, I got up at 7:30 and went to the store...
I found a nice roast marked 1/2 off
...nice looking pork ribs marked down
...and some chicken marked down

so my menus for the week, are going to be so simple people...it is hot, I do not feel good and I am tired...I want to work more on my house then on dinners too...

Saturday........tuna sandwiches (and they were so good tonight too) with chips and cantaloupe
Sunday..........bbq pork ribs in slow cooker with potato salad
Monday........Alice Springs chicken quesadillas (yum I cannot wait)
Tuesday........chef's salad
Wednesday....pancakes and eggs
Thursday.......million dollar spaghetti (sam's BD)
Friday...........trader joe's rice medley bowls
Saturday.......loaded baked potato soup

I boiled my eggs, cut up veggies, cut up cantaloupe and cooked the roast...tomorrow I plan on cooking some bacon up ahead of time, & making some rice

hamburger stroganoff, one skillet pan

back when my kids were little and before I had really gotten into cooking like I am now, there was a Hamburger Helper stroganoff and I loved it...unfortunately my family did not...

so I decided to try to replicate it but in a way my family would like it too...

so here is what I did...

2 pounds of hamburger, browned, I added 4 cups of water and brought to a boil and then I added 1/2 package of noodles and let cook till al-dente...

I used the McCormick stroganoff seasoning mix (2 of them) and added to the noodle mixture where it became thickened and I then added 16 oz of sour cream...

and voila just like that, everyone loved it...the left overs were so yummy too...what I liked was the hamburger to noodle ratio...

so yummy

homemade pea soup in slow cooker

decided on spur of the moment to make this for lunches all week and for Samantha too who has decided to eat vegetarian from now on...

into a slow cooker with a liner, I added 2 bags of dried green pea...covered with 8 cups of water (usually I would add chicken stock, but with Sam eating vegetarian I was trying to help her out)...
I also added a few carrots and some onion...
I let cook about 3 1/2 hours until peas were soft and then I added seasonings (garlic salt, onion powder and celery salt and pepper) and I put into blender with some half and half (to each time of blending, I added maybe not quite a cup of half and half...)

to ours, I then added some cut up cooked potato and carrots...

Tim and Zoie loved it...

one of the last cool days, chicken and wild rice casserole

as I have previously posted in the heat of summer, I do not turn my oven on (especially when it gets in the triple digits here) but this is my absolute favorite dinner of all times...absolutely love it and when I make it, I always make extra to give a pan to someone else...this time I picked Cj's kinder teacher...she loves this too...

so for our size family and one to give away, here is what I do

4 roasted chicken breasts, diced into bite sized pieces
4 envelopes of Uncle Ben long grain and wild rice (the 90 second microwave one is fine)
2 large cans of cream of chicken soup
16 oz of sour cream
slivered almonds
1 bag of frozen peas

Tim has to mix this up for me, it is too much in the bowl...
mix all together and put (I use foil lasagna pan) into pan and enough in a square size cake pan too, if you want to be nice and give to someone else...

once in the pan, I crush up a sleeve of Ritz crackers and sprinkle on top and drizle a little melted butter on top...

bake 350 for about 30-45 minutes...

I am already missing this for the summer...this is little boy's favorite dinner too

leftover huli huli chicken into chicken salad

I on purpose made extra chicken in hopes of making chicken salad with it and Tim and Zoie both loved it this time, they said the extra sweetness really added to the salad, it was gone in 2 days...

I diced into small pieces the left over chicken (3 breasts left)
and then I added
...2 diced granny smith  apples
...diced celery
...chopped walnuts
...cranberries
...just a tad of garlic salt

mixed it all together with just enough mayo to moisten it...

so yummy

morning glory muffins

so glad that I made these today...they will be great for breakfast on the go...

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/20995/easy-morning-glory-muffins/

so I made a few changes and they still came out so yummy...everyone loved them...

instead of raisins, I added cranberries
I doubled the recipe
I added 1 cup of applesauce instead of grated apples

these were super easy to make, and I will definitely make them again

huli huli chicken and homemade fried rice

this was very good tonight...it is in the 90's here and too muggy and I was going to BBQ, but am not feeling 100% and didn't think that the smoke would be good for my COPD...so I took a chance and oven baked these...
Tim said it was delicious..

.http://therecipecritic.com/2016/05/grilled-huli-huli-chicken/

I made this once before when the cat was alive and he loved it...

for my homemade fried rice, here is what I do...

6 cups of rice, made ahead much earlier in the day to dry out...

then I take 1/2 at a time and fry in a little oil, add seasonings and soy sauce (I like enough soy sauce so there is no white showing...) and I continue cooking for a few more seconds and then start adding:
...green onions
...bacon
...cashews
...frozen peas
...shredded carrots
...scrambled egg

yum, so good

Hamburger soup

I have posted of this previously and is one of my favorite recipes...when the cat was still here, he liked it also...
I had some already browned hamburger in the freezer so this was very easy today...

So here is what I do...

Browned hamburger (I had about 2 1/2 pounds already for me)
6 cups o water
1 large can of tomato sauce 32 ounces
1 packet of onion soup mix
Whatever frozen veggies you like (I use corn, peas, and carrots)bring all of this to a boil and then add 1/2 box of your favorite pasta

I give it a stir and turn off heat and cover with a lid...

We had this for lunch and then again for dinner, it was so good...

getting ready for the upcoming week, weekly menus posted too

well it is only Saturday and I usually do all of "this" on Sunday, but decided to get a good start on the week...we still have one full week and 3 1/2 days left of school and as much as I hate to see the school year come to an end, I am so ready for summer (not the heat, tho)...I just love the lazier days and not having to be somewhere with 2 kids first thing in the morning...
I always make myself goals for the summer and a couple of mine are...
...help out with kids (esp the free movies)
...finally get my house organized and pictures on the walls
...pack up all hubby's things
...sew
...make a ton of freezer meals

trying to not make my goals too hefty or I won't get them done...

so what did I do to get ready for the week?
...boiled eggs for egg salad (it was so good the other week that I have missed it)
...roast in slow cooker
...big pot of hamburger soup on stove
...huli huli chicken marinating (plan on grilling tomorrow and have leftovers for chicken salad too)
...hash brown casserole assembled for slow cooker for breakfast tomorrow
...maple blondies made up, ready for evening when I can turn on my oven
...cut up veggies
...made some rice and put in ziploc bags

tomorrow, I would like to...
...make spaghetti
...roast 2 chickens
...make jello
...make muffins for mornings
...slow cooker pea soup for lunches

weekly menus

saturday..........hamburger soup
sunday............roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, maple carrots,
monday..........huli huli chicken, fried rice, pea pods
tuesday.......... tuna melts, pea soup (if I get it done), raw veggie
wednesday.....supposed to be cooler, chicken and wild rice casserole
thursday.........still cooler, oven baked pork ribs, baked beans, garlic bread
friday.............ground beef stroganoff, buttered noodles, green beans

sounds good to me...hope I am as ambitious as I sound right now...

maple blondies

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/10/maple-walnut-blondies.html

going to try this recipe tonight as soon as it cools down here...92 here today, I guess summer is here and I hate it...will not turn my oven on in this heat...