I'll be back soon

I know I've been completely lazy about this blog. We had company and we've been sick again so those are my excuses. I am really going to try to start posting recipes again soon!

Beef stir fry

Tonight I used basically the same recipe that I posted for the slow cooker pepper steak except I left out the peppers and onions. We are going to have stir fry with it. I'll cook up some jasmin rice which I buy in bulk from Sam's Club. My friend, Julia, introduced me to it and it is WONDERFUL! I've never been very good at cooking rice (it always stuck) so I mostly used Minute Rice. Jasmin rice is very forgiving though so it's harder to mess up. I did use it in soup once though and I found that it sort of falls apart. Anyway, we'll have the beef over some rice and I'm just going to cook some frozen stir fry veggies. I'd rather eat fresh, but this way is less work and easier on my diseased hands.

Eggs etc

Last night I sliced up the leftover baked potatoes and fried them up. We also had scrambled eggs, sausage, and cinnamon rolls. The cinnamon rolls were cute little ones made with crescent roll dough and Pampered Chef's sweet cinnamon sprinkle. The recipe is on the bottle.

Spaghetti

Last night I was planning on making fish. I have only cooked fish a couple of times since I've been married for a few reasons. One, I'm not sure where to buy it. Two, I'm afraid of overcooking. And three, my family is picky. Well, I had a not so good grocery shopping experience on Monday night and didn't buy any fish. So yesterday I didn't know what to make. When in doubt there's always spaghetti! It was a little more interesting because I had gotten a really yummy loaf of french bread and a jar of basil pesto. I opened a can of diced tomatoes and ate bread with pesto and tomatoes and olive oil. None of my picky children ate that except for Ella who pointed to the tomatoes and begged for "apple!"

Loaded baked potatoes

This is a fairly cheap and really easy meal that you can kind of change up.

I put the potatoes in the crock pot all day on low. Tonight we'll top ours with broccoli, sour cream, cheese, and bacon.

Here are some other topping ideas:

diced ham
salsa
chili

okay, that's all I've got. Tell me your favorite baked potato toppings!

Tortellini Soup

This is what we had for lunch yesterday instead of canned tomato soup-

1 pound ground turkey or sirloin
1 (28 oz) can pureed tomatoes
1 (11 1/2 oz ) can french onion soup
1 (9oz) pkg fresh cheese tortellini
1 (9oz) pkg frozen green beans
1 tsp dried basil
3 1/2 cups water
1 medium zucchini sliced into 1/4 inch rounds

In a large pot, brown the meat. Add tomatoes, onion soup, green beans, tortellini, basil, and water. Heat to boiling, reduce heat, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. Stir occassionally. Cook uncovered 5 minutes, add zucchini, cook 5 minutes more.

Here's how I changed it- I added a can (11 1/2 oz) of beef broth and a can of water. Also, I didn't cook the tortellini as long as the recipe said (the package said it only needed 5 minutes) because I was afraid it would be mushy and fall apart.

Chicken Souffle

This is a super easy casserole that I haven't made in awhile. I'm hoping the kids love it like they used to!

4-6 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up
2 cans of chicken noodle soup
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
2 eggs, slightly beaten
8 slices of bread
2 sticks margarine or butter

mix soups and eggs. pour over chicken in 9 by 13. cut bread into cubes. melt margarine or butter and mix with bread. pour over soup and chicken. bake for 45 min at 350 degrees.

here's how i change it a little: i like to add some veggies like peas and carrots or a can of mixed veggies. also, i never use that much chicken. i could use 3 or 4 chicken breasts and it would be plenty. and you could really get by with half the butter or margarine.

Cookie dough brownies

1- 9 by 13 brownie mix (prepare according to box)

cream: 1 stick butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

add: 2 Tbsp milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour


-Mix all of that together and add 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips. Spread over cooled brownies

topping: 1 cup chocolate chips
5 Tbsp butter
-melt in microwave and spread over cookie dough and store in fridge

Slow Cooked Pepper Steak - Fix- It and Forget- It

Sorry, I've been a slacker about posting this week. Two nights ago we went out and last night we had this. I was a little worried after I did the first step that this was going to be tough, but it was SOOOO delicious.

1 1/2 - 2 lbs beef round steak, cut into strips
2 Tbsp oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup chopped onions
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 large green peppers, cut into strips
4 tomatoes cut into eighths or 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup cold water
1 Tbsp corn starch

1. Brown beef in oil in saucepan. Transfer to slow cooker.
2. Combine soy sauce, garlic, onions, sugar, salt, pepper, and ginger. Pour over meat.
3. Cover. Cook on Low 5-6 hours.
4. Add green peppers and tomatoes. Cook 1 hour longer.
5. Combine water and corn starch to make a paste. Stir into slow cooker. Cook on High unil thickened, about 10 mins.
6. Serve over rice or noodles

Spaghetti

same pasta
same sauce
added 1 lb of browned italian sausage

cooked spinach on the side

I mixed my spinach in with my pasta. Each of the kids had to eat about a tablespoon of spinach- some mixed, some didn't. I would have loved a little plop of ricotta cheese in mine, but that's out (it seems that dairy makes my eczema worse so I'm trying to cut back).

The best part? Dessert. I'll post the recipe for Cookie Dough Brownies later this week.

Porcupine Meatballs- my Grandma's recipe

This is a childhood favorite that my mom and my grandma both made. I've made it a couple of times, but the meatballs have always fallen apart. Well, I asked my grandma about it and the problem is that my recipe says to stir them often. She said do not stir them- I always kind of wondered about that!


1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 slightly beaten egg
1 Tbsp parsley
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
dash pepper
1 can tomato soup (divided)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp worcestershire sauce

Combine meat, rice, egg, parsley, onion, salt, pepper, 1/4 can tomato soup and mix together. Shape into 20 small balls and place in skillet. In separate bowl mix remaining ingredients. Pour over meatballs. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer 40 minutes.

This is a great comfort food meal with some mashed potatoes and green beans!