Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Zatarians Red beans and rice and my version of mexican cornbread

I have been feeling horrible from allergies. I had to get 2 shots in my hip today to clear everything up. Hopefully, I will feel better in the next 48 hours. Anyways...I didn't want to eat out or pick up fast food for dinner so I decided to do something hearty and easy. I had 2 boxes of Zatarians red beans and rice and some sausage. We also had some leftover KFC grilled chicken. I made the red beans and rice according to the package then added cooked sausage and the leftover chicken. I also made Jiffy corn muffin mix. I added japalenos and a sprinkle of cheese to a few of the muffins. They turned out fabulous. It was hearty and really hit the spot. Not to mention...it made the house smell good. Dad was hunting so he didn't get any tonight. He can't wait to eat leftovers tomorrow for lunch. Haha!

Cookbooks....

Recently, I have been drawn to cookbooks on top of using the internet to get recipes. I went to the library yesterday (I love the library...seriously I get giddy) and picked up "Cook Yourself Thin". Over the last 24 hours, I read the entire cookbook. It is fabulous and I flagged some pages to copy on the copy machine. The cookbook is all about making a lifestyle change and not being on a diet. This is one of my New Years Resolutions is to make a healthy lifestyle change. One of my friends purchased the cookbook called "Louisiana cuisine" and it is so fun to look at. It has crazy recipes like how to cook alligator, squirrel, and all kinds of other animals. I feel like it will be my cookbook for when I am feeling adventurous! What suggestions do yall have for great cookbooks?

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Baking, Birthdays, and Presents.....

Momma turned the big 50 this past week. She was in Houston visiting her family and when we returned on Sunday this is what we saw....



Look who I got to see while I was in Houston! What a treat!



Kyle and I did our Christmas a little early (mostly bc I couldn't wait!) We ate at the 102 Bistro then I opened my presents! Here are some pics....





The Sutherland crew came over to make a gingerbread house! They do this every year and it was so much fun.



They also helped us make chocolate covered strawberries. We even drizzled them with white chocolate!



Jessica and I also made oreo cake balls. They are super easy. Its 1 pkg of cream cheese and 1 pkg of oreos. Crush the oreos (I did it in a food processor) You mix them together and roll them into balls. Put them in the fridge to cool them. While they are cooling, melt the chocolate. When they have hardened a little, dip them into chocolate and return them to the fridge. They turned out great!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Recipes from the past 2 weeks....

Here are some recipes that I have made the past 2 weeks.....

Banana Bread

Cook Time:1 hr 10 minLevel: EasyYield: 1 loaf

Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Spread slices with honey or serve with ice cream.


-turned out a little sunken in. Ha! Bread is hard for me! Any tips?


Crockpot Chicken With Pearl Onions and Mushrooms

Ingredients:
4 to 6 boneless chicken breast halves, cut in 1-inch chunks
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) cream of chicken or cream of chicken and mushroom soup
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 bag (16 ounces) frozen pearl onions
salt and pepper, to taste
parsley, chopped, for garnish

Preparation:

Wash chicken and pat dry. Cut into chunks about 1/2 to 1-inch and put in a large bowl. Add the soup, mushrooms, and onions; stir to combine. Spray the slow cooker insert with cooking spray.
Spoon the chicken mixture into the crockpot and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours, stirring about halfway through the cooking time, if possible.

Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, if desired, and serve over hot cooked rice or with potatoes.
Serves 4 to 6.

-turned out delicious. I served it over rice!


Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:

-4 large green bell peppers
-1 cup of cooked brown rice (I used dirty rice)
-1 lb lean ground turkey (I used deer meat)
-2 garlic cloves
-1/2 cup chopped onion
-1 can diced tomatoes (with italian seasoning is best)
-tomato sauce (for bottom of casserole dish)
-2tbsp of canola oil

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place in a casserole dish-the bottom of the dish should be covered with a thin layer of tomato sauce
-in a pan, add canola oil and sautee the onions until translucent (5-7 min).
-Add minced garlic and cook for 2 min
-Then add the ground turkey (or deer meat) and brown

-In a large bowl, combine the cooked ground turkey (or deer meat), brown rice, and diced tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
-Scoop mixture into each bell pepper
-Bake, covered, for 30 min. If desired (I did), uncover, sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top, and bake an additional 5 min.

Servings: 4



-Turned out fabulous!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Christmas party goodies

I had a Christmas party at my house and of course made some goodies! I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing. (I used box ones bc I was short on time..hehe) I also made my grandmothers punch which consists of ginger ale and lime sherbert. I also had a chocolate fountain with strawberries, marshmallows and other goodies to dip in it. Here are some pics!

Decorations:




Chocolate fountain and punch:




Group picture:



Cooking sugar cookies with Murphy

My little cousin Murphy has been wanting to come over for a sleepover. We found a good date and decided to make sugar cookies. We used the pre made sugar cookie dough and got the cookie cutters out. She loved using the cookie cutters to make the different Christmas shapes. Once they were decorated, she couldn't wait to decorate them. She sat there for about an hour decorating them. She especially enjoying licking the spoon while decorating them and trying out the sprinkles! Here are some pictures from the fun night.....



Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Holidays.....

One of my fav things about the holidays is.......FOOD. A tradition in our family is to make green punch. My late mamaw Josie was the 1st to make it probably 50 years ago. My mom remembers her making it when she was little. We have carried on the tradition for as long as I can remember. We love having it on Christmas Eve while opening presents. Here is the recipe....

Green Punch
1 tub of lime sherbert
1 liter jug of ginger ale
-Put both of them in a punch bowl. Serve!

Another favorite thing of mine is a chocolate fountain. My mom bought me one on sale at Kohl's a few years back and I love it. Every time that I get the chance, I use it. I love melting the chocolate chips and putting them into the fountain. I love dipping anything and everything in it. My absolute fav thing to dip in.......peanut butter balls. Yummy! So my advice....if you ever get the chance to buy a chocolate fountain....take it...it is totally worth it! :)

Life Update: I started back school last week. It has been okay. I am ready to get into grad school! :) Kyle starts work this week! Hooray! We are starting a routine!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Chicken Marsala from Olive Garden.......

Kyle and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Olive Garden. Well, the other day we went with my mom. Mom and I split the chicken marsala. Well, we fell in love and I couldn't wait to get to the grocery store and make it. I searched the internet (which I do for most of my recipes) and looked for a chicken marsala recipe. Well, I found something even better.....the Olive Garden website had the recipe. LIKE THE REAL RECIPE! I couldn't wait! I was nervous about it because it called for marsala wine. I had no clue where to get marsala wine....the wine store? the liquor store? the grocery store? Well, I was roaming around Walmart and came across the marsala wine! Hooray I wouldn't have the awkward treck to the liquor store. I gathered together the mushrooms and headed home. The recipe seemed easy and so I got to work. We didn't have chicken breast, but we did have chicken thighs. Mom said that it wouldn't matter.


Chicken Marsala
Serving Calculator (2-24 servings)
cook: 30 min(s)
Ingredients
4 ea Chicken half-breast, boneless & skinless
1/4 cup(s) Flour ("Wondra" preferably)
1/2 tsp Salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 tsp Oregano, dried
4 Tbsp Oil
4 Tbsp Butter (or margarine)
1 cup(s) Fresh Mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup(s) Marsala wine
Procedures
Pound chicken breasts between sheets of "Saran Wrap" until about 1/4" even-thickness
Combine flour, salt, pepper and oregano, blend

Dredge chicken pieces in the flour, shake off excess

Heat oil and butter in frying pan over medium heat.

Cook the breasts on medium heat for about two minutes on the first side, until lightly brown

Turn breasts over to second side to cook, add the mushrooms around the chicken breasts

Cook breasts about two more minutes, until lightly browned on the second side, stir the mushrooms
When lightly browned, add Marsala around the chicken pieces, cover and simmer for about ten minutes

Transfer to serving plate.

I served them over mashed potatoes. I poured the marsala sauce over the chicken and mashed potatoes! :) Also I tried making homemade mashed potatoes. I honestly like the instant mashed potatoes better. Haha!

Things I would have done differently:

1. Next time, I want to try stuffed chicken marsala (stuff with 3 cheeses)
2.I would use chicken breast
3. I would have doubled the marsala wine (1 cup instead of 1/2)
4. I would have added more mushrooms (probably 2 cups instead of 1)



Playing with marinades

Mom and I played with some marinades the last visit to the local grocery store. I had never used marinades before in my recipes so I was excited. We used one on chicken for stir fry. It was fabulous because it only had to marinate for 15 minutes. We used the white wine and herbs marinade (sorry I don't remember the brand.) We cut up the chicken and added it into a skillet and starting cooking it. We then added onions and green peppers and sauteed them. Next we added squash, okra, mushrooms, and other veggies. We cooked it until everything was cooked. (around 15 min...ish) We served it with Texas toast. I was pleased with how good it turned out.

We also got southern whiskey marinade that we used with salmon. We bought salmon from the local grocery store and marinaded it in the fridge for about an hour. (again it could have been done in 15 min). We pan seared the salmon about 5 minutes on each side...until it was light pink (instead of bright pink). We served it with a mixed veggie stir fry (any veggie can be put into a stir fry) and sister shubert's rolls. :) I was thankful that it was super easy and delicious. Honestly, I was nervous about the "whiskey" marinade but it ended up turning out good....not my absolute fav....but good.

The stirfry!


Salmon cooking :)


The plate:


On other news........KYLE ACCEPTED A JOB!!! Just this morning, he got the phone call and we are thrilled. He will be working in a nearby town at a bank that he had previously worked for. Hooray for no more long distance :) Thanks for the prayers. It has def been a long haul, but it is over!

Another hooray is......I took the GRE and made the score that I needed to. Hooray!!! I can now fill out my packed and hopefully be enrolled in grad school by spring quarter.

I am super excited about what God is doing. He sure has a lot up sleeves :)

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

BBQ pizza and caramel pecan cheesecake!

I was a little ambitious this week and decided to make 2 homemade dishes! I made the pizza for my parents and decided to make homemade crust. I haven't ever made homemade crust, but I figured it couldn't be that hard. I found this awesome recipe on The Pioneer Woman's blog. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/03/cpks-bbq-chicken-pizza/ I made the crust in the morning and let it rise around 5 hours. If I did this recipe again, I would have let it rise overnight. I just got really excited about the recipe and jumped the gun. The pizza turned out good, but the crust wasn't very crunchy (which I like). Like I said, I should have let it rise overnight. Other than that, the pizza was really good. Here is the recipe....


Recipe: Basic Pizza Crust
Prep Time: 5 Minutes | Cook Time: | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 12

Ingredients
1 teaspoon Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
1-½ cup Warm Water
4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
⅓ cups Olive Oil

Preparation Instructions
Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water. Let stand for a few minutes.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass.Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it.
Note: it’s best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.
When you are ready to make the pizza, grab HALF the pizza dough (recipe makes 2 crusts) and squeeze the dough toward thebottom to form a nice, tight, pulled ball. You can roll out the pizza with a rolling pin if you’d like, but sometimes it’s just as easy to throw it around and pull and stretch till it feels right. And when the crust is nice and thin, lay it on an oiled baking sheet or pizza pan. Drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and spread it with your fingers. Very lightly sprinkle some salt on the crust.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Top your crust with your toppings of choice. Then bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.

Recipe: CPK’s BBQ Chicken Pizza
Prep Time: 2 Hours | Cook Time: 15 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 12

Ingredients
1 whole Recipe For Pizza Crust (mine Makes Two Crusts)
2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
½ cups Barbecue Sauce
Olive Oil, For Drizzling
Salt For Sprinkling
16 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Sliced Thinly
½ whole Red Onion, Cut In Half And Sliced Very Thin
Chopped Cilantro, to taste
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Salt chicken breasts on both sides, then place in an ovenproof dish. Pour BBQ sauce over the breasts and turn them over to coat. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is done. Remove from oven and cut into a fine dice. Set aside.
Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees.
Roll/stretch out one pizza crust. Lay it on a sheet pan drizzled with olive oil. Drizzle a little olive oil on the crust, then sprinkle on a little salt.
Spoon a couple of tablespoons of extra BBQ sauce on the crust and spread it evenly. Top sauce with half the sliced mozzarella. Sprinkle on half the diced chicken and thinly sliced red onion.
Sprinkle again with a little salt, then bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle on plenty of chopped cilantro. Cut into squares and serve immediately. Repeat with other crust and other ingredients, or save for another time.


I made the caramel pecan cheesecake for a Thanksgiving dinner with my Sunday School class. It turned out delicious and my mom didn't even wait to cool it before she dug in. I was excited about this one. Also mine made 2 cheesecakes! Heres the recipe. Once again I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman. http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/pecan-pie-caramel-cheesecake/ So heres the recipe.
Pecan caramel cheesecake

FOR THE CRUST:
3 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
½ cups Butter, Melted
½ cups Granulated Sugar
_____
FOR THE FILLING:
3 packages (8 Oz. Package) Cream Cheese, Softened
¾ cups Granulated Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 whole Large Eggs
½ cups All-purpose Flour
¾teaspoons Cinnamon
¼ teaspoons Nutmeg
_____
FOR THE TOPPING:
1-½ cup Pecan, Halves, Lightly Toasted*
2 cups Good Quality Caramel Syrup (homemade Is Best)
Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients for the crust until moist. Press into a 10-inch springform pan and set aside.
For the filling, in a stand mixer, whip cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. With the mixer on low, stir in vanilla and eggs, one at a time. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and stir again. Whip in flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Scrape sides and stir again if necessary. Pour filling into prepared crust and smooth the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes until cheesecake is set and hardly jiggles, if at all, when moved. Remove from the oven and cool completely to room temperature.
Arrange pecan halves on top of the entire cheesecake in concentric circles. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Once ready to serve, run a knife around the edges of the cheesecake and remove the sides of the springform pan.
To serve you can either drizzle 1 cup of caramel syrup over the entire cheesecake and cut (with extra syrup to serve along with) or cut first and drizzle individual pieces.



Thanks again Pioneer Woman for 2 great recipes!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Trial and Error.

Kyle came in town for our friend's wedding and of course I put him to work in the kitchen. Lol! My mom was about to get rid of her pumpkins and so I decided that we should make pumpkin bread. I have always wanted to make it with "real" pumpkin that we scooped out ourselves. So Kyle scooped out the pumpkin while I mixed the dry ingredients. We decided not to put the nuts and raisins in it because we don't care for them (hey...we thought it would be okay). We also 1/2ed the recipe because it called for 4 cups of flour and 4 cups of sugar...now thats a lot of stuff for 1 bowl. So we made quite a few adjustments. Kyle did a great job scooping out the pumpkin and then putting it into the mixer.....


Here are is the ingredients mixed together with the 2 cups of pumpkin....



The completed bread....



So since we did a lot of adjustments, it didn't turn out very good. I think we should have added some extra sugar to make the "puree" and some water (we did add a little milk to the mix). It was edible, just a little bitter and not delicious. Overall, it was fun, but I wouldn't make it again the same way.

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:
5 cups Flour, Lightly Fluffed
4 cups Sugar
4 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cloves-forgot to put in...hehe
3 teaspoons Cinnamon
4 cups Pumpkin Puree' (canned Or Fresh)-I used fresh
1 cup Oil
1-½ cup Chopped Nuts-we decided not to use these
1 cup Raisins (or Half Raisins And Half Dried Cranberries)-we decided not to use these

Preparation Instructions:
Mix together dry ingredients. Add pumpkin and oil. Mix well. Add nuts and raisins/dried cranberries. Mix well. Pour into 3 well-sprayed loaf pans or muffin tins. Bake at 350F for 30-45 minutes. Remember to test to make sure they have baked all the way through. Cool for 5 minutes and remove to a cooling rack. Freezes well.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Warning cute packages can be deceiving!

So I decided to cook this adorable red velvet cupcake mix that my mom got me for Valentines (yes it was about to be outdated...so I cooked it..hehe). It came with the packet for the cake mix and icing and all you had to do was add eggs, butter and milk. It was a simple recipe and so I figured it would be a good choice. I start by mixing the cake mix together and placed it in the cupcake linings and I was disappointed to see that it only made 6 cupcakes (it said 8 on the package). I was like..who was to make JUST 6 cupcakes. Anyways...I got over it and decided that while they were cooking that I would make the frosting. It was supposed to make cream cheese frosting and I was way excited about it. I couldn't wait to dip my finger in and get a taste of it. Well it said to add 8 TB of butter to the mix and then 2 cups of powdered sugar. I thought...HMM 8 TB seems like a lot, but I trust the makers of this package. MISTAKE. When the cream cheese icing was done....it was light yellow and tasted exactly like butter. DISGUSTING. So when the cupcakes were completed...I ate them without the frosting. The cupcakes were good.....but I really wish the cream cheese icing would have turned out. So heres the cute package that it came in. Warning cute packages can be deceiving!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Chicken Spaghetti-new skill learned-cooking a WHOLE chicken :)

I had so much fun looking at Pioneer Woman's blog to find some tasty creations to try. I found 2 recipes that I will be making over the next week. I happily went to the grocery store and found all (actually I left without 2 of them...oh well they were that important anyways) while shopping. I came home and got to work.

Here is the link to Pioneer Womans's blog: She gives detailed descriptions and fantastic pictures to help you along the way...

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/

I chose this recipe because it had a challenge for me.......cooking a WHOLE chicken. Honestly...I was terrified at 1st just thinking about having to 1st-find a whole chicken in the grocery store 2nd-find a pot large enough (I had to raid mom's kitchen) 3rd-handling raw chicken (some chickens carry salmonella...yikes) 4th-make sure it was cooked all the way....and the list goes on. Basically i just didn't want to fail. I was going to cook this chicken and make homemade chicken broth in the process :) I didn't want to take the easy way out because I know it is important to be able to know this skill for cooking!

The recipe says that you can prepare the dish (cook chicken and noodles and put ingredients in the casserole dish) and then put it in the fridge and cook it in the next 2 days. I decided that I would do it this way so that I would have plenty of time.
Just so you know.....I completely forgot to buy the pimentos (but it still turned out great)

I took me a while to complete preparing the dish so I would give yourself plenty of time.

Here is the basic recipe that I used from her wonderful/helpful website:

Recipe: Chicken Spaghetti
Prep Time: 30 Minutes | Cook Time: 45 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 8

Ingredients
2 cups Cooked Chicken
3 cups Dry Spaghetti, Broken Into Two Inch Pieces
2 cans Cream Of Mushroom Soup
2cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
¼ cups Finely Diced Green Pepper
¼ cups Finely Diced Onion
1 jar (4 Ounce) Diced Pimentos, Drained
2 cups Reserved Chicken Broth From Pot
1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt
⅛ teaspoons (to 1/4 Teaspoon) Cayenne Pepper
Salt And Pepper, to taste
1cup Additional Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Preparation Instructions

Cook 1 cut up fryer and pick out the meat to make two cups. Cook spaghetti in same chicken broth until al dente. Do not overcook. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except additional 1 cup sharp cheddar.
Place mixture in casserole pan and top with remaining sharp cheddar. Cover and freeze up to six months, cover and refrigerate up to two days, or bake immediately: 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly. (If the cheese on top starts to get too cooked, cover with foil).

This recipe is the condensed form.....I used the picture form (see above). The picture form was useful to me because I learned step by step how to cook the chicken and even how to cut up the green pepper and onion. I really like that this recipe can be cooked ahead and froze or refrigerated. It is something that I will cook again!

Also I decided not to put the extra cup of cheese on top of the casserole. I just figured there was enough cheese inside of it!

Thanks Pioneer Woman for the great recipe! :)

Here is are my pictures:


Thursday, November 11, 2010

Dad's favorite-chocolate chip pound cake

Todays menu for my dad's birthday:
-pork tenderloin
-green beans
-sweet potato
-chocolate chip pound cake

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
Ingredients:

1 yellow cake mix
1 small vanilla pudding mix
1 small chocolate pudding mix
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
1package (or 6 oz) chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Beat cake mix, both pudding mixes, water, and oil for 2 minutes. Then add the eggs 1 at a time and beat 1 minute more. Add 1 pkg chocolate chips. Bake in greased, floured bundt pan for 1 hour at 350.




This is an easy cake mix that is always delicious. I love using a bundt pan and so this is one of my favorite cakes to make. I used a hand mixer instead of a big mixer (Kitchenaid) and it worked fine. Next time, I will probably use the big mixer because it ends up being pretty thick for the small hand mixer.

On other news,,,, Kyle and I went to the hunting camp with my dad to help him do some odd jobs. I had fun riding on all the different hunting vehicles and watching Kyle kill an armadillo. :)

Sunday, November 7, 2010

The last month.....

Back by popular demand....I am blogging again. This time I decided to have a theme to my blog. I tried to think of something interesting and then I decided to think on it. I have learned a lot over the past few weeks about myself and life in general. It seems that you are always learning no matter what age you are. Just a recap on the past few few weeks for me. Over the past month I have.....gone to the beach...applied to go back to school...moved back to R-town..was a bridesmaid for my best friends wedding......had an awesome Halloween party..... and gone to Houston (to meet my 2 newest cousins.) Whew I am exhausted, not to mention a little sick due to the weather. I have moved back in with the parents and at first I was terrified. You see for those of you who dont know my mother.....we are the same person....literally like its insane. Well....though I have only been back home for a few days...I think that it will work out great. I told my mom the other day that I think the reason we get along better is because I had grown up and gotten more mature. As soon as the words were said....we both started laughing. My dad was thrilled for me to move back home. He has always been so supportive and very patient with every crazy idea that I come up with. He did have one request as to paying him "rent." Ill give you one hint...its something that my mom hates to do and frankly isnt the best at. You guessed it....COOKING! My rent for living in their house is to shop for, prepare, and cook at least 1 meal a week. He told me that I needed to learn how to cook because it was something that I would need in the future. He always has the best ideas (he got me a sewing machine and lessons one year for Christmas). I was thrilled when he told me that I had to cook. I developed a love for cooking while living in Dallas, but I never had anyone to cook for (unless someone came over). The only thing is...my dad is honest about cooking. He will tell me when something tastes funny. Hehe! So all of that said....this blog will mainly be my recipes that I cook.....what I did wrong....what I would have done differently....some pictures of the food...and anything else relating to cooking. Occasionally I will add whats going on in my life! :)

Here are the recipes I have cooked in the past month....

Chicken and Rice Casserole

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked rice
1 can 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup
1/2 soup can of water
1 pkg dry ontion soup mix
4 chicken breast halves


Directions

Grease baking dish. Place rice in dish. Combine soup, water and soup mix and pour over rice. Place chicken on top and gently press down into the liquid. Cover and bake at 350 for about an hour, or until the rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

Number of Servings: 4

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user LINJEN.

Recipe from www. sparkrecipes.com


Lit'l Smokies® Mummy Dogs

Total Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ready to do the Monster Mash this halloween? Well here's a snack the kids will love! Hillshire Farm® Lit'l Smokes® all wrapped up for their trip straight to your mouth. Add ketchup for that extra effect!

Ingredients

32 Hillshire Farm® Lit'l Smokies®
1 can (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls
Mustard or Ketchup, if desired
Subsitutes:
Any variety
Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Unroll dough, separate at perforations, creating 4 rectangles. Press perforations to seal.
Cut each rectangle lengthwise into 8 strips with a knife or pizza cutter, making a total of 32 strips. Wrap one strip of dough around each sausage stretching dough slightly to look like bandages. Leave tip of sausage exposed to create face. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10-13 minutes or until golden brown. Draw features with mustard on tip of sausage to create face. Serve with mustard and ketchup, if desired.

Print Preparations
Yield: 16 appetizer servings (about 2 Mummy Dogs each)
Prep Time: 20
Cook Time: 10

Recipe from Hillshire Farms

I cant find the other recipe that I cooked the other day. They were both great recipes and easy to cook. Next time I will take a picture to post! :) This weeks agenda.....cook for my dad's birthday. Im kinda nervous because my grandparents are coming to eat! ;)